How a Catastrophe-Level Magician Lives

As merely the fourth son of the family, it was already too late for him to challenge the succession competition now. He lacked the foundation built by his other siblings and was much younger.

Moreover, the mother who gave birth to him was not the official wife, but the second wife, commonly known as a concubine.

Therefore, he was quite far from becoming the rightful heir of House Phoenix.
Looking at the current year, it had already been several hundred years since he died as a war magician on that battlefield.

He had accidentally learned that the family he once belonged to in the past had also eventually vanished in that war.

At first, after awakening in this body, he had considered revenge, but it turned out to be completely unnecessary.

‘…Serves them right. They were so greedy, biting off more than they could chew, waging territory wars here and there.’

The reason it was possible then was because it was a time of turmoil when the emperor of the empire had suddenly passed away.

But not now.
If that was an era of turmoil, the present was an era of peace.

It was also called the era of great magicians, otherwise known as the era of brilliant glory.

This was possible due to countless innovative developments and inventions in magical civilization that had advanced over hundreds of years.

“…Whew, I guess I’ll stop here for today.”

At the fingertips of my left hand, as I sat in the library, five elemental magics were each being emitted lowly into the air.

It was a multi-elemental implementation magic that simultaneously manifested the attributes of fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning.

Turning them all off at once, I got up from my seat and left the library.

‘…Elemental magic was the most basic of basics that I had already learned and mastered in my previous life. Thanks to that, I was able to implement and use multi-magic right away more easily than expected.’

Following the whisper of Albert, the third son of House Phoenix, I finally discovered the one high-level spellbook in this family’s library.

Thanks to [Essential Reading on Multi-Magic I], I was now able to simultaneously manifest a total of five elemental magics.

‘Essential Reading on Multi-Magic. Indeed, it was a high-level spellbook written about unknown magic that I had never experienced before. But judging by the title of the book, this is just volume 1. I suppose the next volume must exist somewhere as well.’

However, looking around this library, no more related spellbooks were visible.

‘It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped. There’s no use dwelling on what’s not there; it would just be a waste of time.’

Magicians do not live for an infinite time.

No matter how mysterious these magicians are, they ‘generally’ cannot go against the given natural providence and the providence of lifespan.

Therefore, for a magician with finite time, time-saving was one of the most essential virtues.

‘I want to learn one more, another magic. By studying all the numerous spellbooks prevalent in this world.’

In his previous life and now, he was simply a magic enthusiast who purely desired magic.

What a magician needs is not only talent but also the desire for magic that endlessly seeks to develop oneself. Also, longing and greed.

Judging by that, Free was clearly not an ordinary person.

To put it bluntly, his endless desire and greed to devour numerous spellbooks was, at the very least, not something that could be classified as a normal element in others’ eyes.

Although he had quietly postponed the search for the next volume of the Essential Reading on Multi-Magic for now, Free was ready to jump at any opportunity if it presented itself.

It was simply a decision made under the idea of efficient time-saving, thinking that learning other spellbooks within immediate reach was more beneficial and meaningful for now.

He still had a deep longing to learn and indulge in magic consistently.

That’s why for two years.

For about two years since awakening as Free von Betelgeuse, he had spent almost all his time alone in the family’s magic library.

However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t live a normal life at all.

“Free, you’re here.”
“…Mother.”

His birth mother in this life.
The second wife of Count Phoenix’s family.

She was Lady Lena de Betelgeuse, the concubine.

The middle name ‘de’ indicated that she was not a pure direct descendant or native of House Phoenix, but was given as a companion noble designation as his partner.

In contrast, collateral branches used ‘van’, while direct lines all used ‘von’.

“Big brother!”
“Reina.”

A cute five-year-old girl with navy blue hair just like Free’s, wearing a white dress with frills, came running and threw herself into Free’s arms as soon as she saw him appear.

Free lowered his head and showed a faint smile for the first time as he held his only younger sister in his arms.

