The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 56

“Hmm… Renil? I think I’ve heard that name before. Since you’re a mage, you might have heard of him. Do you happen to know him?”

A wave of tension washed over me.

Me? My name is being brought up here? Why? Why are they mentioning my name? No. Maybe it’s not so strange that my name is being mentioned.

It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but if my teacher is the star that shines brightest and highest among the countless stars in the sky, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I’m the fastest rising star. Besides, my reputation started spreading four years ago, so it wouldn’t be strange if a foreign mage knew my name.

“Renil Dragneel… That’s probably the name. Is that correct?”

“Ah, yes! Renil Dragneel. So you do know him.”

“…How could I not? He’s the hottest name among the Empire’s mages.”

Without showing any reaction, I tried to steer the conversation as calmly as possible. This short exchange was enough to tell me that he wasn’t the type to demand more after being saved, but I couldn’t know if there was another personality hidden beneath the surface.

“Indeed! If his name is being mentioned even in a distant kingdom, there’s no way he wouldn’t be famous in the Empire, which is his home country.”

“Why are you trying to meet him?”

This is important. The reason why JoJo, who possesses extraordinary skills, wants to meet me. Depending on that reason, the trigger of the gun on my hip will either be pulled or not. However, JoJo’s subsequent answer still made me wonder whether I should pull the trigger or not.

“Hmm. Even though you are my savior, it’s a personal matter… It’s a bit difficult to say.”

“…I hope I haven’t made a mistake. If you harm him after meeting him, I can’t say it’s not my fault.”

“Ah, I won’t cause any trouble to my benefactor. I’m definitely not trying to harm him, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

However, the truth was that I still felt uneasy about letting JoJo go like this. He said he wasn’t trying to harm me, but who could guarantee that he wasn’t keeping something secret? That’s why I threw out bait. Bait that was delicious enough for him to bite.

“In that case, would you like to accompany me?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a bit late to say this now, but I have some acquaintance with Renil, whom you are so eager to find. If you tell me the reason why you want to meet Renil, and if that reason doesn’t harm Renil, and lastly, if you help me with my journey a little, I can arrange a meeting with Renil.”

The distance from Oslon to the Empire, and the fact that it’s not easy to meet Renil, who rarely leaves the Magic Tower even after arriving there… After telling him the benefits of traveling with me, he seemed to be lost in thought, deep in contemplation.

‘Choose. Make a choice!’

It didn’t matter much which one JoJo chose. The actions I had to take would change, but the result would ultimately benefit me.

If he said he would accompany me, I would listen to his purpose and then finish the journey while figuring out whether it was true or not. But if he refused to accompany me for various reasons, my gun would fire.

It would mean that there was an uncomfortable purpose that he couldn’t tell others or those involved. It could be that I was misjudging him, but to me, I was more precious than a stranger I was seeing for the first time. I had a lot of work to do in the future, so I wanted to eliminate any unnecessary variables in advance.

“…Why are you helping me so much? Our relationship is only a few hours old.”

“It’s not for you. It’s for my benefactor. I’m taking responsibility for what I’ve done, as I don’t know what you might do to him.”

“As I said, there’s nothing that would harm him…”

“No one really knows if it won’t be harmful.”

JoJo’s thoughts deepened even further at my firm answer. But soon, he nodded as if he had made a decision.

“Thank you. I’ll be in your debt once again, benefactor.”

“I’ll say it again, this isn’t for JoJo…”

“I know. It’s not for me, but for Renil, the benefactor of your benefactor. But if I’ve received help, even unintentionally, I have to express my gratitude. That’s how I learned to treat people from my teacher.”

I don’t know who taught this person, but they must have been a great mage in terms of both skill and character.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t even know my benefactor’s name. If we’re going to be traveling together, we’ll be spending quite a bit of time together, so I can’t just keep calling you benefactor, can I?”

“…I’m called Untrue. I’m twenty-five years old. I’m a 4th circle mage.”

#

The self-introduction time is over. And one of the conditions I set for JoJo was to tell me the reason why he was trying to meet me. If that reason seemed like it would harm me, there would be no accompaniment. I had implied that I would call people right away, so this was the most important time.

