Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 12

The second day of the celebration went off without a hitch.

I met with more nobles than the day before and greeted many more people. I ate so much that my stomach was about to explode.

I did not mean to overhear but I also heard whispers about Count Tyren.

“Count Tyren got kicked out of the castle?”

“Just how big of a mistake did he make…”

“He didn’t achieve any great feats in the past war and lost his livelihood, so after the war ended, it looked like he was busy running around. It looks like this incident has pretty much finished him off.”

“From what I heard, his eldest son caused some kind of incident.”

“Then is that rumor true? That the eldest son of Count Tyren, a summoner, who the count had been boasting about, got into big trouble?”

“Shh. Be quiet. Anyway, how absurd is it to be chased out for not having properly looked after your son after coming all this way?

I heard something about me, as well.

“Oh, did you hear the other rumor too? That Lord Dane is already an incredible summoner.”

“Huh. Then is House Sogres going to become a famous summoners’ family?”

“Not just that. He can use magic as well!”

“Oh my goodness. Is that even possible?”

Gossip really spreads fast.

Although not all of it was correct.

Anyhow, if Count Tyren lowered his head and apologized, he would not have been kicked out so pitifully.

I do not know what he wanted to achieve by using this as a pretext, but apologizing so late after making such a fuss was completely useless.

Thanks to that, I learned one thing today.

Apologize instead of making excuses.

And apologize immediately.

I could tell from my past life, but it looks like a quick apology is a good way of diffusing a confrontation.

Of course, there will be times when I should not apologize.

Once Mother heard of what happened, she took hold of me and asked, “Dane, you’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

“Of course I’m not.”

“Whew. That’s good to hear.”

Of course Mother would be kinder than Fa—

“Were you able to use stealth?”

“……”

“Since you used a summoning skill and even a magic bullet, I was just wondering.”

It looks like Father had told her in detail what happened.

“Yes, of course. I hid in the garden’s bushes. He couldn’t tell at all.”

Mother looked very pleased.

“You did great. You used it in the first opportunity you had in real life, that’s worthy of praise. Looks like I need to teach you tracking skills next.”

I am fortunate my sisters were not also here.

If they had been, I would have received the same questions from them.

I guess I was also fortunate to not have used my spear skills.

I think I got off lightly since the only harm I caused directly was by striking my forehead against his nose.

Aside from spearmanship, I used the remaining three talents I had in real life in an unexpected situation.

Although if you were to nitpick the magic part, it was a magic bullet and not magic itself, but… who cares?

I was just inspired by what my sister Arabella had taught me about floral magic, so I think I can count that as magic.

Anyhow, it looks like there are quite a few people interested in my talents.

“Oh. So this must be the young Lord Dane I have heard so much about! I am Baron Opent. Have you heard of House Opent over in the east?”

“Yes, Baron. I know the region is famous for its grilled cherry trout and sapphires.”

“Haha, you’re so clever! That’s right. Opent produces the best cherry trout and sapphires on the continent! Oh, and I heard you’re fairly talented in several fields!”

It may be due to Father’s renown but most of the people were secretly looking my way.

“I just wanted to introduce my daughter. It would be nice if you two got along. Go on, greet him. Haha.”

Considering this approach, Duke Thermion’s approach would’ve been more appropriate at this point.

Since Count Opent was not up to bringing the topic up with Count Sogres, he accosted me, a child, instead.

“Hello, I’m Silvia.”

“Hi. I’m Dane.”

“You’re going to inherit House Sogres later, right?”

Why are kids so straightforward these days?

“I don’t really know.”

“Oh, come on. You are. Given you’re so talented.”

“That’s not something for me to decide.”

While I was contemplating how to handle this precocious young daughter of Count Opent, I found an unexpected solution.

The unexpected solution found me, to be exact.

“Dane, you were over here?”

It was Leila.

Silvia was flustered and stood up suddenly.

“L-lady Leila.”

“Who’s this?”

Leila’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and she stared at Silvia. Silvia may have seemed flustered, but she introduced herself rather nonchalantly.

“Hello, Lady Leila. I am the eldest daughter of Count Opent, Silvia Opent.”

“Oh, is that so? I am Leila Thermion. Nice to meet you.”

Women are scary.

In that short timeframe, they had scoped every detail of each other out.

While it is natural in this cutthroat aristocratic society to be able to understand your opponent…

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to borrow Dane for a bit. He has ‘promised’ me something. Right, Dane?”

When Silvia heard that, she looked over at me.

I broke out into a cold sweat.

Did the time come for me to make a choice?

I knew this quite well from having witnessed various cutthroat battles between my two older sisters.

In this case, I have to make the best choice.

I’m sorry, Silvia.

I got up from my seat as if I had no choice.

“My apologies. Let’s talk next time.”

“Oh, okay…”

The daughter of a duke who boasts authority second only to the emperor in the capital.

And the daughter of a baron from the east.

One could not even call that a fight.

