The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 2

Family?

I remember Rista asking me a strange question during our journey to the South.

“Yeah, Rindo, have you ever thought about having a family?”

“No. I don’t even know what my mother looks like.”

I grew up in the slums of the North.

If the head of the Osarius School hadn’t seen my magical talent and taken me in, I would have died as a street orphan.

“So I don’t know what a family is. And since I don’t know, I’m not interested.”

“Oh, you poor thing…”

Then the priestess Friede playfully hugged the boy tightly and blew cigarette smoke at him. Resisting the embarrassment, he retorted.

“Even if I had a family… I wouldn’t know how to treat them. So I don’t need one.”

“It’s not hard, Rin.”

Upon hearing such a simple statement, a flower bloomed on Rista’s face, fresher than spring.

“Just cherish them a lot. Rin, you’re a kind child, so you’ll do well.”

Young master.

Young master, it’s morning….

With a polite whisper and the opening of my eyes, the nostalgic scenery of memories fades.

“Ugh…”

The boy sat up in bed and stretched.

Deep and brilliant sunlight.

The melody of spring with the chirping of morning birds; it was morning.

“Then, Master Rain, I will prepare breakfast.”

The boy yawned widely and looked in the mirror, straightening his clothes.

Glossy black hair and red eyes, more beautiful than rubies.

A body with an elegant demeanor.

His refined features lacked the rustic charm or unrefined roughness typical of someone raised in the slums.

In short, the boy had been reincarnated.

It was only twenty days ago that the immature and taciturn nine-year-old child had regained his memories from 300 years ago.

The reincarnated identity was none other than the eldest son of the Ludwig baronial family, one of the five prestigious magical families representing the Empire.

The Ludwig family was a distinguished family with the 5th Great Magician Ryuken Ludwig, who could be said to be the boy’s predecessor, as its founder.

Unlike his previous life as an orphan with nothing, he was born into a harmonious and affluent family, so the boy had to make considerable efforts to adapt to his changed daily life.

“Good morning, young master.”

“Oh my, Rain, you’re already awake. How admirable! Go and call your father. He’ll be happy to see you.”

“Yes.”

His father was in the Lord’s chamber.

It was a room cluttered with luxurious furniture and countless documents.

“Rain, didn’t you sleep well? You don’t look well.”

Rain, Rain Ludwig.

The proud first son of the Ludwig baronial family.

“Are you still tired from the journey…?”

His father, Kabeon Ludwig, touched the boy’s forehead to check his temperature. Suddenly, he remembered the days when Rista used to do something similar.

“They said breakfast is ready, and they want you to come down.”

“Haha, is that why our son came all the way here? Thank you, but go ahead and eat first.”

“Why?”

His father hugged the boy and rubbed his beard on his face, taking him to the desk in the Lord’s chamber.

The boy saw it.

A wide sheet of drawing paper spread out on the table, with the sunlight of spring shining obliquely upon it. Three layers of magic circles drawn on the drawing paper.

“Magic?”

“Yes, the theory presentation is next week. Eating something makes your head foggy, you know. I’m trying to exert as much power as possible when my head is clear in the morning.”

The boy’s eyes quickly and accurately scanned the information of the magic circles drawn on the drawing paper.

The shape of the magic circles was three squares. The runes [symbols representing magical properties] engraved were Ju (周), Da (茶), and Go (庫).

Since they were squares, it was earth-attribute magic.

As can be seen from the fact that there were three magic circles and three runes, it was a 3-star magic.

It was the realm of high-level magic that even geniuses barely reach.

‘It’s blocked here and there.’

But the boy was a great magician.

The problems were visible at a glance.

“Shall I help you?”

“Why, are you thinking of cheering me on?”

“No. I said I’ll help you.”

“Rain’s support is, of course, welcome. But if you do that, only Dad will get scolded by Mom. Now, go and eat breakfast.”

No, I’m really going to help.

Before Kabeon could stop him, the boy climbed onto the desk and grabbed a quill.

‘Magic is…’

Defining attributes with shapes and defining qualities with runes, then.

