◆◇◆
**
Watching from the earthen hut as the two boys clasped hands bearing brilliantly glowing magic circles and raised them toward the sky, Roxy felt something swell in her chest.
As I thought... those two have tremendous talent for magic.
The brothers Rudeus Greyrat and Lumius Greyrat.
She felt proud that they were her very first pupils.
Of course, she had not been interested in teaching the two brothers from the start.
After seeing an advertisement seeking a magic tutor, Roxy had found herself facing tiny children who looked as though they did not even know the first thing about magic.
Parents like that existed everywhere in this world—foolish parents who praised their children as geniuses merely because they could use the slightest bit of mana.
When Roxy first met the brothers, she had been deflated.
There would be nothing for her to teach children like these.
Still, since she had accepted the job, she decided that she should at least test their aptitude.
If they had no talent, she could simply go look for another job.
If they could use even a little magic, she would teach them up to Intermediate-tier magic.
With that in mind, she tested Rudeus and Lumius’s magic.
...What is this?
With her own eyes, she confirmed that the words of the parents she had thought foolish were not exaggeration, but the truth.
Both brothers displayed exceptional talent for magic.
The older brother, Rudeus, casually omitted the incantations indispensable to using magic.
Not only that, he normally used silent magic, casting spells without incantations.
The younger brother, Lumius, could not use silent magic—he could not even use magic with incantations at all.
However, he possessed a genius-level talent for magic-circle-based magic.
Simply by channeling mana into them without an incantation, he could use Beginner-tier water magic.
And that was not all. The magic circle Lumius had made for what he called Beginner-tier magic resembled the circle illustrated in the magic textbook, but its composition was different.
It was a magic circle composed of precise formulas, allowing it to increase power and construct an accurate form.
That was right. It was a unique magic circle belonging to Lumius alone.
At such a young age, even if it was only Beginner-tier, he had created his own unique magic.
More than that, Lumius’s magic circle alone could activate every Beginner-tier water spell.
Normally, a magic circle was a formation created to use a single spell.
Therefore, it was only natural that one magic circle could use only one spell.
Yet through a single magic circle, Lumius could invoke every spell of one attribute.
Roxy was dumbfounded by the unique magic circle that a child not even three years old had created on his own using nothing but books.
That was not all. The fact that Lumi had inscribed a magic circle upon his own body to use it made Roxy shake her head in amazement.
Generally, magic circles were activated using paper, parchment, or an object as a medium.
The reason was that the mana circulation created by a magic circle and the mana circulation within a human body ran in entirely opposite directions.
For example, imagine whirlpools raging across the sea.
One rotates toward the sunset, while the other rotates in the opposite direction and cuts across the sea.
What would happen if the two collided?
The whirlpools would cancel each other out and disappear.
For magic using a magic circle, a medium was like a dam that prevented such a collision.
In particular, the mana-infused dye needed to inscribe the circle served as a converter, turning the body’s mana into the magic inscribed in the circle.
Yet that three-year-old boy had ignored the process, inscribing a magic circle directly onto the back of his hand—one made from the light of mana itself.
With this method, no one could steal his magic circle, nor could they subdue him by taking away his medium.
It was no different from the silent magic Rudeus used.
“Geniuses.” No more fitting word existed for these brothers.
The elder brother freely used silent magic, while the younger freely used unique magic circles.
These children would surely grow far greater than she ever had.
And someday, they might become great magicians whose names would be known throughout the world.
Those seeds had now been entrusted to her hands.
Roxy’s heart pounded at the thought of teaching Rudeus and Lumius.
Just how much would these children learn from her, and how much would they grow?
She wanted to see it.
But—
Can they really learn anything from such a scatterbrained teacher? More than that, do I even deserve to be called their teacher?
Surely, the brothers would catch up to her before long.
In roughly two or three years, they might stand at the same level as her.
Did she deserve to be called their teacher when she would only teach them for such a short time?
To begin with, was it even reasonable for an ordinary magician like her to have them call her their teacher?
There were times when those worries left her a little dejected, but then—
“But you are a wonderful person who teaches us, Teacher.
We grow because of your instruction. So please do not be so discouraged.”
Whenever that happened, Lumius would notice with uncanny perceptiveness and comfort Roxy.
Unlike Rudeus, who kept sneaking glances at her panties, Lumius rarely expressed emotion. This was the one moment when he did.
She always drew strength from the composed Lumius.
