Quite some time had passed since Roxy came to our home.
At first, I thought of her as a small teacher.
Blue hair.
A small body.
Half-lidded eyes.
A face that was always calm.
Judging by her appearance alone, she looked like a girl only a little older than me.
But after taking her lessons, I came to understand.
Roxy was a teacher.
A real teacher.
There might be plenty of people who could use magic.
But people who knew how to teach it to others were rare.
Roxy checked what I knew and what I did not.
She did not linger over things I could already do, and she immediately corrected the things I had misunderstood.
And sometimes, she said things I did not want to hear.
"Rudeus, you have talent."
That made me happy.
"But having talent does not mean you can use your power however you please. That would be dangerous."
I loved magic.
When I used magic, it felt as though I had become different from the person I had been in my previous life.
With my own hands, I could create things, move things, and change things.
That feeling was addictive.
But Roxy always said the same thing.
Magic was a convenient power, but it was also a dangerous one.
Those were words I needed to hear.
Perhaps Eugene needed them even more.
But I did not know whether Eugene took those words to heart in the same way I did.
Eugene attended the lessons with me.
More precisely, he was present for them.
I learned from Roxy.
Eugene used Roxy to examine the magic of this world.
The difference was immense.
I asked questions about things I did not know.
Eugene recorded the ways this world's magic differed from what he already knew.
When I failed, I tried again.
Eugene could usually do it after seeing it once.
I was happy when praised, and a little discouraged when corrected.
Eugene showed little reaction to either.
Roxy called me a genius.
But when it came to Eugene, she could not speak so easily.
One day, I asked her first.
"Teacher, what do you think of Eugene?"
Roxy thought for a moment.
"He is difficult to evaluate."
"But he is better than me."
"I wish I could simply say that he is good at it."
Roxy looked at Eugene.
He was reading a book.
"Rudeus can be taught. If we correct what he gets wrong, he improves. If he learns what he does not know, he grows."
"And Eugene?"
"Eugene... already has something. And he compares what I show him against his own internal standards."
It seemed Eugene had been born with something already inside him, and was measuring it against this world's standards.
Then, one day.
Roxy spoke.
"Tomorrow, we will hold your graduation examination."
My hand stopped as I turned a page.
"A graduation examination?"
"Yes."
"Already?"
"It is not already. You have mastered beginner- and intermediate-level magic sufficiently, Rudeus. You have even begun to grasp some advanced magic. Your chantless casting is stable as well."
I grew a little excited.
It felt good to be acknowledged by my teacher.
Hearing Father say, "That is my son!" made me happy too, but Roxy's evaluation was different.
She was not blindly doting on me.
"Where will the examination be held?"
"Outside the village."
At that moment, my heart sank.
Outside the village.
Those words alone made my fingertips turn cold.
I had already become able to go outside.
At the very least, merely looking at the door no longer made me feel as though I could not breathe.
But the outside was still frightening.
The yard and the house were fine.
The area around our home was fine too.
But going beyond the village, past the roads where people lived, and into a place I did not know was still difficult.
I tried to smile.
"Do we really have to do it outside?"
Roxy looked at me.
"Yes."
She was firm.
"Weather magic cannot be performed indoors or in a yard. And a graduation examination must be conducted in a real-world environment."
I could not say anything.
Then Eugene closed his book.
"Am I going too?"
"Yes. You will come as well, Eugene."
"Am I being examined?"
"You are. But I will judge you by different standards."
Eugene nodded.
He did not seem bothered at all.
Of course not.
Eugene was not afraid of the outside.
He went out every night.
He hunted monsters, studied the terrain, and tested how his own powers worked in this world.
To Eugene, the outside was simply outside.
A place where, if there was danger, he could deal with it.
But it was not like that for me.
In my previous life...
People's stares.
Laughter.
Rumors.
Mockery.
All of it still remained somewhere in my body.
Roxy did not know all of that.
But she probably knew a little.
She had seen me stop in front of the door, and she had seen my hands tremble on the village road.
The next morning.
I woke earlier than usual.
I had not slept deeply.
Mother looked at me anxiously.
"Rudy, are you all right?"
"Yes."
I was not all right.
But I said I was.
Father patted my back.
"A graduation examination? That is wonderful. Go give it your best."
