The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 7

7.

While Belle Quirius was undergoing the Opening [a magical awakening ceremony], his younger sister, Serri, was nearing the end of her third year in the elementary division of the Rivarden Magic Academy, preparing for her graduation exam.

When Serri returned to the mansion for summer vacation, Lane bought a book from the bookstore and shared a carriage with her.

Their mother, Brim, had been urging him to visit, as she had given birth to his younger brother, Bran (now three years old), so he reluctantly headed home.

“Brother, look at this! Let me show you how amazing Serri’s magic has become!”

“I’m reading, be quiet. ‘Nobles must be arrogant and act confidently in all matters’… Hmm?”

Be arrogant?

It’s okay to be arrogant?

Lane was momentarily dumbfounded and smirked. There’s no need to train separately for this. After all, Rin lived exactly like that.

– Rin, if you keep acting with such a flawed personality, you won’t make a single friend later on?

It was so severe that Friede scolded him like that throughout the journey.

– A man should have a cute side. If you live only thinking about how great you are, who will adore you?

So, after being reborn, I’ve been trying to become a slightly different person… but now, do I have to live like the old days whether I like it or not?

The road back to the Bellewynn mansion was noisy with the sound of rain.

The summer rain, which had started a week ago, was pouring down particularly heavily, drumming on the roof of the carriage.

“Ugh! 『Introduction to Nobility』… Is that weird book more important than Serri?”

His younger sister puffed out her cheeks, but Lane’s eyes only quickly scanned the words of the book, and he answered, moving only his mouth.

“I thought I needed to take special measures since I’ll be going to school soon.”

“……?”

“You’ve been faithfully following the path of a noble magician, while I’ve been walking a completely heretical path.”

“That means you’re that much more special, Brother!”

While praising Lane, Serri shrugged her shoulders as if showing off.

“Enough. I need to learn how a proper noble should act. It’s like a short-term intensive course. If you understand, be quiet.”

At those words, young Serri Ludwig only tilted her head. All Serri knew was that Lane was more special than anyone else in the world.

– Mom, why doesn’t Brother go to school?

– Lane is special. There’s nothing for him to learn at school.

Lane was a know-it-all. He explained all the magic Serri asked about more easily and perfectly than the school teachers.

Serri was called a genius at school, but she had only diligently reviewed what Lane had taught her.

‘Does my brother not know something?’

She narrowed her eyes as if he was joking, but suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly, and the siblings’ bodies briefly floated up before being buried in the cushions.

“Ouch! What are you doing!”

As Serri complained, the guardian knight Swan, who was driving the carriage, lowered his head. His rain-soaked cloak hung limply.

“I apologize, Miss. I belatedly realized that the road was flooded…”

“Flooded?”

In addition to the sound of the pouring rain, other noises were raging outside the carriage. Men’s shouts, women’s sighs, children’s cries.

“What’s going on?”

Lane asked, turning the pages of the book expressionlessly.

“It seems the river has flooded due to the heavy rain. They seem to be building a levee, but I’ll try to find a detour quickly.”

“Are there no magicians?”

“I see people wearing robes, but they don’t seem to be using much power. At this rate, the Lord of the mansion might have to come, but… it’s nothing for you and the young lady to worry about.”

At that time, Lane was reading page 127, and the table of contents for that page was .

「Nobles have a duty to care for the commoners in the territories they govern… The lord is the husband of the territory’s people, so he must care for their pain as a father embraces his son.」

Lane frowned.

‘Nobles have so many things they have to do. I don’t know if this status is a crown of honor or shackles of bondage.’

“L, Lord?”

Lane suddenly closed the book and jumped out of the carriage, walking into the rain. Swan was startled and jumped off his horse.

“The rain is cold and heavy! Your body will be harmed, how can you…!”

In an instant, Lane’s black hair and black silk robe were soaked with rain, and the hem of his clothes was submerged in muddy water. The flood that came in 100 years was large and fierce.

“This is Siasthulica, right?”

“……?”

“It’s our family’s territory. Don’t I have an obligation?”

* * *

“This is ridiculous… Has there ever been such a severe flood in my life?”

“Hey, you guys! Stop talking and bring more dirt!”

