The Greatest Mage

People often said it.

Dersia Aspandil, with the highest potential to reach the Heavenly Realm, was truly the Empire's greatest Mage.

Those who walk the path of magic might conclude that it's a premature judgment, as one cannot simply categorize by the heights achieved, but they wouldn't deny that she is a preeminent Mage, constantly striving for improvement even at this very moment.

However, those who knew Dersia Aspandil, the Elf, offered a different answer.

“Lady Sia, you need to cultivate your social skills, not your magic.”

“...”

Dersia stopped turning a page and glared with an unpleasant expression at her Attendant, who was speaking such impertinent words.

But Chief Attendant Ciel continued to poke the bonfire with a poker, delivering cold, cutting remarks.

“How many times have you spoken to someone other than me in the past week?”

“Countless times. Do you think I remember every single one?”

“Excluding conversations related to magic, that is.”

“...There is no reason for unnecessary conversation. Walking the path of magic is my mission.”

“I once heard someone say you should walk the path of humanity before walking the path of magic. I believe it was a certain Dersia who said it.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

Dersia threw her book down in anger. Ciel, without even looking, skillfully caught it and placed it back on the shelf, then replied.

“What I want you to do is to leave the Magic Tower, get some fresh air, and talk to people. Even if you reach the pinnacle of magic, if you hit rock bottom as a person, wouldn't that be missing the point entirely?”

“My ears are going to bleed. Do you know this is the fortieth time you’ve said that?”

“If I’ve said it that many times, perhaps you should listen? My patience is also reaching its limit.”

“...As I said, I have a mission to walk the path of magic. You know I have no time for emotional exchanges with others.”

Dersia, realizing that Ciel was genuinely trying to force her out, appealed to her emotions, but it was meaningless to Ciel, who was determined to get that shut-in out today.

Ciel put down her duster, turned her head, and looked at Dersia with empty eyes.

“Your mind is rotting away. It seems I will have to resort to force today. Please understand my loyalty in raising my fist against my master.”

“...Oh, yes, no matter how much I owe you, this time, I will make you painfully aware of the difference in our standing—”

Exactly five minutes later.

Dersia, under orders not to return for a week, found herself standing blankly on the Capital City's main street, with only enough money to buy a small castle and a shabby robe.

“I was going to... but alas.”

Dersia, muttering to herself in vain, sighed once and then moved on.

She hadn't truly fought with Ciel. Without Ciel, Dersia would have died on the streets by early evening.

Attacking one's savior in earnest was something even a beast wouldn't do, so the individuals decided the outcome with rock-paper-scissors.

“Was her talk of raising a fist just psychological warfare...?”

Admiring Ciel's meticulousness in unconsciously inducing a 'paper' to win, Dersia accepted her defeat and went to the home of a Noble to whom she was indebted.

“My—”

“Lady Dersia! Please, make yourself comfortable, for as long as you wish. Do whatever you like! Thank you!”

Before she could even explain the situation, the Count bowed so low his nose nearly touched the ground and offered her the best room in his mansion.

It was the natural treatment the Empire's greatest Mage deserved, so she simply accepted it. Lying languidly in the room, she reached for a book, only to realize there was no bookshelf.

“Tsk.”

Dersia wondered how a room could lack a bookshelf. Could this even be called a room? ...Lost in such thoughts, she soon opened the window and jumped out.

There was a garden below, but she landed inside the Library.

She had originally intended to bring a book back to her room to read, but while browsing, she found a rather peculiar book.

<F1>[How to Teach Simple Magic to Insect Familiars]</F1>

As she rubbed the cover, it felt like a freshly stocked, brand-new item. She planned to read just a few pages, so she sat down anywhere nearby, checked the synopsis, and then...

.

“Excuse me—”

“...?”

Someone spoke to her.

Dersia checked her biological rhythm and realized an hour had already passed.

It was enough time for someone to come by.

