NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
001.
The name ‘Kalen’ was given to him by an old man who was both his benefactor and teacher.
A nobleman of no great significance who enjoyed a fleeting pleasure with a courtesan—a twisted relationship from which an illegitimate child was born, the outcome of which was all too predictable.
Those who are abandoned wander to find their way, and the boy who is now called Kalen was no different. Each day was a struggle. If by luck he managed to get a single decent slice of bread, it was a fortunate day.
The world is paradoxical, both warm and cold at the same time. There were those who would offer a bit of kindness to a ragged young boy passing by, and yet there were plenty who would look at him as if he were filth.
They say that if you want to meet people, you need to go to the city. The boy, who knew nothing but how to beg, was struggling to survive in Felds, one of the largest cities of the Claire Empire, when one day, he came upon a gathering of people out of curiosity.
Was the old man eccentric or unusual? He frowned heavily, made loud noises, yet did not drive people away. Word from passersby indicated that the man was a wizard, one of the most renowned wizards in all the world, beyond the borders of the Claire Empire.
But the boy had little interest in such things. His only thoughts were on how he might obtain a single piece of bread, perhaps gain a flicker of compassion.
Titles like ‘Great Wizard’ were of no immediate use to him.
As the crowd dispersed, the boy approached the old man.
“Sir… please help me…”
The old man, Blameya Dranu, looked at the boy who suddenly appeared before him. But the word ‘sudden’ was not entirely accurate. The man had a presence that could sense even the king of a neighboring kingdom while standing in place, so it was impossible that he hadn’t noticed the boy hovering nearby.
What intrigued Blameya Dranu was not extraordinary—only the sight of a young boy still plump with baby fat standing confidently before him.
He had seen plenty of beggars before. In a world dominated by magic where the gap between the wealthy and the poor had widened greatly, such sights were common.
Yet, no one had been as composed as this boy.
Superficially, he seemed unbearably pitiful, evoking sympathy at first glance. But to the Great Wizard Blamia, he could see through the facade to the boy’s essential nature.
There was no tremor of primitiveness in his voice, and his tone lacked the whiny lamentation one might expect; rather, it was too polished, as if he were performing.
A beggar who understood his situation and knew how to manipulate it. It was an unnatural demeanor for someone so young.
“Hmm… interesting.”
“Excuse me?”
“How old are you, boy?”
“Nine…”
“I’ll walk away if you lie.”
“Eleven years old.”
“Eleven, you say?”
Not bad. Blamia had a precious granddaughter who often sang songs that gave him headaches, and she was the same age.
Blamia found it irritating that the boy was lying, but decided to forgive him. After all, younger people often elicited more sympathy.
“Good,” he nodded. “Lately, my granddaughter’s been rejecting all the nobles’ children she’s supposed to associate with, giving me a headache. Come with me, boy, and serve under me. I’ll make sure you eat and sleep properly.”
Hiring a passing beggar as a servant might seem strange to some, but Blamia was not one to dwell on such trivial matters. To him, whether it was the beggar boy or a member of the royal family, they were all the same.
He only wished that this boy would find favor in his granddaughter’s eyes.
“Boy, what’s your name?”
“…”
Thinking about it, they hadn’t done a formal introduction yet, so Blamia asked for his name, receiving no response.
“…I don’t have one.”
“No name?”
“I think I did at one point, but I’ve never been called by it. I forgot it all when I was abandoned by my mother.”
“Hmm…”
As the boy rushed to follow Blamia upon a wave of his hand to come along, Blamia stroked his grizzled beard.
“Kalen.”
While he didn’t feel sorry for the boy’s personal history, he still thought it was necessary to give him a name to call him by.
“Henceforth, you shall be known as Kalen.”
“Yes.”
It was the moment the boy met his benefactor on the street.
*
Archmage.
Even if Kalen had been too busy trying to survive to understand the true weight of the title, he knew it carried significance.
An archmage’s world was so vast that, in war-torn lands, they sometimes wielded more power than kings.
There were only three in the entire world. One was secluded, researching magic exclusively, while the whereabouts of the second were unknown. Blameya was the only one people were familiar with.
When thinking of such a figure, one would imagine a grand mansion filled with lavish surroundings. Servants numbering over a hundred, breakfasts so extravagant that they could feed several families.
This was what Kalen had imagined too—until Blameya took him to a quaint, sturdy small cottage in a quiet location.
“Grandfather!”
“Yes.”
