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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Guardian Silver Fox
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"Uh... it actually worked."
Jeon muttered awkwardly under the sudden focus of everyone's attention, but no one responded.
And for good reason.
-Kyaaang, kyaaang.
All eyes were on the silver fox that had approached Jeon and was now rubbing its cheek against his leg.
'This is getting a bit overwhelming.'
Everyone stared with wide-eyed shock, making it awkward to do anything.
So he glanced down at the fox clinging to his leg for no reason.
-Kyaaang?
As their eyes met, the silver fox grinned happily and rubbed its cheek against his leg even more vigorously.
'...For now, go back inside.'
But it only drew more stares, so Jeon decided to deactivate the rune magic.
-Kyaaaang...
As he cut off the mana supply to the spell, the silver fox gave a wistful look before slowly dissipating into the air.
Once the fox vanished, everyone's gazes shifted straight back to Jeon.
'...This feels like it's turning into a bigger deal than I thought.'
In truth, Jeon had no intention of getting involved between Lena and Risar.
He had simply seen Lena cast her spell.
An implementation method for a rune spell that hadn't come to mind before suddenly clicked.
And without thinking, he had channeled his mana to replicate it.
The result was so astonishing that it left the surroundings in stunned silence.
"Y-You, what did you just do? What was that fox!?"
The silence was first broken by Lena.
She had been staring at Jeon in shock with her mouth agape, but she snapped out of it and began demanding answers.
"Well. So, it's magic, but..."
Jeon paused, unsure how to explain it to Lena.
But even that was enough to shock her again.
"Y-You're a mage!?"
"...Something like that, yeah?"
"N-No way! What circle are you? What kind of magic was that!?"
Was it really that shocking that he could use magic?
'She must've thought I was just some guy who speaks two languages.'
No, that was the normal assumption.
The odds of a random person on the street being an ordinary bilingual were far higher than them being a bilingual mage.
'But if I say here that it was rune magic...'
She was already this shocked just knowing he was a mage.
Revealing it was rune magic would likely lead to more than just surprise.
And from Jeon's perspective, there was no need or reason to explain in detail.
"...Just magic."
"No way! How is magic that blocked both my spell and Risar's aura just 'magic'!?"
"It just is."
He decided to play it cool and brush it off.
No one there could tell if it was rune magic anyway.
"There's no such thing as... Wait!? Is it a secret spell!?"
"Huh?"
"Come to think of it, it was a fox-shaped spell... And you speak Foxkin language!?"
"...?"
But that approach worked better than expected.
Lena connected the dots: Jeon speaking Foxkin language and the fox-shaped spell.
She started weaving her own scenario.
And it sounded plausible enough.
"No wonder! So your master is a Foxkin mage, right!?"
"...Something like that."
Jeon decided to go along with her scenario.
"I knew it... That explains how you could master such advanced magic at your age. And..."
With just a vague affirmation, the "author" herself began fleshing it out.
From Jeon's side, he just had to sit back as a backstory materialized out of thin air.
'Unbelievable.'
Unlike Lena, who was lost in her imagination, Risar still eyed Jeon with disbelief.
'Guardian Silver Fox...'
He had heard of it before.
The Silvermont family's emblem: the 'Guardian Silver Fox'.
Now revered as a symbol of the swords protecting the kingdom, thanks to generations of outstanding knights.
'But its origins were in magic.'
The founder of the Silvermont line, who fought alongside Rangley Kingdom's founding king.
He was a brilliant mage whose silver fox magic had saved the king multiple times.
Of course, it was a legend from centuries ago, dismissed as mere myth by the now sword-renowned Silvermont family.
'How could I not think of it after seeing that?'
Risar had seen it with his own eyes.
The fox that withstood a knight's aura and a mage's spell, then emitted silver light as if nothing had happened.
'But why would a boy like that have such magic?'
Of course, he wasn't certain yet.
It might just be similar.
A spell from centuries ago was more likely to have variants than an exact match.
