[[ "Looks like brother Alfred is done~." ]] Zoe cheerfully shouted in my mind as I watched the entire spell that took me around a week to finish, crumbled down as a particle of light.
I knew he was amazing, and I was just half right.
He was more than just amazing.
He was outstandingly marvelous.
Dismantling the spell in just forty-two minutes? Now that was quite something...
I didn't call him the best mage for no reason~.
[[ "He's amazing, right Zoe?" ]]
She chuckled at that remark as she could feel in what meaning I had just asked that question.
[[ "Yes, brother Alfred is amazing~! But big brother is the most awesome for me~!" ]]
Just the answer I had expected from this little one that understood emotions the best.
Alf might like her in the future, maybe, but… there was just anguish in that path for him.
Well, Alf was done with his test, and he passed with flying colors from my side.
Now, what he does with this notebook would be up to him.
And he will be surprised, for sure, after seeing the 1011 spells, theories, and magic summary inside the diary.
I just chuckled inside my head, and Zoe smiled on the pavilion, too.
Anna also giggled, maybe feeling something funny from Zoe.
Celes was standing on the wall of the pavilion at a place that was almost the middle so that I can hear everything they were saying at the same time as my third eye explored the estate.
Well, the mages were done with the competition too, and naturally, Rein, with the best understanding ability with her eye of truth, won first place.
And after her was dad and then grandma and then Alf's dad.
Well, even though he was Alf's dad and could have borrowed the book first but, they had to respect this competition and follow the borrowing order.
Dad was naturally a genius with second only to Alf in calculative ability, so second place was his and although her grandma was the highest tier mage here, this was the competition of who can understand the structural aspect of the spell.
There was no need for her unparallel refinement or even stable Mana control.
And I knew I would barely come close to her in this aspect, far from dad or Rein.
They were true talents and held excellent abilities to win against someone like her.
Well, Rein won, and even then... she was looking down at me furiously for that previous joke.
But… her anger was a cute one, too.
'And now that the things are done with this after-dinner exercise, my family and I will have a fun, long talk.
After that, will she and I have time for our own conversation?'
Haaa... what will we even talk about?
The barrier vanished completely with my sigh and Alf opened his glowing purple eyes as he looked at me and smiled like a little impatient child, eager to be praised.
He did better than I expected so; I had to reward him with something even better, right?
Not that this one will be anything that good.
I smiled back at him and 'quick stepped' up to him as he fell to the ground with sudden sweat covering his forehead and blood flowing down his nose.
He did better than I expected, but the fool was still overdoing himself for that one.
Catching his almost dropped body, I slowly sat down with his small but grown-up body and laid him down with his head on my lap.
Now... this was some interesting scene for all the ladies on the stands and except Anna and Zoe who found them funny, all of them were looking at us with starry eyes.
Even Alf's mom. And she had a pleasing smile and excitement-filled eyes while looking at us.
They knew from Alf's open eyes and smiling face that he was fine but, this reaction they suddenly gave was really weird... or was it normal, funny, lovely or something like that?
'Weird ladies of the weird family...'
And why was Rein holding back her laughter, covering her mouth like that? That little... witch.
Shaking my head inside my thoughts, I looked at the fool on my lap. And he was smiling so I can't help but sigh.
"You did marvelous, Alf. I can never do that in this short time. Amazing~.
I don't have words to describe this deed."
There was a proud smile on my face, and this was enough for him.
"I will be the best mage, big brother. And I will definitely beat you when I am stronger..." his voice was sincere, and I had no doubt about those words.
"Of course you will. And I will help you however I can. So, let's get up now. I can tell our moms are having some weird fantasies right now."
That last part was serious and maybe he hadn't seen them yet so, he peeked behind me and the delight filled faces of the ladies, including the smirking grandma, entered his vision.
And… shiver ran down his back as he jerked his head at me and looked at me with wide, fear-filled eyes.
But the bastard didn't get up from my dear lap... oh, he can't.
Taking out a light blue and a cyan-colored potion and I slowly poured it into his shaking mouth.
And as soon as he drank that, the bleeding stopped, and I wiped the bloody nose with a napkin from my storage device.
This young boy had used an absurd amount of concentration in that short time and I can understand just how it feels to concentrate on a single thing and maintain it for this long.
And his mind worked faster than anyone here.
The burden that his little body might have faced in that time was close to all the burdens Carla and I felt after getting out of the [ZONE].
It was a special state, and there were natural aftereffects for the new ones experiencing it for the first time.
Carla won't be having any spars or fights like this one for a week now, but I was fine.
This wasn't my first time.
I had more than a year's experience in fights like this, or maybe far fiercer than these.
And this wasn't the extent of this state of mind.
Well, in the future, when this little one gets strong enough, I will try something like this with him, too.
And when he, someone with a mind this fast, enters that state... I had no doubt that even (tier-4) spells would come at me with the frequency of mere (tier-1) spells.
And that would be a fun time to use <Pure magic archery>.
Just that a weak place like this one won't stand for even a minute against a fight like that one.
That would be fun, but for now, let's get back to them.
Putting his head down from my lap and pouring cold water on the hot expectations of ladies, I got up after confirming he was fine.
Helping him get up from the ground, I shook my head at the face that wanted to stay like that for a while more.
'This little bastard too... is something wrong with them?'
Shaking my head at him, I took out the purple diary with silver designs decorating its cover, and handed it to him.
But with that diary, there was also a purple magic wand similar to his eyes.
And as soon as his eyes fell on this wand... his entire body turned to me in surprise.
"B-big brother?!" he wanted to ask what this was, and it was a simple thing to answer.
"A gift from your big brother~. Take it and check it out with your eyes later.
It's an amazing one~!"
My words were genuine and he could feel the power from this wand and the feather-like design on its surface was making it look cooler, too.
I just handed them to him and as soon as he held that wand and used his own appraisal skill with his eyes glowing for a moment, his eyes went blank in fear and shock.
"W-what is... how..."
His hands started shaking, and he almost dropped the diary but, thankfully, he controlled himself and stored the diary in his storage space first.
Now holding the wand with both his hands and surprising every other mage in the room, he looked at me and I just smiled at him warmly.
This exaggerated expression surprised the other mages, so they used their own appraisal skills while looking at the peculiar wand that had surprised this bright child this much.
And, as soon as they did that, even their expression went blank.
'This is normal from a general human point of view.'
Still... this is quite the reaction for a wand crafted by my master.
And this isn't even close to the better ones I have.
This wasn't actually that much awesome. Only at the level of the sword, I gave to Carla.
But for mages, this must definitely look like some 'elder wand'.
'Three eyes.'
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel