There Is No Place For Fakes

Once upon a time, there was a man. The man had no parents or siblings, but he had vast powers that might come only once in a thousand years.

People called it ‘Estelion’ for its special magical power that can cause a tidal wave, change the weather, and kill a dragon with a single gesture.

Estelion brought the man to the top of the line as a wizard…

Perhaps the master of great power, the man lacked most of the emotions that a normal person should have.

There was momentary interest and displeasure, but what remained constant was curiosity and inquisitiveness of Estelion.

There were many mysterious parts of that power that even the man who possessed it did not know about.

A man who was immersed in his studies had a fear one day. If he died, the research he devoted his life to would be in vain.

The man hoped that someone with an Estelion like himself would appear and continue his research. A man who hadn’t needed a family his whole life wanted children.

So the man experiments.

It is a method of injecting seeds made by combining Estelion and body tissue into a woman’s uterus with body penetration magic, and precautions are taken when culturing seeds with a fairly difficult task…

Oh, skip the details, huh? Okay, I guess I overdid it.

In any case, applicants with various backgrounds and physical characteristics were recruited from all over the country.

It was a human experiment, but when a large amount of money that a commoner could not even dream of was promised as a reward, numerous applicants flocked to it.

If you don’t have luxury, you can eat and play forever. My mother still travels around the world with the money she received then.

While she gave birth to me safely and raised me, she received additional money, and now she is as rich as a lower aristocrat.

But not all were like mothers. Many of the experiments have failed.

Whether it is because the act of artificially creating life is against divine law, because Estelion is a dangerous power, or because the experimental design itself is wrong, the reason is unknown.

The placenta was not even conceived, the other half were miscarried during pregnancy, and most of the lucky births died in infancy. Well, there is also a reason why we recruited a lot of applicants because of successive failures.

The number of children who have survived to this day is three, including me.

No, because you are there too, it has grown to four.

All three of us grew up in the facility and know each other well enough to be fed up.

Ah, the facility is a place that Le Guin established inside the Magic Tower. It was to gather applicants in one place and effectively manage their health.

Records show that your mother refused to enter the facility, and there were a handful of applicants who did not want to leave their residence.

They would have guided such applicants to deliver the test results through a separate letter, but I wonder why your mother didn’t do that.

Since we have not been contacted, this site has not been able to grasp your existence at all. Returning to the original subject, the experiment story, as a result, the experiment was not successful.

All three of my brothers are wizards, and each has their talents, to say the least.

However, only a small part of Estelion’s power was inherited. As you can see, you don’t seem to have much power either.

After that, Le Guin gave up trying to have a child to inherit Estelion. Instead, he stopped aging and turned to live a long, long life.

Even if you look like that, your actual age is much older than your appearance. Perhaps he will live on for a long time after everyone around him is dead.

Personally, it’s a lonely life, but… whatever. The person does not even feel lonely.

* * *

After hearing Lexion’s long story, Philomel asked.

“So what? It’s hard to help that he’s a heartless father.”

“I didn’t mean to make excuses. What I just wanted to say is that it was the first time he had a child like you, so I had a feeling that he was even more inconsiderate and spoke out.”

“Like me…?”

“To be honest, all three of our brothers are on the weak side, although not as much as Le Guin. Especially when it comes to love.” 

Lexion raised the frame of his glasses.

“Le Guin didn’t treat us like children, and we didn’t want to be fathers either. Although he provided us with food, clothing, and shelter and taught us magic, he is more like a mentor or boss than a father.”

“I think I belong to the normal axis when it comes to emotions.”

“That’s why it’s amazing. I don’t think Le Guin expected you to be so disappointed.”

“…”

It’s hard to keep my inner emotions in check, but too much information came in.

Like Estelion or an experiment. It was only a big story, so it didn’t touch me very much.

One thing is for sure… There was no affection anywhere in Philomel’s birth.

In addition, unlike Lexion and his brothers, Philomel claimed to have no magical powers. It meant a complete failure.

The two of them walked quietly until they reached the entrance they had entered at first.

“…I’ll just go. Thank you for the guidance.”

“Phil.”

Lexion called the nickname of Philomel, was about to say hello mechanically and leave.

