TYHL 168

~Chapter 168~

“Aww, come on, you know the deal! The magicians they send out to the outposts? The kingdom barely even considers them worth squashing underfoot.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

And apparently, there were more outpost magicians like Asha who shared her mindset. Some of them went back, but most stayed here.

“Our kind? The Magic King isn’t going to waste his magic trying to control us. He’d just wipe us out in one blow if it came to that…”

“Jeez, why say something that scary…”

“It’s scary, but it’s true. Plus, the kingdom’s gone underground for now anyway.”

Asha grabbed my hand and spoke with rare conviction.

“A crisis might just be an opportunity! So let’s use this time to think up ways to break the kingdom!”

She was right.

A crisis is just another word for opportunity.

Whoever builds their strength first and attacks—that’s what’s really going to matter.

But that was another issue.

Around that time, the Emperor of Bamilon moved fast.

He reached out to all the outpost magicians across the continent who didn’t want to return to the kingdom and brought them to Bamilon’s side.

That’s how Bamilon ended up with a bunch of outpost magicians. Thanks to that, there’s no shortage of essential magic tools anymore…

Basically, self-sufficient magical tech.

Supplying the materials? That was all me—well, through Dad, of course.

“Duke, I’m pretty sure this is going to be a money-maker. What do you say we sell the magic stones and Asha’s magic tool designs (reviewed by Rubian, of course) to the imperial family?”

“Let’s rake in the profits.”

“Roger that.”

Thanks to that, our magic stone shop landed a massive client—the royal family. Sales were skyrocketing.

The staff said we’re busier than ever, even compared to when we supplied the Magic Kingdom. They were thrilled.

Dad started hating the Magic Kingdom, cut ties, and business at our old shop completely dried up.

Well then. Time for me to revive it.

I thought about how my own fortune was stacking up and smiled.

“Ugh, it’s freezing.”

Well, anyway.

“Let’s head inside! My nose is about to freeze off!”

Sniffing and stamping my feet, I headed over. Before I knew it, Void and Khalid—fresh from a fierce snowball fight—came running up.

“Liam!”

I called for Liam, who was wandering around in the distance.

“What a journey that was…”

“Did we actually go sledding?”

“Wait, we were supposed to be sledding?”

“So what were you doing?”

Bickering as always.

My family’s always noisy and a little bit strange.

Nothing’s really solved, if I’m being honest.

But what you have to do never changes.

Just live, and make the most of what you can do right now.

I brushed the snow off my coat and was heading to the second-floor sitting room when I ran into Grandpa in the hallway.

“What’s all this? A bunch of wet little snot-nosed kids.”

“Grandpa!”

“Oh, look at that—a cotton ball just came rolling in.”

Grandpa scooped me up and spun me around.

“Hey, I’m almost twelve now, I’m too big to be picked up like this…”

It was a little embarrassing.

“Oh, too old for hugs now? How old do you have to be for that?”

“Um, maybe… ten?”

I spread my hands and Grandpa just burst out laughing.

“Ha! So that’s how it is, huh? The mighty eleven-year-old can’t snuggle with Grandpa anymore~”

“Hey, quit teasing me!”

I smacked his shoulder in protest, but he just laughed even harder.

“When you’re a hundred years old, maybe I’ll take you seriously!”

Let’s go! To the sitting room!

My grandpa, big as ever, stomped down the hall with me.

Honestly, as healthy as he seems, I bet he’ll be giving hugs no matter how old I get.

“Still, I don’t want to be a hundred-year-old snot-nose…”

“Huh?”

That’d be kind of gross…

“Go on and get toasty by the fire!”

“Yes, sir.”

He dropped me right in front of the fireplace and headed off to the annex—something about a new sword design for Khalid.

The boy sitting next to me didn’t seem all that interested, though.

“Feels nice and warm.”

I knelt down on the soft carpet in front of the sofa, just zoning out by the fire.

Since we’d played outside in the dead of winter, we were all “grounded” inside until we warmed up.

“Come closer. It’s warmer over here.”

Khalid patted the spot next to him. I scooted over and sat right by his side.

