Chapter 16: Difference between love and goodwill is one character after all (2)

It was a great word and I was happy to be honest.

But it was heartbreaking after all that Maria-sama could not learn magic. She said that she wanted me to teach magic, because it seemed to be more fun.

So I decided to confront the head.

「Ano.... toshu-sama」

「Nn? ....Greas? What’s the matter?」

「Actually .. please, I have a request」

I want you to hire a magic tutor.

I could not deny the possibility that I will be fired, but, even so, I am hesitant to leave it. It would be best if you could hire a magic tutor in addition to me, but I immediately stopped because even if I imagine such a thing to ease my spirit the result would not changed.

The toshu-sama who heard my request said “I understood” after I manage to squeeze out my request properly.

As a result, I never got fired.

There was no new tutor coming.

Instead, Oresseine-sama, the head’s secretary, taught me the basics of magic.

Why, also me?

「There is no loss in learning the foundation alone」

That being said, the head prepared my share of the teaching materials along with Maria-sama’s share. I am sorry for the trouble, at least I thought that it should be deducted from my salary, but I was told that “One or two makes no difference “.

The only thing that is cool is the appearance, the contents are gentle and sweet. I was grasping to some extent that it may be because of okusama, but I never thought that it would be directed to myself.

Not only the head, but also the people of the Tempest family are gentle. Their legacy runs deep, and they are the noble family sitting in the position closest to the royal family, and yet they are completely different from the nobles I am familiar with.

They do not look down on the fallen former aristocracy. There is no pity.

I do not think sympathy was zero, but they will not try to impose excessive protection on me.

It was hard to deal with these kind of nobles.

I did not bear a grudge. Even though the period was short, I was also one of the nobles. I understand that it is a helpless thing in the first place to bear a grudge.

Still, I was not aware of what I felt for the “Tempest Duke Household”.

Nobility, and the family of the duke like the old me, I definitely should not like them.....or supposed to.

Okusama is the same as when we first met.

The head could not be judged by his appearance.

Maria-sama overturned everything I had once believed.

I was melted. I was changed. I was repainted.

It will not be necessary to explain what happened there.

Just like me, Maria-sama waved the simulated wand but at that moment ..the air changed.

It is obvious from Oresseine-sama’s reaction that the pulsing while emitting light is not a “good thing”.

My crisis management ability sounded a warning tone. Maria-sama sitting with the wand on the ground should have recognized? the situation that is happening.

I have to get away, or. I have to do something about the wand. Whatever action she took, there was time to judge.

But the abnormal situation cuts off our wish as if laughing.

Suddenly the pulsing light, stopped. A momentary silence.

To the “attack” that swelled out as if saying that it was the trigger, my body began moving according to my heart, not the brain.

「Maria ....!!」

I do not remember what I shouted.

Just the feeling of “What I must do” I pulled Maria-sama’s arm and brought her to my chest.

Light and thin, small body. I recognized even more while embracing, a child’s body temperature.

I have to protect you. To prevent you from getting hurt, I must protect you.

「── !!」

In preparation for the shock, I put my strength into the arms that hugged Maria-sama. Grit my teeth and close my eyes tightly. I made up my mind and kept waiting for the approaching attack.

「........h-, huh?」

Nothing came. An attack, accompanying pain, or even a shock.

I wanted to know the answer to the question mark around my brain, wanted to see what happened, and wanted security to say that nothing happened, I slowly opened my eyes.

I think the first thing I recognized was a bright orange color, Oresseine-sama’s hair. Next gold color and violet color appeared side by side, did the head and okusama noticed the light and rushed over?

And the last thing is....something transparent that surrounds me.

「Eh....?」

What is this?

I see a rainbow from the reflecting sunlight through something like a film of soap bubble, but it looks solid like glass. It encloses me and Maria-sama who I was holding in my arms in a dome shape.

Looking at the ground, the grass was scattered around the dome wall and the soil was overturned.

「This....」

Protected me ....?

There is no concrete evidence. But I felt that both me and Maria-sama were unharmed and the scars remaining on the ground were the proof.

I slowly reach for the membrane. Although it was an act of unconsciousness, before the fingers touched, the film flew away while emitting light.

