Ch.94Genius Mage (2)

“Are you out of your mind or not? A Windsor Duchy heir acting so undignified!”

Ruide was kneeling and nodding off drowsily.

Amelia’s face turned bright red.

“A-and Rui. You’re too young to be doing such things!”

Hersy nodded with a serious face.

Ruide rubbed his eyes that kept closing.

With one eye half-open, he said:

“Sis, you’re overreacting.”

“This little brat, really…!”

Amelia grabbed Ruide by the back of his neck and lifted him up.

“I’m going to tell Mother and Big Sister everything about this.”

‘That’s a bit much.’

Ruide said defensively:

“I was just sleeping. I didn’t do anything.”

“T-that’s only natural!”

Amelia, feeling her emotions getting too heated, took a deep breath and put Ruide down.

‘No, the one I should be scolding isn’t my brother. It’s this woman who felt sexual desire(?) for such a small and cute child.’

Ruide was a baby.

Plus, he was much smaller than the average 12-year-old.

Amelia’s target shifted to Ella.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not normal. You look like an adult, but are you in your right mind to have romantic feelings for such a small child?”

Hersy’s innocent shoulders flinched.

Ella waved both hands in great confusion.

“I, um, that’s…”

She couldn’t speak properly.

Well, the person before her seemed too high-ranking for her to even dare look at.

“Don’t talk to my assistant like that.”

“…Assistant?”

“Assistant…?”

Both Hersy and Amelia were taken aback by Ruide’s unexpected words.

“Stop making a fuss, both of you, and sit down here.”

Ruide pointed to an empty sofa. At his calm words, the two looked at each other and nodded.

“First… Ame sis. Do you know about the incident where Klein Minerva cheated?”

“…Hersy told me about it.”

“Then this will go quickly. Her name is Ella.”

Ella hurriedly bowed.

“She’s the one who wrote the submission that Klein Minerva turned in.”

“…!”

Hersy’s pupils trembled slightly.

“Are you saying my brother… copied from this person?”

“Rather than copied, he stole it.”

Hersy’s face hardened with seriousness.

“If you attended my class, you’d know that submission was the most perfect one I saw that day. I can’t just let such talent go to waste, can I, sis?”

He turned to look at Amelia.

“Remember how His Majesty ordered us to form a knights order? He said to gather promising talents, right?”

Lucius had attached several conditions. It seemed less like stating what he wanted and more like trying to ease the burden.

1. It should be a small, elite group.

2. Consider that there are many useful people among existing personnel.

3. Select mainly promising talents who will prove their worth within 10 years.

Ella was included here. Ruide wasn’t the type to help someone out of mere pity.

When he helps, he helps thoroughly. He had thought about Ella’s future too. It’s her choice, but if she has nothing else to do, the Imperial Knights isn’t a bad option for a mage.

“That’s… right.”

“So I hired an assistant. Ella has talent, so I want to nurture her. That’s the full answer.”

Ruide stood up after saying this.

Amelia looked disgruntled.

“Still, sleeping with a strange woman is…”

‘What’s with this Joseon Dynasty mindset? This is clearly medieval times.’

Still, since she was his sister, he decided to explain properly.

If he were in the opposite situation, he probably would have killed the other person.

“I simply liked how soft she was.”

“Soft…?”

Hersy blinked and lowered her gaze.

“……”

Then she looked back at Ella’s chest area.

Hersy fell into great despair!

“…What about you, sis? I have you.”

Amelia was no less soft.

“You’re wearing armor most of the time.”

She couldn’t refute that. It was true, after all.

She sweated a lot during training. Sometimes when Ruide wanted a hug, she refused, worried he might find it unpleasant.

But she couldn’t help feeling displeased.

Though she understood intellectually, her instincts rejected it.

“…Are you serious?”

So Amelia asked.

“Yes.”

Ruide nodded more firmly than ever.

Amelia sighed.

“Fine. But take responsibility until the end.”

Ruide said with a bright expression:

“In that spirit, sis. Let her live at our house.”

“Hey!”

Amelia, her patience snapped, lunged at Ruide. Ruide ran away, moving his short legs as fast as he could.

**

Ella was sweating like a waterfall.

“Seeing how comfortable you were at Dellin’s Lake, you seem skilled.”

“I’m not worried about that part. Well, Ruide wouldn’t have misjudged.”

Dellin’s Lake.

Amelia and Hersy were staring intently at Ella.

‘S-scary. But I must endure.’

This was a qualification test.

A test to see if she could stay by the fairy lord’s side.

“I’ll… work hard.”

“She says she’ll work hard?”

“Yes, Hersy. She still doesn’t seem to know much about Ruide compared to us.”

The two looked somewhat proud.

Ruide, who was sleeping nearby, glanced at them.

‘Wow… how ugly.’

“Ahem, I’m not trying to be territorial, but…”

Amelia spoke awkwardly, feeling Ruide’s gaze.

“As Ruide’s sister, I naturally think there are basic things I can demand.”

Ella gulped and nodded.

-Actually, I’m a bit lazy. I can’t help you get along well with each other. So don’t get on their bad side. Especially my sister’s.

She recalled what Ruide had told her earlier.

It was a very reasonable statement.

She was already useless enough; if his family disliked her too, there would be no reason to keep her.

She might not be able to be a plus, but she shouldn’t be a minus. That was Ella’s life philosophy.

“Above all, while Ella is Ruide’s assistant, my words take priority. I clearly outrank Ruide. Please remember this.”

“Yes!”

Ella enthusiastically answered and prepared to take notes.

