Although Cyril's father had the blood of the Marquis Highon family flowing in his veins, he had no title and was never wealthy.

Even so, his father was so proud of it to the point of not getting work and acting arrogantly towards his mother.

Cyril didn't like that attitude, so he always took his mother's side. In his own way, he tried to make his mother happy.

But, every time his mother saw his face—the face that reminded her of his aristocratic father's face—she always made a sad face.

Eventually, by the time his father died drowned in alcohol, a member of the Marquis Highon family came to his house to make an offer to adopt Cyril.

Cyril was overjoyed when he heard that news.

It will ease my mother's life for sure! And I will make my mother happy!

But his mother, who saw Cyril's happy face, only let out a sigh before saying,

"Ah, you really are from a noble family. A son of a noble family."

——No, I'm not, Mother. I am your son.

Just that one sentence was the thing he couldn't say to his mother.

＊ ＊ ＊

In front of Cyril's eyes was a figure with a hood pulled tightly over her eyes. That person had a small figure and did not look like an adult.

But as soon as the figure lightly lifted her right hand, the serpent that had melted Cyril's ice wall circled around by the hooded figure.

And he sure that the person in the hood was a magician—the one who melted his ice.

The black cat that took Cyril's brooch meowed and ran up to the hooded figure. The hooded figure lifted up the black cat and picked up the brooch in the cat's mouth.

"…so that cat… was your cat…?"

Despite Cyril's low growl, the hooded figure paid no attention to him, instead, she only looked at the brooch.

This attitude irritated Cyril even more.

"Give that brooch back!"

In a rage, Cyril chanted a spell to create an ice chain.

Cyril snapped his fingers, and the hooded figure's limbs were entangled in ice chains—but in the next moment, the ice chains were dissolved.

"…what?"

The hooded figure hadn't done anything. He did not even saw that figure chanting.

And yet, the ice chain shattered without a trace, scattering to the ground.

Did I perform the wrong spell? Cyril recited the spell again. But the result was the same. The ice chain disintegrated as soon as it manifested.

"How, how… Have you done something to me!?"

The hooded figure continued to stare at the brooch without saying a word. As if Cyril was not even in sight.

…And that kind of attitude felt so bizarre.

"Answer me!"

Cyril created an ice arrow and shot it at the hooded figure. However, just before his arrows reached the hooded figure, it was engulfed in flames and melted, disappearing.

Could it be, Cyril thought, she had allies around? Otherwise, it was inexplicable. The person in the hood was not even chanting. There was no way for a person could possibly neutralize Cyril's spell without chanting.

"Damn you… damn you…"

Cyril made a large number of ice arrows and shot them out in all directions in a random. If there were any of this hooded figure's allies around, he wanted them to reveal themself.

However, the hooded figure just glanced up slightly, and with that, his ice arrows were engulfed in flames and disappeared without a trace.

What was that… what the hell was that…

Blocking arrows fired in a random with a shield was not that difficult.

But to be able to counteract every arrow that was shot in random… that's the feat beyond human.

What Cyril saw in front of him now was that kind of spell.

Moreover, the flames that melted the ice disappeared without spreading to the surrounding trees. In other words, she had used such spells with that kind of precision.

Each flame was woven together with frighteningly precise calculations. She cast that many spells in less than a few seconds?

What is this, what's going on? What am I looking at?

For anyone who was not familiar with magic, they would have been taken aback by the flamboyant-looking flaming serpent.

But for someone who has dabbled in magic for even a short time, they would have noticed the small flame that struck down the ice arrow was unusual.

The fundamental defense in magical warfare is the shield—in other words, the protective barrier.

However, the person in front of him intercepted his arrows without using a shield, showing Cyril the overwhelming difference in skill.

"What are you… what the hell are youuuu!!!"

Cyril relinquished his fine control and converted all the mana he had into the cold wind, which he blasted at the hooded figure.

"Freeze! Freeze! I will freeze you into a mute ice statue!"

The cold wind that he let out while screaming hysterically froze everything around Cyril. The ground, the trees, and even Cyril himself.

It didn't matter if his limbs were frostbitten or not, Cyril continued to blow cold wind at her.

But then he realized.

His full power cold wind was slowly being pushed back—or rather, deflected. Up to the sky.

The hooded figure was using a wind spell to deflect Cyril's cold wind.

At the same time, the ice that had been stuck to Cyril's limbs gradually peeled off—followed by a barrier that had been placed over Cyril's body to protect him from the cold wind.

Of course, Cyril didn't cast a barrier, as he was using his spell without regard for his own safety.

Did this person…

The hooded figure cast a wind spell to deflect the cold wind while protecting Cyril's body with a defensive barrier, which means… the hooded figure has been using those advanced spells simultanesly.

The hooded figure's allies must be the ones who used the technique secretly, hiding in the surroundings. That must be it.

But, what if that's not the case?

If this hooded figure alone was capable of using those many spells… then that would make that hooded figure a monster.

Cyril went pale and his whole body shuddered.

The excitement and intoxication that he felt when he was exercising his spell subsided, and the blood drained from his entire body.

"Ah…"

Everything in front of his eyes became hazy as strength drained from his body. He had run out of mana.

