A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 30

After the first Casius Kingdom council concluded, Aion made his way to Aria’s Residence.

He’d harbored a faint hope that she might reconsider, but as always, there was no reply.
In the end, he had no choice but to idle away the hours in her garden.

A week passed in the same exhausting cycle: he would ask to see Aria, be turned away, and spend the day waiting in her garden.

At last, with nothing to show for his efforts, the weekend arrived.

So when Saturday morning came around,

Aion found himself sitting on a roof, legs spread wide to brace against the slant, hammer in hand as he fixed wooden boards in place.

Tap—
Tap, tap—

Below, Laila was passing up boards, the two of them working in silence.
They exchanged only what was necessary, moved only as much as needed.

And Luana, who had come to see Laila again this weekend, stood beside her assisting with the work.

The project was in full swing when it happened.

“I’ll need more boards.”
“Oh, got it!”

Below, Luana hastily grabbed a wooden board of appropriate size and started up the ladder.

One rung, two rungs.

She climbed nearly to the top, the roof almost within reach, when she suddenly stopped.

……

She had gone rigid.

Aion sensed something wrong and looked at her.

“What’s the matter?”

Luana appeared strange somehow.
She couldn’t look directly at where Aion was—only her eyes darted about restlessly.

“Wh-what? Why did I… climb up here? I…”

Jolt—!

The ladder beneath her lurched violently.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Luana’s body tipped backward.

She stood at a height equivalent to the second floor of the Mountain Lodge.
A fall from this distance would hurt her badly. In the worst case—

Screeeech―!

Aion lunged forward in a burst of speed and caught Luana’s arm.

Whoooosh―!

Looking down, he saw Laila standing directly in the path of the falling ladder.
It was headed straight for her head.

“Laila!”
“What?”

Crash―!

The ladder didn’t fall further. Laila was holding it with one hand.

“Got it.”
“…I didn’t mean for you to catch it, but either way.”

Whoosh―

Aion pulled Luana, who was dangling in midair, up onto the roof with all his strength.

Crash―

From the momentum, Luana found herself briefly cradled in his arms, but her terror was so overwhelming that she barely registered it.

“Scared… I’m scared….”
“…Luana?”
“Put me down… I’m here… it’s terrifying….”

She seemed incapable of rational thought, and as she continued her frantic rambling, Aion had no choice but to carry her on his back as he descended the ladder.

“Gasp… panting….”

Even after her feet touched solid ground, Luana breathed in ragged gasps for a long time before finally calming down.

“…Are you alright?”
“Ah… yes… thanks to you. I think I can breathe now….”
“Are you afraid of heights?”

Nod-nod.

She nodded firmly, her expression rigid.

“Yeah. But I stupidly climbed up that ladder without thinking. My mind just went blank.”
“…My apologies.”
“No, it’s my fault. Don’t apologize.”

Aion nodded and spoke to her.

“I’ll remember this. I won’t ask you to climb to high places again, so don’t worry.”
“Yeah, thanks.”

Luana shivered, then suddenly tilted her head. Only now did the situation strike her as odd.

“But wait… that’s strange, isn’t it? Why should I be grateful to you?”
“…….”
“You dragged me here in the first place! And just ordered me to help fix up the Mountain Lodge like it was obvious! You awful… awful….”

Luana trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

Aion caught her eye and gave Laila a meaningful glance.

Nod.

She understood his intent at once and turned to Luana, speaking softly.

“Thank you, Luana.”

At those words, Luana’s expression brightened in an instant.

“Huh? …Hehe, right? It does seem faster with my help, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not sure.”
“……Huh?”

Laila paused a moment before continuing.

“But still…”

She spoke with genuine feeling.

“I’m grateful for your heart, Luana.”

Luana froze, then gripped the wooden board tightly.

“…Yeah. Um, um. It’s me who should say that! Come on, let’s do our b-best!”

Aion watched Luana for a moment longer, then climbed back up the ladder to the roof.

Tap.
Tap-tap.

Time passed.

The sound of a nail being driven into the last board echoed across the roof.

“Phew…”

Aion straightened his back atop the roof for a moment.

Creak.

On the first night of last week, starlight had seeped through the gap in the broken roof. Now, at last, that hole was sealed.

Half regret, half relief.

When Aion looked down, Laila and Luana were gazing up at him.

“All done?”

Nod.

“Yeah, it’s finished.”

Thud.

Aion descended the ladder.

Luana had already made her way to the table.
The table was handmade by Aion, one leg fractionally shorter than the others, giving it a rough, slightly tilted appearance.
Still, it was sturdy enough for three people to sit at.

Rustle—

Luana fidgeted as she unfurled a large cloth wrapping—the same bundle she’d lugged here groaning with effort.

“I packed a bento box.”

“A bento box?”

“Yes! Cooking is the one thing I’m really confident about.”

When Luana withdrew a large basket from the cloth wrapping, food poured forth from it in an endless cascade.

