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Translator: Lizz
There was a region called Cadenza to the north of Lavarta. Originally, it was the territory of the neighboring country, Shale, but Lavarta won it in a war about fifty years ago. It had originally been recognized as an autonomous region within Shale, and strictly speaking, it had not even been Shale’s territory. Cadenza was located on the slopes of the Sera Mountains, near the foothills; the cold was severe in winter and the land was barren, making it a difficult place to live. However, even in such a place, there was a settlement of people; they had been there since before Lavarta and Shale were founded. At the time of founding of both countries, they didn’t even know there was a village in such a place, and neither country considered Cadenza to be their territory.
Broadly speaking, the area north of the Sera Mountains, including the mountain range itself, belonged to Shale, and the area south of it belonged to Lavarta. However, Cadenza straddled both the mountain range and the southern region. It was later publicly recognized as Shale’s territory without much dispute. However, the people of Shale had a strong perception that ‘Shale’ meant the area within and north of the Sera Mountains, and they were perplexed by how to handle Cadenza, which could only be reached by crossing the mountains. Eventually, it was left almost as an autonomous region, but about eighty years ago, silver was discovered near Cadenza. The place, which had been a poor village with nothing, suddenly flourished and developed into a fairly large town. Shale was delighted with the unexpected benefit of silver being produced from its territory. Lavarta, on the other hand, was not pleased. The once insignificant and ignored remote village had now been discovered to be not a golden egg but a silver egg. Lavarta then argued that since the founding of the countries about three hundred years ago, there had been no strict agreement on which country Cadenza belonged to, and that Shale was merely claiming it as their territory. Lavarta further claimed territorial rights and invaded, ultimately winning Cadenza.
The people of Cadenza, who had originally lived freely with full autonomy, were perplexed when they were suddenly ruled by a Lord from Lavarta and told to pay high taxes. Surrounded and silently threatened by knights, they had no choice but to comply, but they were dissatisfied with Lavarta’s rule from the beginning. This dissatisfaction erupted about twenty years ago when the silver veins finally began to run out. Since then, the people of Cadenza had repeatedly caused conflicts in their quest for freedom.
For these reasons, the land of Cadenza, located north of Lavarta, had been fraught with danger in recent years, and blood had been shed there.
The Seldians were originally a nomadic people who roamed the Sera Mountains, which stretch from Cadenza to Shale’s territory. From their perspective, the arbitrary disputes between nations had divided their homeland. Although their national affiliation was determined by their place of residence at the end of the war, unlike other citizens, they were not registered in any census. As a result, the Seldians continued to cross borders easily and live the same way they did before the war.
Residents were supposed to apply for residence with the Lord, but the Seldians were a people who did not care about such arrangements. They did not follow the Balterion religion, which had its epicenter in Ermine and was widely practiced in Lavarta and Shale. They did not acknowledge the existence of the Balterion god and rejected interference from other peoples. The history of the Seldians was ancient, with records showing that they had wandered various regions even before the founding of Lavarta, but it was unknown where they came from or where their origins lay. This was because no one had ever tried to study them in detail, nor had anyone attempted to interact closely with them. They themselves did not actively seek to interact with others and lived in a detached manner, which Lavarta perceived as arrogance. The Seldians seemed to have their own religious belief, which seemed to be different from the polytheism that remained in some regions, but of course, no one in Lavarta knew the details. This, again, was seen as a god-defying folly, and created a tense atmosphere between them and the people of Lavarta. Unlike the citizens of Cadenza, who were at least recognized as Lavarta nationals, the Seldians, who had no official registration, were ignored by the government, even if they were killed, as they did not officially exist on paper.
According to what Leon had learned from Dariesh, Zechs had also lost his family in an unreasonable conflict. Fortunately, those who attacked the Seldians were not cruel enough to kill even the young Zechs – or perhaps they simply abandoned him – and the boy had been taken to an orphanage along with other surviving toddlers.
He looked like an ordinary child. His black hair appeared bluish in certain lighting, and his eyes were pale gray and almond-shaped. Although his sharp gaze and features gave him a somewhat intense appearance, he would generally be considered ‘ordinary’. However, wherever he went, the fact that he was a Seldian spread like ripples. As a result, he faced unreasonable contempt. Leon sighed, thinking that his stubbornness, which was at an astonishing level, might have been formed during such a childhood.
The next day, before Leon could bring up studying magic, Zechs had already gone somewhere. As the day passed into afternoon and then evening without him returning, Leon grew anxious, fearing that the boy might have run away. He went searching and found him sitting idly on the edge of a cliff on a high ground deep in the forest.
The next day, after breakfast, Zechs disappeared again. Considering that there was neither a place to escape to nor freedom at the Iron Fortress, Leon thought it might be good to let him do what he liked. For the time being, he let the boy go outside as long as he promised to return for meals.
