Episode 103. The Scoundrel of the Ryu Family (4)

“Ah….”

A sigh escaped through my lips.

The overwhelming sense of despair weighed heavily on me.

‘What should I do?’

If there’s another reason why Berald can’t learn magic, we just need to find and eliminate that cause.

If he’s cursed, we’ll break the curse. If he’s poisoned, we’ll detoxify him.

With the Primordial Flame in my possession, neither of these would be difficult to solve.

‘But.’

What if the reason he couldn’t use magic, no matter how hard he tried, was simply because he was, well, not the sharpest tool in the shed?

‘There’s nothing I can do about that.’

How do you make someone who was born dumb, smart?

‘Even if it’s possible, it’s not doable in just three days.’

How could someone who couldn’t perform magical calculations even after decades of effort suddenly do it in just three days?

“Haah.”

A deep sigh escaped as my thoughts tangled.

Berald forced a bitter smile and shook his head.

“You don’t need to push yourself too hard, Brother. I already knew it was difficult.”

“…Berald.”

“Well, even if the family cuts off the support funds immediately, we won’t starve. Our family is still part of the ‘Ryu’ clan. We’re not that poor.”

Berald shrugged as he continued.

“Of course, I won’t be able to receive regular treatments like before… but even after five years of weekly treatments, my condition hasn’t improved. So, whether I get treated or not, it doesn’t make much of a difference, right?”

“…….”

It’s not that there’s no difference.

There’s a world of difference between holding onto a sliver of hope for recovery and giving up on treatment entirely.

“Father, how did you get hurt?”

I hadn’t heard about Berald’s father being sick in my past life.

Even though Berald and I had known each other since school, we weren’t close enough for him to share such dark family matters.

“Huhu. My father, you mean?”

Berald continued with a bitter look in his eyes.

He plopped down on the training ground floor and took a bite out of a half-split loaf of bread.

“Five years ago, there was a fight between the Ryu family and the Devil God Church.”

“…I’ve never heard of that.”

The Ryu family was one of the most powerful families in the Republic.

If there had been a battle between them and the Devil God Church, it would’ve caused a huge uproar in the Republic. But as far as I remember, there was no such commotion.

“The family probably suppressed the information from spreading. It wasn’t that big of a fight anyway. There weren’t many casualties.”

Berald said with a bitter smile, but.

‘In other words, even if it wasn’t a big fight, there was still a fight.’

Even if there weren’t many, there were still casualties.

And one of them was Berald’s father.

“Father was severely injured in that battle.”

Berald continued in a calm tone.

“Fortunately, he survived… but he developed aftereffects, including a gradual decline in memory.”

Though his tone was calm, his low voice carried a deep emotion.

“Anyway, that cranky old man… He tormented me since I was a kid, and now he’s even forgotten his own child’s name… He got what he deserved.”

Berald chuckled as he covered his eyes with his hand.

“…….”

Suddenly, a memory from my past life flashed through my mind.

A short conversation we had not long before he died.

-“Hahaha! If I need a name, I’ll call it ‘Berald Martial Arts’!”

-“Brother, you’re immortal, so you’ll live for a very long time, right? My old man was like that too. When you get old, you start forgetting even your own child’s name.”

-“Even if I die, remember my name at least.”

He had asked me to remember his name.

‘Back then, he made it sound like he just forgot because he was old.’

I had no idea there was such a backstory.

‘So that’s why he was so fixated on his name.’

Watching Berald silently sob with his eyes covered, I spoke up.

“There’s a way.”

“…What way?”

“A way for you to use magic in three days.”

“……?”

Berald looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I closed my eyes and organized the method that had come to mind.

The way for Berald, who couldn’t control magic at all, to use magic.

It was…

“Give up.”

The way for Berald, who had relentless perseverance, to use magic was, paradoxically, to give up.

“…What are you talking about?”

Berald asked with a look of confusion.

“You know there are three stages to magic, right?”

“I know that.”

The flow of magic: Emission, Manifestation, and Control.

Among these, the stage Berald could never reach no matter how hard he tried was ‘Control.’

So then.

“Just give up on Control.”

“…Give up on Control?”

“Yes.”

Emission and Manifestation.

Narrow it down to just those two.

