LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 11
EP.11 Looking for a New Job (4)
“I do have a useful friend.”
Aaron glances at his long-time companion.
Professor Rosel van Trias, the elder of the Ashen Tower and renowned Ashen Mage at Apuria Academy.
He mentioned he has someone “useful.”
Aaron pushes aside some papers on the table and greets Rosel with a smile.
“Oh, really? Is it that…?”
“Don’t expect my first disciple, alright?”
“…What did I say? I wasn’t expecting anything.”
Though secretly hopeful, Aaron didn’t show his disappointment. After all, it’s a recommendation from the famously strict Rosel.
‘It must be someone decent.’
Aaron straightens up and asks,
“So, who is it?”
“You wouldn’t know. It’s not an unnamed child.”
“Huh?”
“It’s been over ten years since he started on the path of magic, but he has been holed up in his lab. He never made a name for himself.”
“Wait a minute, Rosel.”
Aaron interrupts, bewildered.
“Are you saying you’d recommend a mage with no achievements or reputation? Is he a child of a noble family?”
“He’s a child of House Trias.”
House Trias.
A certain individual flashes through Aaron’s mind.
“…Is it that friend? The one you recently adopted as a daughter?”
“That’s the one.”
“No way! Even so, isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”
Aaron’s eyes bulge.
No matter how desperate they are for personnel, recruiting a professor like that will stir up noise.
‘Even if Rosel is a professor known for his integrity…’
Just recently, he recommended someone he adopted as a daughter. Apuria Academy, which is already in the limelight, would surely be buzzing with gossip.
“That’s a bit… excessive, isn’t it?”
“Then, let’s start her as a teaching assistant.”
Rosel shrugged as if he expected this reaction.
“Isn’t my assistant position still open? I’ll put her there. If I say my daughter can join, who would object?”
“That’s… definitely acceptable.”
It was quite an attractive proposal.
Yet, Aaron felt something was off.
‘This friend doesn’t just back down easily.’
Ultimately, Aaron asked cautiously,
“…Is it really okay to do that?”
“She’ll rise on her own. I don’t need to intervene.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is, you’ll understand once you see. If anyone questions her talents after that…”
Rosel narrowed his eyes and muttered,
“Then, they’re just blind idiots.”
“…Is it really that extreme?”
“At least in this royal capital, I doubt there’s a mage with better potential than her.”
“Even including the Fourth Princess?”
“Her talent is still blossoming. This girl is already complete.”
Just like that, Rosel mumbled, and Aaron took that statement differently.
‘At least it means Raniel is not in the royal capital.’
If the Ashen Mage were in the royal capital, Rosel wouldn’t have said such things.
“If you’re praising her that highly, I have no reason to refuse. So, when can I see her?”
“Do you need to see her? You can meet her at the start of the school year.”
“I understand that you’re protecting your adopted daughter, but shouldn’t I at least see her face?”
Reluctantly, Rosel waved his finger.
“Come in, Rania.”
“Yes, Master.”
A sweet voice came from outside.
Aaron squinted and glared at Rosel.
‘You’ve kept her outside while trying to hide her? How much do you cherish her?’
With a sigh, Aaron turned his gaze to the door.
creak
The door opened, and a girl walked in.
Her ash-colored hair swayed in the breeze. She looked like she was standing between youth and maturity.
“Hello.”
The girl bowed her head blankly.
She emanated the smell of an old book with her brief greeting. The scent from her robe, deeply infused with scholarly fragrance, made Aaron smile unconsciously.
‘Not bad at all.’
Indeed, her first impression was quite good.
Unlike a short and flashy robe, hers was a slightly broader, neat robe. There were no decorations or elaborate designs on the robe she wore.
Overall, that was the girl’s impression.
The girl was beautiful. Beautiful, but it was a different kind of beauty from extravagance.
Instead of flashy, it was a serene impression.
A static beauty emanating from that serenity.
‘If I had to compare her to a flower, perhaps a lily.’
She resembled a pure white flower, untainted and bright. Aaron found her impression quite to his liking.
Magic, after all, is ultimately a study.
And that girl gave off the impression befitting a scholar on the path of learning. The way she tidied her clothes and gracefully sat beside her master, Rosel, was even elegant.
‘Students might call her an old-fashioned nerd; they could tease her for being rigid, but…’
This was the image of the ideal scholar that Aaron had in mind.
‘It’s understandable why Rosel treasures her so much.’
With a girl like that, anyone would want to cherish her.
Nodding to himself absentmindedly, Aaron spoke.
“I am Aaron van Tailent, the dean of Apuria Academy.”
“I am Rania van Trias, the adopted daughter of Elder Rosel.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Rania. It’s surprising to see someone being recommended with such enthusiasm for the first time…”
Aaron squinted his eyes.
“May I see your skills?”
No matter how much of a long-time friend Rosel was, Aaron, too, was a mage. Generally, mages don’t trust things they haven’t observed with their own eyes.
‘The best talent in the royal capital, huh? Let’s see for myself.’
With a hint of curiosity, Aaron pulled a sheet of paper from the pile of documents pushed to one side.
“Nowadays, it’s all about battle mages and combat magic, so the impression of mages has changed, but…”
The intricate circuit drawn on the paper.
Rosel continued as he pointed at the circuit.
“I believe the foundation of magic lies in the interpretation of formulas, that is, circuits.”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m glad you agree. Then, could you interpret this circuit?”
