Chapter 2

### The Reincarnation of the Great Mage in the Hero Party - Chapter 2 (2/280)

#### Chapter 2

"Family?"

During the journey south, I remember Rista asking a strange question.

"Yeah, have you ever thought about having a family, Rin?"

"No, I don't even know what my birth mother looks like."

He grew up in the slums of the north.

If the head of the Osaureus School hadn't taken him in after noticing his magical talent while walking down the street, he would have died as a street orphan.

"So, you don't even know what a family is. Not knowing, you don't care."

"Ah, how pitiful..."

Then the priestess Fride playfully hugged the boy and blew smoke at him. Resisting the embarrassment, he replied,

"Even if I had a family... I wouldn't know how to deal with them. So, I don't need one."

"It's not that hard, Rin."

Upon hearing those hopeless mutterings, a flower bloomed on Rista's face, fresher than spring.

"Just love them a lot. Rin is a kind child, so you can do it."

Young master.

Young master, it's morning...

With a polite whisper, the view opened, and the cherished memory faded.

"Ugh..."

The boy sat up on the bed and stretched.

Deep and brilliant sunlight.

The morning melody of birds chirping in spring, it was morning.

"Then, Young Master Rain, I'll prepare breakfast for you."

The boy yawned widely and looked in the mirror to tidy his clothes.

Shiny black hair, eyes redder and more beautiful than rubies.

An elegant and graceful body.

His features were refined, lacking the rustic and uncouth qualities of someone who grew up in the slums.

To put it simply, the boy had been reincarnated.

The once naive and taciturn nine-year-old child regained the memories of 300 years ago just twenty days ago.

His reincarnated identity was none other than the eldest son of the Ludwik family, one of the five great mage families representing the empire.

The Ludwik family is a prestigious lineage, with its founder being the fifth great mage, Ryugen Ludwik, a senior to the boy.

Unlike his previous life as an orphan with nothing, he was born into a harmonious and affluent family, so the boy had to make great efforts to adapt to his new daily life.

"Good morning, Young Master."

"Oh, Rain, you're already up. How commendable! Well, go call your father. He'll be happy to see you."

"Yes."

Father was in the head's office.

A luxurious room filled with furniture and countless documents.

"Rain, did you not sleep well? Your complexion isn't good."

Rain, Rain Ludwik.

The proud first son of the Ludwik Viscount.

"Are you still recovering from fatigue...?"

Father, Kevan Ludwik, placed his hand on the boy's forehead to check his temperature. Suddenly, he remembered the days when Rista used to do the same.

"Breakfast is ready, so come down."

"Haha, did you come here just for that? Thank you, but go ahead and eat."

"Why?"

Father pulled the boy into a hug, rubbing his face with his beard, and led him to the desk.

The boy saw it.

On the desk, bathed in the slanting spring sunlight, was a large piece of parchment. On it, a three-layered magic circle was drawn.

"Magic?"

"Yes, the theoretical presentation is next week. Eating something makes your head fuzzy, so I wanted to do my best while my mind was clear in the morning."

The boy's eyes quickly and accurately scanned the information on the magic circle.

The shape of the magic circle was three squares. The runes engraved were Zhou (周), Cha (茶), and Ku (库).

Squares indicate earth attribute magic.

As the number of magic circles and runes is three, it is a 3-star magic.

A realm of high-level magic that even geniuses can barely reach.

'The problem is here and here.'

But the boy was a great mage.

The issues were immediately apparent.

"Can I help you?"

"Why, are you thinking of cheering me on?"

"No, I mean, I can help you."

"Rain's encouragement is, of course, welcome. But if you do, only your mother will scold me. Go ahead and eat breakfast."

No, I really want to help.

Before Kevan could stop him, the boy climbed onto the desk and picked up the quill.

'Magic is...'

Defining the attribute with a shape and the nature with runes.

'Twisting and altering the principles through mathematical interpretation.'

The part Kevan was stuck on was naturally the final step...

'The mathematical calculation part.'

The mathematical formula filling the magic circle was abruptly cut off at a certain point.

"The Ku (库) rune makes the formula more complex and conflicts with the Cha (茶) rune. So, it should be changed to Qiu (丘)."

"...?"

"Then, the Imperial Formula 41-2 matrix can quickly solve it. Like this."

The boy finished writing on the parchment with the quill and smiled.

No, how do I smile?

Oddly, he couldn't remember how to smile, so he had to lift the corners of his mouth with both hands.

"This is... this method...?"

Kevan, who was at a loss with his son's antics, opened his eyes wide and alternated his gaze between the parchment and his son's face.

'How... how is this possible...?'

It was a difficult problem that even the empire's capable scholars couldn't solve. A high-level magic that had been lost about 200 years ago.

If this magic could be re-established, many people could receive miraculous help from natural disasters like floods and landslides.

But Rain is only nine years old. At an age where he can barely use basic magic, how...?

"Can we eat breakfast together now?"

The boy asked.

Father looked up blankly and then laughed, ruffling his son's hair.

"Sure, let's go eat together."

* * *

The boy's family was not complicated.

Above were his parents, and below was a six-year-old younger sister.

The girl, who was peeking out from the other side of the library, looking at the boy, was his younger sister.

Smooth black hair, red eyes.

A beautiful girl who inherited the Ludwik family's physical traits just like Rain.

"..."

But when their eyes met, she ran away.

It's not surprising.

In the boy's memories, Rain wasn't kind to his younger sister. He wasn't unkind, but he was indifferent to the world.

