His heart pounded even harder.
A new path had opened before Aiman, who had been planning to make hanji from paper mulberry simply because he desperately wanted to practise origami.
No, it was more than a new path.
It was an entirely unexplored road for him to pioneer.
Aiman had folded paper made from countless different materials, but he had never once performed magic.
Yet origami could be used to cast magic.
Aiman looked like a child who had just discovered an incredible new toy.
He wanted to run over to the mage and ask him at once.
'How can I learn magic?'
That was when it happened.
Just as Aiman was about to leave the bundle of paper mulberry behind and approach Keiras and Ribal, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Startled by the sudden tug, Aiman turned his head.
"Hm? Who…… Uncle Rick?"
The person pulling his arm was Rick, one of the serfs with whom he was close.
Rick stared at Aiman with a face drained of all colour.
"Aiman, what were you about to do?"
"Excuse me?"
Aiman had merely intended to ask Keiras how he could learn magic.
Rick could not have known the reason, but he seemed to have realised that Aiman had been about to speak to them.
"You were not planning to go over there, were you?"
With the hand that was not holding Aiman, Rick pointed towards the garden where Keiras and Ribal stood.
That was exactly where Aiman had intended to go.
But why did Rick look so horrified?
When Aiman failed to understand, Rick dragged him away with an expression of sheer terror.
Only after they were some distance from where Aiman had been standing did Rick finally stop.
He turned around and called the boy's name.
"Aiman."
"Yes, Uncle."
"Do you have any idea what you were about to do?"
"Excuse me?"
Aiman had simply found the sight fascinating and wanted to ask a single question.
He could not understand why Rick looked as though he had narrowly escaped death.
Only then did Aiman remember his social standing.
'Are serfs forbidden from speaking to nobles?'
His suspicion was correct.
"You little fool! If a serf speaks to a noble, he is immediately executed for the crime of insulting a noble. And if the offender is a serf, his entire family is put to death! Did you not know that?"
It was an utterly wretched law.
Nevertheless, he had to obey it.
Aiman was a serf, after all.
In the end, he reacted as someone of his station should.
"Ah! Is that true?"
Rick sighed at Aiman's startled reaction.
"Phew. That fool Isaac never even taught his son something this important. Listen carefully. A serf must never address a noble without permission, nor may he carelessly stare at one. More importantly, Lord Ribal, the eldest son of our Lord Jenkins, was in the garden you were approaching. If you had gone over and spoken to them, not only you but your parents, Isaac and Teresa, would have lost your heads."
"That is……."
"It is fortunate that I happened to pass by and saw you. Otherwise, something terrible could have happened."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Aiman meant it sincerely.
Although he had entered the body of a serf named Aiman, and Isaac and Teresa were not his biological parents, they had treated him as though he were truly their son.
Rick had saved both him and the people who had become his parents.
Aiman could not help but feel grateful.
Rick dismissed his thanks as nothing important and merely warned him repeatedly to be careful.
"There is no need to thank me. Just be more careful from now on."
"I will."
After giving Aiman that warning, Rick left.
Aiman remained behind alone.
A lament escaped his lips.
"To think I cannot obtain what I desire even when it is right before my eyes……."
There was nothing he could do.
His social standing was that of a serf.
For the moment, Aiman returned to pick up the bundle of paper mulberry he had unconsciously dropped.
When he reached the original spot, Keiras was still showing Ribal magic in the garden.
Earlier, he had folded a crane.
This time, he folded a flame.
After hoisting the bundle of paper mulberry back onto his shoulder, Aiman slowly headed home while repeatedly stealing glances at the garden.
According to Rick, not only speaking to a noble but even staring at one could result in execution.
He could not openly watch them.
Although he deliberately walked slowly, the garden eventually receded into the distance and disappeared from sight.
He considered turning back, but if someone decided to find fault with him, it would not be only Aiman who suffered.
Isaac and Teresa would be harmed as well.
Aiman quickened his pace and returned home.
After setting down the bundle of paper mulberry, he began to think.
'Come to think of it, what the mage folded was…….'
Keiras had folded a sphere of blue energy.
That blue energy had looked extremely familiar.
It was the same silk-like blue substance that drifted throughout the world whenever Aiman focused his gaze.
Aiman concentrated.
The blue energy covering the entire world appeared within his vision.
'I think this is what he folded…….'
Aiman lightly poked the blue energy floating before him with his index finger.
Since it could not be seen without concentrating, he assumed it could not be touched either.
But then—TAP.
"Huh?"
The blue energy collided with his index finger and briefly caved inward.
It quickly returned to its original form and continued drifting through the world.
As Aiman watched it, a thought occurred to him.
'Can I actually touch it?'
Aiman ran his hands over the blue energy.
"I can touch it?"
Any mage in this world would have been utterly dumbfounded to hear such a thing.
The blue energy Aiman could see was 'mana,' the force that composed the world itself.
It was indispensable to mages who wished to use magic.
The idea that someone could touch unmanifested mana with his bare hands was absurd.
No, Aiman's very existence was absurd from the beginning.
He could see the world's mana with his naked eyes even though he had not manifested it through magic.