'But is this all coincidence?'
A boy in his early teens fluently speaking Foxkin—a language barely anyone in the Empire knew—and using a spell evoking the Silvermont legend.
Too exquisitely coincidental to dismiss.
So Risar decided not to let it pass as mere chance.
"...Lady Lena. We should head back now."
"Hm? Oh."
Lena, mid-fantasy about Jeon, glanced around at Risar's words.
Most restaurant patrons had left; only the family knights remained.
If she were still fired up, maybe, but calmly, she knew escaping a dozen knights was impossible.
"...Yeah, I guess so."
She nodded at Risar's suggestion to return.
But reluctance lingered; her wistful eyes turned to Jeon.
'...What's with that look?'
Jeon inwardly sighed in relief at her agreement to leave.
His rune magic had calmed things, but if she refused again, he'd be stuck.
Her gaze was burdensome, but the commotion seemed over.
Time to relax.
Then Risar approached him.
Jeon tensed inwardly.
'He won't chew me out for helping her runaway, right?'
Not impossible.
He hadn't meant to, but it looked like he had helped.
And this was a status society.
Nobles could make words vanish.
"May I have the honor of your name?"
"Ah, sure. Jeon."
But it was nothing serious.
His courteous demeanor eased Jeon, who gave his name freely.
"Thank you. Then, Jeon, would you join us?"
"...Pardon?"
What?
A polite question leading to polite arrest?
Risar continued, sensing his suspicion.
"No need to worry. It's just gratitude—an invitation."
"Invitation? For me?"
"Yes. You helped ensure the young lady, who doesn't speak Imperial, stayed safe outside."
Words made all the difference.
Framed that way, it wasn't wrong.
A knight living and dying by honor wouldn't lie to lure one person.
Moreover.
"Please give us a chance to repay you."
Such sincerity made refusing seem rude.
"Yes, then..."
Jeon accepted the invitation.
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The place they took him was the massive mansion the Silvermonts had bought for their stay in Celleron.
His impression upon arrival?
"Holy shit, this is insane."
The curse slipped out in awe.
They showed him to a room, saying it was late, and its size was enormous.
'Beats any hotel suite.'
He'd never stayed in one before reincarnation, but comparing to media images, this room held its own.
Plus a spacious, pristine bathroom attached.
"Ah! Feels so refreshing~!"
He finally washed every inch properly after so long.
The cleanliness was novel in this world.
Slipping into the fluffy, luxurious bedding felt divine.
As all fatigue melted away, he recalled the rune magic he'd used today.
'...Seeing Lena's spell gave me the implementation idea.'
And the result was a silver fox.
'Guardian' suggested a shield-like spell at first glance.
But it created a living, moving silver fox.
'Is this... a summoning spell?'
It looked like summoning a silver fox.
But the fox's body was made of Jeon's mana, making it iffy as true summoning.
Yet calling it just a fox-shaped construct didn't fit; it clearly had its own will.
'A spell infused with will... like a spirit?'
From sensation and rune info, it seemed to manifest some entity via mana.
But details eluded him.
'I'll figure it out with more use.'
Like Compression before, Guardian was hard to grasp just by seeing, unlike other languages.
Even Compression, after time, wasn't at the original archmage's level.
But understanding grew over time—a relief.
Jeon pondered rune magic whenever he had time.
'Seems deeply tied to this family.'
That influenced coming here too.
The polite invite helped, but he was curious about the 'Guardian' rune and Silvermont link.
'Way bigger deal than I thought.'
From the bank VIP counter, he'd guessed high nobility.
Buying this mansion for a short stay confirmed it.
Possible rune ties suggested history, tradition, and current power.
'...So why run from a place like this?'
Why had Lena caused such a fuss to escape?
How many could live like this?
'I'd bow and stay if offered.'
Just a passing thought, ignorant of family affairs.
And after a few days.
"We'd like to employ you as Lady Lena's dedicated translator and interpreter."
The proposal to stay—for real—came to Jeon.