“Now then, shall we resume our conversation—just the two of us?”
“……What conversation?”
“Grayker was a reasonably capable teacher. He would not have done something like this for no reason. How did you end up being targeted this time?”
“…….”
“As I said, I do not like lies. So do not bother trying to make pointless excuses.”
“Haa. Fine.”
‘There is no reason to hide it from this man anymore anyway.’
Jaes proceeded to tell Raiden everything that had happened between him and Bele.
“Ha. Picking a fight with the son of Marquis Morris? You certainly have a reckless streak.”
“Experience taught me that sitting still and allowing myself to be attacked is not the wisest course of action. I made sure to preserve his pride in my own way.”
“What you preserved was merely his public pride. The cunning old foxes of the royal court might be different, but a young noble raised with every indulgence would never act on reason alone.”
“Yes. This incident taught me that beyond any doubt.”
“…….”
“……? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Considering that Grayker was after you, you appear remarkably unscathed.”
“That is because I quickly broke the Marker, allowing you to come, Lord Raiden. If I had not kept it as insurance back then, the mere thought of what might have happened is terrifying.”
About a month earlier.
After the incident in which Miya had attacked him, Raiden had visited Jaes and informed him that he had decided to enroll him in the Magic Academy. At that time, Jaes had made an observation of his own through Raiden.
‘Just as I thought. The method I am trying to apply to magic is clearly still unfamiliar even here.’
When Jaes had cast Magic Arrow in front of Raiden, Raiden had attempted to hide his surprise, but Jaes had not missed his reaction.
Raiden might still see Jaes as a young boy, but inside that body lurked an old fox with seven years of graduate school behind him.
‘Raiden seems to have noticed that to some extent. But he cannot bring himself to ask me about it directly. I see. That must be what pride means here.’
Jaes, however, possessed no such pride whatsoever.
After all, the Analects spoke of not being ashamed to ask questions of those beneath oneself.
Even if the person was his junior, if there was something to learn from them, a programmer naturally considered it better to ask without shame and learn whatever he could.
However, that did not appear to be the case here.
‘Then I might be able to use this as an excuse to get something out of him as well?’
The item Jaes had subtly persuaded Raiden into giving him was none other than the Marker he had used moments earlier.
By pretending to be the first to request instruction from the prideful Raiden while discreetly revealing only fragments of the knowledge Raiden desired, Jaes had created a connection that would give them a reason to meet again in the future.
He needed reliable ‘insurance,’ since he could never know when another incident like this might occur in this world.
Although he still had no understanding of the principle behind it, breaking the Marker Raiden had given him seemed to allow Raiden to instantly recognize the location and cross the distance in a flash.
‘I already had a rough idea, but this man is even stronger than I expected.’
Jaes had begun to suspect as much while accumulating knowledge about this world at the academy. Seeing even Bele and Damian address Raiden with the utmost deference made it clear that being a Mage Tower mage and Duke Ailin’s disciple placed Raiden in a far higher position than Jaes had imagined.
While Jaes reassessed Raiden in his mind, Raiden was also examining Jaes through narrowed eyes.
‘The amount of mana visible from the outside does not appear much different from a month ago… yet there is a difficult-to-describe sense of stability about him.’
Grayker was certainly inferior to his colleagues in the Mage Tower, but that did not change the fact that he was a Fourth-Tier Mage. Had his abilities been unworthy of his rank, neither Raiden nor Duke Ailin would ever have permitted him to teach students at Ielhas Magic Academy in the first place.
Yet even if Jaes had summoned Raiden with the Marker, the fact that he remained so unharmed after being targeted by Grayker was utterly incomprehensible by Raiden’s standards.
‘Does this brat truly have something about him?’
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“No. Fortunately, you arrived quickly, Lord Raiden.”
“Then you summoned me immediately without hesitation. Are you saying that, despite being in the middle of an examination, you recognized at a glance that he intended to kill you?”
“His attack broke through the Shield spell I cast far too easily. I was certain that it was flawless. After that, he split his attack into no fewer than seven separate trajectories and even rendered them invisible. That was when I realized something was wrong.”
‘Hah. In other words, he endured Grayker’s attacks even before calling me?’
‘……It is obvious what he is thinking.’
From Jaes’s perspective, Raiden was still a valuable lifeline he wished to keep close at hand.
However, Jaes had no intention of being dragged away to the Mage Tower after graduation as though he were repeating what had happened in his former world. He therefore had no choice but to select each word with care.
“You. Your name was Jaes, was it not? It seems that you are more talented than I thought.”
“You flatter me.”
“And yet, I have heard very little about you. Are you deliberately concealing your abilities?”
“……I do not care much for attention.”
“I cannot understand it. Humility, arrogance, and self-respect are entirely different things. For a mage who must pursue truths that are both sound and new, the habit of belittling oneself is instead a deadly poison.”
“There may be more than one path leading to the correct answer.”
“Ha, it has been a very long time since anyone dared to talk back to me.”
“Arrogance and self-respect are different things. I do not think that you are wrong, Lord Raiden, but neither do I intend to change my values merely for that reason.”
“…….”
Raiden silently stared at Jaes.
‘The more I learn about him, the more interesting he becomes.’
Jaes was audacious, but there was merit in what he said.
Even when a path appeared to be incorrect, pushing forward with one’s own convictions and carving out a new truth in that direction was precisely what mages did.
Therefore, rather than add needless qualifications to the discussion, it seemed far more interesting to observe Jaes and see what level he would reach by the time he graduated.
‘I am beginning to understand, for the first time, Duke Ailin’s eccentric habit of picking up whatever happens to catch his interest.’
“Very well. You seem to possess some promise, so I will simply observe you for now.”
“Thank you.”
