“······Yes.”
Rakhoop could not argue with him.
Aiman was right.
After seeing Rakhoop’s spirits sink, Aiman addressed Count Jenkins.
“Then we will take our leave with my master, Count.”
“Very well. Should the opportunity arise in the future, come and visit. I shall prepare a grand banquet for you.”
“Thank you.”
After receiving Count Jenkins’s promise of a banquet, Aiman turned toward Keiras.
“Then let us go, Master.”
“Very well.”
“The two of you should board first.”
“Yes, Count.”
Aiman’s family and Keiras boarded the carriage and departed.
Afterward, Wybel and Rakhoop received a stern reprimand from Count Jenkins before turning back.
On their way home, Rakhoop cautiously spoke to Wybel.
“Um, Sir Tax Collector.”
“What is it?”
“Since there is no longer any need to purchase the serfs, what will happen to my 300 Gold······?”
“Ha! Have you lost your mind?”
“What?”
Rakhoop could not understand why Wybel had suddenly reacted that way.
Wybel had told him the money was necessary, so Rakhoop had handed it over. Now that there was no longer any reason to spend it, should it not naturally be returned?
Yet Wybel suddenly flew into a rage.
“I just fell out of the Count’s favour because of you. Should those 300 Gold not obviously be given to me as compensation?”
“S-Sir······ Sir Tax Collector, what are you talking about······?”
“I may lose my position because of you. Since you caused this, should you not take responsibility?”
“······Understood.”
Wybel practically growled the words.
It might have made some sense if he had actually been dismissed from his position as tax collector.
However, Count Jenkins had merely reprimanded him. Wybel still retained his position.
His argument was complete nonsense.
Nevertheless, because Wybel remained the tax collector, Rakhoop had no choice but to give up the 300 Gold.
Nothing good would come from unnecessarily provoking him.
In the end, Rakhoop’s 300 Gold vanished into thin air.
He had scraped together the money as an investment, intending to take revenge on Aiman and secure future profits.
Rakhoop had even borrowed from moneylenders, leaving himself with no way back.
‘That damned money-grubbing bastard…… Do you think I am going down alone?’
Aiman might have defeated him, but there was no point in directing his anger toward someone who had already left.
All of Rakhoop’s rage turned toward Wybel instead.
One week later.
Every corrupt act committed by Wybel, the tax collector of Jenkins County, reached Count Jenkins’s ears.
All the wealth Wybel had amassed through corruption was confiscated.
However, the money he had already spent could not be recovered. Not only was he stripped of his position as tax collector, but he was also reduced to a serf.
@
“This is the manor where you and your parents will live from now on.”
After travelling by carriage with Keiras, Aiman’s family arrived in Silverian County.
Keiras gave them a manor situated on a small estate adjoining the count’s city.
Keiras had received the title of Count because he was an Imperial Mage, so he could not truly be regarded as a formally appointed count of the Empire.
The same was true of every Imperial Mage.
Thus, although he held the title of Count, his territory was only about the size of a viscounty.
Ordinarily, a count could have one viscount and between three and five barons as vassals.
However, a title obtained through the privileges granted to an Imperial Mage held authority one rank lower than its name suggested.
As a result, although Keiras was a count, he could bestow only a single barony.
That was also why Keiras had made Aiman an offer.
‘Would you care to become a baron?’
Seeing the manor Keiras was showing him reminded Aiman of that question.
However, now that his status as a mage had been confirmed and he had escaped from serfdom, there was no need to make a hasty decision.
Furthermore—
‘He said that becoming a formally recognised baron would bind me to the Empire.’
That was not necessarily a bad thing.
What was the Empire?
It was the greatest nation on the continent, a country that had brought the entire land under its rule.
Becoming one of its recognised members was no different from becoming an employee at a major corporation.
Keiras had explained that if Aiman accepted a formal barony, it would have to be reported to the Imperial Court.
Normally, the report would be made in writing.
After all, whenever the countless nobles of the Empire granted titles to expand their influence, the Emperor could hardly meet every newly appointed noble in person.
