I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 42

“Hmm.”

Randel stood in front of a house near the lord’s castle.

The house was quite decent.

It wasn’t a mansion, but it was a two-story brick house sufficient for a family of five.

It felt like a house that a wealthy merchant had built with good materials for his family.

“……”

After examining the house for a moment, Randel carefully opened the door.

The first thing that caught his eye was the spacious living room and the table.

Then he saw the large fireplace, and in front of it, a middle-aged woman warming herself.

Randel spoke quietly.

“Mom, I’m home.”

At those words, the mother, who was sitting in a rocking chair, turned around in surprise towards Randel.

“Randel!”

Randel hugged his mother who had run to him and asked.

“Have you been well?”

“Of course, you rascal! How’s your health?”

“Well, I’m always the same. I heard you were coming in the spring after tidying up the village house, but you came early.”

“I came a week ago. Your father said if we were going to move anyway, we should do it before winter comes, so we hurried.”

“Our village near the forest is very cold, isn’t it? Father made a good decision.”

“But I don’t know what all this is. Can we really live in such a house?”

The mother asked, looking around the house with anxious eyes.

The third son, Randel, suddenly became a wizard.

She couldn’t understand it, but she accepted it as it was.

She also understood that he was being well-treated by the lord because of his talent.

But she didn’t expect this level of treatment.

Soldiers escorted the family to the lord’s castle.

As soon as they arrived, butlers and servants swarmed and provided such a nice house.

It didn’t feel real at all.

“Of course. Everything has already been arranged. I personally chose this house a few months ago.”

“Really? No wonder Mom liked it so much.”

“Mom, you’ve always wanted a spacious kitchen, remember? That’s why I chose this house.”

“I see.”

“Oh dear, you haven’t unpacked yet.”

Perhaps feeling uneasy about the sudden change in environment, the moving boxes brought from the village were still piled up in one corner.

“Just in case the situation changes…”

“You don’t have to worry about that. We didn’t get this house for free. I received it on the condition that I work in this territory later.”

“I know that, but it still makes me anxious.”

“Do you still not believe that I’m a wizard?”

“Oh no, I believe you, my son.”

“Let me show you again. Water.”

Splash.

“Oh my goodness!”

Randell’s mother was startled when something suddenly appeared in midair.

But she soon realized it was just a blob of water and laughed awkwardly.

“Is Randell back?!”

“Brother!”

At the sound of their mother’s surprise, the family members upstairs all poked their heads out.

As the family who discovered Randell came rushing down, the mother took Randell’s hand and said,

“Come on. I’ll set the table for you.”

Randell nodded with a smile.

* * *

While the mother was preparing the meal.

The first thing Randell did was persuade them.

He told them to unpack their things because they wouldn’t be kicked out of this house.

Although everyone hesitated, they followed Randell’s words, went to their respective rooms, and came down after organizing.

As the food was prepared and everyone sat at the large dining table in the living room, Randell shared his story.

Of course, excluding the part about his regression.

“…That’s how it happened.”

Randell’s father was dumbfounded after hearing the whole story.

“One of our ancestors was a wizard… This is the first time I’m hearing about it.”

“Dad too?”

“Yes, I heard that someone became a knight after performing well on the battlefield…”

At this, the younger brother, who was working as a vigilante, was surprised.

“A knight? There was a knight in our family?”

“I also just heard it from my grandfather. There’s no evidence, so we should just take it as a joke.”

“Oh…”

The younger brother was disappointed, but the atmosphere was cheerful.

[Our family, living in a remote mountain village, turns out to be of knight and wizard lineage?]

There was no better topic for laughter and chatter.

But as with all beginnings, there must be an end, and a party without substance ends in emptiness.

The family’s chatter didn’t last long.

As the food on the table dwindled, so did the topics of conversation.

And what filled the remaining space was anxiety.

Randell shook his head inwardly as he watched.

‘It’s understandable.’

All living creatures have a certain range of life.

That range can be a place, food, or money.

And most creatures try not to stray from that range.

Humans are no different.

But what about Randell’s family?

Their range of life, which they had lived in for decades, had completely changed.

It was natural to feel confused and anxious.

‘…….’

Randell took a moment to choose his words.

This was the most important time.

There were countless cases of people becoming wrecks because they couldn’t adapt to sudden changes.

Just look at the retired mercenaries.

Could those who had only swung swords for money live comfortably after retirement?

Half of them fell into depression, and the other half squandered all their money on gambling and women.

Randel, who had seen many such mercenaries, knew the solution from experience.

‘First, it’s money.’

If you have a lot of money, most problems are solved.

Because a significant part of the worry about making a living disappears.

Randel opened his mouth.

“First of all, let me say this. I have a lot of money.”

The eldest brother was the first to react to those words.

“…How much do you have?”

“Enough for our family to live without working for the rest of our lives. And if that’s not enough, the lord will help us. Not just with money, but in all aspects of life.”

“Even the lord?”

“Yes, so from now on, you can live freely and do what you want.”

Randel said that, but he knew well that his family wouldn’t immediately understand and be overjoyed.

A thief who has stolen before does it well.

What would people who worried about what to eat and wear tomorrow do if suddenly given freedom?

They’ve never done it before.

Naturally, the very concept of freedom was uncomfortable.

“Hmm…”

Indeed, the family members all looked troubled.

‘What you need at times like this is a goal.’

After money, the next thing is a goal.

Even if it’s not detailed, you need to set a direction in the big picture and guide them.

As they walk in that direction, they can judge whether it suits them or not.

