TYND 107

Age of Adulthood: Twenty! He raised it to nineteen a while ago, and then suddenly raised it to twenty. At this rate, we’ll be called teenagers even when we’re sixty. Anyway, those who are currently eighteen will have to wait two more years. Hang in there!

The emperor announced this again just ten days after raising it to nineteen.

Rothy became a bundle of blankets again, and Theon diligently hugged and comforted the completely depressed bundle of blankets.

In fact, Theon’s feelings were also somewhat complicated.

Ever since meeting his future self, Theon had completely stopped using the clock trimule.

– In order to give Rothy time, you must stop using the trimule after this conversation. The more you use the clock wanting to see the future Rothy, the lower Rothy’s growth potential becomes.

Theon had to refrain from using the clock until Rothy turned twenty, and that was his intention.

It wasn’t that he had no desires, but just comforting this soft and lovable Rothy like this satisfied all his needs.

He didn’t need to have such dreams. Surely that was true.

But.

Surely it was true, but.

It was just… just a little bit disheartening…

“Theon…”

The blanket bundle in his arms wriggled, and a melancholy-eyed fairy peeked out with a small gesture.

Squeak…

In Rothy’s arms, a ferret that had been held and petted all day was also visible. Chi-chi had an almost transcendent expression.

“How should we persuade Diam? Do we really have to commit treason…? I didn’t want to use such extreme methods, but if it continues like this, we might have no choice…”

It was a child saying scary things with round, innocent eyes that seemed incapable of knowing even the first letter of “treason.”

Theon embraced Rothy face-to-face and gently patted his small back.

“Rothy, twenty isn’t necessarily bad.”

“Why? I have to wait two whole years.”

“Is a mere two years really such a big deal? We’re going to live for 200 years.”

“But we haven’t lived 200 years yet. Theon is only thirty-two and I’m only eighteen. If we had 200 years of life experience, two years would feel short, but since we’re still young, it’s natural that two years feels long.”

“Very logical.”

Theon ran his hand through Rothy’s white hair. He no longer spoke with the naive manner of a sixteen-year-old, but his hair and height hadn’t grown at all, only gaining a little weight.

“And Diam might raise the adult age to twenty-one next year.”

“That probably won’t happen, but if he does raise it to twenty-one, then we’ll plot treason together.”

“Why is twenty okay for Theon?”

“As the average lifespan of the Arashis people has increased, the family head will want to maintain his power for longer. If the successor becomes an adult too quickly, it might unnecessarily attract the family head’s wariness.”

Rothy tilted his small head and thought deeply before saying,

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. Alright. Then I’ll also wait patiently for two years.”

“A wise thought.”

“Come to think of it, it’s been two years since Theon saved me, so I just need to spend as much time as we’ve already spent together. Thinking of it this way, it really will pass in an instant…”

“That’s right.”

“It’ll be so much fun, right? Just like it has been.”

“Of course.”

Rothy’s cheeks puffed up and dimples formed. His green eyes sparkled as if they held jewels.

Chi-chi, who quickly noticed that the previously gloomy Rothy had regained his spirits, swiftly escaped from his embrace. Rothy let Chi-chi go. Chi-chi went to his dedicated cradle and sprawled out with his front and back paws spread wide.

Seeing this, Rothy smiled brightly. Theon touched Rothy’s dimple with his finger. Rothy laughed with a face that suited the sound effect “giggle” perfectly.

“That tickles.”

“Actually, you should be relieved that adulthood has been postponed.”

“Why?”

“How many laps around the training ground can you do now?”

“I can do one lap if I walk.”

“Running.”

“Half a lap…”

“With such stamina that after a year of training you can only do half a lap, it’s fortunate you gained time.”

Theon felt Rothy’s shoulders and arms. Thin and soft. A young body with no muscle to be felt at all.

“In two years, build up enough stamina to run three laps.”

Rothy’s complexion turned pale.

“Three laps…? Are you perhaps talking about the apprentice knight training ground, not the Black Lion training ground?”

“Of course it’s the Black Lion training ground.”

“Three laps around the Black Lion training ground… That seems really difficult and impossible, Your Highness… I can’t even do one lap yet. I don’t think Chungnip could do it either.”

Chungnip’s name came up here because he was also a mage. Rothy often brought up fellow mages when Theon gave him goals like “three sit-ups” or “one push-up,” appealing that mages originally couldn’t do such things.

“Chungnip could run ten laps.”

“But come to think of it, Chungnip is an adult. Naran probably definitely couldn’t do it.”