Keiras’s circumstances, however, were somewhat different.
He was one of the candidates to become the next Deputy Commander of the Imperial Mage Corps.
If someone like Keiras announced that he had taken a disciple, the Imperial Court might order him to bring Aiman to the Imperial Capital, if only out of curiosity.
‘That must be why Master made the offer while implying that it would be perfectly fine if I refused.’
Since Aiman was his first disciple, Keiras wanted to give him everything he could.
That was why he had asked whether Aiman wanted to become a baron, even though he found the prospect of visiting the Imperial Capital bothersome.
Other than his own master, Keiras had not told anyone that he had advanced to the 5th Class.
However, if Keiras travelled to the Imperial Capital, the other Imperial Mages would naturally gather to meet Aiman, his disciple.
When that happened, either the Commander, a 6th-Class Archmage, or the Deputy Commander, a 5th-Class Mage, would notice.
They would realise that Keiras had reached the 5th Class.
That was what Keiras found troublesome.
Thus, Keiras intended to complete his imperial assignment, submit his report in writing, and return to his territory.
That was why Aiman had not yet accepted the barony Keiras had offered him.
In any case, the thought prompted Aiman to ask Keiras a question.
“Is this the manor where I would live if I accepted the barony you mentioned before?”
“It is.”
“But I have not accepted the barony.”
“The manor will remain vacant unless I grant the barony to someone else. You may use it.”
It was far too grand a manor for someone of a baronet’s standing.
Of course, that did not mean Aiman had the slightest intention of refusing it.
On the contrary, he was delighted.
‘I was lucky to have become a mage······.’
As he thought that, Aiman recalled the first day he had met Keiras.
@
“You do not appear to have the aptitude to become a mage.”
The words struck him like a bolt from a clear sky.
He could not become the mage he had wanted so desperately to be.
Aiman stared at Keiras in disbelief.
“Is that really true?”
“It is.”
His answer was uncompromising.
But Aiman could not give up.
He asked again.
“Can I truly not become a mage?”
“You truly cannot.”
His answer was just as firm as before.
However, Aiman truly did not want to give up.
He asked one final time.
“Is there absolutely no way?”
“Haa. It is not that there is no way at all, but······.”
Unable to endure Aiman’s persistence any longer, Keiras sighed and uttered the words that immediately caught his attention.
There was a way.
Aiman quickly asked him about it.
“What method is it?”
“You could become a mage, but you would have to remain a 1st-Class Mage for the rest of your life.”
“What?”
Hearing Keiras’s answer reminded Aiman of the information he possessed about the man.
‘Was he a 5th-Class Mage?’
A Class was probably an indication of a mage’s rank.
Judging by Keiras’s statement that he would remain a 1st-Class Mage for life, the number likely increased as a mage reached higher realms.
Honestly, Aiman did not care about reaching a high realm.
He merely wanted to become a mage.
He wanted to experience using magic.
And Keiras had just told him that there was a way for him to do so.
Aiman’s eyes naturally began to shine.
Seeing that expression, Keiras spoke as though he had no other choice.
“My master and I have been conducting a certain experiment.”
“An experiment?”
Aiman wondered why Keiras had suddenly brought up an experiment.
However, when he heard what Keiras said next, he understood why.
“Yes. It was an experiment to discover a method by which ordinary people could become mages.”
A way for ordinary people to become mages!
There could not have been a better subject to capture Aiman’s attention.
A ray of hope seemed to descend into the dark despair he had felt after Keiras told him that he possessed no aptitude for magic.
Even if the sky fell, there was always a way out.
If their experiment had succeeded, then Aiman might also have a chance.
“Did you succeed?”
“We did, although the result was only half a mage.”
Half a mage.
Aiman initially found the expression strange, but he soon realised what Keiras meant.
“Half a mage? Ah! Is that why you said I would have to remain a 1st-Class Mage for the rest of my life?”
“That is correct.”
“Even so, would you please teach me the method?”