How annoying, she thought. She was about to give a perfunctory reply, gather her book, and return to the Count's room when a very strange voice reached her ears.

“Are you, by any chance, the Librarian...?”

“...?”

Only then did Dersia look at the person in front of her.

Black hair, small stature, still with baby fat on his cheeks.

He was a noble child who still knew nothing.

Dersia, to begin with, wasn't so self-conscious as to get angry that someone didn't recognize her, and the child was hesitantly waiting for an answer.

Dersia, who hadn't dealt with many children, racked her brain for a suitable response.

First, ignore him. The child would be deeply hurt, but nothing else would happen, and the situation would end. Dersia scrutinized the child's appearance. She rarely saw human children, but he was cuter than she expected. She didn't particularly want to hurt him.

Second, tell him she wasn't someone he, a mere child, could call a Librarian, and lecture him. The child would develop trauma and live a passive life forever, and Ciel would kill her horribly. She couldn't accept such a miserable future.

Third, say she wasn't the Librarian and leave. This would be the most correct answer, but Dersia suddenly remembered Ciel's quest.

Leave the Magic Tower, get some fresh air, and meet people.

She had left the Magic Tower. That was true.

She had gotten fresh air. It was also undeniably true.

Meet people and talk. The Count had buried his head like an ostrich the moment he saw her face, unable to utter a single word. That wasn't a conversation. She hadn't completed the last quest yet.

Saying she wasn't the Librarian and leaving would also be a simple exchange of facts rather than a conversation.

Therefore, Dersia chose the fourth method.

To acknowledge it.

“I apologize.”

“Excuse me?”

“I was told no one was expected today, so I was rather rude. I am Dersia Aspandil.”

Dersia lifted the hem of her skirt and gave a small bow.

“How may I help you?”

“Uh, well...”

Watching the flustered child, Dersia felt a slight sense of amusement for some reason.

The child soon collected his thoughts, swallowed once, and asked.

“I want to read books on basic Magic.”

“What kind?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Spiritology, Magic Engineering, Elementalism, and so on. There are hundreds of schools and types of Magic. Which kinds of basics do you wish to explore?”

“Hmm, actually, I've only recently recovered from the fever, so I don't really know.”

“Hmm...?”

Dersia was slightly surprised and examined the boy.

Her eyes dissected the flow of mana, peering into its deepest parts.

The boy's mind was still completely unfamiliar with the world he was in. As he said, he was probably a *Beginner Mage* who had suffered the fever within the last week.

Dersia felt a slight sense of responsibility as a Senior and guided him.

“Follow me.”

As it was a Library accessible to any Noble, the overall quality of the books wasn't particularly high. She had only read about 80,000 out of 100,000 volumes. Still, she knew where certain books were located.

She pulled out about a hundred books with Telekinesis and arranged them around her. The boy immediately opened one, read for about five minutes, then frowned.

“Excuse me, are there any books about how not to get hurt by Magic?”

“...Excuse me?”

Dersia tilted her head.

Not get hurt? By his own Magic?

Why would Magic try to kill its user?

“I don't understand the question. What do you mean by surviving Magic? Did you perhaps learn a fire Elemental Magic?”

“It's not that, it's those black things— Oh? They're not here. Anyway, besides that, what should I call it... Currents? Those wave-like things are a bit dangerous, aren't they?”

“Currents...? Waves...?”

Dersia asked back with a puzzled expression. The boy was speaking of concepts she had never heard of in her entire life of studying Magic.

The boy looked as if he had made a mistake, then bowed his head.

“...No, I think I was mistaken. Thank you for helping me find them.”

Dersia watched the boy as he prepared to take the books. She hesitated for a moment, then thought, *Well, I can't go back for a while anyway, so taking a little time is fine,* and stopped him.

“Could you show me your Magic?”

“My Magic?”

“Yes. I have some aptitude, so if I see it, I think I'll understand what you're talking about.”

