My Noble Family is Headed For Ruin, So I May As Well Study Magic In My Free Time Chapter 5

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Translator: Mr. Steak

Proofreader: Yuranon

“Interesting, very interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Now try three at a time.”
“Okay… I understand.”

I didn't know why he was having me do this, but I just pretended I understood and tried three at once like he'd said.

A ball of flame, Fireball.
A sword of flame, Flame Cutter.
And to make the ground slightly warmer, “Hot Floor”.

I chose three spells from Elementary Flame Magic, then did them simultaneously.

“I did it…… Ah-“

After an instant, the fireball flew off wildly.
It didn't explode or anything, but rather disappeared, unable to maintain its flame.
It was similar to watching a soap bubble pop.

“Nevermind.”
“No, that was good, you did great. You're really interesting.”
“Huh?”
“You did it perfectly, it's just that your raw magical power isn't enough yet. Compared to using each spell one after the other, this way uses twice as much energy.”
“Oh, I see……”
“Activating three spells at your age is already an incredible feat. And doing them at the same time is even more incredible.”

The man's mood had improved even more than it already was.
It was like he couldn't help himself from smiling at seeing me do three spells at once.

“Since you don't have enough power for this next part, I'll explain it orally. Take a seat.”
“Okay.”

I obediently followed his command.
Let alone where he came from, I didn't even know this man's name. But even so, deep down, I was already thinking of him as my teacher.

“As you study this technique more and more thoroughly, you'll soon run into an obstacle that makes no sense.”
“An obstacle that makes no sense”
“Yeah. I'll skip right to the answer for you. The technique can only be done in prime numbers. Do you know what prime numbers are?”
“No.”
“I see. Then research it on your own. If you're a noble, you must go to private school, right? They should at least be able to teach you what makes a number prime.”

Without moving his body, the man looked down at the ground.
Then, the ground started writing letters all on its own, as if drawn with a stick.
Well, they weren't actually letters. They were numbers.

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17……

“These are prime numbers.”
“Hmm.”
“So, the easiest one to remember is that 4 is a fail. No matter what, you won't be able to do it. Even if you can do 5 at once, you'll never be able to do 4. That's how it is.”
“I see. In other words, there are certain numbers like 4 and 6 that I'd get stuck on forever.”
“Good. You're a smart kid. But that's not exactly right. Since once you get past 4, you'd already have enough experience that you wouldn't get stuck on 6.”
“Ah, I see.”
“But after that, the next stumper is 9. Because up until then, your experience tells you that even numbers don't work. But one day, you'll suddenly realize. Wait a second, I did 2 perfectly fine back at the beginning…… You get it?”
“Yeah…… I got it.”

I gazed at the numbers the man had written.
I still wasn't sure what “prime” meant, but I could at least memorize these numbers.
It wasn't very difficult to memorize just the ones he'd written. I did so quickly.

“By the way, this is my limit.”

After saying that, the man started up a bunch of different magic at once.
Fire, ice, electricity, wind……
A great variety of spells came forth at once and filled the air.

“Thirteen…?”
“Yep. My body and magical energy can handle up to 16, but that's not actually possible. The next one after 13 is 17. It's almost like the technique has a weakness deliberately built into it. A little bit of growth will only be the same as the next level below it, so it makes no difference. 13, 14, 15, and 16 are all identical to 13.”
“But once you reach 17, it's like you've improved a lot all at once.”
“That's true.”

The man smiled.

“You really are smart. How old are you? Twelve? Thirteen?”
“Umm, I'm twelve.”

Except I'm actually older, is what I didn't say.
Because I still had no idea why I'd taken over this body.

“If you're this smart at twelve, you have a bright future ahead of you. You'll probably even surpass me someday.”
“You think so?”
“Youth is a weapon. And while we're at it, your ability to listen to strangers is another weapon.”
“Hmm……”

I nodded absentmindedly.
I agreed wholeheartedly that youth is a weapon.
Before changing into this body, every day brought with it a little more muscle pain, a little worse health, and it was a constant worry.
But listening to strangers…… That's not something you get praised for very often.

The man was looking down.
He was looking at the grimoire I'd been holding the entire time.

“About the grimoire…… Did you bring any others?”
“No, I didn't. But since I want to learn magic, my father said he's gonna gather a whole bunch for me.”
“You really want to learn?”
“Yes!”

I answered immediately and firmly.
This was the magic I'd dreamed about for so long. I wanted to learn more and more.

“Then take this.”

After the man said that, something came floating up and stopped in front of my face.
That tiny thing, hovering right in front of my eyes, was……

“A ring?”
“It's called a magicpedia.”
“Magicpedia…?”
“Essentially, it's a grimoire.”
“Huh?”
“To be precise, it's a training item with the material codings for a hundred magical books.”
“A hundred books!? In this little thing?”
“Yep. Well, it's not as impressive as it sounds. It won't make learning magic any easier, it just saves space by packing a lot of books together in one. After all, there's no use carrying around a hundred books except to show off.”

The second half of his explanation barely registered to me.
This contained the magic of a hundred grimoires.
Even a simple thing like that had me entranced beyond belief.

I gently took the floating ring, and the instant I did……
The names of over 300 spells flew through my mind.

“F, first I'll try Wind Shot.”

I wasted no time putting into practice the techniques flowing through my mind from the ring, with the intent of learning Wind Shot.

300 spells of my beloved magic dominated my mind, so much that I couldn't even focus on anything except the ring.

“You sure are interesting. That earnestness is your most powerful weapon.”

Translator and Editor Notes:

Well, this all seems rather arbitrary. We're getting dangerously close to “cheat” stuff here. (Some would say we've already crossed that line by a mile, but I'm keeping optimistic.)

I'd say the most interesting part of this newly-introduced element is the potential for things to go sour with it. I know I know, I'm probably being too optimistic, but this mystery man is suspicious, right? He's got to have some kind of agenda in helping “Liam” besides just good-will. He keeps on repeating “interesting” which is sort of vaguely menacing. Plus, that thing about how the ring made it practically impossible for him to function like a normal human being due to information overload… that has potential for interesting conflict too.

There's also the likelihood of Charles realizing that “Liam” has the ring, which could lead to interesting drama especially if he connects the dots to where “Liam” most likely got it from.

…And if none of this stuff happens, at least I tried? Lol

~Steak

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Chapter end