Hans watched Ludger’s reaction and realized something all over again.
How should he put it?
Ludger had an oddly low opinion of himself.
With skills like his, he could walk around anywhere with his shoulders squared, bragging all day, and no one would dare deny him... but he never does.
Hans found that secretly frustrating.
With Ludger’s ability, people would applaud even if he did boast.
But Ludger was always humble. If that were simply his natural disposition, Hans could at least understand...
What should I even call this?
Brother is humble to the point of being excessive.
And yet, because he was too exceptional, he frequently shocked everyone around him.
The funny part was that Ludger himself seemed puzzled by their reactions.
If he were at least “normally” humble, fine.
But he would accomplish something incredible and still claim it was nothing—
to the point where a stranger might think he was using humility as a high-level bragging technique.
Someone who didn’t know him would find it insufferable.
But Hans knew the truth:
Ludger genuinely believed every word of it.
“Brother. I’ve felt this for a long time... but you really have no confidence at all.”
“I don’t think I’m particularly lacking in self-esteem.”
“That right there is the problem. With your looks, you could charm ten out of ten women. You lacking money? Not at all. Do you even know how much is currently sitting in the secret ledger under your name? And your magic? Look at your skill. Aren’t you basically the greatest mage alive?”
“There’s money under my name? Didn’t I say it should all go toward relic research?”
Hans slapped his chest in exasperation.
“That’s not the issue! And do you know why there’s so much money there? Because you handed me so much that it was overflowing! Plus, ever since Royal Street revived, the money flowing in made me and Violetta feel embarrassed, so we made that ledger! Clear enough?”
“Hm.”
“And the real point is: why do you keep talking like someone who doesn’t know his own worth?”
“I’ve never done that.”
At that moment, Alex chimed in from the side.
“No, he’s right. From what I see, Leader does exactly that.”
Since Hans and Alex said the same thing at the same time, Ludger found it difficult to refute.
Hmm. Was that really true?
“Look at those eyes. That’s the look of someone who still doesn’t get it.”
“Even so, I really don’t understand.”
“In my opinion, it’s all because of your upbringing, Brother.”
“Upbringing? Now?”
“Your teacher was no ordinary person. No—she wasn’t even a person to begin with. Whenever you used incredible magic, you always muttered one thing.”
Ludger thought for a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) moment, then quickly recalled it.
—Compared to my teacher, I am nothing.
Right. After becoming a Seorn instructor, he’d said it less often.
But before that? Whenever Hans praised him, Ludger would always recite that line with monk-like modesty.
“When I first heard you say that, I wondered what kind of monster your teacher must be. Later, when I actually met her, I understood perfectly.”
Of course.
When your teacher was an 8th-Circle Grand Mage, how could her disciple ever boast about himself?
“Your teacher’s training was... extreme enough to be unhealthy. Out here, who could possibly compare with your skill?”
“My teacher wanted to make sure I didn’t grow arrogant.”
“At that level, not being arrogant is practically a sin compared to being arrogant!”
“.......”
With it said that strongly, Ludger had no comeback.
Hans, with years of pent-up thoughts, now fueled by alcohol, finally let it all out.
“Brother, you’re someone who’s earned the right to stand tall and brag a little!”
“...Even so, bragging is a bit...”
“Anyway! How long are you going to keep acting like ‘I’m not much’ or whatever? And right now—if we talk purely magic—haven’t you reached your teacher’s realm?”
Hans remembered it clearly.
The magic Ludger used against Salesin was definitely 8th-Circle.
“Isn’t that enough to have confidence?”
“I only managed that 8th-Circle spell because of my teacher’s help. By myself I couldn’t have used it. It was closer to a trick.”
Hans blinked, incredulous.
“What, you can just... cheat your way into casting 8th-Circle magic?”
He had a point.
Even calling it a trick was absurd.
If that were possible, why weren’t all mages doing it?
At that point, a “trick” should be called a “method.”
“Magic is like a law of nature. You can skip certain steps on the way to the answer. Even if the path winds, as long as you reach the capital, that’s what matters.”
“Point is, you reached it! That alone is a historical feat!”
“My teacher was the one who showed me the way. To be precise, she used magic, broke it down in front of me, and revealed its structure—how it moved and activated.”
Alex cut in as he listened.
“So, basically, she brought out a super-precise machine, disassembled every part in front of you, and showed you the inside?”
“Hmm. That’s roughly accurate.”
“But even if someone sees all the parts, being able to put it back together and use it like the original is amazing, isn’t it?”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
Hans clapped his hands emphatically.
Give someone a machine—take it apart into screws and bolts and springs—
then tell them to reassemble it.
How many people could do that?
Even with a blueprint, it would take hours—and they might still fail.
But Ludger had, in that brief time, reverse-calculated an 8th-Circle magic structure and made it his own.
“Compared to the original my teacher used, it’s nothing.”
“Oh for—! Brother, you cast it! That’s what matters!”
Any normal mage, using that vast amount of mana with even a slight mistake in the spell structure, would have been obliterated on the spot.
