Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 167: The Royal Mage Corps Training Ground
After finishing lunch and draining my hot tea, I headed towards the Royal Mage Corps training ground. Today was magic practice. Tomorrow would be swordsmanship. I was expected to alternate between the two day by day.
I’d argued passionately that there was no need for any of this and that training at the townhouse would be more than enough, but Brother Alex refused to give me permission.
Did he think I would skip practice? How insulting.
Several mages were already firing test spells at targets when I arrived. The shots were scattered rather than coordinated, so this probably wasn’t formal corps training. Maybe this was a period when people could practise freely.
“Young Master Julius, the gentleman over there’s Commander Campolla of the Royal Mage Corps. He’ll be instructing you.”
“What? The commander himself is going to teach me?”
“I was told that you’re talented with magic.”
Who had said that? Father? Brother Alex? More importantly, exactly how much had they told him? I’d planned to hold back during both magic and sword practice so I wouldn’t stand out, but this could ruin the whole plan. I would have to be careful.
Several children stood near Commander Campolla, all roughly my age. So this time slot was for teaching children. If so, they might be children of famous noble houses. Handle with care.
My servant escorted me over, said something quietly to Commander Campolla, then stepped away.
“I’ve been waiting for you. You’re the child of Margrave Heine, I hear. His Majesty told me about you, but I’ll treat you exactly the same as the others.”
“That’s what I would prefer. Thank you for having me.”
I exchanged greetings with the other children. One was Pietro Campolla. He was probably the commander’s son. His confident expression strongly resembled his father’s, and he clearly took pride in his magic.
Perfect. He could make an excellent lightning rod for attention.
Training consisted mostly of fundamentals. Good. Basics were important. Each child cast magic at a prepared target. I copied them and used appropriately ordinary spells. I also remembered to miss the target from time to time and slump my shoulders in disappointment. An essential rule when pretending to be a normal child.
“Hmm. I’d heard the reports, but you do have good instincts, Julius.”
“Thank you.”
That had been enough? Apparently even my restrained performance was impressive for a child. Pietro was already glaring at me. Had I been declared a rival? What a nuisance.
Pietro continued hitting the target like everyone else, but he also mixed in spells that hadn’t been assigned.
“Pietro. Why are you casting magic I didn’t instruct you to use?”
“Father, I’ll never become stronger if I use nothing but weak magic.”
“That may be so, but…”
In Pietro’s mind, he was probably demonstrating how amazing his stronger magic was. The other children lowered their heads because they couldn’t use it. The spell itself was nothing special to me, but I kept that to myself.
Perhaps deciding to accommodate his son’s request, Commander Campolla changed the exercise to a more difficult spell. None of the other children could cast it. Of course I could, but I pretended I couldn’t. I had no desire to attract even more attention.
The children soon became bored with practising a spell they couldn’t make work. That was understandable. Target practice was more fun because you could feel that you’d actually cast something successfully. Perhaps Commander Campolla had chosen target practice for exactly that reason.
“It looks as though I’m the only one who can cast it. If I keep training at the same level as everyone else, won’t my talent be buried? I want to train with the Royal Mage Corps.”
“No. You may participate in corps training only after you come of age. Until then, you’ll continue with the fundamentals.”
“But—”
“No.”
Pietro pressed his lips together. He clearly wasn’t convinced. Still, fundamentals mattered. In games and sports alike, unless the basics had been drilled down to the unconscious level, they wouldn’t serve you when it truly mattered.
The training ended with Pietro still muttering under his breath. That meant my duties at the royal castle were finished for the day. I was free!
But before enjoying my freedom, I wanted to make a friend.
I spoke to a brown-haired boy standing nearby. I had friends in the territorial capital, but none in the royal capital. Father and the others had worried about that. In that case, I simply had to make some.
“Is Pietro always like that?”
“Huh? U-um… yes. He wants to use lots of more impressive magic. I couldn’t possibly do that.”
“You’re Ijidol, right?”
Ijidol Capuson. That was his name. He had large round eyes and brown hair. If I compared him to a small animal, he was definitely a squirrel. He looked timid too.
“Yes. And you’re Lord Julius Heine.”
“Just Julius is fine. We’re training partners, aren’t we?”
“Then please call me Ijidol.”
His expression softened a little. I invited him for tea, and thankfully he agreed. I asked my servant to secure a table in the lounge, and by the time we arrived everything had already been prepared.
“Don’t hold back. Eat as much as you like. My brother is paying.”
“Is that really all right?”
“Don’t worry. He told me to come here, so he can take proper responsibility for the expenses.”
We laughed together. Now it was time to gather information over tea. In particular, I needed to know about the children who entered the royal castle regularly. I had to remove any political landmines before I accidentally stepped on them.
“Why do you attend the magic training, Ijidol? Father and Brother Alex forced me into it.”
“My father serves in the Royal Mage Corps. Children of corps members are allowed to attend that training until they enter the academy.”
So children with talented parents were trained from an early age to develop their potential. It was a reasonably sound system.
“Do you dislike magic?”
“No, but I don’t think I have the same talent Father does.”
“Why?”
For some reason his eyes looked ready to tear up. I absolutely didn’t feel my heart skip a beat.
“I can’t learn new spells like Pietro can.”
“Everyone has things they’re good and bad at. You don’t have to become the same as Pietro.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
For better or worse, Pietro seemed to drag everyone around him into comparing themselves with him. There might be other children worrying the same way Ijidol did. Training children early was good, but I hoped nobody was giving them strange complexes or trauma in the process.