Chapter 14 - Volume 1 (1/2)

Side Story 1 – Part 1

Widnichol Aide was in a hurry. Holding magical books in both hands, he ran as fast as he could through the Black Lotus Court, which was a part of the royal palace.

This was the Black Lotus Court that wizards all over the world were envious of, comprising the most elite of the elite wizards, that students at the Academy of Magic would dream of becoming one day.

Widnichol was prone to disrupting its tranquil atmosphere, looking like he just lost an easy game as he desperately held those books, but in any case, he ran at his full speed.

As he ran through the corridors, the wizards working there or people from other parts of the palace that had visited all stared at the source of the noise, wondering what was going on. Widnichol did see them stare from the corner of his eye, but right now he almost couldn’t bring himself to care about it.

The others, upon realizing that the boy running straight ahead without a glance to his left or right was in fact Widnichol, each said, 「Oh, again?」 as if they now understood, and went back to their respective duties.

Since he’d just started going to the Black Lotus Court, he’d experienced nothing but being separately called out and stopped, being scolded, and hearing people say rude things about him.

Compared to that, it might be fortunate that he could run as loudly as he could and no one reproached him for it. But even so, to just accept that running frantically without any time to waste as the ‘only natural’ thing to do for him, made him feel complicated things in itself. No, in fact.

——He was not happy at all!

He screamed that internally, and of course, no one could complain to him about that. But even so, he couldn’t help but to scream internally anyway.

Anyhow, the people he was dealing with gave him a hard time. Lord Dainan’s orders from a few hours ago rang again in his ears, and a shiver ran down Widnichol’s spine.

But, that’s right, the most important thing to do right now was to deliver the mountain of magical books in his arms, even if that would exhaust all his energy.

And then, Widnichol ran to the deepest, most innermost parts of the Black Lotus Court, passing through a corridor with almost no one around, and throwing open the door in front of him with all his might. Now, the battle began.

「Master! These are all the books you said!」

「You’re late. What were you doing?」

Widnichol’s heart already felt like it broke at his teacher’s pre-emptive attack.

「I-I’m sorry, I just got caught by Lord Dainan…」

「Dainan? Ah, that thin-haired guy? He just won’t give up, will he…」

Even though the name Widnichol had said was one of the authorities of this country, the head of this room didn’t look like he cared much, simply dropping his gaze once again to the books Widnichol carried.

Just how long were those upturned jet black eyelashes of his? Framed by the shadow of his upturned eyelashes, his pupils shook like a sunset with bitter orange and purple intermingling, bringing about an indescribable elegance.

His white skin that wouldn’t get sunburnt even if he sat by the window all day long was smooth like porcelain; his jet black hair was incredibly captivating in contrast to his white skin.

His perfected androgynous beauty seemed like what a night fairy would look like. But thanks to that beauty, the scar that ran below his left eye stood out. But he was such a beautiful creature that even then, that scar couldn’t be anything but an ingredient that made his beauty look even better.

Agedilus Von Lancent. As the head wizard of the royal palace, he was Widnichol’s mentor. And he was also one of the heroes who saved world.

While having him as a mentor, Widnichol couldn’t help but always think ‘he really is a beautiful person’ whenever he saw him.

Some years had passed since he’d started studying under him, so he had gotten considerably used to that beauty. But there were still times it startled him, as if suddenly stabbing him.

Widnichol put the books he’d been carrying on Agedilus’s table, started organising a heap of them, all the while thinking ‘gender really is irrelevant when someone is truly beautiful’ for the umpteenth time.

「Um, this is a book containing the list for all the books on the table, the librarian said I’ll need your signature here the next time I borrow more.」

「Got it. Widnichol, read the third chapter to the seventh chapter of this, and then each page from the 112th to the 158th page of this.」

「O-okay!」

Agedilus took out two books from the pile in front of him, one with a dark green cover and the other with a dark blue, and pushed them towards Widnichol without hesitation. His master somehow managed to ignore Widnichol’s face, instinctively stiffening at the weight of books against his chest.

His teacher had told him to read as simply as that, but they were both magical books written in the old magical language; they couldn’t be read as simply as that.

‘This is impossible, I’m not Master.’ He wanted to say that from the bottom of his heart, but those sunrise-colored eyes were unlikely to spare him if he did. He’d just nodded vigorously, so he ought to follow up by reading appropriately as well.

As if he’d lose here! His vision got a little blurry, but that was certainly not because of tears. That was his heart sweating.

「Tell me when you’re done reading.」

「Okay……」