“It’s no use, Grandpa! Look, the dirt we just piled up is already collapsing!”

The men who were building a levee with dirt and sandbags in the stream where the muddy water reached below their knees shook their heads and stepped back.

“What are the magicians doing?”

“How would I know! It’s not like these people are incompetent for the first time!”

The Imperial Magic League had assigned one or two civilian relief magicians to each small city, but it was absurd that they couldn’t do anything when they were actually needed, even though they used to show off.

“Stop and come up! It’s impossible beyond this! We’re all going to be swept away by the flood and die!”

The women who were carrying dirt in baskets shouted to the men as they watched the flood become more fierce. But the village chief stubbornly shook his head.

“If these tulips die, we die too! We have to sell these to get food!”

“You’ll die if you do that! Evacuate to higher ground!”

“We’ll die if we can’t stop this!”

It was then.

While the mother was arguing with the village chief, a child swimming in the stream that had risen to chest height was swept away by a torrent like a tsunami.

“Oh, my god!”

“A, sir! My, my child!”

The men who had tied each other’s waists with ropes were not swept away by the flood… but that was it. The flood was so fierce that they couldn’t even think of swimming to save him.

“Magic, magicians! What are you doing! Please save that child! You’re useless, what are you doing!”

“S, shut up! Do you think calculating coordinate equations is child’s play? How can I use magic on a target moving so fast!”

In this case, telekinetic magic should be used.

To use telekinesis, you need to calculate and interpret the coordinate equation, and then twist the equation to intervene in providence and grab the child….

The problem was that the civilian relief magicians assigned by the Magic League to small cities were so-called dregs who had not gone to the Magic Tower or the Imperial Court.

“What should we do, we, we….”

It was then that a boy quietly walked into a world full of chaos and panic.

Black hair drooping from the rain, and red eyes shining more beautifully than rubies between the strands.

“Hey, kid! Where are you going!”

Because it was difficult to gauge the surroundings in the rain and wind pouring down, people did not recognize the crest of the magical family engraved on the boy’s back.

A red eye drawn in a black circle.

That crest belonged to the Ludwig margrave family, which wielded influence in the central region among the five magical families of the Empire.

“The levee will collapse soon, so dan─”

Before the man who was trying to grab Lane could finish speaking, a dazzling tail of light bloomed from the boy’s palm, intricately weaving to form a magic circle.

The magic circle is three layers of rectangles.

The runes to engrave are Gyeol(闋) [close], Du(阧) [soar], On(鞰) [stack].

To earth attribute magic

‘Gyeol(闋): Close the door’,

‘Du(阧): Soar’,

‘On(鞰): Stack’

Giving qualities.

The mathematical formula used for the solution is ‘Campbell Page’s Multivariate Function Theorem’.

Kugugugugu…….

The people standing on the scene could not close their mouths at the miracle created by the shaking of the earth’s axis.

Du(阧), the ground on both sides of the rippling stream suddenly soared like cliffs, and On(鞰), formed a huge earthen wall and headed to the end of the horizon.

Gyeol(闋), it was the moment when the waves of nature, which could not be resisted no matter how much the levee was built, were isolated in an instant.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

The magicians who were grabbing each other by the collar and shouting stopped moving and blinked blankly.

“W, what is this…….”

“What, what just happened……?”

“Did even an Archmage come? Where?”

The shock of the incident was naturally greater for magicians than for ordinary people who did not know magic.

The sophistication of the magic was close to perfection. The soaring earth even grabbed the child who had been swept away by the flood and returned him to land.

“Mom, Mom!”

The woman who was hugging the child soaked in water and crying bowed to Lane repeatedly.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The black-haired boy, who was watching the scene in the rain, yawned and turned around, heading towards the road where the family carriage was.

“I put a time limit on it, so this unsightly dirt wall will gradually sink when the flood is over. It’s my first time doing it, so it might not work.”

The young man who had stopped the boy earlier stared blankly at the earthen wall and then looked back at Lane. The woman and the young man were the only two who clearly recognized this situation.

“How could you do something like this in an instant…? You, a, no, no, who are you, sir……?”

