"Master?"
My teacher, who had been montarily shocked, finally clasped her hands over her mouth, and with exaggerated gasps, she exclaid, "Oh my, oh my, oh my, what a surprise!" She was making quite the scene.
"Can you believe it, Duran? My student is getting married! It feels like it was just yesterday that I first t Lisir, and now he's about to beco a groom!"
"It *was* yesterday. Actually, not even yesterday—it was just today."
"Oh, really? It must be because Lisir has left such a deep impression on that I got confused!"
"Are you serious? You’re saying we only t yesterday? I thought it had been at least ten years!"
"See? Even Lisir feels the sa way!"
"This is ridiculous. You two should just get married at this point."
"Oh, Lisir, shall we?"
"Sadly, I’m already taken..."
"Ah, so that’s how it is."
An arranged marriage, huh?
The Dintal family, of all people.
Master fell into deep thought, repeating the keywords related to the arranged marriage.
"Lisir?"
"Yes, Master?"
"What do you think about all this?"
"Being a son-in-law? Well, I doubt I, as a bastard, have much say in the family matters. That aside, I do find the whole thing rather inconvenient."
"Oh? Is there perhaps soone else you've got your eye on? Who? Tell , who is it? Is she not human? Is she unusually tall for a woman? Does she have rare silver hair? Is she soone with an intellectual aura? Does she live in a dark forest to avoid sunlight and have flawless skin? Not to brag, but does she happen to have an alluring figure?"
"Master, please control yourself. You’re making feel embarrassed. Even though I'm just a book."
I cald my enthusiastic master and resud the conversation.
"It’s not that I have soone specific in mind. It’s just that being a son-in-law, in reality, is like being a cow sold off to another farm. My concern is, I already live uncomfortably in my own ho as a bastard. How much worse would it be in a foreign land with that sa label?"
"Hmm~ Even if you're officially the son-in-law, they won’t overtly mistreat you, but as you said, there will be hardships."
"And more than anything, I was planning to leave this place soon."
"Leave?"
"I was going to ditch the whole 'bastard' identity and start a new life. After all, the bastard build has a pretty clear ceiling."
"…"
Master and Duran looked at with a mixture of curiosity and awe. Well, Master’s a book, but still.
"I’ve always thought this, but my student is quite an odd one, huh?"
"Am I?"
"Yes. Most people in your situation would cling to the hope of getting recognition."
"For clarification, by 'your situation,' she ans being a bastard."
"Oh, Duran, I wasn’t wondering at all, but thanks for the clarification. But seriously, is it that rare for a bastard to leave their family?"
Master gently stroked my hair, the golden strands that were the symbol of nobility.
"Bastards are essentially only a hair's breadth away from being proper nobles. The only difference is whether or not they’re allowed to use the family na."
"Right."
"For most, their goal is to be recognized by their family."
That was true for as well.
Or at least, it had been in the past.
The old had lived solely with the hope of being recognized by my father.
"Even if they are acknowledged, they’ll still have to subtly reveal their status as bastards, but that’s still sothing. Once the family recognizes them, anyone who disregards them is essentially challenging the family itself. In other words, they beco quasi-nobles—bastards in title but not in treatnt."
Master shook her head.
"I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say this in front of my student, but I don’t get it. Is chasing after the noble title, even in na only, really worth all that? Is there value in it, even if it’s just a hollow shell?"
Now, I thought the sa way as Master.
But back then—
"That’s easy for you to say. You don’t need a noble title to be special."
Duran interrupted.
"There are those out there who are nothing without that title. They believe that without being called a noble, they’re worthless. To those people, being recognized as a noble, even if only in na, is everything. It’s their one and only chance, the opportunity of a lifeti. We don’t understand their world, so it’s best not to speak too lightly about it. You understand what I an, right, Pamon?"
"Yes, I see. I was being thoughtless."
Duran’s words didn’t fully mirror my past feelings, but they did capture part of them.
I had once thought that if I could just be granted permission to use the family na, everything would be okay.
It's an extre perspective, but understandable. The biases and discrimination of adults can easily turn an innocent child into a creature consud by inferiority.
"Master? Did I say sothing wrong?"
Seeing deep in thought, Master carefully gauged my reaction.
"Oh, no, Master. I think what you and Duran said makes sense."
"Why do you sound like you’re talking about soone else?"
"My student~ Why is your heart so vast and kind~"
Master continued to ruffle my hair affectionately.
