Chapter 26
The flower that survives the cruelest beasts tends to raise its thorns.
But flowers that raise their thorns cannot embrace one another in the coldest winter.
***
Adults' conversation only ended in the late afternoon.
The head butler briefly turned his gaze out the window after the meeting.
Even the clouds had gathered over the city that rarely got sunlight, blurring day and night together.
So he moved his gaze from the window to his wrist.
6:24 p.m.
“…Won’t you stay a while before you go?”
The head butler asked Shen, who was wearing his coat.
But Shen answered while wrapping a scarf around his neck.
“I’m fine, sir.”
“It’s late. And with snow falling like this, if you were to go missing out there, it would be bad enough for Young Master and me to lose face.”
When the word ‘Young Master’ came out of the head butler’s mouth, Shen’s shoulders gave a start.
But soon he shook his head and declined the butler’s invitation.
“I may not be a mage, but I do have enough skill to be called a wizard. A little snow like this isn’t a problem.”
Shen murmured a low incantation.
“Coalor carpolaris, sungel.”
With that brief spell, a faint warmth rose from his skin.
“As long as I’m not setting fire outside my body, I can raise my body temperature without a magic tool. More importantly...”
Trailing off, Shen tightened his scarf.
“I still don’t have the right to be under his protection.”
“…It wouldn’t be right for me to insist when you’re uncomfortable. All right. Travel safely.”
“Thank you, sir. If you ever need us again, call anytime.”
Shen bowed his head and left the reception room.
Standing by the window, the head butler watched Shen disappear into the city’s white darkness.
For a while, the head butler’s gaze followed the thin line drawn across the white snow.
And by the time that line carved into the snowfield was covered up again.
The head butler drew the curtains over the window and turned off the reception room lights.
***
Time passed.
By the time the force of the blizzard had finally begun to subside.
“Brrr, it’s cold. This is insane.”
Erica left the annex, clutching her coat closed.
Today was her regular checkup day.
It was the day she was to meet Julian for management of her chronic condition, PNH (paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria), as well as her heparin injections.
Normally, Julian would come to the annex for house calls, but today he had business in the main house and summoned her there instead.
Crunch, crunch.
She pursed her lips as she walked through the snow that sank up to her ankles.
‘Of all days, why does it have to be a checkup today?’
Even though the blizzard’s fury had lessened, the wind was still biting.
Erica sniffled and walked toward the main house.
The main house stood on the opposite side of the garden, across from the annex.
“Why does the hallway have to collapse of all things...?”
Originally, there had been a proper roofed corridor connecting the annex and the main house, one that kept out the rain and snow.
But it could not withstand the weight of the blizzard that had been pounding down like mad for days, and half the corridor roof collapsed with a roar last night.
As a result, the corridor was completely closed off, and the only way to get from the annex to the main house was to cross the open garden directly.
Needless to say, Young Master Julian of the baron’s family could not possibly make a house call through this snowfield.
To be exact, he himself wouldn’t have minded, but it was impossible because some old butler had foamed at the mouth and objected.
As a result, the patient Erica had no choice but to brave the cold and go in for treatment herself.
“Ugh... why is it so far.”
Crunch, crunch.
After several minutes of crossing the garden, her footsteps crunching all the while.
At last Erica arrived in front of a four-story stone building.
‘Come to think of it, this is my first time here.’
In front of the building, Erica brushed off the snow clinging to her body and thought.
Since Erica had come to this manor, her range of movement had been completely limited to the annex.
The first place she woke up after arriving at the manor had also been the annex, and the place she came and went from for work afterward was also the annex.
For someone who had lived on the streets, even a two-story brick house with her own room felt cozy enough, so there had been no reason to go exploring the main house.
And then today, by a rare chance, she had set foot in the main house.
“Wow... what kind of ceiling is stuck to the sky like that.”
The moment Erica opened the main house door and stepped inside, her mouth fell open.
Because a cozy space filled to the brim with the light of brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling stretched on endlessly.
“But was the manor this big?”
As she looked down the corridor lined with marble statues and gilt-framed paintings, she tilted her head.
The baron’s manor had looked huge from the outside too, but it didn’t seem nearly this vast.
But her question didn’t linger for long.
At the end of the long corridor.
A small figure walking toward her from far away caught her attention.
It was a tiny girl with her silver-white hair neatly braided down.
‘Wow, there was such a cute kid here?’
Erica was a girl too.
A girl just on the cusp of adolescence, one who couldn’t resist cute things and wanted to befriend anyone her age.
To her, that small and adorable little girl was an existence she simply could not pass by.
The child was bowing politely to an old maid passing by with a feather duster.
— “항█ 고██니다, █████”
— ”██고! 아██요!”
It was too far away to hear what they were saying, but it was clear the child was greeting the old maid.
Seeing that scene, a perfectly reasonable conclusion snapped into Erica’s head.
[A little kid speaking very respectfully to an old maid] = [the brand-new youngest maid].
