My head went blank for about three seconds after hearing the name.
‘Wasn’t this what was supposed to be absorbed by the heroine…?’
The heroine, who lived quietly, but the tyrant sub-male became obsessed with her, the tyrant who cut a person’s neck just because the heroine absorbed that sword.
Is that it?
Would it be possible that I would lose my life by being caught up in the war that the tyrant started? Or would I be captured by him and live with chains and shackles on my limbs?
In short, this Caliberne was the cause of the heroine’s struggle and hardships.
‘Crazy, not just that.’
I thought deeply as I saw the scale of the measuring instrument, that was already at its highest peak, and the official standing with his mouth open in amazement.
In the corner of my heart, I hoped that there would be a miracle to escape out of the orphanage with high magical power.
I also thought that it would be nice if I could become a magic swordsman and handle the sword again like my previous life.
‘But I didn’t want that wish to happen this way!’
My face turned pale and I shook my head, but the blue light surrounding my hands only grew brighter.
[Please take care of me.]
No, I wouldn’t ask.
I kept shaking my head and thought that I never wanted to get involved with the tyrant sub-male, but Caliberne seemed to know nothing about it.
[Then bye! I’ll get some sleep.]
As soon as Caliberne finished talking, the enormous blue light disappeared.
‘Wha- what…?
In my confusion, I took my hand off the measuring instrument.
Then, black smoke erupted from the measuring instrument, which was shaking as if it had broken down, and soon the measuring instrument stopped moving completely.
The director stood looking at the scene with a completely shocked expression.
Meanwhile, the official who came to his senses broke the silence and spoke to me.
“Oh, what’s your name?”
At the official’s word, the director distorted her expression and glared at the official.
“I- I’m Ciel.”
I answered the sudden official’s question without realizing it.
He opened his mouth in a serious voice as he stared at me in embarrassment.
“Yes, it’s Ciel. Right now, the palace was looking for a friend with a lot of mana like Ciel.”
My heart sank at the word of the Imperial Palace.
“If you go there, good people would take care of Ciel, and you can see the Imperial Palace.”
“Oh, ye-…”
I don’t really want to go.
If I run into that crazy prince and he finds out that I have Caliberne, I’d be dead.
“And if you’re lucky, you might be able to see your Majesty the Crown Prince.”
We’ve got a problem.
‘What’s going on?’
I really thought of wanting to escape the orphanage tens of thousands of times, but that didn’t mean I would go to the Imperial Palace.
It’s better to just live here than feeling threatened by meeting that crazy tyrant sub-male.
‘And I don’t want to leave the orphanage first.’
I wanted to take the rest of the kids out as well.
I’m sure it’s not me who’s really struggling right now, but other kids who are less than 10 years old.
“Wait a minute, there seems to be some mistake.”
As soon as I was desperately thinking about what to do, the director talked to the official.
“This measuring instrument looks like it’s broken, wasn’t it just a malfunction? A child who has never demonstrated magical powers couldn’t have this kind of magic!”
For a while there was a dispute between the two, and the official asked me in doubt.
“Ciel, could you show me that light again?”
Of course I couldn’t.
‘I don’t know how the light came out because Caliberne helped me earlier.’
I didn’t know what to do to show the light again.
I thought it was better.
“No.”
At my words, the director smiled satisfactorily, and the official, who could not give up, eventually brought a new measuring instrument.
Fortunately, when I touched the new measuring instrument, the scale stopped at zero and didn’t move at all.
“Look, I’m right, aren’t I?
In front of an openly regretful official, I watched the director laugh with a mean smile and said to myself.
‘Yes, that’s all I need.
There was another way to become a magic swordsman, even if I wasn’t called to the Imperial Palace.
If the director knew about Caliberne, I wouldn’t have liked it, but I just had to put up with it for a minute.
It was much better than being painfully involved in the original.
If I escape successfully from this orphanage and save money by finding a job, I could get a cheap sword and practice.
‘I don’t need to be greedy just to go to the Imperial Palace until I give my life as collateral.’
Yes, that’s definitely the case if I think about it rationally.