Unlike mischievous Rudeus, Lumius was mature and considerate of adults’ feelings, and thanks to him, she found confidence.
Rudeus was intelligent.
Lumius was composed.
Perhaps because they were twins, their personalities were opposites.
The younger brother was more mature than the elder.
She even found herself pouring out her complaints and grievances to that Lumius.
Time passed, their fifth birthday arrived, and Rudeus and Lumius became able to use Advanced-tier magic.
Before teaching it to Rudeus, she had Lumius complete a Saint-tier water magic circle.
After struggling considerably and staying up through the night together, they barely succeeded in creating a unique magic circle just for Lumius.
The reason was that Rudeus could reproduce a spell at once after seeing its incantation and demonstration only once.
Lumius, meanwhile, could only draw a magic circle after learning the spell’s nature, form, principles, and composition in advance, then arranging them into formulas.
Roxy wondered if teaching the younger brother ahead of the elder was favoring one child over the other, but she judged that without doing so, it would not be fair. It was an unavoidable choice.
A few days after they completed the Saint-tier water magic circle,
Roxy found herself facing a new worry.
The time when she would soon graduate from her work as a tutor was approaching.
Rudeus and Lumius’s magic had already reached the same level as her own.
There was nothing more she could teach them.
At this rate, the brothers might smoothly reach King-tier magic.
But after realizing that the brothers had lately been learning swordsmanship from their father, Paul, and had become interested in it, she gave the matter some thought.
I want both of them to become magicians, but they are interested in swordsmanship too.
Her position was merely that of a tutor who taught magic.
It was not her role to decide what they would do when they became adults.
Rudeus was not particularly interested in swordsmanship, but he practiced at his father’s urging.
When she asked him just in case, she found that his interest in magic was far greater than his interest in swordsmanship. She judged that he would not grow weary of magic and would continue to improve on his own.
There was no problem with Rudeus.
Lumius was Roxy’s greatest concern.
Even when learning magic, Lumius showed frighteningly intense concentration, but he was entirely different when he held a sword.
Whenever he learned swordsmanship and swung a wooden sword, the corners of his eyes would lift sharply with such obvious joy.
Furthermore, his talent for swordsmanship surpassed his father’s.
Even Roxy, who possessed no specialized knowledge of swordsmanship, could recognize that much.
Every stance was exact, like a meticulously arranged magic circle.
The flow of his sword swings was as natural as a babbling stream.
Seeing Lumius wield a sword as if he had been one with it from the beginning, as if it were part of his own body, was unbelievably beautiful.
How can he be so unwavering?
It was only a wooden sword swung by a child.
It was merely a wooden sword carved from lumber—yet it never felt light.
Every swing sent a chill down her spine. Something in her chest ached.
Roxy realized that Lumius’s true worth shone when he held a sword.
Paul shared Roxy’s thoughts.
"Hey, Roxy."
"You do not need to call me that."
"There’s something I want to say about Lumi."
"I can roughly guess what you mean. It is about Lumi’s talent for swordsmanship, correct?"
"If you’ve already noticed, there’s no need to beat around the bush. To be honest, I had planned to raise Rudy into a swordsman like me, and Lumi into a magician like my wife. It was something I thought after seeing the two of them as infants."
Paul told Roxy about when the brothers had been babies.
Watching Rudeus roam all over the house from infancy, while sickly Lumius had always lain in bed, he had thought:
Let active Rudy take up the sword like me.
Lumi is frail and cannot hold a sword, so to protect himself, let him learn magic from his mother.
When he discussed it with his wife, she seemed to have thought the same thing and accepted it without objection.
But Paul and Zenith had been mistaken.
Lumius could use magic just as Rudeus could, but it was nothing compared to his talent for swordsmanship.
The difference was like heaven and earth.
To that extent, Lumius’s talent with the sword swelled the curiosity and anticipation within Paul.
Though he was a child, he could exchange blows with him.
Though not perfectly, he could deflect roughly half of an adult’s attacks.
His rate of growth was pursuing Paul at a speed incomparable to his growth in magic.
How could he wield such fearsome sword aura, such an unwavering and weighty blade?
This was not sword aura a child should be capable of wielding.
Having discerned Lumius’s talent, Paul made up his mind.
This child could surely reach the ultimate pinnacle of the sword.
Therefore, he would place more emphasis on awakening his talent for swordsmanship than his talent for magic.
