novelraw Chapter 46 : A Sudden Field Trip (3)
Chapter 46 : A Sudden Field Trip (3)
Chapter 46: A Sudden Field Trip (3)
“I heard you attacked even though it wasn’t sparring time. A lowborn like you dared to attack a mage of a noble family, so shouldn’t you suffer the same? Just because you have some talent as a Double Caster, you’ve forgotten to fear the sky.”
As expected, there had been a reason his proposal hadn’t carried any sense of kindness.
He had clearly been aiming for this.
Did he set all this up simply because he cherished Hapert so dearly?
Even so, there had never been a case in history where a family head personally stepped forward to threaten a 1st Class.
And on top of that, he even tried to directly attack me.
If I had still been maintaining my status as an Archmage at this moment, the Nohill Family could have been stripped of its family rights on the spot.
A mage must not be bound by the Circle, the number that represents power, and must act accordingly.
To my eyes, Jick looked like around a 7th Circle Mage.
Probably similar in level to Nide.
No—considering he held the position of family head, he might be a few steps above Nide.
For someone at 7th Circle to threaten a 1st Circle student with magic was already a problem, but the level of magic he used was an even bigger one.
It was absolutely not the kind of magic you should ever aim at a student.
And if this incident got out, it was obvious that the Nohill Family’s standing in the Magical Society would not remain intact—yet the fact that he appeared so brazen meant someone was backing him.
The head of a family would never act rashly without thought.
“And since you rejected my proposal, that means you’re looking down on me, the head of the Nohill Family. A family is another form of law in the Magical Society. And since you attacked Hapert, you will take responsibility for that.”
“I don’t know what kind of responsibility you want me to take.”
“Just as you attacked Hapert, you can take it with your body as well. A mage must know how to take responsibility for his actions.”
“That sounds to me like you’re telling me to take that hit?”
I asked, glancing at the magic implemented on the wall and the door.
He neither nodded nor gave any verbal answer.
But his expression told me everything—I knew my guess was right.
Considering the level of the magic, if an ordinary student were to take that hit, they wouldn’t wake up for days at least.
‘A family head attacking a student directly? And over something this childish?’
I couldn’t tolerate it.
“What an insane thing to say.”
It was so absurd that the words slipped out without any thought.
“……What?”
“And you call this a family…….”
“Did you lose your mind when you saw my magic, kid?”
“Kid, huh…….”
Chwararararak-!
I simultaneously manifested an ice sphere.
“I’m not someone who should be hearing the word ‘kid’ from you. If anything, you should be hearing it from me, you punk.”
The magic I manifested was Frozen Thrawn.
Water element, freezing magic.
A lower-tier version used as a substitute for the 9th Circle magic Orbification.
The created ice sphere was about the size of an orb and extended forward, firing countless icicles in all directions.
“You’re using quite a dangerous magic on a student. I’ll take your flames away.”
“Hm?”
Former, who had been waiting for Jick’s dinner with the students to end, flinched as he felt a powerful surge of mana.
“Who…… is that?”
Someone in the Nohill residence was clearly manifesting a powerful spell right now.
At first, he felt only one source of mana, but immediately after, he sensed an even stronger mana flaring up, as if someone were countering it.
Former looked toward the location where the mana was coming from.
The building with the grand dining hall.
Inside there should be only Jick and the students.
So who could be displaying such strong magic?
No—was there even a situation where such magic should be used?
If it had been only one presence, he could assume that Family Head Jick was simply showing off his magic to the students.
But the fact there were two was the problem.
To find out what was happening, Former headed toward the grand dining hall.
When I flicked the Frozen Thrawn with my finger, it slowly advanced toward Jick, beginning to rain icicles throughout the entire hall.
Puseok-!
Jjeojeojeog-!
The fire-element magic Jick had implemented on the entrance and the walls disappeared the instant the icicles struck, and in an instant, an ice age swept through the hall.
“You…… who are you? How can someone said to be a Double Caster of fire and darkness use freezing magic……?”
Magic of a level no 1st Class student should be able to wield.
No—even Jick himself wouldn’t be able to manifest magic of this level.
He was flustered, but he didn’t take his wary, piercing gaze off me as he asked.
“You don’t need to know. You won’t remember anything anyway.”
Then I swept my hand through the air.
It was to send some of the icicles connected to my fingers flying toward Jick.
Whirik! Puk!
The icicles pierced Jick’s body successfully, then quickly melted into water.
Now the icicles would firmly connect me to Jick.
“What are you doing…….”
Banshi, who had no idea of my intentions, asked beside me.
“Be quiet. You’re distracting me.”
I had my reasons for acting.
I hadn’t shown magic of this level as a 1st Class simply out of a desire to punish him.
I would attack Jick’s body, but leave no wounds behind.
The magic that suited this condition was Frozen Thrawn—or so I believed.
“I’ll personally confirm with my own eyes whether their reason for hosting that open tour was really to threaten us.”
“What……?”
Since my magic was attached to Jick, the condition was met.
I could now use ‘Linking’.
And Linking was the art of infiltrating someone’s mind.
But that wasn’t all.
Another power that Linking possessed—
It allowed me to rummage freely through the other person’s memories.
This time, Linking would be used to dig through Jick’s memories.
Thus I began to examine his memories one by one.
Like a revolving lantern, his memories replayed rapidly before my eyes.