“Hmm, where should I start…”

“You can talk slowly. We have plenty of time.”

“First of all, the reason I’m trying to meet the mage Renil is to follow my teacher’s will.”

“Will?”

“Yes. Have you ever heard the name Hamel Edric?”

If he had raised such a great disciple, his teacher must have been a mage with great skills. Of course, knowing and teaching are different things – wasn’t the answer obvious when looking at my teacher? – but a teacher can’t explain a sight they haven’t seen to their disciple.

But since JoJo said he was following his will, he was already deceased, which was a shame. I thought I might be able to get a piece of advice from such a great mage.

Shake, shake-

“I’m sorry. My knowledge is limited, so I can’t recall just by hearing the name.”

“No. Rather, that would be the natural thing. It’s not right for a disciple to evaluate their teacher, but when my teacher hadn’t yet left the world, he was just a common mage.”

A common mage. Through a brief conversation, I realized that JoJo had at least a minimum of common sense. In that case, the realm of Hamel, who was said to be his teacher, could be thought of as being around the 3rd to 4th circle, which wasn’t strange.

Surpassing the teacher. Rather, it was nothing more than proof that JoJo’s talent was that outstanding.

“My teacher judged that his own talent had reached its limit. And he made numerous studies and efforts to overcome that limit.”

It’s not a special story. Even at this moment, countless mages are working to overcome their limits. With the story so far, it was impossible to guess what the teacher’s will was. But there was no need to guess. JoJo’s mouth didn’t stop.

“Eventually, my teacher discovered a method, no, he created it. To put it simply, it’s a new method of accumulating magic power in the entire circuit [magical pathways in the body] instead of the heart, unlike the existing method, but my teacher…”

“…Accumulating magic power in the circuit instead of the heart.”

I raised my hand to stop JoJo’s words. A new method that denies the existing system; it clearly had to be new, but it wasn’t new, and it had to be unfamiliar, but it wasn’t unfamiliar. That’s because the method that came out of JoJo’s mouth was a method I had seen somewhere before.

“Perhaps it’s from the book .”

“Ah, did you know? Yes. It’s a book written by my teacher.”

I definitely remember reading it. Not in the distant past either.

Before leaving my hometown, no, a little further in the past. It was when I was still staying in the Magic Tower. At that time, I was stagnant, and I was looking for all sorts of ways to get out of the stagnation of unknown cause. One of the many books that passed through my hands in that situation was a book titled .

But it didn’t remain strongly in my head. If it had, I would have recognized it right away just by the author’s name. But the reason why I could only recognize it after hearing even the core content of the book was because I didn’t delve into the content seriously.

[? It’s a book roughly scribbled by an ignorant mage. If you’re thinking of researching it, you should stop. It’s simply a waste of time, and there have been cases where some mages who researched it in the past had serious problems with their hearts.]

[I don’t know why such a book is still in the Magic Tower. We should get rid of it quickly. I don’t know what kind of bad influence it will have on the growing mages.]

The above was the mage’s evaluation of . Of course, I didn’t just believe their words and pass it over. At that time, I was more desperate than that. But the accompanying research results were undeniable facts, and there were many other books, so I just passed it by.

“But that book.”

“I know. It was criticized by many. That’s why my teacher wanted to actually prove that his theory was possible. But my teacher soon realized that he was already too late. That’s why he went around looking for someone who would fulfill his dream instead.”

“So, JoJo is…”

“Yes. I learned magic according to my teacher’s theory. And I came down the mountain according to my teacher’s will to prove that my teacher’s research was by no means in vain.”

Amazing. He finally completed a theory that everyone said was impossible and created a result. Even if I recall the contents in my head once again, I couldn’t see any possibility.

“So, the reason you’re trying to meet Renil is to prove your achievements?”

“That’s right. A mage famous enough to make his name known throughout the continent. If I can defeat him, it won’t be a distant story to regain my teacher’s honor.”

I know what he’s talking about. Why he’s trying to meet Renil, what he’s thinking. It’s definitely a great way to gain fame in a short period of time. But didn’t JoJo clearly say that there would be nothing that would harm me? How is this something that won’t harm me?

“Did you lie to me?”