"Yes, Father."
Father did not say he would come with us.
Neither did Mother.
That was because Roxy had told them so.
"This is a lesson. Please wait at home, everyone."
Father looked a little disappointed.
Mother looked worried too.
But Roxy would not yield.
"This is an examination Rudeus must take on his own."
After that, neither of them said more.
Lilia handed us each a small lunchbox.
"Please be careful."
She looked at me, then at Eugene.
She still looked slightly tense whenever she looked at Eugene.
I understood.
I felt the same way sometimes.
We left the house.
Roxy took the lead.
I walked behind her.
Eugene followed quietly at my side.
The village road was no different from usual.
Morning in Buena Village.
Dirt roads.
Fields.
The sound of chickens crowing.
People working outside their homes.
Villagers greeting us when they saw us.
It was an ordinary scene.
But my feet felt heavy.
It felt as though everyone was watching me.
Perhaps they really were.
Roxy was a demon, I was the son of a knight learning magic, and Eugene was a child who was far too beautiful and quiet.
There was no way we would not stand out.
Memories of my previous life rose to the surface.
The school gate.
Laughter.
Photographs.
Mockery.
I swallowed a breath.
Then Roxy slowed her pace.
"Rudeus."
"Yes?"
"It is all right."
I looked at Roxy.
She was facing forward.
Her back was small.
Yet somehow, it was reassuring.
"I am here today."
At those words, I started walking again.
They were not particularly remarkable words, but they gave me an odd sense of relief.
We left the village.
I suddenly looked back.
Buena Village was visible behind us.
The houses stood in a small line, and somewhere beyond them was our home.
I was outside.
Outside the door.
Outside the village.
And still, I had not collapsed.
My hands trembled a little, but I could walk.
Roxy stopped on a flat stretch of land away from the village.
There was no one nearby.
There were no fields, nor any of the trees Zenith treasured.
"This place will do."
Roxy looked up at the sky.
The weather was clear.
There were a few clouds, but not enough to bring rain.
"Today's examination is weather magic."
"Are we making it rain?"
"Yes. More precisely, you will imitate the fundamentals of Saint-tier Water magic."
"I will now cast the Saint-tier Water attack spell, [Cumulonimbus]. It is a spell that brings heavy rain accompanied by lightning over a wide area."
I swallowed.
Saint-tier.
The textbook only went up to Advanced-tier.
Saint-tier was above that.
I had never properly learned Saint-tier magic.
Roxy saw my expression and spoke.
"I am not asking for perfect Saint-tier magic. This examination will test your control, mana capacity, and understanding of natural phenomena."
"Yes."
"First, I will show you."
Roxy raised her staff.
Then she began to chant.
I held my breath.
Roxy's mana was not as vast as Eugene's.
But it was orderly.
Like clear water flowing through a channel, it moved precisely where it was needed.
The wind began to blow.
At first, it only stirred the grass and brushed my bangs.
Then the air gradually grew heavy.
Moisture gathered.
The clouds overhead thickened.
It was natural.
The weather was changing before my eyes, yet it did not feel as though she were forcibly bending it to her will.
Roxy was creating the conditions for rain.
And then...
Plip.
A droplet fell.
It was rain.
A light rain.
But it was unmistakably falling from the sky.
I was awestruck.
This was Saint-tier Water magic.
In a game from my previous life, it would have been something like a wide-area weather spell.
The rain soon weakened.
"Give it a try."
I looked up at the sky.
The flow Roxy had created still lingered there.
Using it might have made things easier.
But this was an examination.
I had to do it myself.
I raised my hand.
I did not chant.
But I did not skip the process either.
I spread my mana over a wide area.
It was different from gathering it at my fingertips.
Water Ball was narrow and quick.
Weather magic was broad and slow.
Create wind.
Gather moisture.
Lift the air.
Lower the temperature.
Thicken the clouds.
I did not know the exact theory.
I wove together the shallow knowledge from my previous life and Roxy's explanations into an image.
My mana wavered.
The area was too broad.
If my concentration slipped even a little, it leaked away to the side.
Eugene spoke beside me.
"The right side is collapsing."
"I know."
I clenched my teeth.
I caught the flow on the right again.
I could not pull it too hard.
Push, pull, and wait.
Plip.
