Chapter 16

Wise Summer Vacation (2)

"Thank you for your time. I'm Dione Grayer, an employee of Baronet Asel."

The one who awaited Kleio in the reception room was a lady with a lovely compact physique that seemed like she had just walked out of a movie to say hello. Her hair, curled up under a white lace hat, was gray, and her eyes were as white as milk. The ribbon on her hat was neatly tied and cascaded down the left side of her chin and to the waist of her dress, which was the color of the sky. Kleio felt somewhat awkward to meet with a proper lady and not some girls running around with swords.

"...Hello, Lady Dione Grayer."

"Call me Dione. Shall we cut down to the chase and take a seat?"

She smiled gently over the fan she carried, holding it in hands wearing lace gloves. Once they had both taken a seat across from each other, they started to converse.

"How long was it since I was just learning to work for the baronet? And now he asked me to come here."

"What was his request?"

"He asked me to be your tutor and guardian during the summer vacation, as you will be otherwise alone in the capital."

"I am grateful for the courtesy, but as I am seventeen, I don't think I'm young enough to need someone's care."

'He's been throwing his child away so far, so what's with the guard now?'

"You talk like a very old man. It's a lot different from what I've heard, but it's fun."

Her eyes as she opened and folded her fan were like cold glass.

"I've already met your teachers. You must have performed rather well on the final exams."

"Did you make sure to check up on that beforehand?"

'This suspicious father, did he think I would've sent fake grades?'

"Oh, it wasn't hard at all. It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of seeing Rosa and Zebedee. They are still much the same."

"...Are you an alumnus?"

"It's a little embarrassing to say it, but I believe I am your senior by five years. I had also studied magic, so I was asked to serve as a private teacher."

Her clothes and speech almost deceived him, but Dione's eyes didn't smile along with her lips. Only her attitude and speech were friendly.

'Magic class graduates are usually level 3 or higher. Someone whom Gideon Asel hired as an employee wouldn't be incompetent.'

"But I'm here to deliver something that your father promised, as I didn't fully accept the job as a tutor. I told him that you would decide whether I take the job or not."

Dione produced a sealed envelope from her handbag made of white silk and handed it over.

"The most important thing was delivering this, so could you check if the contents are correct?"

It was the response he had been waiting for. Kleio opened the seal with his heart trembling and pulled a memo out first.

[Account freeze release. Please confirm. Gideon Asel.]

'I've suffered, but here is my reward.'

Kleio clicked his tongue as he opened the envelope all the way. There were two checks under the memo from Gideon Asel, each for 400,000 dinars.

'800,000 dinars!'

Kleio's stance immediately shifted.

'Practical praise is better than words. Thank you, father.'

Kleio quickly packed it away in his jacket. Counting the money he had in his account, it was a total of 1.2 million dollars, which was a full 400,000 dinars more than he had planned on. His escape funds were overflowing now. Being polite, Dione gracefully poured some tea while Kleio looked over the envelope.

"Now the errand seems to be over, so I'll tell you the rest. As soon as I leave, I will send a telegram to Baronet Asel saying that I, Dione Grayer, will take full responsibility for his second son's summer vacation."

The fan unfolded smoothly, displaying some meaning that Kleio didn't know. The eyes behind that fan were colored with laughter as if she were truly happy this time. At the same time, Kleio's expression crumbled a bit as he intuited a serious setback had just occurred in his escape plan.

"You're wondering why I've made that decision! I have to give you the answer. Professor Zebedee, who is normally so stingy with praise, was rather generous as he commended your talent as a wizard. For the first time since him, Albion will have another level 8 wizard...things like that."

'It looks like that old man can't help it...'

"That's an overestimation. Don't deans usually say that to the students' guardians?"

"Who doesn't know that Professor Zebedee isn't that sort of person? I can't help but be interested in you myself."

"I'm already overworked, Lady Dione."

She was a human beyond his understanding. His physique and stamina have already improved a little thanks to regularly eating his delicious meals and running every day, but Kleio Asel was still a sickly boy.

"Oh my, how embarrassing. Really! If you were a little taller and had a little more color in your cheeks, you would get a lot of attention from girls."

"..."

"At first, I wasn't sure, but when you look like that, with that calm face, you look just like your father, you know? Baronet Asel had a lot of women who secretly aspire for him."

"Aside from whether such a topic is appropriate, I think you know well that you have nothing to gain from me even if you give me an empty compliment."

Kleio returned that uninspiring answer as he felt his stomach turn from Dione's lovely appearance.

