The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 4

The Fourth

“To acquire Bell Siderius, one must train for seven years, and to acquire Bell Quirius, seventy years.”

That was the last will of the family’s founder, Ryuken Ludwig.

Seven years, seventy years.

The average time it takes to master Bell Siderius. And that’s only if the family recognizes your genius and starts you on Bell Siderius training.

‘And it only took him ten days…?’

The activation of Bell Siderius relies on the multiple calculations of three spells.

Multiple calculations are the domain of a Sage [a master spellcaster known for their complex calculations].

If you don’t understand, try mentally solving three equations simultaneously right now. Can you do it? It’s impossible.

‘But in the case of Bell Siderius, you only need to memorize the fixed formulas and equations, that is, once you grasp the trick…’

It takes at least seven years just to grasp that trick. Multiplying general magic where all conditions and results change is unthinkable……

‘Historically, only two Sages and the Archmage Rin, called the prodigy of multiple calculations, have accomplished it.’

Gulp.

Elin Ludwig swallowed hard.

‘Rain, is this kid a genius?’

No, not just a genius.

This kid is…

“Could he be a vessel of a Sage?”

Having finished his schedule at the academy and returned to the mansion, Keivan blankly repeated his sister’s words.

Bell Siderius in ten days?

Was that even possible?

No, if he had already reached that level, it meant that even Keivan could no longer guide him.

“Brother, at this rate, our family might become the leading magical family thanks to Rain. He’s really insane.”

After Elin left, having rambled on for a while, Keivan sat alone for a long time.

My son…

Watching his son’s incredible growth, Keivan felt a surge of emotion and a subtle sense of melancholy.

‘As a father, to be less talented than his son and unable to guide him.’

But…

“Yood.”

No sooner had Keivan given the order than a figure was silhouetted beyond the curtains. It was the capable head butler who had been in charge of the mansion’s affairs for 20 years.

[Yes, what is your command?]

“Contact my father.”

A moment of silence.

Yood’s shadow flickered.

[…To the previous head of the family?]

“Is there a problem?”

[I needed to confirm, knowing that your relationship with the head of the family is strained. Please forgive me.]

That was not wrong.

Keivan had gone through extreme conflict with his father when he married Brim, and eventually, his father left to become a professor at a magic school in the central capital.

“Tell him that his son does not regret his mistakes in the slightest, nor does he even consider them mistakes.”

[……?]

“But also write politely that your son’s son has the talent to surpass you, and humbly request that he guide him.”

For a moment, Yood chuckled.

Keivan laughed along with him rather than scolding him. Yood replied.

[You truly spare nothing when it comes to the young master’s affairs. I will follow your orders, Your Excellency.]

* * *

Spring ended and a short summer arrived.

The summer lasted for a year.

A dark rainy front covered the continent, and the rain poured down day after day, drumming against the windows of the west wing.

“Summer…”

The summer of the year Rista came to find the boy was incomparably fiercer and wilder than now.

That summer that lasted for five years.

The summer that endlessly scattered blood clots across the world.

– I am Rista Alter Shirpen, a Fey Querry [a type of magical investigator] belonging to the Holy Dragon Church! Won’t you come with me?

Listening to the sound of the rain, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly as he remembered the day she came.

Why was that?

Really, it was so hard.

It was hot, humid, exhausting… a truly painful journey. Why do I still miss those days so much? Even though I live in this peaceful golden age.

“Oh-bah, when, when does summer end?”

“It won’t be long. It’s already late summer.”

Then the world turned white, and soon thunder roared, and Seri, terrified, clung tightly to the boy.

“Shall I tell you a scary story?”

“Shoo-ah!”

“When midsummer comes, lizard men awaken from the abyss… but they are invisible… they use camouflage…”

“Ca, camouflage…?”

“Silently, and without form, they come up behind you… Woo-ah-ack!”

When the boy suddenly screamed, Seri shrieked, her eyes rolling back white, and fainted.

Now I can do my studies.

The boy was cunning… but it wasn’t a lie. It was just one of the demons Rin had faced. It’s even scarier in person.

“Take Seri out.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

That year, the boy was very busy.

He took family magic lessons from his father and aunt, taught basic magic to his younger sister, and trained his physical strength and mana in the evenings.

Physical strength was really important.

It’s also nice to be able to run around like warriors in case of an emergency, but the biggest reason is that the concentration for studying comes from physical strength.

And mana is also very important.

Without mana, you can’t use 4-star or 5-star magic, even if you know how.

‘It would be fortunate if you just collapsed from mana exhaustion.’

It was also common for the spell circuits to be damaged by a surge. If that happened, you could say that a magician’s life was ruined.

In fact, after mastering Bell Siderius, there was nothing more to learn from Elin or his father. The problem was Elin.

“How do I do this?”

“Seriously, you don’t know this? Ugh, give it here!”

Still, she was as annoying as ever, so he had to answer her questions several times a day.

Is this a defense against etiquette?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, what interested Rain these days was the development of modern magic.

‘To have established these formulas, which used to be several times more complex…’

It goes without saying that the power was amplified, and the mathematical formulas were greatly simplified considering the activation time and learning difficulty.

“You’re not an old man, why do you only use so many old formulas? Are you trying to look cool? Hey, girls don’t like that kind of thing? They hate it when you pretend to be cool for no reason.”

That’s what Elin said, and it was the starting point for his interest in modern magic.

‘It’s really interesting the more I look at it…’

It means that mathematics and the world have been steadily developing for 300 years. While Rin was asleep for 300 years.

