A Genius Boy Who Was Exiled From His Family Home for “Not Being Able To Use Magic” Becomes a Witch’s Apprentice and Masters All Magic in the Right Way. This Is How You Use Your Magic, You Know?

Chapter 126.1. Someone’s Magic

…I was careless.

Generally, Hermes excels at reading his opponent’s moves in battles against intelligent beings, responding with countermeasures. It’s partly due to the nature of his magic, but this time, his opponent Clyde was, in a sense, so broken in his intelligence that it made things exceptionally difficult.

Moreover, Hermes’s own weakness. Though he has improved to some extent, he still has a fundamental lack of awareness for anything “outside of himself.” All these factors combined led to him being blindsided by the move of “targeting Sara.” The fact that he didn’t foresee this was undeniably his own blunder.

…But, reflection comes later. Fortunately, he avoided a fatal blow. Thanks to Sara’s magic, he managed to recover enough to continue fighting. The situation isn’t over yet.

“Now, let’s think about it. How do we take down that monster?”

He stood up and spoke aloud. There is still a possible way to turn the tide. But it’s only a possibility. Turning it into reality is the task at hand. Luckily, the stalling measures he set up are working. There’s still a bit of time before Clyde reaches them. So, now is the time to think. With that thought, he turned to the girl beside him.

But then, he saw—

“……I’m sorry.”

—A face filled with hopeless despair.

“I’m… of no use anymore.”

A face he had never seen before. Tears streaming down, eyes sunken—almost as if something inside her had broken.

“I… I have no more magic power left. Even if I had some, it might not have made a difference.”

She confessed her despair in a low, broken voice, matching the expression on her face.

“The academy’s barrier is gone, and I couldn’t protect everyone. I thought I could do it this time, but once again, I’ve only held you back. I thought I could change, but I just repeated the same mistakes… and made things even worse… I…!”

“……”

“I was never any good from the start…! I’m sorry for being so useless, for being someone who can’t do anything, for not being able to change anything… I’m sorry…”

At those words, Hermes finally realized. This girl… She has never been able to see any value in herself. She hates herself.

He had noticed this tendency from the first time they met. But he had assumed that her time at the academy had rid her of those feelings. Yet… the 15 years of being treated as a substitute since her birth had left an enormous impact on her.

…In hindsight, it’s obvious. Hermes himself had experienced mistreatment from his family, but even that only lasted from ages 7 to 10—just 3 years. Considering how much that affected him even now, he can’t blame her for her overwhelming self-hatred.

More than that. At this academy, she had given so much to others. She protected, healed, and cared for others with endless devotion.

And yet—she had never once asked for anything in return.

Whenever she sought something from someone, it was always for the sake of someone other than herself. Even when she stopped Hermes, it was for someone else.

…He felt a deep loathing towards himself for not realizing this until now. And at the same time—he found himself thinking: No. He hated that she was still like this. That the chains she was born with still bound her.

That’s why he—

“…That’s not true.”

—denied it. He had to deny it. That wasn’t the case. What she had accomplished was real. He couldn’t allow anyone to say it was meaningless. Next, he would show her proof. With that thought, he placed his hand on the nearby black wall.

In an instant, the wall rippled, revealing the outside view.

“!?”

“This magic is of the same type as your [Theur Gy]. That made it easier to analyze, so I can at least do this much now.”

Incidentally, the spell currently holding Clyde at bay is also a derivative of this. While Sara was carrying him, he had surrounded Clyde with multiple layers of barriers. As long as the caster is involved, there’s no reason to lose control of borrowed magic.

But right now, that doesn’t matter. What he wanted her to see—was the scene now visible.

What lay before them was the academy under attack by monsters. With the barrier she had protected now gone, the monsters were rampaging through the academy unchecked—

“……Huh?”

—Or rather, they weren’t.

“For now, rest assured… The academy is not lost yet.”

With conviction, Hermes focused his gaze and listened to the voices carried on the wind with his magic.

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At the same time, in front of the academy.

“—Protect it.”

First to be heard was her voice, commanding a host of spirits. She had confirmed a short while ago that the barrier had disappeared. But she didn’t believe that this meant Sara was dead. As long as Hermes was there, she trusted that he would prevent a catastrophic outcome.

If that was the case, then her duty was clear.

“Protect them. Not a single person in this academy shall die—”

With the disappearance of the barrier, monsters attacked from all sides. Defending against them now was an overwhelmingly difficult task compared to before.

But—so what?

She increased the output of her magic. What she needed was her own strong will. Her magic grew stronger in response to her determination. And so she shouted. A cry from the depths of her heart, filled with unwavering resolve.

“No matter what, absolutely—! I will protect what Sara wanted to protect!”

Her purpose was to fulfill her noblesse oblige. Defending this place was non-negotiable, and her determination was unwavering. But now, just for now, she wasn’t fighting to protect her own desires—she was fighting to protect Sara’s desires. Her heart was focused on that purpose, and her magic responded.

She was using her magic for Sara. And the result—was the strongest magic she had ever produced. The ghostly soldiers flying through the entire academy bore witness to that.

She shouted once more, pouring her will into the flames of her magic.

“Frankly, I’m furious with people who don’t live up to their noble duties! …But that girl, she reaches out even to those people! She tries to save them! That’s what she’s chosen to do of her own free will. That’s her wish!”

She had watched all this time. Since entering the academy, that girl, who had once been like a doll. And even then, she had always sought connections with others. And… in the second term, she had grown even more, blossoming into someone even more remarkable.

“Right now, that girl is desperately trying to change. I won’t let anyone take away her progress, her accomplishments! If anyone dares trample on them, Katia von Trakia will hunt them down no matter what! Only those prepared for that should come forward!”

It’s unclear if monsters even can feel fear. But… her fierce determination caused even the weaker monsters to hesitate, if only slightly.

Meanwhile, at another point in the defensive line.

“Stand. Bite back. Squeeze out every last drop of magic and strength! Don’t let a single monster reach the academy!”

Albert von Yelk’s sharp voice echoed across the battlefield. It was both a rallying cry to himself—and to the comrades fighting beside him.

“The barrier’s gone—so what! We’ve come too far to give up now! Don’t let her efforts, her sacrifice, go to waste! We will not surrender now!”

The battle had intensified. Unlike Katia, they didn’t possess overwhelming power, and so they found themselves in a dire situation. But they held their ground through sheer will. Every one of them was fighting with one person in mind—one girl.

“How many times has she supported us since we entered the academy?! It’s thanks to her holding everything together that we’re all still here. So now—it’s time to repay that debt! Block those monsters! This time, we will be her shield!”

The students of Class B raised their voices in unison. Not a single person there could deny his words, nor could they deny the strength they had drawn from her dedication.

And so, what seemed like a crumbling defensive line in the aftermath of the barrier’s collapse barely managed to hold.

The main reason for that—was Katia’s and the Class B students’ fierce efforts.

And at the heart of it all—was the will of a single girl who had brought them all together.

Without her, Katia could never have mustered such power. The Class B students could not have fought as one. That was undeniable, no matter who looked at it. It was unmistakably her achievement.

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