"Getting back to the point, I support Lisir’s decision."
"Leaving the family?"
"Yes. The Dintal family won’t provide an environnt where your unique qualities can truly shine. Neither will Heiyern."
"Then where would be a better fit?"
"There's no limit to learning. But if there’s one place to broaden your horizons, it’s the capital."
"Then I’ll follow your advice, Master."
"Oh my, are you sure you can decide so easily?"
"I trust in your wisdom, Master."
"Oh, how sweet! Does my student spend all day figuring out how to say such lovely things~?"
Ruff, ruff, ruff!
Master’s hand grew more vigorous as she tousled my hair.
Is this so kind of lesson already? Fire attribute magic?
It’s getting a bit hot.
"But Master, is the place you’re heading after you finish your business in Heiyern the capital?"
"No~ I’ll stop by the capital for a bit, but not right away. I have other places I need to visit first."
"And once all your business is done?"
"I’ll probably head back to where I ca from—the forest. I have unfinished business there."
"Then, should I accompany you, Master?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful~"
"Wonderful? More like you’d be dragging Lisir’s corpse halfway there."
"Oh, Duran, must you always talk like that? I was only joking."
Master turned to with a serious look.
"Lisir, you should live your own life. Just because I’m your master doesn’t an you have to follow everywhere."
"...That’s a nice sentint, but is that really sothing you can say after taking in a student, only to abandon them after a week?"
"Thud."
Master flinched and scooted a little farther away from .
"Don’t worry~ One of our weeks is like a year, isn’t it~?"
"Duran, that taphor. I approve of its literary value."
"Oh my~ Even a book acknowledges my literary talent~"
"Wow, a week that feels like a year~"
I think I picked the wrong master.
---
After walking for about 20 minutes from the library, we arrived at a residential area.
"We’re here~"
Master confidently strolled into one of the houses as if it were her own.
"Oh, Master, do you have a place to stay in Heiyern? You must visit often?"
"Of course~"
"It’s an empty house. I found it yesterday while looking for an abandoned place that had been vacant for a while using magic."
"Duran~"
"Master?"
"Are you disappointed~? That your master isn’t an upstanding adult who owns a house in the city~?"
"No."
"That’s a relief."
"I’m disappointed because you’re a petty thief breaking into an abandoned house."
"Oh no~"
Still, I followed her inside without complaint. She wasn’t the type of person you could criticize for every little thing.
"Lisir? Take this."
Master placed a silver orb in my palm.
"Now, think of that orb as an extension of your hand and try to move it."
"Understood."
"For the next week, we’re going to focus on moving that silver orb. The significance of this exercise—actually, I should explain the importance of the training itself. As I said, we only have a week—"
"Master?"
"—so we need to make the most of it. Yes, my student?"
"Was the orb supposed to float like this?"
"Yes, that’s our final goal. To make it float—wait, what?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
The three of us made the sa sound in unison, even though one of us was a book.
"…?"
Master gently tapped the silver orb, which had already started hovering ever so slightly above my hand.
"Master?"
Master muttered in disbelief.
"Guess I’ll have to rewrite the curriculum~?"
Her voice was just a little more animated than usual.
---
Surprisingly, learning magic turned out to be far more physically exhausting than I expected.
"Ugh, I’m dead."
Though my muscles
were holding up fine, my entire body was screaming in protest. Even my soul.
You think you’re tired? I’m exhausted on a whole new level.
Three days into Master’s magic training, I stumbled back to the Vendel estate, barely keeping myself upright.
Master had emphasized the importance of rest, saying that magic wasn’t sothing you could master by mindlessly grinding away at it. Because of that, even though training was done, the sky was still bright and blue—it was probably just around lunchti.
A nap followed by reading the book Master had copied for seed like the perfect way to spend the afternoon.
As I made my way ho, I heard a chair scrape loudly sowhere nearby.
"Miss, please wait—"
A frantic voice tried to stop soone.
"Lisir-nim!!!"
But a clear, high voice ignored it entirely.
Thud.
It felt as though a baby bird had flown into . That was about the weight I felt hit my back.
And then, a pair of delicate arms wrapped around from behind.
I turned around to see a girl dressed in white hugging tightly.
"I missed you!!!"
She looked up at with bright, sparkling eyes.
"Uh...!"
I recognized her imdiately.
‘Who is this?’
Recognized her as soone I was eting for the first ti.
[RESISTED]
[Resisted target: ntal interference]
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