Aaron held the paper out to the girl and glanced at Rosel. He must know what’s drawn on it.
‘The Magic Association’s conundrum.’
That’s what this is called, a circuit that has no practicality.
A difficult problem devised by the elders of the Magic Association solely to test one’s ability to interpret circuits.
‘Is it okay to test her with this?’
Aaron asked Rosel with a glance.
Rosel merely shrugged, without a hint of displeasure.
It was as if he was saying, “Go ahead, have fun.”
With a smirk, Aaron voiced his thoughts.
“You don’t need to solve it right here. This circuit is considered a real conundrum; it would be good if you could present an answer by our next meeting.”
It’s a problem from the Magic Association.
On a ‘real circuit,’ dozens or even hundreds of trap circuits are combined. Even just untangling them would take a good ten days.
‘The elders of the Magic Association said they were inspired by the barrier of an ancient lich, Skebal, one of the four heavenly kings of the Demon Lord’s army.’
Asking her to solve it on the spot was asking too much. Regrettably, they could only promise to meet again.
“Oh, of course, it would be nice if you could solve it alone, without your master’s help. Rosel, you shouldn’t be too partial…”
“I’ve solved it.”
“Excuse me?”
Aaron blinked.
“What did you say? Rania?”
“I’ve solved it all.”
“Ho, ho ho! You must be joking, just like your master…”
Jokingly, Aaron shot a glance at the girl.
‘…It doesn’t seem like a joke, though?’
Could she really have solved it? Just from a glance?
“………”
The girl did not elaborate.
Instead, she quietly placed the paper on the table. There were no answers written on the paper.
‘…Is she trying to joke that there’s no answer?’
As Aaron pondered how to respond, the girl raised her finger.
swish
Ashen mana blossomed from the tip of her finger.
Using the ash-colored mana like ink and the air as a canvas, the girl began to draw.
swish
Occasional quiet sounds filled the air, as if turning pages in a book. It became clear what her peculiar actions meant by the time her drawing was halfway done.
‘…Is that a circuit?’
The girl was drawing a circuit in mid-air.
Aaron swallowed hard as he watched her movements.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
As three minutes passed, the girl’s finger stopped.
“………”
Aaron raised his head silently.
A circuit was completed in the air.
Aaron opened the envelope that contained the answer along with the problem sheet. This was a problem distributed primarily to Apuria Academy. The solution was only in this envelope.
thud
Aaron unfolded the answer that fell from the envelope.
Then he compared it with the circuit etched in the air.
“Ho, ho ho…”
A smile of amazement crept over his lips.
There wasn’t a single discrepancy.
The thickness of the circuit, its looseness, even the curvature matched perfectly. Even if someone tried to replicate it by looking at the answer, they wouldn’t be able to get it this exact.
‘What the…’
Words failed him.
“I told you.”
Rosel spoke in place of the speechless Aaron.
“In this royal capital, there’s probably no mage with greater potential than this girl.”
2.
The Duke of the North, Eryhal von Grace.
The direct descendant of a brave warrior, Lac von Grace.
He was wandering the grounds of Apuria Academy, where he would soon enroll, as his father had instructed.
“Before entering the academy, go see and feel the royal capital first. You still have a long way to go.”
However, despite having arrived in the royal capital quite a while ago, Lac felt no particular impressions.
Everyone seemed frail.
It doubted whether they could even run properly. No matter how much enhancement magic they used, if their base physical condition isn’t sound…
‘Compared to the warriors of my house…’
Next to the muscular warriors, they appeared insignificant.
“Sigh…”
Lacking interest, Lac waved and called his butler, Sebas, who came up with him to the royal capital.
“Sebas, let’s head back.”
“Y-yes? Do you not want to look around more?”
“I don’t think there’s much more to see. I want to go back and hunt with the warriors.”
“Well, if that’s what you say…”
As Sebas prepared to leave, Lac took one last sweep of the academy’s scenery.
‘It’s too peaceful, isn’t it?’
This tranquil scene was foreign to Lac, who lived amid raging snowstorms and clashing monsters on the northern snow-capped mountains. Too strange, to the point of it feeling dull.
‘To think I have to spend three years in a place like this.’
Should he speak to his father again?
Just as Lac was turning to leave, he suddenly heard a voice.
– “Wow, you unraveled it quickly.”
– “Lucky, right? I’ve banged on that barrier so many times digging through skulls.”
– “Rania, your choice of words has gotten quite crude…”
Lac turned his head at the sudden voices.
A middle-aged man and a girl who appeared to be around twenty.
“………”
Lac felt a shiver run down his spine and spoke.
“…Sebas.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Who are they?”
“Isn’t that Professor Rosel?”
“I’m talking about the one beside him.”
Lac pointed at the girl.
“Who is that?”
His instincts honed from childhood training were ringing alarm bells. Behind that harmless appearance lay something more vicious than any beast.
“…?”
Seemingly aware of his gaze, the girl turned her head.
The moment their eyes met, Lac gulped. He quickly turned his head to avoid her gaze.
“…I’m scared.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve never felt this from the northern warriors or the barbarians of our territory.”
Cold sweat was forming on Lac’s forehead.
Wiping the sweat with a handkerchief Sebas had offered, Lac mumbled as if entranced.
“Is this why my father told me to learn in the royal capital? There truly are hidden strong ones out there…”
“…Excuse me?”
“Nothing. I’m looking forward to March.”
“Ah, yes…”