Chapter 27

“Let’s head out.”

“Yeah.”

After that brief exchange, not another word passed between them.

Only an uncomfortable silence remained.

Aethlyn swallowed quietly.

Arthur’s incident was certainly part of it, but more than that…

“They’re different. Their purpose, their shape, their sharpness, their value… everything about them is different.”

“…”

“So… we probably won’t meet again. Unless you have unbelievably rotten luck, Second Lieutenant.”

The conversation they’d had over dinner still cast an unpleasant shadow between them.

Even if we were never going to meet again anyway… it still leaves a bitter taste.

It was a shame.

No matter how fleeting their acquaintance had been, they had still fought back-to-back.

Yet they were parting on such awkward terms.

About an hour after the train departed, Aethlyn was the one who finally broke the silence.

Well… I’ll have to be the one to reach out first.

As a mage, and as an officer, that was the proper thing to do.

She cleared her throat lightly before speaking as politely as she could.

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said this, but let me apologize again. My younger brother caused you a great deal of trouble.”

“It’s fine.”

The immediate reply, as though he’d prepared it in advance, made Aethlyn flinch.

She studied the man sitting across from her.

He rested his chin on his left hand, openly staring out the window.

Unlike last time, he hadn’t even taken off his cap.

There was something unsettling about the way he refused to so much as meet her eyes.

With an awkward smile, she added,

“Arthur isn’t a bad kid.”

Silence.

Even she had to admit that wasn’t a particularly convincing defense.

She hurried to explain herself.

“He’s just… naturally eccentric. He doesn’t mean any harm.”

“…”

“The genealogists warned us in advance that children like him could have unusual personalities. But my father insisted on it, so he was born anyway. Strange or not, I’m his older sister. Looking after him is my responsibility.”

“…What’s a genealogist?”

“Hm?”

The man, who until now had seemed only half-listening, suddenly met her gaze and asked with genuine seriousness.

Blinking twice, Aethlyn finally nodded.

Genealogists.

Among mages, they were such a familiar and ordinary profession that she’d forgotten how foreign the concept would sound to a non-mage.

She gave him a simplified explanation.

“You can think of them as matchmakers within mage society. Matchmakers… except they specialize in magic and history.”

If an actual genealogist had heard her explanation, they’d probably have been furious.

How dare you compare us to ordinary matchmakers?

In reality, only mages who had undergone exceptionally rigorous training could become genealogists.

The man still looked unconvinced.

His expression silently asked her to explain further.

“…”

After a moment, Aethlyn asked cautiously,

“Have you ever heard of the Barbaros Black-White Civil War?”

“…No.”

“…”

The Barbaros Black-White Civil War was both the historical event that gave rise to the profession of genealogists and the reason it existed in the first place.

Since the sergeant didn’t know about it at all, she wasn’t sure where to begin.

Explaining magical concepts to someone who wasn’t a mage was something Aethlyn had almost never done before.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to start with the most basic premise.

“You know that you need a magic circuit to use magic, right?”

“More or less.”

Good. We’ll start there.

Aethlyn nodded.

She raised her gloved left hand slightly between them.

The man’s yellow eyes instinctively followed the movement.

“To become a powerful mage, hard work and honing your skills are important. But in the end, what determines the most is the kind of magic circuit you’re born with. And magic circuits… are inherited entirely from your parents.”

Aethlyn’s own magic circuit had come from her parents.

It bore both House Anfante’s blazing flame pattern and House Wintercrown’s flawless order.

Had it not been for the hideous scars now layered over it, it would have been beautiful.

Ignoring the lingering gaze fixed on her left hand, she continued.

“In short, the children of powerful mages are more likely to become powerful mages themselves. That’s why political marriages are still common in mage society. It’s the only way to preserve that inherited power.”

Naturally, the mage society of Esta had become an intricate web of marriages and bloodlines.

“The problem is that the number of mages is extremely limited. Eventually… that led to unintended consequences.”

Aethlyn smiled bitterly.

She had phrased it gently, but she was ultimately referring to the consequences of inbreeding.

Gennadi seemed to grasp the general idea.

Yet perhaps because he was a Wildman, there wasn’t even a trace of disgust or contempt on his face.

Truthfully, Aethlyn felt much the same.

She held no resentment toward the past.

There was no reason to feel ashamed of a problem that had already been solved.

“In time, babies began to be born with tangled magic circuits.”

“Tangled magic circuits…”

Resting his chin on one hand, Gennadi absently rubbed his lower lip as he repeated the words.

Aethlyn nodded.

“That’s right. Children born with their magic circuits tightly knotted together. Most of them couldn’t withstand the overwhelming amount of mana and died young… but the real problem was the ones who survived into adulthood. They possessed both immense magical power and damaged minds. You could call them walking time bombs.”

“By damaged minds… do you mean they’re insane?”

The man in front of her clearly had little sense for polite or tactful wording.

He spoke that way even when describing himself, so what else could she expect?

Aethlyn gave an awkward nod.

“…You could put it that way.”

Gennadi replied with a look of understanding.

“Like the Barbaros Imperial Family, right? They say every one of them is insane.”

“Right. The Barbaros Imperial Family is the most well-known example… but Esta wasn’t completely exempt from that problem either.”

“Not completely exempt” was putting it very mildly.

One incident after another had occurred—mad mages attacking ordinary people or storming other noble houses in violent rampages.

Even House Wintercrown had produced mages who lost control for three consecutive generations.

“Anyway, it became such a serious problem that if it wasn’t solved, Estan society itself could have collapsed.”

“So those genealogists… solved it.”

He’s finally getting it.

Aethlyn gave a small nod.

“That’s right. Genealogists study the bloodlines and family histories of mages. They calculate and recommend the ‘optimal pairings’ that minimize those side effects while still producing children with strong magical talent. Thanks to that, mages who lose control have become quite rare nowadays.”

In truth, that was an oversimplification.

Countless events had unfolded along the way.

But there was no way she could explain all of that here.

After listening to her, Gennadi slowly nodded in understanding.

Then he repeated a single phrase she’d used.

“‘Optimal pairings.’”

“Right. Pairings, matches, marriages… however you want to put it, it all means the same thing.”

“…”

“It might sound rather cold, but for mages, there’s nothing more important than protecting their family’s legacy and their magic. Naturally, marriages are arranged with the children they’ll eventually have in mind.”

At Aethlyn’s matter-of-fact explanation, Gennadi’s eyes shifted lazily to one side.

“I suppose they would.”

“…Yeah.”

Then, unexpectedly, he asked another question.

“So that’s why you didn’t like that movie?”

“The movie?”

“Lightning and Blood.”

“Oh… that.”

Aethlyn let out a quiet laugh.

“The story had its problems, but more than that, the special effects near the end were just ridiculous. That was probably what bothered me the most.”

The atmosphere between them relaxed.

As the earlier tension and awkwardness melted away, Aethlyn found herself feeling much lighter.

Then, in that more relaxed mood, Gennadi asked another unexpected question.

“So… do mages never marry someone they actually love?”

“What?”

Aethlyn blinked, caught completely off guard.

Her surprise lasted only a moment.

Soon, a playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

I guess there’s no topic more entertaining than romance.

It seemed that even this veteran soldier, who always looked as though nothing in the world could rattle him, was curious about the love lives of mages.

For some reason, that made the man sitting across from her feel just a little more approachable.