Chapter 11 – Magic Contest (3)

As I returned to the shop, my humble yet precious building welcomed me home.

Every brick, every pillar bore the touch of my hands.

To think I might have to give up this damn place—no, not before there’s dirt in my eyes.

Truth be told, there were three simple ways to resolve this situation.

One: Track down the chairman, who’s probably lounging at some resort in the kingdom, and crack their skull.

Two: Go to the royal capital of Thessalon and crack the skull of King Baor, who left his overly curious daughter here.

Three: No need to go far—just head to the lord’s castle and crack Viscount Darling’s skull.

The more I thought about it, the more appealing it all sounded.

Why not do all three?

Plop, plop—

Dark clouds gathered, and raindrops began to fall.

With no time to rest, I hurriedly brought the items displayed outside into the shop.

I hooked the iron lever with a handle to the ring connected to the eaves and turned it clockwise. The creaking awning spread out, pushing away the rain.

After a few students grumbling about the late rain bought umbrellas and left, the shop became quite empty.

Looks like business is done for today.

“Huh?”

That’s when I spotted Adela standing outside in the pouring rain.

She had her eyes closed, composing a spell formula.

Having elemental material nearby when using elemental magic was quite helpful.

Her water-colored hair, plastered to her forehead and ears, and her closed-mouth expression that I’d never seen before, created an unexpectedly elegant figure.

Plop, plop, plop.

The raindrops around Adela gradually rose, forming a round sphere.

It was the 1st-rank water magic, Water Ball, that Ansen had used before.

Strictly speaking, it’s not that she has no talent…

She’s not so insensitive that she can’t detect Mana, nor is she so dumb that she can’t understand spell formulas.

But Adela’s magic always failed.

This time was no different.

“Ah-choo!”

Splash!

The moment her concentration broke, the round water bomb fell straight down onto Adela.

Finally opening her eyes, she looked this way and grinned broadly.

“How was that?”

“Shower magic? You succeeded.”

“…”

“Come inside, it’s cold.”

I threw her a towel I’d been using for cleaning, and she happily dried her hair with it.

Her once-wet hair poofed up, looking like a dog’s fur.

Meanwhile, her small lips kept moving, constantly muttering something—she was trying to find the error in her magic just now.

I don’t get why she’s trying so hard when the Rochear count’s family probably doesn’t have to worry about making a living.

“Hey, Airhead.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so desperate to use magic well?”

“I’m going to get married.”

“What?”

My brain momentarily stopped at this unexpected answer.

Adela then explained the process of noble marriages in the Kingdom of Pennheim.

When a noble daughter comes of age, she debuts in high society through introductions from acquaintances or friendly families.

You can’t get invited to balls or exhibitions just based on outer beauty.

You need something that proves you won’t lower the party’s quality—and the most representative of these is magic, the best means of showing both knowledge and power.

Of course, if you win the magic contest that tests these magic skills, you’ll naturally receive love calls from high society.

That was why Adela was trying so hard to use magic.

“Also, to debut in high society, you first need to socialize with like-minded people in salons.”

“Is that why you went to Ansen?”

“Yes. I kept getting kicked out of the salons our family has been running until now.”

“Why?”

“Because I fall asleep during tea time.”

“…”

“I have food coma, hehe.”

This is ridiculous. The reason for learning magic wasn’t to master the powerful Unique Magic of the Rochear family, but just to add one line to her marriage resume.

But I had one question. Not all nobles go into high society, and it’s not like you can’t get married without debuting through a salon, right?

“Can’t you just marry anyone?”

“I don’t like stupid people.”

This is driving me crazy.

“And I’d like someone with at least a count title, if possible. Otherwise, he’d become a son-in-law of the Rochear family.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t like the cold North Sea. When I was little, I almost died falling asleep while having tea in the garden.”

You’re just living because you were born, aren’t you?

I understood Adela’s grand dream well enough. In fact, I didn’t really care why she was learning magic.

Right, let’s deal with the chairman first.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

As I made some cocoa for the half-wit magician, I casually brought up the subject.

“I’m going to leave the academy for a bit to find the chairman… But I can’t leave the shop empty.”

