Genius 5.1

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Chapter 5.1. The Truth of Magic And Apprenticeship

"...I'm Hermes."

Though he had many doubts, Hermes answered straightforwardly as he was asked for his name.

The wounds he had received from the previous assaults seemed to have been healed by her almost casually, as he felt no more pain.

"Um, thank you for saving me."

"Oh, don't mention it. I just beat them up because they pissed me off."

Rose, who had shown hostility just moments ago, now spoke in a friendly manner, quite different from her previous demeanor. Her change in attitude, somewhat innocent, coupled with her beauty, gave her an otherworldly impression similar to before.

"But it's strange."

At that moment, Rose tilted her head, as if noticing something.

"You, from what I gathered from your sensing ability, you're quite a powerful magician, right? Those guys were decently strong, but it doesn't seem like someone as strong as you would just let themselves get caught, right...?"

"Ah!"

He knew she meant no harm by her words.

However, her question brought back memories.

Hermes was a failure of a magician, abandoned by his family.

The magic he had admired from her just moments ago, the embodiment of the great magician he had dreamed of becoming, was something he would never achieve in his lifetime.

"That... is..."

"!?"

Perhaps due to the relief of surviving or realizing his misery once again, he tried to explain. But Hermes couldn't find the words and ended up unable to hold back his tears.

"W-What's wrong!? Are your wounds hurting!? I thought I healed them perfectly..."

"N-No, that's not it..."

In front of the bewildered Rose, Hermes tried to speak through his sobs.

"I... I also wanted to become a magician like you... but it's impossible... I don't have... any magic of my own...!"

Since the day he was told he had no bloodline magic, he never gave up.

Surely someday, somewhere. Hermes continued to search for his own magic, resulting in his high magic manipulation ability and the sensing ability he had just demonstrated.

But—because of that, he finally understood.

There was not even a trace of magic in his blood. He would probably never find it.

The sweet fantasy of awakening magic hidden within him, unknown to anyone, was nothing but a fairy tale.

With his sharpened sensing ability, he had absolute confidence in this conclusion.

Ironically, everything he had trained for had only guaranteed his own despair.

"So... no matter how much I train... no matter how skilled I become in handling magic, it's all meaningless! It's all pointless...!"

Once he started speaking, he couldn't stop.

Hermes continued to talk as if a dam had burst. About being abandoned by his family, the treatment he had received, and how the girl who believed in him had gone far away.

It might have been an incoherent explanation, but Rose listened earnestly with a serious expression.

"I see..."

Eventually, after Hermes finished speaking.

"It might be weird for someone like me who just met you to sympathize, but... that sounds tough."

She hugged him slowly.

"!"

The warmth of a person he hadn't felt in a long time. The surprisingly soft and gentle touch of her skin and the sweet scent of flowers enveloped his entire body.

As she gently stroked his head, his heart was soothed, and tears flowed again.

"Don't worry about it, Hermes. Those noble jerks are just showing off with borrowed power. ...They really haven't changed at all."

She whispered in his ear like that. The first half gently, the latter half with a hint of darkness.

"Don't take what those guys say to heart. Even if you don't have Bloodline Magic... Huh?"

However, at that moment.

Rose's voice stopped abruptly, and she began to tremble all over.

"W-Wait, wait, wait. I was a little distracted by your overly tragic backstory and casually brushed it off. But you, you don't have Bloodline Magic!?"

She stepped back suddenly, her expression filled with shock.

"Uh, y-yeah."

Even from this amazing magician, not having bloodline magic seemed fatal... Hermes' heart was once again dominated by darkness.

"─But that's amazing!"

However, immediately afterward, something unexpected came from her mouth.