It was a very reasonable and valid conclusion.
The corners of Erica’s lips curled up.
Unlike other noble families, the Nihirit family had an unusually low turnover rate among the servants.
Because of that, it was rare for new servants to come in before someone retired at the mandatory age, and as a result Erica was still the youngest in the annex.
For a full two years, even!
But that sad life as the youngest was about to end now.
‘I have a junior now too!’
Erica wore a mischievous smile and crept up behind the child.
Then, putting on a somewhat sly grin, she suddenly struck up a conversation.
“Heeey, where did this cute young lady get lost?”
Erica used the smooth-talking tone she had picked up from the ringleader’s underlings.
At a tone that didn’t match her voice, the startled child jerked her head around.
Her transparent glacier-colored eyes widened round as they met Erica’s.
“Eh...?”
“Did you get lost because it’s your first day?”
“What do you mean...”
“I’m sure the family here are all good people, but even so, if you’re a servant, wandering around too much isn’t good.”
“Big sister...”
Before she knew it, Erica unconsciously grabbed the child’s cheeks and stretched them.
For a brief moment, a thought flashed through her mind—was it okay to do this to someone she’d just met?—but that too quickly vanished.
Once she felt the blissful softness in her fingertips, manners became unimportant.
“Waaah...”
“Huweee...”
“Ah, what was I saying again?”
“U-um...”
“Right. Where do you belong? The kitchen? Or the laundry room? Just tell me. If you let me touch your cheeks, big sister will take you there.”
Stretch.
Erica happily pinched and tugged at the little girl’s soft cheeks this way and that.
The silver-haired girl had her face turning tomato-red as she could only mouth soundlessly.
At that moment.
“Erica.”
A familiar voice came from behind her.
Erica’s hands, which had been enthusiastically kneading, froze.
Her head slowly turned, and she spotted Julian standing behind her.
The teacher wore his usual faint smile.
But for some reason Erica felt a chill run down her spine.
“Uh... T-teacher?”
“I had planned to come out to greet you since it was right about the appointed time, but I never expected to find you like this.”
Julian’s gaze moved to the child whose cheeks Erica was holding.
“However, Erica. Just like with me, it seems you need to learn how to treat people you meet for the first time carefully.”
Erica tilted her head.
“Huh? What do you mean...”
Julian ignored Erica and spoke to the silver-haired child.
“Freya, are you all right?”
Freya.
The moment she heard that name, Erica’s mind went completely blank.
Even Erica, who paid little attention to what was going on around her, had heard a thing or two.
Freya Nihirit.
The Nihirit family’s only daughter, and the young lady of this manor.
“Uh... um...”
“H-hello...”
Freya awkwardly greeted them, rubbing her reddened cheeks.
“You’re Erica... right?”
“...”
“I heard about you from my brother. He said you have outstanding talent as a mage...”
“...”
“My brother called me and Big Sister here because he had something to say to us...”
But Erica didn’t hear Freya’s cautious greeting.
After standing frozen like a statue for a while, Erica lowered her gaze for a moment, then held out her hand toward Julian and said,
“Could I maybe settle this with just my left hand?”
Bonk!
Julian flicked Erica on the forehead.
***
“Ow ow ow...”
In my room.
Erica sat in a chair, rubbing her red, swollen forehead.
“Roll up your sleeve.”
“Y-yes...”
I sat Erica down on the small chair and immediately prepared for the examination.
In the meantime, Erica looked around my room.
“I wondered why it felt familiar; it’s similar to our clinic.”
Indeed.
My study was closer to a clinic than to the study of an elegant young nobleman.
After all, I had been organizing patient charts and research records in my room, so by the time I came to my senses it had started to resemble a clinic.
I briefly shifted my gaze over Erica’s shoulder.
Behind Erica, on a leather sofa set in the corner of the room, Freya was sitting.
“So this is what your brother’s clinic feels like...”
Freya nodded slowly after hearing Erica’s words.
Even so, she was still rubbing her stinging cheeks and sneaking glances at Erica.
An awkward atmosphere hung between the two of them.
“...”
“...”
And what broke that silence was Erica, of all people.
“Ow!”
I jabbed her arm without warning, and Erica let out a cute yelp.
“This isn’t your first injection, is it?”
“But still, give me some time to prepare myself!”
“You just tense up your muscles when you prepare yourself.”
“But injections hurt.”
“Tensing up makes it hurt more...”
Having finished the injection as smoothly as flowing water, I pressed a piece of cotton over the spot and said,
“Press down on it.”
“Mhm.”
While Erica pressed on the cotton, I looked at Freya, who was sitting beside her.
“Freya, you too.”
“Yes, brother.”
After Erica took the hemostatic cotton and backed away while rubbing her arm, Freya sat down in the chair.
I placed a hand on Freya’s forehead, checked her tongue once, and felt around her neck.
Hmm. Everything was normal.
“Freya. Has the coughing at night gotten any better?”
The moment I spoke to Freya, my voice softened by about half a tone compared to when I addressed Erica.