Yeah… with his body heat added, it was even cozier.

“Ah! I want to go train with my sword!”

Void was waving a wooden sword around, grumbling.

“It’s still snowing outside. If we’d stayed out any longer, we would’ve turned into snowmen.”

The clear blue sky was already turning grey again, and snow was piling up, swallowing every sound.

“Guess I’ll just practice in here, then.”

Void swept the curtains aside and came back in.

“Grandpa’ll chew you out if he catches you.”

I gave a half-hearted warning and sipped my cocoa.

This is peace.

The air was warm, the carpet was soft, and my cocoa was sweet.

I almost thought about sprawling out on my stomach, but then I remembered something I had to do. I spotted Liam, as usual, nose buried in a book on the other sofa.

I should check this out, too.

Rummaging through my pocket, I pulled out a scrap of parchment.

Dad had brought this magic formula back from Kasalia last time.

Huh… is this weather magic?

Asha had copied it over, but she wasn’t super familiar with advanced formulas—there were some gaps. It was my job to figure them out.

It’s not the true “breaking” formula, but…

I’d never seen anything like it.

Bit by bit.

It felt like knowledge was piling up, like fresh snow.

This wasn’t borrowed knowledge from Wizeria—this was really mine.

Maybe someday, I won’t even need Wizeria anymore?

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

“What are you up to?”

Khalid leaned over. I mumbled, pen still in my mouth.

“Looking over a magic formula.”

“…….”

“…….”

For a moment, the silence dropped like a stone.

Huh? What’s up?

I looked up and saw both Liam and Void staring at me.

Oh, right…

It’s only been about a month since they found out I’m a magician, and that was only after things calmed down here in the north.

When they first heard, both of them looked totally shocked. But that was it.

Everyone’s like that.

Butler Adolf, Hazel—everyone.

They were obviously surprised, probably even a bit rattled, but I could tell they were holding it in for my sake.

So I wouldn’t feel self-conscious or hurt.

Thanks to that, things felt normal.

But this kind of silence was still awkward. I forced a smile and buried my face back in the parchment.

“Heh… it’s, um, a little unusual, isn’t it…”

And then—

“Whoa!”

“Let me see, dumpling fairy.”

Liam flopped down beside me to get a closer look at my parchment.

“If there’s anything you don’t get, just say so. I’ll teach you. If you don’t understand, complain as much as you want.”

“But it’s a magic formula…”

“Then show off what you know! Be a know-it-all a thousand times if you want.”

“Huh?”

Liam pushed up his glasses, face as chilly as ever.

Right then, Void wedged himself next to me, practically elbowing Khalid out of the way.

“Move over! Ruby, need ink? Want me to flip the pages for you? You taking notes?”

“…Didn’t you say you were going to practice with your sword?”

“This is what big brothers are for! Watching you work!”

Really? Magic formulas? With your knight-in-training brothers hanging around?

That’s news to me…

But honestly, it felt kind of nice.

“All right! I’ll show you what I can do!”

I grinned and sprawled out on a cushion. Liam and Void snuggled in close on either side.

Khalid got squeezed out a little, but he still sat nearby, arms folded, keeping an eye on me.

“There are a lot of weird symbols here. Hurry up and explain, fairy.”

“All right, watch closely. This part here…”

Crackling fire from the fireplace made the perfect soundtrack as I showed off a little as the family magician.

“Hey, you guys are crowding me—I can’t see what I’m doing!”

Finally, I lost my patience.

“My tiny, adorable little sister.”

Liam gave me a big squeeze as I sprawled beside him.

“I’m twelve, you know!”

Squeeze.

“You’re not the only one getting older, you know?”

Void chimed in, not giving an inch.

“Ack, you’re so annoying! Come on, let me work! Aren’t you guys curious about the magic formula?”

Honestly, my brothers didn’t care about the formula itself.

“Wait… what did you say, Ruby?”

How do I even describe the feeling in that moment?

“You really… were on the battlefield.”

For the first time ever, Liam understood what it felt like for your blood to run cold in anger.