Youngest 168
by Cristae168
“Come on, you know! Mages sent as outpost mages are just dregs—so worthless the Kingdom doesn’t even bother treating them like bugs!”
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
And apparently, there were quite a few outpost mages across the continent who thought as Asha did. Some of them did go back, but the majority remained here.
“The Mage King isn’t going to waste magical power trying to control kids like us. He’d sooner just wipe us out all at once…”
“Jeez, why are you so scary…”
“It’s frightening, but it’s the truth… Besides, the Kingdom has disappeared for now, anyway.”
Asha gripped my hand and, for once, spoke with clear resolve.
“Crisis could mean opportunity! So let’s use this time to think hard about how to bring down the Kingdom!”
Just as Asha said.
Crisis was simply another word for opportunity.
‘Who can amass power and strike first—that’s what matters.’
That might be the key.
Either way, aside from all that.
It was at this moment that the Emperor of Babylon moved quickly.
He actively enticed outpost mages—those across the continent who refused to return to the Kingdom—to Babylon.
‘And so the number of outpost mages in Babylon increased. Thanks to that, there were no more problems with the supply of essential magitech…’
In short, self-sufficiency in magitech.
Naturally, I took charge of the raw material supply through Father.
“Duke, I think this could turn into a lucrative business. How about selling Asha’s magitech designs (reviewed by Rubian) to the Imperial Household along with magic stones?”
“Make sure we see a hefty profit.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thanks to this, our magic stone shop successfully secured the Imperial Household as a major client, and sales were rising vertically.
‘The staff said it’s even better than when we supplied the Mage Kingdom, and they’re thrilled.’
After Father came to hate the Mage Kingdom and cut off all trade, the business had withered.
‘Hmph… I’ll make it prosper beautifully.’
I grinned to myself, picturing my storeroom steadily filling up.
“Uuugh, it’s cold.”
Well, that’s that.
“Let’s go inside! My nose feels like it’s about to freeze!”
Sniffling and stamping my feet, Void and Kal—who had been fiercely snowball fighting nearby—hurried over.
“Liam!”
I called over Liam, who’d been wandering somewhere off in the distance.
“Sigh… What a long adventure that was.”
“You really did go sledding, right?”
“We were supposed to be sledding?”
“What on earth were you doing?”
Bickering, bickering.
Our house was as noisy and just a bit odd as ever.
‘Strictly speaking, nothing’s been resolved, but…’
Some things never change.
What matters is doing what you can and enjoying life!
After roughly brushing the snow from my coat, I headed upstairs to the drawing room, and ran smack into Grandfather in the hallway.
“What’s this? All these soggy little boogers.”
“Grandpa!”
“Oh dear. A little fluffball rolling my way.”
He immediately scooped me up and spun me around.
“I— I’m not even at an age to be tossed around anymore…”
I was about to turn twelve.
I felt a little embarrassed.
“That age? Is there an age limit to hugging boogers? How old are you!”
“Uh… about… ten?”
I spread my hands wide and declared. Grandfather gave a great, mocking snort.
“Goodness gracious, well, well. So you’re eleven now and too old for your poor old grandpa to hold in his arms~”
“Ugh, why are you teasing me!”
Indignant!
I smacked his immovable shoulder, but he just laughed in that deliberately annoying way.
“When you’re a hundred-year-old little booger, I’ll oblige you then!”
Let’s go! To the drawing room!
The burly old man strode away with thunderous steps.
Honestly, with how Grandfather seemed to grow healthier by the day as if defying the years, I rather thought he’d probably still pick me up no matter how old I got.
“Still, I wouldn’t want to be a hundred-year-old booger…”
“Hm?”
That’d be kind of gross…
“Now, crisp up nicely and behave yourself!”
“Okaaay.”
Grandfather set me down right in front of the fireplace, then headed out to the annex—something about coming up with a new design for Kalid’s sword.
The boy sitting next to me didn’t seem the least bit interested.
“So warm.”
I gathered my knees under myself on the plush carpet by the sofa, staring mesmerized into the fire.
Having played outside in the dead of winter, we’d been ‘sentenced’ to stay here until our body heat was back up.
“Come over here. It’s warmer.”
Kal patted his side, and I scooted over, settling against him.
