Chapter 59…
Magic Assassination.
The traces of magic found on the late king and queen’s corpses.
“……”
A chill wind brushed past Nillit’s back.
It could be speculation.
The timing didn’t match, after all.
That magician had been imprisoned for three years already.
The king and queen died only a few months ago.
It was certain he was still confined—every eye in the Magic Tower was watching him.
‘Either there’s another unknown magician copying his methods… or someone found another way?’
But there was no way to properly investigate.
The assassination case of the royal couple had ended without uncovering the mastermind, and there was no clear proof of magic being used.
Magic and assassination—what were the odds those two things would overlap by coincidence?
Once the two words connected in his mind, Nillit couldn’t separate them again.
“…Damn it. This feels ominous.”
He roughly raked a hand through his hair.
Clang! The bracelets on his wrist clattered noisily.
An uneasy feeling swept over him, as though something enormous was about to drag him in.
The day came for the academy scholars to return home.
They had planned from the start to leave after witnessing the coronation.
So their departure wasn’t sudden.
Except for a few scholars who wanted to volunteer as Ellie’s teachers, most of them had already begun to head back even before the coronation.
“Haa… I really can’t be away any longer, so I have to go back… haa… They said the experiment results came out. It’s something I have to observe directly… haa…”
Ellie had expected this.
But Lombaton clearly had not.
He sighed endlessly as he explained why he had to leave.
“I might come back soon… No, no, if I have to finish up to the third experiment, then it’ll take quite some time… haa.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Yes, of course, Your Majesty will be fine. I’m not fine. A genius should be taught properly, but the timing, haa…”
“No, they say geniuses are just naturally geniuses, no matter how they’re raised.”
Her brother was such an otherworldly genius that Ellie never had any obsession with the label herself.
Sure, it felt nice when people admired her, but she didn’t really mind even if she wasn’t called a genius.
After all, even if she was one, she’d still be less of a genius than her brother.
And she had unwavering faith in her brother—the Archmage—more than in the great scholar Lombaton.
“Besides, I’ve got tons to do right now, so I don’t have time to study with you.”
“!”
It was the most painful thing Lombaton had heard all day.
Since her coronation, Ellie had been overwhelmed with endless work—enough that she had collapsed once already, prompting the court magicians to rush over (they had misunderstood it as a mana issue).
And from now on, there would be coronation parties, reports to hear, policy meetings—one after another.
At first, she had felt dizzy just hearing the list, but at least she had finished selecting her teachers safely.
There had been no incidents like with the economics teacher.
Everyone had prepared diligently, and Ellie had carefully graded and chosen the most passionate ones.
With each step going smoothly, she’d begun to believe she really could do this.
“So once I have more free time, come visit again.”
“Visit…?”
Lombaton found that word painfully awkward.
But if Ellie was the one inviting him to “visit,” he couldn’t exactly refuse.
“Oh, right. Can I ask you one favor?”
“What is it?”
Ellie rummaged through a drawer and took out a small bottle.
It was some Rohen perfume that Duke Whitten had gifted her, set aside separately.
“This—it’s Rohen perfume.”
“Oh, a farewell gift?”
“Can you find out how it’s made?”
“…Eh?”
His excitement shattered instantly.
Lombaton stared down sorrowfully at the bottle in his palm.
So I’m the only one suffering here…
“The recipe for Rohen perfume is only passed down within Wudlock.”
“Right. So?”
“…You’re asking a scholar to infiltrate Wudlock?”
“Nooo, you can just research it!”
Her brother used to whip up similar things all the time just by tinkering here and there!
Because Ellie judged the world by her genius brother’s standards, she tended to underestimate how difficult things were for others.
“If it were that easy, the academy would be filthy rich by now!”
“Then let’s get rich!”
Ellie shouted energetically.
Lombaton blinked between the bottle and Ellie.
“…Are you serious?”
“Yup!”
“I mean…”
“Can’t you do it?”
