Merlin's POV
"You asked for me, mother?"
I spoke in a respectful tone while following the proper etiquette when meeting with a family head.
My mother simply nodded while writing.
She's normally kind and spoils me tremendously, but she's currently in family head mode.
In this kind of situation, I must follow etiquette and be respectful.
After a few minutes, she finally stopped writing and focused her attention on me.
"Indeed, I requested your presence."
Although I've known her for 6 years already, I still have trouble getting used to her voice and the atmosphere around her when she's in "serious" mode.
She emanates an authority similar to, no, I mean an authority superior to that of my university professors in my past life, and her voice always has this ability to grab attention, as one would expect from a warrior who made a name for herself on the battlefield.
"As you already know, the magus association will soon send their representative to our city to check the talents of citizens aged 6 and above," she explains while maintaining an emotionless expression.
Despite her neutral expression, I can tell from her scarlet eyes that she's slightly worried.
My mother, or simply Choel, is a woman of foreign origin to the Black kingdom.
She was born from an elf and an unknown race.
She's always avoided discussing the subject of my grandfather, and it's the same for my own father.
I think she'll tell me the truth someday.
So, I'm a descendant of the elven race, with other unknown genes.
At first, I thought my father was human, but my ears are currently longer than my mother's.
"Excellent... but where should I meet them?"
I don't know why mother seems a bit worried about my meeting with the magus who will be sent by the magus association.
I'm a man and, moreover, of elven origin.
Elves have the lowest number of men on the continent and they are extremely protected and monitored by their royal family.
There are multiple reasons to explain the elven royal family's behavior.
One of them is preserving the purity of the elven lineage or keeping their power available at all times for their kingdom.
Although elves have the fewest men among the races on the continent, they undoubtedly have the most powerful magi because of their race's strong affinity with magic in general.
That's why a half-elf like my mother had no chance of obtaining their seed through negotiation.
She unfortunately had to seek that of another race.
Although I have unknown races' blood in my veins, I'm not worried about my talent related to magic.
I'm an elven descendant and a man!!
I'll definitely have high talent and the chances of a man having no talent for magic are low or null.
In truth, it's unheard of.
"He'll arrive here in the afternoon or tomorrow morning. I hope you'll be properly prepared to receive him."
She's making so many preparations, but I'm sure the magus who'll come will just be an apprentice and not even a man, not that I mind.
Real magi are simply too busy with their research and their status in general is superior to that of low-ranking nobles like my mother.
I really don't see one of them traveling to a rural area like the fortress city of Black Stone.
"I'll take my leave if my presence is no longer needed." I bowed slightly before turning to leave.
"Already abandoning your poor mother~?" I felt arms tenderly embrace me from behind, and a head rest its chin on my black hair.
"Now that I'm done speaking as matriarch of the Twilight family, we can talk as mother and son~"
After these words spoken in a teasing tone, she lifted me effortlessly to carry me to her desk.
She gently set me down on her lap as usual.
"So Merlin, aren't you too worried about the awakening ceremony?"
She finally shows the concern she was trying to hide. The awakening ceremony literally decides a person's life.
It's thanks to this that magic users can verify a person's talents, and these range from the lowest which is F to the highest known level SSS+.
Of course, ordinary people have no magical talent.
According to the novel "The Corrupt Empress," there are ways to improve one's talent, but these are risky with side effects and some not yet discovered.
If I wasn't a man, then my chances of becoming a magus would be low and I would certainly take the path of a knight like her.
So, I would be at the bottom of the food chain.
"I'm not worried, mother. I'm a man, so I'll certainly be talented enough to become a magus, and my elven heritage guarantees it even more." She just looked at me for a while in the eyes before nodding.
I suspect that mother's concerns are definitely related to my father's origin or that of her father, aka my grandfather.
I don't see any other explanation from my point of view.
A true elf would be too proud to buy seed from another race than elves, but I'm sure no elf would have wanted to sell theirs to a mulatto like my mother.
There's also the possibility that my mother simply didn't have enough family or political support to obtain it.
Elves only selling their seed to other elves, unlike other races more tolerant of mixed breeds, my mother really had no other choice than to lower her standards to have me.
"Yes, my little hero is certainly a future magus." She smiled before starting to tickle me.
"Stop, hahaha!"
That's how I spent more than an hour being spoiled by my mother before leaving her office.
...
"I should start asking her again to stop the tickling." I say this, but I know she won't stop spoiling me despite my protests.
I think it will even have the opposite effect, like a few months ago. I can only accept my fate for now.
"I want to eat." The servant who led me to father's office just nodded before taking the lead.
I didn't really have the right to be completely alone since my reincarnation, and it's a feeling that weighs on me a bit, but I understand the necessity of such surveillance.
"Say thanks to the cook, I appreciated it." Unlike mother or most nobles, I like to be slightly friendly with the servants.
Of course, I generally speak to them very little, only if necessary and with few words.
I made the mistake of being too "kind or polite" with them at first and got severe warnings from mother and Susan. I ended up understanding their point of view.
They surely didn't want the servants to get the wrong ideas and take my kindness for weakness.
Mother asked me to avoid being too good and to stick to minimum interactions with them.
*Sound* Chair being pushed back.
I headed to the library after my meal, it was to analyze and store the data from recently brought books.
'Clarisse, start the analysis and storage of information,' I ordered the AI to begin.
It was a remnant of my past life, an AI named Clarisse that I often used through my computer.
I don't understand how it followed me into this new reality, but thanks to it, I was able to memorize all the information in this library in a few months.
I could have done it much faster, but I'm watched 24/7.
So, I had to pretend to read. I love my mother, but my reincarnation and the AI are a secret I'll carry alone forever.
[Received, user Henry #####. I will proceed with the analysis and storage of information...]
I continued for a while flipping through pages before finishing the book. The servant just observed me from afar without suspicion.
She must surely believe I'm reading a book, as usual.
[Information archived...]
[Please give a name to the folder containing the information]
'You'll name it "basic alchemy"'
Alchemy is one of the many extraordinary things related to this universe.
It can be practiced at first by anyone who has enough money to start.
Unfortunately, only magus apprentices can start practicing the intermediate level of this mystical science.
Of course, true magi are capable of studying and practicing more advanced alchemy.
Mother had a lot of trouble getting these books. She accepts my unreasonable whim for the simple reason of my teachers' praise regarding my intelligence.
"Without alchemy, I couldn't do many things in the future." I was really blessed to have the AI in this reality.
According to my future knowledge, I really couldn't go far in my path to power without alchemy and another magical art that I should probably obtain in the magus association.
'Transfer me a copy of the information from the "Basic Alchemy" document.'
I received an information flow that only lasted a few seconds. I was currently a pro in basic alchemy theory.
I just need to practice it a bit to officially become a beginner alchemist.
I wonder what face an official alchemist would make if they learned that a 6-year-old kid rivals them in theory.