The boy paused for a moment, wondering how to answer, and the contents of the book flashed through his mind.

Nobles must be arrogant.

No, it’s okay to be arrogant.

It meant that there was no need to smile brightly like Rista here, and it was okay to act like the old days.

“Just a noble passing by?”

So, he just waved his hand as if it was okay and didn’t even look back.

But that was exactly why the young man could see it clearly. The crest of the magical family was luxuriously embroidered on the back of the boy’s robe.

His mouth gaped blankly.

“Young Master Ludwig……?”

* * *

“Is it okay to just end it like this?”

Swan asked cautiously as Lane returned.

“Hmm?”

“You could have clearly announced that it was your achievement.”

As magical power flickered once again in Lane’s eyes, the rainwater that had soaked his entire body separated from his body and clothes and floated in the air. It was a terrifying level of magical power control.

“The territory’s people would have lived with gratitude towards you, and rumors might have spread through those magicians, and perhaps an award might have come from the Magic League.”

Then Lane raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand.

“The son of a lord helping the territory’s people—it’s just performing a natural duty, so do I have to receive separate gratitude or awards?”

Those words came out naturally from an expression without any selfish intentions.

Then, Swan’s eyes shook greatly at the hot thrill that surged from deep within his heart.

The family guards, most of whom were selected from the territory’s people, stared blankly at Lane and then quietly lowered their heads one by one.

‘Our young master…….’

‘Young Master Lane…….’

The moment when a person pledges lifelong loyalty to someone is not always made up of dramatic stories.

When a person sees the sincerity hidden in a human’s words and actions, they are moved and kneel down with all their heart.

‘I will serve you for life.’

On the other hand, Lane, who had no way of knowing the feelings of Swan or the soldiers, was smiling contentedly for a different reason.

‘Wow…….’

Being a noble might be better than I thought? I acted rudely just like the old days, but why is the reaction so different?

* * *

The Giritten region of Siasthulica was a village located at the crossroads leading to [trade routes], and was originally a place where all kinds of travelers, such as adventurers and merchants, occasionally stopped by.

However, as tourists flocked to see the earthen wall that a mysterious high-ranking magician had created overnight, the village prospered greatly in half a year.

A young man from the village said that the incident was the work of Lane Ludwig, but no one believed that Ludwig’s son, who was known to be incompetent, had done such a thing.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Ludwig’s son submitted an application to [Magic University]. The rumors are rampant in the south.”

“Oh my, he’s just going to be embarrassed. If I were him, I would have made all sorts of excuses and not gone.”

At that time, the bartender slammed a glass of alcohol hard on the table, and the merchants momentarily shut their mouths, then burst into anger.

“Are you crazy─”

“─Merchants don’t know anything. Embarrassment? Our young master?”

“What don’t we know, you say? The rumors are rampant that the heir to the Ludwig family is a bit lacking. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

As the merchants clicked their tongues, the young man suddenly laughed out loud. The villagers working at the bar also wore meaningful smiles.

“Haha! Then, merchants, if you’re so confident, let’s make a bet.”

“What kind of bet?”

“I’ll bet this bar that Young Master Lane will graduate at the top of his class with overwhelming grades. Now, what are you going to bet?”

* * *

“There are many excellent applicants this time.”

Magic University, [a prestigious magic academy].

Professor’s office in the fantastic main building, where the diamond statue of the dragon elegantly wraps around the outer wall.

Seven professors were sitting around a round table, reviewing the application documents that had poured in from all over the Empire.

“Shouldn’t we see it as the extreme? Krista Warden, who is called the genius of the century… On the other hand, Lane Ludwig, who is more famous by the nickname of Genius Disaster.”

Lane Ludwig…….

He had never attended magic school, won any contests, or taken a magic rank test. He was an existence with almost no data.

‘He only showed his face once at the family council when he was seven years old, but he had no talent for magic at all…….’

So his nickname is Genius Disaster.

Not that he was a talent (才) given by heaven (天), but that he was a disaster (災) that heaven (天) had given to the Ludwig family.

It was a mystery how such a vessel was born under such excellent parents. One of the professors sighed.

“We don’t need to check the first and last place of the next class separately.”