“That’s not… no, I can.”
It was certainly possible.
Perfume composition could be analyzed by carefully separating and identifying every drop.
It would take time, but with a sample, it could eventually be done.
The reason no scholar had ever attempted it was simply because they weren’t that obsessed with money.
Academy scholars cared more about what they wanted to understand than about practical profit.
“So what—are you planning to sell this?”
Fake perfume, even?
Ellie giggled mischievously.
The plan wasn’t complete yet, but just imagining its success made her grin.
“I’m going to sabotage their sales.”
She needed to hinder Duke Whitten’s business—that way, she could stop his scheme that was slowly eating away at Nerendis.
“…I don’t understand, but… fine, I’ll try.”
“If you can’t, you’re not a genius!”
“……”
Ellie was surprisingly good at provoking people.
“Uuugh, uuuh…”
A child’s stamina burns bright but short.
Let them run free, and they could run thirty thousand steps a day and still have energy to spare—
But they slept early, slept long, and tired easily.
A king’s schedule, however, demanded stamina that was deep and enduring.
Ellie, staring at a pile of documents filled with incomprehensible jargon, slammed them down.
‘This won’t do!’
She jumped to her feet.
“Your Majesty? Have you finished already?”
“No!”
Duke Noteman tilted his head.
“Is this urgent?”
“Hmm… no one’s going to die if it’s handled a bit late.”
“Then I’ll do it later!”
“As you wish.”
Surprisingly, the duke nodded without protest.
The world wouldn’t fall apart just because she didn’t deal with everything immediately.
Encouraged, Ellie decided to reprioritize.
“I’m going to exercise!”
She declared exercise as her top priority.
To use magic properly—exercise.
To study effectively—exercise.
Exercise came first, always.
Now she understood why her brother always muttered, ‘Stamina… ugh, stamina…!’
Even Archmage Nillit had said that training the body helped stabilize mana.
Yes, there were still foreign guests to host, royal banquets, departmental reports, budget meetings, and tax adjustments—
But if she handled things the same way as before, she could maintain stability.
“A splendid idea!”
Sister Lilkia clapped her hands.
“Starting young allows the muscles to develop properly, and that form lasts well into adulthood.”
“Yeah!”
“Oh, but you must also consume nutritious food—protein, carbohydrates, and fats balanced well.”
When it came to her field, Lilkia became talkative.
“Y-Yeah!”
Actually, the academy’s martial arts scholar had been the first to leave—
leaving behind only the comment, ‘Hopeless.’
Many had come hoping that, as a genius in math, Ellie might also excel in other subjects… only to leave sorely disappointed.
She had remarkable reasoning, memory, and calculation skills, but her physical ability and coordination lagged far behind.
“So, are you going to be the one teaching me, Sister Lilkia?”
“…Pardon? Me? I… dare not?”
Ellie had assumed Lilkia was excited because she intended to teach her herself.
“…You’re not?”
“W-well, I could oversee a few training sessions, but… I’ve never trained children before, so I’m not sure how well I’d do…”
Lilkia flustered—not out of reluctance, but out of worry she wouldn’t teach well.
That was fine!
“Anything’s fine!”
As long as it was exercise!
Ellie had no talent nor interest in physical activity.
Playing in the forest—catching bugs, picking flowers—that had been the extent of her “exercise” her whole life.
So whatever she did now would be new and exciting.
“Th-then, I’ll start with the very basics.”
“Okay!”
Ellie was fired up with enthusiasm.
Somehow, she felt that if she trained with Sister Lilkia, she’d not only grow stronger—but maybe even grow older faster!
A shallow but hopeful belief that stamina could solve everything.
“Let’s start right now!”
“Right now? …Very well.”
“Yes! Right now!”
Lilkia caught Ellie’s excitement like a spark.
“Excellent. Then let’s head to the training grounds.”
“T-training grounds?”
W-wait—wasn’t that a bit too serious!?
