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chapter 30
“Tell him not to be ridiculous.”
Hearing those absurd words, I froze on the spot.
‘W-what?’
I hadn’t even revealed my full power, but I’d used a secret trump card! Did she really have to dismiss me so coldly?
‘Canis Escleif… just what kind of life have you lived?’
Grumbling inwardly, I awkwardly pulled back the hand I had stretched out.
Asphodel Luxellroad.
When I first saw her in the lecture hall, I didn’t recognize her.
Of course not.
She wasn’t even mentioned in the original novel, let alone treated as an important character.
‘I only figured out she was related to Canis because I remembered the surname.’
My “Archmage’s Brain” skill couldn’t perfectly reconstruct all of Chae Ji-woo’s memories.
After all, I hadn’t read the novel with the skill.
Thanks only to my enhanced cognitive abilities did I recall that Canis’s mother was originally Yuria Luxellroad.
‘And Luxellroad was a ducal house, not much inferior to Escleif.’
It was odd enough that such a house didn’t even appear in the story.
Anyway, the current Duke Luxellroad had only one child—Asphodel Luxellroad.
By blood, that made the Duke my aunt, and Asphodel my cousin.
‘But it seems relations are sour after all.’
Well, Yuria died not long after giving birth to Canis, so from the Duke’s perspective, I probably wasn’t someone she could look kindly upon.
Classic romance cliché, right? The mother dies giving birth, and instead of blaming the husband, everyone heaps hatred on the child…
“Sigh, I guess befriending her is impossible.”
Eventually, I plan to bring down the Duke of Escleif and take that seat for myself.
My will, in other words, will be Escleif’s will.
So I wanted to establish good ties with the Luxellroad house for the future, but it seemed that would be difficult for now.
Narrowing my eyes, I thought:
‘As long as she doesn’t openly antagonize me, it’s fine.’
I just hoped that wouldn’t happen.
After all, killing such a beautiful girl would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Watching her retreating back, I turned on my heel and left the waiting room.
‘I should go see Mei.’
The Department of Magic had a total of 401 students.
There was still a long time left before the next match.
By the time I realized how tough it would be to find Mei in the vast spectator stands—
“Unnie!”
“Wah!”
I was suddenly grabbed from behind by someone who hugged me tight.
I staggered, but then felt warmth.
The first thing that came to me was joy.
I turned around, expecting to see Mei’s sparkling blue eyes.
Instead, I was met with a rather bewildering sight.
“Unnieee… sob…”
“M-Mei?”
Was she… crying?
Why?
I’d never comforted a crying child before, so I just flailed my hands stupidly.
“Uh, um, I mean…”
‘What am I supposed to do?’
The more I hesitated, the harder Mei wept.
“Waaahhhh!”
“…!”
Her loud sobbing turned my mind blank.
“Uhh-buh-buh.”
Honestly, fighting a pack of guys like Marco Crab would be easier than soothing this crying little sister.
Then, perhaps sensing my panic, Mei suddenly clutched the back of my neck, still crying.
My head lowered, and her silky silver hair spilled into my vision.
“…Haah, I was trying not to cry.”
I heard her sniffle.
I stiffened and listened closely.
“Until just now, it wasn’t this bad. But seeing you like this in person… it hit harder than I thought…”
I felt her trembling breath against my neck.
“Harder than I thought…”
She stopped there.
Then, she released me, wiping her face with her sleeve.
“Sorry. That was so unsightly, wasn’t it?”
She gave me a small smile, then lowered her gaze.
Honestly speaking… I would never truly understand someone like Mei.
She’d known me for less than a month, and yet she could approach me so wholeheartedly.
‘Just how pure can she be?’
And yet, it didn’t feel bad at all.
“No. Not at all.”
If anything, it just left me flustered.
Because Chae Ji-woo’s family never cared about me like this.
Awkwardly, I placed my hand on Mei’s head.
“Rather… I’m glad you care about me.”
“…Huh?”
Her blue eyes widened.
Like a rabbit, I thought. Then suddenly she grabbed my hand and stood on tiptoe.