What remained was the scarred ground and the unscathed....me and Maria-sama.

「-Maria-sama!!」

I look at Maria-sama whose body was in my arms.

It is obvious that there is no consciousness, but I could not judge whether it is sleeping or fainting.

「Greas-san, excuse me」

「Oresseine-sa....」

「....It is fine, she is unconscious, but her pulse is normal」

Before I realized Oresseine-sama was in front of me and touched Maria-sama’s neck, and smiled to the me who had an uneasy look.

And then, he took Maria-sama from my arms in one swift movement.

「Just to be sure, let’s have a doctor check up on her. Greas-san does not seem to be injured, but please also take the examination just in case」

「Y-,Yes....」

It seems that the situation is going to end, without knowing what happened.

Stroking the shoulders of the relieved me, the head approached next.

「Greas, are you not injured?」

「Y-,Yes. I am fine.....」

Okusama had accompanied Maria-sama, and her figure immediately disappeared.

Alone with the head.... to be honest, there is only tension. Even though I know the head is a gentle person, unlike his cool appearance, there is no way to say something anxious to the person who is a noble and my employer.

「Thank you. Maria was saved thanks to you」

「Eh.. no, I just」

「No, it is thanks to you」

I have not done anything. I wanted to say so and the fact is right. It was not me that protected Maria-sama, it was that transparent membrane, I just acted with emotion.

「Maria was protected, thanks to your power」

「Eh.... a, ano, what?」

「The one who did that, was you, Greas」

「Shield barrier」

The remarks that came up have crossed my mental capacity quite easily.

I know that. I learned it in Oresseine’s class. Literally, a shield that defends both magic and physical attacks.

But I cannot cast that.

「But toshu-sama, I cannot put out a defensive barrier. That is──」

「It is a magic that cannot be cast unless attributes are decided」

「......」

That’s right. Defensive barriers are not magic that can be used without attributes. Characteristics belonging to attributes, as said in history books 『Attribute Magic』.

There is no way the head of a nobility cannot know.

Then why did you say such a crazy thing?

「Attributes are not decided unless you learn from the school」

「That is true....but with the knowledge I learned, it should not be enough to fix attributes」

In the first place magic can also be taught by tutors, but knowledge to fix attributes is not so easily taught. Knowledge of all attributes must be acquired, if you cannot even handle non-attribute magic then fixation of the attribute is a dream within a dream.

What I learned from Oresseine-sama is the foundation of magic. It is impossible to fix the attribute.

「If a non-attribute fixed themselves to a specific attribute, it will be a story. If it was originally fixed, the story is different」

「Originally....fixed 」

「It is a rare thing, but it is not unheard of」

What the head wants to say is about those who are born with attributes.

Everyone is unattributed when born....that is the basic knowledge of magic, but there are rare occurrences of those being born who have specific attributes.

And I have that attribute.

「That defensive barrier belongs to the holy attribute....there is no holy attribute in our house」

「....I」

A person other than the Tempest family who was in that place ....that is only me.

I have an attribute....I cannot believe it, it’s too unexpected rather than to say I do not understand it.

「Of course we cannot be sure if you do not officially inspect it....but, there is almost no mistake」

「Then, what..what Oresseine-sama said」

「He was worried about injuries, but .. including “that” is what he meant.

「....Is that so」

What should I say? In this case, no matter what I said, I felt it would be correct and wrong.

Confusion, puzzled, and a little terror.

I should have survived the hell, but now I cannot see ahead of that time. A sense of fear that cannot be imagined at all.

「Are you alright?」

「Umm.... t-, toushu-sama」

As a sense of unseen fear welled up inside me, a feeling of a big hand rested upon my head.

Gentle, slightly warm, the movement that strokes my hair calms me down.

The pair of eyes I looked up into are vivid colors reminiscent of ice coldness, but in the depths is an absolute sense of security.

「There is nothing to worry about, leave it to me」

「Leave it to....but....」

「As a thanks for protecting Maria」

「Ah, that was me....」

I did it on my own.

Although I was lucky because I had an attribute, at the moment I just acted with emotion.

「Because Maria-sama....is important」

To those words the head had a complicated expression, but still gently stroked my head.