“In return, I would like you to help me with something. It occurred to me that you would be ideally suited for the task.”
“……What is it?”
After pausing briefly, Raiden opened his mouth.
“I do not know whether you heard earlier, but Duke Ailin is currently away for some time on personal business. Since I have temporarily assumed responsibility for managing this Magic Academy as well, there is one matter I would like to settle. Namely… securing a list of people like Miya in advance.”
“……?”
“Duke Ailin has neglected the academy for quite some time, so I wanted to use this opportunity to inspect it personally. Since you attend the academy, I believe you can take on that role.”
“……Should you not entrust something like that to someone more reliable? Both my abilities and my credibility seem woefully insufficient.”
Raiden snorted at Jaes as he shrugged.
“Credibility, is it? That would require someone credible to begin with. You have already seen what the people in the Mage Tower are like, have you not?”
“…….”
“Of course, I do not expect you to work for nothing. If it is a matter within my power, I will assist you in unfortunate situations like this one. You seem reasonably intelligent, so I trust that you understand just how exceptional an opportunity this is.”
‘Ugh. What vanity. He strikes the blow and then offers the cure all by himself. Still, I cannot say that he is wrong.’
Jaes had confirmed through today’s incident just how powerful Raiden was.
Therefore, from Jaes’s perspective, Raiden’s offer to voluntarily become his helper in the event of an emergency was honestly a temptation that was difficult to resist.
“Do I have the option to refuse?”
“Ha. Of course. I merely offered because you already attend this academy and appeared suited to the task. Surely you do not imagine that I would be inconvenienced because one boy refuses to help? You would simply come to regret the decision you made today.”
“Still, it sounds rather vague what sort of people you want me to find. I hear that this academy accepts anyone who meets the requirements, and there are even open rumors that it is crawling with spies sent by other nations. Are you asking me to find first-year students who appear suspicious?”
“Half right and half wrong. It is true that I want you to find as many such people as you can. However, do not limit yourself to the first-years. Consider the entire student body. Duke Ailin has personally neglected…… no, managed this place for some time, so it has been quite a while since even I had a proper grasp of it.”
‘……That sounds exactly like something the lab manager of a graduate research lab would say while cleaning up after the professor. Just as I expected.’
“Will I truly be enough on my own? There must be plenty of upperclassmen whom I cannot handle yet.”
‘This brat. Though he pretends otherwise, that statement means he already places himself near the top among the first-years. Considering what happened today as well, there truly is something about him.’
“Is that so? You may indeed find it somewhat burdensome alone. ……Very well. Then I will assign you a suitable assistant within reasonable limits.”
“Uh, who?”
“You will naturally learn when the time comes. Do not ask pointless questions now.”
‘Tch. Everything has to be his way.’
Jaes clicked his tongue inwardly at Raiden’s attitude and nodded.
“……Understood. I will do as you say, Lord Raiden.”
“Hmm. A wise decision.”
“But in that case, if I perform the task reasonably well, would you grant me one request when I graduate from this academy?”
“Hmm? What sort of request?”
“I will tell you when the time comes as well. Naturally, I only ask that you grant it if it lies within your power.”
‘Hah. Look at this brat. He refuses to lose even a single exchange.’
It had been a long time since anyone had spoken so audaciously in Raiden’s presence.
“Very well. Since I was the one who raised the matter first, I will grant you that much.”
“You promised.”
“Of course. And you would do well not to take a mage’s oath lightly.”
‘A request a brat like this intends to make at graduation is obviously going to be permission to join our Mage Tower. He does appear talented, and Duke Ailin was the one who picked him up in the first place, so there is no chance His Grace would refuse. It should not be particularly difficult.’
‘Raiden seems to occupy a position rather like the lab manager, so he must have some influence with Duke Ailin as well, right? Good. Even if I later find myself in a position where I cannot avoid being dragged there, this gives me at least one possible escape route.’
Neither Jaes nor Raiden dreamed that they were harboring entirely different expectations.
Raiden allowed his usual calm smile to faintly settle upon his lips.
And afterward.
Once Raiden had swiftly finished handling the incident and departed,
‘Haa. That startled me, but I suppose things have more or less worked out in my favor.’
Jaes sighed as exhaustion suddenly washed over him, then stretched his entire body.
He had faced considerable danger, but the incident had ultimately earned him Raiden’s support. It was not an altogether bad result.
‘I have to look at everything positively. Besides, I learned a clear lesson about the nobles of this world.’
Nevertheless, if Jaes had not possessed the insurance known as Raiden, he might truly have been gravely injured or even killed today. It appeared that he needed to reconsider his behavior more carefully.
‘If rumors about today spread unnecessarily, things will only become more troublesome. From my perspective, I sincerely hope that does not happen.’
Aside from Raiden, the witnesses to today’s incident were Bele, Ian, Damian, and Robert.
There was naturally no need to worry about Raiden. Bele had been taken away for questioning, and he would hardly go around publicizing his own disgrace.
Ian had also followed Jaes’s words obediently since the previous incident, so Jaes believed that a simple request would be enough to ensure his silence.
Therefore, the only ones he needed to deal with were…….
“…You can come out now, can you not? Lord Raiden has already left.”
“Did you know that we were watching? Since when?”
“Of course. For about… a week?”
“…….”
At Jaes’s call, delivered without even turning around, Damian and Robert revealed themselves behind him.
Turning to face them, Jaes spoke.
“Perfect timing. I had something I wanted to say to the two of you as well, including why you suddenly started observing me.”
“Good. We wanted the same.”
‘Now then. Damian Duschfeldt. The son of one of only three ducal houses in this country. Let us hear what business the young lord of such a noble family has with me.’
With tension and curiosity mixed in roughly equal measure, Jaes began his second cleanup of the day.