Extra Story 4: Barney Jones (1/2)
Barney Jones was the second son of Count Anvard, a historic and prominent family in the southwestern part of the Ridill Kingdom.
In noble society, the second son or younger was always treated as a spare for his older brother. No matter how incompetent or stupid the older brother was, he will always be the one to inherit the family.
Barney was aware that he was better than his brother. And, in reality, he was like that. After all, his grades in academics were good enough to impress his tutor, and above all, he had a talent for magic. However, the one who would inherit the family was not him of the second son, but his older brother.
That was why he enrolled in Minerva, the best institute for training magicians.
What he was aiming for was not just an advanced magician level, but the Seven Sages, the peak magician in the Ridill Kingdom.
Once he became one of the Seven Sages, he will receive the title of Count Magician, which was equivalent to the rank of Count. It was a very high rank that grants you to have an audience with the king.
… that way, even Barney as the second son, would have a chance to prove his achievements to his father and brother.
So Barney studied hard, and thanks to his hard work, he was ranked first in both classroom and practical skills.
I'm not like my brother. I have my talents.
He believed that even if he was the second son, he could find his own path to success.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was when Barney was thirteen years old.
When he returned from the study tour, he found one female student surrounded by several male students in the corner of the classroom. A recently enrolled female student named Monica Everett, a.k.a. the [Mute Everett].
She was a petite girl with a doll-like expressionless face, always silent and downcast. Apparently, the boys were intrigued by Monica's inability to speak and were trying to toy with her. They were excited to see who could make Monica talk.
One of the boys picked up a spider from the windowsill and brought it close to Monica's face. Monica remained downcast and did not react at all.
”Hey, pry this guy's mouth open! I'm gonna shove this in her mouth! I bet she'd scream if I did!”
In response to the boy's voice, the other boys reached for Monica's face… but those hands were pulled back just before they could.
The boys' cuffs were burning with puffs of smoke.
”Aaaahh! Wh-What is this!?”
”What are you planning to do with her?”
The boys clicked their tongues blatantly when Barney said coldly, after unleashing his fire spell
”We're in the good part. Don't interrupt us, honor student.”
”Your behavior is so unbecoming of a noble… You should be ashamed of yourself.”
The boys snapped when he said this while lifting the rim of his trademark glasses.
But Barney didn't hesitate to use a shortened chant (quick spell) and surrounded the boys with flaming arrows.
The boys backed away with a wince, and Barney snickered at them.
”Do you really think you can beat a guy like me who's the best in practical skills?”
Barney was the sole genius in his grade who had mastered shortened chant. In the magic match, the speed of chanting plays a vital role. Therefore, no one could compete with Barney, who had mastered it.
The boys clicked their tongues and walked out of the classroom.
Barney snapped his fingers to dispel the flaming arrows and turned his eyes to Monica.
”Can you stand?”
”……………”
Monica was staring blankly at the floor with her olive eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the spider that the boys had thrown.
Eventually, as the spider began to scurry and escape out the window, Monica raised her eyes blankly to Barney.
”Thank…you…”
Despite her awkward speech, the [Mute Everett] seems to be able to speak properly.
Secretly surprised by this, Monica continued with her words that were difficult to ignore.
”…for savng…that sprider.”
”Wait a minute.”
Why did it become like that?
He did not do that to save the spider, but Monica. He involuntarily squinted through his glasses to glare at Monica.
”Unfortunately, I hate bugs. So, what I saved was not a spider, but you.”
Monica blinked slowly in response and tilted her head to the side.
She pondered for a while as if searching for words, and then started to speak slowly.
”I'm…not afraid…of spiders.”
”Hah?”
Monica's face remained expressionless as she mumbled to an astonished Barney.
Upon looking at her again, he was struck by how expressionless she was.
Her face was plain and simple, and if she smiled, she might be as charming as anyone else, but other than the occasional blink, her face hardly moved at all.
Monica was silent with a blank expression, but eventually, she spoke in a whisper, hardly moving her mouth.
”…but I'm glad… that you saved…the spider… Because it would have been…pitiful…if it had gone into my mouth…”
”What kind of logic is that?”
Monica nodded without expression when Bernie expressed his dismay.
Bernie scratched his cheek and asked a question that was bothering him.
”The way of you speak sounds so awkward. Did you come from another kingdom?”
Monica shook her head with a blank expression. Apparently, she was not a foreigner.
”I-I'm sorry… I've been practicing speaking…with my adoptive mother, but…”
Her words trailed off before taking a deep breath. It was as if a person who had forgotten how to speak had remembered how to breathe.
”I hadn't spoken…for a long time, so… I couldn't speak…fluently…”
She hadn't been speaking for a long time… which meant there must be circumstances behind it.
Looking at her pale face and body, which was too thin compared to Barney, who was the same age as her, he could somehow guess that her circumstances had been harsh in their own way.
Barney bent down in front of Monica and reached out his hand.
”Can you stand?”
Monica widened her eyes and looked at Barney's hands.
Then, she hastily squeezed the pocket of her uniform.
”Um…I don't have…a lot of money…”
Barney's cheeks twitched.
”Please don't look down on me. I'm a proud member of the Jones family. I would never extort money from you.”
Barney grabbed Monica's hand to help her to her feet, but she was still somewhat dazed, looked like a doll that had just been pulled by a puppeteer.
Her eyes rounded slightly when Barney brushed the dust off Monica's robe. It was a very slight change in expression. However, he was strangely happy to see the change in the expression of this doll-like girl.
”You really are quite a handful, aren't you?”
”I'm…sorry…”
”You should be thankful for that, no?”
When Barney said that, Monica's lips moved slightly, murmuring.
It was too subtle to be called a smile, but the corners of her mouth were certainly lifted just a little bit.
”…thank…you…”
”Your welcome.”
＊ ＊ ＊
From that day on, Barney began to look after Monica in any way he could.
Monica was a real klutz, falling down in the middle of nowhere, getting her hair all shaggy, losing her personal belongings all the time, she simply couldn't take care of herself.
Academically, she was as good as Barney at magic formulas and anything involving numbers, but her grades in general education were abysmal. Especially in history and languages, it was devastating.
I guess it can't be helped, so said Barney, opening his notes before giving her explanation, and Monica thanked Barney in a hushed voice in response.
In this way, as they studied together every day, Monica's speech gradually became more fluent and her facial expressions became more expressive.
Whenever she got in trouble, Monica would cry out to Bernie with her eyebrows downcast, and when he fixed her shaggy hair, she would give him a smile like a blooming wildflower.
He was the one who had changed Monica. Barney felt some pride in it.
—Thanks, Barney.
—Barney, Barney, help meeee!
—You're incredible, Barney!
Those little words of Monica's always filled Barney's pride.
… while the truth, he's got a faintly conscious from it.
When Monica's hair was messy, it was because her classmates had cut it by force. When her personal belongings went missing, it was because they were being hidden. Nevertheless, Barney averted his eyes from this fact and continued to take care of Monica.
Surely he subconsciously hoped that Monica would isolate herself. Because the more isolated Monica got, the more she relied on him. That way, he could continue to be a dependable honor student.
＊ ＊ ＊