“First, Ruide is a young lord. If he tries to sleep on the street, please stop him or move him. If he refuses, report it to me thoroughly. And…”

‘Like you can do that yourself.’

Amelia listed her wishlist with a bright expression, but most of it was things she couldn’t do herself.

Like correcting him when he’s too lazy, or making sure he doesn’t cancel classes he’s scheduled to teach.

‘Is that even possible?’

Ella was a commoner. Plus, she had a timid personality.

There was no way she could do such things.

“Yes! I’ve written everything down. Fortunately, there’s nothing difficult.”

After diligently noting down Amelia’s requirements, Ella answered resolutely.

“But about this part. The part about stopping him or moving him if he tries to sleep in an undignified place.”

Amelia was taken aback by how confident Ella seemed.

“Yes.”

“…Would I dare touch the fairy lord?”

“Yes. It’s fine. Ruide doesn’t mind people touching him. If he dislikes it, you can stop from then on.”

“Yes!”

Ella burned with passion as she reviewed the notes she had taken.

“But looking at what I wrote, it feels more like taking care of a child than being an assistant… Ah! I-I meant to think that to myself but it came out loud. I’m sorry!”

Ella had a personality that couldn’t lie.

‘…Calling the master a child? This won’t work.’

Ruide felt sorry for Ella.

So he wanted to make her happy.

That wasn’t a difficult task.

But… her recent comment changed his thinking a bit.

‘I’ll show her the dignity of a professor.’

From his previous life, he remembered the faces of graduate students.

They all looked somewhat haggard.

That would be Ella’s future.

**

‘The haggard one was me.’

Ruide was lying sideways on the floor of the professor’s office.

He couldn’t take any more.

“Ahem, ahem.”

The tall Ella cleared her throat as she walked around Ruide.

“…If you have something to say, say it.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Ruide spoke, and Ella immediately responded.

“Um… is there anything else I can do?”

“No.”

“But…! I can work harder…!”

“No.”

“I want to work…!”

Ella was a workaholic.

It was obvious. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have finished two months’ worth of paperwork that he had brought as a test in just two hours and then asked for more work.

‘She’s too competent.’

The documents were brought nominally for Ella to not get bored while he slept.

He thought a commoner who couldn’t do anything wouldn’t be able to handle a professor’s work, so despite the hassle, he taught her a bit.

But…

After teaching her, she would complete the paperwork in 5 minutes, and this repeated countless times.

In the end, he was the one who gave up first. Moreover, they ran out of paperwork.

At this point, it was time for the last resort.

Ruide sighed and got up.

“Sit down.”

“Yes!”

Ella sat down and straightened her back.

Ruide stood on his tiptoes and took a sheet of paper from the desk.

He scribbled a magic circle, half-heartedly.

“Here.”

“This is…?”

“A magic problem.”

It was a problem that would improve magic skills just by solving it. For that reason, the core part of the magic circle was left blank.

Ella’s eyes widened as she received the magic circle.

“Can I really solve this…?”

“That’s why I gave it to you.”

“But, things like this are only allowed for nobles…”

“This is the Academy.”

Ruide yawned and curled up on the fox cushion.

“The most equal place in the world.”

And he gently closed his eyes.

It would take at least 10 hours to solve that…

“?”

Feeling a presence, he opened his eyes to see Ella kneeling before him.

Holding out the magic circle.

Her expression suggested that if she had a tail, it would be wagging 20 times per second.

“What is it?”

“I solved it! Please grade it!”

“…?”

Ruide momentarily thought:

‘Is she mocking me?’

Even though he had a poor sense of time, he knew that not even 5 minutes had passed.

Ruide took the magic circle with a disgruntled expression.

The problem was-

“…It’s correct.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

It was correct. And perfectly so.

Magic circles are like essay questions. The answers can vary greatly depending on the person.

The difference lies in how excellent they are, but Ella’s answer matched his perfectly.

‘Is her magical level higher than I thought?’

Ruide gave another problem.

The previous one was 4th rank.

This one was 5th rank.

It would take a 5th rank mage about 20 hours to solve this level of difficulty.

Ella received the problem with a bright face and scribbled without hesitation.

She completed the magic circle without a moment’s doubt.

The time it took was about 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Ella held out the magic circle with both hands, her expression bright.

“Please grade it!”

Ruide’s face turned pale.

It seemed like he had picked up something extraordinary.

**

‘Ugh, my head.’

He barely managed to get rid of Ella.

Even as he kept increasing the difficulty, she kept up, so he finally gave her an impossibly difficult problem and left.

Creak.

Ruide opened a door and entered somewhere.

A dark room.

Someone was lying in the bedroom.

It was Klein.

Ruide sat in front of him. Klein was sleeping as quiet as a mouse.

“She’s more amazing than I thought.”

Ruide held up his staff.

He closed his eyes while poking Klein’s temple.

“But you couldn’t do more than that with such an incredible person? You must have been quite talentless. I got angry giving her problems. Having such talent under a fool like you is a national loss. That’s why you’re being punished now.”

Ruide calmly opened his eyes.

“Still, I’m too kind to kill you like Irene would.”

He stared at Klein.

“Instead, it’s a magic that will make you sleep for 200 years. If you’re destined to live longer than 200 years, you might wake up.”

He smiled brightly.

“Of course – assuming you don’t go insane during that long time.”

Klein was awake.

More precisely, only his “mind” was awake.

That’s why Ruide kept talking to him.

For a long time. Until death, forever.

He will feel every minute and second of time passing while alive.

“Goodbye. Take care, Klein.”

Ruide waved his hand and walked back the way he came.

A tear rolled down from Klein’s eye.