The alchemist Sorakan visited the estate. She wore her usual black robe, and in her right hand she held a mysterious staff.
'A mage's hat.'
A tall, pointed mage's hat sat on her head, giving the impression that she had just stepped out of a fantasy film.
With her long, straight purple hair hanging loose, Sorakan approached with light steps, and a mysterious yet elegant air hung thick about her.
"My greetings, Young Master."
Sorakan came up to Dason at the entrance and offered her greeting. Even as she bowed her head, the hat did not fall but stayed firmly on it.
"That's fascinating."
Sorakan looked puzzled at Dason's words.
"Pardon?"
"Your hat doesn't fall off...... How does that work?"
Unable to contain his curiosity in the end, Dason asked about Sorakan's hat.
The mage's hat she wore had a peculiar shape, its long tip rising to a sharp point.
Even at a glance it looked hard to balance, so how did a hat like that stay on her head without falling?
Sorakan looked blank for a moment at Dason's question, and soon opened her eyes round.
She had not expected the subject of her hat, an alchemist's hat, to come up at a moment like this.
But when she met Dason's eyes, brimming with curiosity, she felt a friendliness she could not account for.
Grin.
With a playful smile on her lips, Sorakan spoke to Dason.
"If you're curious, go and form a Circle first."
She answered in a voice that pretended to be serious yet was full of mischief. She meant that there was no special secret; one had to build up an alchemist's basic grounding in handling mana.
-Hummm!
As she spoke, Sorakan's body began to glow a soft purple.
Patterns of every color showed through beneath her skin, and soon a flow of magic power ran toward the hat.
It was a mysterious sight, the mana brimming with vitality surging up inside Sorakan and wrapping around the hat.
"Magic manifests with mana as its medium, after all."
As if an invisible force were propping it up, the hat held its place steadfastly on her head. The secret was Sorakan's mana.
Gulp.
Having learned that Sorakan's hat stayed on her head by magic, Dason could not hide his envy.
'I'm envious.'
It went without saying, but Dason was in no position to perform such a trick.
He was a perfectly ordinary human without even aura, let alone magic, so he envied the alchemist's feat terribly.
"Young Master, there is no need to be so envious. Even if you cannot use magic, you are sure to be inheriting a wide territory."
Sorakan offered words of comfort. But at those words, only a wry smile lingered on Dason's lips.
"......That's not actually settled, you know."
"Ahem."
"Besides, even if Father passes away, the odds of me inheriting are lower still."
Dason had been forsaken even by his own flesh and blood. No one could guarantee that he would become the master of this land.
'Then again, that guy brought all of this on himself.'
In truth, by rights this territory ought to have become Dason's as a matter of course. For the eldest and second sons of House Arhan were set to walk a different path.
'They said they were aiming for the Emperor's Guard. That was in Dason's memories.'
His eldest brother and his second brother were both talents skilled in battle. To live as knights, they planned to give up their noble status and head for the capital.
To become knights of the Emperor's Guard, the highest position in the empire: that was their dream and their goal.
By rights, with the two brothers leaving the family, the right to inherit the territory would naturally have passed to Dason, the third son.
'But Dason caused so much trouble that things became uncertain.'
From the moment Dason realized that he would inherit the territory, he began to run wild.
His vile behavior, grown even worse, threw not only the family but the whole territory into chaos. At last, the Count took an extraordinary measure.
'I will choose the heir to the territory myself.'
The Count declared it firmly.
Saying that he could not entrust this land to one who behaved as recklessly as Dason, he announced that he would watch a while longer before deciding who would take over the territory.
That meant, in short, that Dason might be stripped of his right to inherit.
Dason paid no heed to his father's warning and ran riot as he pleased, but the more he did, the narrower his footing became. Even if his two brothers left the family, there seemed to be no guarantee that he would become master of this territory.
'And so the Dason of today.......'
He held the hollow status of House Arhan's youngest young master, and was being pushed along toward an uncertain future. With neither magic power nor land to his name, music was the only hope left to him.
"Young Master. It is all right."
Just then, this time it was Kemen who spoke to him.
"If the Count sees how you are changing, Young Master...... there is a chance he will reconsider the decision he made then."
"Really?"
"Yes. It is possible because he has not yet signed the document. However, on hearing what you recently did to the Aura Knights, he did send a reply saying that he would sign it."
"It's that damned drink that's the problem, I tell you."
The words sounded like comfort, and yet a little like despair.
'Come to think of it, there's still the Demon Realm problem as well, isn't there?'
On top of that, there was the biggest hurdle of all.
It was the posting to the Demon Realm, a place where, it was said, 10 went and 1 came back alive. The Count, furious to the roots of his hair at Dason's behavior, had declared that he would drive him out to the Demon Realm.
