Side Story Part 1

Side Story: Father and daughter

「I’m sorry for calling you when you’re so busy. 」

Tiberio Meletes, the patriarch of the Meletes family and a member of the Sages Committee, the decision-making body of the entire Mages Association called out to the young Mage in front of him with a smile on his wrinkled face.

As the patriarch Tiberio sat back in his chair, the young Mage called Aubest bowed to him quietly and stood up and remained still and stiff.

「You can rest easy now. 」

When Tiberio called out to him as such, Aubest sat down in the seat that was prepared for him. There was no expression on his face whatsoever.

「Tell me, what do you think of your duties as the contracted Mage of the Kraische Archduke family? 」

「I have made sure to always complete the tasks given to me by my seniors without fail. 」

When Tiberio asked, Aubest answered in a flat voice.

「Yes, that’s certainly true. I was the one who recommended you to make a contract with the Archduke Matthias Kraische, so I expect you to continue carrying out your duties with the utmost dignity, since right now, not only me, but everyone else recognizes your excellence as well. 」

「I will continue to do my best to meet your expectations, sir. 」

Aubest said calmly and remained silent afterwards. Seeing this, Tiberio let out yet another wry smile. Although he is extremely talented as a Mage, Aubest’s personality could only be described as difficult. That was the unanimous assessment of everyone who knew Aubest of the Meletes family.
He usually keeps his face expressionless and only responds to any questions that are being asked of him with an absolute minimum of words required. It was as if he had somehow left his emotions behind after concluding that he had no use of them whatsoever.

Aubest is Tiberio’s adopted son. The ability to sense Chaos, which is essential for a Mage, is not passed down from parent to child. Therefore, in the society of Mages, blood relationships do not exist, and since ancient times, the relationship between master and disciple has been valued more than anything else, and every Mage who adopted a child was doing their best to pass everything they managed to learn to their adopted children, who would in time become their successors.

The Mages Association was established, and the institutions of Magic Academy and Magic University along with it, followed by the unification of the training methods for Mages, but even with all those changes, the system of Mages adopting children was not abolished.

Children who enter Magic Academy are completely cut off from their families, adopted by a Mage, and are placed in the family to which their adoptive father or mother belongs. Tiberio had also adopted four children before Aubest. However, out of these five children, Aubest is the first to become a Mage, since the other adopted children were not able to go to Magic Academy because their sensitivity to Chaos wasn’t high enough.

「The reason I asked you to come back to the family estate temporarily is because I have a favor to ask of you. 」

Tiberio began to speak again.

「A favor? What kind of favor would that be? 」

「The other day, one of the family Mages found a child with the talent for being a Mage and brought her back to Elam. I would like you to become that child’s adoptive father. 」

「You want me to be an adoptive father for a child? I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I’m cut out for something like that. 」

Aubest answered immediately.
「There is no aptitude to being an adoptive father. Also, it is the duty of a full-fledged Mage to adopt a child at some point and pay for the child’s upbringing so that they could become their successors, but since the children sent to the Magic Academy and Magic University live in the dormitories, there’s no need to be taking care of them all the time. Tat being said, that girl is going to be entering the Magic Academy and cutting off the ties with her family, so I’m sure that she’s going to be feeling sad and lonely, so I want you to treat her with utmost love and affection. 」

Tiberio secretly hoped that having to take care an adopted child would bring about a positive change in Aubest’s heart.

「That’s why it’s going to be impossible for me. I have no idea how to interact with children, and they’re not teaching anything about love and affection at Magic Academy or Magic University. 」

Aubest shook his head very slowly. There was an awkwardness to it, like a door swinging on their own hinges in the wind.

「I understand your worries, but believe me, taking care of a child is not as tough of a task as it might seem at first glance. All you have to do is give them anything they want if they ask for it and evaluate their behavior properly. 」

Tiberio said a little irritably. Aubest himself was a completely hassle-free child. He only wanted things that were truly essential for him, and he always followed what Tiberio was teaching him without complaining. However, Tiberio knew perfectly well that this was not because he wanted to be obedient, but because Aubest was extremely shy as a child. That shyness of his was one of the reasons why he decided to dedicate his all to studying magic under Tiberio while minimizing the amount of contact with other people as much as possible.

Back when Aubest first arrived at the dormitories of the Magic Academy, he was extremely nervous and would stiffen up or even collapse when there were people around him. The same went for his adoptive father, Tiberio.

However, after a while, he became a child who didn’t show any facial expressions, and that particular habit has remained with him until the present day. He has become able to communicate with others to an absolute minimum that his social obligations required of him, but everyone around him found it creepy that he refused to show any emotion.

However, he was also highly intelligent, and his sensitivity in manipulating magic and sensing Chaos was on a completely different level in comparison to his peers. Thanks to that, he was quickly able to achieve excellent grades both in Magic Academy and Magic University.

Because of his superior abilities and unique personality, Sembros, the Headmaster of Magic University insisted that Aubest should remain at the University to work as a researcher, but Tiberio had altogether different plans for him. He expected his adopted son to become a full-fledged member of the Mages Association and work there for the benefit of the Meletes family. But in order for that ideal scenario of his to come to fruition, he had to make sure that Aubest’s troublesome personality would be corrected.

The reason why he made him make a contract with the Archduke Kraische, who was widely known for having an excellent Magic Division, was to have him learn various things other than magic there.

However, from what he’s heard, it seems that Aubest was being isolated in the Kraische family’s Magic Division and was being made to do chores and nothing else.

What Aubest needed he most right now was to develop his interpersonal skills. Tiberio thought that adopting a child and interacting with them would be a good way to train him in those areas.

(And if that doesn’t work, I’ll have no choice but to send him to the Magic University.)

As long as he’s going to keep dealing with Chaos, he’s h=going to remain the absolute best in his field.

「You’re to immediately go to the dormitories of the Magic Academy and meet with the Academy’s superintendent, Ms. Servia, from whom you’ll receive further instructions. I will tolerate no objections in this matter. This is a family’s decision, after all. 」

Tiberio said with dignity.

「Understood. 」

Aubest slowly lowered his head and raised it again. Once he was out of the room, a heavy sigh escaped from the Meletes family’s patriarch who remained in the room.

「Do you really think this man has what it takes to be an adoptive father? 」

The Mage who was sitting next to him on the right called out to him with hesitation in his voice.

「If he’s going to have a child from now on, then he’s going to have no choice but to learn how to be a proper parent, right? 」

Tiberio said so with a frown.

「And besides, there are many things you can learn from your children. When I adopted Aubest, I realized how much of a mysterious creatures humans really are. 」

「Is Aubest really human, though? Sometimes I think he’s just a projection from another world considering the way he conducts himself. 」