“Yes, Kaon! I’m already up.”
Her voice coming from beyond the curtain was more cheerful than ever. It was early morning—a time most people struggled with—but Alesia seemed to be in a very good mood.
Staring quietly at the curtain, Kaon spoke softly.
“Don’t come out today. Just rest.”
“I’m fine though?”
“Leonidas said you should rest today too. You fought a monster yesterday. You need at least a day off.”
“…If Lord Leonidas says so, I guess I have no choice.”
Though she responded meekly, clearly disappointed, Kaon didn’t feel good about letting her down—especially since it was rare for Alesia to be in such high spirits. But there was something he had to check.
Kaon opened his mouth as if to say something, then sighed and stopped himself. If he kept talking to her like this, he’d end up giving in to her wishes right away.
‘Just checking. I’m only going to check.’
Kaon turned and quietly left the room, his footsteps heavy.
The mage who had finished his inspection was heading back to his quarters without so much as a glance behind him.
Even though he had completed the mission with knights, he didn’t bother saying a word to them. He was the type who found conversation a waste of time and didn’t even respond when spoken to.
“Hey.”
So, naturally, he ignored the voice calling from behind.
After all, it wasn’t even clear if he was the one being called. It wasn’t worth wasting time turning around just to find out.
“Mage.”
But this time, it was unmistakable—and the tone was direct. Ignoring it would only lead to trouble, so the mage reluctantly turned.
As expected, the person calling him held a very high status.
“…Young Master?”
“That’s right.”
“What brings you to me?”
Since the other person was a noble from a duke’s family, the mage answered as politely as he could manage. It still didn’t sound very friendly, but that wasn’t his concern.
“I wanted to ask you something. Do you have a moment?”
“Ah, I’m sorry, but right now I’m a bit…”
“Wonderful. I appreciate your time. Come with me.”
His attempt at a polite refusal was briskly dismissed. Robbed of choice, the mage followed the young master with a sour expression.
Inside an empty room, Kaon shut the door and leaned against it.
He knew the mage wasn’t happy about the situation, but Kaon had no intention of letting him leave until his curiosity was satisfied.
“You asked how mages come to be?”
“That’s right. Can you explain it to me?”
It was a childishly simple question, and the mage frowned. Kaon was sure that if he were anyone else, the mage would’ve sighed or laughed in his face.
“It’s simple. You’re just born with it.”
“Born with what?”
“You’re born with mana.”
Still, the mage answered every question—perhaps because Kaon was a noble.
‘Born with mana…’
Kaon already knew that much.
“So if someone has no mana, they can’t use magic?”
“…Isn’t that obvious? How do you bake bread without flour?”
“I’d appreciate a more detailed explanation.”
The mage sighed at Kaon’s insistence, visibly irritated.
“To put it simply…”
He looked around the room, picked up a tablecloth, and then blew on it. The flimsy fabric fluttered in the breeze from his breath.
“See? I blew on this tablecloth, and it moved.”
Kaon nodded slightly, prompting the mage to continue.
“There’s something invisible in this space—even if you can’t see it. When I applied pressure with my breath, that invisible something moved and pushed the cloth. If there were truly nothing, nothing would have happened.”
“So?”
“That invisible thing is mana. My breath is the magic power. And the movement of the cloth—that’s magic.”
“You’re saying magic only happens when mana is triggered by magical power.”
“Exactly. You don’t feel pain unless you’re hit, right?”
He looked extremely exasperated, as if wondering how he could make it any clearer. He stared at Kaon like he was an idiot—until Kaon returned a cold stare, causing the mage to flinch and quickly look away.
“One last favor.”
“…You have more requests?”
His tone suggested he wished the answer was no, but Kaon pointed at a candle on the side table.
“Could you light that candle? I’ve heard you’re well-known for your fire magic.”
“You might not know this, Young Master, but using magic drains a tremendous amount of physical energy. Manipulating magical power is very difficult…”
“You’ll be compensated separately.”
“…If that’s the case.”
The mage finally gave in. He brought the candle, closed his eyes, and began murmuring an incantation in an unknown language.
