The wizard is reincarnated last Time

Chapter 12

The first time we met, and now this time as well.

I had only shown Clementine the sides of myself I didn’t want her to see.

Even with my eyes closed, the image of Clementine bursting into tears in Petron’s arms was vivid, as if burned into my memory.

I hadn’t been able to say anything to Clementine… I should have told her I was okay, not to worry.

When I opened my eyes again, the afterimage lingered, and the familiar sight of my room slowly came into focus.

My breathing had evened out. The constricting pain in my chest had subsided.

The harsh, rasping breaths that had scraped at my throat and lungs were gone.

My body felt languid and heavy, as if waterlogged, but I managed to push back the covers and sit up.

The room was quiet and dark. The door was closed, and it was the middle of the night outside the window.

I realized that not much time had passed.

I could hear the low murmur of voices from downstairs.

Had Clementine gone home? What about the others?

I thought about going out, but I didn’t have the energy.

…Wait.

I glanced over and noticed an unfamiliar object on the table.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to bring it into focus.

Even on second glance, it was a strange-looking thing.

At first, I thought it was a clear, round glass cup.

But the long handle was wrapped in wood, and the top was a completely sealed glass sphere.  Inside, a shimmering golden liquid filled about half the sphere.

I knew instantly that the liquid was infused with mana. The golden mana pulsed, emitting a soft glow.

A magical tool I had never seen before.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I reached for it.

Strangely, as I did, the golden liquid inside the glass sphere began to ripple and churn.

The mana emanating from my body was reacting with the liquid inside.

“Liv! Are you listening?”

Wadin’s loud voice startled me, and I flinched.

The ball of light that had been forming in my palm instantly vanished.

“Ah…”

I sighed softly in disappointment.  It had been going so well.

“I asked you several times if you had a lesson at the tower today.”

Wadin, having finally lost his patience, looked down at me from the top of the stepladder.

Sitting on the worn wooden floor of the library, I replied somewhat irritably,

“Yes.  But I need to stop by the medical center first.”

“To see Holy Mage Grain?”

“Yes…”

I noticed Wadin looking at me intently.

“Why?”

I asked, chuckling.

Wadin hesitated, then frowned and said gruffly,

“Well, if you’re scared of getting checked, I can go with you.”

“Or do *you* want to go to the medical center?”

I chuckled. Wadin’s face flushed.

“No!  Why would I?”

“You admire Brother Grain.  You want to be a holy mage, you enjoy looking around the medical center…”

“Shut up.”

Wadin grumbled, easily irritated as always. I laughed.

Then, my breath hitched, and I started coughing.  A sharp, aching pain spread through my chest.

I tried to breathe slowly. My palms grew damp with sweat.

A wheezing sound escaped my throat, but it gradually subsided as I steadied my breathing.

“…Are you alright?”

Wadin waited until my breathing had calmed down before asking softly.

I nodded.

“Yes. Let’s go to the medical center together.”

“If you say, ‘Please come with me’.”

Wadin’s cheekiness made me laugh again. I said dramatically,

“Please come with me, Master Wadin.”

“Alright, alright.  If I must.”

Wadin chuckled, as if amused by his own words.

Our laughter echoed through the quiet, empty library.

I felt much better after laughing a little.

It had been five years since we moved to Prion.

Now that I could control my mana, I could manage the sudden seizures to some extent.

However, I still had to go to Ervan Medical Center for regular checkups.

Severe seizures sometimes caused me to lose consciousness or experience other symptoms, often leading to hospitalization.

It wasn’t easy to live a normal life like other children in Prion under these circumstances.

I started attending Prion Elementary School around the time I began learning to control my mana from Luwen.

I was a little over seven years old then.

Although I enrolled, my poor health often kept me from attending classes. Even when I did go, seizures frequently forced me to leave early.

Naturally, opportunities to make friends were limited.

Instead, I often sought refuge in the elementary school library.

To keep up with my studies, do my homework, observe other children, and, of course, read.

I met Wadin Lifeldt in the library.

He was the son of a merchant who ran a shop in the West Market, and his parents had deliberately enrolled him in this elementary school.

As a result, in a school primarily attended by children of knights and organization officials, Wadin felt quite out of place, and he naturally gravitated towards the library, just like me.

Wadin wasn’t easy to get along with, and it hadn’t been long since we had started talking.

Perhaps he had taken pity on me, seeing my constant struggles with illness, and had decided to be my friend.

Cheers erupted from outside the open window.

I looked up from my book and glanced outside.

The Arton Siege Memorial Festival was approaching.

It was the only festival, held every three years, and during this time, Prion was abuzz with preparations.

Even our small elementary school was no exception.

The students were busy preparing for the festival parade, building large props, practicing elaborate routines, and getting their costumes ready.

I had never participated in the parade, but I had seen my classmates excitedly preparing for it.

“Such children.”

Wadin scoffed at the commotion outside, even though he himself was only twelve.

“They’ll be doing this until they’re sick of it when they go to the Knight Academy or higher-level schools.  What’s so fun about it?”

“But you’re going to watch the festival parade, right, Wady?”

“It’s right in front of my house.  Where else would I be?”

Oh, right.  His house was in the shopping district.

I recalled Wadin’s house, which I had visited once.

I had stayed overnight, and Wadin’s parents, his older brother, and his sister were all kind and welcoming.

Wadin, perhaps, had been the least friendly.

“Your parents must be busy…”

“It’s chaos.  They’re doing all sorts of special events for the festival, so the streets, which are already crowded, are absolutely packed.”

