Chapter 35
Louis Miller, the 〈Barrier Mage〉, wore formal attire rather than the robe of the Seven Sages. When he saw the wine bottles lined up on the table, he sighed wistfully.
Mary Harvey, the 〈Star-Seer Witch〉, was an avid wine lover. That was why the finest wines were always served at the parties she hosted.
Louis had attended the party looking forward to that wine, but today he couldn't empty the bottles to his heart's content.
As he sipped the exquisite wine little by little, a voice called out from behind him.
"Yo, brat. You're awfully well-behaved today."
Recognizing the familiar voice, Louis turned around with a pleasant smile plastered across his face.
Standing behind Louis and puffing on a kiseru was an old man with a fierce gaze, thick eyebrows, and white hair.
He was Louis's master, 〈Purple Smoke Mage〉 Gideon Rutherford.
"Well, well, Rutherford-sensei. It's been a long time... Surely I'm always well-behaved, aren't I?"
When Louis greeted him with a flawless smile, Rutherford furrowed his thick brows and snorted contemptuously.
"You don't sound like the brat who used to bring wine bottles into the dorm without a shred of remorse."
"Please spare me the old stories. The 〈Flood-Control Mage〉-dono is here today."
At Louis's words, Rutherford gave a sly little laugh. "Aha."
The 〈Flood-Control Mage〉 Birdland Verde was a former member of the Seven Sages and the father of Louis's wife, Lady Rosalie.
In other words, since his father-in-law was in the same venue, Louis had to behave himself today.
"That incorrigible brat got married and settled down. You've mellowed out quite a bit."
"Could you say that in front of the 〈Flood-Control Mage〉-dono? Preferably while emphasizing how devoted I am to my family."
"Don't get carried away, brat."
Rutherford puffed on his kiseru and glared at Louis. His master was as abrasive as ever.
Louis had no intention of reminiscing with this foul-mouthed, rough-around-the-edges, fierce-eyed master, so he asked directly about what had been on his mind.
"Karla isn't attending today's party, is she?"
Rutherford's thick eyebrows twitched.
Karla was Louis's senior apprentice, 〈Star-Lance Witch〉 Karla Maxwell.
Karla was a former member of the Seven Sages and one of the few genuine geniuses Louis acknowledged. Her talent rivaled that of 〈Silent Witch〉 Monica Everett.
When Louis mentioned his senior apprentice, Rutherford scratched vigorously at his short white hair while holding the kiseru between his teeth.
Louis knew that this was the old man's habit whenever he was choosing his words.
"...She hates high society. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes, but today's hostess is the 〈Star-Seer Witch〉-dono, who was close to Karla. Besides, half the guests are affiliated with the Mages' Guild. I thought it wouldn't be strange for her to attend."
"...Who knows? I haven't heard anything."
Rutherford was by no means a poor liar.
If he chose to, he was a cunning, shrewd old man who could deceive Louis without changing his expression in the slightest. Louis had lost count of how many times this old man had put him through the wringer during his student days.
The reason Rutherford was being so conspicuously vague was that he was wavering over whether to tell Louis about the circumstances he was dealing with.
He had probably been sworn to secrecy by 〈Star-Lance Witch〉 Karla Maxwell.
"...This is a world where you never know what might happen. Make sure you raise your disciple properly. Has your disciple obtained his basic mage certification yet?"
With that, Rutherford puffed on his kiseru again. He was making an obvious attempt to change the subject.
Concluding that further probing would be pointless, Louis replied,
"Oh? Master, are you concerned about Glen?"
"He was a problem child in a different way from you. That boy who blew up my lab—has he become useful at all?"
"Yes, he somehow managed to obtain his basic mage certification. When he failed the written exam twice, I thought he was a lost cause... Apparently, a friend helped him."
Rutherford murmured, "I see," then tilted his head and looked up at the large glass window.
"So your disciple, now able to use magic without supervision, is flying around so energetically, is he?"
"...Yes?"
Rutherford jerked his chin toward the window.
When Louis adjusted his askew monocle and looked out the window, he saw his idiot disciple—or rather, Glen Dudley—flying energetically around with someone on his back...!
(What happened to slaying dragons, you idiot discipleeeeeee!!)
