Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 895

A few days later.

“I’m off!”

Ian and Barsabe shouted simultaneously, jumping out of the carriage.

The children’s stamina was truly astonishing. It was as if they had used every last bit of energy yesterday, but after a night’s sleep, they were as lively as ever. Romandro waved at the two children with a mixture of envy, amazement, and concern.

“Yes, both of you be careful! Don’t shake your lunch boxes. If anything happens, contact me immediately–”

“Romandro, you’re such a nag!”

Barsabe yelled, rolling her eyes, and Romandro clutched his heart as if shocked.

The coachman, used to this, grabbed the reins and turned the carriage around. Ian and Barsabe quickly blended into the crowd of students.

“Are you going to the Imperial Palace after school again today?”

“Yes, Sister.”

“You’re really going through a lot at such a young age.”

Ian only gave a faint smile at Barsabe’s consolation. He had been determined at first, but it was more manageable than he had thought. All the mages were kind, and he could feel that they were considerate and didn’t give him difficult tasks.

‘I’m really grateful for that.’

In fact, Ian didn’t know that he had never actually done any real work at the Magic Department.

“Fortunately, the work isn’t too difficult.”

“Really?”

“And new mages have been added.”

“Mages? Then there are two new recruits in the Magic Department recently? Wow, that’s amazing. Father said it’s rare to see even one in several years.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Are the new mages our age too?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Ian shrugged. He had been doing outdoor work like garden maintenance and barrier checks, and the new mages had been stationed in the underground laboratory.

Once, he had secretly gone down to see them, but he had to retreat because of an unknown green smoke.

“It seems the Minister gave them some instructions. They’re busy carrying them out, so I haven’t seen their faces.”

“I see. They must be practitioners. They’re probably older than us.”

“Yes, I expect so too.”

In the middle of the schoolyard, someone was greeting the students. It was Dashua, the unpopular and idle headmaster.

He kept pretending to know the students, acting friendly, and talking to them, but most of them hurried past.

“Oh, Ian!”

Barsabe clicked her tongue. They had planned to slip past like everyone else, but they had been caught.

Ian greeted him politely but didn’t stop walking.

“Good morning, Headmaster.”

“Yes, yes, are the classes bearable?”

“They are, thank you.”

“Has there been anything else since then?”

“No. Thank you for your concern.”

“Is it a required course lecture today?”

At the mention of classes, Ian stopped walking.

“No. All the required courses are over this week, and I’m on my way to other classes now.”

He was planning to take a few courses that Barsabe had recommended, as well as two that seemed related to magic: and .

“It will be difficult?”

“I heard I can change them before attending three times.”

“Yes, yes, I think you’ll do well, Ian. But you know what? There’s good news.”

“Yes. What is it?”

Ian hadn’t expected much, but he brightened up at the unexpected news.

“A professor of magic has arrived.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Let’s see, the class schedule… Oh, I received it earlier, but where did it go? I thought you might be the only student, so I was going to give it to you myself…”

As Dashua rummaged through his pockets, Ian couldn’t help but ask.

“If you could tell me the classroom, I’ll go there.”

“Ah, will you? The classroom is in the annex, 2nd floor, room 203.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, if you have time, my class too–”

“Have a good day!”

Ian bowed and ran towards the annex, with Barsabe following behind.

Dashua scratched his head and frowned as if disappointed. But that was only for a moment. He then approached the students who were arriving, greeting them kindly.

“Oh, it’s been a while! How have you been?”

* * *

-Room 203

Second floor of the annex.

Ian stared at the door. On a piece of paper attached to one side, the professor’s name and subject were written crookedly. Even the tape used to fix it looked like it had been roughly torn off with teeth.

‘Professor of Magic, Hale. The subjects are …?’

The subject names were too simple. Is this okay? Ian hesitated for a moment, then knocked and opened the door.

Creak.

“Good morning.”

A man sitting on the windowsill, smoking a cigarette, turned towards the door. Short brown hair and old scars all over his face. He had heard rumors in the Magic Department that he might be a former mercenary. It seemed to be true.

…But how did the mages know?

“Ian Hadel?”

A five-year-old kid, blonde hair, blue eyes. And more than anything, he had found this classroom tucked away in the corner of the school, so it was definitely Ian Hadel.

Ian smiled and nodded.

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Class is in three hours.”

“The headmaster lost the schedule. I came to say hello and check the schedule.”

His first impression wasn’t very good. Ian kept assessing Hale’s mood. He was the professor who would be in charge of magic-related classes until graduation, so it would be good to make a good impression.

“Hmm.”

Hale flicked the cigarette, then frowned as if he had suddenly realized something. Ian tensed up at the sight.

‘If there’s a kid, I can’t smoke.’

“Professor?”

“……”

“If I’m bothering you–”

“No. It’s fine.”

Hale flicked the cigarette out the window and got up from his seat. Then, he wrote the schedule on the blackboard and asked.

“Are you going to take all the classes?”

“Pardon?”

“Ian Hadel, I was called here because of you. In fact, if you don’t attend, it means the class will be canceled.”

