Vol 1 Chapter 9 – Irritation

“So, in other words—even with your abilities, you haven’t managed to get Tina to use magic, is that it?”

The Duke’s voice was a mixture of disappointment and resignation.

He must have received the same report countless times before. Each time, he’d been crushed, yet still searched for a teacher to grant his beloved daughter’s wish—.

If he’d been repeating that endlessly, it was no surprise he sounded this way.

“I hear that Ellie, who received the same instruction, is starting to show her talent… The irony is harsh, isn’t it?”

“Her Highness’s magical power is immense. There are no flaws whatsoever in her magic construction. However,”

“…And despite that, it won’t activate, you say. Is it the same even with the new method you devised?”

“Yes. Lady Ellie is showing more than enough progress, but…”

It had been about a month since I first started practical magic lessons with the two of them.

During that time, the one who had shown remarkable growth was—Ellie.

When I taught her a simpler form of magic that I had constructed—one with a wide range for ‘play,’ allowing spirits to do as they please—moving on from the existing magic that forcibly activated only a single attribute, she had absorbed it like parched earth soaking up water, making it her own.

Now, she had succeeded not only with fire and wind but also in making flowers of earth bloom. Water was just a little further off. Lightning and darkness were difficult, but she might master light in time.

In her case, the written work was more of a problem than her practical skills. For that, there was no choice but to have her endlessly work through practice questions. She possessed a solid foundational education (as expected of a Ducal household!), so it probably wasn’t anything to be overly pessimistic about.

In contrast, Her Highness—had shown no promising results.

The existing magic wouldn’t activate at all from the start. My magic was the same.

Thinking it might be because her magical power capacity was too vast, I reconfigured it to reduce the supply, but it still wouldn’t activate. So then, I tried increasing the supply to force an activation, but it still wouldn’t work.

If you were to ask if there was a problem with her magical power itself, that wasn’t the case; it was perfectly normal.

Her magic construction was even more perfect than Ellie’s—to a mesmerizing degree.

And yet—it wouldn’t activate.

I was feeling a bit of impatience. I wonder why, though…

“What are your thoughts? There are only two months left until the entrance exam.”

“May I speak frankly?”

“Of course.”

“Her Highness will definitely be able to use magic. There’s no doubt about that. However… whether that will happen by the time of the entrance exam is, I believe, an unknown.”

“…Are you leaning towards making her give up, as I wished?”

“No. Even if she cannot use magic, if she herself wishes it, I believe she should proceed to the Royal Academy.”

The Duke closed his eyes. He let out a heavy sigh.

Then, he spoke.

“—Through special measures, you mean?”

“Yes. Her Highness is more than qualified for it. If, hypothetically, such measures weren’t granted, I would doubt the Royal Academy’s sanity.”

“…To be rated so highly by you should normally be a joyous thing.”

“Your Excellency, Her Highness’s talent rivals Lidia’s. That alone is—”

“…I know. I know that. But, if that’s the case, my daughter…”

He wore an expression full of anguish.

That was likely not as a Duke, but as a father thinking of his daughter.

The second daughter of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, enrolling through special measures because she can’t use magic. No matter how you look at it, she’ll stand out. And there are always people everywhere who will say foolish things.

“In any case, I want you to do your utmost, but… if the situation is still the same one month prior, then do as I requested.”

“Your Excellency!”

“…Please.”

“…Understood. I’ve pulled off a lot of crazy things before, you know. I’ll manage somehow.”

—Though I don’t have a clear path forward yet.

I’ll have to figure something out. Since she has magical power, there are no abnormalities, and her construction isn’t flawed, there absolutely must be a reason.

When I went to her room, Her Highness had her head on the desk, her eyes closed. It seemed she was dozing off.

She’s probably been practicing magic desperately late into the night recently, so her fatigue must have built up.

I approached so as not to wake her and sat in a nearby chair.

I opened an old magical studies document I had brought. It was one I had borrowed from the Duke’s household library, written about magic from before the Demon Lord War.

I had already determined that no cases similar to Her Highness’s had been reported for at least the last 100 years. Before that, the records were too vague to track thoroughly.

In that case, I’ll try looking into even older information. Fortunately, the Duke’s household library has many ancient texts.

—Quiet time passed. Ellie seemed to be running a little late.

The content of the document was interesting, but it wasn’t what I needed. A shame.

Just as I was about to take out the next book, our eyes met.

“—Sensei.”

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry.”

“No. That’s a very old book, isn’t it?”

“It seems to be from before the Demon Lord War.”

“…Is it for my sake?”

She asked in a serious tone.

This girl is a little too serious.

Pat, pat.

I tapped her head.

“That’s not it at all. This is just a hobby of mine, sort of—”

“That’s a lie! I know that you, sensei, have been reading books late into the night. Hundreds of them, in this past month alone…”

“Don’t worry about it. I enjoy reading, anyway.”

“…you say that, but…”

“?”

“Get angrier with me! Scold me more!! The reason I can’t use magic is because I… because I have no talent…”

“Tina.”

…It seems she was blaming herself more than I thought.

Watching Ellie improve out of the corner of her eye probably played a big part in it.

“I’m sorry. To make you say such things… I’m a failure as a sensei, aren’t I?”

“I can’t take it anymore… Even though I respect you, sensei… even though I really like you… every time you praise Ellie, these ugly feelings well up inside me… That’s why!!!”

—In that instant, a tremendous torrent of magical power erupted.