How a Catastrophe-Level Magician Lives

Duke Aus von Aust, who had stopped midway on the central staircase, looked around at the gathered crowd once and then opened his mouth to speak.

“I am grateful that you have all attended my daughter’s tenth birthday. Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest today.”

Clap clap clap.

Along with the applause of the nobles gathered in the ballroom, Duke Aust raised one hand to gesture for silence and introduced his daughter beside him.

“This is my daughter, Aura. Aura, greet our esteemed guests.”
“…I am Aura von Aust. I sincerely thank everyone for attending my tenth birthday celebration.”

Clap clap clap clap.

This time, a louder applause was heard, and soon, at Duke Aust’s eye signal, the ballroom music that had paused resumed.

“Then, with this final word, let us resume the celebration party. Everyone, please raise your glasses.”

At the duke’s words, everyone raised their wine glasses high towards the ceiling.

After confirming that everyone had raised their glasses, the duke made his final proclamation.

“A toast to the celebration of my daughter’s tenth birthday and for the eternal glory of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the Argen Empire, cheers!”

“””Cheers!”””

Clink-!

Duke Aust, after saying this, extended one hand to his daughter, and holding it, they finished descending the central staircase together.

Afterwards,
With his daughter Aura at his side, he began receiving greetings from the throng of nobles rushing towards them in order.

Seeing this from across the room, I decided to move to find Count Sunlight, the head of House Phoenix, while holding the glass of drink I had.

Those currently crowding around Duke Aust were all lower-ranking nobles.

Usually, in such gatherings, it was common practice to approach and greet starting from those with the lowest rank.

Therefore, it was proper for the barons and viscounts, who were of lower rank, to finish their greetings first, followed by those of count rank.

That’s why I was looking for Count Sunlight, who was of count rank.

I was able to spot the family head surrounded by other nobles, engaged in conversation, in one corner.

I approached and quietly waited behind until their conversation ended.

Soon, Count Sunlight, the head of House Phoenix, noticing that his turn was approaching, dismissed the crowd that had gathered around him.

Then, seeing me standing quietly a little distance behind, he immediately addressed me.

“Have you come?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let us go and pay our respects to His Grace.”
“Understood.”

He didn’t give me any instructions about being careful not to act improperly or make mistakes from the beginning.

For some reason I didn’t understand, the family head was already showing me a certain level of trust in his eyes.

I decided to let it pass, thinking it might be due to my usual attitude towards him.

Thus, representing House Phoenix, Count Sunlight, the family head, and I, his fourth son, went to greet His Grace, Duke Aust, when our turn came.

“I hope you have been well, Your Grace Duke Aust.”
“Oh! Who do we have here? If it isn’t Count Sunlight? I’m glad you came. I sent an invitation, but I didn’t think you’d come all this way in person.”
“Of course I had to come, didn’t I? It’s to celebrate the birthday of Your Grace Duke Aust’s daughter, after all.”
“Haha! Thank you for thinking that way. Ah! In my joy, I forgot to introduce the real protagonist of this party, my daughter. Greet them, Aura. This is Count Sunlight, who has long represented House Phoenix, one of our empire’s nine great houses.”
“…I am Aura. It is an honor to meet one of the empire’s nine stars in person.”
“Yes. I’ve heard much about you through rumors. I am Count Sunlight. And this is one of my children who has become the same age as you this year.”
“I am Free von Betelgeuse, the fourth son.”
“…Free von Betelgeuse?”

When the family head gave me a signal, interpreting it as a cue to introduce myself directly to the duke’s daughter, I promptly stated my name.

However, upon hearing my name and noticing that the surname didn’t match the family name, Aura’s face momentarily showed a puzzled expression. Seeing this, Duke Aust, who was standing quietly next to his daughter, then explained our circumstances to her.

“Hahaha! You seem momentarily confused because the family name and surname are different. House Phoenix is uniquely the only family that has had a different family name and surname for generations. This is a story of something that was directly approved by His Majesty the Emperor at the time.”
“…I see. I unknowingly committed a faux pas.”
“Not at all. You’re still young, so it’s natural that you wouldn’t know the private circumstances of other families in detail. There’s no need to apologize.”
“Thank you for your understanding, Count Sunlight.”
“Yes. Your Grace, we shall take our leave now. There are still many waiting behind us.”
“Ah, it can’t be helped. It’s regrettable, but let’s talk again next time.”

With the duke’s permission, Count Sunlight and I were able to turn away.

Behind us, there was a long line of people waiting for their turn to greet the duke.

In one corner, a mountain of gifts was piling up.

The gift from House Phoenix to the duke’s daughter was mixed in there.

It seemed they were delivering gifts in this way because it would be awkward to hand over gifts directly each time they greeted someone.

This was actually the first time I had personally attended a noble’s birthday celebration, including my previous life, so I was just guessing.

Thus, for the remaining time until the end of today’s party, having been given time by the family head to act freely again, I spotted the terrace and walked towards it, moving away from the family head.

By now, it had grown dark outside, and I intended to spend time observing the stars in the night sky.

Although it was a bit chilly, I had been in this ill-fitting place for so long that I felt restless and stuffy.

Personally, I thought it would be more beneficial to read even one more spellbook during this time, but as a noble family’s child, I had no choice but to obediently follow the family head’s wishes.

So, as I spent a long time looking up at the countless stars in the night sky and observing the Milky Way.

Creak,

At some point, I heard the sound of the terrace door opening behind me and someone entering.

When I turned my gaze and head, what I saw was.