Liv, who showed interest in the basement, was out. The princess was out of the question.

Currently, Adela’s danger level was the lowest of the low.

She showed no interest in what was inside the shop, and even if I left, no crazy workers would dare demolish a building with a Rochear lady inside.

“If you watch the shop for me, I’ll teach you magic.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just don’t touch the second floor or the basement.”

Even to my own ears, it sounded like a sweet devil’s whisper.

Adela hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll do it.”

Okay. Deal done.

“But where is the chairman now?”

Adela asked as I was getting ready to leave immediately.

“I don’t know. There must be a few resorts around here.”

“Then how are you going to find her?”

“I’m not going to find her…”

I grinned and said. I clearly warned that she’d regret this.

“She’ll call for me.”

***

Diphnea, a quiet suburb about three days by carriage from Farencia, was a city filled with natural hot springs, entertainment facilities, and resorts.

Among them, the Gartadia Inn, a huge seven-story wooden building next to the Ruhillen trading post, boasted the best service.

The private open-air bath outside the top floor room offered a panoramic view of the entire Calcedia Ridge, and the various delicacies served at each meal included rare ingredients from near Calzeb.

It was a place that could be called paradise without exaggeration, and here, Lehel Darad, the headmaster of Farencia Academy, was sitting comfortably in an armchair after refreshing her body.

As the periodically vibrating magic stone behind her back loosened her meridians, her mood was about to soar.

Several crystal balls in the room were broadcasting the “Monster King Battle,” a competition between monsters managed by each magic tower.

“Oh, come on! Please, hang in there, Grand Canyon!!”

A beast resembling a rhinoceros with three horns on its head was about to push its opponent.

Lehel, who was not only the headmaster of Farencia Academy but also the master of Merak Tower, recalled her memories with that creature.

When it took its first steps, when she fed it baby food, when they looked down at the scenery together from the top of the tower.

“I bet all my blood money on you! Please!!”

Perhaps her desperation was conveyed, as Grand Canyon used all its strength to push the opponent outside the line.

Just as victory was about to be announced, Lehel felt the image projected on the crystal ball tilt slightly.

“Huh? What’s this? A communication problem?”

Tap tap.

She hit the crystal ball, but the slightly tilted angle didn’t return to normal.

It seemed she wasn’t the only one who felt this strangeness, as people reflected beyond the screen also looked around.

Boom—!

And then came a deep, resonant sound.

Realizing something was wrong, Lehel sent the familiar connected to the crystal ball outside the tower.

And then—

“Huh?”

She discovered a familiar man pushing her Merak Tower with his bare upper body.

In normal times, the idea of a tower with all sorts of defensive magic being pushed by human hands would be laughable.

However, Lehel’s hands trembled as a terrible past came back to life.

That moment when she rashly accepted the offer to become the headmaster of the newly built academy from that crazy bastard King Baor.

She regretted her past self who was blinded by money, but that wasn’t the problem now.

“Oh, shit!!”

Startled, Lehel opened a <Teleportation Gate>. Then, to prepare for the impending disaster, she rummaged around the room and found a hair tie.

Without time to dry her still-damp silver hair, she tied it tightly and, as the teleportation gate began to glow, she immediately prepared to meet the shop owner.

She had only one chance. Clasping her hands together and positioning herself near the wall, she bent her waist sharply.

Zzzzing—!

“Hey, headmaster…!”

“I’m so sorry!!”

She executed a perfect deep bow.

***

It didn’t matter what she had done wrong. It didn’t matter if her shower robe rode up, revealing her underwear.

She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for Louis’s reaction.

If he was angry enough to tilt her tower, it meant he was quite furious.

“…Sigh.”

Judging by the size of the sigh, he wasn’t as angry as he was then, but still.

When the academy’s construction first started, the king didn’t tell her who was in Farencia.

He warned her to be careful, but Lehel, confident in her abilities, had ignored it with a snort.

It was a time when she believed there was no one on the continent she should fear except Terra Ernisten, who was called the great mage.

So when she saw a squatter who kept refusing to move, she got annoyed and blasted him with a Meteor spell in a fit of anger.

The consequences were devastating.

