A day has passed since my Soul Depth measurement test. Every single servant in the mansion is now giving me a plethora of different looks when they see me.

 

Pity, disgust, shame… Oh well, I've gotten used to even worse rejection in my previous life, so this is nothing in comparison. In fact, I'm the one who should pity these sheeple who think that my blessing is a handicap.

 

A total farce! One day, I'll prove to them how wrong they are. For now, I'll have to understand how my result somehow got to what I thought was an impossibility.

 

Don't misunderstand thought, I'm perfectly happy with it, it's just that everyone reacted to how low my result was, instead of even slightly doubting the fact that the score got impossibly low.

 

Welp, seems like I'll have to distract Sisley somehow to visit Magnus's study again. I'm clearly lacking in knowledge that seemingly should be pretty obvious. Now how should I approach this issue…

 

Would burning her room be enough of a distraction?

 

"Young master, please follow me. Master Magnus and Lady Sarah would like to see you right now."

 

Speaking of the devil, Sisley opened my room's door and waited expectantly for me to move. She seemed shaken, literally. Her hands were trembling for some reason and there's visible concern on her face. Did She read my thoughts?

 

I decided not to make her wait and carefully walked towards her. These tiny legs are very inconvenient after all, but they were good enough to not stumble my way through the hallway while I followed the maid towards the dining room.

 

"Take a seat, Max"

 

My father gave a simple command with an indecipherable tone and his usual unreadable expression.

 

Why can't he just be a bit more expressive! Just look at Sarah, she has tears in her eyes and seems devastated. Learn a thing or two from her, will ya?

 

"From now on, you are prohibited from exiting the mansion without my permission. Your condition has already been leaked and it's only a matter of before the entire kingdom learns of this… unfortunate event."

 

Oh? Now that's surprising, I was sure that I was going to be exiled or something to that extent. Maybe, behind his stone cold expression, he has a heart of gold?

 

"Although you may never use magic in your entire life, Max, you are still part of our family. You will be given the same treatment your elder brothers had, except from going to social events."

 

Ahh, he really is a great dad. I apologize for thinking you were a heartless fiend with no morals. This is also my chance!

 

"Father, I'm fine with this. I never wanted to use magic in the first plac-"

 

"I'M SORRY MAX IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

 

I was suddenly assaulted by Sarah's hug, interrupting my carefully planned confession while bawling her eyes out. I tried to wiggle out of her grasp but my tiny body never stood a chance as she kept squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

 

After somehow surviving that encounter, I was promptly led back to my room by Sisley who kept quiet while I was in deep thought.

 

The confrontation with my parents wasn't what I expected but I'm not complaining. As long as they aren't planning to brainwash me into becoming a mage, I'm absolutely fine with not being allowed to go outside.

 

Not like I'll actually listen though. If I ever feel like it, there's always the option to sneak out every now and then. Obviously not as a 4-year-old kid though.

 

***************************************************

 

I take everything back.

 

"The major schools of magic are divided into elemental and non-elemental. This classification is based upon elemental magic being defined as the 'manipulation of physical matter and phenomena' while non-elemental magic encompasses all spells with properties that has no physical equivalent-"

 

Remember when Magnus said I'll be given the same treatment as my brothers? Apparently, magic lessons were included in that, and I'm not happy at all.

 

"-All official mages learn a basic list of spells from both schools. However, it is recommended to focus on only one of the two since being too diverse significantly raises the risk of soul corruption."

 

Ugh, I never expected that Lily, the ghost/cultist/clown, would actually become my private tutor. I tried to escape at first, but apparently I was appointed a 'bodyguard' to ensure my 'safety'.

 

"Max! Are you even listening to me? I understand you might feel this is useless to you which is technically true. However, you are still a Phoenix, it would be a disaster if you don't even know the difference between a fireball and a normal torch!"

 

You actually dare try to trick me into thinking a hot gas bubble is better than real fire?