‘Go to the Imperial Palace and become a magic swordsman? It’s ridiculous.’
For some reason, the director’s words kept lingering in my ears.
The words sounded like a curse that I would never be able to hold a sword.
‘…No, there’s still plenty of opportunities.’
In my previous life, there were countless people who asked me how a kid like me who started sports so late could become part of the national team.
But in the end, I succeeded.
‘I could do it again this time. It’s too early to give up.’
When I thought so, my head was cleared up.
And I made up my mind.
First of all, I need to make plans to escape the orphanage, and to run away so that I wouldn’t have to encounter the tyrant sub-male
* * *
“Your Majesty.”
The quill pen, which was moving on the paper smoothly, stopped at the voice of the man who appeared with a huge amount of documents in neat clothes.
The red-eyed man, with his shiny black hair tied in a single strand, put down the quill he had just used and turned his head toward the man.
“I would post a report on the results of the magic measuring test conducted today.”
“Okay, go for it.”
In front of Emperor Deamant, who had his hands clasped with a face of half anxiety and half anticipation, the Emperor’s chief attendant reported.
“To this day, it was said that about 80% of the magic tests have been conducted on commoner children. The tests on the children of the aristocrats who haven’t been tested have been almost done.”
“Every single one?”
The Emperor’s red eyes narrowed with a sharp glow.
“Yes, it’s easy to secure the list for aristocrats.”
“So, is there still no news of a child who could be a candidate?”
“That’s a little vague, Your Majesty.”
The chief attendant flipped the thick papers around and talked.
“Vague?”
“Yes.”
“Explain in detail.”
“There was a child who stood out at the Herseli orphanage outside.”
The chief servant picked a piece of paper from a pile of papers and handed it to the emperor.
“This kid?”
“Yes, apparently it hasn’t been long since this child had entered this orphanage. It was confirmed that it was her first magic measuring test today.”
“But this kid…”
The emperor, looking closely at the papers, said, frowning slightly.
“It says the magical power index was zero.”
The child the emperor needed was a child who was overflowing with magical power enough to retain its own magical power even after passing it on to others.
A child who knows how to handle the overflowing magical power to some extent, and could help the prince learn swordsmanship.
So, the Emperor was curious about what the chief was talking about because the chief attendant was talking about a child who seemed to have no magical power at all.
“That’s, it’s the number that came out after retesting several times.”
The chief servant lifted up his glasses and talked.
“The first time the child did the test, the scale of the meter went up to the very end.”
“To the very end?”
“Yes. But right after that, the measuring instrument broke down, so I retested it several times with another measuring instrument in case it was an error.”
“Then, it means that the magical power was 0 at that time.”
“Yes, in principle, the child’s figure was recorded as zero because the result sheet should contain the figures from the retest.”
“But you dare to bring out this child’s story…”
A keen light passed through the Emperor’s eyes, pointing his finger at the documents.
“You’re saying there’s something about the kid, right?”
“Yes.”
The chief attendant smiled at the Emperor’s words.
“When the child touched the measuring instrument, a dazzling blue light surrounded the child.”
The Emperor stopped at those words.
“No way, wasn’t it possible to be the child of an oracle?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor’s eyes, looking at the papers of the magic test results of the children in the Herseli Orphanage, were sharp like an eagle aiming for prey.
‘Originally, a magical test was conducted to find a child of an oracle among the children who looked good…’
It was a step I took because it would be difficult to find the ‘child who handles the blue light’, who said that the oracle would help the Crown Prince from the beginning.
The problem was that such a child had not been seen so far.
Although the magic power test in each province ran toward the end, no child with enough mana to fill another person ever appeared.
In the meantime, there was a child who was raised with the possibility that it might have had that much magical power.
It fits perfectly with the description of the oracle.
‘You could never miss it. You must check immediately.’
The Emperor slowly opened his mouth as he looked at the number zero written on the result sheet.
“…Even if it’s not the kid we’re looking for, it doesn’t matter.”
The Emperor, who handed the result paper to the attendant, ordered in a strong voice.
“This kid, bring it to the Imperial Palace tomorrow.”