I Was Told, “I Can’t Leave the Territory Management to You, Brother-in-law!!”, So I Restarted My Adventurer Life in My Mother’s Homeland – Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Significance of the Academy’s Existence
  “Anyway, Eld-sama is finally getting married. I think you’ll both continue being adventurers, but what about children? I guess it’ll work out somehow since Tohlight is nearby.”
 
  For Jaylot, it was just a small question. Since both Eld and Marie were older than the typical marriageable age, it was a common question about what they thought about having children.
 
  However, Marie’s expression clouded over slightly. Thinking he might have asked something bad, he looked at Eld, who had a similarly clouded expression.
 
  “No, Jaylot, that’s a valid question. It’s no wonder you two who haven’t attended the academy yet don’t know.”
 
  He said with a smile to the uneasy-looking Jaylot. Usually, his younger brother was good at reading the atmosphere, so he seemed to be panicking that he had made a blunder.
 
  “To get straight to the point, Marie and I might not be able to have children. It’s not absolute, though.”
 
  Millenia gasped.
 
  “Wh-why……”
 
  “This is something I was taught after entering the academy, but it seems that if the difference in magic power between partners is too large, it becomes difficult to have children. And Marie has several times more magic power than me.”
 
  Eld sighed.
 
  “However, I also have about ten times the average, so honestly, the chances are slim with anyone.”
 
  Jaylot was surprised by Eld’s words.
 
  “T-ten times the average…… I knew Eld-sama had high magic power, but I didn’t realize it was that much numerically……”
 
  “Well, this is the result of training to catch up to Marie’s magic power. Even so, I couldn’t catch up to Marie, whose hair and eyes show her magic affinity.”
 
  “B-but why didn’t you tell us that until after you entered the academy?”
 
  Millenia asked a reasonable question.
 
  “Well, why is that? It seems the academy and the royal family’s opinion is that it’s always been that way, and that making it public would cause confusion.
 
  I’ve looked into it a bit, and it seems there was a pretty big war when the country was founded. It was on a level where not only this country but people all over the world died, and it seemed like humanity might go extinct. At that time, they feared that if people couldn’t have children through love marriages, the population wouldn’t increase, and the country they had worked so hard to build would be destroyed. So, they decided that if someone had a certain level of high magic power, they would be forcibly enrolled in the Central Academy. Otherwise, they would be enrolled in the local academy in each territory.
 
  Well, in short, the academy is a state-run matchmaking place. Of course, magic power can be greatly increased through training, but as I said earlier, it can’t compare to someone who’s born with it. If someone born with it trains, the difference will widen even further.”
 
  Eld sighed.
 
  “Of course, there are also drawbacks to not teaching it. Like Marie, whose parents didn’t attend the Central Academy, they couldn’t educate her to not increase her magic power unnecessarily. Especially since Marie said that because of poverty, she couldn’t even heat her home in winter and would activate her magic power to endure it.”
 
  “In fact, her parents relied on that and didn’t even prepare fuel for the winter.”
 
  Marie gave a wry smile.
 
  “So, as I said at the beginning, it might be a little difficult for Marie and me to have children.”
 
  “I-I’m sorry to ask this, but…… Eld-sama, you had decided to become the lord, but didn’t you think about having an heir?”
 
  Jaylot asked timidly.
 
  “Hmm. If I had met Marie after hearing that, it might have been different. After all, there were a few couples who broke up after hearing that, and it seems like they chose their next partner based on someone with similar magic power.”
 
  Eld said, as if recalling the past.
 
  “But I met Marie before hearing about it, and even after I heard about it, I thought it would work out somehow.”
 
  “I’m sorry. I asked something strange……”
 
  Jaylot apologized apologetically.
 
  “Don’t worry about it. In the first place, it means no one expected someone with such high magic power to enroll even with both colors showing, like Marie. It’s a rare pattern, so it probably won’t be changed in the future either.”
 
  Eld laughed, and Marie nodded in agreement.
 
  “Actually, my mother’s magic power wasn’t strong enough to show color, but my grandmother had both colors. I was happy when I first saw her because she had the same red hair and red eyes as me. In the place where I lived with my parents, there were only people without color, and I was ostracized. I had quite a complex about it.”
 
  Marie’s eyes looked distant.
 
  “Marie-neesama…… you’ve had a very difficult life, haven’t you?”
 
  Millenia felt like she didn’t even know where to begin sympathizing.
 
  “Well, let’s stop with the depressing talk.”
 
  Eld clapped his hands to change the mood.
 
  “Now, Millenia. As you said yourself earlier, you’ll be entering the academy next year. Since your eyes show color, it’ll definitely be the Central Academy, but the Central Academy is considered the royal family’s backyard, so the studies are quite difficult.”
 
  “I-I’ve heard that’s the case.”
 
  Millenia averted her eyes.
 
  “I had Jaylot and the remaining servants help you with your studies, but……”
 
  Eld looked at Millenia with expectant eyes.
 
  “O-of course, I’m doing my assignments……”
 
  “Sort of.”
 
  Jaylot said with a wry smile.
 
  “Oh, I thought you were leaving them undone, Millenia, but you’re at least doing them.”
 
  “Yes. I made her do them with me. Tied to a chair.”
 
  “Ugh…… It was embarrassing to be forcibly tied up by my younger brother.”
 
  Millenia made a tearful expression.
 
  “Well then, let’s test how far you’ve come.”
 
  Eld stood up with a smile.
 
  “N-no way…… I thought I could finally play with Onii-sama……”
 
  “It’s okay. If you do well, we’ll play together. Well, you need to be able to study to a certain extent so you don’t have a hard time after entering the academy.”
 
  “Uuuu…… Onii-sama, you’re a devil……”
 
  Millenia protested tearfully, but Jaylot tied her to a chair and they both took Eld’s test. The results were better than Eld had expected, so there was no punishment, but since Marie, Millenia’s exclusive tutor, was there, she was assigned study time every day during her stay.