＊ ＊ ＊
Ray fled the room as though escaping from Raul and the others. Seeking a place where no one was around, he went out into the garden and made his way around to the back of the mansion.
The sky, which had been clear until a moment ago, was now covered in thick clouds, as though reflecting Ray's state of mind.
The wind was cold and damp. It might even snow.
Ray crouched beside a nearby tree and gently removed his formal gloves.
Ray's entire body bore countless curse spells, and curse marks surfaced across his skin like tattoos. They writhed and changed shape in response to his emotions, as though the marks themselves were alive.
Even now, the marks beneath his gloves had begun to change, growing darker and thicker.
There was a strange sensation in his face as well, so the entire left half of it was probably covered in raised marks.
"Ah, no, calm down, calm down, calm down..."
Magic requires logically constructing a spell formula and pouring in the necessary magical power; only then does it activate.
Curse magic, on the other hand, could be activated by incantation; some forms were triggered by emotion and activated against the caster's will.
The stronger and heavier the emotions infused into it, the more powerful the curse magic became—that was the greatest difference between magic and curse magic.
That was why Ray, who carried curse magic throughout his body, sometimes lost control of it when his emotions became too intense.
"Calm down, calm down, calm down!"
When he lowered his head and clutched it, he couldn't help but see his unevenly cut purple hair.
Ray hated the color of his hair.
The perfectly purple color of his hair meant that he was a perfect curse mage.
Ray's mother had not been a perfect curse mage.
That was why only one lock of her bangs was purple, while the rest of her hair was a beautiful gold.
It wasn't just Ray's mother. Most members of House Albright were the same. The only ones whose hair had turned completely purple were Ray, his grandmother Adeline, and the first 〈Abyssal Curse Mage〉.
And Ray's father, who wasn't even a curse mage, had ordinary brown hair. He had been an ordinary man with no connection to either magic or curse magic.
His mother fell in love with him. But apparently, Ray's father had someone else he loved.
His mother was devastated, yet unable to let go of her love... Driven mad by affection and jealousy, she let those emotions run wild and cursed the man she loved.
Curse magic was an art meant to cause someone suffering.
Turning the target into a puppet and controlling them to make them suffer might have been a curse mage's proper way of doing things.
But Ray's mother had not turned the man she loved into a puppet to make him suffer. She had done it to fulfill her own desire.
──Ah, ah, what have I done, controlling someone with curse magic? Ray, despise me. I am not fit to be called a curse mage—I'm just scum. Someone like me has no right to teach you curse magic. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
His mother had continued to lament her actions. But the curse was powerful, and the one placed on his father refused to come undone.
Eventually, his mother became mentally ill and decided to leave the main estate with his father, now a puppet, and live in a separate residence.
...Leaving young Ray behind at the main estate.
Before leaving Ray, his mother prefaced her words with, "Please, remember this," and told him,
──We curse mages must never say "I love you." Do you understand, Ray?
Six months later, Ray was told that his parents had died.
His mother had attempted a spell beyond her ability in an effort to undo the curse placed on his father... As a result, the curse ran wild, killing her and his father together. What a pitiful, foolish end.
When young Ray heard about his parents' final moments, he trembled at the terror of love.
(Even so, I want to be loved by someone...)
Loving someone himself was frightening. If Ray, the strongest curse mage of all, ever truly loved someone, he would surely curse that person just as his mother had, ruining that person's life.
He couldn't say that he loved someone, yet wanted someone to tell him they loved him. It was a selfish desire, and he understood that well enough even without Raul pointing it out.
(Even so, I want to hear it. I want someone to say they love me.)
Neither his mother, who had cursed someone with the words "I love you," nor his father, reduced to a puppet, had ever told Ray that they loved him.
Everyone outside House Albright found curse mages creepy, and not one of them had ever told Ray, "I love you."
"...I want to be loved. I want someone to love me as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I want to be told that they love me. It wouldn't even have to be heartfelt... No, that's a lie. I want them to say it with all their heart. I want them to say that they love me, with all their heart."
"Then why don't you say it to me, your fiancée, instead of running away?"
A quiet voice came from behind him.
Still clutching his head, Ray slowly turned around.
Standing there was a tall woman with short blond hair. She was Ray's fiancée—Frieda Blanke.