‘Interpreting and twisting providence into mathematical formulas.’

The direction Kabeon was blocked was, of course, the final step….

‘The mathematical operation part.’

The mathematical formulas that densely filled the inside of the magic circles were abruptly cut off at a certain point.

“The Go (庫) rune makes the mathematical formula more complex and clashes with the Da (茶) rune. So it’s better to change it to Gu (丘).”

“…?”

“Then the answer comes out quickly with the establishment of the Imperial Mathematical Formula 41-2 series. Like this.”

The boy finished writing on the drawing paper with the quill and smiled.

No, how do I smile again?

Funnily enough, he couldn’t remember how to smile at that moment, so he had to twitch the corners of his mouth up with both hands.

“This is… such a method…?”

Kabeon’s eyes, who had been at a loss for what to do with his son’s prank, widened, and he looked back and forth between the drawing paper and his son’s face.

‘How, how can this be…?’

It was a difficult problem that even the Empire’s competent scholars couldn’t find a solution to. It was a high-level magic that had been lost about 200 years ago.

If this magic could be re-established, many people would receive miraculous help from natural disasters such as floods and landslides.

But Rain is only nine years old now. How could he do this at an age when he can barely use basic magic…?

“Can we eat breakfast together now?”

The boy asked.

The father blankly raised his head, then ruffled his son’s hair and laughed.

“Yes, let’s go eat together.”

* * *

The boy’s family was not complicated.

He had parents above him and a six-year-old younger sister below him.

The child who was peeking out from behind the bookshelf, looking at the boy, was that younger sister.

Ebony-like hair and red eyes.

As much as Rain, she was a beautiful girl who was born with the physical traits of the Ludwig family.

“…?”

But she runs away when their eyes meet.

It’s not unreasonable.

In the boy’s memory, Rain was not kind to his younger sister. Rather than being unkind, he was simply indifferent to the world.

Was it because of the loneliness engraved in his soul?

Perhaps it was because the pain of being born in an era when all his comrades had died and become legends remained in his soul, and he lived a life full of emptiness.

“….”

He tried to ignore her and read a book since she kept running away, but there was a voice that kept bothering him.

– Cherish them a lot.

How can I when she keeps running away like that?

I’m busy with my own things.

This body’s magic power is a mess, and its stamina is lacking. Even if I know how to use magic, it’s useless if I don’t have magic power.

– Rin is a kind child, so you’ll do well. I believe so.

The boy sighed deeply.

And when he made eye contact with his younger sister again, he gestured.

“Come here. Should I teach you something? Or play with you?”

The younger sister, Seri Ludwig, seemed flustered by the question. So she hesitated for a long time before running away.

But after a while, she reappeared and handed Rain a book with both hands.

“『Basic Formulas of 1-Star Magic』… She’s already studying this at six years old?”

Seri nodded vigorously.

Then she started dancing. She looked so happy that she could talk to her brother.

– Come here, Rin.

At that time, a nostalgic memory momentarily moistened and passed through the world before his eyes.

Whenever he encountered beautiful scenery.

Whenever he faced the vast nature and the brilliant world, Rista would sit Rin on his lap and teach him this and that.

– Rin, do you know what the flower language of this flower is?

– Rin, do you know what story is behind that cliff?

Rin grumbled that he was being treated like a child… but in fact, he liked those times more than anything. So he sat Seri on his lap.

“What don’t you know?”

“Th, th-this!”

“You don’t know anything from the very beginning….”

“Uh-huh!”

“Okay. I’ll explain it to you.”

How should I talk about the vast world of magic?

“Have you ever played house-building?”

“Uh-huh!”

“A thatched house, a brick house… The materials change depending on what kind of house you’re building, right? The magic circle plays that role.”

Magic circle.

The shape of the magic circle determines the attribute 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 wind attribute magic.”

“W, wind!”

“The next step is the rune. The rune determines the nature of the magic.”

Runes are the incantations given to magic, ancient words with different meanings.

In the case of Yul (律), it means binding.

In the case of Ho (扈), it means scattering.