A droplet fell.
One.
Then two.
And a light rain began to fall.
It was truly a very light rain.
It was weaker than Roxy's rain, and covered less ground.
But it was rain I had made with my own hands.
I stared blankly at the sky.
Rain touched my face.
It was cold.
It felt good.
Roxy spoke.
"You pass."
At those words alone, I nearly lost all strength in my legs.
"Really?"
"Yes. You still have many shortcomings, but you have more than surpassed the level expected of you right now, Rudeus."
I smiled.
I could not stop myself from smiling.
The me from my previous life might have become conceited here.
I am a genius.
I am special.
I can do what others cannot.
Something like that.
But this time, it was a little different.
I was happy.
Truly happy.
Yet more than pride, what I felt was relief.
The fact that I had succeeded because I kept trying.
The fact that I had not run away.
That was what mattered.
Roxy looked at Eugene.
"Eugene, you are next."
Eugene stepped forward.
The rain had nearly stopped.
He raised his hand.
The air changed.
It was fast.
It did not feel as though he were building the flow piece by piece, as Roxy and I had.
Eugene already knew the result.
It was as though he were arranging the necessary steps afterward to match that result.
Clouds gathered, and rain fell.
The area was precise.
It avoided us and fell only on the open ground ahead.
The rain was heavy.
Within seconds, the dirt had darkened with moisture.
Then it stopped at once.
The sky cleared again.
My mouth fell open.
Roxy said nothing.
She looked at the sky for a long while, then at the wet ground.
"...It is weather magic, certainly."
"But it does not seem as though you created a natural phenomenon."
Eugene nodded.
"It is a reproduction."
"A reproduction?"
"I achieved the result called rain. I adapted the process to this world's methods, but that process is inefficient for me."
Roxy narrowed her eyes.
"Is there another method you are referring to?"
Eugene fell silent for a moment.
But Roxy did not back down.
"Can you show me?"
Eugene answered.
"It is dangerous."
"Keep the power low."
"I will limit the range."
"Can you do that?"
"Yes."
Roxy thought for a moment.
She was a magician.
She must have wanted to see what she did not know.
But she was a teacher too.
She had to weigh the danger.
"Do not let it affect the village. And if I tell you to stop, stop immediately."
"All right."
Eugene raised his right hand.
Then he spoke.
[Weather Manipulation: Control Weather]
For an instant, I stopped breathing.
Those words.
Control.
Weather.
Words I had heard in my previous life.
But Eugene's pronunciation was slightly different even from the English I knew.
In that instant, the sky changed.
The wind did not gather.
Nor did moisture accumulate.
I could barely see any process by which clouds formed.
The sky changed as though it had received an order.
Gray clouds spread in a circle across the blue sky.
It was too fast, and too quiet.
It did not rain. Instead, cold air settled over the land.
White frost formed on the blades of grass.
The range was precise.
A broad circle that excluded the area around us.
But it was far too broad.
It could not be compared to the rain I had made.
It was different even from Roxy's Saint-tier magic.
Roxy's magic moved nature.
Eugene's magic commanded nature.
That was how it looked.
"Stop."
Roxy spoke.
Her voice trembled faintly.
Eugene lowered his hand.
The clouds vanished.
The sky became clear once more.
The frost remained on the grass.
Only then did I breathe again.
Roxy could not speak for a while.
She was a magician.
She knew magic, understood the flow of mana, and knew weather magic.
Yet she could not explain the phenomenon before her eyes.
"That just now..."
Roxy spoke with difficulty.
"That is not magic from this world."
Eugene nodded.
"No, it is not."
He admitted it far too easily.
I looked at Eugene.
It was not magic from this world.
Then what in the world was it?
I did not know.
I knew Eugene had been reincarnated, just as I had.
But while I learned this world's magic in this world's body, Eugene seemed different.
He had brought something else with him.
Inside his body.
No, within his very existence.
Roxy spoke slowly.
"Eugene. Do not use that magic carelessly."
"Because it is dangerous?"
"That is one reason."
Roxy steadied her breathing.
"But the greater reason is that it cannot be explained."
Eugene looked at Roxy.
"Is an unexplainable power a problem?"
"Yes."
Roxy answered quickly.