Indeed… It was warmer with his body heat as well.
“Ugh, I want to go practice swordsmanship!”
Void, who had somehow produced a wooden sword, grumbled while waving it through the air.
“It’s snowing out. If we’d come in any later, we’d have turned into snowmen.”
The clear sky had darkened again, and thick snow was piling up in soft silence, muffling all sound.
“Tch. Guess I’ll just have to swing my sword in here.”
Void snapped the curtains shut and came back.
“If Grandpa catches you, you’ll get in trouble.”
I scolded him halfheartedly, sipping at my cocoa.
‘It’s peaceful.’
The air was warm, the carpet soft, the cocoa sweet.
I was tempted to just flop down on my stomach, but then remembered something I needed to do. A glance at Liam, his nose in a book on a nearby sofa as usual, jogged my memory.
‘I should take a look too.’
Rustle, rustle—I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out a scrap of parchment.
It was a magical formula Father had brought back from Kasalia.
‘Hm, this is… climate-related magic?’
Asha had copied it overw, but as she wasn’t versed in such high-level formulas, there were gaps everywhere. My role was to fill in those missing parts.
‘Not a formula for breaking enchantments, but still…’
I’d never seen magic quite like this before.
Piece by piece.
Knowledge accumulating like snow.
Not borrowed from Wizeria, but truly my own.
‘At this rate, I might not even need Wizeria someday.’
I chuckled inwardly at the thought.
“What are you doing?”
Kal turned his head slightly beside me and asked. With my pen in my mouth, I mumbled,
“Studying a magic formula.”
“…”
“…”
An abrupt hush fell.
Huh? What’s this?
Lifting my head, I saw Void and Liam both quietly staring at me.
‘Ah… Come to think of it.’
It hadn’t been long since my brothers found out I was a mage…
It hadn’t even been a month.
It was only after things settled down here in the North that I’d told them everything.
They’d both looked absolutely shocked. But that had been all.
‘…Everyone’s the same.’
Butler Adolf and Hazel too.
Their surprise and shock were plain as day, but I could see them stubbornly holding it back.
‘So I wouldn’t feel hurt or self-conscious…’
Thanks to that, things could go on as they always had.
Still, this kind of silence was a bit awkward, so I forced a smile and bent low over the parchment again.
“Ha, haha… It’s, um, kind of novel, huh…”
At that moment—
“Whoa.”
“Let me see, Dumpling Fairy.”
Liam slid down from the sofa to crouch at my side and scrutinize the parchment with me.
“If there’s anything you don’t get, say so—I’ll explain everything. Complain if you stay confused, go ahead.”
“But this is a spell formula…”
“Then show off your knowledge to the fullest, act all high and mighty a thousand times if you want.”
“Huh?”
Adjusting his glasses, his expression was as cool as ever.
Then Void wormed in around Kalid and glued himself to my other side.
“Move over… Ruby! Need ink? Should I hand you paper? Taking notes?”
“…Weren’t you going to swing your sword?”
“This is the sort of thing you should do with your brothers by your side!”
Really? Magic formulas? With two little knights beside me?
‘Never heard of such a thing…’
But somehow, it felt reassuring.
“All right. Let me show you what I can do!”
Smiling playfully, I flopped onto my stomach atop the cushion. Liam and Void sidled right up close.
Kal was nudged aside a bit, but… still sat not far away, arms folded, watching over us.
“There are so many fascinating swirls here. Tell us quick, Fairy.”
“All right, look here. This is…”
Snap, crackle, the fireplace spat sparks as a backdrop for me, the mage, showing off just a little.
“Hey, if you crowd in like that, I can’t see anything!”
Eventually, Rubian burst out.
“My tiny, adorable little sister.”
Liam grabbed her and hugged her tightly as she lay beside him.
“I tell you, I’m twelve!”
Squeeze.
“You’re not the only one getting older, you know?” Void retorted.
“Ugh, enough! Just look at this! It’s a magic formula! Didn’t you say you were curious?”
Truthfully, her brothers didn’t care about formulas in the slightest.
“Ruby, you… what did you just say?”
What words could capture how that moment felt?
“…She was really in a war zone.”
For the first time, Liam truly understood the chill of blood running cold with rage.