Perhaps the loneliness etched in his soul.

The pain of being born in an era where all his comrades had died and become legends left a void in his soul, leading to a life filled with emptiness.

"..."

As she kept running away, he tried to ignore her and read a book, but a persistent voice kept bothering him.

- Love them a lot.

How can I when she keeps running away?

I'm busy with my own things.

This body has a chaotic amount of mana and lacks physical strength. Knowing how to use magic is useless without mana.

- Rin is a kind child, so you can do it. I believe in you.

The boy sighed deeply.

And when their eyes met again, he gestured to her.

"Come here. Do you want to learn something? Or play?"

The younger sister, Seri Ludwik, looked surprised at the question. After a long pause, she ran away.

But a moment later, she reappeared and offered Rain a book with both hands.

"『Basics of 1-star Magic Formulas』... You're already studying this at six?"

Seri nodded vigorously.

Then she started dancing, her face beaming with excitement at being able to talk to her big brother.

- Come here, Rin.

At that moment, a cherished memory momentarily brightened the world before his eyes.

Whenever they encountered beautiful scenery.

Facing vast nature and a brilliant world, Rista would sit Rin on a bridge and teach him various things.

- Rin, do you know the meaning of this flower?

- Rin, do you know the story behind that cliff?

Rin would grumble about being treated like a child, but... those times were truly precious. So, he sat Seri on his lap.

"What don't you know?"

"T-this!"

"You don't know the very first part...?"

"Y-yes!"

"Got it. I'll explain it to you."

How should I explain the vast world of magic?

"Have you ever played house?"

"Y-yes!"

"Depending on what kind of house you build, the materials are different, right? The magic circle plays that role."

Magic circle.

The shape of the magic circle determines the attribute of the magic.

"If you draw a triangle, it's fire attribute, and a fan shape is wind attribute. So, the magic written here is a wind attribute magic."

"Wind!"

"The next step is the runes. Runes determine the nature of the magic."

Runes are the incantations given to magic, each with different meanings in ancient languages.

For example, Lu (律) means binding.

Hu (扈) means scattering.

So, if you engrave the Lu rune in a triangular magic circle, it becomes a fire attribute binding magic.

"Now, you need to solve the problem using mathematical formulas."

"Math-?"

"Not math."

"What is math?"

"..."

"..."

"Since the Lu (律) rune requires a quadratic equation... let's start with addition and subtraction."

The maids and butlers exchanged silent smiles, watching the adorable scene.

"Young Master Rain has changed."

"Indeed. He used to ignore Seri even when she cried beside him..."

"Since he visited the square, his eyes have regained their vitality."

When the boy's parents came to the library, the boy and the girl were lying on the desk, unable to resist the drowsiness of their young age.

"Oh..."

The boy's mother, Brim, covered her mouth and wiped away tears.

"Dear, I want to have this scene painted."

"He might wake up when the painter arrives. And Seri is very shy."

"Still..."

Kevan carefully approached and examined the things spread out on the desk. A basic magic book, a quill, a parchment with a roughly drawn magic circle...

"So, you were teaching your sister."

Kevan smiled and placed his hand on the boy's head. The small, soft hair slipped through his fingers and was carried away by the spring breeze.

"Since visiting the square, Rain seems like a completely different person."

"He speaks more maturely. Could he have been possessed by a demon?"

"By a demon? They say like father, like son. I've had a similar experience."

The top graduate of the Delighten Magic University has traditionally been given the opportunity to meet the body of the great mage Rin.

"I met Rin-sama 14 years ago."

"Is that so."

"I was embarrassed. He reached the 5-star level during the war, while I was just a 3-star mage, feeling proud of myself."

A 3-star (Atlas) mage is a genius whose name is remembered in the century. There are only 150 in the entire empire.

"Of course, I didn't become a 4-star mage just from that meeting. But it was a significant turning point. Rain must be the same."

"Is Rin-sama's body really frozen?"

"Of course. It didn't even look like a body. How skillfully he must have used freezing magic. His 18-year-old appearance is vividly preserved."

"Tell me more."

"More? I wish I could, but there's nothing more to tell."

Kevan, who had been shaking his head with a bitter smile, suddenly stroked his chin.

"By the way, there was a magic power left by the hero Rista in the middle of the ice."

"Really?"

"The dragon priests confirmed it. It seems to be a magic power that only Rista or Rin-sama himself can awaken. It's definitely a letter."

Rista's magic power was whispering.

To you, who will surely awaken one day, I leave this letter of my soul. To you, who will come to this place from somewhere far away.

Kevan, who had been smiling bitterly at the memory, raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, by the way... I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Rain seems like a genius. Not just a simple genius, but perhaps... he might reach the sage level."

Kevan told her about the morning when Rain solved the magic circle problem. Something he couldn't solve in a year, Rain did in one go.

"Ah! So that's why you could come to the breakfast table?"

"Yes. So, I think it's a bit early, but I'll start teaching Rain the family magic."

The Ludwik family has been known as the 'thieving mages' for generations.

When they reach the peak, they can open the Mage Eye, which is famous for its ability to read and steal all magic.

This is the family magic of the Ludwik family, also known as the bloodline limit, which can only be used by those who inherit the family's blood.

"Of course, I don't know how much I can teach..."

"Is that all?"

"That's all."

"Then, what do you plan to do?"

"Let's think about it later. For now, I'll do my best to teach him."

Kevan gently stroked the boy's head and smiled brightly again.

"Having such a lovely son, I want to do everything I can as a parent."