"Powerful magic can earn respect. But power people cannot understand breeds fear. Fear becomes rejection, and rejection leads to conflict."
Roxy was a demon.
A member of the Migurd Race.
She could not have received only kind looks from the villagers.
So her words could not have been mere advice.
Eugene was silent for a moment.
"Are you telling me to hide it?"
"Yes. At least for now."
"I understand the reason."
"Will you follow that advice?"
"It would be best to avoid unnecessary friction."
Roxy let out a quiet sigh.
"Even if that is your reason, it will do."
That was how the examination ended.
I had passed.
"As for Eugene, I cannot declare you graduated."
"Why not?"
"Because parts of you exceed what I am capable of evaluating."
Eugene did not answer.
"But there is still more for you to learn about this world's magic. You are strong, but you do not know how this world will receive your power."
After thinking for a moment, Roxy continued.
"So rather than graduation, your status is deferred."
"Deferred."
"Yes."
Eugene accepted those words.
"Understood."
We returned home.
All three of us were wet.
I was soaked through in particular.
Mother gasped when she saw us.
"Rudy! Are you all right?"
"I am fine."
Father laughed.
"How did the examination go?"
I puffed out my chest.
"I passed."
Father lifted me into the air.
"Ha ha! That is my son!"
Mother was happy too.
Roxy watched quietly.
At our side, Eugene shook the water from his hair.
He was still beautiful, and still somehow distant.
That night.
I secretly went outside.
I opened the door and took one step.
That was all.
But my feet did not tremble.
I could see the dirt in the yard.
It was only dirt.
There were no monsters outside the door.
Nor were there only people waiting to mock me.
There was earth.
There was wind.
There was the scent of night.
I could walk outside now.
I understood that fact.
Roxy had done something no one else had been able to do.
Not Father.
Not Mother.
Roxy.
That small magician had brought me outside.
That mattered.
The next day.
Roxy prepared to leave.
She did not have much luggage.
Just as when she first came, she had one bag and her staff.
Mother asked whether she could not stay longer.
Father was disappointed too.
But Roxy shook her head.
"Rudeus can study on his own now."
Being able to do things on my own meant I had grown.
But it also meant my teacher was leaving.
Roxy gave me a small necklace.
"This belongs to my race. If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation with demons, show them this along with my name. It may help a little."
"I will treasure it."
"Do not place too much faith in it."
Roxy smiled faintly as she said it.
I gripped the necklace tightly.
"Thank you, Teacher."
My voice trembled.
I tried to hold it in, but I could not.
Tears came.
I cried.
I cried like a three-year-old child.
But those tears were not merely a child's tears.
They were the tears of someone who had shut himself in a room in his previous life and had not even been able to cry properly.
Roxy looked a little flustered, but she rested a hand on my head.
"You learned well, Rudeus."
Eugene stood quietly beside us.
Roxy spoke to him as well.
"Eugene."
"Yes?"
"How you use your strength is important, but when you reveal it is important too."
Eugene looked at Roxy.
"Do you mean the way people will receive it?"
"Yes."
Roxy continued.
"You understand how dangerous your power is. But I do not think you yet understand how much people may fear it."
Eugene was silent for a moment.
"I will remember that."
Roxy nodded.
"Then that is enough."
And so Roxy left.
The small magician walked down the road.
At first, she was close.
Then she gradually became smaller.
And finally, she vanished beyond the village road.
I watched that road for a long time.
Eugene was beside me.
"She was a good teacher."
Eugene said it.
I stopped as I wiped away my tears.
"You think so too?"
"Yes."
"What was good about her?"
Eugene thought for a moment.
"She said she did not know what she did not know. She only said what needed to be said, and her explanations were precise."
"That sounds like you."
"And..."
Eugene looked toward the road where Roxy had disappeared.
"She got Rudeus to go outside."
I could not say anything.
Eugene was strong.
Far stronger than I was.
But Eugene had not brought me outside.
Roxy had.
That small teacher had moved me.
I gripped the necklace tightly.
That day, Roxy left.
I graduated.
And we saw how different this world's weather magic was from the other system of magic Eugene possessed.
The rain Roxy made was natural.
The rain I made was clumsy.
The sky Eugene changed was frightening.
But what remained with me longer than any of that was another memory.
In that memory, Roxy's small back was before me.
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