Chapter 59 - Classmate

On our way back to the mansion after finishing training that hardly seemed like training, Silveryn stopped the carriage in front of a hill.

She got out of the carriage and gestured for me to follow.

Then, she left the carriage path and entered a forest trail.

As Silveryn walked, she said to me, "Remember this location well. You'll need to come again."

Our destination was a cemetery with about ten gravestones. Dense forest blocked the view around the site, and the gravestones were covered in weeds and moss, seemingly long and untended.

"When you enter Eternia, you'll be assigned two dormitories. Along with my mansion, you'll need to move between these three places as needed."

Standing before the central gravestone, she continued, "And sometimes you'll need to visit my mansion wearing the mask. Entering through the front gate like that would raise suspicion. This place is for such times."

Silveryn gestured for me to stand closer.

"Place your hand on this gravestone and say, 'My body to the earth, my soul to the Archmage.'"

I placed my hand as instructed and called out, "My body to the earth, my soul to the Archmage."

Soon after, the ground behind the gravestone vibrated and opened, gradually revealing a hidden passage.

Silveryn stepped first onto the stairs leading underground.

I followed her down.

The underground was a long, straight stone tunnel.

After we had fully entered, the entrance closed by itself.

Magic stone tiles lit up with blue light beneath our feet as we walked.

After about ten minutes, we came to two stone doors blocking our path.

Silveryn guided me to the doors and said, "Push them."

The thick stone doors opened easily with little force.

A familiar space awaited us beyond the doors.

It was the mansion's cellar, lined with dozens of oak barrels full of wine.

"Use this passage when wearing the mask."

"Understood."

"And once the semester starts, I'll often be away. When I'm absent, you're this mansion's master."

"...Me?"

"Yes."

"Then... what changes?"

"You'll manage the mansion and receive my guests in my place."

Silveryn's guests? I’m not sure if I can handle that.

"The butler will manage all minor matters. But you'll need to directly judge and handle important matters."

"Important matters..."

"You'll have to judge the importance of matters yourself."

I wondered if she was giving me too much responsibility beyond my station.

"...What if I sell the mansion?"

"If you think that's the right decision, do it. I'll praise you for good decisions and scold you for bad ones. I'm not demanding perfection. It's okay to make mistakes, so use it as you need."

She really is entrusting me with full authority.

It wasn’t like I’d throw parties every day like a dissolute noble. Just properly receiving occasional visitors shouldn't be much trouble.

"I understand."

"Hierarchically, it's right for the authority to pass to you. Actually, you're first in line to inherit my assets," Silveryn casually said this while stroking my head.

"..."

I barely suppressed words that almost reflexively burst out.

I was just taken in as a disciple. I couldn't even inherit her magical abilities or knowledge to continue her lineage.

Yet she spoke of inheritance.

I wasn't in such a position. Silveryn didn't seem to mean it as a serious discussion either.

Rather than specifically designating me as the primary heir, it seemed closer to meaning she had no blood relatives left at all.

***

Bertrand looked at his hand of cards and said, "When's she coming?"

"Who?"

"That short-haired girl."

He meant Trisha, who had been on his team during the entrance exam.

Cecil narrowed her eyes. It was obvious Bertrand was trying his best to appear disinterested.

Cecil shook her head and said, "Give up. She's already taken."

Bertrand flinched and said, "What... do you mean?"

Elias, playing cards beside them, gave Bertrand's back a hard slap.

A crisp sound rang out from Bertrand's thick flesh.

"Ouch!"

Elias said teasingly, "Hey, I heard she's not coming because you make her uncomfortable."

"...What did I do?"

Cecil joined in on teasing Bertrand, "Seems she was uncomfortable with you constantly trying to take care of her."

"This is crazy, I was just helping. Why misunderstand that?"

Bertrand looked at his cards while anxiously shaking his leg under the table.

"But what do you mean she's taken?"

"Don't know. She's still young. Says something about having a destined one or whatever."

"Destined one? Good grief."

Bertrand bit his lip and dejectedly put down his cards.

"I'm dead."

Cecil also threw her cards on the table.

"I'm out too."

Elias collected the pot while saying, "Hey, Bertrand's going to cry in bed tonight."

Bertrand asked gruffly, "What do you know?"

"I could tell from your expression when we said Trisha was taken."

Bertrand rolled his eyes in momentary confusion.

"My... expression was what?"

Cecil crossed her arms and calmly delivered the knife.

"Bertrand isn't the type to be popular with women."

"Hey, aren't I decent enough? An Eternia acceptee who's intellectual enough to handle alchemy..."

Elias shook his head in disgust, "If being good at alchemy made you popular with women, alchemists would dominate social circles."

Alchemists, who were often single-minded with strong eccentric tendencies and self-awareness, were social circles' top avoided targets.

"And your weight is..."

"My parents and maids always told me I'm handsome!"

"That's the chronic disease of young nobles raised hearing only praise in wealthy families. Look at yourself. If you were really handsome, your name would already be circulating in Rigbed."

"If we asked people on the street, wouldn't some know me?"

"You're not being serious, right? Do you think you can compare to guys like Hubert, Geordi, or Damian?"

"Who are they?"

"Guys famous for their looks."

"Have you seen and compared them yourself?"

