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~Chapter 24~
“Deliman. I’ll be going out for a bit.”
“Rain, is something wrong?”
“I just need to step out for a while. Tsk tsk.”
Deliman, who ran the Lash Information Guild, tilted his head at Rain’s unusual attitude.
“We heard that the imperial palace is searching through our guild today, so you should be careful.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine. Come with me then.”
“Hm, should I?”
Deliman decided to trust Rain, who always had a good sense about things.
Before Diego disappeared, Deliman had also found Rain after she was thrown out. He trusted her because of her loyalty—he knew she would never betray Diego.
Deliman, a retainer of the Cellion family, managed to rescue all the servants and knights that Ruet kicked out, not just Rain.
Because of this, the Lash Guild gained a lot of members, and they all helped search for the missing Diego.
“Let’s check over here.”
Rain, holding her back, pointed down the right alley.
“This is the bookstore, isn’t it? We closed it after seeing Lady Astia last time.”
“Yes. Nobody else knows that.”
Deliman silently followed Rain to the bookstore, but when they arrived, he opened his eyes wide.
In the corner of the alley by the bookstore, someone wearing rags was gasping for breath.
As they approached carefully, his face came into view.
It was Diego.
“Prince Diego!”
“Oh my, we need to call someone quickly.”
As Rain and Deliman rushed to help, Diego, who was breathing irregularly like he had fainted, whispered softly.
“…A…sti…”
That was the last word he spoke.
“Asti, do you want to learn magic?”
“Huh…?”
Astia, who had been spending her time idly, looked at Damian with a puzzled face.
“All of a sudden?”
“Yeah. I recently hired a magician for a short period. I thought you could learn some self-defense magic, but only if you want to—don’t overdo it.”
Astia’s ears perked up at Damian’s words.
She was already getting bored of spending all her time in the library, and her coughing had gotten better, so she was thinking of trying something new.
And now—magic! Would she be able to do what Ian did, like make barriers or turn into an adult?
Excited, Astia asked Damian,
“Is the magician from the Magic Tower?”
“Ah.”
Damian thought for a moment, then nodded.
“He’s from the Tower, but he hasn’t gone back in a long time. He’s skilled, so don’t worry. The vice-master already checked his abilities.”
“Vice-master… that means…”
“Alves. The tower master has been away a lot lately.”
Astia felt a bit uneasy, but tried not to show it.
“You’re only going to learn basic magic. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”
“I’ll try meeting him first.”
“Will you?”
Damian’s worried face brightened up.
Astia followed Damian to the parlor to meet the hired magician for the first time.
When she entered, the magician stood up slowly and pulled back his hood.
“Nice to meet you, my lady. My name is Jasper.”
“…?”
Silver hair and gentle golden eyes.
Astia knew who he was.
“Ian?”
Astia was stunned to find herself standing next to Ian in the training yard.
Damian returned to his office for work, and Haron was standing guard at a distance. Astia whispered,
“Wait, Ian. Why are you here? And what does it mean you’re working here short-term?”
She knew Ian, the Tower Master, was too bored to even go to the tower, but she didn’t understand why he suddenly got hired at the Rovellito house.
But Ian’s answer was totally unexpected.
“It looked fun.”
“…?”
“And I was curious.”
Ian blinked as if nothing was wrong.
“Curious about what?”
“Your magic power. Your illness. Everything about you.”
Ian stepped closer, his golden eyes shining.
“When I look with magic sight, your power is so weak.”
“You came all the way here just to check that?”
“Yes. The Rovellito house has a device to detect forbidden magic, which is annoying. I could break it, but then they’d know I’m here.”
Astia quickly changed the topic when Ian’s eyes sparkled dangerously.
“But Ian, why are you speaking like a child? Did you…?”
Ian looked up and blinked quickly.
“If I act like a kid, people like it. Isn’t that true?”
“…I guess so.”
Astia sighed and held her aching head.
What was going on?
She used to meet Ian in the garden—now he was her magic teacher, hiding as just any magician. What would happen if Damian found out?
“So, are you going to learn magic? Didn’t you say you wanted to learn magic circles?”
“Me? Oh…”
Astia suddenly remembered.
Back then, she only said that to get away from Ian. The memory was embarrassing, so she decided to play dumb.
“Did I? I don’t remember…”
Ian immediately shot back,
“I have a great memory. You just sat still and moved your mouth…”
“Wait! I-I remember now! Yes, I want to learn magic circles!”
“Hmm. Okay. I’ll teach you the basics first.”
So, Astia got a crash course in magic from Ian.
First, before learning magic, they checked her magic power with a device. The number was hopeless.
“…It’s a miracle you’re alive. The tool has never made this error before.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yes. But I think I can teach you magic circles. They barely use any power, and you said you wanted to learn.”
Ian shook his head and showed her how.
He drew a star-shaped magic circle in the air, adding all kinds of shapes.
It only took three seconds.
Ian moved his hands quickly, and Astia just watched in amazement.
“See? It’s easy.”
“How do you do that?”
What was he talking about? He finished a complicated magic circle in a blink.
“…Humans are all the same. Nobody understands me. Not even at the tower.”
“Well, I think every beginner is like this… Unless you’re a different race or something. Are you?”
“Me? I’m half-dragon.”
“…What?”
“My mother is a dragon.”
Astia was in shock for a long time.
‘Wait, he was serious?’
No wonder he always said the tower was boring and made the vice-master do everything.
He finished the magic circle easily and expected her to understand.
Half-dragons were said to use magic as easily as breathing, even from birth. Of course, a half-dragon would be frustrated by humans.
“I guess I have no talent for magic.”
“I think so too.”
That hurts…
“Wait. I want to check something. Give me your hand.”
Astia, almost giving up, let Ian take her hand.
He pulled her hand to the magic circle he just made.
Swoosh—
Suddenly she felt something leaving her body, and her face turned pale.
“Gasp.”
“Tsk. It’s no use.”
Ian stopped moving magic power, and the dizziness faded.
“What did you just do? I almost died!”
“I just took some magic power. Sorry, I didn’t expect you to have so little that you couldn’t even activate the magic circle. You’re really interesting.”
Ian’s curious gaze was fixed on Astia.
He looked at her like a research subject…
Astia realized she could use this chance to ask Ian about her magic.
“Ian. I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Can a person survive if they have almost no magic power?”
“No. A normal human body needs some magic. If you have a lot, you can become a wizard. But you seem to be an exception.”
Ian shook his head as he checked Astia’s magic power.
“You won’t be able to learn magic. I’ll tell Damian.”
“Is there ever a case where someone suddenly gets magic, or their power wakes up later?”
Ian stared at her and shook his head again, without a moment’s hesitation.
“No.”
“…That’s harsh.”
Astia’s first magic lesson ended much sooner than expected.
