"To be precise, I wish to accept her as my disciple."
Seeing the look on Aletus's face, I quickly added.
"... A disciple?"
"Yes. Your daughter possesses a great talent. I truly wish to nurture it."
For my own sake, as well. Aletus stroked the head of a bewildered Elysia and asked back with a flustered expression.
"What are you talking about? You've probably heard, but my daughter has no talent for magic. We've hired so many masters—."
"Didn't you tell him?"
"... Nn. I didn't have time, so I haven't told him yet." ??
Before Aletus, who looked completely clueless, I unwrapped the bandage and levitated it with wind magic. Aletus narrowed his eyes slightly and remarked with admiration.
"... It's elemental spells, but your proficiency is quite high. It seems you've put in a lot of effort."
Well, I do need it to get by.
"Elysia. Would you come here?"
"Yes!"
Elysia pushed Aletus's hand away and came pattering over to my side. Along with Aletus's hurt expression, the wind magic grew chaotic. The bandage fluttered about before slipping from my hand and falling to the floor.
"...!"
Seeing this, Aletus frowned.
"What in the...? What was that just now?"
"... Don't you think I might have intentionally disrupted the wind magic?"
I thought I'd have to show him a few more times, but he realized it immediately. Aletus shook his head.
"No, the flow of mana changed. It wasn't that."
"The flow?"
It was the first time I'd heard that word.
"It's the stage after elemental spells, so it's natural you wouldn't know. In any case, can you explain what this is?"
"Yes. It seems your daughter was born with a talent for interfering with nearby magic."
Aletus's eyes widened to the size of his fists as he gasped in astonishment. Did I speak too directly? After a long moment, he came to his senses and asked back with a confused look.
"But there were never any signs of that before. I thought my daughter was just an ordinary person..."
"I believe it only applies to elemental spells for now. And only to cadets of a similar level. That's why the other teachers couldn't have known."
"They would naturally be first-rate mages, so none of their spells would have been disturbed, and they wouldn't have been able to find anything different about her from an ordinary person who can't use magic."
"I see... Indeed, if that's the case, it makes sense."
Aletus nodded and expressed his gratitude once more.
"It seems I have another thing to thank you for. But to become my daughter's master... you seem bright enough to know I have no choice but to refuse, don't you?"
"I do."
I refuted my own ridiculous proposal myself.
"From the perspective of Lord Aletus, who can hire excellent masters as easily as eating a meal, entrusting your daughter to a lowly person like me is out of the question."
"Ahem, I didn't think of it in such terms."
"However, I believe you are also an exceptional person, Lord Aletus. You must understand the danger of that talent."
"... What do you mean by that?"
I met Aletus's slightly darkened gaze and answered straightforwardly.
"Isn't it similar? Unable to use conventional magic, affecting her surroundings without using mana... what do people call that."
An awkward silent followed. -because it was obvious. Elysia had fallen. That is how it would become known.
Aletus, who had been contemplating for a moment, shook his head as if denying reality.
"... That can't be. The reason she can't use magic must simply be because she can't control her ability to suppress it."
"I think so as well. But isn't public perception what's important?"
Aletus made a seething sound. Because it was the truth.
"What are you trying to say?"
"It is the same. Please entrust your daughter's talent to me."
"I'll say it again, I cannot. If keeping mouths shut is the problem, I can handle that easily. There are many skilled individuals who can develop her talent."
"I'll say it again as well, yes. I think so too."
I lifted the bandage once more. But no stars appeared in my eyes. I probably can't see the flow of mana either.
"I cannot develop your daughter's talent."
"...!"
Aletus looked bewildered for a moment, then recognized what was unfolding before his eyes as reality.
"However, I can ensure she does not meet the same end as me. And this is something no one else can do. Because no mage you could possibly hire would be in a place like this."
"You..."
Aletus, who had been staring at me in disbelief, soon slapped his head in understanding.
"I-I see! The reason for the kidnapping, the fact that you were being tortured... You were tortured there and ended up falling!" ...
That's not it. It was a hassle to explain, so I just let him think that. This was easier.
"When you're in this state, you see many things. Elysia is not in a good state right now. If she's forced to learn magic or continues to blame herself, thinking she's useless, even if not now, there's a chance she might one day end up where I am."
"Even if she can never learn magic in her life, isn't that something that must be prevented?"
"Elysia."
The pondering Aletus looked at Elysia and asked.
"What do you think?"
"I want to learn!"
At her bright reply that came without even a 0.1-second delay, Aletus pinched the bridge of his nose.
"A-are you serious?"
"Yes, I can trust Jern! He risked his life to save us!"
It seemed I was more trusted than I thought.
"Even if she could never learn magic, I only wished for her to grow up healthy."
"Living an ordinary life among nobles without being a mage is a difficult thing."
"Fine. However, all lessons must be conducted here. I will treat you as a master."
"Thank you."
"So—is this really all you want?"
Aletus asked, looking at me with a completely drained expression.
"Is becoming my daughter's master your only request? It's awkward to say this, but if you have fallen, you probably don't have much time left..."
"J-Jern's going to die?!"
"No. I won't die that easily."
I reassured Elysia. I'm going through all this trouble so I don't die.
"... In any case, is giving up the money and honor that could change the rest of your life just to teach my daughter truly all you wish for?"
"There is one more thing."
I shook my head.
"What is it?"
"Please change the sequence of events."
"?"
"Please make it so that I was there because I was Elysia's master, and that I couldn't reveal it because my status was that of a commoner. And please announce that fact publicly."
"Hmm, it doesn't make much of a difference, but... why?"
"I need a status."
