"family?"
During our journey south, I remember Lista asking me a strange question.
"Yeah, have you ever thought about having a family, Lindo?"
"No. I don't even know the face of the mother who gave birth to me."
I grew up in a slum in the north.
If the head of the Osarius School, who was passing by, had not seen his magical talent and taken him in, he would have lived as an orphan on the streets and died.
"So I don't know what family is. And since I don't know what it is, I don't care."
"Oh my, how pitiful...."
Then the priestess Friede playfully hugged the boy and blew smoke from her cigarette. I resisted the embarrassment and responded.
"Even if I have a family… I don't know how to treat them. So I don't need one."
"It's not difficult, Lin."
Upon hearing such vain mutterings, a flower more fragrant than spring bloomed on Lista's face.
"Just be nice to her. Lin is a kind girl, so she'll be fine."
master.
Your Majesty, it is morning… … .
As the view opens with a polite whisper, the scenery of fond memories closes.
"Ugh...."
The boy sat up in bed and stretched.
Deep, brilliant sunlight.
It was a morning, the melody of spring, with birds chirping in the morning.
"Then, Master Rain, I will prepare breakfast for you."
The boy yawned and looked into the mirror, adjusting his clothes.
Shiny black hair and red eyes more beautiful than ruby.
A body with an elegant appearance.
His dignified features were free of the rusticity and crudeness typical of those who grew up in the slums.
Anyway, the boy was reincarnated.
It was only twenty days ago that the nine-year-old boy, who was reckless and blunt, regained his memories from 300 years ago.
The reincarnated person was none other than the eldest son of the Ludwig family, one of the five representative magic families of the empire.
The Ludwig family is a prestigious family whose founder is the fifth-generation great wizard Ryuken Ludwig, who can be considered the boy's senior.
Unlike his previous life where he was an orphan with nothing, the boy was born into a harmonious and wealthy family, so he had to make constant efforts to adapt to his changed daily life.
"Good morning, my lord."
"Oh my. Rain, you're up already. How wonderful! Then call your father. He'll be happy to have you here."
"yes."
My father was in the main office.
It was a cluttered room, filled with luxurious furniture and countless documents.
"Rain, did you not sleep well? Your complexion doesn't look good."
Rain, Rain Ludwig.
The proud first son of Count Ludwig.
"Is the aftereffect still not over...."
His father, Caven Ludwig, felt the boy's forehead to check his temperature. Suddenly, he remembered the days when Lista had done similar things for him.
"The meal is ready, so come down."
"Haha, is that why our son came here in person? Thanks, but go eat first."
"why?"
The father took the boy in his arms, rubbed his beard against his face, and led him to the desk in the master's office.
It was visible to the boy's eyes.
A large piece of drawing paper spread out on a table, slanted by the spring sunlight. A three-layer magic square drawn on the drawing paper.
"magic?"
"Yes, because the theory presentation is next week. If you eat something, your head will get hazy. I'm going to try to do my best in the morning when my head is clear."
The boy's eyes quickly and accurately scanned the information on the magic square drawn on the drawing paper.
The magic square is made up of three squares. The runes carved into it are Zhou (周), Da (茶), and Go (庫).
It's a square, so it's an earth attribute magic.
As you can see from the three numbers in the magic square and the three runes, it is a three-star magic.
It is a high level of magic that even geniuses can barely reach.
'It's blocked there and there.'
But the boy was a great wizard.
The problem was obvious at a glance.
"Can I help you?"
"Why, are you thinking of cheering me on?"
"No. I'll help you."
"Of course I welcome Rain's support. But if I do that, Mom and Dad will get in trouble. Now, go eat breakfast."
No, I'm really saying I'll help you.
Before Caven could stop him, the boy climbed up onto the desk and grabbed a quill pen.
'What is magic?'
After defining the attributes with shapes and the characteristics with runes.
'The act of distorting and changing providence by interpreting it as a mathematical formula.'
The direction in which the cavern is blocked can naturally be said to be the final task… … .
'Is it the math operation part?'
The mathematical formula that had been filling up the inside of the magic square was suddenly cut off at some point.
"The rune of Go (庫) makes the mathematical formula more complicated and conflicts with the rune of Da (茶). So it would be better to change it to Gu (丘)."
"...?"
"Then, the answer comes out quickly by establishing the Imperial Mathematics Equation 41-2. Like this."
The boy finished writing on a piece of paper with a quill and smiled.
No, how did you laugh?
Funnily enough, I couldn't remember how to smile at that time, so I had to raise the corners of my mouth with both hands.
"This is… this kind of method…?"
Caven, who had been at a loss at his son's prank, opened his eyes wide and looked back and forth between the drawing paper and his son's face.
'This, this is how... ... ?'
It was a difficult problem that even the most capable scholars of the empire could not find a solution to. It was a high-level magic that had been lost about 200 years ago.
If we can re-establish this magic, many people will receive miraculous help from natural disasters such as floods and landslides.
But Rain is only nine years old. How can she do this at an age when she can only use basic magic?
"Can we have breakfast together now?"
The boy asked.
The father blankly raised his head, then laughed while caressing his son's head.
"Okay, let's go eat together."
* * *
The boy's family tree was not complicated.
He had his parents above him and a six-year-old younger sister below him.
The child who is now standing on the other side of the wall, peeking her head out and looking at the boy is that younger sister.
Red eyes and hair as fine as ebony.
A beautiful girl who was born with the physical characteristics of the Ludwig family, just like Rain.
"...?"
But when our eyes meet, he runs away.
It's not a crowd.
In the boy's memory, Rain was not kind to his sister. Rather than being unkind, he was indifferent to the world from the beginning.
Is it because of the loneliness engraved in my soul?
Perhaps it was because he was born in an era when all his comrades had died and become legends, and the pain lingered in his soul, leading to a life filled with emptiness.
