Yustia Royal Magic Academy.
That enormous educational institution, located in the heart of the Royal Capital, had been established with the stated purpose of gathering talented youths with exceptional magical ability from across the kingdom and honing their skills.
The academy had now entered the second semester following the long break.
On the first day of the new term, in one of the first-year classes—
"All right. Please introduce yourselves and give a brief overview of 'your magic.'"
"Yes."
At the teacher's prompting, a male student stood at the podium.
Silver hair, distinctive emerald eyes. A face that looked slightly younger than his age, paired with a slender build. Yet the aura he wore was composed, giving an almost paradoxically mature impression.
This transfer student joining mid-semester opened his mouth to speak.
"My name is Ermes. My family name… Normally I would claim Frenbreed, but as you are no doubt aware, that house no longer exists. I am currently residing with the Trackia family, so please think of me as a former noble's son."
Even after these words—which contained a considerable amount of information—there was little surprise in the classroom.
They already knew. About the major incident that had occurred in the Royal Capital just days ago.
The imprisonment of the Second Prince Aster, and the complete downfall of the Frenbreed Marquis House.
Those with a keen ear for rumors would also know this: that this male student was none other than Ermes, once called a prodigy before being expelled from the Frenbreed family as a "good-for-nothing."
So there was little shock. What they were far more curious about was the information that would follow.
Fully aware of this, Ermes continued.
"Now then, regarding my magic—"
As he spoke, he activated the magic he had pre-channeled and summoned his emerald magic circle.
Then, without the slightest hesitation—
"—Bloodline Magic: 'Primal Inscription.' Its effect is simple multi-element magic operation."
He stated something that anyone who knew better would immediately recognize as absurd.
As if to demonstrate, he conjured several examples for those around him to see: small fire bullets, faint wind blades, a sphere of lightning, and so on.
The teacher's eyes widened slightly—likely because the magic was unknown to them—and they probed with a few questions.
"…Simple multi-element magic operation?"
"Yes, as you can see. Unlike other Bloodline Magic, its defining feature is the ability to handle various elements, but the performance of each individual one is—"
"—not particularly impressive, I take it?"
"Correct. It's probably stronger than General-purpose Magic, but it doesn't come close to Bloodline Magic. In short, it's a jack of all trades, master of none."
"Any other effects?"
"None. This is all there is."
He answered flatly, cutting the matter short.
Anyone who knew his magic would have understood by now.
Yes. Right now, he was concealing the most critical effect of the Primal Inscription—the "reproduction of magic"—and claiming that its only function was the byproduct: enhanced universal magic.
"—What?"
From the back of the classroom, a voice escaped—almost involuntarily.
A blonde, blue-eyed girl who would soon be his classmate: Sara von Hartmann.
He had given her a brief explanation beforehand, but hearing it firsthand still elicited surprise. He would need to go over it with her in more detail later.
As he thought this, he recalled the reason it had come to this.
Why he had declared his magic to be Bloodline Magic, hidden its true nature, and put on an act that made it seem like a power of little consequence.
In other words—the reason he would be living his academy life without revealing his true strength.
◆
"I cannot accept this, Father."
About a week earlier, in a room within the Trackia estate. Before the eyes of the head of the household, Yurgen.
Standing beside Ermes, his mistress Katia's voice came out sharp, almost biting.
"Why must Erm's power still be hidden? He has already proven that his magic is genuine! So why—!"
It was Yurgen who had first proposed that Ermes refrain from disclosing his magic at school.
The true value of Ermes's magic—the Primal Inscription.
The reproduction of magic. At its pinnacle, one could freely wield even Bloodline Magic—and in truth, he had already made several Bloodline Magics his own.
With that power, he had exposed the Second Prince's errors. He had even defeated a monster of catastrophic proportions that might otherwise have required the entire kingdom to respond.
The proof should have been more than sufficient. Why hide it still? Katia pressed her father.
"Hiding it shouldn't even be possible. Many soldiers witnessed the fight against that monster."
"Many is relative—only several dozen at most. Gag orders have already been issued, and they hold Ermes in high regard. They understood that there were circumstances and accepted it."
"What about the monsters you defeated while traveling around before?"
"Those were mostly incidents in the hinterlands, far from the Royal Capital. Rumors wouldn't reach us here, and even if they did, few nobles would believe them."
"…"
The fact that it was, in fact, possible to hide everything grated on Katia.
She had seen it all. How, after being cast out as a good-for-nothing, he had forged his power through tremendous effort—and how, never content with that alone, he had continued to pursue magic, achieving real results.
And yet he still could not step into the light.
"…Erm deserves to be acknowledged. Why go this far—"
"I gave the reason before. The impact on various circles would be too great. Especially now, with the power structure in upheaval over the Aster affair—there's no guarantee someone won't target Ermes amid the chaos."
"That's—that's just—"
"That's the official reason, anyway."
Katia was about to rebut further, but then—
"…The real reason is that I'm afraid."