Because to Erica, I’m a slightly stern teacher, but to Freya, I’m the kind brother character.
Perhaps noticing the difference, Erica puckered her lips.
But I ignored that wordless protest and used the back of my hand to check Freya’s temperature.
“Yes, brother. After taking the syrup medicine you made yesterday, even my sore throat is all better.”
“I’m glad. Still, for the next few days, don’t go out into the cold wind.”
For reference, the syrup I gave Freya was thyme syrup.
Originally, I’d planned to use ginger, but Freya just couldn’t stand the smell of ginger, so I changed the ingredients.
…Tsk.
Even inside the manor, ginger was hard to come by.
Still, my father and mother seemed to like it, so we decided to use it in fish dishes.
“All right, then let’s finish up with the checkup.”
I closed the chart and turned my chair around.
Truthfully, I had called Erica and Freya here for another reason.
Freya originally only had a simple cold, so she didn’t even need my examination.
What had led me to call both of them at the same time was none other than ‘magic.’
“Erica. You’ve learned to read runes too, and Freya, you have too, so I’d say now is the time to start learning exception handling.”
Exception handling.
It was the very foundation of foundations in magic, a way to make sure you yourself or your allies wouldn’t get caught up in the spell you cast.
Originally I had planned to teach Erica as soon as she arrived at the manor, but since Erica couldn’t actually read, the timing had been pushed back a little.
And since Freya had also come of age just in time, I decided to teach Freya along with her.
“All right, then I’ll teach you the basics of exception handling.”
“I have a question!”
Erica shot her hand up before the lesson had even started.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be another tutor instead of you, teacher?”
“Look out the window. Do you think a tutor could even make it here?”
“Ah.”
“Then let’s begin again.”
Immediately, I rose from my seat and walked up to the blackboard.
Taking the chalk in hand, I began writing on the board without the slightest hesitation.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
The sound of chalk running across the blackboard echoed through the room.
「Si jactor = amicus, tunc effectus = nullus.」
「Si jactor ∈ {socii}, tunc damnum → 0.」
「Si objectum.signum = [protectum], tunc penetratio = negatur.」
「∀x ∈ zona_effecti : (x.factio ≠ hostilis) → exemptus(x)」
「Quando vis_refluxus > θ, tunc jactor.exemptus = verus.」
「Si tempus_initii < t₀, tunc omnes_socii → salvus.」
「∃y : (y.distantia < r) ∧ (y.intentio = neutrum) → y.status = immunis.」
“... Huh?”
When I filled the portable blackboard with writing, Erica let out a dumb little sound.
“...Teacher, you have this memorized?”
“Of course. It’s basics.”
This wasn’t because I was special.
It was because all wizards tended to memorize formulas like this.
The only difference was that while other wizards usually memorized just one or two conditional clauses they used often, I had memorized every single one in more detail.
“Whoa...”
Freya stared blankly at my back.
Heh.
How about that.
Even if I don’t have the talent to be a mage, I’m confident I won’t lose to anyone in theory.
Do you think a genius who finished a three-year course in three months is some kind of joke?
‘Shishitapa (CC TAPA)... what came next again...’
Of course, I didn’t have the spare room in my head to brag while reciting the first letters of those formulas.
And so, after twenty minutes of nonstop chalking on the board.
Tap.
Only after drawing the final stroke did I set the chalk down.
‘Ha. That’s art.’
What I realized after reincarnating is that this body’s hardware performance is incredible.
Maybe because this is a fantasy world.
My head must have been soaked in magic power or something, because it worked so well.
‘What did I forget...’
What should I call this.
A memory palace?
Lately, I’d become able to use a vaguely similar technique.
And this formula filling the blackboard had been done with that technique too.
Anyway.
“All right, this is a collection of conditionals for exception handling.”
Tap-tap.
I tapped the blackboard lightly as I said that.
“When you cast magic, if you want it to avoid allies, you have to attach conditions like these to the formula. The combinations vary depending on the situation, and once you’re experienced, you can use only some of them...”
I tapped the chalk against the blackboard a few times.
“But at the very least, even if you can’t memorize all of them, you need to learn the basics firmly. That way the scope of your magic will change.”
“A-all of them?”
“All of them.”
Again, the reason mages are rare isn’t because of something else.
It’s because it’s extremely hard to even become a wizard.
The world isn’t kind enough for someone to become a mage on the strength of mere talent for sensing things.
‘It isn’t for nothing that when people mention mage talent, the families all rush to adopt them.’
I held out a sheet of paper to the two of them, who were overwhelmed by the writing, and said,
“Memorize at least the top five.”
“… Just in case, may I ask how long it took you to memorize this, brother?”
At Freya’s question, I briefly counted on my fingers.
Let’s see...
‘Since I memorized ten sentences a day...’
“Four days?”
At my casual answer, both of their mouths fell open.
Watching their reactions, I barely managed to rein in the corners of my lips.
This is why I just can’t give up the genius concept.