The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 63

63

“Rain Ludwig said he’s quitting as a tutor?”

Uren Page raised his eyebrows slightly.

Although he was the head of the Arfen Royal Knights, he had married into the Page family, so he naturally took the Page family name.

Madelia, who was elegantly slicing a veal steak, dabbed her mouth with a napkin.

“Yes, he came today and said so.”

“Is it because that guy doesn’t like our Cassena─”

“─How can you speak such nonsense about our benefactor? We’ve already done more than enough for him. He has his studies and student council activities… He came every single day without fail, so we owe him a great debt.”

“Of course, I know that, but I thought he promised to help Cassena walk.”

“Stop it. If it were that simple, I would have done it a long time ago.”

Uren clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed, while Madelia’s expression remained composed.

‘We can find a way for her to walk, step by step.’

What’s important now is that she’s interested in magic. If that’s the case, the door will surely open someday, somewhere.

“The reason I called you to the table is to discuss how to repay him.”

The relationship between the two, tied together for political purposes rather than love, was never good in the past, but it had rapidly cooled down since Cassena became physically disabled.

It would be fair to say that this was the first time they’ve had a meal together in about 10 years.

Uren Page nodded seriously, as if he was grateful.

“Since we don’t know what he likes or dislikes, how about simply giving him gold coins?”

“The Ludwig family is also one of the wealthiest, so what meaning would gold coins have?”

The two seemed to be arguing, but the mansion’s employees could only watch the conversation with surprised eyes.

They’re exchanging smiles while talking.

For the past 10 years, conversations usually ended with one or the other raising their voice first, making it impossible to have a proper discussion….

“Master, Madam.”

At that moment, a third party spoke up. It was a middle-aged woman who had served the Page family for over 30 years and had also been Cassena’s nanny.

“May I say something?”

“You may.”

“Is there a system for transferring to Delraiten [a prestigious magic university] in the middle of the semester?”

Perhaps it was an unexpected question, but Madelia slightly lifted her gaze from her tableware.

“Not under normal circumstances. There have been a few exceptions in the university’s history, though.”

“What kind of exceptions?”

“Cases where the descendants of prestigious families or disciples of major factions were unable to take the entrance exam for some reason, such as attending a parent’s funeral or being bedridden due to an accident.”

In fact, it was a question she already knew the answer to.

“Then Cassena can also benefit from that, right?”

At those words, Madelia Page’s eyes flashed sharply for a moment, but she soon shook her head.

“Impossible.”

“Why?”

“She’s still immature. Not only is she immature, but she can’t even walk. Our family has a reputation to uphold as the leading magical family.”

“So, if she weren’t immature and could walk, it would be okay?”

When she persistently pressed the issue, Madelia let out a soft sigh and leaned back against the chair.

“I really don’t understand. Why are we even discussing Cassena’s admission?”

“It’s because of her personality. As you know, she has a strong sense of pride. Even Rain had a hard time with her, so how well do you think she’ll get along with students who are one or two years younger than her?”

“That’s……”

Perhaps it was the right thing to say (it had to be), Madelia hesitated for a moment, staring blankly into the air before furrowing her brow.

“That’s true, but still no. Unless she asks for it herself.”

The words she had been waiting for came out.

It’s safe to say that the mission is over now.

“That’s what she says, Miss.”

Miss?

As the nanny said that towards the door, Madelia and Uren tilted their heads, but suddenly their eyes widened.

“No, this… this can’t be…”

Seeing Madelia’s breath trembling rapidly, the nanny smiled.

“I was going to tell you sooner, but she wanted to tell you herself.”

Toc, toc, toc, toc….

The sound of crutches hitting the ground.

Dragging that sound, trembling with legs that had gained some weight but still lacked muscle… she walked in with the nanny, slowly.

“Cassena…?”

It was Cassena Page.

Not only Madelia and Uren, but the faces of all the employees watching were also pale white.

In the silence, Cassena smiled innocently.

“Mom, can I go to the university too? With Rain.”

Madelia just blankly, dumbfounded, watched her daughter walk, then suddenly jumped up and ran to hug her tightly.

“What, what am I seeing right now? Cassena, it looked like you were walking…?”

Uren shouted blankly.

He wanted to cry, but he was too bewildered to even cry. Instead, his unique dignified voice came out haltingly.

“I did walk! Rain made me walk!”

“Rain Ludwig?”

“Yes! Rain is amazing! It’s not just telekinesis!”

Cassena shrugged her shoulders as if she was proud of herself, with a pleased expression.

Uren looked at the escort magician with eyes asking for an explanation, so he cleared his throat and began to speak.

“There’s no need to worry. I was also surprised, so I went to ask him directly, and it seems to be an application of the Wing-type magicians’ curse magic.”

“Body strengthening magic…?”

“Yes. Typically, Chaihark magicians engrave magic circles on their bodies and activate their power by injecting magic power into those magic circles. You can think of it as the same principle.”

“But that could cause problems, couldn’t it?”

“He said that there’s a separate insurance method for beginners, so there’s no need to worry at all.”

Madelia stared blankly at the curse engraved on Cassena’s legs, then suddenly waved her hand.

“Could you leave us for a moment? You too.”

The nanny and employees soon bowed and retreated. As soon as the door to the banquet hall closed, Madelia and Uren hugged Cassena and began to weep silently.

“Cassena, our daughter…”

They didn’t ask for anything. If their daughter could walk again, if they could see their daughter smiling and running towards them again….

They didn’t want anything else in their remaining lives, they had prayed to the gods like that.

That wish was suddenly fulfilled.

Did that earnest wish reach the heavens? Even if this was the guidance of the gods, the one who was used as the tool was clearly Rain Ludwig.

– Your Excellency’s daughter and our son, let’s have the one who breaks out of the egg first help the other. Wouldn’t that be okay?

