“I’ve decided I no longer have any expectations for you.”

One day, my father spoke those words to me—Norman Esland.

“Y-yes…”

I could only nod, having a sense of what was coming.

“You’re about to turn fifteen and still can’t use magic. Honestly, it’s unprecedented.”

Yes, I was about to turn fifteen and I couldn’t use magic.

My family was a renowned lineage of magicians, generation after generation. Naturally, both my parents were magicians, and my younger sister had already blossomed with magical talent.

If your parents are magicians, their children should naturally be able to use magic too. Yet, for some reason, I was unable to.

“You’re the only heir, and you’ve deeply disappointed me.”

In this country, only male offspring could inherit the family name.

Therefore, if I remained unable to use magic, things would become problematic.

Because, in this country, only magicians could become nobles.

If I remained unable to use magic, our family would be stripped of their noble rights.

But even though I understood this, I couldn’t do anything about it because I simply couldn’t use magic.

“Therefore, I’ve decided to expel you from the Esland Baronetcy.”

“What?”

“I’ve decided to adopt a child. I plan to have him become the new heir of the Esland family.”

Expel? Adoption? Heir? The sudden barrage of words confused me.

This was the first I’d heard of such a thing.

“Wait! I haven’t given up yet!”

“I told you, I have no further expectations for you.”

Knowing the true meaning of his “no expectations” stunned me.

“Are you expelling me…right now?”

“Yes, as soon as possible. I don’t want to see your face anymore.”

“Have you already decided on the adopted son?”

“Yes, unlike you, he’s a commoner, but a talented magician. I’ll introduce him to you eventually.”

It seemed like my expulsion from the family was a certainty.

◆

The day after my father’s shocking declaration, I went to magic school as usual.

“Now, let’s start with yesterday’s review.”

Mr. Rudon stood at the front of the classroom.

Mr. Rudon was a tall, thin man.

He always taught in a monotonous way, making him unpopular with the students.

“Remember what we learned yesterday and practice the Fire Magic.”

As Mr. Rudon said this, the students in the classroom began writing magical circles on paper while looking at their spellbooks. Then, they began chanting.

And then, a ball of fire appeared in their palms.

I, too, tried to mimic everyone else by writing the magical circle and chanting the spell.

“Did everyone manage it?”

“Teacher, one person isn’t managing it!”

Someone answered the teacher’s call, their voice dripping with mockery.

“Norman again, huh?”

The teacher sighed in exasperation.

Yes, I was desperately chanting the spell, but I couldn’t manage the Fire Magic.

“Listen, Norman. There’s no point in chanting blindly.”

He said this, then came over to me.

“Close your eyes and listen for the voice of the Fire Spirit.”

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes as instructed.

“What do you hear? You should be able to hear the Fire Spirit’s voice, right?”

“….Yes.”

I answered.

But in reality, I couldn’t hear any sign of the Fire Spirit’s voice at all.

“If you can hear it, chant the spell as if you were commanding it.”

“--Ignite, Encendido.”

I chanted.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Nothing happened.

“Haa.” The teacher sighed.

Suddenly, the entire classroom echoed with laughter mocking me, “Gyahahahahahaha.”

“You can’t even do basic magic? You truly have no talent.”

“I’m sorry… ”

I apologized softly.

The class continued, completely ignoring me.

All I could do was shrink back and hang my head.

“Norman, come here.”

Mr. Rudon called me after class.

I had a feeling of what it was about, which made my feet heavy.

“What is it?”

“Shouldn’t you just give up on learning magic at this point?”

I was fourteen, but the other kids in the classroom were only ten or eleven years old.

There were three courses in this school: basic, advanced, and specialized. Everyone my age was in the specialized course.

Of course, I was in the basic course.

Incidentally, I had been attending this school since I was ten, so I had been in the basic course for four years.

“There are always some people who just can’t use magic no matter how hard they try. You’re probably one of them.”

“That’s probably true…”

I could only nod silently at Mr. Rudon’s words.

How on earth could I learn magic?