Gulp.
This was no time to be taking it easy. Whatever it took, he would have to show the Count that he had changed.
'Luckily there's still a little time before the Count gets back...... So until then, I'll have to improve how the people around me see me, step by step.'
They say that even if the sky falls, there is a hole to climb out through. In that spirit, Dason made up his mind. That he would not lose hope, whatever happened.
"So, where should I set up the piano?"
"I'm planning to set it up on the 5th floor."
"Please show me the way. I'll start the installation right now."
"Got it."
Dason nodded at Sorakan's words. Then he gave Kemen a look that said they should go to the 5th floor.
"Allow me to escort you both."
At that, Kemen bowed his head with a courteous word. Then he passed the two of them and headed into the building.
Tap-tap.......
Dason and Sorakan followed him to the 5th floor.
***
To begin with, Dason's room on the 5th floor had been utterly bleak, with nothing in it but one splendid grand piano standing all alone.
But during the week of waiting for the small piano specially made for the Spirit of Music, Dason had brought an astonishing change to the 5th floor.
"Oh...... You've decorated it far more splendidly than I expected."
Sorakan, opening the door and stepping in, could not contain her admiration.
The floor, cleaned until not a speck of dust remained, was spotlessness itself, and ores of every color were set splendidly into the ceiling and walls.
The crystals, glowing softly in red, blue, and purple, were as beautiful as if the stars of the night sky had been brought into the room.
Adorned with intricate statues and showy ornaments, the 5th floor had begun to come alive. Thanks to the furnishings that filled the empty space, the bleakness had vanished without a trace, and splendor had taken its place.
More than a mere practice room for a piano, it was a space reborn to a standard that would not shame a small concert.
The interior of the 5th floor, reborn as a grand practice room for the piano, was a truly wondrous scene.
'This big room alone has to be well over 40 pyeong.......'
In truth, all of this was possible because the main house itself was built on an enormous scale.
The drill ground alone, the Aura Knights' training ground, was said to be more than 100 pyeong, so the size of the whole main house went beyond imagining.
"I'll get to work."
Sorakan, who had been looking around the room, spoke to Kemen and Dason. Then she raised the staff in her right hand and struck the floor with all her might.
Tap!
With the sound of the magic rod striking the marble floor, blue light flowed from the staff.
-Hum...... hum...... hum!
The mysterious radiance began to spread in all directions, with Sorakan at its center.
When it reached its peak, the magic power burst out like an explosion and in an instant dyed the entire 5th floor blue.
It made for a dreamlike atmosphere, as if sunk beneath the sea.
Crackle!
It was just as the 5th floor was being engulfed in blue light by Sorakan's magic.
To the right of the huge grand piano, electricity began to flicker and snap.
-Hummm...... hummmm.......
Spheres of blue magic power spun round and round in the air, then clumped together and formed a single shape.
Crystals shaped like musical notes rearranged themselves into the form of a piano and revealed themselves as one small, neat piano.
Unlike the splendid look of the existing grand piano, the spirit's piano stood out for its light coloring and graceful design.
Decorated with dainty little statues, the piano was plainly an instrument specially made for Benereton.
"Ooh......."
"So that's the spirit's piano."
Seeing it, Kemen and Dason voiced their admiration.
"Hoo."
Both men's eyes were filled with wonder.
The instrument, formed from crystals of magic, showed off a beauty of a different feel from the existing grand piano.
"Hoo."
Having safely finished making the piano, Sorakan let out a breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Fatigue showed on her face from operating an intricate magic circle for so long.
"Now, the Spirit of Music—"
Then, the moment she was about to say they should call the spirit out.
Patter-patter-patter!
A small creature that burst into the room caught the eye.
"Yaaaawn......."
It was adorable, yawning and stretching to its full length.
The spirit had been fast asleep in Dason's room and had only just woken.
"Ku......kurung?"
It was then.
The moment the spirit's gaze reached the piano specially made for it, its eyes went wide.
"Kurururung!!"
Having spotted the cute little piano, the spirit hopped up and down to show its joy.
That small being, fresh from sleep and unable to hide its excitement, studied Sorakan's work closely with sparkling eyes.
Ding-a-ling!
[The Spirit of Music wishes to bestow a blessing on Sorakan as a token of thanks.]
[Will you permit this action?]
At that moment, a system message appeared before Dason's eyes.
"Kuuung......."
At the same time, the Spirit of Music gave Dason a pleading look.
TL Notes:
TL Note: Pyeong — a Korean unit of floor area, about 3.3 square meters, so 40 pyeong is roughly 130 square meters.