Editor 145

Cleio, who was both the main character and the target of the day’s teasing, sensed he could not stop his friends’ mouths, so he focused his entire mind on the scent of Liognes champagne.

He still found Dione’s sense of beauty hard to understand, but Cleio himself rather liked being tall.

Of course, it was truly painful to go through growing pains twice in one life. He suffered pain like molten metal poured into his knees every other day.

It got so bad that Zebedee ended up casting [Mitigation] magic on his groaning disciple.

Still, as a result, his physique became much like in his previous life, and moving around became much easier.

There was a time when the disconnect between his perceived height and range of movement made him fall or mismanage his body, but that no longer happened.

‘It’s a minor thing, but being able to look down on Vlad’s kid… was kind of satisfying.’

Cleio, who resembled Gideon, was about two finger joints taller than Vlad, who took after Thelma.

On the night he saw Vlad off as he was promoted to head of the Meridies trading post, Vlad realized he’d now have to look up at his older brother, and the look on his face was quite a sight.

“Look at Ray, spacing out again.”

“By the way, was the young lord able to keep up with the knight cadets’ morning training?”

“Oh! Lady Dione, we didn’t do the morning training together, just the warm-ups and running before training.”

“Even that was enough to nearly kill Ray, heeheehee.”

“Dying, whining.”

“Lippi, Letitia… But I did cast [Mitigation] magic for your growing pains, couldn’t you spare a thought for my honor?”

“That’s that, and this is this.”

“Exactly.”

Just as Cleio had shot up, the twins had also grown into long-limbed adolescents like deer. Now, they were nearly eye level with Isiel.

The twins, too, had to endure dreadful growing pains, and Cleio would alternate casting [Mitigation] on their knees and ankles every evening.

‘Should’ve billed them for child-rearing, but that Angelium baron said I looked worthless…’

“Oh, right. Before I get more drunk, let’s put these papers away.”

“What are they, Lady Dione?”

“Patent fee statements and receipts for magic tool production. The screw-type wine opener is so popular it’s now in the new Lasenti department store by the east station. Patent fees are looking good again this year. Mr. Levi was very happy. Where do you come up with these ideas!”

“Just lucky, I guess.”

Going to another world in a previous century, he couldn’t design an air conditioner or invent penicillin, but he could at least make a screw-type wine opener.

It was something he’d made for himself out of necessity, and it became a source of extra pocket money, which made Cleio happy.

“Oh, but what are these ‘instant portraits’ made with magic stone silver plates, and ‘amplifiers of echo’? You’re not trying to commercialize those, are you? Using a magic stone agate to hear distant sounds is the kind of hobby only a wealthy magician like you could afford.”

Since Dione had a perfect grasp of Cleio’s expenditures, he couldn’t make excuses. He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

The items Lady Dione criticized were, in fact, magic tools Cleio had come up with and Fran had made practical.

The Polaroid camera called ‘instant portrait’ and the short-range wireless bug called ‘amplifier of echo’ were both made possible by Fran’s genius.

Even looking at the blueprints, Cleio couldn’t understand how they worked, and honestly, he had no intention of trying.

‘As long as Fran can use them, that’s all that matters.’

Fran’s ether level was still 2. He had no desire to train as a wizard, so he needed tools to supplement his abilities.

The reason he wouldn’t raise his level was obvious. If he reached level 3, he’d be required to register his residence.

‘That must never happen. Maybe, far in the future… having a high-level wizard isn’t always a good thing.’

So Cleio supported Fran with large amounts of funds and resources without complaint.

“They were all necessary, so please don’t be too harsh. Anyway, thank you for always handling things neatly—please tell Mr. Levi, and I’ll arrange a bonus for you to process.”

was an unprecedented hit.

Dione’s secretary Levi, who managed the related business, left the Greyer trading company and established Levi LLC.

Baize Levi was president, and the investors were Dione and Cleio, with the main business being Cleio’s patents and publishing income.

Dione still managed the real estate income, but the sums in other areas were growing large enough to warrant the decision.

‘It was lucky that I could sign an ether contract with Mr. Levi at just the right time.’

While reviewing different editions of Professor Maria’s book, Levi, as a test, tried ether circulation and, as a result, his ether sensitivity manifested.

There were more ether sensitives in this world than the registered number of knights and wizards suggested.

Most had such weak sensitivity and no training that they lived not knowing they were sensitives.

Levi, who discovered his aptitude after age thirty, made Cleio realize this.

Even though Levi’s level was low, he could draw up ether contracts. Like the one with Dione, it was a contract that imposed heavy financial penalties instead of staking one’s life.

Cleio calculated that Levi, who had three children to support, would never break such a contract.

He didn’t advertise it, but Cleio was now making considerable profits in several fields, and sometimes felt a bit stunned by his own situation.

