Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Beautiful Magic
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“Beautiful magic?”
Brim Ludwig, who had been spooning oatmeal into Bran’s mouth, asked back in a surprised voice. Elin plopped down into her chair with a huff.
“That’s what I’m saying... For the top spot finals to have this theme? Isn’t it way too targeted at Rain, no matter how you look at it?”
“Miss, not that again. How much does Chancellor Madelia adore our Rain right now?”
“Not the chancellor—the other professors! They’re definitely jealous of him.”
Seri, who had been eating a salad of grilled garlic and herbs for breakfast, tilted her head.
“Auntie, why’s that?”
“Oh, you clueless girl! Don’t you know what our family’s bloodline limit is? Propulsion! Propulsion! It’s as far from refined magic as you can get!”
In contrast, what about the Warden family? As masters of inanimate summoning, they were without question a collective of magic crafting experts.
And Harimun Academy?
The Rigwind type were all sound specialists, so they’d historically dominated exams like this.
“Does that mean big brother’s at a disadvantage?!”
“Not just a disadvantage—it’s like everyone else shows up armed with swords and spears, and he’s the only one fighting barehanded.”
Brim lightly drummed her fingertips on the table, looking slightly concerned herself.
“There was exactly one exam where I managed to beat him, and it was this one.”
Seri’s face brightened for a moment.
“Then Mom can just help big brother Rain with it, right? You can tell him how to do it.”
“No, that won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Seri, a mage is someone who faces life’s obstacles head-on like this, puzzles out solutions alone, agonizes and deliberates, and grows step by step.”
Not someone who grows just by solving a few extra math problems.
“But...”
Brim affectionately stroked her daughter’s drooping head as the girl made a disappointed face.
“How could we call ourselves parents if we stole away our child’s chance to grow?”
* * *
That evening, Rain sat in a dorm chair, staring up at the ceiling for a long while.
‘Nora introduced me to Cayden for a quick chat, but somehow it’s gotten even more complicated.’
At first, he’d seemed like just another taciturn guy, but it turned out he’d been mute since birth and simply couldn’t speak.
That was why he carried a portable notebook and quill for communication.
[There’s no reason I can’t tell you what beautiful magic means to our academy...]
His face was so expressionless it lacked focus, but the moment he picked up the seven-stringed zither symbolizing Harimun Academy, his whole demeanor changed.
A sharp blade-like glint shone in his eyes—one only seen in those who treated magic with utmost seriousness.
[People say the Rigwind type handles sound with magic, but that’s backward. We wield magic with sound.]
- ...?
[You know how mana has invisible wavelengths, and those wavelengths touch the laws of nature to manifest supernatural phenomena?]
The Rigwind type had always used sound to embody those wavelengths for casting magic.
Harimun Academy, among zither-wielding schools, used the seven-stringed qin with the most overtones.
Wavelengths and pitches suited to fire-attribute magic, intensities and vibrations fitting earth-attribute spells... it could embody all those beauties.
[The range I can handle spans seven octaves.]
- Octaves?
- In musical scales, it refers to an interval of eight degrees up or down★
Whether Nora explained or not, Cayden kept scribbling in his notebook.
[The ferocity of fire and the tranquility of water, the vastness of earth and the crispness of wind... I can express them all in the music I desire.]
- ...!
[Honestly, the moment I heard the theme... I was certain I’d win. I don’t care much about the top spot, but sorry—not holding back with my master here watching.]
He’d just experienced a feast of sound far richer, more brilliant, and more beautiful than even the Yanarbo he’d met during the [Reda Cable] security detail.
The world of magic was vast indeed—he felt that anew, moved to the point of losing track of time in his agonized contemplation.
‘Christa has a massive visual edge, and Cayden’s absolutely superior on the auditory side...’
With only a day left, could he bridge this enormous gap?
Christa had said it: a lifetime of accumulation.
Cayden probably had the same years backing his skill... Magic was always honest, after all.
‘What do I have that they don’t?’
From his Lin days, his specialties were offensive spells that shattered enemy lines and defensive ones that countered them...
‘No—before thinking beautiful magic, what does beauty mean to me?’
Pin that down first. Beautiful things, things he’d thought beautiful...
‘If it’s beautiful... Rista?’
No, recalling a person wouldn’t help. Not people—something... things he’d seen or heard that nearly brought tears to his eyes?
- Lin, over here! Look at these flowers!