Just before he lost consciousness, Cyril saw… that hooded figure ran up to him in a clumsy manner before extending her small hand.

＊ ＊ ＊

"A-Are you okay?"

Monica rushed over to Cyril with a clumsy running style before putting his head in her lap to make sure he was okay.

Cyril was unconscious. His pulse was weakening a little, but it didn't seem to be life-threatening. He should be able to recover after a short rest.

"Thank goodness…"

The early symptoms of mana poisoning are feeling a strong excitement to use spells, that's what she knew.

If it gets worse, symptoms such as hallucinations, heart palpitations, and dizziness will occur, and finally, the whole body will be eroded by mana, leading to death.

Therefore, the quickest way to treat people who suffer from mana poisoning in the early stages is to let them use their mana until it's empty.

"Well done."

Lynn, who had been watching in the shadows, came into view and saw the brooch in Monica's hand.

"Did you find something wrong with that magic tool?"

"Yes… the formulas that were built into it had deteriorated over time… in fact, to prevent deterioration, these formulas are usually covered with layers of protective formulas…"

"Are you saying there was no protective formula on it?"

When Monica nodded at Lynn's words, Nero said, "Isn't defective product then!" wagging his tail in annoyance.

"Good grief, who the hell did that lousy job?"

"Well… their name should be inscribed on the back of the brooch."

Turning the brooch over, Monica's cheeks tensed when she saw the name engraved on it.

"…Emanuel Darwin the [Jewel Magician]…"

"What? You know this guy?"

Monica was at a loss for a response, but Lynn replied matter-of-factly.

"Like Miss Monica, I believe he is one of the Seven Sages. He does not get along with Louis. He is a member of the Second Prince. A money-grubbing baboon geezer, according to Sir Louis."

Nero was silent for a few seconds before he opened his mouth.

"Is there no decent people among the Seven Sages?"

It was a painful statement to hear.

Hearing that sentence, Monica who still overwriting the brooch with a new magic formula, clutched her chest in pain.

Magic that adds mana to this kind of material was called ancillary magic.

Monica was not a specialist in ancillary magic, but this brooch was not so complicated to make her difficult modifying it.

For example, the amulet that Louis made for Felix. It was a very advanced magic tool to sense danger and set up a protective barrier, but this brooch only has a function to absorb and release mana.

The amount of mana absorbed can be adjusted according to the amount of mana remaining in his body, might I put on it an auto-adjustment formula?

Monica has a bad habit of wanting to apply any kinds of magic formulas when she sees it.

But, it would confuse Cyril if the function of the brooch suddenly changed.

Monica then fixed the problem with the magic formula, incorporating only the auto-adjustment formula, followed by a double application of the protection formula to protect the formula.

This should keep it from breaking down too easily.

As Monica reattached the brooch to Cyril's collar, Nero looked up at Monica as if to mock her.

"Do you really need to go that far? I think you can get at least five gold coins just to repair a magic tool."

"Well…"

Monica trailed off, trying to collect her words, then stopped.

Monica was just a little bit jealous of Cyril.

The fact that he can be proud of being acknowledged by someone else. And how he was willing to work hard for it.

"…mana-absorbing constitution is often inconvenient, but if you get used to it, it can give you an advantage as a magician."

The faster the mana you can absorb, the faster the mana you can recover.

The faster you recover, the more advantage you will have over other magicians in the long run.

As a matter of fact, some magicians were willing to go to extreme lengths to increase the speed at which they absorb mana, and push themselves to achieve this constitution.

And such constitution of Cyril's could be called a "talent".

"…I don't want…  he thinks of this talent as a curse…"

For Monica who can't seem to be proud of her talent, she could only think this was a curse.

For that reason, she didn't want Cyril to become like her.

She wanted him to be confident and proud of himself.

——and for Monica who can't be proud of herself.

"By the way… what are you going to do with him? Do you want to leave him here?"

Nero squeezed Cyril's cheek with his paw.

Certainly, it's not winter yet, but it was still uncomfortable to leave a sick person lying in the woods like this.

As Monica pondered what to do, Lynn gave her suggestion.

"Shall I blow this human body away with a gust of wind and throw it into the boys' dormitory?"

"I-If possible, please do it more peacefully…"

"Then, let me create a tornado to blow him into the boys' dormitory…"

"It's just getting woooorse…"

However, even Lynn have sneaked into the boys' dormitory with her flying spell, she couldn't bring him to his room because she didn't know where Cyril's room was.

As Monica pondered what to do, Nero let out a sigh of exasperation before did a jumping.

Once he spun around and landed on his feet, his appearance was no longer that of a black cat, but a young man with black hair and golden eyes.

"Let me carry him to the gate of the boys' dormitory. I'll leave him there so the gatekeeper will notice it."

"Do we really have to leave him outside?"

"If we sneak inside and they find us, we're screwed."

After saying that, Nero crudely lifted Cyril's body up before carried him onto his shoulder.

"Um, Nero, at least give him a piggyback ride…"

Ignoring Monica's voice, Nero lightly kicked the ground and started running.

Eventually, Nero's back melted into the night forest before disappearing from sight.