◆◇◆
After hearing Paul’s story, Roxy nodded and accepted his proposal.
But there was a problem.
"However... Lumi is the one who must decide his path. Paul, it would not be good to force only one path upon Lumi when he is still so young."
"That’s true. I, too, couldn’t endure my father’s pressure and left home."
"Is that so?"
"Well, it’s all in the past. I don’t want to force only one path on Lumi like my father did to me. What matters is what Lumius himself wants most. So, Roxy, could you gently persuade him and find out what he thinks?"
"Me...?"
"You’re Lumi’s teacher, aren’t you?"
"But you are the one teaching him swordsmanship..."
"Lumius is surprisingly sensitive in some ways, so it’s a little difficult to have this sort of conversation with him... Rather than a father and son opening up to each other, it feels more like I’m talking with a daughter, and I think it might become an awkward conversation... So please, I’m asking you!"
How could he mistake such a healthy son for a daughter?
Facing Paul as he bowed his head with a troubled expression, Roxy replied that she understood in a small, sighing voice. Then, during their lessons, she spoke with Lumius to learn what lay in his heart.
He showed great interest in swordsmanship, and he also had talent for magic.
Paul and Roxy, each his teacher in their respective fields, shared the same concern over which path Lumius himself would choose.
But they would not force him.
For the one who would choose was Lumius himself, who would someday grow up and live his own life.
Even if their pupil went in a direction different from the one they had envisioned, they should not be disappointed. They should support him.
Yes. Even if Lumius said that he preferred swordsmanship to magic.
However—the young boy gave them an unexpected answer.
"I do not wish to walk the path of a knight, a swordsman, or a magician."
He would walk none of those paths.
That was Lumius’s answer.
"As one person named Lumius Greyrat, I want to walk my own path. So I want to learn swordsmanship and magic, and other skills too, if they are necessary. I want to become a magic swordsman freer than anyone else."
He would learn swordsmanship, magic, and anything else that might be needed.
He had chosen a free path, one with no telling where it might lead.
Was he trying to dabble in too many fields without direction?
An ordinary tutor would tell him not to waste his time and to make his talent bloom, but...
Somehow, I feel as though this child can do it.
His steady eyes, without the slightest wavering just as when he swung a sword, and his earnest voice, so unlike that of a child, made her want to support his dream.
He would become a magic swordsman, yet he would not confine himself to such a label.
Regardless of the world’s prejudices, he would walk freely as a person named Lumius Greyrat.
It was a realization so profound that an ordinary child could never have reached it at the age of three.
Before long, Roxy accepted that fact.
Thinking about it, she had somewhat expected that this child might say something like this.
He had steadily learned without giving up either swordsmanship or magic.
Without a trace of laziness, he had worked hard.
Whether he was swinging a sword or drawing out a magic circle, Lumius was serious.
He weighed every word and answered with care.
It was not strange for Lumius, who possessed convictions of his own, to answer this way.
Once Roxy accepted everything, her heart felt lighter.
Lumi has held his own will from such a young age. He is no ordinary child.
What had she done, and what had she thought, when she was young?
She had simply lived an ordinary life without much thought, like any other child.
Compared to that, Lumius’s extraordinariness was truly astonishing.
Having confirmed Lumius’s direction through his answer, Roxy judged that he would be all right without her now.
◆◇◆
Watching the brothers’ Saint-tier water magic from the hut, Roxy declared them successful in less than five minutes.
Ordinarily, the task required them to control the clouds with mana for over an hour, but...
"Rudy, Lumi, you have passed."
"Huh? But it has not..."
"Been an hour yet."
"There is no need. What you have done is more than enough. Can you get rid of this?"
"Ah, yes. If we do it together, I think it will be quick."
The thunderstorm formed by the brothers’ Saint-tier magic did not disperse, instead circling around them in a dome-like shape.
It had taken the form of one of the most dangerous weather phenomena known to mankind.
A cumulonimbus cloud caused by a supercell.
Even without any further control of mana, the thunderstorm would continue.
Judging that there was no reason to wait in the rain for an hour, Roxy acknowledged them.
A short while later, when the clouds had cleared and the blue sky returned, Roxy swept back her soaking wet bangs and declared with a bright smile she rarely showed.
"Congratulations. With this, you are Saint-tier magicians."
Two years had passed since she became the brothers’ tutor.
She was immensely proud of Rudeus and Lumius, who had become Saint-tier magicians just like her.
