TUHWKM 14

Chapter 14

The weather was really nice.

The sky was blue, the sunlight was warm.

It would have been better if I weren’t walking with this unfilial brat who doesn’t look pretty from any angle in this weather.

“…Do we really have to go see it in person like this?”

“How much do you think I trust you?”

Need I say more?

He’d trust a passing shepherd boy more.

“There’s no harm in building the wall in advance. What’s the point of building it after an accident happens? Every fortress is built to prepare for disasters and invasions.”

“That’s why I’m going out of my way to personally inspect the site with you like this.”

Kaierus retorted shamelessly.

He was strangely infuriating, but I had nothing to say, so I shut my mouth tightly.

“Mage-nim! His Grace the Grand Duke is here too!”

Suddenly, a welcome voice came from the opposite side. The orchard farmer was running toward us, waving his straw hat.

“Mr. Charles!”

I waved my hand.

“How’s the farming going these days?”

“Of course, it’s going well. The crops are growing so fast as soon as they’re planted that it’s almost troubling.”

“That’s a relief. No particular inconveniences?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I feel secure.”

The farmer smiled broadly.

“And this isn’t much, but I brought it for you to have.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to.”

The basket was full of tomatoes and oranges.

At times like this, I should pretend to refuse out of courtesy, but I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face.

“Just thinking of the grace I’ve received from you two, one basket wouldn’t be enough—even ten baskets wouldn’t be enough. How did His Grace the Grand Duke bring someone like you here?”

See that?

I looked at Kaierus and shrugged.

“Please let me know if you feel unwell again. Making potions isn’t difficult for me.”

“Oh my, just the offer is thanks enough.”

Charles laughed heartily and said he had to get back to work, running back the way he came.

I waved my hand vigorously at his retreating figure, then popped a tomato from the basket into my mouth.

Fruit really is delicious no matter when you eat it.

“Want one?”

“You eat a lot.”

“Nice, thank you.”

Then I’ll eat them all without holding back. I was hungry, so this works out.

“You’ve already won over the territory residents.”

“Well, I guess you could call it my ability? Everyone was persuaded by these innocent eyes.”

Kaierus snorted. He walked ahead briskly as if he didn’t even feel the need to engage.

“Honestly, it’s true.”

Stop.

Kaierus, who had suddenly stopped walking, turned around. He strode back to me and bent at the waist.

He observed me closely from a distance of less than a hand span. My reflection was clearly visible in his golden eyes. I unconsciously leaned back.

“W-what is it?”

Why are you suddenly getting in my face?

How disconcerting.

A few seconds later, Kaierus curved his long eyes into crescents and straightened his bent waist.

“As I thought, not particularly innocent.”

He smirked and turned to walk.

“Hurry up.”

…What a cheeky brat.

“Still, you can’t deny that I’m being helpful to the territory.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“And that’s why you set up a spot for me in your office?”

“Good thing you catch on quickly.”

Somehow, the more I talked, the more I felt like I was losing, so I just kept quiet and focused on chewing tomatoes.

By the time the basket was about half empty, I felt a gaze on me and turned my head to see Kaierus looking at me in surprise.

“…Do all of those go in?”

“Mages have big stomachs. This magical power all comes from food. Besides, I have a far greater amount of magical power than other mages, so I have no choice but to eat more.”

I can eat this and still have a separate meal, you know? Honestly, fruit is just a snack.

“So that’s why that clause was in the contract.”

“I felt like I’d die young from hunger if I ate the same as the other servants.”

Kaierus, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly asked.

“Who did you learn magic from?”

“You’re curious about that too?”

“There’s no record of you having a teacher.”

Now he’s not even hiding that he investigated me.

It was something I had expected, and it wasn’t particularly a secret, so I picked up an orange and rubbed it vigorously on my skirt as I answered.

“The first time I used magic was purely by accident. It manifested when I was on the verge of starving to death on the street. Summoning bread from a stall was the beginning. Whether you believe me or not.”

Charlotte didn’t know of her biological mother’s existence. Like most children in the slums, she was abandoned at birth.

If her mother had known Charlotte possessed exceptional magical power, she might not have abandoned her, but unfortunately, her mother was also an uneducated commoner who couldn’t realize that fact.

“You learned all complex magic on your own?”

“Not all of it—just survival magic. Warming magic and summoning magic are things you can use without knowing writing or equations.”

Kaierus’s gaze landed on me.

“But that’s not what you’re really curious about.”

I had long since grasped the intent of his question. He wants to know the path by which I came to wield not just magic, but ‘black magic.’

“I didn’t learn black magic from anyone either. Strictly speaking, I mastered it out of necessity.”

“Out of necessity?”

“I had to become a useful child.”

Charlotte was adopted purely out of necessity.

“Why would a noble adopt a young mage with no connections? To use the child to advance their own status.”

But unfortunately, Charlotte’s survival magic fell far short of satisfying the Count’s greed.

Whenever he was dissatisfied, the Count poured verbal abuse on Charlotte. To Charlotte, who considered the Count her ‘family’ who had taken her in, that was a tremendous wound.

“When I used survival white magic, Count Schmidt wouldn’t even snort. But when I punished a troublesome noble with black magic, how pleased he was.”

“And just for that, you researched black magic alone from age fifteen?”

“Back then, I thought if I proved my usefulness, I could become their family.”

Kaierus’s gaze lingered on me.

Even without meeting his eyes, I could tell what kind of look it was, so I quickly added.

“Actually, this is something I could master alone because I’m a genius. Do you have any idea how amazing it is for a child to research black magic alone without a teacher?”

After finishing, I suddenly looked at him. Kaierus, who had been quietly staring at me, spread his hand and smacked my face.

“Ow.”

“That’s truly amazing.”

Ugh, damn it.

Rubbing my stinging face, I shot Kaierus a dirty look.

“As I told you before, black magic isn’t necessarily bad. It’s just that the people who use it now don’t have wholesome purposes. If you look at black magic alone, it’s actually a magic that focuses more on practicality than white magic. Even its origins.”

“Do you still say that after seeing the damage black mages have caused to my territory?”

That’s because you take their land and hunt down and kill any that catch your eye…

“So what I’m saying is, just as not all swords are the same, there are good and bad black mages.”

“And you’re a good black mage?”

“Well… if you think about it? Your Highness is currently benefiting from my black magic.”

I grinned.

Naturally, I was ignored.

By the time we arrived at the outskirts of the territory, the conversation had naturally trailed off.

“Here it is.”

Just as I saw on the map, there was no castle wall only in the area near the mountain. Beyond a few private houses stretched a coniferous forest, and a tall mountain beginning not far away was serving as a substitute for a wall.

“So this side has been without a wall for eight years?”

“Instead, the security captain is stationed here.”

“Security captain?”

“Sir Robert Gale. It should be written in the personnel documents that went up to you as well.”

“Ah.”

I had wondered, and sure enough, it’s that guy.

He’s also full of problems.

I set that matter aside for a moment and answered.

“We should definitely build a wall. Even just building it at the point where the forest ends would significantly reduce the damage a landslide would cause to the private houses.”

I’m really doing you a favor.

This is spoilers from the original work, you know.

Kaierus, who had been lost in thought staring toward the private houses, nodded.

“Yes, your words have merit.”

What’s this?

Before I could be surprised by his readily given agreement, he turned around.

A bright smile was directed at me.

“Then let’s build the wall now.”