“Try making a Magic Power Orb again. This time, don’t even think about moving it.”

“Hmm. I’ll give it a try.”

Berald nodded and focused his mind.

Whoooosh!

The Holy Mark glowed as a massive surge of magic power swirled around him.

“Hahp!”

With a loud shout, a Magic Power Orb formed in the air.

It was about the size of a fist.

The texture, which had been soft like dough, had now hardened somewhat.

‘Just as I thought!’

I clenched my fist as I looked at the Magic Power Orb Berald had created.

Compared to the one he made earlier, this one was far more refined.

‘Because he gave up on the idea of controlling it entirely, the quality improved.’

In hindsight, it made sense.

For example, think about making a Magic Carriage.

Wouldn’t it be much easier to make a model that just looks like a Magic Carriage rather than one that actually moves?

“…Huh?”

Berald also seemed surprised by the quality of the Magic Power Orb he had created, his eyes widening.

“B-Brother! Did you see this? I made a Magic Power Orb the size of a fist!”

Berald exclaimed excitedly.

“See? Giving up on Control makes it much better, right?”

“Is that what you call it? It feels like… I’ve been trying to run on one leg and ended up in a wheelchair!”

Trying to run on one leg and ending up in a wheelchair.

‘That’s an accurate analogy.’

By giving up on trying to control something he couldn’t, it became much easier for him to manifest magic.

“Alright, let’s keep improving the quality from here.”

“Huhu! Got it!”

Berald nodded and began creating another Magic Power Orb.

* * *

And so, three days passed.

Berald’s Magic Power Orb had reached a level of refinement incomparable to what he had made initially.

What was once the size of two finger joints had now grown to the size of a human head, and the texture, which had been soft like dough, had become as hard as steel.

‘I never thought he’d improve this much in just three days.’

Of course.

It wasn’t just because he gave up on the ‘Control’ stage.

‘It’s thanks to all the effort he’s put in until now.’

Berald had probably been working harder than anyone to learn magic since the day he started.

‘Because he’s Berald.’

Even if no one acknowledged him.

Even if no one recognized his efforts.

I know.

How relentless he is.

Even when everyone told him he couldn’t do it, he kept practicing magic alone.

‘And.’

All that accumulated effort finally found its direction and blossomed.

“T-This is the Magic Power Orb I made….”

Berald stared in disbelief at the translucent orb the size of a human head.

Compared to the pitiful orb he had made initially, this one was embarrassingly refined.

‘Of course, compared to the amount of magic power put into it, it’s still lacking.’

If he initially poured 100 units of magic power to produce 1 unit of result, now he could produce about 10 units of result.

Compared to Sophia, who could produce two or three times the result with the same amount of magic power, it’s questionable whether this could even be called the same ‘magic.’

‘Even if you sugarcoat it, it’s below average in quality, and he can’t use any magic other than the Magic Power Orb.’

But it’s fine.

Compared to his past life, where he couldn’t even manifest magic, at least a new path has opened up for Berald.

Now, all that’s left for me is to guide him on how to walk that new path.

“But, Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s kind of silly to bring this up now, but…”

Berald scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward smile.

“This Magic Power Orb can only float in the air, right? It can’t move.”

“Of course. You gave up on Control.”

“…Then what’s the point? How can I beat Rios with a Magic Power Orb that can’t even move?”

Berald stared at me blankly.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his expression.

“Is that the question you’re asking after three days of magic training?”

“Ahem! W-Well, it just shows how much I trust you, right?”

Berald awkwardly cleared his throat and avoided my gaze.

He was probably so excited about being able to create a proper Magic Power Orb that he didn’t think about anything else.

‘That’s so like Berald.’

Of course.

I didn’t make Berald practice creating an immobile Magic Power Orb without a plan.

“Berald. Have you ever heard this saying?”

“What saying?”

“If your brain is weak, your body suffers.”

It was an old saying from the Republic.

“Heh. I’ve heard it so many times from my father that I’m sick of it.”

Berald laughed as if he had heard it countless times before.

“Then think of it the other way around.”

“The other way around?”

I smirked as I looked at Berald’s muscular body, filled to the brim with strength.

“If you have an overwhelmingly strong body… it doesn’t matter if your brain is a little weak.”