The old man and his granddaughter lived in this modest cottage. Compared to Blameya’s reputation, it was rather humble.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“This old man here. How do you say what’s ‘that’? I’ve gone so far as to personally find her a friend.”
“Ah.”
The girl stopped suddenly and turned to Blameya’s direction. Her sky-blue hair was elegantly braided to one side. Kalen stood awkwardly. The girl cautiously approached and handed him an apple.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
“What? Pfft! Friends don’t use honorifics, do they? What a dork.”
Then she covered her mouth and burst out laughing.
Her manner was somewhat detached from reality, a bit alien.
“Eww… smell…”
It was the girl’s comment that broke Kalen’s thoughts. Seeing her pinch her nose and wrinkle it at him, Kalen realized his own condition.
“Go shower first. The bathroom is over there.”
Blameya gestured toward the bathroom with his finger, recommending Kalen to bathe.
Seeing a girl his age for the first time, who was also pretty, Kalen instinctively bowed his head a little and quickly headed toward the bathroom.
*
Hired as a servant, Kalen of course had to do servant duties. But he wasn’t professionally trained.
Making beds, doing laundry, and a variety of tedious tasks—there were even times he had to learn some from Blameya’s granddaughter instead.
Still, Kalen was quick to pick up on things he learned from his sharp intuition. With time, Kalen grew accustomed to his duties and found the leisure to look around.
“So… you make the sound ‘Wac!’ there.”
“Grandfather…”
“Oh, how frustrating!”
Blameya was teaching his granddaughter, Sina, magic. Simply listening revealed incomprehensible terms being exchanged while various colorful illusions floated from their hands.
But apparently, things weren’t as easy as they seemed.
Despite Sina’s visible effort, Blameya would drum his chest in frustration.
“Stop conjuring images! How can you not even manage basic magic after months? And you’re my blood too!”
“Tch… Grandfather, your explanations are too hard! You always use abstract terms like ‘Wac! Wac! Whoowac!’!”
“But that’s the precise term…”
“I don’t care! I’m going to play with Kal!”
This was the routine.
After Sina tired of Blameya’s magic lessons, she’d head toward Kalen, leaving a dissatisfied Blameya to tut under his breath. Watching this, Kalen couldn’t help but think that teaching and magical ability were two separate issues.
Frankly, even Kalen, who had no prior knowledge of magic, found Blameya’s teachings a bit abstract. For Blameya to realize this himself would be an even harder task.
“Kal!”
“…Yes, Miss.”
“Augh, seriously. Stop using honorifics! How long do you plan to be so stiff?”
“Later… I’ll try to fix it.”
“Kal” was the nickname Sina made for Kalen. According to her, it was important to give someone a nickname to bond more quickly. And due to this, Sina became close to Kalen very quickly.
Of course, this was from Sina’s perspective.
Kalen, since being taken in by Blameya, regarded him as his benefactor. After all, who else would pick up a homeless beggar, feed, and house him?
Sina, being Blameya’s granddaughter, earned the respectful title of “Miss” from Kalen.
Therefore, every time Sina approached him without formalities, Kalen was somewhat perplexed.
After all, they hadn’t known each other for very long. Yet, why such a breach of distance?
“Hmph… she rejects all the nobility I bring her way, yet why does that one please her so much?”
Blameya’s seemingly offhand remark didn’t go unnoticed by Sina.
“I hate those nobles pretending to be something they’re not. They’re all the same every time—bragging about their family’s greatness and scheming ways to somehow connect with grandfather through me.”
Kalen quietly listened to Sina’s tirade beside him.
“I hate them all. If they want to be my friend, they should focus on me, not grandfather.”
Sina lived with Blameya alone. While it could be said she loved her grandfather dearly, Kalen had been under his roof for a week now. Even an eleven-year-old girl would yearn for her parents.
Even though Blameya might be an excellent parental figure, a grandfather is still a grandfather. He could never completely replace real parents.
Kalen had quickly picked up skills due to his sharp observational skills when it came to work, and the same went for human relationships.
He could already sense why Sina disliked nobles who flaunted their backgrounds.
“Like Kal.”
While Kalen sympathized with Sina’s family tragedy, he was interrupted by the fresh scent of a young girl.
“Isn’t that right?”
“…Yes.”
“Aw, boring!”
Always with the honorifics, responding only with the necessary answers. Even if Kalen just listened to her complaints silently.
Whatever was right, Kalen didn’t understand.