◆

It was a very poor rural village.

Fields and mountains filled the vicinity without a single paved road to be seen. As such, no horse-drawn carriage could be used. Nevertheless, the villagers were self-sufficient. Every day, everyone would cooperate and share their food.

That forlorn village was my world—my everything.

“Eivind, did you create water again?”

“It hasn’t been raining as often lately, and the fields aren’t doing well either, right? I also refilled grandmother’s water bottle! And the water bag of someone from a neighboring village! He seemed thirsty, so…”

At that time, I was only eight years old. I wanted to help my mother who had been raising me on her own, and before I knew it, I learned how to cast magic.

Before my mother parted with my father, she packed a bulky magic tome in her bags to sell for some extra money. However, she missed the chance to sell it and I ended up reading that instead of a picture book.

My mother often expressed her surprise at my discovering I could use magic.

‘My child might be a genius!’ She’d exaggerate, as if joking, but she was overjoyed.

Even if a little, I wanted my mother to praise me, so I naturally started casting more spells. Some would call me a ‘genius’ because I was the only magician in the village, but I didn’t really care about that title.

All I needed was for my dear mother to pat me on the head and thank me.

All it took was a single night.

I woke up to the sound of crackling explosions and difficulty breathing. The inside of my house was flaming red.

A fire!

I immediately casted water spell to weaken the intensity of the flames.

“Mother…?”

I looked around, but I couldn’t find my mother who always slept in the same bed as me.

I rushed outside. There was fire everywhere—the village was burning. People were running around. I’d have been more than eager to help if everyone was working hard to quell the fire, but I didn’t recognize any of them.

Those are some really nice clothes they are wearing.

—Such was my first thought.

Moreover, almost all of them were wearing the same clothes, so I assumed it was some kind of uniform.

They were also shouting.

“—Kill them! Kill every single refugee!”

While I was stunned by people rushing around, one of them noticed me.

“Boy, what’s your name?”

“I, I…”

—More importantly, where’s my mother?

That was what I wanted to ask, but I was too scared of the people who came up to me, clad in uniforms, so I couldn’t say what I wanted to say.

“That’s the one.”

A man wearing even more luxurious clothes approached. He must’ve been someone important. Nevertheless, he was young, maybe a little over 20 years old. That man bent his knee in front of me.

“Boy, your mother isn’t with us anymore.”

“Eh?”

I had no idea what he was going on about.

Still, the man continued without waiting for me make sense of his words.

“In fact, no one from this village is left except for you. Forgive me, we received a report that your village was being raided by bandits. However, by the time we arrived, it was too late. I won’t try to replace her, but I wish to support you from now on—”

What the hell is he talking about?

My mother is dead? Impossible… I mean, before I fell asleep, she was still washing the dishes… Earlier today, she said that her clothes got torn after stumbling with a hole, so she was going to mend it before going to bed… That’s why I went to bed first… and…

At that time, I saw a person on the ground between those lanky people. A woman. She wore an apron, had a medium build, and looked a little stubborn, just like me…

I ran off in a hurry and discovered she was indeed my mother.

She… she seemed to be in pain. Her eyes were wide open, yet vacant.

The night was excessively bright with all the flames, yet I couldn’t tell if the blood oozing from her torn stomach was red or black.

Still, one thing was certain, my mother was no longer of this world.

Never again would she pat my head.

“Mother… Mother…!?”

I collapsed on the spot and wailed.

Bandits, they said? Where are they? I’ll make them face my suffering… No, even worse!

And yet, no matter where I looked, all I saw were uncles and aunties who had been kind to me, who played with me who had no friends.

Am I… really the only one left…?

Faced with such a reality, I could do nothing save for cry. Then, the bossy man looked down at me.

“Do you want to resurrect your mother?”

—If I can do that…!

“Then, swear that you’ll strive to learn magic under me. I’ll teach you the most advanced magic—in exchange, will you give me your body when you grow up?”

I didn’t really understand the meaning of our deal at that time.

As long as I could bring my mother back to life, I didn’t care about anything else. I’d even sell my soul to the devil.

I didn’t even care about that man. All I wanted was my mother to pat my head again. I readily accepted The Devil’s bargain.

◆

“Huh? Why do you refuse to let me in!? Didn’t I send a letter in advance?”

“Like I said, ‘Cecily Travasta’ isn’t included in the list of people scheduled to come to the castle. Can you please leave?”

Ten days had passed since I left home. After a long journey, we finally arrived at the royal capital of Flagyl.

We stood in front of the gates of the Royal Castle of Flagyl, ready to apply for the grants as per the plan. If I were to back down now, I wouldn’t be able to face Cecily’s parents.

So, I cutely appealed to them.

“Can’t you do something? I came all the way by myself to apologize for my father’s incompetence. If I can’t enter, could you at least have the person in charge come here?”

Do you think that was cute enough?

[After all, isn’t momentum important in negotiating?]

In fact, the gatekeeper looked troubled because I was too cute. Behind those thick glasses that reminded me of Hana, I was positive he was troubled.

…Are those glasses actually cutting edge?

“Even if I call the person in charge, most of the people working in the castle are nobles. They aren’t the kind of people a mere gatekeeper can call upon.”

“Can you do something about that!?”

“Not a chance.”

…Unfortunately, the negotiations failed.

In that case, I guess we had no choice but to force our way through!

Maybe we can get in if we wear a more modest disguise…

Just as I was thinking about that…

“…Are you really here for taxes?”

“I am?”

What’s with him?

I kept saying, ‘I’m here to correct some tax documents and apply for aid.’

When I was starting to get angry—

“—All right, stop right there!”

Suddenly, a flirtatious voice called out as someone embraced me from behind.

“Sorry about that. She’s my girlfriend. She misses me so much, she was trying to get into the castle… She’s really cute, right?”

…If you put it like that, I end up sounding quite dangerous.

Being treated like a dangerous individual, I looked up.

As expected, a familiar-looking handsome man greeted me with a smile.

“Eivind…”

---

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***T/N: And a tragic past. Eivind is truly a ML.

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