Who was Kastel?
She was the mage who had killed him in his previous life.
Even now, remembering how helplessly he had died at Kastel’s hands in his previous life made him grind his teeth.
Saul’s hatred was directed not at the Kingdom of Darsen, but at the Kingdom of Gamelda, which had betrayed and abandoned him.
Still, if Saul had to name an enemy of his within the Kingdom of Darsen, Kastel would be the first.
If not for the Black Star of Ill Omen, he might not have died on the battlefield, and his house and family might have survived.
‘That damned woman....’
If he followed his heart, he would cut off her head right here to avenge the grudge from his previous life.
But this was the ‘Black Star of Ill Omen,’ who had disposed of his former self with ease.
Saul decided to calm himself for now.
He could hardly start talking about grudges from a previous life here.
Saul composed his expression and raised his head.
“I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
Perhaps the apology had worked, because Kastel did not seem suspicious of him.
Saul continued,
“I recently read a book about the war with the Kingdom of Gamelda. The part about how those people from Gamelda feared the ‘Black Star of Ill Omen’ was so amusing that I read it several times, and the name slipped out.”
“…….”
“You’re Kastel, right? The Black Witch.”
The ‘Black Witch,’ who had merely stared at Saul in silence, nodded.
It seemed he had managed to smooth over his mistake.
Still, she truly was a strange person.
She had come to meet a prince dressed like that, complete with a mask.
If she had not come under the king’s direct orders, appearing before a prince in such attire alone might have been enough to send her to prison for disrespect.
Why in the world had Kastel come wearing an iron mask and cloak as though she were heading onto a battlefield?
Did she somehow consider Saul an enemy?
Come to think of it, in the Kingdom of Gamelda, the ‘Black Star of Ill Omen’ Kastel had been regarded as a bloodthirsty lunatic.
Perhaps Kastel truly was as unhinged as her infamy suggested.
Fortunately, Saul could not sense even the slightest hostility or killing intent from her at the moment.
Saul decided to try easing things through conversation again.
“So.... Black Witch?”
“…….”
Kastel showed little reaction to the epithet Black Witch.
Her mask made her expression impossible to read, but she did not seem particularly pleased.
“Teacher?”
“…….”
Again, Kastel barely reacted.
Still, she seemed to give the slightest nod.
Was that a better response?
“Should I call you Teacher?”
Nod.
Kastel gave a small nod.
Apparently, she preferred being called Teacher to being called the Black Witch.
To lower Kastel’s guard, Saul decided to speak in the endearing manner of a young child.
“All right, Teacher. You came to teach me magic, didn’t you?”
Nod.
Even as he spoke, Saul felt his stomach twisting.
To think he had to show courtesy to the person who had killed him in his previous life.
But for now, he needed patience.
No matter what else she was, Father had personally sent her.
Just then, an indignant voice rang out.
“What in the world is this...?”
Saul turned and saw Gray, who had briefly stepped away to deal with matters concerning the Ivory Palace.
Without the slightest fear, Gray raised his voice at Kastel.
“What is the meaning of this disrespect before His Highness? Remove that mask and cloak at once!”
Saul stopped him.
“Gray, that’s enough.”
“Your Highness?”
“She came here as my magic teacher, didn’t she? Father personally selected and sent her.”
‘If I had my way, I’d kill her, but I don’t even have the strength to do that right now. I have to endure it.’
As Saul restrained Gray, he also reminded himself to remain calm.
Then he resumed playing the role of a polite young prince.
“Teacher Kastel.”
Kastel reacted faintly when Saul called her.
She did not seem displeased by the form of address, ‘Teacher Kastel.’
“If a mage as accomplished as you is going to become my teacher, I’m grateful.”
“…….”
“But I think it would be difficult to learn from a teacher wearing a mask. If it isn’t too much trouble, would you please take it off?”
A mage of Kastel’s caliber must possess tremendous pride.
If so, subtly pressuring her with a ‘request’ rather than an ‘order’ might prove more effective.
Saul’s judgment was correct.
“Yes.”
Kastel spoke for the first time.
Her voice was exactly as Saul—or rather, Roland in his previous life—remembered it.