Hans wasn’t deeply knowledgeable about magic, but he had learned enough at Ludger’s side.
He knew what Ludger did back then was insane.
And the fact that he succeeded—even imperfectly—was extraordinary.
Ludger scratched his cheek at Hans’s reaction.
Thinking back, he realized he really had done something outrageous.
But if Grander had seen it, she probably would’ve scolded him for acting cocky.
Ludger had learned what the world was only after escaping Grander and wandering the continent.
Before that, in the Holy Nation, he’d lived on a tightrope, never knowing when he’d be assassinated.
And with Grander, he’d never learned how normal people lived.
Even while learning magic, Grander constantly told him not to brag anywhere.
Ludger had simply assumed that was normal.
Having lived that way, his mindset was inevitable.
“Sigh. Brother, your teacher ruined you.”
“She taught me magic. She meant no harm.”
“That’s the issue! When your teacher is literally the strongest mage in the world, what do you expect? Nothing else would catch her eye!”
Hans sighed even deeper, frustrated that Ludger’s warped humility wasn’t caused by malice but by circumstances.
“Anyway, Brother, it’d be good for you to have more confidence in yourself. Still, compared to the early days, you’ve improved a lot. Just keep recognizing it.”
“Recognizing, huh... I’ll take your advice.”
“So really—there’s no woman you’re thinking about?”
At Hans’s question, many faces flashed through Ludger’s mind.
But it was only for a fraction of a moment.
He answered without hesitation:
“No.”
“Really?”
“Hm.”
Hans looked doubtful, but Alex made a strange face.
Hans didn’t notice, but Alex—whose level had risen—had sensed that Ludger had briefly thought of many things in that instant.
Still, he knew better than to bring it up here.
More importantly, they were about to meet a new guest.
Whoooooosh.
Wind blew.
One might wonder how wind could move inside a tightly closed tavern—
but all three of them sensed it simultaneously.
And they knew exactly who had arrived.
A soft tak, and the door opened as a woman stepped inside.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
Violetta.
Her beauty had ripened even further, and she smiled brightly.
“Especially you, Owner. It’s been a very long time.”
“It has. Violetta.”
“Yes, it has, Owner.”
“You don’t need to call me that anymore. That man is long dead.”
“Hehe. Is that so? But you’ll always be my Owner. People may point fingers and call you a demon king, but you’re the one who led us, who were crawling at the bottom, and let us live like human beings.”
With steps as light as a breeze, Violetta sat at an empty seat.
She reached out her hand— a breeze flowed in, lifted a bottle from the shelf, and delivered it gently into her palm.
“Your control of wind has become very refined.”
“Well, for various reasons, I’ve grown a lot.”
She had previously handled only wind magic, but in the extreme environment of the Holy War, she had fully bloomed.
Her natural affinity and talent—
honed to the absolute limit, shaving away everything else, even carving away her own mind—
until she finally reached it:
The realm of Single-Attribute Elemental Magic.
Though she had been defeated by Marias Selmore while under control, what she achieved was something so rare that history could barely offer a handful of comparable cases.
The Color Mage of Air.
Violetta was now a recognized Color Mage.
“How have you been?”
“If we’re starting from after the Holy War... well, it began with imprisonment.”
Violetta was also an Owens member, someone who could easily be treated as a war criminal.
But like the others, she regained freedom through undisclosed deals the world would never know about.
“I was released, but not entirely free. Unlike the others, I was still an Imperial citizen.”
“Knowing Aileen’s personality, she wouldn’t have left you alone.”
“Hehe. Back then the Princess, now the Empress—she was desperately short on talent. But after talking to her, we got along surprisingly well. So through negotiation, I was released in exchange for serving the Empire.”
“Prepare to be shocked, Brother. Out of all of us, Violetta is the one who’s risen the highest.”
Hans added, and Ludger let out a small exclamation.
“Oh? From your clothes I could vaguely tell you’re doing something, but you’ve gone that far?”
“I became a councilwoman in Rederbelk. And I’ve entered the upcoming mayoral race.”
“Think you’ll win?”
“My approval rating is overwhelming. And Her Majesty is quietly supporting me from behind. So yes—it’s practically guaranteed.”
From back-alley underworld figure, to manager and genius designer of Royal Street, to Color Mage, to city councilwoman, and now mayoral candidate.
She was the definition of upward mobility.
Violetta had even written an autobiography, which became a bestseller—especially among women.
“My opponent is backed by the noble faction, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever they try to do with money... we have plenty of that too.”
The noble faction had fought desperately to seize Rederbelk’s mayoral seat.
After all, Rederbelk was the city closest to Seorn.
Seorn may not allow external interference, but it wasn’t completely free from the mayor’s influence.
But Violetta’s entry ruined all their plans.
Her victory was essentially guaranteed now—
and she had even built a close relationship with Seorn’s Headmaster, Elisa.
“Seorn, huh.”
Ludger murmured the familiar name.
Violetta lifted her glass and asked:
“Do you miss it?”