For example, if you engrave the rune of Yul on a triangular magic circle, it becomes a fire attribute binding magic.

“Now, you can solve the problem using mathematical formulas here.”

“Math!”

“No, mathematics.”

“What is math?”

“….”

“…?”

“In the case of Yul (律), it requires a quadratic equation… Never mind, let’s just start with addition and subtraction.”

The maids and butlers exchanged hushed smiles as they peeked at the lovely scene.

“Master Rain has changed.”

“I know. He didn’t even care when Miss Seri cried next to him before….”

“I think he’s regained his spirit since he went to the plaza.”

When the boy’s parents came to the library, the boy and girl were dozing off side by side on the desk, unable to overcome the sleepiness of their young age.

“Oh my….”

The boy’s mother, Brim, covered her mouth, wiping away tears.

“Honey, I want to leave this scene as a painting.”

“They’ll be awake by the time the painter comes. And you know that Seri is very shy.”

“Still….”

Kabeon carefully approached and examined the things laid out on the table. Basic magic books, quills, and crude magic circles scribbled on drawing paper….

“Yes, he was teaching his sister.”

Kabeon smiled and placed his hand on the boy’s head. Small, soft hair slipped through his fingers and fluttered in the spring breeze.

“Rain seems like a completely different person since he went to the plaza.”

“He’s also become more mature in his speech. Could he be possessed by the Abyss?”

“The Abyss, my foot. Isn’t this what they call like father, like son? I’ve had the same experience.”

From ancient times, the top graduate of the Delaiten Magic University has been given the opportunity to have an audience with the sacred body of the Great Magician Rin.

“It was 14 years ago that I received that opportunity and had an audience with Lord Rin.”

“That’s right.”

“I was ashamed. That person reached 5-star magic in the era of war, but I was just boasting as a mere 3-star magician.”

Even a magician of the Atlas (3-star) rank is a genius who will leave his name in the century. There are only about 150 of them in the entire Empire right now.

“Of course, I didn’t become a 4-star magician with that day’s meeting. But it’s true that it was a major turning point. Isn’t Rain the same?”

“Is Lord Rin’s corpse really frozen?”

“Of course. It didn’t look like a corpse at all. How skillfully he used ice magic. His eighteen-year-old appearance remains vivid.”

“Tell me more stories.”

“Stories? I have nothing more to tell even if I wanted to.”

Kabeon shook his head with a bitter smile, then suddenly touched his chin and said, “Ah.”

“Come to think of it, there was magic power left by the hero Rista in the middle of the ice.”

“Really?”

“The Dragon race priests also agreed. It seemed like magic power that only Rista or Lord Rin himself could awaken, but it must be a letter.”

Rista’s magic power was whispering like this.

“To you, who will awaken someday, to whom I promised that I would definitely do so, I leave a letter of the soul here. To you, who will be coming here from somewhere far away.”

Kabeon, who was smiling bitterly as he recalled the memories of that day, raised his eyebrows.

“Ah, come to think of it… I had something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Rain seems like a genius. Not just a simple genius, but perhaps… he may even reach the realm of a sage.”

Kabeon told her about how Rain had solved the magic circles in the morning. Something he had been working on for a year but couldn’t solve, he did it in one go.

“Ah! So that’s why you were able to come to the breakfast table?”

“That’s right. So, although it may be a bit early, I’m thinking of gradually starting to teach Rain the family’s inherited magic (家傳魔法) [secret techniques passed down through the family].”

The Ludwig family has been called ‘stealing magicians’ since ancient times.

When their mastery reaches its limit, they awaken the Magic Eye (魔眼) [a special ability unique to the family], and this eye was famous for its ability to read and steal all magic.

That was the Ludwig family’s inherited magic, also known as the bloodline limit that only those who inherited the family’s blood could use.

“Of course, I don’t know how much I can teach….”

“Is it that much?”

“That much.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Let’s decide what to do later when the time comes. For now, I’ll just do my best to teach him.”

Kabeon gently stroked the boy’s head and smiled freshly once again.

“Since he’s such a lovely son, I want to do everything I can as a parent.”