‘I’ve become completely outdated…’

Maybe I would lose to a modern 4-star magician with a low probability. The development of modern magic was at that level.

‘Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to the school I was in…’

The place where Rin, who was an orphan, was given food, clothing, and a place to sleep, and taught magic, by a kind-looking woman who was the head of the school.

The name of the school was the Osarius School.

Its origins were quite deep, but it was just one of the minor schools with only one old and dilapidated magic tower.

– This is not the place for you.

The person even gave him the name Rin (spring breeze) with the hope that he would bring a new wind to the magical world.

– Come, follow me.

For Rin, who had grown up digging through garbage in the slums without knowing who his parents were or even their voices, it was like a moment when the dawn light shone.

It was the first kindness he had ever received. It was the first luxury he had ever enjoyed… so he worked hard. He just worked hard.

Because he didn’t want to be abandoned again.

“……”

When he thought of his days as Rin, all that remained was sadness, so he shook his head to drive away his thoughts.

He rummaged through his father’s study. Soon he was able to find a thick book called 『The History of Schools』.

He looked up the table of contents from the back, but strangely, the name Osarius School was nowhere to be found.

“What is it? Was it dissolved?”

They were struggling with financial difficulties, but they were able to manage somehow… Feeling a strange sense of loss, he flipped through the pages forward in a flash, and his heart almost stopped for a moment.

[The Eight Great Schools]

ㆍ Belsedel School.

ㆍ Brina School.

ㆍ Harimun School.

ㆍ Rohinum School.

ㆍ Melev School.

ㆍ Chaihark School.

ㆍ Rivendell School.

ㆍ Osarius School.

Among the families famous for magic in the Empire, the Five Great Families, that is, the Five Great Houses, reigned like kings, while among the schools, the Seven Great Schools had been at the pinnacle.

‘So it’s the Eight Great Schools now? Osarius has risen?’

Among all the schools, those at the pinnacle were judged by how much they contributed to the development of learning and the production of great people, which was one of the factors in being promoted to a Great School.

Below the Great Schools were sixteen mid-sized schools, and countless minor schools, so the status of the Great Schools was like the sky.

‘Were there a series of amazing geniuses produced while I was gone?’

He let out a hollow laugh and went to the page of the Osarius School.

[Osarius School]

ㆍOrigin: Founded in Tersia Year 488 by Glados (4-star) magician Osarius…

……

……

……

ㆍPromotion to Great School: The promotion to Great School was decided at the Magic League General Assembly in Tersia Year 1115, highly praising the achievement of producing Aquizad (5-star) magician Rin and organizing and publishing the mathematical theory Rin established during his lifetime.

He blinked his wide eyes for a long time, then smiled faintly.

‘Yeah, I was helpful.’

The path I’ve lived, the trajectory I’ve fought has helped Auntie.

‘Would this be enough to repay you, Auntie.’

Every morning, as part of a hopeful speaking exercise, she would have the students chant, ‘The Osarius School is a school that will become a Great School.’

– How long do we have to do this stupid thing?

– That’s right, it’s embarrassing. Headmaster.

– Until it becomes one, you freeloading bastards! If you want to stop shouting, study hard and spread the name of the school far and wide!

The Osarius School at that time was not a school that accepted promising students. Most of them were children who had a desire for magic but could not afford it.

The headmaster auntie took in those children and taught them magic for free.

So that saying must have just been part of a strategy to encourage us. I didn’t know it then, but I know it now.

‘Hmph… I have to pull myself together and work hard so I don’t fall behind the school juniors.’

Books.

I want to read more books.

I want more knowledge.

As befitting a magical family, the Ludwig family’s library had quite a few books, but this was not enough.

Thirst.

A tremendous thirst for knowledge always made Rain thirsty. Eventually, he brought up the story at dinner.

“Father, I have a request.”

“Hmm?”

“Please send me to Magic Metropolis [a major city for magic]. I think about 3 years would be enough.”

Keivan and Brim had to be startled by that.

Magic Metropolis, .

As the name suggests, it is the stronghold of Count Page, the leading magical family, and the city where the Empire’s best magic university, , was founded.

“Oh-bah, where are you going?”

“Uh.”

“Shi-ruh! Shi-ruh-uh!”

Rain pushed away Seri, who was annoyingly clinging to him, and looked at his father, and Keivan shook his head firmly.

“That won’t do.”

“Why?”

“First of all, it’s because of your age. You’re only ten years old, Rain. It’s too early to leave the family.”

And in the year he turns sixteen, Rain, the son of a magical family, will enter . It’s not too late to head to Magic Metropolis then.

“And that’s because you have a more important appointment.”

“A more important appointment?”

Keivan handed a letter envelope onto the table. It was a letter sealed with the Ludwig head’s seal.

“It’s from my father, that is, your grandfather.”

Then Elin Ludwig, who was mindlessly stuffing beef steak into her mouth, stopped her fork in surprise.

“Father, to Brother?”

Scaldge Ludwig.

One of the only ten Glados (4-star) magicians in existence today… His influence was enormous in many ways for Keivan and Elin.

“And he is also an Awakener of Bell Quirius, of which there are only three in the family.”

Bell Quirius…!

As Rain blinked in surprise, Keivan nodded with a kind smile.

“He sent a reply saying that he would personally take charge of your Bell Quirius education.”

“Bell Quirius?”

“Yes. So Rain, you have to go here first. Right after this summer ends.”