It meant that if he wasn’t going to be diligent, he shouldn’t even start. Ian understood Hale’s warning and answered clearly.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Okay. Then, as planned, we’ll start three classes this semester… I’ll be here from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., so come if you need anything.”

“Is there no curriculum?”

“Curriculum?”

“Yes. The subject names are like .”

He needed to get a sense of it to prepare, right?

Hale took out a dry cigarette. It seemed to be a habit to have something in his mouth.

“There isn’t one.”

“There isn’t?”

“It will change depending on your level, or my mood that day.”

It was the condition he had accepted the Energes professorship, as he hated being tied down and bothered. To be excluded from administrative procedures like the course syllabus.

Ian looked at his watch as if intrigued.

“Professor. Can I stay here longer?”

“What about your other classes?”

“I don’t think I need to attend them.”

They were just filler classes since there were no magic classes anyway. He could just cancel them.

Hale chuckled at Ian’s straightforward answer. He fiddled with his lighter, then put it back in his pocket.

“You’re in the Magic Department, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Are those people still the same?”

“Do you know the Magic Department?”

Hale didn’t answer. Just as the Magic Department was aware of Hale, Hale was also aware of them.

He had traveled around various places, not just Bariel, and dedicated himself to mercenary work. Then, he got a little tired, longed for a stable life, and happened to need a lot of money, so he accepted the professorship. There was no other reason. Maybe.

“Well then, Ian Hadel. If you’re going to stay here, shall we start the class a little earlier?”

“Yes. Let’s do it now and later.”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

He had planned to start early and leave early, but the child’s enthusiasm was great. Hale suddenly felt like he had made a mistake, but he shook his head lightly and released his magic power.

Whirr! Whirr!

“You can release your magic power, right?”

“Yes.”

The child’s blue eyes instantly turned gold. The flow of magic swirling around him. The momentum was good. Hale raised his finger and scribbled on the blackboard. As if holding chalk, golden letters appeared.

Whirr.

“Magic power is a force inherent in the soul. Everything else is just a vessel. The body and such. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a vessel that contains the soul.”

The power of the soul is fixed at a certain level, and it doesn’t change depending on physical defects–

It was something he had heard from Barsabe.

“Then what is the vessel used for?”

“It’s used to filter magic power.”

“Filter…?”

“The reaction when accepting magic power differs depending on the size and material of the vessel. To put it simply, ordinary people can be said to have ‘a vessel with a fine sieve.’ Unless it’s a very finely divided substance, most things won’t pass through the sieve, so it will eventually overflow, right?”

“Yes.”

“It means the body will break down. Killing people with magic is exactly this case.”

Hale explained in detail, drawing a human figure. His casual tone was light, but he carefully checked whether Ian understood or not. His motto was to work hard for the money he received.

“As another example, healing mages know how to finely divide and dilute magic power so that even ordinary people can accept it without difficulty. So that even the finest sieve can easily pass through. It’s that difficult and not something anyone can do. That’s why healing mages are rare.”

Ian quickly took out his notebook from his bag and started writing. Hale slowly flicked his fingers, and golden magic power scattered like powder. He held out his hand to Ian.

“One thing is that mages have the same vessel, so they can freely exchange magic power. Have you ever heard us called ‘children of God’?”

Children of God.

Ian’s eyes widened.

“No. I haven’t.”

“Mages are one family connected by a sixth sense. Magic swordsmen are like distant relatives. They even save each other’s lives through magic power transfusions. Grab my hand.”

Hale held out his hand. Ian wiped his palm on his shirt and quickly grabbed his hand. What was he going to do?

Whirr!

“The way to exchange magic power is to intuitively recognize the flow of magic power.”

“Ah.”

Ian did as he was told. Then, a warm sensation entered his fingertips and spread throughout Ian’s body.

…It was an amazing experience. A bizarre sensation that was hard to explain in words. Ian was startled and looked up, and Hale smiled slightly.

“Now, give it back.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Ian grabbed the energy swirling inside his body. Then, he visualized its movement and enjoyed the experience of moving it as he thought.

“Wow……”

It’s moving. It’s moving! Ian smiled with joy.

However–

Whoosh!

“……!”

Hale couldn’t smile. It was because a huge amount of magic power had flowed into Hale in an instant.

The feeling of falling backward and being submerged in the middle of the ocean. An enormous amount of magic power that was overwhelming and felt like it would sink him. Hale was surprised and pushed Ian’s hand away.

Thud!

“……?”

Ian, surprised, looked up at Hale with a puzzled expression. Hale, with a bewildered expression, stared at the child, frozen.

“A-are you okay?”

“That’s what I should be asking you, Professor.”

Wasn’t it the professor who was surprised and pushed his hand away? At Ian’s bewildered expression, Hale’s cigarette fell with a thud.

The amount of magic power just now was almost the same as if another mage had given all of their magic power. He thought it was a mistake because the child was young and not good at controlling his power, but he was surprised by the endless amount that was rushing in.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes. If I made a mistake, I’ll try again.”

Ian bit his lip and held out his hand to Hale. From the small, firm fist, he could feel the determination to succeed this time.

“……”

Hale stared at the child’s small hand and pondered. Should he… grab it?