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Eventually, they will find their own path.

Randel called his younger brother.

“Hey, little brother.”

“Oh, yes?”

“Is there anything you want to do?”

“Me? Well, I don’t know? Can’t I go back to being a vigilante? Oh, there’s no vigilante group here in the lord’s castle…”

“Instead, there are soldiers.”

“Then… should I become a soldier?”

Randell did not answer and looked at his little brother.

His little brother flinched and trembled.

He used to be so small, always busy playing and joking around with him, but now something was different.

Filled with kindness and love.

At the same time, his eyes were infinitely transparent.

When facing him, it felt like his innermost thoughts were being exposed, as if he were naked.

Randell’s voice woke his little brother from his brief daze.

“A soldier… Are you okay with that?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it’s fine.”

“Really? You always said you wanted to be a knight.”

“A k-knight?”

His little brother asked back with wide eyes.

But soon he mumbled.

“That was when I was young… How could I, a mere vigilante, become a knight?”

“You can.”

“Huh?”

“You can. If I speak to the lord, you can start knight apprentice training right away.”

“But, still, a knight…?”

“Of course, if you lack the aptitude, you might only live as an apprentice and never become a full-fledged knight. But at least you can try.”

“Try…”

“If you can’t become a knight, then you can become a soldier. Which is cooler, a soldier who aspired to be a knight or a soldier from a remote village?”

Having said that, his little brother, the gutsy one from Forton Village, couldn’t stay still.

He clenched his fist tightly and said.

“…Yeah, you only live once! You have to try what you want to do before you die!”

“That’s the spirit.”

Randell nodded.

And the rest of the family, who had been watching the conversation, were all astonished.

[You can receive knight training?]

[It could go this far?]

They must have been thinking this to themselves.

Randell spoke to his eldest brother next.

“Big brother, you’re really fast at calculations, right? You never lost out when trading leather or herbs with merchants.”

“Well, I am pretty good at calculations…”

“And you said you find looking at numbers fun.”

“That’s true, I did.”

“Then how about trying out as an administrator? You can start as an assistant and see if it suits you.”

“Hmm!”

His eldest brother nodded.

With the two grown sons of the family settled, the rest followed smoothly.

Their father said he wanted to try growing herbs in the garden instead of foraging for them.

Their mother said she wanted to bake various kinds of bread and let people taste them.

The youngest sister seemed to be fixated on Randell.

“Brother! I want to be a wizard too!”

“Alright, when you turn ten, I’ll teach you magic.”

“Okay!”

With that, the conversation flowed naturally, and the dining table became lively again, just like before.

The difference was that, unlike before when there was silence at the end, this time there was anticipation.

Slurp.

Randell watched the scene while eating the pumpkin soup his mother had made.

Isn’t this real life and happiness?

But at the same time, he felt more regretful.

‘The day to leave is not far off now.’

The academy entrance ceremony was about to begin.

He wouldn’t be able to return until the holidays.

No, it might be difficult even during the holidays.

‘This too is real life, I suppose.’

Randell glanced to the side and muttered to himself.

It was in the direction of the capital, where the academy was.

* * *

“Oh.”

After dinner, Randel went upstairs and was amazed when he saw his room.

The room was filled with items from his days in Forton Village.

It was so similar to the room he used to share with his brothers that he could almost believe he was back there.

This was proof that his family had been thinking about him.

Thud.

Feeling a sense of nostalgia, Randel threw himself onto the bed.

“Ahhh…”

Stretching out his arms and legs, he shivered, finally feeling like he was home.

But he couldn’t rest just yet.

There was someone who had been eagerly waiting for Randel to be alone.

Zzzng—

With a faint friction sound, a sphere appeared in front of Randel’s eyes.

Peeking out from the blue sphere was the manager who had made a nest in it.

Randel asked the manager, who was staring at him intently.

“Is it there?”

It was an abrupt question, but the manager shook his head.

—No. Unfortunately, it’s not.

“That’s too bad. The youngest wanted to become a wizard, so it would have been perfect if he had it…”

—No. Affinity with nature can’t be increased easily.

“That’s true.”

During dinner, while his family was laughing and chatting, Randel had been quite busy.

Affinity with nature.

He had been busy glancing around to see if his family had it or not.

Affinity with nature was one of the essential conditions to become a spirit mage.

‘The problem is that people with this affinity are extremely rare.’

So how does one obtain an affinity with nature?

There was only one way.

You had to be born with it.

‘Did they say you need to have an elf among your ancestors?’

It didn’t have to be a direct ancestor.

Even if there was only one elf ancestor with s*xual desire, it was enough for tens or hundreds of generations of humans to turn their eyes.

However, if it was a pure human, the affinity with spirits converged to zero infinitely.

There was no way to increase it artificially.

“Our family is purely human. Well, considering the faces of my father and brothers…”

Elves are a race of beauty.

Thanks to that, if there was even a slight mix of elf blood, the probability of the descendants being handsome or beautiful increased.

In that sense, Randel’s family had low possibilities from the start.

His mother and younger sister were pretty, but the men all looked…

At that moment, the administrator tilted his head and asked.

―Randel, why are you excluded?

“Well, I’m still above average.”

―…

The administrator remained silent at Randel’s confident answer.

Seeing the administrator, Randel chuckled.

To live as a mercenary, wandering around, you needed to have a thick skin.

That way, even if the mission failed, you could still earn a living.

“So, where should I use this?”

Randel muttered as he took out a clay tablet from the subspace.

It was a clay tablet imbued with a spirit.