“Family Head, I have a request.”
“Alright, my adorable youngest. What request is it?”
I found one memory that seemed suspicious.
I didn’t know where the location was. Still, it was likely one of this family’s facilities.
Hapert was kneeling politely on the floor, and I was looking down at him from Jick’s viewpoint.
Come to think of it, Hapert had gone out once before the start of vacation.
This memory appeared to be from that time.
“There is a fire-and-darkness Double Caster named Artel in 1st Class. Because of him, I might not be able to get promoted to 2nd Class this year.”
“Hapert, how long have you been in 1st Class?”
“Two years…… sir. I’m sorry.”
“No child in my family has ever stayed in 1st Class for two years…… What could be the reason?”
“I’m sorry, Family Head.”
“There’s also a girl named Banshi, right? And now a Double Caster as well. Are those two making you lose confidence?”
“That’s not it. They’re still lowborn. But…… I once took a hit from that Double Caster’s magic…… and the level was different.”
“What? A lowborn dared to attack you?”
“……Yes.”
“He must be overstepping just because he has a bit of talent. So what is this request of yours?”
“When I looked through the family library, I found something called an open tour. I assumed you’d be familiar with it.”
Jick hadn’t lied.
The open tour had indeed been decided because of me and Banshi, and its starting point had been Hapert.
He must have been referring to the time he threatened me the day before our second spar, only to get hit in return.
“Open tour? Inviting students to the family estate?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So your request is for me to hold this open tour?”
“That’s correct.”
“An open tour…….”
The memory I was seeing followed Jick’s perspective exactly as it had been.
Realizing something, Jick nodded.
“Very well, I’ll arrange it. And I will make sure he learns not to act out just because he has talent.”
“Thank you! Family Head!”
That was the end of the memory.
‘Unbelievable.’
Now that I knew everything, I was about to leave his memories and finish Linking.
Then another memory appeared.
Jick was alone in a large room, looking at a Mob.
He was communicating with someone.
—This is a message from the Full Moon.
Full Moon.
A coded title referring to the Archmage.
At the same time, it was a word that grabbed my ankle just as I was about to leave the memory.
Why did the Archmage appear in something as simple as arranging an open tour?
The current Archmage was Tyrant.
I needed to check a bit more.
“What did he say?”
—He granted permission for the Nohill Family’s open tour. It’s a culture that hasn’t been carried out once in 300 years, so he was pleased that the Nohill Family volunteered to do it.
“Thank you.”
—And the Full Moon had one request.
“What is it?”
—The participants of this open tour are the 1st Class students of the Ed Branch School, correct?
“Yes, that’s right.”
—Among the students, there is one named Artel. He ordered you to observe him closely and report on him.
“Artel…….”
‘Is the Full Moon watching me because I’m a Double Caster?’
Since I was inside Jick’s memories, I could know exactly what he had thought at that time as well.
“Understood. I will do so.”
—Ah, and the Full Moon also said he is always grateful for the herbs and appreciates your efforts.
“It’s an honor.”
—Yes, that is all.
And the memory ended completely.
Instead of cancelling Linking, I entered the moment in which I was manifesting magic at Jick inside the dining hall.
With my hand stretched out toward empty air and my mind fully immersed in the memory, I lightly closed my hand.
To others, it would have looked like I clenched my fist into empty space, but in truth, it was an action to hide the memory.
Like covering something with a black cloth so its contents could not be seen.
I simply hid a portion of his memories, yet to the person affected, it felt as though the memories had been erased.
Because once a portion of memory turned pitch black, no amount of effort could bring it back.
Linking, which allowed infiltration into memories, also made hiding them possible.
After hiding only that specific memory, I withdrew all the magic I had manifested in the dining hall.
Then I released Linking.
Once Linking ended, Jick stood absentmindedly in the dining hall, his eyes unfocused.
He looked like a man whose soul had left his body.
When Linking hid a portion of memories, the person entered that condition for a brief time.
“Let’s go, Banshi.”
I didn’t miss that chance and left the dining hall with Banshi.
About two minutes after Artel left—
“Ah.”
Jick snapped back to reality as though a light bulb had turned on.
“……What was I doing here?”
He had forgotten everything about leaving Banshi and Artel behind separately.
The last thing he remembered was Hapert taking the students out of the hall to show them around elsewhere.
Everything after that had turned pitch black, as if erased with a single stroke of an eraser.
“Weird…….”
But the unpleasant and uneasy feeling remained, as though something bad had happened.
“Your walking looks strange…….”
Banshi said this to me as we walked down the hall.
“It’s a side effect. Linking has side effects.”
“What did you do to Family Head Jick?”
“I hid part of his memory. From the moment the two of us stayed behind until we came out.”
“……Linking can do that too?”
“If mana infusion is possible, why wouldn’t hiding someone’s memory be possible?”
“Ah, I see.”
Stumble.
“Uwah?”
At that moment, I missed a step and nearly slammed my forehead into the hard hallway floor, but Banshi caught me with quick reflexes.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. One of my legs is just a bit weak. When you hide someone’s memory, this happens. The body stops listening.”
“No wonder. That’s why you manifested such a high-level magic. Honestly, I didn’t know what you were thinking when you acted like that.”
“But that’s not the important part. While digging through Jick’s memories…….”
Ttap, ttap.
While I was speaking with Banshi, I heard footsteps not far away.