Suddenly, Rista’s voice brushed his ear, and the blade piercing his soul shuddered, flooding him with pain.
- A flower field too romantic for a charm-deficient kid like you, Lin.
Right. Yeah, Fride.
That flower field we saw together that day... it was too beautiful for kid-me to even comprehend.
A smile born of longing welled up. At the sound, Pipi, who’d been dozing on Rain’s head, woke up.
“Pipi, remember that flower field we saw before crossing the continent?”
“Flower field, flower field, flower field.”
Chuckling, he slipped on his ruby glasses and pulled out his writing tools. A gift from Kasena.
The gleaming red crystal gathered the dim night light, focusing it wherever his gaze fell.
Even under midnight lamplight, his eyes felt unbelievably comfortable... He could probably pull an all-nighter studying without issue.
“I’m thinking of recreating that flower field with magic. Wanna watch and compare?”
Dandelions blooming across the horizon.
Birds chirping like songs.
Rista’s steadfast yet warm hand pulling his arm... the most beautiful landscape of his life, that day—he’d try rendering it with magic.
* * *
The second-year finals, excluding the top spot battle, wrapped up too. With only pre-selected students left, the results were predictably lackluster.
Advancing were Sandra Kepel, Triwis, and Aldin—all midterm top, second, and third.
This poured even more hype into the first-year finals dubbed the golden generation, filling the Dragon Hole Field stands from morning.
“Delaiten first-year first-semester final exam top spot finals—introducing the combatants now.”
At Vice Chancellor Kyle’s words, after getting the okay from the announcers, the stands fell deathly silent.
“Midterm top: Cadet Rain Ludwig.”
As the black-haired pretty boy stepped out at his name, the noise gradually built.
“Top admission and midterm second: Cadet Christa Warden. And midterm fourth: Cadet Cayden.”
A soil-haired beauty and the boy with a seven-stringed zither on his back followed, sending cheers skyrocketing to shake the stadium.
“This year’s first-year top spot finals theme: [Beauty]!”
Beauty... The eyebrows of Chaihak Academy’s vice dean in the stands twitched faintly.
“This feels less like a three-way and more like a one-on-one between Warden and Harimun.”
Owen, the professor beside him, nodded in agreement.
“If some other dumb bastard were top cadet, I’d agree...”
“Hm?”
“But this one’s a goddamn mystery. With that goddamn smartass in the top seat.”
Most spectators predicted Christa or Cayden, but no one could deny a sliver of hope for what if.
Why not?
Rain Ludwig’s terrifying multi-calculation prowess in qualifiers had already seared an indelible impression across the magic world.
“Rain...”
Brim clasped her hands prayerfully, gazing at her son’s back. Recalling her own days standing there.
‘Unlike midterms as internal eval, finals factor in external too—it’s no exaggeration. Magic world reps are watching.’
That structure made final top mean more than midterm top. Claiming it before everyone.
“Mom, don’t worry too much! Big brother looks so calm!”
Seri pointed at Rain’s face, but Elin shook her head firmly.
“Calm expression, sure—but his head and heart are rowdier than these stands right now.”
She could say it for sure, having competed in these top spot finals every year in school.
Up there, everything pours in.
Morning sunlight, five thousand pairs of eyes, emotions mixed with favor and malice... Overcome it all to unleash peak magic.
“Hoo...”
Christa Warden lightly clenched and unclenched her right fist, exhaling deeply.
Settle it here...
Her eyes met Professor Carolline’s across the stands—the master who’d guided her for nearly a decade.
‘Don’t tense up too much, Christa.’
‘I’m not.’
She’d kept her parents away. They’d just be laughingstocks... But even that humiliation ended soon.
‘Just one last wall to climb.’
She glanced at Rain Ludwig. The scion of nobility standing at a desk sans chair, like her.
“......”
From the judges’ seat, Professor Kyle watched the scene with nostalgic eyes.
‘Only a single brush and ink on the desk. Nothing else.’
The only sound: his heartbeat, like a broken clock’s second hand, relentlessly pressing and urging him.
‘Now, cadets can trust only the years they’ve built up till now.’
Peak tension felt only by those gunning for the top... Well, what result this time?
“Let the feast of beauty commence—shrouding Delaiten’s second sun!”
At Kyle’s shout, the three cadets raised their brushes almost simultaneously, competing.
Christa with noble grace.
Cayden with melody-like fluidity.
Rain with artisan precision.
As ink flecked the air from the three brushes, cheers hit their zenith once more.