‘Intellectual property and land are the last things to disappear, so it’s good to have them… but I never expected things would get this big.’

Bartleby & Bouvard Printing also eventually came under Levi LLC’s management.

Run by Bartleby and his staff, Cleio hardly involved himself in operations, but it was quite helpful for meeting deadlines when printing various materials.

‘Well, I guess this is what it means for money to make money, and then make more money.’

At the start of the year, with the opening of Rundaine East Station, property values in Rundaine rose again. Every day saw new record highs, to the point Cleio didn’t even know exactly how much he was worth.

With the huge success of the de Neige Est Hotel, Katarina, now able to raise large sums, expressed her intent to buy hotel land several times.

Dione flatly refused Katarina’s requests and was delighted about it.

Though there was a subtle rivalry between Katarina Tempête de Neige and Dione, a different kind of bond had formed between Chel and the others, with Aser and Cleio at the center.

Just then, Behemoth, having emptied his water bowl, arrogantly summoned his servant.

“Mrowk! (More booze!)”

With the skill of a seasoned attendant, Cleio poured cold champagne into Behemoth’s water bowl. Behemoth, content, began to lap up the white foam around the rim.

Aser, scratching his hair that had dried and stuck out in every direction, narrowed his eyes.

“Has Mot always been that color? His fur seems a bit grayer.”

“Who knows? Are we sure that’s even a cat? Look at him guzzling booze day after day and still being lively.”

Chel, looking down at Behemoth with his nose in the bowl, murmured that her common sense about animals and alcohol was being challenged.

Cleio pretended not to hear Chel’s reasonable question.

‘Anyway, he looks like a cat, and he’s fat and chubby and cute, so isn’t that enough?’

He had asked Behemoth before what it meant that the world was divided into nine, and what his true identity was.

Behemoth had tried to answer, but then couldn’t speak human language for a week. It was obviously the work of some restraining force.

That week, starting every morning with no banter from Behemoth, was incredibly lonely for Cleio. He even feared that Behemoth might never speak again. So he never asked those kinds of questions again.

Someday, if he truly became part of this world, he might find out, or maybe not. Either way, Cleio didn’t really care.

In this world, everyone was given their own place and calling, and the potential of human will was not overestimated. That ‘lack of potential’ became, in turn, the foundation of a life without anxiety.

And more than that.

‘Humans are creatures of their environment. Living at school and hanging around with the kids, my thinking is getting simpler and my mental age is dropping.’

No wonder, since the twins’ new topic of excitement was now their school homework.

Baron Angelium was a strict father, and the twins had to get good grades. As always, Isiel delivered the school announcements with extreme accuracy.

“Considering the extended fieldwork, for major subjects, only the midterm practical exam needs to be taken. For common and elective subjects, the month of missed classes will be replaced by assignments for attendance, and the exam scope is the same as for other students. The assignments are….”

The twins, at 15 and level 4; Isiel and Chel, at 19 and level 5; and Aser, miraculously at level 6 at the same age, had nothing to fear from the major exams.

But there were still other subjects, which made the twins groan.

Isiel always studied until late at night, so he was unbeatable. Chel didn’t care about grades, and Aser… despite his efforts, still had the lowest written scores.

“So what assignments do we have to do?”

“History, classics, Karolingian, geography….”

“Ugh, Chel, help me with Karolingian translation.”

“No way. You have to do your own homework.”

As for Cleio, he kept his grades up at least to avoid mandatory service.

He excelled in general magic theory and practical magic, as well as Karolingian, and even in history and geography, just by tagging along with the kids and zoning out in class.

It was entirely due to the skills of a Korean who had taken the college entrance exam. He had always been good at memorization, but with the ‘promise’ in play, Cleio had become a true expert at it.

The only subject that dragged down his grades was classics.

Gavin Bard, the classics teacher, had no expectations for Cleio and didn’t even ask for resubmissions—just gave him a grade high enough not to fail.

In math or map-reading, Aser was outstanding, but for memorization subjects, his test scores were terrible. He was secretly pleased that Cleio also had a subject where he hit rock bottom.

“Ugh, the flowers are so pretty, but we still have to do homework.”

“Lippi, I’ll have another drink.”

“Letitia, me too.”

“Hey, you two, if you keep this up, you’ll end up like that prince or that wizard.”

“Whatever, Chel! Pour!”

“Hmph.”

A breeze swept through the courtyard, scattering lilac petals. Dione’s lace hat floated up like a petal in the wind, and Isiel quickly caught it and handed it back.

Behemoth, now drunken and sprawled out, licked an olive while Lippi and Letitia played with his fluffy tail.

The wine was fragrant, the children’s laughter delightful, and the time filled with easy affection was gentle. It was a perfect day.

There had been days like this before, and if they were lucky, there would be more to come.