The name Theon had been waiting for came up.

“I’m not sure how many laps Naran Daisy could run around the training ground. Shall we check together?”

“Yes.”

As Theon and Rothy came out of the bedroom, their subordinates, who had been worried about what to do about their Grand Duchess, who had no energy, greeted them with beaming smiles.

Naran Daisy had run an incredible seven laps around the Black Lion training ground, one of the largest in the empire.

Normally, the stamina limit for an average northern mage would be five laps. Even that was by northern standards, mages from other regions would barely manage three laps.

However, this was possible because whenever Rothy did physical training, he dragged the surrounding mages into it, so both Chungnip and Naran had been training their stamina intensively lately.

“My goodness… Naran, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m perfectly fine. A mage should be able to run at least seven laps.”

“Mages don’t really need the stamina to run seven laps around a training ground… You’ve been training hard all this time to give me good motivation, haven’t you? It must have been so difficult…”

Rothy’s eyes welled up with tears, moved by their efforts, and he promised to train hard from now on.

The young Archduke consort had many responsibilities besides physical training.

Even after about half a year, his stamina was still limited to walking half a lap and running one lap around the training ground (due to his small build limiting his physical capacity), but the duties he’d taken on as Archduke consort were beginning to show results one by one.

The greatest achievement among them was the creation of the first mage organization in the North, a magical wasteland where even assassin guilds used poison and weapons instead of magic.

The name of the mage organization was ‘Rothiar’, meaning Rothy’s gift.

The establishment of the North’s first mage organization was such a monumental event that all of Arashis was buzzing with excitement. The emperor personally sent a congratulatory letter, and countless magic-related figures attended the founding ceremony—mage organizations from various regions, tower mages, academy magic professors, magical scholars, and more.

Of course, the ducal couple who played the biggest role in establishing Rothiar graced the occasion. Erhen, who was already a graduating senior at the academy, also accompanied the couple as the successor of the Palsen Grand Duchy.

“This is all thanks to Lord Rothy. Without Lord Rothy, I would still be picking herbs to earn money, using that money to make magical tools that wouldn’t be used anywhere, stuffing them in a warehouse, and then picking herbs and wild vegetables again to scrape by for meals.”

The middle-aged mage who was the head of Rothiar seemed ready to bow down to Rothy.

He had been a lone mage living by himself in the magical wasteland of the North, crying out about the usefulness of magic. He had always wished to ‘sell at least ten magic tools a year’, but he had never dared to wish to ‘become the head of the North’s mage organization’.

“Thanks to Lord Rothy, the North will become the place with the most advanced magical studies among the empire’s mage organizations within ten years. I guarantee it. And all that glory will be dedicated to Lord Rothy and His Grace the Archduke. I will carve Lord Rothy’s and His Grace’s names and portraits into the foundation stones, and make all mages who join here endlessly recite your grace until it’s engraved into their very souls. Also, at the beginning of every educational text, I will include ceremonies honoring you both—”

“Enough.”

Theon cut short the lengthening praise.

“There are many distinguished guests waiting for the head mage’s greetings, so go and do what you need to do.”

“Ah, yes, understood.”

The head mage bowed deeply to Theon once more. He also gave polite greetings to Erhen… and when he tried to prostrate himself before Rothy, the people around quickly stopped him.

“Hey, Rothy.”

Erhen whispered to Rothy.

“Yeah.”

“This must be really burdensome for you too. All the mages look at you like priests meeting an apostle of Seara.”

“It’s truly an honor…”

“Ah, I see…”

Even after the head mage left, the three couldn’t rest.

“Your Grace the Archduke, Your Grace the Grand Duchess, Lord Erhen, greetings. I am Rivil Gilenei, who operates the Gilenei mercenary company in the South.”

“Gilenei mercenary company—the one with dungeon raiders and miners.”

“You knew of us. It’s an honor.”

Those who had been waiting their turn came to greet them.

Actually, the reason for cutting short the head mage’s praise wasn’t just because of the head mage, but also because the ducal couple had quite a few people to exchange greetings with.

Rothiar was an organization separate from House Palsen. While House Palsen, which had been deeply involved since its establishment, was currently its biggest sponsor, mage organizations typically had various sources of support, except when the royal family deliberately established them.

Nobles, trading companies, academies, guilds, mercenary companies, and so on.

Since all the attendees today were potential sponsors, not only Theon and Rothy but even Erhen had carefully studied the list of expected attendees and prepared diligently.

As they were exchanging greetings and pleasantries with the stream of people, the high priest approached.