“If you need help, come to me anytime. If you pick up someone from the Mage Tower and ask them to call Lexion, you can meet me.”

“Why do you care about me so much? Because I’m your sister?”

“If I say that is the only reason, you won’t believe me, will you? I just said that I’m on the weak side of emotions.”

“Yes. Right now, I can’t believe it even if the sun rises in the west.”

Originally, it was not a personality that had a deep trust in others, but it seemed that the distrust of humans would become more severe.

“I have an academic interest in you. Why are you born with the same experiment, yet we have half emotions and you are normal? I want to research this.”

“Isn’t it because I only have a little Estelion?”

I’m sure he thinks so, but… I think there’s another reason, a simple one. It’s just a feeling.”

Lexion was persistent.

“If you don’t like research, why don’t you just work as an assistant next to me? I’ll pay you well.”

“I don’t even know the letter ‘M’ in magic. Anything that would help…”

“You can learn it. You can learn it in no time.”

Lexion seemed to value Philomel higher than herself.

“If you want to hide your identity, the magic tower is perfect. Even if their identity is revealed, the Mage Tower is a place that even the Emperor cannot touch.”

“… Okay. Give me some time to think.”

“As much as you like. If you change your mind, come to the Mage Tower anytime.”

Lexion stood there until Philomel disappeared. Watching my back walk on its path with no sign of sadness or disappointment.

“Now. Then, what should we do with that person who has no answers?”

Lexion returned to Le Guin’s room. He noticed a man squatting behind the desk, as he had on his previous visit.

On the wide floor where the clutter was removed, there was a magic circle painted with red paint.

Le Guin was staring at the magic circle made up of various symbols and hieroglyphs while holding a brush in one hand.

“Le Guin, I’m here.”

He knew Lexion came in, but he even pretend to not know, so he announced it out loud.

“Why are you here?”

“You’re the one who told me to stay because you need to talk to me”.

“I saw you staring at me as if you were going to kill me. Why didn’t you just go with her? Your sister.”

“It wasn’t me who killed my sister, it was Cardin.”

“Either that or you.”

“Phil, do you care about her?”

Le Guin replied bluntly.

“No, it’s not.”

“I think it bothers you. The magic circle doesn’t change at all from before.”

“…”

It took more than twenty minutes just to escort Philomel to the exit and back. For Le Guin, it was more than enough time to complete three more magic circles.

“Who cares. She ran out because she didn’t like me, that’s it.”

Childish person.

Apart from his excellent abilities as a wizard, his father had a side that was less than a child’s in interpersonal relationships. Maybe it was because I didn’t have the opportunity to make deep emotional connections with others.

“All right. If Le Guin says so, I won’t care anymore. It’s a pity, though. The kid seemed to have nowhere to go. How will a child who is not yet of age live in this harsh world…”

Lexion deliberately threw a small stone at Le Guin. For the purpose of further spreading the ex-communication that has already occurred.

“I happened to see it, and if Jeremiah hadn’t helped her earlier, she would have almost lost all her money to the pickpocket.”

“I don’t care.”

Listening to the weak reply, Lexion estimated when Le Guin would be honest.

A week to guess? No. Judging by the strangely nervous reaction, it might be decided within two or three days.

Ten hours later.

Lexion, who had gone to bed early for a wizard, was awakened by the sound of a door knocking open. Le Guin, with a gruff face, was standing by his bedside.

“What are you doing at this hour?”

Lexion asked as he fumbled across the bedside table looking for his glasses.

“You know where she’s staying, don’t you?”

“What?”

Warm-colored hair rubs against the sleeping head.

“Oh, Phil? I’m sure she’ll stay in Angelium.”

“Call her to come to the Magic Tower right away. We need to meet her one more time.”

“Do you know what time it is? I’m sure she’s sleeping too. I’ll call her as soon as the morning comes, so get some sleep.”

After sending Le Guin roughly, Lexion went back to sleep with a somewhat pleasant feeling. Thinking of welcoming a new family.

But the next morning, Lexion, who went to Angelium to find Philomel, couldn’t help but regret the choice he made last night.

As Le Guin said, I had to go find her right away yesterday. Because Philomel had already left the city.

In the worst possible way.