Ah, yes.

It really turned out that way.

Keibon, Brim. We owe your child a debt that we can never repay in our lifetime….

* * *

Monday morning, they had time to check the results so far. He had collapsed right after implanting the curse on Cassena yesterday….

“……It went up again?”

The unique magic progress is now a whopping 47.9%. He didn’t know when it surpassed 45%, but thanks to that, the success rate and power amplification rate of the Supreme Flowing Venerable’s magic combination had increased by 5%.

‘Is it because I’ve been studying curse magic diligently?’

Doubt could only amplify.

Or is it that progress increases not only through fighting monsters but also through fighting monster-like women (I didn’t say Cassena)?

“Hehe, there’s no need to think about it so hard.”

The good is good.

Doesn’t that just mean that the progress will increase on its own if I just keep living like this?

What he needs to think hard about is Valenciadis, so there’s no need to unnecessarily distract his focus.

“Hehe, hehe, hehe.”

When Rain laughed, Pipi, who was sitting on his shoulder and dozing off, laughed along. Pipi’s sleep had increased significantly compared to 300 years ago.

“Pipi’s getting old too. All you do is sleep.”

“Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy.”

After scratching Pipi’s head for a few minutes, the clock tower in the school rang, signaling the start of school.

“Pipi, rest comfortably. I’ll go to school.”

“School, school, school.”

“If you’re bored, fly over and play.”

Today was the day of a huge big event, so he couldn’t be late. While he had wasted nearly 40 days working as a tutor, ‘that’ had finally arrived.

“From now on, I will explain the first semester final exam that will begin in two weeks to all first-year students.”

Dragon Wheel Hall.

As all the first-year students took their seats, Associate Professor Kyle went up to the platform and announced the start of the big event.

“The final exam is the same as the midterm exam only in its essence as an exam, but everything else is different. You must be aware of that.”

The judges for the final exam are not only Delraiten professors. Renowned magicians from all over the empire are invited to serve as judges.

“The final exam is also an opportunity to make your name known to the world. In fact, the magic tower you will go to after graduation is sometimes decided during the final exam.”

A dry silence that made you swallow hard.

But this was also a double-edged sword. If you left a bad impression on those prominent figures… it’s too terrible to even imagine.

“Now, I will explain the exam method.”

With a snap, Kyle flicked his fingers, and the assistants who had been waiting next to him began to put up posters on the wall behind the platform.

Group A:

ㆍRain Ludwig.

ㆍCrista Warden.

ㆍNora Redon.

……

……

Group A consisted of the children of magical families and those belonging to the 8 Great and 16 Medium Factions. All of them were at the top of the school’s rankings.

‘Delraiten has a merit-based education policy, but it doesn’t completely deny opportunities to lower-ranked students.’

Crista Warden rested her chin on her clasped hands, alternately looking at her name and the name of Rain Ludwig listed above it.

‘That’s always blatantly revealed in the final exam method, where higher-ranked students compete in a structure that is more disadvantageous than lower-ranked students.’

Group A was formed by calculating the entrance exam scores, midterm exam scores, and the performance evaluation scores that had been conducted so far to select the top 30 students.

And the remaining students are randomly mixed in groups of around 30 (so that the average score of the total number is the same) to form Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, and Group F.

“First of all, the preliminary selection for the final exam will begin in two weeks. Only the top four students from each group will get the chance to participate in the finals.”

So, 24 people will eventually advance to the finals….

‘This is the second hurdle I have to overcome to meet Lista.’

Kyle smiled inwardly as he looked at Rain’s eyes, which were shining with interest.

‘As expected, he doesn’t even look nervous.’

And in the finals, the winner was decided through a tournament competition using a lottery system, and the final winner (top student) was determined.

“Now, I will announce the judging topic for the preliminary round to the students.”

As soon as the magic circle shattered on Kyle’s palm, a string of fantastic characters floated in the air, shining brilliantly.

[Scroll]

Scroll? Unlike the other top-ranked students, Rain and the lower-ranked students had to blink and tilt their heads.

That’s because the scroll was a rather vague topic.

“You are all talents who will one day create scrolls to help many people and become Archmages [powerful and skilled mages]. You can see this as training for that day.”

“……?”

“This year’s theme is ‘Magic Worth Making into a Scroll’! Please think carefully and research well for two weeks and bring the best results.”

Magic worth making into a scroll?

Rain quietly stroked his chin because he couldn’t grasp it.

‘Are they telling me to create a magic for civilian relief?’

On the other hand, the top-ranked students, who had taken quite a few of these types of exams since childhood, were already starting to shine, thinking about what to create.

‘Hehe♪ I’ll just do it that way again this time.’

‘I should try that this time.’

‘My specialty is on the line.’

However, the following content made all the students in that place equally dumbfounded in bewilderment.

“The final exam explanation is over, and we will conclude the briefing by introducing the first-year transfer student.”

A transfer student? The number of people who can use that system is really a very small number.

Either an overwhelmingly skilled person that Delraiten would never want to miss, or someone who receives endless support from a prestigious family or a major faction.

While everyone was whispering, toc, toc, toc, toc… soon the sound of crutches hitting the wooden planks of the platform was heard, and everyone’s eyes widened the moment the owner of that sound appeared.

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

“Huh……!”

The light purple hair inherited from the progenitor of magic fluttered dazzlingly under the lights, and the exquisite features of the face left a strong impression on the hearts of both men and women.

“Page…?”

“It’s Page…?”

“It’s Page…!”

If there was anyone among the students who received the most shock, it was Rain Ludwig.

“Cassena…?”

Professor Kyle added to Rain with a slightly apologetic smile.

“And according to long tradition, the top student will help the transfer student adapt to the school for the next month.”

What?