Chapter 2

I was troubled by my inability to make friends, but an opportunity came suddenly.

Indeed, it was Ilyana. ...Actually, it was so sudden that I couldn’t really grasp it.

Well, the moment a friendship is formed is often like this, I suppose.

In any case, my life has gained a sparkle since I met Ilyana.

We went on trips to the mountains, played in the water, and even shared the same bed...

Every day is truly happy. The loneliness I carried from my previous life has been completely healed, and now my heart is filled only with happiness.

And today, I plan to run around the hills and mountains with Ilyana, just like a child.

I am waiting for her visit at home... in the afternoon.

"Hey, Ardo! Look, look! Look at this! Hooray!"

It wasn’t Ilyana, but my father, with his annoyingly high energy, entered the room.

In his hand was a long sword, its blade gleaming beautifully.

"Recently, my sword has been deteriorating! So I decided to buy a new one!"

Saying this, he wriggled his whole body, which was extremely unpleasant.

"Look, look, Ardo-kun. Isn’t it cool? It’s a real masterpiece, right?"

Maintaining his annoying energy, he extended the sword towards me.

I gripped the hilt and examined the blade closely...

"Father. Unfortunately, it seems you’ve ended up with a defective one."

"Huh?" He tilted his head, clearly not having an eye for quality.

"The only characteristic bestowed upon this sword is [10x Sharpness]. This is a clear case of shoddy work. With this material, it should be possible to bestow three characteristics using compression techniques for the enchantment formula."

"......Huh? No... huh?"

He must be quite shocked to have ended up with a defective item. He stood there, mouth agape.

"Please don’t worry. While it may not be a masterpiece, it can be elevated to a normal sword."

After saying this, I performed the enchantment on the sword and handed it to my father.

"By the way, what characteristics did you bestow on it?"

"Here. [100x Sharpness], [Fire Attribute Addition], and [Automatic Sharpness Repair]."

Immediately after answering, my father swung the sword at a nearby table, cutting off a corner. Due to the added fire attribute, the cut corner burned as it fell to the floor, turning into ashes.

He must be quite upset about getting a defective item. Well, there’s not much you can do when it comes to the quality of items. The previous sword was that bad.

"...Hey, really? This thing?"

He muttered, staring at the blade. He must be quite angry.

He might just storm off to the blacksmith’s place—

"Ardo! I’m here!"

But I no longer cared. If he wants to, let him do it.

I’m busy playing with Ilyana. Everything else is trivial.

Leaving my angry father behind, I headed to the front door.

"I’m sorry to keep you waiting."

"No, it’s fine! Let’s go!"

Ilyana grabbed my hand and ran off energetically. Her cuteness hasn’t changed a bit today. Her long, beautiful silver hair, her doll-like face, her pure white skin, and—

The breasts peeking out from her thin white dress, the cleavage, the side view.

I felt deeply grateful to have become friends with this girl.

So, we arrived at the mountain.

"Ah, right. Actually, Dad asked me to collect materials for a new sword... Can you help me?"

"Of course. What kind of materials do you need?"

"Hmm, I think... [Two Fangs of the Altema Tiger], [Body Fluid of the Meteor Slime], and [One Magic Stone of the Ancient Boar], I believe."

No, those monsters don’t exist anywhere in this mountain. They only exist in extremely difficult adventure areas. This must be a joke from her father.

I have a good idea of which monsters to target, so I decided to hunt them.

After easily completing that task, we started "leveling up" (farming) while playing.

We entered a dungeon in the mountains and hunted monsters relentlessly. With each monster defeated, our magic power increased slightly. This is the fastest way for a magic user, a Mage, to become stronger.

After about five hours of leveling up (farming), we left the dungeon.

I was still fine, but Ilyana was completely exhausted.

We took a short break outside. Once she had recovered, she looked at me—

"Hey, Ardo. Teach me... how to cast spells without incantations!"

In the mountains, Ilyana said this.

"This is a bit different. Ilyana, didn’t you say before that you mastered incantation-free casting at the age of three?"

"That, that... It’s... It’s fine, right! It’s an old story!"

Her face turned red, and she shouted with teary eyes. From this, I could tell she was lying.

She probably can’t cast spells without incantations.

