Chapter : 173

Mordegar, no, Mordin was a little kid who could be found rolling around any back alley.

The name Mordegar came about because it would be a bit underwhelming if the name of the person who created the Master of Gold was just ‘Mordin’ in public settings, so he agreed to the suggestion to be called that.

And thus, the fake Master of Gold, Mordegar, was born.

If there was anything special about Mordin, who had taken on the shell of Mordegar, it was that he knew how to use magic that was akin to petty tricks.

Nothing more, nothing less, just that kind of kid.

One day, Iris Viden, who had come to the back alley with her alcoholic father, clapped her hands with a clap and exclaimed.

“Hmm, in that case, you could get into Lapis Academy later!”

“Don’t say such absurd things, Nuna. How could I?”

Mordin was a terribly blunt kid, both in the past and now.

Carving a wooden sculpture to sell at a street stall, Mordin grumbled crudely.

「Lapis Academy」.

The academy founded by the great Hero of the Holy Sword, the Founding Emperor, to protect the Empire.

Its reputation was so solid that it was known even in other countries, so there was no way Mordin wouldn’t know of it.

“Hmm~ really? I’m definitely going to enroll in Lapis Academy, you know.”

Iris snorted and looked up at the blue sky.

“They say Lapis Academy has a great support system for students like me! I’m going to work hard to earn money with that, and I’ll learn alchemy too. And then, I’ll definitely start a merchant group under my name!”

“The Iris Merchant Group?”

“No, the Viden Merchant Group!”

Iris, who was a head taller than Mordin, smiled purely.

Iris Viden, with dark dirt smudged on her cheek and a dark blue bruise on her wrist.

Iris Viden, who had neither the glorious name of Gold as she did now, nor the jewels adorning her entire body, nor a dress made of the finest silk.

“And then I’ll be sure to hire Dad!”

But Mordin would surely never forget that brilliantly shining image for the rest of his life.

* * *

As she had proclaimed, Iris got into Lapis Academy.

Iris, in her Lapis Academy uniform, was truly the pride of the back alley.

“You XXX!!”

But as if there was a rule that only happiness couldn’t exist in the world, Iris rapidly grew unhappy.

Her alcoholic father became more broken by the day, now dabbling in things he shouldn’t, and openly expressed his resentment and hatred for Iris.

When Iris diligently visited the back alley on weekends, the sound of him grabbing her by the hair and fighting with her would echo throughout the neighborhood.

That place, which was one of the more decent parts of the back alley, would be filled with the girl’s sharp screams and her father’s curses, as if a murder had occurred whenever Iris visited.

“Iris, it’s good to take care of your father, but shouldn’t you also take care of your own body?”

The old woman next door who cherished Iris said, holding her hand tightly.

Iris, her cheek swollen and bluish from being hit, smiled awkwardly and replied.

“No, he’s my father, so I have to take care of him.”

It’s a foolish thing to do.

Mordin, who had reached the age where he could enroll in Lapis Academy, thought indifferently.

Iris’s father hadn’t worked in a long time anyway.

The money he got from selling their house when they moved to the back alley had long been squandered on alcohol.

The reason he could dabble in things he shouldn’t, beyond alcohol, was all because of the money Iris provided.

And the people of the back alley, who lived from hand to mouth, were growing more displeased with the Viden father and daughter with each passing day.

First, their screams and curses.

Second, the greed that was natural for humans.

Being a source of pride was fine for a day or two, but people vaguely noticed.

Iris Viden was a girl who would fly higher, to a place they could never reach.

The only reason she remained in such a gutter was because of the shackle that was her father.

“Nuna.”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t come here anymore.”

“What do you mean…?”

Contrary to her words, her eyes showed she understood everything.

Eyes that understood, but didn’t want to accept.

After all, it had already been 10 years since Iris came here. Being rejected by a place you’ve lived in for 10 years must be more painful than one might think.

But Mordin knew that Iris was not someone who should be broken by something so trivial.

As long as she kept coming here, as long as she took care of her father, those wings would be broken. Her wings, capable of soaring high into the sky, would be broken.

“You know, Mordin.”

“Yeah, Nuna.”

“I’m a bit more jaded than you think.”

“So?”

“There are some bastards I hate at the Academy. I curse them, hoping they break their noses even if they fall backwards, and that a passing bird poops on their heads.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“I’m not as purely nice as you think I am.”

Well, doesn’t everyone have someone they hate?

Mordin tilted his head.

Iris might not know, but in the back alley, curses don’t just end there; they make them a reality. What’s wrong with just thinking about it?

At the sight of Mordin blinking indifferently, Iris burst into laughter.

“Ahahaha! Right. Hmm, you know, Mordin.”

“Yeah, Nuna.”

“When I start my merchant group, I’ll make you my right-hand man.”

“Right-hand man?”

“Yeah! Great people are supposed to have someone who helps them like their own limbs. I’m specially choosing you, so do you want to learn some magic from me from now on?”

He wanted to attend the Academy, but Mordin wasn’t confident he could overcome that high wall.

But if it was just learning magic from Iris….

