Chapter 11: Is My Kid a Genius…!? (Parental Bias Activated)

Putting myself aside for the moment, it was time for adorable Lowell’s magic lesson.

“Rowan too, f-fire!”

He himself was full of enthusiasm, but…

“Hmm, I wonder if Rowan is fire…”

When I tilted my head in thought, Lowell’s eyebrows drooped sadly.

“Rowan can’t use magic…?”

Seeing tears pool in his big eyes, I hurriedly shook my head.

“Ah, no, no, that’s not it, that’s not it.
Rowan has mana, so it’s okay.
I think you’ll be able to use magic!”

People who have mana can sense the mana of others.
And as far as I could tell, Lowell definitely had mana.

However, even if I knew he had mana, I couldn’t tell what kind of magic he could use.

The type of magic someone can use is determined by their innate magical attribute.

For example, I’m fire-attributed, so I can use fire magic.
Holy magic, which mainly appears among royalty, is also one type of attribute.

And attributes are basically inherited.
Skipping generations does happen, but in most cases, a child inherits one of their parents’ attributes.
So in Lowell’s case too…

“If Rowan matches Mama, then you’ll be able to use fire magic.
But if you match Papa, then it should be ice magic…”

Lowell’s father, Adolphus, is ice-attributed.
And apparently, he’s extremely powerful.

In battles against magical beasts, he can unleash dozens of ice spears at once and wipe out entire packs.

Unfortunately, I’ve never actually seen Adolphus use magic.
Everything I know comes from rumors.
But there’s no doubt it would look incredibly cool.
I wish I could have seen it just once…

By the way, I can’t discern other people’s magical attributes, but there are people who can.
However, those who can appraise magical attributes are rare even among mages, making them extremely scarce.

In noble families, when a child is born, it’s common to hire an appraiser early on to determine their magical attribute.

Apparently, I was appraised as a baby too.
That was when it was discovered that I wasn’t holy-attributed but fire-attributed, and I was quickly branded a failure…

There probably isn’t a magical appraiser in this frontier region.
And even if there were, I don’t have the money to hire one.
In the end, all we can do is try activating magic and see.

“Rowan wants to match both Mama and Papa!”

“Hehe, that sounds wonderful.”

If he could use both fire and ice, it would be incredibly convenient.
Our slow frontier life would become even more fulfilling.

But unfortunately, I also thought that would be difficult.

Basically, people only have one magical attribute, and those with multiple attributes are extremely rare.
Even in the novel Black Wolf General’s Beloved Flower, only one person has two attributes.

So Lowell will probably end up with either fire or ice.
Still, I secretly hope it’s ice.

Because if he can use ice magic, we could make magical refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners!
Our quality of life would skyrocket!
I’m sure Dan and Hannah would be thrilled too!

Ah, but even if Lowell inherits my fire attribute, that would make me happy too.
A cool-looking kid with black hair and blue eyes who uses fire magic would be pretty awesome too, right!?

While I was thinking all that, Lowell had already copied my stance.

He spread his legs bravely and held his tiny hands out in front of his face.

“Mr. Butterfly, fire butterfly, pleeease come out!”

It seemed he was trying to summon the fire butterfly I had shown him.
He stared intently between his hands, desperately trying to call it forth.
Honestly, it was nothing but adorable.
I could watch him forever…

But conjuring fire out of nothing with magic is actually not that easy.
It’s not something you can do right away.
It also requires imagination, which makes it even harder for a small child like Lowell.

‘Isn’t there a better way for Rowan to practice magic…?
Ah, that’s it!’

Having an idea, I fetched a wooden tub used for laundry, filled it with water, and placed it in front of Lowell.

“Rowan, come here~”

I crouched down beside the tub together with Lowell, who obediently came over.

“Let’s leave the butterfly for next time and try a spell to warm the water instead.
It’s the magic Mama always uses when heating the bath.
You hold your hands over the water like this and say ‘warm up~.’”

Compared to creating fire from nothing, turning water into warm water is lower difficulty.
It should also be easier for Lowell to imagine.

Lowell said “Got it!” and immediately held both hands over the tub, chanting, “Warm up~, warm up~.”

What is this cuteness!?
Lowell chanting his spell was so adorable that I couldn’t help smiling.

“That’s right, just like that~”

I cheered him on gently, feeling all warm inside.

“But magic isn’t something you can use right away, okay~
So let’s practice slowly and not rush~”

Even if the difficulty is lower, that’s only compared to creating fire.
I never imagined that two-year-old Lowell could actually use magic right away—

At that moment, small ripples suddenly formed on the surface of the water in the tub.
The next instant, large bubbles began to rise with a violent boil.

“Wait—what, it’s boiling!?”

“I did it!
It got warm!”

Lowell bounced up and down in delight.

Snapping out of my shock, I hurriedly scooped Lowell up and moved him away from the tub.

“Rowan, are you okay!?
You’re not burned, right!?”

“I’m okay!”

He was totally fine.
After checking that there was nothing wrong with his hands or face, I finally let out a relieved sigh.

“Haaah, that surprised me…”

As the relief set in, excitement started bubbling up.

To think he could use magic right away in his very first lesson…

My kid might actually be a genius!?

“Rowan, you’re amazing!
You used magic!”

“Hehehe!”

“And that means Rowan is definitely fire-attributed!
Just like Mama!”

“Same as Mama!”

I hugged the grinning, rosy-cheeked Lowell tightly and rubbed my cheek against his.

And judging from how vigorously the water was still boiling, his output might actually be pretty strong.

“Though, uh, this is getting dangerous if we don’t do something about it…”

With my magic, I can raise the temperature of something, but I can’t lower it.

I was thinking I’d have to fetch another tub of cold water and mix it in, when Lowell walked closer to the tub and said, “Then I’ll make it cold next~,” holding out his hand.

“Cold~er~, cold~er~”

“Ah, Rowan, that’s dangerous, so—”

As I moved to pick him up again, I froze, staring into the tub.

The water’s surface, which had been bubbling violently just moments ago, was now completely still.
The steam vanished instantly.

“Wait, no way…”

The next moment, there was a sharp crack, and the water in the tub froze solid.

“Ice attribute too…?”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Lowell hopped around me chanting, “Same as Papa too~!”

What do I do…
My kid seriously seems like a genius…!?