“Wow.”

“Even in the middle of the night, the taverns are full of people singing and making noise. I can’t even sleep.”

Wadin launched into a litany of complaints about the festival, as if he had been waiting for the opportunity.

I listened with amusement.

Despite his grumbling, he would be more excited than anyone when the festival actually arrived.

“Clementine has been talking about the three of us going to the festival for weeks.”

“Ugh… speaking of which, isn’t it strange that I’m included?”

Wadin groaned.

“Why?”

“Well, Clementine is the White Knight’s granddaughter, and you’re the Blue Knight’s son…  And I’m just the utterly ordinary son of a merchant.”

“So what?”

Wadin frowned, looking down at me from his perch on the stepladder.

“It’s not strange, it’s just… I feel a little ridiculous.”

“I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because I’m not the son of a merchant.”

I grinned, and Wadin, annoyed, dropped the book he was holding onto my head.

*Thud.*

Although it wasn’t a heavy book, it was a blow that conveyed Wadin’s displeasure perfectly.

“Put the book back where it belongs.”

I picked up the beginner’s holy magic textbook that had hit me and looked up.

Wadin was climbing down the stepladder, a sullen expression on his face.

He was acting like this just because I had teased him, because I had laughed.  Such a child.

I sighed and stood up, picking up the two books.

These two seemed to have been quite high up, and Wadin didn’t seem inclined to climb the ladder again.

“Oh, well.”

I took a deep breath and summoned my mana.

The two books, enveloped in a mass of mana, floated into the air.

Wadin, despite having seen this many times, stared in fascination.

I chuckled and lifted Wadin’s book to the highest shelf.

Carefully controlling my mana, I placed the book in the empty space.

The process was similar to picking up a book and putting it back on the shelf with my hands.

The only difference was that I was using mana instead of my hands, and although I could clearly see its movements, it was invisible to others.

To Wadin, it would appear as if the book was moving and returning to its place on its own.

I called this ability “Visible Mana.”

Just because the mana did the work for me didn’t mean it didn’t require effort.

Using mana always consumed my stamina.  However, because I could see it, the process of recognizing and controlling it was much easier.

Wadin was looking at me as if I had performed some amazing feat.

I smiled, taking a weary breath.

“I… think it’s more amazing that the son of a merchant is our friend.”

Surprise flickered across Wadin’s face, which then flushed red.

He scratched his messy, light brown hair and looked away.

“Let’s go if you’re done.”

“Okay.”

I chuckled and followed Wadin out of the library.

The hallways and classrooms were quiet. All the children seemed to have gone out to prepare for the festival.

Our chattering voices echoed through the small school.

“…You’ll need to train more if you want to pass.  And practice your swordsmanship.”

“I know.”

Wadin grumbled as he walked ahead.

“I’m applying for the Holy Magic Department, so I don’t know why I have to take physical strength and swordsmanship tests.”

“Even holy mages need to be able to defend themselves.”

Despite his grumbling, Wadin quickly fell silent and agreed.

Most children in Prion had the opportunity to enter the Knight Academy after their twelfth birthday.

Of course, having the opportunity didn’t guarantee admission.  They had to pass the notoriously difficult entrance exam.

Although the difficulty varied depending on the department, whether it was Holy Magic or Magic, basic physical strength and swordsmanship skills were mandatory.

In any case, it had little to do with me.

Although my twelfth birthday was approaching, I hadn’t even considered the Knight Academy.

With my stamina, which couldn’t even keep up with ordinary children, I wouldn’t be able to pass the entrance exam.

“If you’re worried about the practical exam, should I ask Brother Shuren to teach you?”

Wadin considered my suggestion.

“Isn’t Brother Shuren in his final year? Wouldn’t he be busy?”

“That’s true.  But if you tell me you want to train, I’ll talk to him.”

“Hmm…”

“You don’t like training.”

I preempted Wadin’s words.  I knew exactly what he was thinking and what he was about to say.

Wadin, his lines stolen, scowled.

“But to pass the exam, well… I do need to train…  I’ll think about it.”

“Suit yourself. If you decide to, I’ll ask him for you.”

I said magnanimously.

“What interesting things are you two talking about?”

A cheerful voice came from the bottom of the stairs.

A girl with her silver hair neatly tied back and wearing a light green dress was looking up at us.

“Ah, Clementine.”

“Hi. Liv, Wady.”

Clementine nodded at us, as if she had expected to find us here.

“You were in the library, weren’t you? I was just coming to get you.”

“You didn’t have to come all the way here.”

I grumbled slightly.

For some reason, Clementine always seemed to know when I had a checkup at the medical center.

Perhaps because we had been together since we were young, Clementine was particularly attentive to my well-being.

She insisted on accompanying me to the medical center even for routine checkups.

“Don’t be silly. Of course, I have to come.  Besides, I’m here instead of Brother Shuren today.”

“Why Brother Shuren?”

“He seems to be busy with festival preparations at school. Actually, he was going to come even though he’s busy, but I told him I would go instead. I met him in front of the school.”

We walked down the stairs together.

Shuren had continued to look after me even while attending the Knight Academy, but since becoming a senior this year, he had become busier with preparations for his graduation exam.

And with the added burden of the Knight Academy’s festival preparations, he must have been overwhelmed.

I could go to the medical center by myself, but neither Shuren nor Clementine would hear of it.

A familiar coachman was waiting for us in front of the elementary school.