Roxy

"My name is Roxy. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She wore a magician-style brown robe, with her aqua-blue hair tied into a braid. Petite and neat was the best way to describe her.

Her skin was snow-white, untouched by the sun. Her slightly narrowed eyes made her look a little sleepy, and the tightly closed corners of her mouth gave her a rather aloof air.

Even without glasses, she gave off the impression of the kind of literature girl who spent all day shut away in a library.

All she carried was a leather bag and a staff that looked exactly like something a magician would own.

The three of us came out together to welcome her.

"..."

After getting a clear look at her, my parents seemed so surprised they couldn't speak.

I couldn't blame them.

The person before them was far removed from what they had expected.

After all, they were hiring a private tutor. They had probably imagined someone with quite a few years behind them.

But the one who had arrived was so tiny.

"Ah... um... are you... the one... who's going to be his tutor?"

"Well... you look... rather..."

Since my parents seemed to be having trouble saying it, I helped them out directly.

"You look little."

"You're in no position to call me little."

She fired back without hesitation.

No... you're not even as old as I was in my past life, are you? A middle schooler? Someone that age can actually become a teacher?

No, no... I shouldn't be so arrogant. Maybe she was one of those genius types in this world. Magic existed here, after all.

Yes, that was probably it. Otherwise, someone her age definitely wouldn't be qualified to be my teacher.

Thinking that, I started to feel some respect for this genius girl.

Roxy sighed.

"Anyway... where is the student I'm supposed to teach?"

She looked around as she asked.

"Ah, this child here."

Zenith pulled me, whom she was holding by the hand, in front of Roxy.

I greeted her magnanimously with a wink.

"Hello, teacher."

I was never stingy with respect when it came to geniuses.

But Roxy first widened her eyes, then let out a sigh.

"Honestly... you do get people like this now and then... foolish parents who decide their child is talented just because they developed a little faster than normal..."

She muttered to herself.

"I can hear you, Teacher Roxy," I said quietly with a smile.

"Er..." She looked a little startled.

But whatever. As long as my parents didn't hear it.

At that moment, Zenith, who had been behind me, came to my side.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, but... I don't believe your son can understand magical theory."

"It'll be fine. Our little Rudy is very gifted!"

Zenith replied with the kind of biased comment only foolish parents would make.

Roxy sighed again.

"Well... I understand. I'll do my best."

She seemed to have decided that saying anything more would be a waste of effort.

And so, my life began: taking Roxy's lessons in the morning, and learning swordsmanship from Paul in the afternoon.

"Now then, we'll start with this magic textbook... no, before that, let's confirm how much magic you can use, Rudy."

Rudy? How familiar.

Still, if this tiny child had managed to become a teacher at only fifteen or sixteen, she must have had something extraordinary about her. In that case, I would make an exception and allow this young girl to address me a little familiarly.

I smiled and nodded.

And so Roxy took me out into the yard.

It seemed she knew very well what would happen if she used magic inside the house.

"I'll demonstrate first. May the great blessing of water descend upon the place you seek; let a cool, shallow stream appear here—Water Ball."

As she chanted, a blue ball of water appeared in front of Roxy's palm.

Then the water ball shot at high speed toward a tree in the yard.

Splat.

The water ball easily snapped the trunk, then drenched the fence.

As expected, she was a genius... No, it was also possible that my previous theory had been wrong.

The low-rank magic she had just used was far more powerful than the low-rank magic I used.

Thinking that, I grew even more respectful of the petite girl before me.

"What do you think?"

"Mm, I think you're amazing, Teacher."

As I said that, I walked over to the tree and began chanting.

"Holy power is rich sustenance; grant strength to those who have lost their vigor so they may stand once more..."

Before I had even finished chanting, the trunk had already gradually returned to its original state.

Then I turned back to look at the dazed Roxy and spoke.

"Teacher, this tree was carefully raised by my mother. I don't think she'd be very happy if you used it for a magic demonstration."

"Huh? Really?"

"I believe so."

"Uh... By the way, Rudy, you can use healing magic?" Roxy changed the subject somewhat awkwardly.

"Yes, up to intermediate rank is no problem."

"I see... That's impressive."

"No, I'm nowhere near as impressive as you, Teacher. I can't use water magic like what you just showed me."

I wasn't lying. If I used low-rank magic, I really couldn't produce the kind of power Roxy had just shown.

"As long as you train properly, anyone can reach this level."

Though her tone was a little cool, the corners of her mouth had already betrayed her by curving upward, and her nose twitched with a bit of pride. She seemed to be in a very good mood.

As expected, even if she was qualified to be a teacher, inside she was still a teenage girl.

In the end, she was still a child.

With that mindset, I walked back to her side.

"Then, Teacher, what magic will you demonstrate next?"

"No... Next, you should imitate the water ball I just used. Ah... You don't need to aim at that tree." She pulled the brim of her hat lower and spoke a little quietly.

Imitate the water ball Roxy had just fired.

There was no need to show off in front of my own teacher, so I decided to reproduce her water ball one-to-one.

"May the great blessing of water..."

Because I hadn't deliberately memorized the chant, I skipped the rest and directly fired a water ball identical to Roxy's. But I knew full well that this was intermediate-rank magic.

The water ball flew out of the yard.

But Roxy looked at the result with a complicated expression.

"You shortened the chant?"

"Yes. Is that not allowed?"

All this time, I had been casting without chanting.

I had never felt there was anything wrong with it, but had I actually been making some important mistake?

"Do you usually shorten your chants too?"

"No, I usually don't chant at all."

Though I hesitated a little, I still told the truth.

After all, this was my home. Even if there was something wrong with it, she wouldn't be able to report it immediately or anything.

"You don't chant...?"

Roxy widened her eyes and looked down at me with a doubtful expression.

"I see... You usually don't chant at all? Do you feel tired now?"

Then she pretended as if nothing had happened.

"No."

"I see. The size and power of the water bullet are both beyond reproach."

"Thank you."

At last, Roxy smiled.

The corners of her mouth lifted, and then she murmured softly, "I feel like you're worth training properly."

She probably thought I couldn't hear her, but just like when we had first met, I heard her.

What a careless girl.

"Now then, let's move on to the next spell right away..."

And so, I spent the entire morning trying out all kinds of chantless magic.

Though Roxy sounded perfectly knowledgeable, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was studying me like some strange new species.