Chapter 3: Magic, Curses, and the Father I Have Yet to Meet — Part 1

"───Listen well, Edith. You must properly memorize the incantation I'm about to recite."

"Yes, Master."

"Grant thy blessing of great flame to the one who seeks it. Let the heat of the valiant torch be here and now—『Fireball』."

As soon as Ghislaine finished her chant, a loud whoosh echoed, and a large fireball formed in the palm of her hand.

This thing called 『Magic』 was something even Mother could use. In this land, it was considered 『normal』—nobody looked down on anyone for using it.

Because of my head, we couldn't exactly hire a servant, and Ghislaine often struggled with housework. So she frequently used this 『Fireball』 spell, which required nothing more than 『reciting the set incantation』 to 『create fire』.

At first, since I didn’t know how troublesome starting a fire normally was, I thought Ghislaine was just being lazy. But now, any discomfort or aversion I once felt toward magic had completely disappeared. After seeing firsthand how exhausting it was to light a fire without magic in this northern land, I realized it would be insane not to rely on it.

Perhaps because I grew up watching magic being used so often, once I learned to speak—slowly and clumsily, but clearly—I naturally began asking Ghislaine to teach me magic.

At first, Ghislaine hesitated, saying she wasn't skilled enough to teach anyone. But once she realized how serious I was about learning, she agreed—albeit reluctantly, and yet with a faint joy in her voice—saying, "As expected, you really are Rudeus’ child." She accepted on the condition that I also study reading and writing alongside magic.

According to both Mother and Ghislaine, Father was a genius at magic. It was Father himself who taught them magic, reading, writing, and arithmetic—when he was only eight years old, no less.

Even though he had no proper teacher and struggled with self-study, his abilities grew to the point where, by the time he was around ten, he could manipulate magic powerful enough to rewrite the skies themselves. Outside the range of her sword, Ghislaine admitted, even she might not have been able to defeat him.

The more I heard these unbelievable stories, the more my heart danced with excitement as I threw myself into my own magic training.

…Though, between us, Ghislaine’s teaching methods for reading, writing, and magic were nowhere near as effective as her swordsmanship lessons. There were plenty of times when she herself got confused during the explanations—but that’s a secret between just the two of us.

"Grant thy blessing of great flame to the one who seeks it. Let the heat of the valiant torch be here and now—『Fireball』!"

"………Mm, no good, huh."

Nothing happened.

Not a flicker, not a spark.

After finishing the chant, I felt something like heat rush through my body and a faint sensation of weakness, but no matter how many times I tried, nothing would ever take form.

(Mother and Ghislaine said they couldn’t control magic well at first either, so… there’s no need to panic… just a little more, and…)

"…Edith? What’s wrong, Edith, my lady? Ojou-sa—…"

"Lady Eris! Edith has woken up!"

"You’re awake, Edith! I was so worried when I heard you suddenly collapsed!"

When I came to, I found myself lying on my back, with Mother and Ghislaine—without her eyepatch—looking down at me.

Apparently, while I was training my magic, I suddenly fainted. Ghislaine, worried, called Mother back from her own training, and they had been taking care of me ever since.

"Ghislaine… your right eye… it’s not crushed, is it…?"

At first, I’d stayed quiet, feeling guilty for interrupting their training. But with Ghislaine staring at me closely with the eye that was usually hidden, I ended up blurting it out.

Ghislaine explained that her right eye was called a Magic Eye. She was born with it—the ability to see the flow of mana.

"When Lady Edith collapsed," Ghislaine said, "I saw that the mana within your body had dropped significantly. Since it had partially recovered by the time you woke up, I believe this is what happens when you use too much mana."

She also explained that the eyepatch wasn’t to hide a damaged eye but to cover the Magic Eye, which was difficult to control, so she could live more comfortably.

Incidentally, Father received his own Magic Eye—the Eye of Foresight—from an existence known as the Demon Empress of the Demon Realm when he was eleven. And he managed to fully master it in just a few days.

I had already heard Father was a prodigy, but every story about him still sounded so unreal, as if he belonged to a different world entirely.

"According to Rudeus, the more you use mana, the stronger it gets. From now on, let’s make sure to use your mana without completely draining it. If I’m watching, you won’t collapse again."

"Thank you, Ghislaine."

And so, I began practicing my incantations every night before bed, carefully spending just enough mana.

Ghislaine said she could see that my mana had increased significantly…

…but no matter how much it grew, my magic still refused to work.