24

Ruine saw the world with a cold, detached gaze.

Ever since she was small, people called her a genius.

They said she was the most talented person in House Urashima's history.

She picked up most things without difficulty.

She looked down on people her own age, and even many adults.

Knowledge-wise, adults might sometimes surpass her, but in raw intellect, almost none could beat her.

Actually, she found that plenty of adults were more ignorant than she was.

Some praised her as "the brilliant duke's daughter," while others called her arrogant behind her back.

Some tried to flatter her, and others kept their distance.

But Ruine didn't care about any of them.

The worst were those who wanted to use her mind for their own gain.

They never thought for themselves; they just asked for her opinion.

They accepted whatever she said because she was a duke's daughter.

She looked down on such people and became even colder.

She didn't feel anything anymore.

Not even mastering Nirai Kanai—a spell nobody had used in a hundred years—stirred her emotions.

People said it was a big accomplishment for House Urashima, but Ruine didn't care.

But right now, Ruine was feeling something new: awe.

Absolute Zero.

A spell she'd never heard of.

Probably Arc's original creation.

But it wasn't the fact that it was new that amazed her.

It was how beautiful the magic itself was.

Arc took out more than ten black golems at once.

He didn't seem to need any setup time.

Sharix Theory can drastically reduce the time needed to form a magic formula.

You can instantly prepare a high-level formula for chant-free magic.

Then you can layer incanted magic on top of it for stronger effects.

But chant-free and incanted magic are fundamentally different.

Using both at once is like having two completely separate thought processes going simultaneously.

It's like trying to look left and right at the same time.

Strictly speaking, Arc was doing them in sequence, not literally at the same time, but it's still incredibly hard.

Yet he did it easily, in an instant.

The difficulty level was on par with Ruine's Nirai Kanai, a top-tier spell.

So Absolute Zero must be at least top-tier, and Arc unleashed it in an instant.

Ruine marveled at the seamless method and the magic's breathtaking beauty.

Of course, in reality, Arc can't handle top-tier magic by himself.

He relies on the engraved magic inscriptions on his body to cast chant-free spells.

All he really does is the incanted part, and it's a simple low-level chant at that.

Even so, engraving your entire body with magic is crazy. Nobody in their right mind does that.

In the past, people tried to create "enhanced humans" by carving magic formulas into orphans, but it failed.

Almost everyone died, and the survivors ended up with broken magic circuits.

That's why nobody chooses to get engraved.

Anyway, that's a separate story.

Ruine doesn't know Arc has engraving.

So to her, it looks like he's handling chant-free and incanted magic at the same time.

So she's really impressed by his skill.

"So beautiful…"

Ruine had never seen anyone her age who seemed "smarter" than she was.

She stared at Arc with sparkling eyes.

Of course, Arc's mind isn't actually that remarkable—he's basically normal…

And so, another misunderstanding began.

◇　◇　◇

Fwahahahaha!

Golems are so easy!

The black ones might be a bit tougher, but they're still no match for me.

They're just cockroaches with extra stamina.

No way they can beat me!

Hahaha!

I kept smashing black golems.

Looks like that red-haired guy and the duke's daughter are here too.

Odd pair.

Doesn't matter to me.

But seriously, when does this dumb exercise end?

I'm bored.

"Arc."

The duke's daughter spoke to me.

Huh?

I'm busy.

I need to finish so I can go home.

"Thank you. You saved me again."

"Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't trying to save you. You were just in my line of fire."

I don't go around saving people.

I live for myself only.

"That may be, but you still saved me."

Whatever, believe what you want.

"Why... why do you always show up and mess everything up for me?!"

The redhead suddenly snapped.

"You ruined my resolve. I would've beaten them if not for you! If you hadn't interfered—!"

Ugh, how annoying.

"Know your place."

I froze his lower body.

"...?!"

"Only foolish dogs bark non-stop. Are you one of them? If so, I'll gladly shut your mouth."

I'm irritated.

I just want to go home.

No time for some random commoner.

"Why are you always one step ahead…?"

"Because I'm above you. Didn't I say it before? Know your place."

"…Tch."

He glared at me, but I ignored him.

Not worth my time.

"――――"

The ground suddenly rumbled.

"What… is that?"

Ruine pointed upward.

A huge black golem towered there.

"Oh, I see."

That must be this exercise's final boss.

If I beat that, this pointless training ends.

"What do you mean?"

"If I kill it, it's over."

"…You really think you can beat that monster?"

"If you can't, then just watch. I'll do it alone."

It's big, but it's just a golem.

I'll blast it away with my ultimate ice spell in one hit!