Chapter 97 Magic Training

The Mars family estate.

Its current lord, Dale, sighed deeply as he looked at the documents spread before him.

If it were just a matter of too many documents, he could deal with it.

But the vassals had been hounding him until just moments ago, leaving him drained.

’Goddamn annoying humans.’

They weren’t the owners of the carriage, yet they were coachmen who devoted their lives to it.

But even as the owner, a coachman was essential to drive the carriage.

So he tried to appease the vassals while running the estate...

"Why the hell does Karl’s name keep coming up?"

His younger brother, the second son of the family, Karl.

The vassals kept comparing him to Karl, driving him crazy.

Karl’s existence even posed a problem for Dale’s legitimacy.

Normally, the eldest son would naturally inherit the family.

But in a mage family, it was fundamentally merit-based.

In ordinary circumstances, Dale would have struggled to become lord.

But thanks to a series of opportunities, Dale secured the position.

With their parents, the former heads, deceased, and Karl far away.

Dale used that to take the lordship.

Then, using his authority, he sold Karl to a witch.

Thanks to that, he successfully became lord without issue.

The problem was that the vassals didn’t look kindly on it.

Using underhanded means to eliminate the far superior second son.

Seizing the estate in an improper way.

"Ha! What’s so great about that genius? What’s wrong with me, the eldest, inheriting the family? It’s just a job anyone could do."

Dale had always disliked Karl.

A prodigy so great he overshadowed even the eldest son.

Since childhood, he was mature and never arrogant.

With his exceptional skills and insight, he quickly earned the vassals’ recognition.

For some reason, even the maids liked him.

Because of that, Dale, the eldest, was constantly compared to him.

People even openly said Karl should inherit the family.

"...But in the end, I’m the one who became lord."

So what if it was underhanded, or if he stole it?

In the end, he secured the lordship, and that’s what mattered.

Karl was no longer a concern.

He wasn’t likely to suddenly return after being sold to the witch’s estate.

"Heh! I do feel a bit bad. Sold to some old hag."

He’s probably living a hellish married life right now.

Since she’s a great witch, he can’t act recklessly...

Maybe he’s desperately trying to please the old hag.

Or perhaps he tried to escape and met a gruesome fate worse than hell.

’...Thinking about it that way does feel pretty satisfying.’

Throwing that annoying guy into a pit of hell.

It was a brilliant plan, even by his own standards.

As a bonus, he received a hefty reward from the witch for sending him.

Not that he wouldn’t have done it without the reward.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the lord’s office.

"Come in."

"Excuse me~"

A cheerful voice accompanied his wife’s entrance.

Seeing her face, Dale couldn’t help but smile.

"Why didn’t you send a maid and come yourself?"

"...Just because. Isn’t it nice to see each other like this?"

"Really, you never change."

He and his wife had known each other since they were very young.

Childhood friends, you could say.

He’d liked her even before they were fully adults.

Now married, they even had a grown daughter.

Yet his wife’s beauty hadn’t faded at all.

Still the most beautiful face and body in the estate.

Plus, her gentle personality supported him perfectly.

’I really married well.’

She, along with their daughter, was practically his entire world.

"Work’s been tough lately, hasn’t it? The vassals are so opposed."

"Tell me about it. It’s a headache."

"If only the young master were here, he’d have been a big help."

At his wife’s words, Dale’s face stiffened slightly.

The fact that he personally sent his brother away was a secret from his wife and daughter.

He wanted to remain a good husband and father to them.

"...Yeah. I’m kind of worried about him today."

Dale said this with a fake smile.

Praying that Karl would never return.

***

"Hmm, my magic skills have definitely improved."

A satisfied smile naturally spread across my face as my magic skills grew day by day.

After receiving personal tutoring from Circe.

My skills had grown so much that "rapid progress" didn’t even cover it.

The level of a great witch’s magic is just different, isn’t it?

The more I learned her knowledge and techniques, the more I felt myself becoming ridiculously proficient.

Thanks to that, every day has been fun lately.

Fucking beautiful women was already the best life, but on top of that, I’m excelling as a mage.

’My level now is completely different from before.’

The types of magic I could use, their precision, power, and efficiency—everything.

It felt incomparably better than before.

The brief period of training in the witch’s estate had surpassed the growth I’d achieved in a lifetime of dedication to magic.

’Well, that’s only natural.’

The witches’ magic is on a whole different level from humans.

Even a random book lying around here would cause a revolution in the human world.

’I’ve probably grown personally too.’

Teaching Morgan, the dragon, gave me new insights.

To teach, I naturally had to review what I knew.

That process refined the knowledge and techniques I thought I’d mastered.

Even so, to improve this quickly?

It would’ve been impossible without the witches’ astonishingly high level of magic.

’...At this point, I could probably be called the best among human mages.’

Not just in knowledge but in magical technique as well.

With effort, being recognized as a great mage wouldn’t be hard.

"At least when I return to the estate, no one will nitpick about my skills."

No, it’s more than that.

At this level, they’d be begging me to take the lordship.

I’m the second son who was unfairly robbed of my chance.

It only got swept under the rug due to circumstances, but I still have proper inheritance rights.

Considering that mage families are fundamentally merit-based...