The Villainous Noble Tried His Hardest to Break the Original Storyline, and Now the Heroines Are Acting Weird - 9

Chapter 9

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“Wha-what were you doing, Rubest!? The ground looks gouged out…”

My father, Kai Fortas, ran up and grabbed my shoulder. He was clearly worried about me, but… It was kind of embarrassing to admit I got carried away with magic at my age and just used it without thinking.

“Uh… um…”

I hadn’t expected things to get this out of hand. As I looked at my father, who was gazing at me with concern, I wondered how I could talk my way out of this.

『…L-lying isn’t good. If you just apologize honestly, you’d be surprised how often people will forgive you!』

That was the wise advice of a certain useless goddess. 

Shut up… 

I thought to myself, but she did have a point. I intended to continue training in magic for the foreseeable future. In the world of Final Quest, there was something called basic training, and by doing it, you could keep increasing your status indefinitely.

“It’s like… I heard a strange voice in my head… And when I followed what it said… I was able to use magic.”

“W-what do you mean, ‘a strange voice’…!?”

“…Could it be the influence of a sorcerer?”

『I-it’s not a sorcerer! I’m a goddess! I’ll rain divine punishment on you!』

The goddess’s voice shouted inside my head. Her voice echoed in my skull, and I instinctively wanted to grab my head.

….When will she hit her data limit…?

I thought to myself when the elderly mage who had accompanied my father stroked his impressively long beard. That gesture clearly showed he was deep in thought.

“No… It might be divine revelation. I’ve heard that when someone finishes fighting monsters and levels up, they may hear the voice of a god and become able to use magic.”

『Oh, that’s the fanfare I sing for people! I made it audible in this world, too. Oh, right, I set it so Rubest-san couldn’t hear it. S-should I try changing that setting?』

No thanks. If you’re going to put in effort, focus on something that actually matters. Also, wait—so the level-up sound is you singing?

When I brushed her off, she let out a slightly disappointed voice and fell into silence.

『Aww…』

I felt a bit guilty, but this wasn’t the time for that. My father was holding his chin in thought.

“If you didn’t fight any monsters, you shouldn’t have leveled up. So how did you manage to use magic?”

“I think he has natural talent. And sometimes, people just happen to realize it on their own. That was how it happened for me.”

“Neither I nor Shelia can use magic… Can it still awaken in cases like that?”

“Of course. Perhaps the gods love him.”

『Ehehe~ Well, he is my favorite, you know. After all, he is my very first assignment!』

…Which is exactly why things turned out like this, isn’t it? 

Still, I couldn’t deny I had the blessing of a goddess. My father murmured to the mage as they spoke quietly. Despite the peaceful view of the garden around us, my heart was restless.

…What if my parents start thinking I’m some kind of weird child? Or what if my father starts suspecting my mother of cheating…?

But those worries turned out to be needless. My father smiled, looking genuinely pleased, and stood in front of me.

“Rubest. Could you try doing what you just did one more time?”

“…Understood.”

I gave a small nod and fired Thunder again. I was a little more aware of my MP this time, so the spell felt a bit stronger. It actually tore through the ground with great force, and gasps of surprise escaped from the people around us.

I continued casting magic. Under the clear, refreshing sky, my vivid lightning bolts flashed. Amid the serene atmosphere, my magic stood out as something distinctly abnormal.

…This world might be based on a game, but it doesn’t behave exactly like one.

If I increased MP usage, I could use more powerful magic, but if I didn’t focus properly, the same amount of MP might result in a weaker spell. This was tricky. Unlike in a game, the same spell didn’t always have the same power output each time. 

Well, even in the game, damage values had a pretty wide variance because of RNG. Maybe that was just how things worked here too. My father and the others were staring at me in stunned silence. The dirt on the ground had been upheaved, leaving behind vivid traces of the spell.

“…W-what is this…? I-is this magic? And to be able to fire it off in rapid succession like that… Is this… Normal?”

“…N-no… I’ve never seen such an advanced spell before… Rubest-sama might be a genius mage…!”

My father, the mage, and even the knights around us all looked stunned. Their eyes were wide open, and their mouths hung agape.

…Advanced magic, huh.

If they found out this was still just a beginner-level spell I had only recently learned, they’d be even more shocked. When cast with initial status, beginner spells would deal maybe around 100 damage, unless my enemy had weakness to the element. 

But in the world of Dragonic Fantasy, even this basic spell was considered as an overkill. Of course, it wasn’t nearly enough to defeat the Demon Lords.

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