It was an androgynous voice that made it difficult to determine the speaker’s sex.
Its strangely metallic, low resonance sounded somewhat unnatural, but that only made it more intimidating.
Kastel soon raised a hand to her mask.
Apparently, some kind of mechanical mechanism was built into it, because the iron mask detached with a CLANK.
Kastel’s bare face was almost entirely unknown because she always wore a mask on the battlefield.
When her face was finally revealed, Saul thought,
‘What? She’s beautiful.’
Because she always hid her face, he had assumed she was ugly or horribly disfigured by scars.
But Kastel’s uncovered face was not merely normal.
It was beautiful.
Long black hair fell all the way to her waist.
She had gentle eyes with dark crimson, blood-colored irises.
Her nose was high and well-defined, and her lips were slightly redder than most people’s.
She did not have an especially cold or sharp appearance, either.
With her large eyes and somewhat vacant expression, she looked more innocent than severe.
The only incongruous feature was the burning, blood-red gleam within her otherwise gentle eyes.
Who would have imagined such a beautiful face was hidden beneath that terrifying iron mask?
The unexpected truth left Saul feeling strangely deflated.
‘To think the woman who piled up mountains of corpses on the battlefield would look so perfectly normal.’
He had gotten her to remove the mask.
Now what?
He could throw her out because he could not stand the sight of her, but that would accomplish nothing.
Kastel knew nothing.
He, however, knew a great deal.
Could he not make use of that imbalance?
To do so, he would probably need to become close to Kastel.
For now, Saul decided to set aside his grudge from his previous life.
“I never imagined someone called the Black Witch would be so beautiful.”
“…….”
Kastel’s gaze changed ever so slightly.
She seemed somewhat displeased.
Surely she would not glare at a prince merely because he had complimented her appearance.
Then was the problem how he had addressed her?
“I’m sorry. Should I call you Teacher Kastel?”
Once Saul added both her name and a respectful title, Kastel’s expression noticeably improved.
“Yes.”
“Very well, Teacher Kastel.”
“Yes.”
“Ahem!”
Gray, who had been watching, cleared his throat pointedly at Kastel.
Only then did Kastel seem to realize that her replies had been far too curt.
“...Your Highness.”
Finishing her greeting, Kastel bowed her head.
For a ‘formal first meeting with a prince,’ both her words and behavior were considerably disrespectful.
However, Saul had already resolved to learn magic from his former killer, so he decided to overlook it generously.
“Then shall we get to the point? Teacher, what is your plan going forward?”
“My plan?”
“Yes. Your plan for teaching me.”
“I came here under His Majesty’s orders.”
“I know. I’m asking how you intend to teach me.”
“I will teach Your Highness magic and combat techniques.”
“…….”
Saul had expected a great deal of preparation before they began studying magic.
That was how it had been when he first learned magic in his previous life.
Perhaps an Archmage simply taught differently.
“All right. In any case, teach me magic.”
Kastel stared silently at Saul for a moment before extending her hand.
Without asking permission, she placed it against Saul’s forehead and closed her eyes.
At the same moment, Saul felt a sensation as though insects were crawling around inside his body.
“Ugh.”
It was the first time he had experienced the sensation in this life, and a groan escaped him involuntarily.
A startled Gray was about to say something, but Saul stopped him with a gesture.
Saul knew exactly what this strange sensation was.
It was the process by which a mage examined the mana within another person’s body.
It allowed the examiner to determine how much mana a person naturally possessed and how compatible that person’s body was with mana.
Generally, the more mana someone possessed within their body and the greater their body’s affinity with mana, the more talented they were considered as a mage.
Innate mana and a body with a strong affinity for mana were not everything, but neither could those qualities be ignored.
“…….”
After examining Saul’s body in this manner, Kastel withdrew her hand.
“Your Highness’s physical aptitude is ordinary.”
“Ordinary?”
“There is almost no mana innately contained within Your Highness’s body. It is not a body incapable of using magic, but it is certainly not exceptional.”
Kastel apparently had no intention whatsoever of flattering him or softening her words merely because he was a prince.
Saul had no complaint about that.