“What did you just say?”
“Uh, wh-what?”
“Say it one more time!”
Her energy was so intense that I stumbled back.
“Unnie?”
“Ahem.”
Well, she wanted it so badly—saying it again wouldn’t kill me.
I averted my gaze upward and mumbled:
“…I said I’m glad you care about me.”
“Again!”
“I’m glad you care about—”
“Just once more…!”
“Enough already!”
I lightly pushed her away, and she burst into giggles.
‘Seriously… saying things like that is so embarrassing.’
“You are embarrassed, aren’t you? Hm? Unnie?”
“I don’t know.”
Footsteps rang behind me as she trotted after me.
I deliberately slowed my pace to match hers, and she followed close at my heels.
“Haah…”
Something in my chest felt warm and ticklish.
Day 1 of the tournament.
Unless two prodigies happened to face each other by bad luck, preliminary matches usually went one of two ways:
Either they dragged on tediously, or they ended very quickly.
Claude Escleif clearly belonged to the latter.
[Victor, Claude Escleif!]
“Pathetic.”
He withdrew the flames that had scorched the arena.
‘Tch. I really wanted to see what state Canis Escleif ended up in.’
The preliminary matches were held at separate venues for each grade.
Spectators could watch freely, but unfortunately Claude’s match had overlapped with Canis’s, so watching his cousin’s fight was impossible.
‘It’s probably over quickly anyway. Just in the opposite sense.’
Checking his wristwatch, Claude left the arena, feeling much better thanks to the screams of the boy he had burned horribly.
“Yo, Claude! That was impressive.”
Andrew Findil, who had been waiting in front of the waiting room, approached.
“As expected of the Vice-Top of the Department of Magic—you never disappoint.”
Claude didn’t actually dislike the flattery, but he still furrowed his brows and said,
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
“I’m embarrassed it even took five minutes against trash like that.”
Andrew’s eyes widened at his arrogant remark.
“What are you saying! That guy might be easy for you, but he’s still mid-ranked in our grade!”
“Hm…”
“If it were me, it would’ve taken thirty minutes at least.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Claude finally nodded, satisfied.
“But… doesn’t it seem like there are fewer people around Arena B today? Did something happen?”
Claude Escleif was famous at the academy—both for his skills and his looks.
Having beaten out older seniors to claim the rank of second in the entire department, his matches were always popular, even in the prelims.
Canis Escleif’s matches also drew attention in a bizarre way, but not everyone enjoyed watching an underdog get trampled.
In fact, except for certain types of people, most preferred watching a protagonist’s overwhelming performance over a one-sided massacre.
Thus, Claude’s dazzling flames were always beloved.
Even for preliminaries, such a sparse audience was unusual.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Oh—Leon!”
Claude looked over at another friend running toward them.
Leon’s shirt buttons looked ready to pop from his bulging belly.
“I told you not to run, it’s disgracef—”
“Pant, pant…! That’s not important right now!”
“…Did you just interrupt me?”
Claude’s brows drew together.
Though born illegitimate, he couldn’t stand his noble-born friends—sons of counts and viscounts—challenging his authority.
It all stemmed from the inferiority complex of being a duke’s son in name only, without any rightful inheritance.
“I clearly told you before, don’t cut me off—”
“Canis Escleif awakened!”
Claude froze.
Tick, tock.
Only the second hand of his expensive wristwatch filled the silence.
Ten seconds passed before Claude burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! What is that, some new kind of joke?”
“N-no…”
“Well, it was amusing enough.”
He patted Leon’s plump shoulder condescendingly, like a boss indulging a subordinate.
“Next time, try to be more creative.”
“It’s… it’s not a joke.”
“Hey, that’s enough. Dragging it out isn’t funny.”
“Claude.”
Leon’s serious expression didn’t change. Slowly, Claude’s bright smile faded.
Gulp. Someone swallowed audibly.
In the silence, Leon delivered the final blow.
“Canis Escleif is now… a mage.”
Claude’s face twisted into a grotesque scowl.
