Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kaian rubbed his eyes again after seeing the woman's face.

He was beginning to wonder if this was all a dream.

I've never heard of elves having horns...

While he was still confused, the woman closed her book and raised her head.

Cold blue eyes like jewels stared directly through him.

"Hmm."

Her gaze moved toward the candlestick in his hand.

"That's a rather crude weapon to point at the person who saved your life."

Kaian flinched and stepped back.

It was because of her voice.

Her voice was clear and mysterious.

It was more beautiful than anything he had ever heard before.

Yet there was no emotion in it at all.

Its unnatural emptiness immediately made Kaian raise his guard again.

Still, he did not know what he should ask first.

"My..."

The first thing he wanted to ask about was his family.

But Kaian felt that the moment he asked that question, he would regret it.

Almost without realizing it, he changed the question.

"...Who are you?! Tell me who you are! Where did you bring me?!"

He tried his best to copy the way his father and brothers spoke.

Even to his own ears, however, it sounded awkward.

The woman smiled in a way that barely looked like a smile.

"Who am I? That's quite a difficult question. Why doesn't the guest introduce himself first? Who are you?"

The hand holding the candlestick trembled.

She called me a guest. Does that mean she isn't with those people?

Kaian gathered his courage and glanced around the room.

The wooden furniture made it look like an ordinary home.

He forced himself to suppress his confusion and think.

Those people were definitely trying to kill me.

But here he was.

Alive.

Using what he had observed, Kaian asked a more specific question.

"The people chasing me... Where are the attackers?"

The woman calmly took a sip of tea.

In the room filled with tense silence, even the sound of her setting down the cup felt loud.

"They say humans are creatures who forget easily, but have you already forgotten?"

Kaian thrust the brass candlestick forward threateningly.

"I'm not interested in riddles! Speak so I can understand!"

"Humans seem to have no manners even when they're children."

She looked at him calmly.

"Well, it doesn't matter. At least your vocabulary seems decent."

"What are you talking about?! Answer me! Where are they?!"

"You burned them all to death."

The woman said it casually while taking another sip of tea.

"What...?"

"Did you not hear me? I said you burned every one of them to death."

Broken memories rose inside Kaian's mind again.

The turquoise mana around his left arm.

The moment he had swung that arm behind him.

The screams of the attackers.

And the orange heat that had pushed him deeper into the forest.

"No..."

Kaian muttered.

His eyes shook even more violently than before.

"No. There's no way they gave up that easily! There had to be more of them coming after me...!"

The woman frowned slightly.

"You're noisy."

"Ghk...!"

Kaian's breath suddenly stopped.

From that single warning, he felt an amount of mana so enormous that he could never understand it even if he spent his whole life trying.

His body shrank like a rabbit beneath the foot of a giant.

And only then did he clearly realize something.

My mana really awakened...!

A person who had not awakened mana could not sense another person's magical power, no matter how strong that person was.

But right now, Kaian's entire body was trembling like prey before a predator.

"You asked where this place is."

The woman spoke again in her clear voice.

"This place is Eldargrove. My personal subspace. Mages wearing crude toys like the ones who chased you could never even find this place. So you may relax."

Kaian barely managed to continue breathing.

He forced his frightened mind to keep working.

Relax...? That's strange. How am I supposed to relax in a situation like this?

And yet...

Somewhere inside him, hope began to appear.

If she was telling him to relax, did that mean the danger was over?

Then maybe...

Maybe he could finally ask about his family.

Even though Kaian already sensed he would regret it, he eventually opened his mouth.

"Then... my family?"

"Dead."

It was a short and clear answer.

Kaian's lips moved, ready to deny it.

But before he could, the woman's emotionless voice stabbed straight through his chest.

"This time, ask me something you don't already know."

It was as if she were saying that he had known his family was dead all along.

It was also a criticism of his foolish hope and his attempt to escape reality.

Kaian's body shook with humiliation and anger.

At the same time, the memories he had desperately tried to cover suddenly unfolded inside his mind.

The woman asked bluntly,

"Or do you want to go join your family?"

Kaian felt as though his heart had been ripped apart.

A scream burst from deep inside him.

"AAAAAAAH!"

Then it happened.

Turquoise mana erupted violently from Kaian's left wrist.

The thick brass candlestick in his hand began to melt.

HISSSSS!

A strange light appeared in the woman's eyes.

Her name was Eldarin.

Oh? Turquoise.

The mana used by mages could broadly be divided into three types.

Green, representing thought.

Blue, representing creativity.

Red, representing willpower.

Mages who used only one of these three kinds of mana made up ninety-five percent of all mages.

Only five percent were what people called Multi-Mana Users, those capable of using two or more types.

And the turquoise color Kaian was showing was a combination of thought and creativity.

In other words, it belonged to a group that made up only three percent of Multi-Mana Users.

But Eldarin could see something else.

Near Kaian's heart...

