17-Interlude Blaze Lamprog, in the Imperial City





 Blaise Lamprog closed the book that was open at the writing desk.

 A room in a high-class inn in the imperial capital.
 It was a clean and quiet room, unlike the cheap lodgings on the second floor of the tavern - but - right now, it was more than a little hard to concentrate on his studies.

 Today was the day that Seika was leaving for Rodnea.
 By now, he'd probably just stopped in the first city and taken up lodging.

 Did I make the right choice?
 That's all I can think about.


****


 Seika is not Blaise's own child.

 Twelve years ago.
 A mysterious woman in a black robe brought Seika, who was still a baby, to the mansion.
 She claimed that this child was the son of Gilbert, Blaise's brother, Gilbert.

 Gilbert was different from his older brother, Blaise, in that he was different.
 He was free-spirited and had no trace of aristocracy. He even became an adventurer after graduating from the school, wanting to see the wide world. Probably the only person who became an adventurer from the great family of magic, the Countess of Lamprog, was his brother.
 However, Gilbert was also excellent.
 He was top of his class at the school. He was also quickly rising to prominence as an adventurer and had quickly become one of the upper echelons of the family.
 There were many in the family who didn't approve of him, but as an older brother, I was secretly proud of him.

 That's why I couldn't believe it at first.
 When I heard the news one day that Gilbert had disappeared in the Demon Race territory.

 Years later, when the mysterious woman brought Seika to him.
 Blaise hadn't thought to leave the child in an orphanage.
 Maybe it was all a lie, but - he felt that this was one of those fates.

 He felt that the child might be of the demon race.
 He persuaded his wife, who wondered so, and decided to raise Seika.
 I thought there would be others who would be equally suspicious, so I decided to pretend that he was my mistress's child. Of course, he kept the truth from his two sons as well.

 But as time went on.
 The suspicion that Seika might be of demon blood grew thicker in Blaise's mind.

 Black hair and eyes, a rarity in this country. That's not all.
 At the age of one, Seika began to manifest her magical powers from the time she turned one year old.
 It was a primitive one that did not have any attributes, but only moved things around - an almost impossible thing to do.

 Magic and language are closely related.
 It is no different for a sorcerer who has mastered the art of chantlessness.

 That's why it's essentially impossible for an infant who can't even speak the language to use magic.
 It's a good thing that you're not born with the ability to use magic, unless you're a child of the magical race.

 Seika's magic grew stronger and stronger.
 By the time she was two years old, she not only began to move things, but also to destroy them.
 From small objects to larger and larger ones.
 And then to living things.

 Seika was neither pleased nor amused, but rather she destroyed toys, beds, insects and birds without a care in the world.
 As if just to see what she could do.

 Seika's magic was kept hidden from all but his wife and a few servants.
 But his sensitive sons must have sensed something from his frightened wife.
 Luft became afraid of Seika.
 Glai, on the contrary, began to turn hostile.

 How much magic does Seika have?
 With that in mind, the measurement ritual he performed when he was three years old --- contrary to expectations --- resulted in him having no magical power of any attribute at all.
 This is also strange.
 If you don't have magic power, you can't use magic.

 Of course there are exceptions. But that's a case of someone with only a degree of magic power that can't even be measured, exercising insignificant magic.
 This does not apply to Seika.

 Strangely enough, after the night of the ritual - Seika became visibly sane.
 She no longer uses destructive magic at all, and she also talks more normally.
 She even looked more mature than Luft at times.

 He would continue to grow up as a normal child.
 Such thoughts were dashed when Seika was seven years old.

 The fire magic that Seika showed me in a magic exercise.

 That wasn't a fireball or anything like that.

 More than the power and color, that flame was not caused by magic.
 It's probably the combustion of some mineral.
 In other words, it's a completely different kind of magic.

 Despite carefully keeping it away from magic, Seika had once again shown herself to use her own magic.

 What's more, the recent monster fiasco was also strange.
 I inspected Elder Newt's corpse, and it was clear that it hadn't been knocked down by fire.
 There were too few burns and trauma.
 It was as if it had been poisoned.

 If I may add, the medium magic displayed by that slave girl, Yifa, was also strange.
 Although she did vocalize the name of the technique, that is a magic that is not similar to the Flame Note.
 That one's father is a brilliant man, but he doesn't have a talent for magic. Neither does his mother, who died a few years ago.
 Yifa was good friends with Seika these days.
 I can't help but think that they were not related.

 There is something about Seika that even her father, Blaise, doesn't understand.
 That's why.
 That's why when Seika wanted to go to the school, I thought it was convenient.

 It's too dangerous to give Seika to the military.
 The Imperial Army is the cornerstone of national defense. We must not let anything happen to them.

 I've done a bad thing to Glei.
 He's a very talented kid that can master mid-grade magic at his age. He could have done well in the academy, but we can't afford to let him turn his back on us.

 The truth is, I was planning to find out the true nature of that child in a duel with Glai.
 Glai would not have been the first opponent. So if there was even the slightest danger, I would immediately intervene, and if necessary - I was even thinking of killing Seika.
 Fortunately or unfortunately, that didn't happen.
 But........perhaps this was for the best.

 My wife is still frightened, but Seika is a gentle boy now.

 She treats the commoners calmly and even laughs and forgives slaves who have been rough with her.
 He doesn't kill creatures without a second thought anymore; on the contrary, he once gently grabbed a spider in his room and released it from a window.
 He was good friends with Yifa.
 Lately, he's been getting to know Luft as well.
 And the same with Glai.

 The night before the duel. Seika defeated Glai, who didn't like Blaise's conditions and set him up, without a scratch.
 Glai wouldn't tell us how she did it but the result was enough.
 Just the fact that his son is still alive and well.

 If he was blessed with the people around him, Seika would be a brave man defending his country.
 But on the other hand... if he were to suffer betrayal or destruction, he could become a demon king who destroys people.
 I can't help but feel that.

 Gilbert once said that the academy is a good place.

 I wish...I hope that's still the case.