A clear status and address as the master of a noble. Until now, I was just a janitor at an orphanage, so I had no choice but to hide, but now I'll be able to act much more freely. Well, since I'll be treated as a commoner, I'll naturally be looked down upon.
I didn't care. Money, family, all of it can only be obtained after one survives.
"And..."
I looked out the window, thought of my goal, and gave a deep smile.
"There's someone who needs to hear this news."
It seemed I would be able to deliver it to that haughty elf in the library sooner than I thought. As I was smiling, Aletus said something strange.
"Haa, I understand... First, let's go to the storeroom."
"... The storeroom?"
It was my turn to be puzzled. Aletus shrugged as if to say 'what are you talking about?'
"Were you planning on teaching my daughter empty-handed, then?"
"That's not it."
Actually, it was. What else did I need?
Aletus explained.
"Naturally, you should take some magic books to use as teaching materials and some potions for yourself. You are my daughter's savior, after all, so, let's see..."
After watching me for a moment in thought, Aletus replied as if it were nothing.
"Well, take as much as you can carry."
I had forgotten. Nobles were far more generous than I thought.
One late night. In a small royal palace, a coronation was held. Cl-cl-cl-clap—the sound of listless applause echoed through the palace.
Countless vassals, their wives, and even their young children had gathered to earnestly celebrate the birth of a new king. The king descended from the throne and placed the crown he had been wearing onto the new king.
In the coronation ceremony where not even a breath could be heard, the only living things were the king and the 'mass' snickering beside him.
"Impressive. How does it feel to be queen?"
"Not great. It doesn't fit my head."
The woman—with black hair, black eyes, and a height not even half the king's—threw the crown down with a sullen expression. The applause stopped just like that. It wasn't out of anger at this sacrilegious act.
It was simply because the woman had willed it so.
"Now, go do what you need to do~" At those words, the corpses dragged their feet and headed back to their own territories.
They guard the palace, turning any who come into the same state as themselves. It was a terrible end, unable to rest even in death. Dark stains of black, rotting blood were left where the corpses had passed.
The mass saw this and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, Amya. Can't you do something about that? It's so filthy. It gets on me every time I come and go."
"It's funny hearing you say that. Even my ugliest child is a peerless beauty compared to you."
"It's not like I want to look like this, you know? If you carved all this away, I'd be the most handsome man in the world."
"Are you, of all things, talking about burdens in front of me?"
Amya glared at the mass and spat fiercely. A monster that looked like a moving slab of meat, with sagging and tautly swollen parts of human flesh—she couldn't stand something like that insulting her child. This happened every time.
The mass skillfully brushed it off.
"Right, that's true. I, who can at least die if I want to, am much better off. Kuhuhu..."
"... Let's not talk about it. Where is Taeheo?"
"Hm, he just arrived. Should I let him out?"
"Yes."
At those words, the squirming mass stopped—and began to contract.
Ggrrr... Ggrrr...
After the unpleasant sound of flesh and bone crushing was heard a few times, a human form began to appear. Before long, all that remained was a handsome, long-haired man, unbelievably formed from within the mass. The man, slowly opening his eyes, looked around and scowled deeply.
"This is truly horrendous."
"I agree. I'd rather die than use it."
"I respect your choice. I should have done the same..."
Amya didn't want to live in a body incarnated from a mass. Taeheo, grumbling, snatched some blood-soaked clothes from a nearby corpse, put them on, and reported.
"That blood mass failed."
"Is that so? A shame. I lent him quite a lot."
"It was the expected result. It was surprising that a mere self‑realm managed to succeed in the kidnapping, but I heard he made a mistake at the end and lost them all."
"I received a report this morning. Those noble bastards are trying to reach their hands even here. They must be furious."
"It won't take long for them to realize this isn't a problem that can be solved with anger."
Taeheo wiped all the mucus from his face and asked.
"How is the work progressing?"
"You'd better see for yourself."
"It's not going well, I see."
Taeheo sighed and followed Amya down to the palace basement. Hell was spread out there. Tens, hundreds of water-bloated corpses.
Or perhaps more, piled up like a mountain. Regardless of age, gender, or race, every single one of them had died with an expression of writhing agony. Taeheo sighed, smelling the stench of death.
"You haven't managed to create a single one?"
"No." "Don't blame yourself too much. It's a difficult task."
"... Honestly, I'm not so sure."
Amya scrunched her face.
"What do you mean?"
"Does it even make sense to try and create one of the Three Calamities this way? The one we succeeded with last time was just a mortal-realm limited to drowning."
"Indeed, you don't seem to understand."
Taeheo blinked.
"... Huh?"
The next moment, all those corpses vanished. Even the stench of death that had filled the space—even the moisture left on the floor. She couldn't grasp what had happened.
Taeheo patted the bewildered Amya's shoulder and muttered.
"This is how mine opened."
"Prepare again. I'll send thirty natural bodies in two days."
"Ah, alright."
"And keep this in mind."
Taeheo's gaze was on Amya. But he was looking somewhere else.
"The plan cannot proceed without the Great Ocean."
"... Right."
"Good."
Taeheo, who was about to leave Amya and go up the stairs, suddenly added as if he'd remembered something.
"Ah, if the Deep Sea awakens instead of the Great Ocean, it's a failure, so don't bother trying to save it. Just leave it be."
"... Why? Can't the Deep Sea do something similar?"
"It's nothing much."
Taeheo shrugged and replied.
"That thing can't survive, no matter what you do."
******** Editor’s Note: Amya means “Dark Night,” and Taeheo means “Great Void.” These translated names may be adopted later if their meanings become significant to the story.