Red mana was moving.

Uncontrolled.

Could he also possess willpower mana?

Mages capable of using all three types made up only half a percent of all mages.

At last, a genuine smile appeared on Eldarin's face.

It has been... seven hundred years since I've seen talent like this.

From the moment a human child had broken through Eldargrove's barrier, she had known he could not be ordinary.

But Kaian's talent went far beyond her expectations.

HUMMMMM!

The entire space shook.

Terrible heat burst from Kaian's body and burned through the air inside the room.

CRASH!

The teacup on the bedside table exploded.

The thick oak floor began turning black.

Yet Eldarin remained seated.

She only watched Kaian with interest.

More precisely...

She was looking at the flames raging through the world inside his mind.

That child forced the rage filling his inner world to become real.

Magic was the act of bringing a mage's inner world into reality.

To do that, a mage needed a deep understanding of both their inner world and the real world.

But the child in front of her did not even seem to understand that he had an inner world yet.

Did he do it unconsciously? Impressive.

FWOOSH!

Kaian's eyes gradually turned red.

Then they lost focus.

Once the weak thread of reason he had been holding onto snapped, only the destructive instinct and survival instinct from when he burned the forest remained.

Melted brass flowed across Kaian's hand.

"I'll kill them... I'll burn every last one of them...!"

CRACK!

Eldarin lightly waved away the flying fragments.

Dangerous.

Her lips curved slightly.

But...

His talent is overwhelming.

Kaian was not even aware of his own inner world.

Yet he had instantly transformed his grief and rage into destructive energy.

With this child, I can definitely raise a hero.

Eldarin finally made her decision.

She lifted one finger and lightly pressed the air.

"[Calm down.]"

It felt as though a giant had placed an invisible hand over the entire room.

A powerful pressure crashed down on Kaian.

BOOM!

The flames disappeared instantly.

The shaking space became silent as if none of it had ever happened.

The difference in their strength was overwhelming.

Kaian's knees collapsed.

"Ugh!"

The hands he placed against the floor trembled violently.

As his mind returned, so did the pain.

Without making a sound, Eldarin rose from her chair and approached him.

"Anger is certainly a powerful source of strength. But if you cannot control it, it will only hurt you."

Her hand, so white it seemed capable of glowing, grabbed Kaian's burned hand.

"Ugh!"

Cold energy flowed through their touching skin like a wave and cooled the heat trapped inside him.

It even felt as though his burning head was cooling down.

Kaian lowered his head and breathed heavily.

Drops that might have been sweat or tears fell onto the burned floor.

Drip. Drip.

Eldarin asked him a question.

"Do you want power?"

Kaian raised his head in confusion.

Eldarin's unreadable blue eyes stared directly at him.

What did she just ask me? If I want power? Is she not going to kill me...?

Kaian lowered his head again.

Then he closed his eyes and focused on understanding the situation.

Cool your head. Think calmly.

Eldarin reduced the pressure of her mana so he could think properly.

Kaian was too deep in thought to notice the consideration.

Those people didn't attack some ordinary noble family.

They attacked House Valentin.

House Valentin was undeniably the Emperor's right hand.

Attacking such a family was no different from rebellion.

The enemy clearly did not fear the Imperial Family.

And that ridiculous amount of equipment...

No ordinary amount of wealth could have provided that many expensive magic tools.

In other words, the enemy possessed enormous wealth, did not fear the Emperor, and stood near the true peak of power within the Empire.

Those people had tried to eliminate House Valentin, which was famous for supporting the Emperor.

Why?

Were we standing in their way? Did they really do all this for something as simple as that?

But the most important point was that they had failed to completely erase House Valentin from the world.

I'm still alive.

Do they know that?

Kaian had no intention of kindly disappearing into history just because his enemies wanted him to.

House Valentin was the Empire's border.

Its wall.

A great symbol of true magic that should never collapse.

Kaian burned into his heart exactly who truly needed to disappear from this world.

I'll survive.

No matter what.

And one day, I'll expose what those people really are to the entire world.

But to punish people standing at the peak of the Empire, he would need strength far beyond common sense.

I don't know what that horned elf really is...

But she's definitely strong.

Now that his mana had awakened, he could tell.

The amount of mana coming from her was far greater than that of his father or mother, who had been called the strongest mages in the Empire.

And this place... Eldargrove, was it?

It definitely seems safe from the attackers.

Most importantly, Kaian could not sense any intention from the horned elf to kill him.

For now...

That was enough.

Whether he could trust her was something he could decide later.

First, he needed somewhere to hide.

Then he needed to become stronger.

Having decided, Kaian raised his head.

The woman was still staring at him with those strangely shining blue eyes.

But Kaian's turquoise eyes no longer trembled.

"I want power."

He tightened his hands.

"I want to become strong. Strong enough to change this entire world...!"

Eldarin smiled as if he had given the correct answer.