How to Live as a Hero in a Magical World (50)
What did magic academies, and Mana Gaia as a whole, value most?
Finn shouted when Kaian told her the answer was neither money nor magic.
"Then what the heck is important?!"
Kaian smiled.
"Trust."
"Trust?"
Finn looked slightly dumbfounded.
Kaian explained.
"In other words..."
He tapped his chin.
"Can this person truly be trusted?"
Finn immediately complained.
"How are you supposed to know that?! You can't just trust anyone!"
She was clearly sulking now.
Kaian seemed used to dealing with this side of her.
Beautiful flower petals began falling around Finn.
Rustle, rustle.
"You're right."
"It's difficult to know whether someone is really trustworthy."
"So people use an easier method."
"They look at connections."
Put simply...
Who was friends with whom?
Finn frowned deeply.
"Eh? They choose students based on something that stupid?"
"Surprisingly, yes."
To Kaian, it wasn't actually surprising at all.
Mana Gaia's standard identification cards contained not only the owner's bloodstone...
But also the bloodstone of someone guaranteeing that person's identity.
At first, most people used a family member's bloodstone.
However, those who wanted to demonstrate their status sometimes used the bloodstone of a famous mage.
That alone showed how much this society revolved around personal connections.
The same was true when writing contracts at an exchange.
A contract required the client's signature.
The escort's fingerprint.
And the signature of an intermediary who guaranteed both identities.
"My escort [Tag] was only issued because Dominic guaranteed my identity."
Kaian continued,
"The academy works the same way."
But guaranteeing someone's identity meant agreeing to share responsibility for that person.
Because of that, mages didn't casually guarantee just anyone.
"To enter a magic academy, you need recommendation letters from three mages who are at least middle rank."
Finn blinked.
"They're basically guaranteeing that the person they're recommending won't cause trouble for the world."
Kaian nodded.
"If a recommended student causes a serious problem, the mages who wrote those recommendation letters can also be held responsible."
Finn snorted.
"Hmph. What a ridiculous rule."
She crossed her arms.
"If Twofold Granny does something wrong, I'm definitely not getting punished with her."
Kaian laughed softly.
"Most people probably feel the same way."
"That's why each mage is limited to three recommendation letters per year."
Kaian held up three fingers.
"Even if they have several people they want to recommend, they can only choose three."
"And if they don't want to write one for someone, they can simply lie and say they've already used all three."
Because of that, every year the academy's biggest topic wasn't how talented the new students were.
It was who had recommended them.
Finn shot out of the water in surprise.
Splash!
"Then Kaian needs to get recommendation letters right away!"
She pointed at him.
"You have to get recommendations from the most famous people!"
At least the part about getting them quickly was correct.
Kaian smacked his lips.
"Yeah."
"Most high-rank mages may have already decided who they're recommending."
"If I'm desperate, I could ask some of the escort guys..."
He hesitated.
"But most of them don't like revealing their identities."
More importantly...
Kaian didn't know what kind of harm might come to anyone connected with him later.
So if possible, he wanted recommendations from powerful mages.
Mages strong enough to protect themselves.
"I already have one."
"Eldarin agreed to write one when we first talked about Arcadium."
Finn quickly asked,
"Then what are you going to do about the other two?"
She looked at him suspiciously.
"Kaian, you don't have any connections at all."
"Ugh!"
Kaian clutched his chest.
"Finn..."
He looked wounded.
"You just casually landed a critical hit."
What if his family were still alive?
There would've been no need to worry.
If anything, his relatives might have argued among themselves over who got to write his recommendations.
The image naturally came to mind.
Kaian swallowed a sigh.
"...There is someone I can probably ask."
Finn gave him a doubtful look.
"Really? Who?"
"Uncle Delio."
"Ah...!"
Finn knew who Uncle Delio was.
He belonged to House Velore, Kaian's maternal family.
The "Velore" in Kaian Velore Valentin came from his mother's family.
In other words...
House Velore was Liana's birth family.
After hearing about the tragedy that struck House Valentin, the Velores arrived at the scene faster than anyone else.
They personally recovered the remains of the Valentin family.
And they noticed that Kaian's body was missing.
The reason Kaian was officially listed as "dead or missing" rather than simply "dead" was largely due to House Velore's influence.
House Velore had even spent several years personally searching Vernas Forest for Kaian.
Though that was also why I couldn't approach the Vernas exchanges any earlier...
And the person who had led all those efforts was Delio Velore.
Kaian's maternal uncle.
"Uncle Delio believes there was a real mastermind behind what happened."
Delio didn't believe a single minor border noble like Morden could have destroyed House Valentin by himself.
In truth, many people thought the same.
But Delio had been the one willing to say the uncomfortable truth aloud.
He strongly claimed that someone had been behind the incident and demanded that the Empire uncover the truth.
"He came to the forest again a few months ago."
Kaian looked down.
"He prayed that I'd be found safely."
"If I go to him and ask, I'm sure he'll write the recommendation."
Of course, Kaian would need to go through certain procedures.
Blood testing to prove his identity, for example.
But that was necessary for several reasons anyway.
"I can probably find someone for the final recommendation through House Velore too."
Finn splashed water toward him.
"Then hurry up and go!"
She shouted,
"What are you doing lying around here?! Get up, idiot!"
"Yeah, yeah."
It was almost time for his meeting with Madam anyway.
If he had to meet her...
He might as well squeeze every possible benefit out of the meeting.
That's the blessing of Vernas Forest.
Kaian strengthened his resolve.
Then another thought occurred to him.
"Come to think of it..."
He rubbed his chin.
"Would Madam be able to write a recommendation letter too?"
***
Naturally, an employee accompanied Kaian to meet Madam.
"Madam's office is located at the very end of Sector 1."
Kaian glanced at the direction-disruption magic circles placed at regular intervals along the corridor.
He replied sarcastically,
"At the very end of Sector 1."
"How simple."
"Even a little kid could definitely find it alone."
The employee merely gave him Saint Dust's usual gentle smile.
Truthfully...
Whenever Kaian saw that smile, he wanted to cause trouble.
It irritates me.
Part of him wanted to create a disaster just to see what her real expression looked like.
