Around four years after Jamie became an elder in the Magic World.
At that time, Jamie had reached the boundary of 9th class and began to commute to and from the Haiss mansion and was able to use warp magic for long distances.
“Hmm. As I thought, home is the most comfortable place.”
Waking up to the warm sunlight, Jamie lay on his soft bed.
He’d grown too tall these days, like a plant growing up, and he was now over 175cm tall.
He wondered if he would cross over 180cm this year.
And then, he thought of how his parents and sister didn’t recognize him yesterday.
‘Did I change too much?’
He wasn’t sure what to do, and when he was enjoying the morning in bed….
Knock.
Along with the sound of a knock, the voice of a servant was heard.
“The chef said that the meal is almost ready. You can wash up and come down.”
“Fine.”
It had been a long time since he had eaten at home.
Mealtime was exhausting for him, but he missed it a little because he hadn’t had it at home in four years.
The place he grew up in and the meals with his family—it was absurd to think about all of them, but Jamie had changed a lot.
After washing up, he changed into comfortable clothes and went down to the dining room.
He hadn’t taken a good look at the mansion since he arrived at night, but the familiar hallways, the stairs, and the decorations—not a single thing had changed here.
‘Which is why I like it more.’
It would have been disappointing if things had changed here.
On the way to the dining room, he stopped by a familiar statue.
Five years ago.
When he was seven, he ran into Marquis Linmel right here.
“This reminds me of the old days.”
Here, Marquis Linmel tested him, and in the process, his father, Count Welton, appeared to protect him.
It was a time when he never cared about anything.
‘From then on, a lot of things began to happen.’
He had subdued the criminal organization, Ravel, which had been hiding within Haiss, and turned Azad and Raiza into his undead.
And shortly after, there came the ball for the sake of harmony among the nobles in the east, which was held by Simon, and he taught Lennon, his current disciple, to stay in his lane.
Indeed, Count Simon had been calm and yelled at his own son like it didn’t matter.
‘He is the same now too.’
Still, he is a lot better now compared to before, and Lennon seems to care too.
Things had been eventful until then.
In the process of defeating the chimera maker, Ricky became an Apostle and moved to Apton, the place where Jamie’s grandfather, Marquis Bell was.
And he fought demons there and learned about the Zenith Church’s involvement. The battle with Kreon, the head of the seven knights of the Zenith Church, was really dangerous.
And it wasn’t easy to defeat such an enemy.
He somehow managed to survive and made a pact with Pyro, and now he was profiting from it.
He traveled around with Siegfried, who came to Haiss, and he departed with Venna, who was the Valkyrie princess.
He found Behemoth but sent him to the Frontier as a spy, and they had been exchanging letters, but the buffalo only sent him weird content about eating apples day and night.
In the Magic World, while living as a teacher at the Phoenix Academy, he accepted Ann and Lennon as disciples and found out about the demons who were involved in some drug cases. And it turned out to be his subordinate, Trika, who was a Demon Lord in the Devildom.
And during the fight, he realized his magical realization and became a Great Magician.
He went to the capital, was appointed a position by the king, and got to use the omniscient library.
And it turned out to be a coffin for the man who existed through world resets.
He was lucky enough to obtain Jamie’s black mana and somehow survived after being detected by the eyes of the 12 Gods.
As a result, he almost died, but as Black absorbed the black mana from the attack, it brought in a power called Starlight.
So now he had black mana and Starlight.
‘A power that is hard to handle, but….’
Anyway, when would Black wake up?
After creating Starlight, it fell into a deep sleep. He called for Black several times, but there was no response.
Still, he knew that nothing bad happened to Black since their souls were connected.
It would wake up at the right time.
Too many things had happened in the past and…
‘There is more work to do in the future.’
To do so, he must firmly step into a higher realm. Only then could the real beginning start.
Jamie stood in front of the dining room with those thoughts in mind.
The door was closed, and Jamie waited in front of it without opening it.
He sensed two people lurking behind the door.
‘Ha! Mother, as usual.’
It seemed like not just his mother but even Sarah was there.
He could hear the sound of them suppressing their laughter. Shaking his head, Jamie opened the door and pretended he didn’t know about it.
“You are here?
Count Welton, who was seated, asked with a newspaper in his hand.
“You came early.”
“You came late.”
“Mom and Sarah?”
“They haven’t come yet.”
The Count said it, but he glanced to the side. Jamie had an awkward smile and tried to sit down.
“Jamie!”
“Brother!”
From behind him, Sears and Sarah both jumped at the same time.
But the mother and daughter’s arms only cut through the air. Jamie, who moved behind the two with a teleportation spell, hugged them both tightly.
“I am here!”
“Huh!”
“Kuak!”
Sears and Sarah were both startled.
They were surprised that Jamie, who was ahead, suddenly appeared behind them.