 

"Miss clow- Lily, please, I know for a fact that a fireball as you call it is far inferior compared to a normal flame. It cannot be sustained as long as a torch due to the absence of actual fuel to burn which, instead is replaced by the non-existent mana apparently all mages have."

 

Hehe. Just look at her face, she knows I'm right and her silence proves it.

 

"Max, let's just end the lesson here. I think you ought to get some rest while I need to discuss with Sisley about scheduling your future lessons."

 

Finally, I've been stuck listening to her nonsense for more than an hour now. My poor, frail body can't take much more torture.

 

"Oh if it isn't the young master. Seems like you finished your lesson quite early, huh? Not even ten minutes have passed since you started!"

 

… That rough voice came from a towering man with some non-human parts. I think he is called a 'beast-kin' from some sort of wolf clan, the ears and tail are nothing too weird compared to a six-legged horse, though.

 

The beast-kin guy is called Hunter, a hairy middle-aged man who looks like a war veteran, more importantly, he's my 'bodyguard'.

 

In reality, I believe he is stationed by my side to make sure I don't cause trouble. Like seriously, I'm not even allowed outside, so what is he guarding me against?

 

I ignored Hunter, who's still next to me, and went straight to my room which is the only safe haven in this cursed 'magical' world.

 

Apart from the ceiling lamp, that is.

 

My current goal is to sneak back into Magnus's study and learn more about how my Soul Depth score is -7, and why no one thinks that it's a mistake.

 

I waited till nighttime; Sisley won't be a problem then. Hunter is unpredictable, but he is rarely around, making me believe the man is a total slacker. My plan I conceived for this day is fool-proof and I've practiced it enough to do it with my eyes closed.

 

There should be no reason for it to fail.

 

I exited my room, looked around the dark hallway to make sure no one is around, then took a casual stroll towards my target.

 

That's right, the perfect plan is to walk from point A to point B and hope for the best.

 

Huh? You say this isn't a plan at all? Give me some slack!

 

There are no hiding spots in the hallway and it's so dark I probably won't even find one without making too much noise. Be glad that I practiced walking through the darkness in the first place.

 

Wait what's that light over there? It keeps getting closer and closer. This is bad, I didn't think that someone will actually be in the hallway. The light is coming from what I assume is a magical light ball blinded me.

 

Damn magic.

 

"EEK! Max, is that you? You really scared me there… I uh… never mind. I'll just go."

 

Alex seemed so out of it. Why is he walking around in the middle of the night? Must be nothing good if he is using that blasted light ball thing.

 

Oh he just entered the bathroom.

 

Completely ignoring the previous encounter, I finally reached my destination, a wooden door is all that stands between me and my goal. I pull the handle, yet the door remains shut. It's locked.

 

Just like that, my entire journey was ruined at the very end, is that what you thought?

 

Don't forget that this world has rudimentary technology, the lock included, meaning that it's super easy to pick the lock using a hair pin I stole from Sisley while she wasn't looking.

 

Moments later, the door was unlocked using my lockpicking knowledge from my previous life, and I now had access to all the books in the study to read.

 

Lighting up a candle, I took a large book on a low shelf titled 'Mage Training 101'. It was a book which contained knowledge about the Soul Depth measurement that I've read when I came here before but got rudely interrupted by Sisley during that time.

 

Hmm… Ah! There.

 

Abnormal Soul Depth score is attributed to a pathological condition called 'congenital manaphobia'.

The soul is normally supposed to attract mana flow at a slow, yet detectable rate. Manaphobia not only stops that flow, but it completely reverses it.

An unknown repulsive force pushes away mana from the manaphobe, however, the strength of repulsion is so weak with no obvious signs and can only be detected through the Soul Depth measurement as a negative score.

The major symptom of this disease is the total inability to cast spells and, more importantly, makes it impossible to use magical items. This effectively renders the manaphobe a cripple incapable of having a normal life.

 

What I've understood from this page is as follows.

 

My negative score was caused due to my soul actively pushing the mana wave away from me rather than simply reflecting it. Consequently, this caused the wave to actually gain power, giving it a higher frequency that was then interpreted below as a value below 0.

