Half an emperor.
Half a prostitute.
As if mocking me, with this bloodline that the gods gave me, I have a goal I want to achieve.
However.
“It’s a secret, though.”
It’s a dream I have no intention of sharing with Melrit or anyone else in this world.
At least for now.
Someday, I will gather allies.
And someday, I will declare it to the world.
Then, after some time, I will have to declare that I’ve claimed it with my own hands.
But not now.
I hide it.
Just like I hide my hair, my eyes, and my beauty.
“I see.”
Melrit looked bewildered.
It was amusing, so I couldn’t help but laugh again.
I had a gut feeling.
Melrit is someone who can help me.
Right now, and in the future.
“Then, would you tell me about the academy?”
She earned my favor.
‘If I were just an orphan who revealed my talents as an assistant at the academy, it would make sense that I’d earn favor more than the former.’
But for some reason, it was the opposite.
The one receiving was Melrit.
The one giving was Ellie.
No.
‘Eli.’
She had said I could call her that.
The joy it brought Melrit was so great that even she was taken aback.
The greatest connection Melrit Shinseergrin had ever made was with the first daughter of the Duke of Mistrey from the north.
Compared to the Shinseergrin family’s status, that connection was extraordinary, making even serving them difficult.
But for some reason, the feeling in her chest was even more intense now.
She had just gotten a little closer to an orphan girl.
Still, she couldn’t linger on such feelings for too long.
“The academy is an educational institution. Then where does the operating fund come from?”
“Huh?”
‘Do children usually ask about things like this? Especially one raised in an orphanage?’
“Well, there are some donations, but basically, it’s funded by the imperial family’s funds…”
“Are you saying it’s from the national budget or from His Majesty’s personal wealth?”
“Well, that’s… um…”
“So, is it national or imperial? Oh, can His Majesty freely use the national budget, or is there some kind of checks and balances?”
After that, Eli’s questions, far beyond what a child would ask, continued.
“If the professors are all magicians, don’t they have their own fiefs? Oh, you can’t get a fief unless you’re the eldest son or daughter.”
Or.
“The academy is the first magic school in history? Ah, so that’s why the imperial family is supporting it. I understand.”
Then.
“What happens to the graduates? The best students usually go to the imperial palace? Just as I expected.”
It wasn’t questions about the school but about the world itself.
No.
Questions about the powers that rule the world.
‘Smart.’
Knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence are all different, but it was clear that the child in front of me possessed high intelligence.
‘With enough time and education, she could build up wisdom to be called a genius, couldn’t she?’
“Then, will you be able to attend the academy starting this year?”
“Yeah. There are only ten days left until the opening ceremony.”
“Ten days? You’re lucky. If it were any later, I would’ve had to start next year’s semester… Ah, so that’s why Your Highness brought your daughter here in the first place.”
“Uh?”
The questions continued.
“By the way, what time is it now? I mean, how long has it been since I lost consciousness?”
“Right now? It’s 2 PM.”
At that, Ellie blinked.
“Only an hour has passed?”
“Yeah. It only took 30 minutes for you to recover from the mana overload. Honestly, it was ridiculously fast, even faster than I expected.”
“…This is the village below the hill, right? Then, that means it only took 10 minutes to move me?”
She smiled a little.
“Wow, you’re an amazing magician.”
“…No, that’s not true.”
Melrit’s words were sincere for two reasons.
One, because compared to the level the girl in front of her would someday reach, Melrit was nothing.
And the other was because…
“Some of the really amazing ones among my peers have already gone to the royal palace or become professors. Me… I’m just ordinary.”
“Is that so? That’s strange.”
It was when Ellie muttered that.
***
Thud, thud. Footsteps echoed.
Not just one or two, but three, four… six.
And then.
Bang!!
“Is it this room, where that orphan girl is!?”
Melrit’s expression froze when she saw the man who barged in violently.
“Lord Ripete, what brings you here?”
The lord of this region.
The very man who had rejected her request for help so coldly just today.
“Shinseergrin. Step aside.”
Without hesitation, the Marquis walked into the room.
“That orphan girl killed one of my subordinates, so I must personally administer punishment!”
“A subordinate…? You mean that awful orphanage director?”