The parents of Grand Canyon, who had been a promising star in Merak Tower’s Monster King Battle, died that way.

“Headmaster. Are you going to keep doing this?”

“I’m so sorry!! I have no excuse!!”

“Stop using that cutesy speech. It makes me want to forgive you because it’s cute.”

Is that saying he’ll forgive me? Or not? Or is he saying I’m cute…?

“No answer?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean, but I’m sorry!”

“…”

“Um… I feel a draft down there…”

“Back to position.”

“Yes sir!”

Breathing heavily with a flushed white face, she swallowed hard as she saw Louis come through the <Teleportation Gate>.

His whole body was covered in scars.

Some were from bites by magical beasts or demons, but others were geometrically and intentionally created.

The white-haired magician felt terror from those.

Because she knew whose spell formulas they were, and what they were engraved for—

“Look, headmaster. I know you’ve been cooperating with me well.”

“Y-yes? I even put things in the school rules…”

“Right, though it doesn’t seem very effective since kids these days don’t read the rules.”

“That’s true, haha. Kids these days…”

Despite looking barely over twenty, Lehel was quite old.

If that could be a common ground with Louis, she felt no need to be young.

“Actually, I don’t like to tattle to parents or complain to the headmaster about every little thing. I usually solve things on my own. But this time, it seems the line has been crossed a bit.”

“What line…”

He looked around the messy room with a displeased expression.

It was the best room that Viscount Ruhillen, who never spent money unnecessarily, had somehow willingly provided.

“I heard that ownership of the shop came up as a reward in this contest. That shouldn’t happen.”

“What? That can’t be right. The shop was never royal property in the first place…”

“The student council approved it? Princess Erzebet told me directly.”

“Ha, haha. I’m sorry. If it’s true, it seems some punishment is needed. I’ll look into it and take care of it.”

Lehel felt a strange sense of déjà vu from Louis’s words. Why did he hear this from the princess, who wasn’t a member of the student council?

But that wasn’t important.

Originally, it was best to just deliver results to superiors rather than adding various explanations.

“Good. Explain it clearly to the princess too. If you can’t handle it, I’m going to the royal palace next time.”

When it couldn’t be handled. Lehel had personally experienced what happened then.

Louis didn’t actually go to the royal palace.

Instead, when three towers were broken, Terra Ernisten, who hadn’t been seen for five years after the Demon King’s death, sent a message through Horus’s Lighthouse and resolved the situation.

Saying that the collapse of the towers was a terrorist attack by demon remnants and had been successfully suppressed.

“Yes~. Don’t worry. Should I open a teleportation gate for you? To the academy?”

“No.”

At Lehel’s words, Louis let out a small sigh and said,

“I need to finish this properly this time. To Farencia’s lord’s castle.”

“Understood! See you later then.”

Lehel saw him off with a bright smile.

After Louis disappeared and the situation calmed down, she quickly grabbed a crystal ball and turned on the Monster King Battle she was watching earlier.

Then she frowned and covered her face with her hands.

“Damn… Lost again.”

Grand Canyon was miserably defeated.

If he was going to knock down the tower, he should have pushed from the opposite side…

“No, this isn’t the time for this.”

Lehel’s expression had turned fierce as she raised her lowered head, removing her hand from her face.

And as she threw off her crumpled white robe, she instead put on a pitch-black magician’s robe.

“He was so cute when he was young, but now he’s just full of mischief. I wonder if he takes after his father or not.”

What was attached near her chest was a rusty and old Four-Leaf Clover Medal, the Grand Officier.

The rosary on her left hand was a supreme magical tool made by grinding the teeth of a dragon that no longer exists.

“Teleportation Gate. Connect to Erzebet Brunhard’s location right now.”

Lehel Darad.

Master of Merak Tower, one of Pennheim’s seven great magic towers, and headmaster of Farencia Academy, the kingdom’s top educational institution.

And—

“I’ve been thinking since the Great War, but I guess this life is really screwed. Kids these days just don’t listen.”

One of the five grand dukes who created Unique Magic.

“Maybe I need to half-kill them for them to come to their senses.”

The Reincarnation Duke.