 

Now I understand why no one got confused by how I got a score that looked like an error.

 

Actually, there is one thing on the page that made me frown a bit, though.

 

The book insulted me, calling me a cripple! Clearly this was written by some old clown who's gone senile. In fact, let me check out who wrote this book so that, if I ever meet the author, I'll definitely show them who's the real cripple.

 

This introductory book was written by the Grand Mage of Osmium, Magnus Phoenix.

 

... How could I forget that my own father is one of the main villains who trick others into becoming mages. This is so depressing, my dad just called me a cripple.

 

"What could you possibly be doing here, young master."

 

#@&^!? OH MY GOD THAT SCARED ME

 

My trembling body started to turn around slowly and… yup, the man standing menacingly at the doorway, giving me a scornful look with his glowing eyes, can only be one person. Hunter.

 

"Hahaha! Did that spook you? Consider that punishment for breaking into the master’s private study without his permission, little cub."

 

I remained silent and didn't move at all. The sudden appearance of the 'bodyguard' is one thing, yet something more alarming occurred during the shock.

 

I regret ever coming here.

 

Seeing that I'm not moving, Hunter started stepping towards me, unaware of my traumatic experience. Right before he took my arm to get me going, he paused for a second, then gave a wide teasing smile.

 

"Should've gone to the toilet before coming here, young master. I'll get Sisley to clean this mess up, that's her job after all. Just stay put for now and reflect on what you did."

 

My 4-year-old body has betrayed me and my pants are now completely drenched in urine! The feeling is almost half as crushing as hearing Alex's infuriating giggle while casting his trash magic.

 

***************************************************

 

Two years have passed since the incident. I still cringe whenever I remember Sisley's reaction the moment she saw my pathetic situation.

 

During that time, though, I didn't actually stop sneaking into the study. I was caught plenty of times, but the punishments were always a slap on the hand. Most of the time I just get told off by Sisley, while Sarah just gave a pained smile and asked me to behave.

 

The actual person who should've been troubled the most, Magnus, didn't even bat an eye when Hunter snitched on me to him about my frequent break-ins. All he said was 'Ok' as if he wasn't related to the entire thing.

 

I sometimes doubt if he even believes that I'm his own son, but, apparently, he treats everyone the same way.

 

Speaking of which, Alex is now 12, he's going to go to the Royal Academy two years from now, where he'll receive the highest level of education in Lanthanum.

 

More like highest level of brainwashing, when almost half the curriculum is filled with magic.

 

I don't care about Alex, though. The kid is a lost cause. I can say that since I've already tried my best trying to convince him that whatever spells he can cast have no real foundation and magic is a scam.

 

What a shame, all I wanted to do was try to help him understand the truth, yet he kept avoiding me like the plague.

 

This is the main reason I read magic books all this time. I need to find solid evidence that magic is composed of useless tricks that no one should take seriously.

 

I made great progress in that regard, there are numerous glaring issues with some of the most popular spells that most clowns use.

 

For example, the famous fireball, a low-ranked elemental spell, has a poorly written magic formula with a huge issue related to safety. There is no homing mechanism and the average, yellow-robed mage takes around five seconds to cast it.

 

See the problem?

 

The explosive power of a fireball is its own downfall. The enemy has so much time to throw a rock at the incomplete spell and it will blow up right on the caster's hand. Not to mention that, since mages are cowards who stay in the backline, friendly fire is extremely common.

 

The solution? You can try to fix the magic formula to be actually useable, or abandon magic all together because no matter what you do, magic will remain a scam!

 

However, despite how right I am, every time I try to calmly convince the ghost who regularly comes to brainwash me with the excuse that she's my tutor, Lily repeatedly ignores my arguments by saying things like 'I understand your opinion, but please stop shouting.'

 

This is why, I will work harder than ever to reveal the truth about how futile magic is and why no one should believe in it. Even if I failed at the moment to make anyone take my words seriously, there is still one person who I can save.

 

My 2-year-old little sister, Alice.