“The prince finds even a falling leaf hilarious, I take it.”
“Hardly. I laughed because you did something funny. You're awfully good at saying things you don't mean. I only wish you'd do the same for me.”
“It has to be in my heart before it can come out of my mouth. I've always been honest, so don't twist my words.”
“Is that so? Then let's get going. Rhea loves books, just like you. In fact, she was the one who used to spend all day in the Grand Library.”
The quarrel flared up and died out in an instant. Thoroughly foul-tempered, Teron followed them quietly, but things didn't sort themselves out so easily. Princess Rhea Deluah kept striking up pointless little conversations with him.
“So you're second in your class at the Academy?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“He's first in magic studies.”
Leopold cut in for no reason. Before long they reached the entrance of the Grand Library and pulled the heavy iron doors open with a creak. The smell of old paper wafted out.
“Impressive. What sort of books did you read here? Have you read anything on magic studies?”
“There was an old tome on ancient magic, so I opened it up and had a look.”
“Did you understand it well? It must have had ancient script mixed in. And the formula calculations would be difficult too.”
“I'd studied it separately before, so it was fine.”
Rhea stepped in among the towering shelves and came to a stop.
“I'm jealous.”
A magic circle was taking shape at her fingertips. Before he realized it, Teron had lifted his head. Ice soon formed from the magic circle the princess was drawing.
It was a freezing spell at the most basic level. But it was still astonishing.
Someone without professional training couldn't draw a magic circle. It required complex formula calculations, so it was taught only at the Academy. Even the mages of the outer world could only use magic after years of tutelage under their masters.
What's more, no one taught magic to women. The reasoning was that there was no capacity to spare on giving females such advanced education.
Then again, ordinary magic was treated as nothing more than a basic accomplishment for noble men in the first place, so women hadn't shown much interest in it either.
He regretted not pretending to notice nothing, but he'd already seen it. Rhea asked cautiously.
“Well?”
“It's remarkable.”
He meant it. Teron tried to recall Rhea Deluah from his past life, but nothing came to mind except the heaped-up corpses of the royals, so he wiped the image from his head at once.
“That's all?”
“Might I dare ask who taught you?”
“Mm. The person standing next to you.”
Leopold nodded. In a voice steeped with affection for his little sister, he said,
“Show him something else.”
Rhea swallowed hard and drew another magic circle. A moment later, a necklace dropped onto the library floor with a soft thud. Summoning magic.
Once again she wore a tense expression and waited for Teron's assessment. He had no choice but to wring out a few words.
“Plenty of fourth-year students at the Academy can't even use summoning magic properly, so this is remarkable.”
“It isn't. I can't summon anything bigger.”
“Once you go past this size, it's difficult by nature.”
“But you can do it.”
He was at a loss for words. And a surge of irritation hit him.
Leopold Deluah was never once any help to his life.
“...That's not true.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“It's a matter of chance, so it's hard to say. I'm sorry I can't be of help.”
Now it looked like he couldn't even use magic properly in front of Leopold. Teron's abnormally strengthened ordinary magic was entirely the result of his internal mana being amplified by black magic.
Leopold had no interest whatsoever in magic, so Teron had simply gone around casting abnormal white magic to his heart's content without thinking much of it, never imagining it would come back to bite him like this.
“Lying is a bad thing, Teron.”
Rhea replied in a composed manner. Teron Meyer wanted to smack Leopold Deluah.
“You really don't know? How ordinary magic can get that strong?”
“Casting a reinforcement spell at the same time is a good method too. Or there might be a mana stone that produces a similar effect. If you search carefully...”
“You can cast two spells at once?”
She parted her lips slightly and asked.
“You can.”
“...Then do you understand this formula?”
She dashed off at once and came back carrying a book. Flipping to a tattered section, she pointed at the writing with her finger.
“I can't calculate any further. My brother says he can't make sense of it either.”
Leopold folded his arms, leaned his head against the wall, and watched them.
