Chapter 122 Precious Magic Crystals

"Do you want to become a magician?"

Reiger asked Isu, who stood in front of him.

"No kidding!" Isu rolled his eyes, bluntly replying, "Who wouldn’t want to be a magician?"

That was true.

In this world, magicians were symbols of nobility and status, objects of many people’s aspirations.

People like the original owner, who dreamt of becoming a Tactical Level Magician, being ennobled and revered as a noble, were quite common.

Even the children of nobles hoped to become magicians, even reaching Tactical or Strategic Level Magicians.

But reality was clearly harsher than they imagined.

"Your sister said that only she and your father in the Fransel family had the talent to become magicians, you others could only pursue the path of a Swordsman due to insufficient Magic Power, didn’t you know this?"

That was what puzzled Reiger.

In theory, Isu should have known about this.

He had started attending swordsmanship classes; even if no one told him, he must have guessed that he didn’t have the talent to become a magician, right?

Now he suddenly popped up asking Reiger to teach him magic, which was truly perplexing.

Who knew, Isu actually said this.

"It must be that father and sister are mistaken. Maybe I just happen to have the talent to become a magician, but they haven’t noticed it," Isu said, his face full of determined dissent, but Reiger keenly noticed a trace of unwillingness in his eyes.

Clearly, this young boy of only nine didn’t want to accept reality.

And true, at his age, how could he understand that "talent" was something innate and unchangeable?

At his age, he would definitely not accept evaluations from elders, nor believe that if others said he couldn’t, it meant he couldn’t—even if it were true, he must be an exception. Such were the thoughts typical of Isu’s age.

Perhaps he also wanted to prove to his father and sister that he could become a magician?

"You wouldn’t happen to be skipping swordsmanship classes on purpose and not taking the training seriously because of this, would you?"

Reiger somewhat understood Isu’s actions now.

And indeed, it seemed to be the case.

"I don’t want to learn sword skills, to be a Swordsman," Isu disdainfully said, "I want to become a powerful magician, to be rewarded by the kingdom like my sister, to make our family grow stronger. There’s no need at all for swordsmanship classes."

Sure enough, it was because of this that he did not train in swordsmanship, or attend swordsmanship classes.

But still, the saying held, reality was cruel.

"To become a magician, having abundant Magic Power enough to cast magic is the bare minimum requirement. Even if you aspire to be a magician, without sufficient Magic Power, you wouldn’t be able to use even a single spell."

Reiger thought about it and decided not to intentionally deceive the child, thus unveiling the harsh reality.

But this seemed to provoke Isu’s rebellious heart.

"Are you going to say the same thing as father and sister?" Isu ranted, "I don’t care, just teach me, whether I succeed or not, that’s my business, nothing to do with you!"

"You’re right, whether you can learn is your affair, I shouldn’t interfere," Reiger agreed with Isu’s words, but then he gazed at Isu, saying, "But to teach or not is my affair, you seem to have no say in that, right?"

"You...!" Isu was infuriated.

He was clearly a noble, and when he made a demand, others were supposed to satisfy it, that’s how everyone in his family behaved — why did this guy always have to contradict him?

Does he think he’s above me just because my sister protects him?

...Well, she is quite formidable.

And I’ve been so "humble" and "pleading" toward him, yet he still refuses, what a detestable jerk!

No choice, I have to resort to a last resort.

"I can give you money!"

"I’m not short on money for now."

"I’ll give you my precious magic tools!"

"I also don’t want any magic tools right now."

"I—I can introduce girls to you!"

"I don’t need women for now, and anyway, stop offering others, you’re really acting like a villainous young master."

"What do you have to be discontent about?"

"I’d really like to ask you, based on your words, is there anything that I should be satisfied about?"

"Then will you accept the magic crystal that can record images, which I’ve been keeping? It recorded my three sisters bathing several times!"

"...No thanks."

It’s undeniable, to learn a bit of magic, Isu, the youngest, was indeed going all out, willing to use anything as a bargaining chip.

Reiger looked at this little guy with increasingly peculiar eyes, always feeling that something about the boy was off, yet seemingly everything was normal.

This feeling was indeed strange, but it didn’t stop Reiger from considering Isu a nuisance.