Had he stopped a passing mage and claimed such a thing, the mage would have told him to go home and sleep off his drunkenness.
Yet Aiman could do it.
He could both see and touch mana.
After belatedly realising that he could touch the mana visible to him, Aiman eagerly began manipulating it with both hands.
Then reality set in.
'But this is not enough…….'
The mana visible to Aiman was the energy that formed the world and drifted throughout it.
In a sense, it was like an enormous sheet of fabric covering the entire world.
At such a vast scale, he might be able to make a small dent in it with his fingers, but he could not use it for origami as Keiras had done.
Aiman could not hide his disappointment.
"It is useless……."
@
"Hm?"
Imperial Mage Keiras sensed a strange energy while entertaining Ribal, the eldest son of Lord Leroy Jenkins.
He stopped showing the boy magic.
Ribal tilted his head when Keiras, who had been entertaining him with spells, suddenly became distracted.
"Is something wrong, Sir Keiras?"
"Ah! No, it is nothing."
For a brief instant, Keiras had sensed magical energy nearby.
Wondering whether another mage might be in the area, he spread his mana and searched the surroundings.
However, he found nothing.
He considered dismissing it.
Just as he was about to resume showing Ribal magic, the boy spotted someone and ran off.
"Ah! Father!"
Ribal ran towards a well-built man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and the knights standing around him.
The man in the centre embraced Ribal.
He was Count Leroy Jenkins, the current head of the territory.
After catching Ribal in his arms, Leroy stroked his son's hair.
"Haha, you little rascal. Have you been waiting long?"
"No! Sir Kei showed me magic, so I did not even notice the time passing!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
After briefly speaking with his son, Leroy approached Keiras with Ribal beside him.
He greeted Keiras with a slight bow of his head.
"Sir Keiras, I apologise for being late."
"There is no need to apologise. If you had matters concerning the territory that required your attention, you were right to handle them first. I only need to inspect the crystals from the mine in your domain."
That was why Imperial Mage Keiras had visited the Jenkins territory.
A crystal mine had recently been discovered within the domain, and Keiras had come to assess the quality of the crystals it would produce.
Since he only needed to inspect their quality, he had told Leroy that there was no need to delay more urgent responsibilities on his account.
As Keiras had been sent by the Imperial Court, proper etiquette demanded that Leroy set everything else aside for him.
However, Keiras had strongly refused such treatment, so Leroy had handled only the territorial matters that required his immediate attention before coming to meet him.
"Haha, hearing you say that makes me feel somewhat relieved."
"Haha, it is nothing. Ah, Lord Leroy."
"Yes?"
Keiras asked whether any mages lived near the garden.
Leroy looked as though there was no possibility of such a thing.
"Hm, I do not believe so. The mages in our territory are stationed on the opposite side of the garden. Their lodgings and training grounds are all located there so that the remnants of their magical training cannot damage the garden."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Other than this garden, the surrounding area is where the serfs work. It is hardly an environment in which a mage would choose to live."
"I see."
Although Leroy explained that no mage would be living nearby, Keiras's question made him curious.
"Why do you ask so suddenly?"
"Ah, it is nothing. I must have been mistaken."
"Excuse me?"
"I thought I sensed a trace of magic, but…… it vanished so quickly that I believe I must have imagined it."
Leroy's expression immediately became serious.
"……If someone has infiltrated the territory……."
A mage appearing in an area inhabited only by serfs could only mean that someone had intruded upon the domain.
However, Keiras slowly shook his head.
"No. I believe I was mistaken."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. It puzzled me as well, so I conducted a search. However, the energy I sensed had vanished without a trace."
Leroy suggested another possibility.
"What if they concealed their presence……."
Perhaps the person who had used magic had noticed Keiras's search and hidden their energy.
Keiras replied that such a thing was impossible.
"That cannot be."
"Excuse me?"
Leroy's expression showed that he did not understand why Keiras considered it impossible.
Keiras smiled faintly upon seeing his confusion.
"Anyone capable of concealing their energy from me would have to be a mage of a higher level than I am. If that were the case, there would be nothing we could do against them anyway."
"Ah…… then they would have to be at least a 5th-Class Mage. Someone of that level would have no reason to hide from you, Sir Keiras."
The stages of magic were divided into 'Classes.'
Anyone up to the 5th Class was simply called a Mage, while a 6th-Class Mage was known as an Archmage.
The highest level attained by any living mage was the 6th Class.
On the exceedingly rare occasions when someone surpassed the realm of an Archmage and reached the 7th Class, that mage was called a 'Magus.'
Lastly, the legendary 8th-Class Mage who had appeared only once in history was known as the 'Grand Magus.'
In any case, there were extremely few 6th-Class Mages currently known as Archmages.
As a result, even the most formidable individuals did not dare treat a 5th-Class Mage lightly.
There was a reason Leroy had mentioned a 5th-Class Mage.
Keiras was publicly known to be a 4th-Class Mage.
However, he had recently advanced to the 5th Class.
That was why he concluded that he must have imagined the energy.
Only a select few knew that he had reached the 5th Class, so he thought to himself.
'After all, only seven mages on the entire continent are capable of concealing their energy from me.'