Arles 1
Unfathomable Genius
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“ARLES!”
I heard a voice from behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a familiar face. As soon as she saw me, she beamed and ran over. It was Seren—a fellow High Mage who joined at the same time I did.
Incidentally, she’s a duke’s daughter and was once engaged to the crown prince. But she’s also a genius who passed the exam to become a High Mage even though she never attended magic school.
What’s more, just the other day, she announced her sudden marriage to the incredibly handsome Archmage Viol, a mage of great renown. It’s certainly made her the subject of a lot of gossip. No one can quite figure her out.
“It’s been a while! Thank you so much for the magical item you sent me as a wedding gift the other day.” She beamed at me, so cheerful, like she was oblivious that she was considered something of a miraculous enigma.
“You’re welcome. So, what do you think? Did you like it?” I smiled back, internally thinking how adorable she was.
To be honest, at first, my reaction to her was envy… Even jealousy.
As soon as she joined the mages, she was the center of attention. Naturally, the veterans gave her all of their focus. So, I admit that irritated me. And maybe I was a bit jealous that she was getting singled out for special treatment.
I mean, even before this girl joined the mages, she’d taken out a monstrous beast while FLYING. No one had done that before. And she’d even invented a new type of spell while she was taking the High Mage exam! It was like, who the heck is this genius?
But just so you know, all of us mages are pretty special individuals. I mean, we’re all worthy of the title of genius.
But… This girl… She’s a little above and beyond. It’s kind of annoying.
But, once I actually talked to her… I found that Seren was surprisingly normal. A little shy at first, but chatty once you get to know her. It’s hard to believe she’s the daughter of a high-ranking noble family and a magical prodigy.
“Oh, yes! The magical device was gorgeous! The lights, the sounds, the scent…! So wonderful in every way! Lord Viol liked it too.”
“Oh, I’m so glad it brought you joy!”
“But how exactly does it work?”
I had to chuckle. Seren’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. Even when I was working as an in-home magic tutor, I never met anyone as enthusiastic as her. Like I said… adorable.
“So, actually, it uses three magic stones.”
“Three of them?!”
“That’s right. There’s a magic stone inside the round ball inside the bottle, see, and when you press the button, that magic stone containing fire magic is the first to activate.”
“Fire magic…” she hummed with interest.
“Yes, and when the temperature inside the bottle rises, the other two magic stones are triggered and start spinning around and releasing the light and sound energy that’s been concentrated inside them. At least, that’s Lucien’s explanation.”
Lucien was in charge of the mechanism behind the device, so I didn’t know the exact details. But I think he said something along those lines. Anyway, fire magic was the trigger. And some fiddly work was done to imbue the other magic stones with various light and sound effects and so on, which would be activated by the fire magic.
“Amazing…! So many steps to it,” Seren said.
“Yeah, it’s amazing. Lucien’s pretty good at developing magic devices, so that’s the direction he’s hoping to go in. He was the most gung-ho about giving you a magic device for a wedding gift, too.”
Lucien’s pretty solemn and serious, but he gets more fired up over stuff like this than anyone I know.
“Gil’s specializing in magical research, right? What about you, Arles?” Seren asked.
“I guess I’ll go with magic development. Magic is the most interesting thing, after all.”
“…Wow, everyone’s already made up their minds…” Seren looked down, frowning.
Despite being so perky a moment before, she now seemed very melancholy. Hmm, maybe it’s because she’s a little younger than the rest of us. But I see her as something akin to a little sister. Or like one of the younger kids I used to tutor. It made me feel protective of her.
“Haven’t you picked something yet, Seren?”
“Every specialty seems so interesting, I just can’t decide…”
“Well, true. But I hear that some of the mages don’t specialize in anything. They keep it loose. Anyway, I don’t think you need to be in such a hurry.”
“Really…?”
“Well, yeah! Anyway, you’re still studying the fundamentals, right? There’s no need to rush things. Take your time. Think things over.”
“I feel so guilty for holding everyone up…”
“Don’t be silly. Your performance makes up for any gaps in knowledge. You should be proud of yourself. Being too humble all the time can make you start seeming insincere, you know?”
I meant it as a joke, but Seren looked aghast.
I think she probably really does see herself as a burden to others. But objectively, Seren’s achievements have already been monumental. How could anyone mind at all?
Since joining the guild, she’s created some amazing magic, rescued a trade ship, and recently even taught flying magic to some wind mages. It’d be fair to say that her contributions have been greater than anyone else’s.
Yet she still saw herself as a burden. That was shocking.
Now that we’ve known each other for a few months, I can see that she severely underestimates herself despite her obvious abilities. But in our workplace, which values ability and results, being too humble comes off badly. As an older colleague, I wanted to impart this bit of advice to her.
“More importantly, Seren, you’ve improved your water magic recently, haven’t you?”
“…Oh, yes! Speaking of which, I just remembered I wanted to ask you something, Arles.”
“Oh, indeed? What?”
What could that be? I got a little excited and curious. But what Seren had to say was nothing like what I’d been expecting.
“Um, so actually, I only have a little fire magic, but it seems like I’m starting to develop an aptitude for it. But it’s still so minor that I’m incapable of doing anything advanced with it.”
“Wow, that’s great! But if you show early aptitude for one thing, your sub-attributes tend to lag.”
Though, I don’t know if that general rule applies to this genius young lady.
“Yes, well, it’s not like I want to cast any super-strong spells or anything, only…”
“Yeah?”
“Um, I want to give the fatigue recovery spell something like a heat effect.”
“A what now?” I squawked.
“Well, the other day, Lord Viol warmed me up to help me recover from my fatigue, and it felt really nice. He said he mixed in a bit of fire magic.”
“…”
A genius?
No, THAT guy was the real genius.
“I wanted to learn it as well, but I was told I didn’t have the right attributes at the time. So I’ve been studying in secret to surprise Lord Viol…”
Well, ain’t she cute?
I was stunned into silence. Her explanation for why she wanted to do it was so cute. Learn fire magic from me, in secret, all to help that stone-faced Archmage relax. Adorable.
I wish I had a spouse that cute.
“Lord Viol is so busy. I just want to do anything I can to help him relax. So if you’re not terribly busy, Arles…”
“Oh, sure, no problem. I have plenty of time to waste. And I am a pretty good teacher. You can rely on me, Seren. I was an in-home tutor, after all.” When I said that, Seren’s face lit up.
“Oh, thank you very much!”
“But you know… It’s surprising! Geniuses really think differently. Using fire magic to add a thermal heating effect to a recovery spell… I never would have thought of that.”
“Yes. I was surprised, too.”
“Yes… It sounds nice, though!”
“Oh, it is! It’s a blissful sensation, like sinking into a hot bath…!”
I laughed. The way she phrased that was so cute. “Hahaha, then I’ll have to help you out. So your husband can enjoy a nice relaxing bath. Or the equivalent.”
“Oh, thank you!”
Ah, what a great smile.
“But you know… Good magic requires hard work and grit!”
I have to make that clear right from the start, I thought, giving Seren a stern look.
“When you learn from me, you don’t quit until you’ve mastered the subject.”
My personal teaching philosophy. My students say I’m like some sort of demon teacher, but Seren beamed from ear to ear.
“Okay! I’m certainly ready to prove I’ve got grit!”
Ah. How admirable.