Count Welton smiled as he looked at his wife and daughter, who were the ones surprised.
When Jamie let them go, Sears and Sarah patted their chests as they shouted.
“Jamie! Magic is against the law of the dining room!”
“Right! Brother is being too much!”
“Hahaha!”
Jamie laughed heartily, as this was a rare sight to see.
“Who do you take after? Do you think women will like it if you are playful?”
“Who he takes after…”
At Sears’s words, Count Welton was shocked.
And Sears mouthed ‘me?’ as she chuckled.
Jamie and the Count shook their heads at the same time.
“But, how have you been?”
The Count asked Jamie how he was doing. His son arrived last night and fell asleep right away without being able to talk much.
Jamie answered as he looked at the grape juice the servant was pouring.
“It is just a series of studies. Occasionally, I look at the magic of the disciples, and I do some closed training too.”
“The last time I saw you was around last year, and you seem stronger now. Judging by your physical condition, you seem to be doing your swordsmanship training well.”
“I am working hard.”
Jamie smiled at his father’s praise.
The Count looked at his son with a satisfied smile at the same time. Actually, Jamie didn’t notice that.
Sears said,
“Is there any girl you like?”
“… where would I find a girl? Mom, I am twelve.”
“Sarah is nine!”
“Yes, yes. Sarah is all grown too.”
“Hehe.”
Sarah laughed brightly, and Jamie stroked her head.
She was once a kid, but she was growing up as well. Even though she inherited more of their mother’s blood, Sarah was a Welton, and she was a lot taller than her peers.
Recently, he heard she was training with the sword, and when he heard about it, it seemed like she wanted to be a knight.
Actually, she did seem talented.
It seemed like the Welton bloodline was going strong.
‘Because kids always change what they want to do.’
However, he wasn’t at the age to talk about it either, so Jamie brushed it off.
The meal was fun.
Talking with his family after a long time made him feel at ease.
“Do you want to take a walk with Dad?”
During the afternoon, it rained.
There was a walkway with a glass ceiling in the Welton mansion. It was an elegant place to be when it rained.
Jamie had nothing to do because it had been a long time since he had a day off, so he and the Count went there to go for a walk.
“Is the Magic World still having a political battle?”
“It is a lot better than before. The royalists have almost collapsed, and the nobles care more about their estates than their intentions for the Magic World, so there was no conflict.”
Even though Equality held power, there was no conflict because their goal was to have equal rights within the magic world.
In reality, it was different because of Jamie.
A magician who had reached the 8th class at the age of ten and who was now ready to cross over to the 9th class. Even when Jamie stayed still, everyone kept their eyes on him.
So, nothing happened.
‘Even if they move, it is none of my business.’
Since ancient times, various forces have taken turns holding real power in the Magic World.
Actually, their vested interests didn’t matter, and most people, including Jamie, weren’t interested in things like power.
“Then I am glad.”
“But Father, how have you been? I heard that you were quite busy.”
“The conflict is getting worse, so I have to often meet with His Majesty about it. And the frequent round trips from Haiss to the capital are building up fatigue.”
“The Zenith Church…”
“It isn’t strange when a war breaks out. We are just holding on. Let’s sit it out.”
Count Welton sat down where he had a good view of the flower bed.
Jamie sat down beside him and watched the raindrops fall.
Swish.
They were calmed by the sounds of raindrops and flowers swaying.
It was relaxing to be there after such a long while.
Then the Count called out,
“Jamie”
“Yes?”
“If Father is not here, how would you feel?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Just. I will stay with you forever, but people should have ifs.”
“… why wouldn’t I have Father? Don’t ask such questions even as a joke.”
Jamie didn’t answer and pretended not to hear him, but the Count was persistent.
“People are bound to die someday. As long as your mother and I are humans, we will die one day. Also, due to the nature of my job, it isn’t strange if I die someday, and above all, if we are from the Welton family, then we are bound to die at any time.”
“Father.”
“Dad heard the same question from your grandfather once. I had the same reaction back then, but now that I am his age, I think I can understand my father’s heart.”
Why was he asking such a question?
Jamie didn’t understand, but like the Count said, human life was unpredictable.
‘I will solve that thing before it happens.’
Jamie pondered and said,
“If Father is gone, then I will be the head of the family.”
“Right.”
“Then…. I will protect them at all costs. Even at the cost of my life.”
In response, the Count nodded.
And he said,
“That feels good.”
Hearing those words, Jamie replied.
“But I will protect my father no matter what. Please don’t ask such questions in the future. Father said that families are happiest when everyone is together.”
“Haha. I get it. I get it. I just asked one question, and my son is already scolding me.”
The Count smiled broadly and stroked Jamie’s head.
Jamie looked at his father’s face with a sullen expression and smiled.
It was the memory of his father from the past, whom he was missing.
