Margraves Manaless Mage - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

“Ugh… you would think that with all the reincarnators that come to this world, one of them would have introduced the idea of insulation,” I hissed, pulling the light jacket I was wearing tighter as I skittered through the cold stone hallways between my comfortable bedroom and the dining room. “Why is it already this cold? It’s not even close to winter yet!”

Even though I was wearing a pair of thin indoor boots and I was walking across ragged heavy carpets, I could still feel the intense cold which had sunk into the heavy stone. 

Logically, I knew the cold wasn’t THAT bad yet. I would have been absolutely fine with some thicker boots and a heavier jacket, but even after being reborn, and spending six years here, I couldn’t completely let go of my modern sensibilities. I liked to be warm in my own home without relying upon a massive roaring fire just a few feet away.

I paused at the end of the hallway and nodded to Milly, one of my family’s few maids, before sprinting across the main hall and towards the dining hall. 

Although there was a large hearth in this central area, with the number of people that came to report to my father, the front doors rarely stayed closed long enough for the place to completely warm up during cold weather, so I wanted to spend as little time in here as possible.

As soon as I arrived I threw my tiny body at the heavy wood door, pressing my entire weight into it to force it open just a couple seconds faster than normal, and as soon as there was a suffcently large gap for me to slip through I didn’t hesitate to jump through and then slam my body against the other side to force it closed again.

Unlike the hallway the dining room was nice and toasty. Normally it took quite a while for the room to heat up, due to the size of the room and the fact that it sat against one of the outer walls. Someone must have gotten up awfully early in order to light the hearth, in order to get the room to a comfortable temperature.

“It took you long enough, you almost missed breakfast,” a melodic voice announced. 

I turned and stared daggers at the little girl sitting across the table, her hands wrapped around a small steaming mug of something, and a smug smile on her face. She had long black hair which would have perfectly framed her pale-white, nearly flawless face, if it hadn’t been pulled back into a ponytail. She’d inherited the delicate features and pointed ears of our mother, and despite being only six gave off the impression of being much older. 

Probably because she was a reincarnator like me.

I brushed a lock of my short, shoulder length hair out of my face, the only feature that differed between my sister and I, and frowned at Mariebelle. I knew my twin sister was trying to get a rise out of me, it was one of her favorite past times, but I really didn’t feel like playing along today.

“I seriously considered skipping training today,” I muttered as I took my place at the table. “I have a hard enough maintaining a grip on a sword for any length of time with these stubby little fingers at the best of times, and I can only imagine that would be a hundred times worse if my hands were partially numb from the cold.” l leaned forward, resting one arm on the table and resting my chin on my lightly clenched fist. “Some of us don’t have a god’s blessing to help us recover from our bruises, or withstand the elements, like you do.”

“This again?” Mari huffed, letting her head roll back and staring at the roof for a minute before letting out a low, long breath and raising it to look at me again. “Look, I know you’re a little disappointed you didn’t get any cheats, like I did, but while I volunteered to come here, I don’t have a clue why you never met a god on your passing, like everyone else, and we won’t know until we come of age and I’m strong enough to communicate with [god1].”

“I’m sorry,” I groaned. “I didn’t mean that to come out as vicious sounding as it did, and I definitely didn’t meant to blame you, I know the situation as well as you do, I’m just a little grumpy this morning.” I sighed. “I the days when I could wake up, hop in the car, and stop for a coffee and a bagel first thing in the morning. Why is it that so many of the protagonists in Isakai stories find coffee, and then make it popular in the new world, but no one’s done it here yet? I want my morning to pick me up!”

“Even if someone had discovered it, do you honestly think mother would let you drink it? You know what she thinks about taking unnecessary drugs or stimulants,” Mari replied.

“I can dream,” I muttered tiredly.

I watched as Mariebelle’s eyes slowly swept across my face, before finally locking eyes with me again. “Why do you look so tired today anyways, Seri? I know that, despite your complaints, you weren’t actually thinking about skipping training today, but maybe you should.”

“I can’t do that,” I grumbled.

“Why not?” Mari asked. 

“Because mother FINALLY gave me permission to look at her introductory spellbooks again, and if she finds out that I stayed up late studying them again, and missed our morning training, she’ll confiscate them again,” I explained.

“Seri… I don’t get why you’re so obsessed with learning about magic,” my sister sighed. “It’s not like we can cast it until our mana cores develop, and that doesn’t happen until puberty. Most people don’t even learn the basics until the academy. How can you stay up so late studying it night after night?”

“I don’t know… It started because I always wanted to cast magic in my old life, but once I started studying magic circles, formulas, and runes, they provided me with something I’ve been desperately missing the last few years; Mental stimulation,” I said.

“Then read a book from the library,” Miri said.

“Eh, those are entertaining, but not exactly a challenging read,” I replied. “I like finding out what each part of a spell does, the rules and restrictions applied to each, and how to assemble everything together into a proper spell… it’s like a puzzle, or a programming challenge.”

Mirabelle raised an eyebrow. “So, does that mean you’ve designed your own spells already?”

“Not even close,” I snorted. “This is all stuff that mother learned after graduating the academy, when she attended the mage college; I’m still trying to grasp the most basic concepts. If I keep at it I might be ready to create my own spell by the time we develop our cores.”

“Assuming you don’t get the books confiscated again,” Miri said.

“Assuming,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair. “I’ll show more restraint going forward, I promise.”

“You better, because I’m not going to shield you from mother's wrath if she finds out,” Miri. “Nor am I going to go easy on you during our training.”

“You never go easy on me in training,” I grumbled. 

“It’s for your own good! I know you don’t like training, however we both need to learn to defend ourselves in case the outer walls get breached! We live right on the edge of the twisting wastes, and monsters could attack at any time!” Miri exclaimed.

“I know, I know. Still, I can’t even lift a real weapon, so I have a hard time believing that either of us would be able to do much if that happened,” I told her.

“Not right now, no, but that’s why we have to train, build up our muscles and techniques, so one day we’ll be able to hold our own!” Miri declared. 

“True, but I still wish we didn’t have to start training so early. We’re six,” I said.

“Only physically, as you like to point out,” Miri countered. “Mentally we’re both adults. Besides, I agree with Dad, it’s better to start early, learn the basics and not need them, then need them and not have them. I have no intention of getting eaten.”

“You say that like I do,” I grumbled. 

“With your attitude, I wonder sometimes,” Miri replied, leaning back in her chair. I just glowered at her in response. 

Before I could open my mouth again the kitchen door burst open and … our nanny sauntered in, pushing a cart with a couple plates on top.

“Oh? Look who decided to join us this morning. I was starting to believe that your breakfast would go cold this morning, and I’d be giving the dogs a treat,” she said.

“I know the rules, eat at the table, or not at all,” I grumbled. “It just took me a little while to get going after you woke me up this morning.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it. You’ll want a hearty breakfast before you two start your daily run,” the cheerful dwarf woman declared, before pulling a pair of plates off the cart and sliding them out in front of Miri and I. 

Apparently breakfast today was a breakfast sandwich, bacon and eggs on a brown roll. I gently scooped up mine and took a huge bite out of it. The egg-whites were firm, but the yoke was runny, just the way I liked it. 

Nanny smiled as she watched us devour the oversized sandwiches, and for a moment I could swear her smile turned a little more malicious. “I hope you enjoy those, you’re going to need all the energy you can get.”