'What is the point of putting a magician with both an academic background and experience behind me? Is she really doing this because the professor praised me?'

A child who lived for pocket money had no merit.

'Moreover, her surname is Grayer... of Grayer's company...'

The Grayer company, founded by Vasco Grayer, was Albion's best-known magical dealer. Even though its scale was small, the level of items they handled was incomparable. Magic tool was a generic term for from amplifying ether to forming a magical shield. They could be crafted, but they were also often found in ruins. Vasco Grayer was an expert in the field of magic tool repair. In the manuscript, Vasco was described as a selfish man, but he gave a mysterious tool to help Arthur at a crucial moment.

'Dear Vasco Grayer, did you have a daughter who didn't show up in the manuscript? Is that why the age difference is ambiguous?'

"Excuse me, but would you happen to be affiliated with Vasco Grayer...?"

"Oh, you know our Grayer company! He is my father. He was accompanied by Baronet Asel's trade ship, so the store is closed until he returns so that I may tutor you."

Kleio viewed Dione with suspicion.

"Oh, don't look at me with those eyes. It's so cute."

Dione stood up and hugged the still sitting Kleio. She smelled sweet, and her arms felt soft.

'!!!'

Kleio, who stiffened at the surprising attack, tried to remove her arm. Her wrist was as thin as Kleio's, but she was stronger than he thought.

"Wait...please let go. Lady Dione! What rudeness is this?!"

"Now you look a little more like a child, young master. Now that we're spending the vacation together, we should get along."

Kleio only felt irritation and embarrassment at Dione's attempts to tease him.

'This girl!'

***

Dione left the school, saying she would send a wagon the following day after renovating the Asel mansion in the capital, which no one used, for the summer.

"See you tomorrow, young master!"

As soon as she left, Kleio stopped at the bank. This time it wasn't the branch he went to last time, but instead, he went directly to the main bank that had an abundance of cash reserves. He acquired the 400,000 dinars in his account right away, but the problem was the checks. He was informed it would take an extra day to cash them in. Even though he was displeased, he still had to prepare to leave.

Returning to school, Kleio packed his bags. He hadn't seen Nebo since the other day, and Behemoth was patrolling the field as he usually did. Rosa, however, was looking for him with a face full of sorrow.

"The dean said that if the warehouse wasn't cleaned, your discipline hasn't been completed... He is telling you to go again today. I also looked for Arthur, but I couldn't find him. It should only be maybe a few more days?"

Kleio barely managed a smile in front of the friendly teacher.

'True, true. It'll be over soon.'

"I'll go and organize it right away, thank you for telling me."

Arthur wasn't the sort to be stuck in his room, so if he ran away, there would be no way to find him.

'I need to avoid my father, but I also doubt I can evade an 8th level wizard.'

Letting out a long sigh, Kleio made up his mind and headed to the library warehouse.

.

.

.

Even though he had worked on it every day with Arthur, a fifth of the mess remained in the warehouse.

'But I learned magic to use at times like this.'

Kleio walked to the middle of the pile and stretched out his hand. Silently, a golden circle unfolded around several of the books.

'Is it this much? I'll finish it after a few more times of this. I can do it.'

He activated the two magic formulas he had in mind. Using the last failure as a lesson, he paid attention to the timing in overlapping the formulas. Two intricate layers of subtle patterns emerged from the floor to spread over the books and loose papers.

"[Dismantle][Disassemble!]"

The way the magic appeared was cool, but the activation had been misfired, causing the power to be weak. The books crumbled with a feeling like a half-broken document shredder was swallowing them. Even the fragmented debris took a moment to vanish. [Disassemble] was a magical formula that quickly destroyed small objects, though it could destroy larger ones with enough time. He had used [Dismantle] together with it to speed it up, but it didn't work as well as he anticipated.

"... I'll stay up all night waiting for this to be done."

Again, what he needed was a mantra.

'Dust... to dust... Ugh, I'm ashamed even to try.'

He was glad no one else was around. Kleio looked around once more, assuring himself vacation had already started and no students would come. Then, he shouted the mantra out loud. Behemoth had informed him that since it needed to be an eloquent hymn, the mantra had to be shouted out loud to maximize its effect.

"[Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!]"

'It's embarrassing!'

The tips of his ears turned red. It was a mantra that didn't suit the thirty-two-year-old.

'But I can only think of this; what else could I do?'

He had to bear the embarrassment. The two layers of magic penetrated the pile and quickly turned the books and paper to dust. Golden ether moved through the dust as it puffed into the air and eventually disappeared without a trace.