Luckily, Reiger did not need to act, the boy was about to face retribution.

"Is that so, a magic crystal that can record images?"

A voice like it came from hell sounded out behind Isu.

"I’ve never heard of such a thing. Perhaps you should explain it to me properly, shouldn’t you, Isu?"

As this voice sounded, Isu, who was just about to reach into his chest to pull something out, instantly froze all over.

He looked terrified and then his expression quickly turned to despair.

"Smack!"

A hand forcefully landed on Isu’s shoulder, seizing him and preventing any escape.

Mistis’s face appeared behind Isu’s, a young but exceedingly beautiful face covered in frost, her eyes swirling with darkness.

"It seems we need to have a serious talk, don’t you think? Isu?"

Mistis’s voice was especially cold and terrifying.

"Ah... Ahhh..."

Isu immediately let out a sound like a broken doll, much like that of a dying human.

Delicate and fair, her jade-like hand swiftly moved to Isu’s neck.

"Snap!"

The next second, Isu’s neck twisted nearly ninety degrees, emitting a sound similar to bone cracking, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed entirely to the ground.

"I am sorry, Mr. Reiger," Mistis finally emerged from behind Isu, bowing to Reiger while saying, "It seems my younger brother was a bit groggy from sleep and spoke nonsense. Please forget his words just now, I am very grateful."

After uttering such indisputable, emotionless words as if they were on repeat, Mistis then looked up.

Her gaze and expression seemed to have lost their luster.

"I will take my leave now, goodbye."

Hearing this and seeing the dullness in Mistis’s eyes, even Reiger felt somewhat stunned.

"Take care..."

That was all Reiger could say.

"Alright."

Mistis bowed once again and turned to leave.

However, this girl was still holding onto the back of Isu’s neck, dragging her little brother straight along behind her toward the other end of the corridor.

That scene, to Reiger, felt just like a large carnivore dragging its prey into a corner to devour.

"... The women of the Franzer family are truly frightening."

Whether it was Yuri or Mistis, both were not to be trifled with.

Reiger, thinking this way, did not know that the turned-away Mistis felt somewhat like she was fleeing in panic.

Probably because last night, her father had already brought up that matter.

"I am preparing to marry you to Reiger Brillhaut. Make yourself ready anytime."

The businesslike words of her father were still lingering in Mistis’s mind, leaving her feeling very conflicted.

Therefore, for the time being, Mistis was not very keen to meet with Reiger.

As for feeling surprised or rebellious, Mistis was surprisingly devoid of either.

Surprised?

What was there to be surprised about?

She had always known what kind of man her father was and had prepared herself mentally for this; there was nothing to be surprised about.

Rebellious?

How could she possibly rebel?

Her two elder sisters had the ability to rebel, but she did not.

After all, she had neither the talent to practice swordsmanship like her second sister nor the potential to become a strategic level magician like her third sister. She was no more than an exceedingly ordinary person.

What ability did such a person have to rebel?

It’s not that she could rebel on her own—her second sister could only do so with their mother’s support.

Otherwise, a mere swordsman could not dream of rebelling against their father.

Only Yuri, her eldest sister, truly had the power and the right to rebel against their father.

That was why Mistis idolized Yuri the most and aspired to be like her.

Regrettably, she could only wish.

She was the least useful in the family.

Simply obeying and having a somewhat happy life was the best future she could hope for.

With such complex emotions, Mistis dragged Isu away.

And Reiger, entirely unaware of what had just transpired, watched her hurriedly depart and was just about to turn to leave when he noticed an object on the ground.

"Magic crystal?"

Reiger picked it up.

The crystal-like object that had fallen to the ground was similar to a communication magic crystal Reiger had once received from Yuri, making him immediately realize it was some type of magic crystal.

"Could this have fallen from the youngest?"

Reiger suddenly understood what this magic crystal was.

Hence, he fell into a long, long silence.

"... I’ll just keep it for now."

After a while, Reiger silently pocketed the magic crystal and then left the scene.

As for the lost magic crystal, what cruel interrogations and punishments Isu would face from his sisters later, that had nothing to do with Reiger anymore.