"—What?"
Yurgen's words—utterly unlike him—left both of them taken aback.
"I've known people who were persecuted for being too outstanding, too far removed from everyone else. A friend who ended up so isolated that he had to leave our side. …I'm sure he's more afraid than anyone right now."
"!"
Both of them understood instantly whom he was talking about.
Because that person had only just visited this very estate.
"She tried to change this country after that. But it's not enough yet. Nothing has been changed enough for me to feel certain. …If I made you, who inherited her will, walk the same path—if I did that, I could never forgive myself."
"…Your Grace."
"Father—"
"I'm sorry for binding you to my selfish reasons. But for now, please bear with it."
With that, he bowed his head earnestly.
"…"
…Ermes knew as well. That despite this duke's reputation as ruthless and cunning—a wily old fox clinging to power—he was a man who acted on genuine conviction.
A man who carried proper warmth and heart, and who willingly bore both the clean and the foul in order to protect those under his care.
And above all—Ermes's own teacher, Rose, still called Yurgen a friend.
In that case—
"I understand. I know this proposal was made out of concern for us, so there's no objection from me."
There was little hesitation in his reply.
"And please don't worry about Lady Katia. I won't mind…"
"…If Erm says it's fine, then I suppose I can accept it. …I can understand Father's reasoning, too."
"My thanks, Ermes. And to you as well, Katia."
Katia still looked somewhat disgruntled but had clearly accepted the decision. Yurgen expressed his gratitude once more.
"I owe you both an apology of sorts, but I won't be micromanaging your actions inside the academy. …Well, I also have some expectation that you'd do something worthwhile even without being told, which is partly why I agreed to enroll you."
With a wry smile, he added this last remark before concluding.
"In any case—starting next week, the second semester begins. Learn everything you can, and enjoy your academy life to the fullest."
"Yes."
"That's right, Father."
With the discussion wrapped up, Ermes wore an expression of barely concealed happiness as he looked ahead to the academy.
—And Katia, looking even happier than he did, turned toward him.
"So that's how it is, Erm! Starting next week, we can finally go to school together!"
"Yes. I'm looking forward to it."
At Ermes's response, Katia bounced on her heels as though unable to contain her own excitement.
"Now listen, Erm. The academy has all sorts of rules. Some of them are strange, of course, but when that many people are living in one place, a lot of them are genuinely necessary."
She placed a hand on her chest with a proud air and began speaking in a sisterly, knowing tone.
"I'm sure even you'll be confused at first. But don't worry—your mistress and classmate will be right there to—"
"—Hm?"
But right then—
Yurgen raised his voice in reaction to something Katia had said.
"? What's wrong, Father?"
"Well, you see, Katia. I hadn't actually told you this, and I assumed you would figure it out on your own, so I'm sorry for not mentioning it—but it's rather difficult for me to bring this up…"
With a blank look on her face, Katia watched as Yurgen, unusually for him, fumbled for words before finally telling her.
"You won't be in the same class as Ermes."
"……………………Hm?"
After a solid few seconds of stunned silence, Katia managed to squeeze out nothing but a question mark.
Yurgen, looking uncomfortable, explained.
"So, you know that the grade you're enrolled in has two classes, right?"
"Of course. I attended before, after all."
"One is Class A. Students with both the lineage and the magic to match are placed there. The other is Class B—for those without: lower family standing, or magical deficiencies. …I find the division questionable myself, but that's the current system."
"I know that. So even though he was formerly from a marquis house, Erm is practically common-born now, so he'd be in the same Class B as m—"
"You're being moved to Class A starting this semester."
Katia froze once more.
"…………What?"
"You were placed in Class B during the first semester because you couldn't properly control your Bloodline Magic. Now that weakness is gone—you are a ducal heiress with full command of a powerful Bloodline Magic. Reassignment to Class A is only natural."
"…………Ah."
"The numbers work out cleanly, too. With Aster gone from Class A, you fill that spot—and with you gone from Class B, Ermes takes your place. …Even I can't meddle down to the level of class assignments. Getting Ermes into the academy at all was already pushing my influence."
He laid it out in a matter-of-fact tone, the reasoning so thoroughly logical that—
Katia finally grasped what she had been too happy to even consider: the possibility that she would not be able to attend school alongside Ermes.
And at the same time, she realized it was already an unchangeable fact.
"…………No."
"…Lady Katia, please don't be discouraged."
Even Ermes's attempt to calm her arrived a beat too late.
"Why— Why not—!"
The ducal heiress collapsed magnificently to her knees, and her wailing echoed throughout the entire estate.
…After that.
Katia was in a daze, withdrawn and despondent, and Ermes did everything in his power to nurse and comfort her.
He found himself patting her head at her whim, offering sweets, and—somehow extracting a bizarre promise that "At lunch, you absolutely have to come to me! No, I'll come to you!"—all while the night deepened.
And so the following week, their academy life—separate by class, if not by bond between master and servant—finally began.