Melrit’s face turned pale.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Are you seriously calling that horrible, ugly murderer a subordinate…!?”
“Watch your words, Lady Melrit of the Shinseergrin family.”
The Marquis threw a cold glance.
“This is my domain, and that woman is one of my subordinates. If there were any complaints or issues, you should have come to me directly to address them.”
He pointed a thick finger at Ellie’s face.
“If you let this orphan kill freely, my authority will be undermined. Isn’t it only natural to punish her?”
“…There is some truth to that.”
Melrit gritted her teeth and spoke through clenched lips.
“However, the horrific nature of this incident has exceeded all bounds, and as an orphan, the girl likely had no idea where you were, Marquis.”
Her voice trembled with disgust, but Melrit swallowed her nausea and spoke the best words she could to save Ellie.
“Please show mercy. I believe showing your generosity would ultimately be more beneficial for you, Marquis. I beg you, as a member of the Academy, to forgive this poor child just this once.”
But despite her heartfelt plea…
“No. My decision will not change. If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better step aside. I warned you clearly.”
At that moment.
“Authority.”
The voice of the girl, who should not have had the right to speak, echoed in the room.
“Such nonsense.”
A girl with no title, just an orphan, dared to speak.
“I’m sure your real purpose isn’t authority, but to cover up the fact that you used orphans for drug harvesting.”
“!?”
Melrit felt a shock like her heart was dropping.
“Ho-How dare you! You’ll die for saying such things!”
“The hill where the orphanage is located is full of wild reed grass. Every summer, when it blooms, the orphanage director, Doloria, made all the children gather it. Then, they were neatly packed into burlap sacks and sent off in carts.”
Ellie got off the bed.
“Every year, among the children forced to do this work, some began seeing things or became abnormally happy or sad. Tell me, Marquis Ripete. Do you know why your proud family crest was on those carts?”
“…Marquis.”
Melrit murmured in a daze.
“No way, really…!”
The next moment, mana gathered around the Marquis’s staff, but Melrit was faster in drawing her wand.
“Indigia!”
Bang! In an instant, mana exploded.
The room filled with smoke, and the Marquis clutched his face, screaming.
“Gahh! Shinseergrin, how dare you!!!”
Melrit grabbed Ellie’s hand.
“Over here!”
Without hesitation, Melrit jumped out of the window.
“Rutana!”
With a thud, she landed and immediately began running.
She held Ellie in her arms.
“Melrit!”
“No! I won’t let you go!”
Melrit ran desperately.
Ellie, still in her arms, looked up at her.
Fearful eyes.
A jaw clenched tightly from the same emotion.
Despite the fear, the warmth of the arms holding her tightly made her feel that the person would never let go.
Ellie couldn’t help but smile, and instead of asking to be let go, she said something else.
“We’re going to go in that direction. I know a good place to hide. Left here, good job, now right after passing that tree. That’s right. Keep going, up the hill…”
Step by step.
It felt like guiding a horse, but neither Melrit nor Ellie felt any discomfort.
They finally reached a large gap under a rock.
When Ellie said it was here, Melrit carefully set the girl down and quickly rummaged through her bag.
“Here…!”
What she pulled out was paper and a pen.
Mana could be felt on both sides.
She quickly scribbled.
- Currently under protection.
Without thinking, she erased the middle part with ink and used mana to activate the pre-written spell.
The letter soared into the sky.
Melrit spoke to Ellie.
“Teachers from the Academy will come to get you here. No matter how powerful Marquis Ripete is, he can’t win against multiple professors now.”
“Politically and magically.”
“Listen carefully, Ellie.”
Melrit looked into her eyes and spoke.
“You will become a great magician someday. You might even bring a new era, a new horizon to this world.”
So…
“I can’t let you die here.”
Even though she had immense potential, Ellie was still just a novice in magic.
“I’ll fight and lead them all away. So you stay here and hide. When the professors come, go with them. Got it? Don’t follow me. Don’t even think about me.”
Melrit knew.
She might never see Ellie again, or anyone else for that matter.
She accepted it and braced herself.
The world called that courage.
And in response to Melrit’s courage, Ellie said this.
“Stop talking nonsense. You’re the one who stays behind me.”
It made her heart feel light, seeing the brave fool in front of her.