Chapter 58…
“Ah, no! I’ll join His Majesty’s mage corps!”
“You need mana to be a mage.”
“Please check one more time!”
Bavian thrust her wrist toward Nillith.
Nillith frowned and lightly pressed the wrist with her fingertip.
“I told you, you don’t have any. Checking again won’t make it appear. You can’t be a mage.”
“Uu… uuhh…!”
Bavian’s eyes filled with tears, and finally, she burst out crying.
“Wh-what do we do…?”
Juruna gently patted Bavian’s back.
Even Elly was wide-eyed at the unexpected outcome.
This can’t be right— the three of them had to be in the mage corps together!
“I really can’t ever become a mage? Not at all?”
“Who knows? Maybe one day your mana will suddenly awaken, but that almost never happens. It’s not something effort can fix, so just live your life. If it’s your destiny, it’ll happen eventually.”
At Nillith’s “comfort” that sounded more like a curse, Bavian began crying even harder.
“Ugh.”
Nillith covered her ears and stood up.
“Okay, I’m leaving.”
“W-wait! Me too!”
Juruna hurriedly grabbed Nillith.
“You too?”
“Yes! I want to become His Majesty’s mage at least!”
Kids growing up in the royal palace sure dream big.
If she brushed her off, the girl would probably cling to her until she gave in, so Nillith decided to just get it over with quickly.
“Your arm.”
Juruna promptly placed her wrist on Nillith’s open palm.
Nillith focused half-heartedly. Playing along with these little beans was exhausting.
But since one of the “beans” was the king, what could she do?
“Please, please, let me have mana…”
Juruna murmured like a prayer.
Nillith snorted.
There was no such thing as, “If you try hard enough, or if a miracle happens, you can become a mage.”
You could get into the academy with effort, even if you weren’t smart—
but not the Mage Tower.
Mana wasn’t earned by effort. It was something one was born with.
Of course, the time it first appeared varied by person.
Some were born with it.
Some developed it gradually over time.
The amount of mana one was born with might remain constant for life, or it might grow.
But being born with a talent for magic at all was as rare as the birth of a genius.
Maybe one person per generation?
One or two in a whole kingdom?
Sometimes several appeared at once, sometimes none at all.
Now that Elly had appeared with immense mana, it was certain that the chances of anyone else with strong mana appearing were slim.
“…Hmm?”
While holding Juruna’s wrist and pretending to concentrate, Nillith blinked.
“Wh-what is it?”
Juruna asked, half in hope, half in fear.
Nillith frowned slightly and adjusted her grip on Juruna’s arm.
There was mana—faint, but there.
“You might be able to become a mage once you grow older and your mana increases.”
“!”
Juruna jumped up.
“R-really?!”
“Yeah, but not right now. If it increases as you grow, come to the Tower. If not, just live your life.”
“I’ll increase it! I’ll become a mage!”
“It’s… not something you can increase with effort…”
Explaining it wouldn’t help.
“…Well, do your best anyway.”
Not that Nillith knew what “best” would even mean in this case.
“Yes!”
That was enough to ignite Juruna’s determination.
“I’ll work hard and create mana! Waaah!”
Not to be outdone, Bavian shouted through tears.
Elly clasped Bavian’s hand tightly. Juruna joined in too.
“Yeah! Let’s all become super genius mages together!”
“Yes! The three of us will all be mages!”
“Mage Corps, let’s go!”
“…Ha, haha.”
Nillith laughed helplessly.
She wanted to escape this absurd, chaotic nonsense as soon as possible.
A “mage corps”? That was like saying “hot ice tea” or “sweet salt.”
Mages only gathered together when deciding punishments for one of their own who caused trouble at the Tower.
Still, Nillith didn’t bother correcting them.
There was no need to take children’s make-believe so seriously.
“Well then, good luck with your mage corps. I’m off.”
“Yes! Thank you, Great Mage!”
Juruna, who had been declared to have mana, shouted loudly.
Then she noticed the tearful Bavian again and quickly closed her mouth.
“Ah, I should go too.”
Clears, who had been silently watching, finally stood up.
“Huh? Clears?”