As Mordin nodded, Iris beamed and patted Mordin’s back hard.

“Good choice! Even at the Academy, my magic skills are within the top five, you know?

You’ve got yourself an amazing teacher!!”

Say that after you get rid of the bruise on your eye with that great skill.

Mordin wanted to say that, but he couldn’t bring himself to, knowing it would hurt Iris’s feelings.

* * *

It rained particularly hard that night.

As if people had an ability to smell misfortune, Mordin tossed and turned in the particularly thick scent of it before opening his eyes.

Iris, who had come to the back alley again today, was standing on the street.

From her reddened hands, a red liquid dripped, drop by drop, like ink.

“Iris-nuna?”

“Ah, it’s Mordin.”

Iris’s voice was terribly hoarse.

Was she crying? I still don’t know. It rained so much that day, and Iris’s entire body was soaked.

“You know, Mordin… I’m going to leave this place.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m thinking of leaving and never coming back.”

At those words, Mordin’s eyes widened slightly.

He knew she wouldn’t come back someday, but he never thought she would say she was leaving for good.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t disappointed, but still—

“That’s good.”

Mordin was genuinely relieved.

They wouldn’t see each other anymore, but at least she wouldn’t have to hear the whispers or get bruised from being beaten by that man called her father.

“So, want to come with me?”

“Huh?”

“I’m not going into the dorms. I don’t have any money saved up, but… I’m thinking of getting a house somehow. Work there as my servant.”

“Servant?”

“Yeah, though I can’t pay you right now…”

“Forget the wages. Just keep teaching me magic instead.”

“Ah, that much I can do, anytime.”

Like a person out of their mind, Iris constantly muttered something.

“Nuna, are you okay?”

“Yeah, what?”

Iris tilted her head.

As loud as the rain was, it wasn’t enough to drown out his voice.

Which meant she had deliberately ignored Mordin’s words.

But what could he do about it?

“It’s nothing.”

Mordin knew that ignoring his question was Iris’s way of protecting herself.

So he didn’t ask.

What that blood on her hand was. Why she was out in this dangerous back alley alone so late at night.

He didn’t ask a single thing.

That was when Iris was nineteen, and Mordin was sixteen.

* * *

Mordin’s parents let him go more easily than he’d expected.

It was a good thing if they could reduce the number of mouths to feed, and an even more welcome thing if he had found a good job to earn money.

They showed a bit of reluctance at the news that he would be working as a servant under Iris and learning magic, but they eventually nodded, thinking of it as an investment.

And so, Iris’s new home was—

“A haunted house?”

“Haha, I got it for almost free.”

Iris laughed awkwardly.

“There’s a rumor that a ghost comes out.”

“A ghost…?”

Unlike Mordin who showed his displeasure, Iris laughed awkwardly.

“They actually paid me to take it off their hands.”

At Iris’s cheerful words, Mordin stared at her, dumbfounded.

If it was a house that someone would pay another to take, didn’t that mean a ghost really came out?

“Don’t worry! Your nuna is good at magic!”

“Being good at magic isn’t the problem.”

At Mordin’s cold stare, Iris repeatedly said it was really fine and boasted about her grades.

“I’m the salutatorian of the Academy’s Magic Division, you know!”

“Not the valedictorian?”

“The valedictorian is a monster.”

Iris, who had been scratching her cheek awkwardly, pressed Mordin’s cheeks with her palms.

“No ditching me, okay? You’re already my servant, got it?”

“I get it, so let go.”

“Tsk, no fun.”

Iris grumbled and obediently let go of Mordin’s cheeks.

A hint of disappointment even brushed past Iris’s face. There was no way Mordin wouldn’t have noticed.

Because Mordin wasn’t stupid.

On the contrary, he was smart enough that it was hard to believe he was a sixteen-year-old born and raised only in the back alleys.

Magic wasn’t something that could be used just by having the aptitude to feel mana.

Though not comparable to Iris, Mordin was also a precious, unpolished gem in the back alley.

He just hadn’t felt the need for it until now.

“Hey, Mordin. Are you really not thinking about enrolling in Lapis Academy? I can help you adjust, and if you go there and learn magic and alchemy, you could even get into the best merchant group in the Empire, you know?”

“No thanks.”

Mordin lightly blew away the cobwebs and dust caked on a broom that was rolling around the floor of the haunted house, and then picked it up without hesitation.

“You said I’m your servant. So I have to work.”

“I can’t pay you yet.”

“Just pay me later when you make a lot of money.”

“Yeah! I promise I will!”

“I will never ask about it before then.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Mordin turned his head sharply and began cleaning the haunted house.

Iris smiled.

A bright, yet somehow different, smile with an awkward corner to it.

How on earth Iris, who could never abandon her father, had managed to let go of her attachments that night.

He would never ask.

So, he hoped that someday, when she gathered the courage, Iris would tell him everything.

Mordin prayed to God as he swept with the broom.

But thinking back now, he should have asked then.

If he had, Iris wouldn’t have ended up so broken.

Mordegar had to pile up deep regrets, layer by layer, in the depths of his heart.

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