Since Leon was being paid, he wanted to teach Zechs magic to a certain extent if possible. However, at this stage, even daily conversations were difficult.
Although he refused all lectures at the Iron Fortress, he must have retained something from what he heard. Since he was given a beginner’s magic book, he might have memorized at least one spell without mentioning it. Given that he possessed a guiding vein, it was natural to feel uneasy about handling it and want to do something about it.
To be frank, Leon was hesitant to take the first step. He couldn’t believe that someone like himself could accomplish a task that even the country’s top mages had given up on, and he didn’t know where to start. He was also struggling with Zechs’ attitude of rejecting the entire outside world.
And then, the incident happened.
After Zechs disappeared right after eating as usual, Leon, who was left alone in the hut, felt a bad hunch as he heard angry shouts gradually approaching from outside. He quickly decided to go outside to avoid facing them in the hut, where there was no place to escape. He saw the village men coming down the narrow path in a line and realized that his hunch was correct.
From the angry shouts of the men, it was impossible to discern the details of what had happened, but Leon could make a guess from the words ‘How do you intend to take responsibility?’ and ‘Bring out the monster’.
Half-dragged by the men, Leon was taken to their houses, where he saw a half-collapsed cattle shed and some boys being treated and embraced by women who seemed to be their mothers.
The boys were about the same age as Zechs. They looked at Leon, who had been brought by the fathers, with a gaze filled with fear and unrelenting contempt despite their young age. The mothers, too, held their children protectively and greeted him with eyes full of anger and disdain.
Sometimes, mages were unfairly blamed and held responsible, especially for storms or poor harvests. People didn’t truly believe that mages had the power to control the weather or crops; they just wanted a target for their anger. Knowing this, mages silently endured the reprimands, understanding that it was the best way to keep things peaceful.
However, the disaster that struck the villagers this time was not a natural phenomenon; it was undoubtedly caused by Zechs’ powers running amok. The reason might have been that he was teased by the village boys, but that was no excuse.
Having a guiding vein meant that the person, even a child, was shunned by others and must take great care not to cause conflicts with those around them. This was common sense, but it was impossible for a boy who could barely use his powers properly.
(No, I wonder if he ever had such a commendable attitude in the first place.)
Leon was surrounded by people seething with anger. He knew that making excuses or defending the boy poorly here could cost him his life. In fact, many mages had lost their lives to the villagers’ impulsive anger. Leon spotted Old Orga among the gathered villagers from the corner of his eye, knelt down, and simply uttered words of apology.
“What’s use getting an apology from you! Where’s that brat!”
“I’ll bring him here. I’ll make him apologize.”
“Do you think an apology will solve this!”
“My son’s arm was broken because of that monster!”
Even to the emotionally shouting mothers, all he could do was bow deeply and apologize. They would be angry whether he apologized or not anyway.
“I told you, this is why. We shouldn’t have been lenient and accepted him just because he’s a child. I don’t care about the Iron Fortress or whatever, I don’t want more mages in this village.”
“That’s right, it’s you guys’ fault in the first place.”
Voices echoed from all directions, making it impossible to tell who was shouting at whom. Just as Leon thought this was a bad sign, he noticed someone at the back of the crowd clutching something. Whether they intended to throw it or use it to strike was unclear, but once they acted, there would be no turning back.
Fear chilled him to the core, and his hands, resting on the ground, trembled slightly. Leon racked his brain for a way to calm the situation, but he knew that if he opened his mouth, it would only serve as a trigger. No, it would be the same if anyone else spoke.
“Hey.”
However, contrary to expectations, a calm voice cut through the tense atmosphere, and the gathered people suddenly looked as if they had woken up.
“Rather than this, we should find the child mage. Dio, you should properly tend to your son.”
Old Orga spoke with a sullen expression on his face. The people exchanged glances, and the man called Dio looked back at his son and hurriedly ran to him.
“Then, let’s split up and search for him…”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Is this village so large that we need everyone to search? You all have work to do, don’t you?”
“B-but, dealing with him is-”
“Cleaning up after an apprentice is the master’s job. Hey, make sure you bring that child to apologize.”
Leon silently nodded, meeting Old Orga’s stern gaze.
At the elder’s words, the hostility that had swelled up just a moment ago dispersed, and the people went back to their homes and fields. Only an injured child and his parents remained.
“Um, if you don’t mind, I can help with the treatment.”
When he timidly offered, the mother, who had been gently stroking her child’s body to soothe him, stiffened and pushed the child behind her to shield him from Leon.
“Don’t touch him, you filthy thing!”
With that response, Leon said nothing more and slowly turned on his heel to search for his apprentice.
Silavin: Do note all photos from the Light Novel will only be posted in the Patreon. A little troublesome to post it here.