"Well, that’s fine. But Ilyana, before we talk about incantation-free casting... can you tell me what magic is?"

"Hehe! It’s easy! The Runes created by the Demon King! By chanting the magic formula created with these Runes and consuming magic power, you can activate the power! That’s magic!"

Is that correct? So, you should be praised, right? In fact, you should be praised! Woof woof!

She looked at me with a face that said all of this.

To meet her expectations, I patted her head and praised her.

"Hehehe... Well, it’s me! Of course!"

Ilyana, looking proud and puffing out her chest, is really cute. However,

"Ilyana, what is incantation? Why do we need to use Runes? Do you know the relationship between Runes and magic?"

Ilyana was at a loss for words. Of course, it’s natural that she couldn’t answer. After all, the textbooks don’t go into such depth. Moreover, the content in the textbooks only covers basic magic, and the formulas are much weaker than in my previous life.

This is likely a measure to prevent the general public from gaining great power.

The rulers of this country seem to be very reluctant to give power to the people. The weakness of the spells in the textbooks suggests that they are quite afraid of the people.

Probably, the powerful formulas are monopolized by the nobility and passed down through single-line inheritance.

"Understood, Ilyana. Magic is a craft achieved through the construction of a magic circle."

"Construction of a magic circle?"

"Exactly. Incantation is a method of constructing a circle by reading out the content and formula of the circle. After that, you channel magic power into the circle. This is one of the processes for activating magic."

I continued my explanation, raising my index finger.

"Constructing a circle is not limited to incantation; it can also be done by vividly imagining the circle in your mind."

I manifested the magic circle for the Flame spell on my fingertip and showed it to Ilyana.

"Imagine this magic circle in your mind and visualize the supply of magic power."

"I got it!"

She nodded and raised her palm to the sky. In the next moment—

A circle appeared at the tip of her palm, and a small pillar of flame shot straight up.

"Wow! Wow! It worked! It worked! Incantation-free casting!"

Her innocent joy was incredibly cute, warming my heart.

"Yay! Yay, yay!"

She must have been very happy. She cast the Flame spell without incantation multiple times.

Seeing this, I felt both warmth and pity.

The power and effectiveness of magic vary depending on the amount of magic power supplied to the circle.

Usually, if the general supply of magic power for Flame is 100... Ilyana’s would be around 20. Therefore, her Flame is much weaker than usual.

Her magic power is probably much lower than average.

In other words, she lacks talent. Therefore, she will likely face significant setbacks in the future. However—

"Yay! Yay! Now I can be like Ardo!"

...No matter what happens, I’ve decided to support this girl.

No matter how sad or painful it may be, I will share the burden with her.

No matter how many times she faces setbacks, I will pull her up and help her stand again.

That’s what friends are for.

The days with Ilyana (a real angel) passed by like a flowing river.

Now, I am 15 years old. At this age, whether in my previous life or this era, one is considered a full adult and begins to plan their life, including choosing a career. My parents and Ilyana’s parents are well aware of this—

Today, we are holding a meeting at my house to discuss our future, with Ilyana’s parents also present.

It is now 9:00 PM. The sky is dark, and the golden moon illuminates the ground, while the chorus of insects is pleasant to the ear. At this time, a knock was heard.

I welcomed the guests in place of my parents. The visitors were—

"Good evening! Ardo!"

Ilyana, who is always energetic, regardless of the time of day, and—

"Hey, Ardo. Good evening."

The white-haired elf youth, Weiss, Ilyana’s father.

We moved to the living room and gathered around the table, where we first performed a pre-meal prayer.

"We give thanks to our ancestor, the Demon King Valvatos, and to Her Majesty the Queen."

In this era, a religion centered around me as the main deity is widespread... but it’s quite complex.

While the queen is one thing, why should I be the object of gratitude?

"Alright, the boring prayer is over, let’s eat. Ardo’s curry is delicious today, isn’t it?"

"Yay! Let’s eat!"

Ilyana started eating the curry enthusiastically. Her love for food is also cute.

"Hehehe. Ilyana is as cute as ever. She looks just like her mother. ...Ah, I want to torture her with pleasure..."

Ignoring my mother’s dangerous words and expression, Ilyana savored the curry. ...By the way, I don’t know much about her mother. From the fact that she’s not here, I can guess, but—

In the midst of a pleasant meal, thanks mainly to Ilyana—

"Let’s get down to business, shall we?"