Didn’t he say he wanted to become a magic knight?
She’d have to ask when there was time.
But Clears simply shook his head.
“I don’t have time right now.”
Then he briskly walked out.
“Uh…?”
Elly turned to Bavian and Juruna, confused.
But neither of them understood Clears’s sudden behavior either.
As they exchanged puzzled glances, Clears exited Elly’s room.
Clears immediately searched for Nillith after leaving the room.
The tall mage was already far down the hallway, but it wasn’t hard to catch up by running.
“Great Mage!”
“What.”
Without slowing down, Nillith glanced sideways at Clears.
“Please check if I have mana as well!”
“You should’ve asked when I was checking the others. Why wait until now?”
“…I was afraid I wouldn’t have any…”
Clears’s shoulders slumped.
Truthfully, when Bavian was declared mana-less, he had been terrified.
Then, when Juruna was told she had some, the fear grew worse.
He’d realized—some people just couldn’t use magic, no matter how hard they tried.
And hearing that one of the others could made it even scarier.
If all three had been “no good,” it would’ve been easier to accept. But one being possible and another not… that was worse.
What if His Majesty only wants to play with those who have mana?
Not knowing would have been easier.
Being rejected with a “I don’t play with kids without mana!” would be unbearable.
But if he did have mana, he could stay close to Elly—share a bond, understand each other. So he had to know.
“Please, I beg you!”
“…These kids really think the Great Mage is some kind of servant.”
“No! We know you’re the Great Mage!”
“…The way you talk, you sound more like a knight than a mage.”
“I’ll be both a knight and a mage!”
At Clears’s bold declaration, Nillith laughed again. These kids were making her laugh more than she had in years.
A mage corps, a magic knight—at this rate, the royal family of Nerendis would birth a whole book of legends.
“Fine then. Let’s see this ‘legendary magic knight.’”
Nillith grabbed Clears’s wrist.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“…Wait, you actually have mana?”
“……! Really?!”
Clears’s face lit up.
But Nillith’s expression grew serious.
“Yeah. Have you ever noticed anything strange happening before?”
“Strange?”
“Like waking up to find your bed curtains on fire, or your glass shattering when you drank from it?”
“No?”
“…Really?”
Clears’s mana wasn’t faint like Juruna’s.
At this level, uncontrolled mana would normally start causing odd phenomena.
He was strong enough to begin training at the Tower immediately.
Of course, compared to Elly, it was like a creek to an ocean—
but still far greater than Juruna’s pond.
This might be something big. Three kids in one country, all with mana?
Nillith studied Clears seriously.
A legendary magic knight might actually be about to appear.
“Don’t go bragging about this anywhere, got it?”
“Huh… is it a secret?”
“Yes. If you tell anyone, I’ll drain all your mana myself!”
“Th-that can’t happen!”
Elly, being the king, wouldn’t do anything reckless. But other nobles? They’d absolutely try to exploit this power.
I should report this to the Tower immediately…
This was the sort of thing the entire Tower needed to know.
The last time they’d gathered like that was three years ago—
to punish a mage who’d accepted assassination contracts using magic.
If he’d pretended not to be a mage, they might’ve ignored it, but the fool had gone around advertising “magical assassinations” to distinguish himself from other guilds.
And he’d actually carried them out with real magic.
Assassination guilds weren’t exactly honorable places, so word hadn’t spread widely, but eventually rumors reached the Tower—
and soon, clients were directly requesting assassinations from the Tower itself.
If that kept up, the Tower would’ve been branded a “guild of assassins.”
A mage can do whatever they want, but not at the expense of the Tower’s reputation.
That assassin mage had been captured and locked away.
Nillith remembered clearly—she herself had sealed that chamber with a flame curse.
It wasn’t unheard of for those with mana to never come to the Tower,
but letting someone with this much power go unchecked could be disastrous.
If a person with such strong mana lost control, it could lead to catastrophe.
“Guess I’m running a mobile Tower service now,” Nillith muttered wryly as she started back toward her room.
And then—
“…Wait.”
She stopped walking.
Had she… forgotten something? Something important she’d just passed over without thinking?