A girl in a dress who had just entered the terrace and was closing the door, showing her back.
It was Lady Aura von Aust, the protagonist of this party.

“…Lady Duchess?”
“Excuse me, I didn’t realize there was already someone here. You were Free from House Phoenix, weren’t you? Young master.”
“What brings you here?”
“It’s nothing. I just wanted to rest a bit, as I had something to think about.”
“……”

Judging by the tone of her speech, it seemed she hadn’t come out suddenly without the duke’s permission.

That’s fine then.

“I see. Then I’ll leave you to it.”
“There’s no need to leave on my account. ……No, ah. I’d actually be grateful if you could keep me company.”
“…If that’s what you wish, gladly.”

I don’t know what was going on, but judging by the expression and tone of the duke’s daughter, it seemed something was amiss.

“Do you have some sort of concern?”
“……”

The duke’s daughter didn’t answer immediately but quietly approached the terrace railing I had been leaning against.

Then, grasping the railing with both hands, she looked up at the starlit night sky where the Milky Way was visible.

Among them, a blue crescent moon was also present.

I couldn’t easily guess what could be troubling the duke’s daughter.

The duke’s daughter finally spoke. In response to my question-like inquiry, with a quite precocious and serious tone and atmosphere that didn’t match her age.

“…It’s nothing important, really.”
Is it because she’s the daughter of a duke?

“……”
From the first words, the impression given was that it wasn’t nothing at all.

And of course, I didn’t take it at face value either.

As I just quietly kept my mouth shut, ready to listen to the story, she naturally brought up the next words first.

“Honestly… it might be important to me. Even if it’s not to others. I’m really troubled because of this.”

That statement seemed to mean that while it might be a trivial concern to others, it wasn’t trivial to her personally.

So I quietly asked once more.

“What exactly is this concern?”

I wasn’t particularly fond of beating around the bush.
The sensitivities of men and women are different.

I was well aware of that fact.

Because I wasn’t actually the young age I appeared to be.

The young lady bit her lower lip once before finally speaking with difficulty.

“…I, I respect my father. I’ve respected him. All this time.”

Gripping the railing tightly with one hand, the young lady continued speaking.

“But not now. Rather, I feel a greater disappointment towards Father. I, I……”

She soon looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment, trying hard to hold back as she barely managed to utter her next words to me.

“I want to… remain a swordsman. No matter what anyone says, until the end…”
“……”

Although much was omitted from her words, it was clearly felt that the young lady was currently experiencing a disappointment greater than respect for her father and was saddened by it.

I, who had been quietly keeping my mouth shut, found myself asking without realizing.

“When you say you want to remain a swordsman, does that mean you’re no longer a swordsman?”
“……”

The young lady was silent.
After a long silence, she soon answered my question. With sorrowful eyes looking up at the night sky.

“…Father told me to learn magic instead of swordsmanship. Saying that the era of knights has passed and the era of magicians has come.”

The young lady continued speaking.
In a mournful voice.

“…I don’t like it. I’m not unaware of why Father said such things to me. I know and understand it all. But precisely because I already understand it all. Honestly, that’s why it’s even more incomprehensible. My father, who had such high reputation and fame with just a sword, is now essentially urging me, his daughter, to give up and no longer wield a sword.”

After hearing her story, I understood the situation to some extent at once.
The young lady might be making one big misunderstanding.

I said.

“Lady Aura. How about talking to your father once more? As I carefully listened to your words, it seems to me that there might have been quite a big misunderstanding between the two of you.”
“A misunderstanding…? What kind of misunderstanding…”
“I won’t say something unreasonable like asking you to trust me, a stranger you’ve just met today. However, at least trust Duke Aust once more, whom you’ve respected and believed in all this time. Even if my guess is wrong, let’s try talking once more first.”
“……”
“It’s certainly unavoidable that your assertions and opinions differ. However, choosing not to continue the conversation after just one dialogue is only choosing to stagnate rather than progress.”
That’s what I thought.
“As you talk, opportunities for mutual improvement might arise, don’t you think? So how about trying to set up another opportunity for dialogue with Duke Aust?”
“……”

At my unexpectedly serious words, Lady Aura seemed somewhat surprised and at the same time wore a slightly disgruntled expression.

Then soon, she placed her clenched fist under her mouth and laughed once.

“…You, despite your seemingly quiet appearance, you speak quite eloquently.”
“…If all I’ve said so far ends with just such an impression, it would be quite painful for me.”
“Hehehe, now I see you have quite a sense of humor too.”
“……”
“Alright. I’ll try to talk seriously with Father once more. After hearing your words, for some reason, I feel like I want to talk with Father separately right now. Thank you. Sincerely.”
“I’m glad if it was helpful. Well then, I’ll be going now, as the weather is quite chilly.”

As I was leaving, the young lady suddenly called out to me as if to stop me.

“Wait…! Just a moment!”
“?”

As I stopped and turned my head, Aura smiled shyly with her hands behind her back and said.

“…We’ll be able to see each other again, right?”

To that question, I answered with a faint smile.

“If fate allows it.”

With those final words, I turned my head again, opened the door, and left the terrace.

Left alone in that place, Aura lifted her head to the sky and, still with her hands clasped behind her back, muttered to herself meaningfully.

“Fate, huh… It would be nice if we could meet somewhere again. I heard he was the same age as me, but he didn’t seem like it at all. He was an interesting person.”
In other words, he seemed too mature for his age.
To the extent that he seemed like someone she could rely on…

At the end of her gaze towards the sky, the twinkling Milky Way seemed to be watching over them secretly, shimmering shyly.