“Reina. Have you been listening well to Mother?”
“Yes! I was eating delicious snacks with Mom!”
“Snacks?”
“She means cookies. Reina kept begging to eat them. Hehehe.”
“…I see.”
“Yes! Reina loves cookies! They’re the most delicious thing in the world!”
Seeing his little sister rubbing her face against his chest and speaking cutely with a faint blush on her cheeks, Free gently patted her head.

“Hehehe…!”

Reina, seemingly delighted by his touch, smiled brightly in his arms, looking a bit shy. Interestingly, Reina was a rare odd-eyed person in this world. One eye was golden yellow, while the other was red like Free’s.

Smiling.
Lady Lena, who had been sitting quietly in a chair at a white round table in one corner of the garden, smiled beautifully as she was about to lift a teacup filled with black tea, watching the two siblings.

At that moment.
A voice came from somewhere along with a shadow.

“Oh my, were you leisurely enjoying refreshments here? Lady Lena.”
“…Young Master Alkas.”

The uninvited guest who suddenly appeared there was Alkas, the second son born to the official wife of House Phoenix, now fifteen years old, with bright red hair and upturned eyes that made him look ill-tempered, dressed in luxurious red attire.

Free’s mother, Lady Lena, had a strangely stiff expression upon seeing Alkas.

“Phew, it’s nice to see. Secretly enjoying a tea party so leisurely, gathered cozily with your own children.”
“……”

There was something thorny about his words.

Lady Lena couldn’t say anything in response to such clearly pointed remarks.

After all, she herself was not his birth mother, but merely the second wife, a concubine of the family.

Giggling, Alkas approached, picked up a cookie from the bowl on the round table, and waved it in front of Lady Lena’s face with his index finger, speaking in a tone that seemed to be picking a fight for no reason.

“No wonder your body has become so voluptuous, eating things like this. You’re supposed to be the second wife of our count’s family, you should manage your figure to some extent.”

As he said this, he glanced down at Lady Lena’s ample bosom with a sinister smile and a subtle look in his eyes.

In response, Lady Lena carefully covered her chest and spoke with dignity.

“…You’re being excessively rude. That remark just now seems to have gone too far. No matter what, I am still officially your second mother, and I would appreciate it if you could be more careful with your remarks to me.”
“Hahaha, no need to pretend to be refined. It won’t change the fact that your origins are lowly. And rude? When was I rude? I was just purely giving advice out of concern for my sec.ond. mother, Lady Lena.”
“……”

Judging from this conversation, it seemed to clearly represent the relationship, standing, and differences in position between the two within the family.

However.

Thwack!
“……!”
“F-Free?”
Free didn’t try to hold back.

The rudeness Alkas committed against his mother.

“Why don’t you let go of that hand?”
“…What? Are you speaking informally to me just now?”
“An older brother should act like one to be treated as such. Just quietly let go of that and leave. I have no desire to give you anything at all.”
“…You little brat, did you eat something wrong? Don’t you know your place, daring to speak informally to your older brother? And even giving me orders!”

Thwack-!
Alkas roughly shook off the hand Free was holding.

Then, with a frown and an angry face, he pointed his index finger rudely at Free in front of him and said,

“…Apologize and kneel down right now! If not,”
“If not, what are you going to do?”

The likes of you?

Although he didn’t finish the last part, it was enough to enrage Alkas beyond anger.

Feeling insulted, Alkas’s face turned bright red with sudden humiliation. He took off one of the white gloves he was wearing and roughly threw it at Free’s face.

“I challenge you to a…!”
Thwack-

However, before he could finish his sentence, Free lightly caught the white glove that was thrown at his face.

“duel……”
“Who says?”
“Wh-What!?!?”

In the middle of Alkas speaking, he suddenly slipped on the floor and fell forward ungracefully.

In one of Free’s eyes, a mysterious magic circle emitting a strange blue light, which had activated unnoticed, was clearly visible, showing its presence.

This was one of the core reasons why he had gained the empty title of the Immortal Magician in his previous life.