“Magic... Magic, huh... I'm not sure if this can be called Magic, but... alright.”

The boy, with a vague expression, lifted the books he was holding into the air.

The books did not fall.

He continued to stack the books in the air. Two, three, four...

When the number exceeded thirty, Dersia stopped the boy and asked.

“Aren't you tired?”

“No. Not at all. I could do over a hundred.”

The books were still floating motionless, so it wasn't mere bravado.

If true, he was a Telekinesis Mage of immense, unbelievable talent.

But it was strange.

The boy was using Magic without consuming any mana. There was no flow of mana whatsoever. It was as if he was simply levitating them with psychic power.

Dersia felt a rare surge of interest and gently pressed down on a book.

The boy felt no resistance and tilted his head, and Dersia, thinking he was rather cute, pressed the book all the way to the floor.

“How much weight can you handle?”

“Just about one book's worth. Lighter things are also possible.”

“Could you drop it?”

“I can't do that.”

“...You can't?”

“They do fall if they go far away, about 50 meters.”

It grew stranger and stranger.

The boy had no control over the phenomena he was causing. No, was this even Magic? Was he using Magic without mana?

Dersia was speechless at the utterly peculiar situation.

The boy looked at her, then opened his mouth.

“I don't know if this will help, but I think of Magic as the ocean.”

“Wait, just a moment.”

Dersia instinctively realized what the boy was about to say and stopped him.

Looking at the puzzled boy, she felt her Mage's curiosity and conscience clash.

The boy was now speaking of enlightenment.

The Law of Composition that forms a Mage's mind-realm.

A ball placed on a hill rolls downhill. Water boils when heated. Ice melts over time...

These are the laws that define the world.

Therefore, even in a Mage's chaotic mind-realm, there are, naturally, laws that define it.

This is called enlightenment.

To know enlightenment is to know a Mage.

That is why Mages hide their enlightenments, because the moment it's revealed, their mind-realm can be interpreted.

No matter how green a *Beginner Mage* he might be, enlightenment is enlightenment.

Eavesdropping on someone who doesn't yet know the conversation's importance is a dirty and despicable act.

Dersia felt a sense of unease, but her thirst for knowledge was slightly piqued by this inexplicable phenomenon, which was a rare occurrence.

She made a compromise with herself in her mind.

She would not tell anyone once she heard about the enlightenment.

Having appeased her conscience, she nodded.

“...Please, tell me.”

“...Yes, I think the world is an ocean, people walk on the surface of that ocean, and Mages are a race that has fallen into the ocean.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because ever since I became a Mage, the place I'm in feels so much like being underwater. These books, too, I'm not really holding them up with force, but rather they're just floating due to buoyancy.”

Dersia immediately activated her magic eye and looked at the floating books.

It was certain. The books were sinking very, very subtly towards the floor.

It was so subtle she hadn't noticed. It was even strange to use the word 'falling' for this.

If she had to describe it... yes.

They were sinking.

“This might sound a bit harsh, but I don't think Mages are much better than ordinary people. The bottom of the ocean has a lot of dangers, doesn't it? I don't even know how to survive here.”

“...Hmm.”

“Ever since I had the fever, I keep seeing black figures, and they clearly aren't friendly, so I avoid them. And sometimes, these currents, or waves, keep rushing in, and last time I almost got seriously hurt falling into one. I want to know how to deal with these things.”

“...”

Dersia couldn't focus on the boy's words.

Her magical scholarship, which was among the most preeminent throughout history, had dissected the phenomenon and deduced the truth—

And that truth was that nature could sometimes be unbelievably cruel.

She secretly realized that she shouldn't reveal what she had discovered.

However, she wasn't empathetic enough to hide the truth.

“Excuse me... Is something wrong?”

But even Dersia, feeling a slight pity, slowly opened her mouth.

“It seems your mind-realm is composed of the Deep Realm, and specifically, the Deep Sea.”