I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 92

92. Sien’s Secret

Inside the headmaster’s office.

I stared blankly at the clear tea Headmaster Hephziba had poured, lost in thought.

‘How did this happen?’

I had only intended to grab Ambassador Heinrich as he left the headmaster’s office and negotiate with him.

I just wanted to talk to him and ask if he could supply even a small amount of the Refinement Magic Stone to our merchant group.

‘Since we’re already trading with them, I thought we might be able to get the Refinement Magic Stone…….’

But where did Ambassador Heinrich go, and why am I having a private meeting with the headmaster!

Then, she said directly.

“You came about the Refinement Magic Stone issue, didn’t you?”

“Yes……”

“As you know, Ambassador Heinrich came to donate the Refinement Magic Stone.”

“Ah, yes.”

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

Headmaster Hephziba seemed to have a knack for seeing through my heart, probably because she often dealt with children.

She smiled gently and gestured, as if trying to ease my tension.

“Oh, look at me. Have some tea first. You must have rushed here.”

I listened to her kind words and sipped the tea.

I was anxious to meet Ambassador Heinrich quickly, but I didn’t want to ignore Headmaster Hephziba because she was a good person.

I was planning to have a brief chat with her and then go back to find out where Ambassador Heinrich was.

Then, Hephziba continued leisurely.

“I heard the news. You applied for graduation.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Except for magic, which Sien didn’t choose, you’ve been at the top of every field every year.”

“Ah, yes! I’m the top student.”

I felt a little embarrassed after saying that, so I just gave an awkward smile. Headmaster Hephziba was giving me a subtly meaningful smile.

“You wanted to be good at magic too, didn’t you, Sien?”

“Well…… yes!”

I wondered why she was asking, but only for a moment.

Hephziba got up from the sofa where she was sitting across from me and opened a drawer in her desk, taking out a sparkling stone.

Looking at the stone shining with a mysterious purple light, my eyes widened.

It looked exactly like the Refinement Magic Stone in the newspaper!

‘What, what is this! The Refinement Magic Stone is tempting me so much!’

The Refinement Magic Stone touched by a dwarf!

To me, that looked like money. I stared at the ‘Refinement Magic Stone’ with sparkling eyes.

So I missed half of what Headmaster Hephziba said.

“……You can look at it.”

“……Ah, yes?”

“You can touch it too. You were curious, weren’t you?”

I bowed my head in thanks as I watched the headmaster approach me.

“Thank you!”

And I quickly touched the Refinement Magic Stone…….

Just then, a strange afterimage flashed through my mind and disappeared. It was like a memory from a certain day; someone was looking at me and smiling under the bright sunlight.

“Why, Sien? Is there a problem…….”

‘They said it would show the flow of mana, but why am I seeing strange afterimages?’

Muddled with questions, I moved my lips.

“The problem is…… well…….”

It was ambiguous to say there was a problem, and strange to say there wasn’t.

I shook my head, looking at her.

“There isn’t a problem, but…….”

Was my lip trembling too much? Hephziba tilted her head and asked.

“Well, it is strange, Sien.”

“Yes? What is?”

At my words, Hephziba carefully opened her mouth.

“As Sien knows well, the purpose of the Refinement Magic Stone is to help people with little mana or who don’t know how to use magic to use simple magic.”

“Yes.”

That’s why I thought this ‘Refinement Magic Stone’ was a groundbreaking item.

A stone that allows non-mages, people who don’t know how to use magic, to use simple magic is revolutionary!

Moreover, if I had the Refinement Magic Stone, I might be able to protect my body a little more easily.

Then, Hephziba continued.

“Ambassador Heinrich donated the Refinement Magic Stone to the academy first to protect the noble children by casting security magic on the magic stone. Right?”

“Yes……”

Then, Hephziba handed me the Refinement Magic Stone and whispered.

“But the Refinement Magic Stone has other effects too.”

“Are you talking about the effect of seeing the flow of mana?”

“Yes. They say you can see the movement of mana. When Sien touches the Refinement Magic Stone…… what do you feel? Really, is there no mana? Do you feel nothing at all? Or do you see something?”

At the same time, Hephziba’s hand firmly grasped my small, white hand. She put my hand on the Refinement Magic Stone.

Perhaps because she held it much tighter than when I had briefly touched it earlier.

Unlike before, I felt a sensation of sinking to the floor, and my vision flashed darkly. And I was a very young baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, struggling.