“It's an advanced formula that isn't in the curriculum, so of course you wouldn't know it.”
“Do you know it?”
“...Yes.”
The answer came out as if dazed.
When he came to his senses, Teron was seated beside the princess, teaching her the formula piece by piece.
Leopold sat with his legs stretched out, continuing to observe them as though he found it fascinating.
The second princess was clever. Not just clever, but peculiar. She showed a profound interest in the unremarkable field of magic studies, and she didn't think of magic as a mere tool.
Even so, he was tired. He had no time to be playing magic-studies tutor to a bright princess right now. He had a mountain of studying and research to do, so why was he sitting here wasting his time under Leopold Deluah's revolting gaze?
That guy was the root cause of everything. When Teron glared at him, Leopold suddenly opened his mouth and made a nauseating remark.
“I really think you're an incredible person.”
“What nonsense is this all of a sudden.”
“No, just...”
Even after taking the verbal abuse, he let out a soft chuckle.
“It makes me think my judgment wasn't wrong.”
“You're truly remarkable. So much so that I could never hope to keep up with Your Highness's way of thinking.”
“You're pretty magnificent yourself. Insulting royalty anywhere, without ever flinching.”
Gazing at him wistfully, the first prince wore a smile across his whole face. Even after watching their fight, Rhea Deluah wasn't particularly angry with Teron. Instead she brazenly tossed out a single remark.
“Teron, could you keep teaching me from now on?”
It was an attitude befitting Leopold's own sister.
From that day on, Teron became Rhea Deluah's tutor.
He could have refused, but he accepted right away. He had things to do there anyway.
He'd studied large-scale magic circles enough. He'd gone up north and mined mana stones. He'd spent a long time researching just how much black magic needed to be mixed in for a protective spell to grow stronger.
All that was left was the installation. He'd originally planned to handle the Academy first, but an opportunity had come knocking, so he had to seize it.
Teron coaxed Rhea, and she fell for it in an instant. A large-scale magic circle. What a splendid, marvelous phrase.
For the rest of the break, they spent whole days pushing bit by bit through the enormous royal palace, installing the large-scale magic circle.
At the same time, he taught the princess other advanced formulas here and there. Leopold was very busy, but he came to them whenever he got the chance.
They were peaceful days. Astonishingly so.
The night before he was to return to the Academy, Teron pretended to take a solitary stroll and channeled black magic into part of the massive magic circle he'd spent all day installing. He even slowly scattered the mineral powder he'd brought from the north.
Teron had put on this pretense of a stroll almost every night, so the guards paid him no particular attention. He fed in the black magic so faintly that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, either.
This single act now would come to play a major role in the future. If even one place could become a safe zone, the effect would be tremendous.
Teron gazed for a moment at the full moon hanging in the night sky.
Ah, I should check on Mother at least once. And I need to see whether the mansion repairs are going well.
He also had to stop by the Precipice and ask how many sacrifices were left.
His lord had lately been going on about what would happen once all the sacrifices were gathered. It was a grand plan to kill the king and become the master of Deluah. As long as the other black mages didn't do anything foolish, there was at least a year left. Teron was about to turn seventeen, after all.
Whether things could even be resolved before then, he was starting to feel hopeless at this point. He was making the effort, but beating a black mage was all but impossible. The fighting power of a single black mage surpassed dozens of palace knights, so what was he supposed to do about that? However hard Teron worked to strengthen his black magic, the same was true for them.
Even so, the full moon was bright. The splendid palace flaunted its beauty as if to prove its worth. He ended up plopping down carelessly on the ground. He kept rubbing his aching eyes with his arm.
The spot where he sat was at a higher elevation than the surrounding areas. As a result, the whole palace was visible at a glance. Across the garden was a training ground where the knights drilled.
Teron narrowed his eyes and stared fixedly at it.
There was someone there, and it seemed to be Leopold.
He watched impassively for a long while as the man swung his sword. Then all at once he startled and shot to his feet.
Because a faint light had leaked out from the direction where the man was moving.
