Chapter 51
A moonlit night.
Carla—one of the kingdom's five most renowned mages, at least when it came to magic—was worrying at home.
Her usually unshakable, sharp eyes wavered.
There was only one thing she was worried about—
"I wonder if Uk-kun is all right..."
That's right.
It was none other than her own student.
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A boy who deliberately acted like a fool, putting on the mask of a clown and saying things like, "Me, I'm..."
Carla had taken that Ultos on as her student and begun training him.
Of course, Carla had seen something extraordinary in him.
The rare 【Space】 affinity.
So, thinking he must have talent, Carla taught him the basics of magic.
—But her student's talent exceeded her expectations.
"M-my student... what is that?"
In fact, Ultos's ability to pick things up was unparalleled.
And he wasn't merely learning the basics of magic.
For example, by using an MP-based calculation, he could accurately gauge his remaining magical energy—something that should normally be perceptible only by instinct.
"Huh? Then how much MP does Fireball use?"
"Around five, I guess. Though it might be a little less for someone with an affinity for it."
"Amazing," Carla murmured despite herself.
He could accurately name the amount of magic each tiered spell consumed.
At this point, she wondered if he could become a researcher.
Talent.
The heir to the Duke of Randall's family was an odd one.
Despite being a noble, he practiced swordsmanship.
She had once seen him training with a sword alongside a strangely imposing man named Enrique.
Most people narrowed their focus to whatever they seemed to have an aptitude for.
With talent like Ultos's, he should normally devote himself to magic...
But Carla found herself drawn to her student.
To the beautiful yet mysterious radiance dwelling within Ultos.
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"All right, my student. Try to imagine some kind of Space magic."
"Yes, understood..."
But what Carla found strange was the way Ultos used magic.
"Come up with any kind of magic you like."
When told that, ordinary children would come up with some cool spell.
Carla had once been like that herself.
So that was what Carla had expected, too, but—
"Huh? A wall in midair?"
Strangely, the magic her student came up with was simple, far removed from a child's fantasies.
Frankly, it was baffling.
Children's spells were usually overflowing with grandiose fantasy, and as people gained experience, those ideas were pared down to something simple...
Yet Ultos had come up with an extremely simple spell from the start.
"I-is this really okay? Couldn't it be something more... cool?"
"Well, I thought something practical would be better."
Ultos said with a smile.
—A sense of unease crept into her heart.
"Huh?"
Then a certain incident made Carla realize something decisive.
"C-could you say that again???"
"Ah, I said I deliberately depleted my magic..."
"..................Wha—"
The method Ultos described when he asked, "Is something like this possible?" was clearly beyond all reason.
Deliberately depleting the magic within one's own body, then increasing it as a result.
No, no, Carla trembled.
—That was forbidden...
Most of the kingdom's mages belonged to an organization called the "Association." And the Association had clearly established rules against certain practices.
"Experiments on the human body using magic are prohibited."
Naturally. You shouldn't do that.
Ultos's suggestion sailed right past that prohibition. One wrong move and the tissues throughout his body could go haywire and destroy themselves.
Even if his body was fine, there was no telling whether his mind could withstand it.
One wrong step and he'd die. Even if he survived, his mind could break.
It was an unbelievably dangerous method.
(Uk-kun... just how badly does this child want power???????)
Carla was terrified.
The amount of magic a person possessed was determined at birth.
So nobody ever thought of trying to change the amount of magic they were born with.
Just as nobody would try to grow another hand simply because having one more would be convenient.
What's more—
(Uk-kun, you already have plenty of magic!!!)
Carla wanted to say.
To begin with, this boy was skilled at using magic. So he should certainly have plenty to spare in terms of his reserves.
And yet this boy was seeking even more power.
That's right.
Thinking of it that way, everything made sense. That strange Space magic, and why he put so much effort into swordsmanship despite his talent for magic.
He sought nothing from magic but practical use.
Of course, perhaps he did have a talent for magical research.
But more than that, he sought power as a combatant.
"M-my student..."
Carla looked straight at the boy.
The boy smiled serenely.
And that was precisely why she understood.
This boy was trying to throw everything away.
Everything except power.
—That was the "Way of the Seeker."
The path of the asura, stripping away everything but the pursuit of power.
(Don't, Uk-kun...)
Carla knew.
Countless people had strayed from the path of humanity after pursuing that.
(There's nothing down that path... If you go too far, you won't be "human" anymore!!!)
And so, the next moment,
Carla was hugging the boy.
"Y-you'll die if you use a method like that...!!! I'll help you with anything, I'll do whatever you ask, and I'll stay by your side whenever things get hard...!!! So please, just don't do something like that...!!"
With tears in her eyes, she clung to the boy.
Come back to me, she thought.
"......Yes," came a voice.
As if to drive the point home, Carla took the boy's hand and pressed it against her chest.
"How is it?"
"What do you mean?!"
"My heartbeat. See? It's warm, isn't it, my student? The human heart is this warm."
"...Uh, yes."
Her student stared at her in bewilderment.
Carla found hope in that. He's still all right.
This boy could still turn back.
I have to guide him.
"She's a pervert..." Ultos murmured.
"Hm!"
A pervert.
She'd heard of them.
Women who repeatedly performed lewd acts on men.
Randall territory was safe, but things had gotten dangerous lately, so perhaps women like that were appearing, too.
"It's all right, my student."
Carla puffed out her chest at her student, who was worried about perverts.
While pressing Ultos's hand against her chest.
"I can even put up barriers, you know. I won't lose to a pervert, so tell me anything."
Surely that would put her student at ease.
—But,
"Huh?"
It left an impression on Carla that Ultos, who rarely lost his composure, was sweating nervously as he muttered, "...Yikes."
◆
"So he's in Lyon now..."
Remembering her exchanges with her beloved student, Carla gazed at the moon.
"He must be enjoying seeing his parents again after so long and sightseeing around the city... Or maybe since it's night, he's already asleep."
Of course, completely unaware that at that very moment her student was wearing a mysterious mask and waging all-out war against the Dark Guild, she was worrying.
How could she teach him, that boy, the warmth of human kindness?
And the method she came up with was—
"The warmth of people... Hmm! Maybe sleeping beside him...? That might work..."
First-rate mages had no common sense.
And, true to form, her thoughts were pretty...
—out there.
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Teacher Carla
→ An expressionless kuudere with explosive fantasies, an intensely devoted older heroine who's ridiculously easy to win over. A pervert who takes a younger boy's hand and presses it against her chest. She calls the protagonist "my student!" but only calls him "Uk-kun" when he's not around. She has a great rack.
Protagonist
→ "I want practical magic (something I can use as a stepstool to reach things up high or for other everyday needs)."
Enrique
→ He's more the young master's handler than anything, but Teacher Carla kind of dislikes him, thinking, "He's the reason Uk-kun took up fighting...!" He can probably start crying soon.
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I'll post twice today. There are probably about five or six chapters left in the main story.