Cold, accurate assessments would be far more useful than empty flattery.
“Then what about my body itself? I read that some people have bodies with a strong affinity for mana.”
“That aspect appears to be above average, but not to any remarkable degree.”
“I see.”
There was almost no mana innately present within his body.
On the other hand, his body possessed a moderately strong affinity for mana.
Generally speaking, the amount of mana one possessed affected how powerfully and how continuously one could use magic.
The affinity between the body and mana affected how finely and precisely one could control magic—in other words, one’s magical technique.
Someone born with both qualities was said to possess a ‘Magical Body’ and was recognized as having exceptional talent.
But magical talent came in many forms.
A body naturally suited to manipulating magic was certainly advantageous, but it was not everything.
No matter how well suited the body was to magic, there would still be limits if the mind could not keep up.
The ability to rapidly arrange and calculate mana mentally.
The instinctive sense needed to regulate the flow of mana.
Those were also essential talents for using magic well.
So there was no reason to despair simply because his physical aptitude was unremarkable.
As long as he was not completely untalented, he would be fine.
With the authority and wealth of a prince, there might even be ways to compensate for his physical shortcomings.
And he could simply absorb every bit of knowledge Kastel possessed.
“Good. So what do we do now?”
According to Saul’s common sense, meditation should come next.
Accumulating mana within the body through meditation was an essential part of magical education.
“The next thing you need to learn is how to accumulate mana within your body.... I brought you a book.”
Kastel held out a book.
[Fundamentals of Magical Meditation]
Saul knew the book well.
It was one of the most widely read introductory magic texts in both the Kingdom of Darsen and the Kingdom of Gamelda.
It explained how beginners could meditate and accumulate mana in a manner simple enough for even a complete novice to understand, but....
“Are you telling me to study this book on my own?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“…….”
This did not seem right.
How could a teacher who had come to instruct a prince start talking about self-study on the very first day?
Before Saul could complain, Kastel spoke.
“I do not know much about meditation.”
“What?”
It was an absurd statement.
Meditation was one of the most fundamental basics required when beginning magic.
A mage was not limited to using only the mana stored inside the body when casting magic.
However, having as much mana accumulated within the body as possible was advantageous in many ways.
For that reason, meditation was considered something of a ‘mandatory course’ for everyone from professional mages who focused solely on magic to so-called ‘Magic Warriors,’ who primarily fought with martial arts and used magic only as a supplementary tool.
And yet the ‘Black Witch,’ of all people, claimed not to know much about meditation?
“Then how do you cast such powerful magic, Teacher?”
“I was created as a being whose body is overflowing with mana.”
“Created?”
“That is correct.”
Did she mean that she had simply been born an extraordinary genius?
Or did the word ‘created’ carry some other meaning?
Surely she was not making something up merely because she could not be bothered to teach meditation.
Her eyes and expression made it clear that she was serious.
For now, Saul decided not to press the issue.
“All right, Teacher.”
Meditating alone would have been difficult for ‘Prince Saul.’
But ‘Mage Officer Roland’ had been an expert at meditation.
Saul first skimmed through [Fundamentals of Magical Meditation].
The method of meditation had not changed much from ten years ago.
“Then....”
Before Saul could say anything else, Kastel rose from her seat.
“I should be going now.”
“What?”
“Please forgive my discourtesy, Your Highness. But it is almost time for my appointment with His Majesty.”
“…….”
If she had an appointment with Father, Saul had no grounds to stop her.
“Then what about this book?”
“I will return tomorrow. Until then, learn as much as you can on your own.”
“All right, then.”
Kastel bowed her head before withdrawing from Saul’s side.
Once Kastel had left, Gray finally let his anger burst forth.
“What an unbelievably rude woman!”
“Leave it, Gray. Father favors her, doesn’t he?”
“I had often heard that the Black Witch does not know the first thing about manners, but still.... Hmph.”
Unlike Gray, who was exceptionally strict about etiquette, Saul was not particularly angry.
He had never expected good manners from the person who had killed him in his previous life.
“Then shall I try studying on my own?”
In truth, he already knew meditation extremely well.
After giving the book a cursory glance, Saul began meditating by himself.