Weiss put down his spoon and started the conversation.

Despite his androgynous beauty, his eyes were serious.

"First, Ardo. What do you want to do from now on?"

"Well... I have a few things I want to do, but if I’m asked what I want to achieve right now... I want to make about 100 friends."

"Hehe. You’re really an unpredictable kid."

Weiss chuckled and then turned to Ilyana.

"What about you? Your future is already determined, but there’s still time before that. What do you want to do in the meantime?"

"Um... Well, I... I want to be with Ardo, I guess."

She scratched her red cheek, looking embarrassed. Ilyana is really cute.

"Okay. I understand both of your feelings. So, it seems that—"

"Going to the magic academy is the best option."

"It’s perfect for what Ardo wants to do, and it fulfills Ilyana’s wish too."

The word "academy" made my stomach ache.

If you want to make friends, going to an academy is the quickest way. In my previous life, I changed my appearance to a generic face, fabricated my background, and enrolled in an academy to make friends.

I thought that if I hid my true identity and lived as someone else, I could make friends... but I ended up being completely isolated in the academy. In fact, I was bullied.

Despite being called the Demon King, I was bullied by the commoners.

Just going to the bathroom during class, I was given the nickname "Poop Man" and laughed at, and my desk and textbooks were defiled by heartless people...

In the end, I dropped out after about a year.

So, the academy is a treasure trove of trauma for me.

"The magic academy!? It sounds fun!"

Seeing Ilyana’s sparkling eyes, I couldn’t say I didn’t want to go. I wanted to protect her smile. So, I said—

"I have no objections. I will enroll in the magic academy with Ilyana."

"Okay. That’s good. You’ll probably make a lot of friends, especially Ardo. I think it’s a good opportunity for you to learn common sense."

Common sense? I think I understand it better than anyone. After all, I was the Demon King. I had to master all kinds of common sense and manners to engage in diplomacy.

But to Weiss, I’m still just a kid.

So, I nodded and then changed the topic.

"By the way, it’s good to go to the academy, but do we have the qualifications to do so?"

"Huh? Qualifications, you mean?"

"I don’t know much about the magic academy, but... is it a place where commoners can enroll? It seems to be more of a place for nobles."

"That’s not a problem. In the past, the discrimination against commoners by nobles was even stronger, and the high tuition fees made it impossible for commoners to enroll in the magic academy. But now, that’s not the case, and the academy is open to everyone. ...In fact, there’s no place you can’t go."

"—? What do you mean by that?"

I tilted my head, and Weiss also tilted his head—

"...Hey, you guys, haven’t you told this kid anything?"

He looked at my parents and asked.

"Well, you know. People like to hear about heroic tales... but—"

"We don’t like to talk about ourselves. It’s embarrassing."

Weiss sighed at their embarrassed smiles.

Then he looked at me intently and said—

"Listen, Ardo. What I’m about to say is the absolute truth."

After this prelude, Weiss said something shocking.

"Your parents are the famous Great Mages. And I, though it’s embarrassing, am known as the Heroic Baron. In other words, both your parents and I are special beings."

"Huh?"

I couldn’t help but let out a surprised sound at the information he delivered so smoothly.

There was no hint of a joke in Weiss’s expression. His words must be true.

...The current situation was not to my liking.

I reject the idea of being a special being to the point of recoiling from it.

In the past, being called the Demon King, a special being, cost me many things.

Being a special being is synonymous with being alone. Knowing this, I dislike being special and avoid becoming one.

However, what’s done is done. I have to accept the position of being the son of a Great Mage, though it’s regrettable. Fortunately, according to the books, my parents are mutants.

Mutants are those born with abnormal talents that surpass the limits of their race.

Their talents are limited to one generation and are not passed on to the next. This is a relief.

Even if my parents are special, I am not. Therefore, I won’t be called the Demon King again.

The meeting passed smoothly and ended without any major conflicts.

As the meal was nearing its end, Weiss looked at me with a serious expression and said—

"...Take care of Ilyana at the academy, Ardo."

As a parent, it’s a natural thing to say, but—

There was an excessive tension and anxiety on Weiss’s face.