"Yeah, I saw Hubert recently."

"Hubert?"

Elias frequently attended small gatherings of entrance exam students where he had made acquaintances.

The main activity of these meetings was discussing topics like who was handsome or who would be the top student.

Hubert was a name that often came up in discussions about who was the most handsome among incoming students.

Hubert Colgrim.

Though he had distant dwarf ancestry and their physical traits had been passed down, only Hubert in the Colgrim family was born beautiful without dwarf traits, earning him the nickname “Mutant Hubert”.

"Where did you see him?"

"He was walking around Rigbed's herb market recently. With his family."

Contrary to Elias's expectation, Cecil seemed unimpressed.

"He definitely stands out. But I could see why they don't consider Hubert the best. I saw him too at the market. Damian."

"...Damian?"

Cecil showed interest in this. It wasn't curiosity about appearance. Damian was a figure shrouded in mystery, having the strongest backing among those with recommendations while showing the least activity.

Bertrand cut in with an objection, "How do you know it was him? Did you even talk to him?"

"No, but I could tell. I thought those rumors were just exaggerations. But just look. You'll know right away, 'Ah, that's him.'"

"What does that mean?"

"Something... like, once you see him, you can't forget his face."

Bertrand pressed the point again.

"It could've just been some decent-looking passerby."

"He was riding in an Eternia professor's carriage?"

"..."

Silence fell at the mention of an Eternia professor. If Elias was right, that meant it was the Archmage's carriage.

Even the fact that someone like the Archmage was staying near Rigbed felt strange to them.

And becoming such a figure's disciple was hard to imagine.

"Hey, is it true he's the Archmage's disciple?"

"Yeah. The Wigel? Wiesel? Those guys told me."

Bertrand said, "I don't know about anything else, but I can't believe this Damian guy is her disciple. What did he do to get under her?"

A name impossible to ignore for anyone interested in magic. Countless nobles and mages would gladly pay a fortune for even an hour alone with her, and many applied to Eternia hoping to attend her classes.

Damian was monopolizing a position mages dreamed of and aspired to be in.

Elias said with a grin, "His face probably played a big part? Even I would think, 'Ah, better put a leash on him first,' right after seeing him."

"Hey, if she's the Archmage, she could pick the continent's finest pretty boys and make a village, why settle?"

"Maybe she already has a village and picked the most outstanding pretty boy as her disciple?"

"You're crazy. That's blasphemy and sacrilege."

Elias shrugged.

Bertrand firmly closed his mouth and shook his head as if refusing to engage with such nonsense.

Cecil muttered quietly, lost in thought, "More than that... this Damian guy seems suspicious."

"How?"

Cecil hesitated to answer Elias's question.

Bertrand seized the opportunity to speak first.

"I think so too. Isn’t it strange that the Archmage's disciple is in the Combat Department, to begin with? Plus, this year's Combat Department is exceptionally high level, so he seems to fall short."

They had already confirmed during the entrance exam that there was another student of the same caliber as Sion and Gale.

With three talents entering the Combat Department this year when usually only one such talent appeared every three or four years, it was hard to stand out without exceptional ability.

Cecil lit a tobacco leaf. She remained lost in thought without saying anything.

Her suspicion of Damian wasn't due to his unique background or unclear abilities.

Cecil exhaled smoke and said, "Trisha seems very interested in Damian. Even though they have no connection."

Bertrand's expression instantly twisted.

"...What?"

***

Liria knocked on Damian's door carrying a basket full of letters.

"Come in."

She entered his room carefully, making no sound with her steps.

Seeing what Liria brought, Damian said, "Ah, thank you."

"These are letters that accumulated since you were away during the entrance exam."

"That many?"

"Yes..."

Liria placed the basket on Damian's desk and took out the most important letter from her chest to hand to him.

"And this too."

The letter she separately prepared was decorated with a golden ribbon and bore Eternia's seal.

Damian's eyes grew somewhat serious seeing it.

He quickly broke the seal and opened the letter.

"..."

After reading it, Damian sighed deeply.

Liria asked hesitantly,

"Um..."

Damian carefully folded the Eternia letter and stood up, picking up the basket of letters.

"Yes. What is it?"

"When you enter Eternia... you'll be staying in the dormitory, right?"

"Yes, what I just read was the dormitory assignment notice."

That meant they would have to be apart during the semester. Liria's face fell.

Damian stood in front of the fireplace and checked the sender of each letter in the basket. Then he threw them into the flames without even checking their contents.

"Then during the semester... Ah, no!"

Liria interrupted her question and frantically tried to stop Damian.

Like master, like disciple—his behavior was becoming more and more similar to hers.

"Damian seems so caring sometimes, but other times you're really, really cold."

Liria felt somewhat sad, thinking any letters she sent to Damian's dormitory would meet the same fiery fate.

She practically snatched the basket away and said, "I'll keep these just in case."

"...That's not necessary. What were you trying to ask?"

"Ah. So, does this mean you won't come to the mansion during the semester?"

"No, the professor entrusted me with managing the mansion, so I'll visit often. And sorry, but I'll probably need to rely on Liria during the semester too."

Liria's face brightened again. She shook her head and answered spiritedly, "No, I don't mind! Come often. You must!"