Anyway, I left the main castle area and headed to the courtyard with Leila to try and work off my full belly.

“What were you talking with her about? Were you…”

“Was I…?”

“…talking about engagement?”

I burst out laughing.

“Are you curious?”

“I’m not that curious but…”

That means she is.

“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you later.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Tch. Are you teasing me?”

Teasing her was satisfying.

“But were you really talking about that?”

“No. We weren’t.”

Why did she look relieved?

In any case, Leila and I arrived at the courtyard.

To be specific, we arrived at a secret part of it that no one but those who live in the castle would know about.

“No one would be able to see us here.”

Leila looked around her before looking at me with excitement showing in her eyes.

“Okay. Now it’s your turn to fulfill my wish. What should I do first?”

“First, I’m going to ask you a few things.”

“Anything! For reference, there are exactly four months left until my birthday!”

I ignored that and went straight to the point.

“Ah, okay. Have you felt magic before?”

“…a little?”

“And how much is ‘a little’?”

“Well… it’s not enough to be able to form a mana core or anything but enough to absorb some when breathing?”

“Then you’re still at the releasing stage.”

Leila looked sad at what I said and asked, “Then will it be difficult for me to learn?”

“No. You’ll just start learning now.”

“Really?”

I had learned to naturally breathe in magic while fighting on the battlefield.

The battlefield may be a desolate place full of corpses, but paradoxically, it is a place where one can breathe in magic better.

Whenever someone who can wield magic like a knight, mage, or summoner kills someone, the magic that was stored inside the body slowly leaks out.

And that is why such a place where corpses are scattered around is more replete with magic compared to other places.

I was going to teach her the method I had come to grasp naturally on the battlefield.

But do they not teach these things in the Thermion duchy?

The affinity for magic varies greatly between each person, but if anything, the duchy should at least be able to teach this.

Is Duke Thermion stricter than he seems?

“First, you will need to feel the magic you absorb into your body.”

“Feel it in my body?”

“Yeah. If you want to release it outside of your body, you need to know how to manipulate the mana inside of it. The main point of it is ‘imagining’.”

“And by imagining you mean…”

“Imagining the magic inside your body circulating. Close your eyes and picture your body. Now picture magic flowing through every blood vessel in your body like blood does.”

Imagination.

To be clearer, it’s like drawing an image.

This is a fundamental act for everything based on magic that goes beyond wielding it.

“It’s not really working…”

And it is difficult to do at the beginning.

It is, after all, difficult for someone to imagine something they have never seen before.

“Do it slowly and calmly.”

To put it simply, if absorbing magic is a limitation of affinity, then releasing the absorbed magic and mixing it appropriately to form a mana core or circle is a limitation of imagination.

The reason mages are always talking to themselves and get lost in thought every once in a while is because forming a magic circle is more difficult than forming a core.

If you are unable to master at least this then you will not be able to form either a core or a circle.

And if you do not maintain the shape of the core or circle after compressing mana, then a portion of it dissipates and gets lost.

“Urk…”

“Putting your strength into it won’t make it work.”

Leila attempted for a long time and ended up on the verge of tears.

“I can’t do it…”

“Then let’s try this.”

I injected magic into the ring Arabella had given me. A subspace opened in front of my hand. Leila was shocked.

“Wow! Is this a subspace?”

“Yeah.”

I took out a mirror I had prepared in advance from the subspace. It was a full-length mirror large enough to show Leila’s full body.

“You can keep that in there as well…?”

“Yeah. My eldest sister made this herself and gave it to me as a present.”

“Oh my gosh… I am so jealous… Since my brothers entered the academy, they have been so busy training they haven’t paid any attention to me…”

Leila looked all over my ring and soon clenched her fists as if she had come to a decision.

“I absolutely must become stronger than my brothers.”

Although this matter concerns another family and is none of my business, older brothers not caring about their only younger sister are a bit suspect.

“Good. Then stand here and look in the mirror. Make sure you can see your entire body.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. Like that. Now, instead of trying to imagine with your eyes closed, look at yourself in the mirror and picture it there. It should be a lot easier.”

Imagining anything is difficult.

And when it comes to imagining one’s own body, even more so.

But having a mirror handy should make it a lot easier.

You can imagine seeing your own body with your own eyes.

Since I did not have a mirror myself, I would run to a puddle to practice on rainy days.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

Whether she had a gut feeling or whether she instinctively could tell it would be a lot easier, she looked at herself in the mirror all fired up and began.

How much time had passed by the time something changed?

“Oh.”

I heard a very faint sound and saw the air begin to shimmer around Leila’s entire body.

Only Leila herself or someone with high magic affinity would be able to see the magic flow.

That is, Leila was currently emitting magic from her body.

Seems she has got talent of her own.

Although not as much as me.

“Huff.”

Leila was trying really hard.

Her face was bright red, her fingertips looked white, and her wide-open eyes were trembling.

The moment she realized she was emitting magic was when…

“Puhah!”