A 1st-Class Mage was still a mage, was he not?
That meant he would be able to use magic.
Even if that was all he could ever achieve, Aiman still wanted to become a mage.
Keiras, however, was concerned.
“Once you become a mage, you will begin to desire a higher realm. If you are forced to remain a 1st-Class Mage for your entire life, you may fall into despair and become a broken man.”
“Would a 1st-Class Mage be unable to create the bird you showed me?”
“No. Mana Bird is a 1st-Class summoning spell, so you would be able to use it.”
After learning that the spell Keiras had used to fold a crane out of mana was called Mana Bird, Aiman replied.
“That alone would be enough for me.”
“Good grief. I am telling you that your feelings may change once you actually become a mage.”
Keiras understood because he was a mage himself.
At first, merely being able to use magic felt mysterious and wonderful. However, as one continued living as a mage, a desire inevitably emerged.
A desire to reach a higher realm.
A desire to wield even more powerful magic.
That was why Keiras could not readily offer Aiman the method of becoming a 1st-Class Mage.
Aiman’s current inability to form a Mana Circle in his heart might disappear if his constitution improved as his body matured.
Of course, by then he would be older. Entering the path of magic so late would make reaching a high realm difficult.
Even so, having the opportunity to aim higher at a later age seemed preferable to being trapped at the 1st Class forever.
That was also why Keiras and his master had described the result of their experiment as only half a mage.
But none of that mattered to Aiman.
He simply wanted to use magic.
“Honestly, would it not be better to become a 1st-Class Mage and do what I wish than to live my entire life without ever using magic?”
He wanted it that desperately.
The longing in his eyes finally made Keiras surrender.
“······You are remarkably persuasive for one so young.”
“Does that mean······?”
“Very well. I shall teach you the method.”
The method itself was not complicated.
A mage formed a Mana Circle within the heart.
That was the foundation of entering the path of magic.
However, very few ordinary people were capable of doing so.
That was why mages were so rare.
Thus, Keiras and his master had conducted an experiment to discover a way for people who could not form a Mana Circle in their hearts to become mages.
After trying all manner of methods, they had produced one successful case.
Their first attempt had been to implant the Mana Circle somewhere in the body other than the heart. However, no other organ could withstand it as the heart, the organ responsible for sustaining life, could.
After explaining that much, Keiras raised his index finger.
“Then a certain idea occurred to us. Every person inherently possesses Life-Force Mana. Even someone who is not a mage can cast magic by forcibly drawing it out. That mana circulates throughout the entire body alongside the blood. My master and I used that as our starting point.”
“What did you consider?”
“If placing a Mana Circle in one location caused the body to collapse under its power, what if we made the Mana Circle move throughout the entire body instead?”
As he listened to the explanation, Aiman absorbed the information as naturally as water seeping into paper.
“Then the Mana Circle would be maintained by keeping it in constant circulation rather than allowing it to remain in a single place within the body?”
“You are clever. That is precisely it. However, to advance to a higher Class, a mage must increase the number of Mana Circles. We discovered that when two or more circles were present, they would collide and cause the mage’s body to explode.”
Keiras gave a faint smile when Aiman immediately understood his explanation.
A thought suddenly occurred to Aiman.
“Then would it not be enough to prevent the Mana Circles from colliding? Perhaps they could be circulated while maintaining a fixed distance from one another······.”
“That is a rather good idea. However, do you think my master and I would not have considered it?”
“So that method also has a problem.”
“It does.”
Keiras suddenly raised both fists. He then continued his explanation.
“Mana naturally attracts other mana. You might be able to control the circles while you are awake, but once you fall asleep······ BOOM!”
Keiras moved his fists while maintaining a fixed distance between them. Then, closing his eyes as though he had fallen asleep, he slammed them together before opening his eyes again.
Finally, Keiras asked him a question.
“You could die like this. Do you still want to become a mage?”
The threat of death might have persuaded him to give up.
Yet even that danger failed to weaken the determination in Aiman’s eyes.
“I want to become one. A mage.”