◆◇◆
**
[Lumius’s Perspective]
The day after we were recognized as Saint-tier magicians.
Roxy finished preparing to leave and stepped out through the front door dressed exactly as she had been two years ago.
Neither Father nor Mother had changed much from when Roxy first arrived.
If anything had changed, it was only that I had grown a little taller.
"Roxy, you can stay with us longer, you know? There are still plenty of dishes I have not taught you how to make..."
"That’s right. Even if your work as a tutor has ended, we were in your debt during last year’s dry season. The villagers would welcome you, too."
It seemed my parents did not want Roxy to leave.
They wanted her to settle down in the village.
It appeared that Roxy had made herself useful in ways Rudy and I did not know about.
After our morning lessons ended, she sometimes helped with research into magic circles or learned cooking with us in the evenings, but for the most part, she had plenty of free time.
It was only natural that she would grow close to the villagers during that time.
"No, thank you for the kind offer, but this experience has made me realize my own inadequacy. For a while, I intend to travel the world and hone my magical skills."
"I see. Hmm, I’m sorry. It seems our sons have made you lose confidence."
Father had said the one thing he absolutely should not have said.
Had it been my former self, it would have been rude enough to make me strike him over the head with my staff.
But Roxy shook her head as if it did not bother her at all.
"No, rather, I should thank you for correcting my arrogance."
"You can use Saint-tier magic. It’s not as though you have anything to be arrogant about."
"I learned that even someone unable to use such magic can, through effort, cast magic beyond it."
Roxy placed a hand on each of our heads.
"Rudy, Lumi. You worked very hard, but I was not capable enough to teach you any further."
"That is not true. You taught us so much, Teacher."
"...Teacher, I truly learned so much from you, and I am deeply grateful for all you have done for us."
"Both of you... Thank you for saying that."
No matter what Roxy thought, she was my teacher.
Once a teacher, always a teacher.
The bond of teacher and pupil remained.
No matter how exceptional a pupil became, he would never disregard his teacher.
"...Ah, that’s right."
As though she had remembered something, Roxy reached inside her robe, rustled around for a moment, then pulled out a pendant on a leather cord and a braided string bracelet.
The pendant was shaped like three spearheads woven together from green-sheened metal, while the bracelet was braided from blue thread like Roxy’s hair and white thread.
"I will give the pendant to Rudy, and the bracelet to Lumi."
"Ah, yes."
"...Thank you."
"They are graduation gifts. I did not have time to prepare anything better, so please accept these."
"...What is this?"
"The one I gave Rudy is an amulet of the Migurd Tribe. If you encounter a troublesome demon, show it this and say my name, and they may be willing to show you some leniency... perhaps."
"I will treasure it."
"And the one I gave Lumi is... a bracelet I made little by little whenever I had time. Originally, I wanted to make identical ones for both brothers, but I could only make one. The materials are mana-infused hair, silk thread, and..."
Roxy stopped there, formed a gentle smile, and turned her back to us.
"The last ingredient is a secret. Please think of it as a gift from me to Lumi."
"...You will not tell me?"
"I think you will figure it out someday, Lumi."
With those words, Roxy departed with a bright smile like a child’s.
I felt lonely as I watched my teacher’s back grow farther and farther away.
If I had not met her, I would never have properly understood magic.
And above all, thanks to her, I realized that this world, this life, was real.
That alone made Roxy a wonderful teacher to me.
That was why I respected her as my teacher.
I was proud that such a small girl had taught me.
Roxy disappeared from sight, leaving only the bracelet in my hand.
...Please be well, Teacher.
I lingered in the afterglow of the moment and gave a bitter smile, but only for a moment—
"Sniff... sniff..."
"Rudy, are you all right?"
"Waaaaaaaaah! Lu, Lumiiii! Roxy! Teacherrrrr!"
At the fact that Roxy had left, Rudy burst into tears and threw his arms around me.
After all, although it had only been two years, saying farewell to Roxy, who had lived with us like family, must have been sad for Rudy.
I patted Rudy’s back as he sobbed and comforted him until he stopped crying.
Parting was sad.
But through it, one could realize that one had grown.
And one could move forward on one’s own.
That was what I thought.
However—
"Young Master Rudeus, what is this...?"
"Uh, whaaat could that be~?"
"...Rudy."
A few months earlier, Lilia had discovered the panties of Roxy’s that Rudy had stolen.
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