"...."
I was trying to ignore him and read my book because he kept running away, but there was a voice that kept bothering me.
- Please save a lot.
How can you run away like that?
I'm busy with my own things.
This body has poor magical power and lacks stamina. Even if you know how to use magic, if you don't have magical power, you're useless.
- Lin is a kind child, so she can do well. I believe so.
The boy sighed heavily.
And when I made eye contact with my sister again, I made a gesture.
"Come here. Should I tell you something? Or play with you?"
My younger sister, Serry Ludwig, seemed taken aback by the question. So she bit her lip for a moment before running away.
But after a while, he reappeared and held out a book to Lane with both hands.
"『The Basic Formula of One-Star Magic』... You're only six years old and you're already studying this?"
Seri nodded her head wildly.
Then he started dancing around. He looked so excited that he could talk to his brother.
- Come here, Lin.
At that time, fond memories suddenly flooded the world before my eyes and passed by.
Every time I see beautiful scenery.
Whenever they encountered the vast nature and splendid world, Lista would sit Lin on her lap and teach her various things.
- Lin, do you know what this flower means?
- Lin, do you know what the story is about that cliff?
Lin grumbled that she was being treated like a child… … but in fact, she enjoyed those times the most. That's why she let Seri sit on her lap.
"What don't you know?"
"This, this-thing!"
"You don't know anything from the very beginning...."
"Yeah-Yeah!"
"Okay. Okay, let me explain."
How should I talk about the vast world of magic?
"Have you ever played house building?"
"huh-!"
"A thatched house, a brick house… Depending on what kind of house you're building, the materials will be different, right? That's what the magic square does."
Magic square.
The shape of the magic square determines the properties of the magic.
"If you draw a triangle like this, it's a fire attribute, and a fan shape is a wind attribute. So the magic written here is a wind attribute magic."
"Ba, Badam!"
"The next step is the runes. The runes determine the nature of the magic."
Runes are magical words, ancient words with different meanings.
In the case of law, it is a bondage.
In the case of Ho (扈), it is flying.
For example, if you carve the rune of law into a triangle magic square, it becomes a fire attribute binding magic.
"Now, you can solve the problem using the mathematical formula here."
"Soo-gak!"
"No, math."
"What is math?"
"...."
"...?"
"In the case of the law, it requires a quadratic equation... Okay, let's just start with addition and subtraction."
The maids and butlers shared hushed smiles as they stole glances at the lovely sight.
"Master Rain has changed."
"That's right. In the past, he didn't even care when Miss Seri cried next to him...."
"I heard that your eyesight has returned to normal since you visited the square."
When the boy's parents came to the library, the boy and girl were lying side by side at the desk, unable to overcome their childhood drowsiness, dozing off.
"oh...."
The boy's mother, Brim, covered her mouth and wiped away tears.
"Honey, I want to capture this scene in a painting."
"I won't wake up until the painter comes. And you know that Seri is very shy."
"still...."
Cavern cautiously approached and examined the things spread out on the table. A basic spellbook, a quill, a rough magic square drawn in a serpentine manner on drawing paper… … .
"Yeah, you were teaching your little brother."
Caven smiled broadly and placed a hand on the boy's head. Small, soft strands of hair slipped through his fingers and blew in the spring breeze.
"After visiting the square, it seems like Lane has become a completely different person."
"Even your speech has become more mature. Could it be that you have entered an abyss?"
"What is the abyss? This is what they call a 'bipolar war'. I've had the same experience."
The top graduate of the prestigious Magic University of Delaiten is given the opportunity to meet the great wizard Rin.
"It was 14 years ago that I had the opportunity to meet Lady Lin."
"Yes, it was."
"It was embarrassing. He reached 5-star during the time of war, while I was boasting as a mere 3-star wizard."
A wizard of the Atlas (3 stars) rank is also a genius whose name will be remembered for centuries. Currently, there are only one hundred and fifty of them in the entire empire.
"Of course, I didn't become a four-star wizard because of that meeting that day. But it is true that it was a big turning point. Isn't that the same for Rain?"
"Is Lin's body really frozen?"
"Of course. It doesn't look like a corpse at all. You must have been very skilled at using freezing magic. You still look like you were eighteen years old."
"Please tell me more."
"Story? Even if I wanted to, there's nothing more to say."
Caven, who had been shaking his head with a bitter smile, suddenly touched his chin and said, "Ah."
"Now that I think about it, there was magic left behind by the warrior Lista in the middle of the ice."
"Really?"
"The Dragon Clan priests also said that it was true. It seems to be a magical power that only Lady Ristana Lin herself can awaken. It must be a letter."
The magic of Rista was whispering like this.
To you, who will wake up someday, who promised that you will, I leave here a letter of my soul. To you, who must be coming here from somewhere far away.
Caven, who had been smiling bitterly as he recalled that day, raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, come to think of it… I had something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Rain seems like a genius. Not just a genius, but maybe… he could reach the realm of a sage."
Caven told me about how Rain had solved the magic square in the morning. Something he had been struggling with for a year but couldn't solve, all at once.
"Ah! So that's why you were able to come to the breakfast table?"
"Yes. It may be a little early, but I think I'll start teaching Rain some family magic."
The Ludwig family has long been known as the 'stealing wizards'.
When the realm reaches its peak, the demon eye opens, and this eye is famous for its ability to read and steal all magic.
That is the Ludwig family's magic, also known as the bloodline limit, which only those with the family's blood can use.
"Of course, I don't know how much I can teach...."
"Is that it?"
"That's about it."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I'll think about it later. For now, I'll just teach you as best I can."
Caven gently stroked the boy's head and smiled sweetly again.
"I want to do everything I can as a parent to give you such a lovely son."