She let out a heavy breath and slumped to the ground.

Rather than simply sounding tired, her breathing sounded closer to being exhausted.

However, the expression on her face looked unable to fully express her joy.

“I… I did it. I did it! I did it, right?”

“Yeah, you did.”

It looks like she managed to succeed quickly because she already learned to absorb magic through breathing.

But this was merely the beginning.

“This is just the start of it.”

“J-just the start?” Leila repeated, looking dumbfounded.

“Yeah. The start. Now that you’ve got a feel for releasing it, take the released magic and focus it in one spot.”

“Could I rest first?”

“Didn’t you hear me just now? I said we have to take that feeling and build upon it.”

Leila looked to be on the verge of tears, again.

It seemed as if she was trying to make the most pitiful expression she could, but it was of no use.

“Ugh…”

In the end, Leila barely managed to get up and stood before the mirror again.

I smiled with satisfaction and nodded my head.

And I made some effort to ignore the gaze I felt from behind us.

When did Father start observing us secretly?

Did he learn stealth from Mother?

* * *

“Oh ho.”

Count Sogres watched the kids and smiled as if he had found it interesting.

His stealth was perfect. Because he was hidden in the bushes.

It was a good thing he had learned some stealth that his wife Lily had used on him at various times to smack him.

‘Our little boy is already teaching others. He’s all grown up now.’

Count Sogres had a pleased look on his face when…

“What are you doing standing there!”

“Holy crap! I mean, Duke.”

“What are you hiding in the bushes for? Watching some nighttime couples?”

“How did you know?”

Count Sogres looked to have received quite a shock from having what he thought was a perfect execution of stealth be so suddenly exposed.

“I can totally tell. And can you even call that sloppy mess stealth? Tsk tsk. The wife is a legendary assassin, but the husband hasn’t managed to learn a thing?”

“……”

“Anyhow. What are you up to? Why is the castle lord hiding in some bushes and peeping in on someone? If you’re discovered they’d curse you out.”

“I was following my son.”

“Oh? You too? I was following my daughter.”

There were two foolish nobles.

“Let me see, too.”

Duke Thermion peeked his head out a bit from within the garden bush and soon grinned as if he had figured this would happen.

“Seems she’s taken a liking to your son.”

“Is that what it looks like?”

“Of course. It is not common for Leila to show such interest in someone.”

“Is there something wrong? She seems to be an outgoing child.”

“She only appears that way on the outside since she is the daughter of a duke. But on the inside, she isn’t much like a child. Once her older brothers left for the academy, they grew distant from her.”

“In that situation…”

“And with her mother ill, I have not been able to spend much time with her. So she must be feeling lonely.”

Duke Thermion let out a sigh.

While peeking his head out he said, “And that is why I thought it would be better for her to socialize with children her age and I should hurry to enroll her in the academy. But you know this all too well yourself, right? How the kids there are only kids by name. They have their own miniature version of aristocratic society there.”

“I know that very well. That is why I gave up in the middle.”

“And that is why I brought her along to this celebration. I thought maybe she could meet some other children. But… it looks like she met a good friend.”

Duke Thermion smiled rather pleased at the good fortune.

After drawing his head back into the bushes he said, “Hm. Is Dane teaching Leila how to manipulate magic? Seeing as how she is using a mirror, it seems so.”

“I think you are right. Maybe Dane said he would teach her first?”

“Leila could have also asked him as a favor. In any case, lately, she has been saying she has to form a mana core and go to training without saying a word. Guess this is how she is going to achieve her breakthrough.”

Count Sogres cocked his head and furrowed his brow.

Since he had his head hidden in the bushes, branches were scratching his face.

“Eesh. But why aren’t you treating your daughter gently, anyway?”

“…You could tell?”

“Surprisingly, you didn’t seem to be coming off as caring for her that much.”

“I am doing that on purpose. This is how I treated her brothers and she grew up fine that way—even more so when she is training.”

“Don’t overdo it. She’ll be hurt by that later. The same goes for the mana core. If it wasn’t so serious, do you think she’d still be asking Dane?”

“…it reminds me of the time when you sought me out.”

Duke Thermion nodded as if he had felt something only to realize his mistake.

He also had branches scratching his face.

“Are you going to send your son to the capital later? How about let him stay at my castle if he does?”

“We are letting Dane do as he pleases. As we had done with Arabella and Clare. If he does want to head to the capital, I will do as you suggest.”

“If that is the case, you should come along.”

“You want me to go so that we can spend all day sparring?”

“You have become far too quick on the uptake. Eesh.”

While the two were bickering, they never took their eyes off their children Dane and Leila who were having a seemingly playful yet serious lesson in magic.

Then there was the woman who was observing these two’s butts.

‘What are these fools doing in the garden?’

It was Lily Sogres who was searching for her husband and son who disappeared.

After seeing their two butts twitch as they tried to find a way to hide better, Lily let out a sigh and decided.

‘Let’s just pretend I didn’t see.’