Jared Murphy’s Despair 3

Translator: Kuhaku Chisaac

Chapter 3

Jared’s everyday life did not change the day after his engagement with the daughter of the Duke, Olivier Alway, was decided.

(Editor Note: The name “Olivia Alway” has been reverted back to the original “Olivier Alway” for accuracy.)

Jared, who went to the Royal Academy of the Weathered Kingdom, noticed an unpleasant feeling within the school grounds. This was probably because the other magicians had not been asked by the Magician’s Association to be a candidate for court magician.

(Editor Note: The “Royal College”, “Wezar/Wizard Kingdom”, and “Magic Association” have been switched to the “Royal Academy”, “Weathered Kingdom”, and “Magician’s Association” respectively for translator convenience.)

“It feels somewhat uncomfortable, doesn’t it?”

For better or for worse, Jared was famous among the students.

Despite being despised and labeled as the eldest son of a noble family who did not have a family head, he was popular because he was offered the candidacy for court magician by the Magician’s Association.

The school maintained a policy that put emphasis on helping magicians. Due to this, the school wanted to improve Jared’s talent as an Earth Attribute Magician. However, there were no teachers at the school who could teach Jared.

It didn’t matter if it was a royal academy or not, the overall number of magicians was small, and a majority of talented magicians were in magical divisions. Beyond that, there were court magicians. There were also freelance magicians, but they acted as adventurers. In other words, magicians were not a commodity, and there were even less who acted as teachers.

Jared’s abilities as a magician already exceeded the average magician. That was the reason why the Magician’s Association chose Jared to be a candidate for court magician.

Among the 500 students enrolled in the school, there were about 50 students who were magicians, but there were only a handful of magicians comparable to Jared. The Magician’s Association tried to recruit these magicians into the association in exchange for a class exemption.

It soon became obvious that the other students were not interested.

It was not uncommon for an individual to attract many gazes when they entered the school. However, the gazes that Jared felt this time was different from usual.

It was a strikingly discomforting feeling, similar to being glared at when despised, but it wasn’t just that, there was another emotion.

“Oh, good, thank you! Murphy-kun!”

While heading to the classroom, he was stopped by a familiar voice. When Jared looked back, a familiar girl with a cheerful expression and short hair came up to him.

“Krista, it’s been a long time. You seem to be in a hurry, did you need something?”

“You’re right, it has been a long time – it doesn’t help that I’m in a hurry because of you, Murphy-kun!”

“Because of me?”

Jared just rubbed his head. On the other hand, Krista let out a sigh.

“Murphy, you know that half the students of the Royal Academy are nobles, right?”

“I don’t think I need to say this, but the percentage of students who are nobles is decreasing year by year because of the school’s policy, which is to enroll people who study hard and not just nobles.”

Jared noticed that Krista phrased her wording to not include the word “commoners”. She knew that Jared did not like using that term to address people who weren’t nobles like Krista and himself.  Regardless, he begrudgingly used it when he could not find another word to use.

“So, what happened? I’m getting tired of all these uncomfortable stares.”

“Well, that’s because of you.”

“Me, why?”

In response to this question, Krista took one step closer and stretched forward. She brought her mouth next to Jared’s ear and spoke quietly.

“You got engaged to Olivier Alway, did you not?”

“-  why, why, why?”

“Ha, half of this school is made up of nobles. You should know how fast an aristocrat can spread rumors.”

“Even so, that’s impossible, the event happened only yesterday.”

“The student council is very serious and is getting the details of the rumor as we speak. If you listen closely, you will hear that many people are talking about you. You should be aware of your surroundings.”

In response, Jared started listening in on the surrounding students’ conversations, hearing the rumors for the first time.

“Olivier got engaged to that baron’s son with no family head.”

“Who is that poor woman?”

“That is the famous Olivier.”

“A masterpiece, a woman who is said to have the best body in all of the nobility.”

There were many unpleasant rumors.

Jared was about to open his mouth and confront the students, but Krista grabbed Jared’s arm.

“It is useless.”

“What?”

“If you try to protest, nothing will change. Indeed, your statements will only cause more rumors to come up.”

“Should I ignore it?”

“Well, yes. I’m sorry. I made you feel uncomfortable because I told you to listen to them, but I wanted you to realize that there were stories about you and Olivier going around.”

Jared knew that Krista didn’t like the rumors too.

To be honest, Jared was angry.

Jared already knew about the rumors being spread.

Still, it made Jared uncomfortable to hear that someone who did not know Olivier would make up such a story and pass it around.

“Oh, I forgot. The teacher called for you.”

“The teacher called me? I don’t think I did anything out of the ordinary that would cause them to call me.”

“I do not know the details, but it seems that people from the Magician’s Association are here. Did you do something?”

It is probably related to my candidacy for the court magician position.

Jared had told his grandparents to contact them, but he was impressed that after just one day, the association appeared. Being a court magician candidate made Jared’s heart dance.

There were concerns at the same time, though.

Court magicians have to have some sort of merit to prove that he or she was fit to be court magician.

Jared had no such merit.

Then, what should he do? There is no choice but to look for opportunities to contribute from now on.

However, during this time there was no war. Hunting demonic beasts were Jared’s best hope. Jared had defeated many demonic beasts before, but they were not strong enough to be considered an achievement.

(Editor Note: Also, “Magic Beasts” has been changed to “Demonic Beasts” for translator convenience.)

It would be nice if demonic beasts or dragons capable of causing a disaster showed up more often, but the chance of that was low since the Weathered Kingdom had an alliance with the dragons and the Crown itself would assemble a team to take down a disaster-level demonic beast.

Jared did not know what to do to gain the qualifications to become a court magician. While Jared was delighted with the chance to become a court magician, he could not help but feel a little uneasy from how unknown his future currently was.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I will explain later. I do not want to stay here, so let’s go to the staff room.”

With a glance towards the students who were still talking with their friends happily, Jared wiped his nose and turned back.