‘What is this!’

I was silently shocked, but my voice only produced the wailing of a baby.

I was about to laugh in disbelief, but at that moment, a woman who looked very much like me breathed hot air into my ear. She was dying, but what she said was clear.

“Baby, my daughter. You can change fate. My name is…….”

She engraved a small symbol on my hand.

The moment I heard the woman whispering in my very young ear, I opened my eyes.

“……Yuela?”

Hephziba looked at me as if she was more embarrassed.

“Why suddenly Yuela’s name…….”

Hephziba looked at me with an expression as if she had realized something.

“Could it be…… did you see Yuela’s memories?”

I clenched the Refinement Magic Stone and closed my eyes again. The memory from that time was still appearing before my eyes. The very moment she was engraving the symbol on my hand.

I quietly shook my head and suddenly stared at her.

“Headmaster.”

“What…… what’s wrong, Sien?”

“When I touch the Refinement Magic Stone, I keep remembering only one memory. Yuela…….”

I was about to speak, but I stopped and stared at Hephziba.

It was a look to gauge whether this person was trustworthy or not.

‘Can I trust Headmaster Hephziba right now? Is she a puppet of the saint or the pope?’

But I decided to tell her about my symptoms.

I decided to trust half of her trembling voice when she talked about Yuela. I also decided to believe the fact that she was friends with Duchess Ruchelle.

Besides, Hephziba already knows that I can’t use magic, so it might be okay to tell her a little more.

After finishing the rationalization process, I opened my mouth.

“……So, it’s a scene where Yuela is holding my hand when I was a very young baby.”

I decided not to mention that she engraved a symbol. But even with just that, Hephziba muttered in a trembling voice, as if shocked.

“I’m not sure, but as far as I know, this Refinement Magic Stone is like an answer sheet for people without mana. It tells you why the flow of mana flowed abnormally.”

“…….”

“Perhaps, Sien may not be without mana.”

“Yes? Then?”

I tilted my head, and Hephziba spoke vaguely, as if she was saying something she didn’t know exactly.

“I don’t know exactly what it is, but Sien may have used up all her mana at that time.”

“So, it’s not that I don’t have mana…….”

“Mana exists, but it may be depleted at this point. Think carefully about what happened.”

I thought I knew what had happened. Because of that ‘symbol’ that Yuela engraved on the back of my hand, I must have used up all my mana.

‘What exactly is the meaning of that symbol?’

With a complicated heart, I stared blankly at Hephziba’s eyes. Then she handed me the donated Refinement Magic Stone and whispered.

“I hope I can help Sien regain her past, even a little.”

It was like a sage’s smile. She said like a small soliloquy.

“Even if it’s like the self-consolation of this old man who couldn’t completely save her, as Yuela’s teacher.”

***

After the conversation with Hephziba, I decided to go find Ambassador Heinrich.

Since Ambassador Heinrich is the core axis of the Refinement Magic Stone distribution, I thought he might know more about it than me or Headmaster Hephziba.

Fortunately, Ambassador Heinrich had come to Sien Merchant to wait for me first to process the contract between our merchant group and the principality. I ran to him and bowed deeply.

“Hello!”

“You’ve grown so much already.”

I replied playfully.

“You’ve grown a lot too, Ambassador!”

Ambassador Heinrich laughed heartily and replied.

“I have. Haha, would you rather get straight to the point?”

“As expected of you, Ambassador!”

“Of course, the Sien Merchant should trade in the Refinement Magic Stone.”

I smiled as if I knew it and pulled the strings. Then a servant with a contract outside the door was approaching with hurried steps.

“You are thorough as always.”

“Of course!”

I’m out of my mind right now because of my relationship with Yuela and the flow of mana, but I never miss an opportunity to benefit!

As I smiled mischievously, he smiled as if checking the fountain pen near the table.

“The ‘patent’ system you told me about a few years ago has been established, and the prince praised that part.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He liked how it was a system that could protect engineers. So, as a reward, I got permission to sign an exclusive contract with Sien Merchant for this ‘Refinement Magic Stone’.”

Heinrich smiled gently and opened the fountain pen. I smiled warmly as I watched him.

“I sincerely thank the principality for not forgetting our grace. Our Sien Merchant repays grace twice over!”

Wait, Ambassador.

I’ll make the ‘Refinement Magic Stone’ very famous in this empire.