As he did, the air around him began to subtly ripple like a heatwave. A faint green aura appeared around his body, swirling slowly.
Pop.
With the final word, the energy gathered and shot toward the candle, instantly lighting its wick.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“I won’t forget the promise.”
Kaon opened the door and stepped aside. Just as the mage was passing through, Kaon asked in a low voice:
“If you can’t generate magic power, then you definitely can’t use magic, right?”
“You’d best not ask that kind of question in front of a mage again.”
That was answer enough.
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. A lot of the knights are curious.”
“Since when did you start caring about what the knights think—ah, please don’t look at me like that. Looking down on me and glaring hurts my feelings.”
Morris playfully feigned hurt and then asked seriously:
“So you’re asking me to persuade Miss Alesia to show us some magic?”
“Correct.”
Kaon gave a short nod. After his Q&A with the mage, he’d confirmed that what he knew about the principles of magic wasn’t wrong.
All that remained was to see Alesia use magic one more time.
‘Maybe I was mistaken.’
He had watched her more closely than anyone—but even so, he considered the possibility he was wrong.
‘If so, I need to apologize.’
And if all of this had stemmed from his poor eyesight, then he would offer a sincere apology.
After all, how could it be? Seeing magic with his own eyes, and yet she wasn’t a mage? No one without mana could use magic. If it were possible, Ferdinand wouldn’t have been so obsessed with acquiring mages.
So all he had to do was confirm it had been a stupid mistake—and then apologize for doubting her.
“Miss Alesia!”
Kaon, waiting nervously, looked up at Morris’s excited shout. Alesia, just stepping out of the knights’ building, smiled brightly when she spotted them.
“Ah! Morris, Kaon!”
“I heard you were amazing yesterday. Oh, I’m devastated I didn’t see it for myself! If only I had been there, you wouldn’t even have had to lift a finger!”
Morris’s flattery was so smooth it seemed his tongue was made of butter.
Kaon, who had asked him to do this in the first place, briefly regretted it—but then Alesia’s clear laughter rang out.
“Ahaha, Morris, how are you so good at saying nice things?”
“Because I mean them sincerely. And nothing makes people happier than sincerity, right?”
“I’ve learned something new today. You always have something to teach me.”
“You’re the only one who appreciates that, Miss Alesia.”
Morris kept joking until he suddenly exclaimed:
“Ah!”
“What is it, Morris?”
“If it’s not too much trouble… could you show us some magic? I’ve been bragging about you so much, but some folks say I’m exaggerating.”
He clenched his fists as if furious.
“It’s nighttime anyway—if you could light up the sky with a firework, they’d all believe me.”
Then he clasped his hands together and looked up at her with sparkling eyes.
“Hmm… But I’m really not that great. Maybe they’re right.”
“Oh, please. To me, Miss Alesia, you’re practically a goddess.”
Alesia looked slightly uncomfortable at the sparkle in his green eyes.
Sensing that wasn’t working, Morris quickly changed tactics.
“Truth is… I just want to see it again. It’s so amazing. But none of the other mages would do it when I asked. They all ignored me…”
“Hm…”
“Please… just once. I’ll never be able to use magic in my life.”
He pleaded earnestly. Morris had gone way overboard compared to what Kaon asked—but maybe he was just enjoying the role too much.
“Alright, Morris. It’s not difficult anyway. You can stop begging now.”
“You’re truly an angel on earth! The one and only Alesia Ingelros!”
Alesia chuckled at his shameless praise.
Kaon was briefly captivated by her beautiful smile—but snapped out of it when she began chanting a spell.
A short moment passed, and Alesia raised her right hand toward the sky. Just like that day when she melted the monster’s core, flames burst forth and lit up the sky.
Boom!
“Wow! Truly the greatest mage of all time!”
Unlike before, the flames didn’t melt anything, but instead painted the night sky with dazzling fireworks. As the onlookers gasped and Morris cheered—
Kaon reached out and grabbed Alesia’s wrist.
“…We need to talk, Alesia.”