Herb butter–glazed brioche, honey-preserved fruit, thinly sliced smoked ham, and a wedge of cheese whose pungent aroma stung the nostrils.

“It’s cooled by now, so it probably won’t taste as good as when it was warm… but please, eat your fill.”

After a moment of silence, Laila and Aion reached for the food.

……

Luana herself hadn’t taken a single bite. She merely watched them in turns, tense with anticipation.

Aion bit into the brioche first.

He nearly let out an exclamation of admiration.

“…It’s delicious.”

Luana’s head snapped around instantly.

Toward Laila, who sat beside her.

Laila held the brioche in her petite hands.

One bite, then another.

As she quietly chewed the bread, white butter smeared itself across her cheeks.

Snow-white against her pale skin.
Somehow, it suited her perfectly.

Like a squirrel storing acorns in its cheeks, Laila’s cheeks puffed out round and full.

Pop!—

Luana clapped her hand over her mouth at the sight.

“S-so… so cu—cute…!”

The words escaped twisted and strangled, as if she were trying to suppress the delight itself.
Laila, for her part, continued to chew softly for a time, then spoke.

“It’s delicious.”
“…!”
“What you made, Luana—it’s really delicious.”

At those words, Luana’s face blazed bright as the sun.

Siiiiigh—

She sat with her eyes closed, wearing the expression of an ascetic who had achieved everything.

“…I can die happy now.”

She slumped back in her chair.
As if her very soul had departed her body.

“Luana?”
“Heh… Mmm… W-was it good? I did try my best, but I suppose I was a little nervous. I was worried you two might not like it.”

‘So she has a talent for cooking.’

It was quite rare to find a student of Excion Academy this age who enjoyed cooking. Most of Excion’s students were nobility, after all.

“Where did you learn to cook?”

Luana blinked once before answering.

“Well… it’s a bit odd, isn’t it? The truth is, I’ve been helping my father with his merchant dealings since I was young. Before I came here, I often took care of meals for everyone at the trading house.”

She absently touched the hair beside her ear, her cheeks flushing.

“Isn’t it strange… doing something like this?”
“…?”
“Most mages don’t do such things. It feels a little embarrassing, somehow.”

Aion stared at Luana for a moment without blinking.

“Why… why would it be?”
“Strange, or embarrassing. I don’t understand.”

He moved his hand toward the water glass beside him as he spoke.

“I haven’t lived like an ordinary mage either.”
“…What?”

Luana grasped the meaning of his words at once.

“Heh… Ahahaha! Right, you’re completely weird too, Aion. I bet you didn’t live a normal life either.”

She laughed, satisfied.

“You really are one strange mage.”

Then Laila looked at Aion and asked.

“Aion, why have you been arriving late these days?”
“…Me?”
“Yes. You’re late.”

Luana nodded in agreement.

“Right, I was curious about that too. You’ve been gone from the Mountain Lodge a lot during the week.”

Aion looked at Luana and asked.

“You come here… even during the week?”
“…Why! I can’t come?”
“No. I just haven’t seen you here before, that’s all.”
“Well, that’s because Aion always arrives late. Is something wrong? Shouldn’t the Freshman Lecture have ended long ago?”

She had a point.
Aion’s lectures often concluded by afternoon, if not earlier in the day.

And yet there was a reason he wasn’t returning to the Mountain Lodge sooner.

“…I’ve had something on my mind.”
“Something on your mind? What exactly are you worrying about?”
“It’s….”

Aion wasn’t the type to speak of every trifle, but in exchange for the meal he’d been given, he felt obliged to answer.

“I’ve been waiting outside Aria’s Residence for her to come out.”
“Her residence? Aria?”

When Luana glanced at Laila, she shook her head.

“I don’t know.”
“Hmm… I think I might.”

Aion’s attention turned toward her.

“You know Aria?”
“Yes. I know her. You mean Aria di Balera, right?”
“What do you know about Aria?”

Luana’s eyes gleamed.

“Aria di Balera.”

She opened her mouth slowly, as though drawing out a story she’d been saving for some time.

“She’s the star of the Imperial Capital, Calion. When she performs, tickets vanish in an instant. Even on days when there’s no show, she’s always the talk of the town.

Her eyes brightened slightly.

So you can imagine how much of a stir it caused in the capital when someone like that enrolled in the Magic Academy Excion in the first place.

Luana fixed Aion with a sly, narrowed gaze.

“So… I get it now. You’re an ardent admirer of Aria too? That’s why you went all the way to her residence — just for a glimpse of her face?”

Aion corrected the misunderstanding.

“That’s not it. The reason I had to go to her residence was….”

He explained the matter clearly, leaving no room for confusion.

The matter concerning the evaluation of the Bosco Battle, the fact that he and Aria belonged to the same kingdom, and that despite visiting every day for the past week, he had ultimately never been able to meet her.

After hearing his explanation, Luana fell silent for a moment.

“…So you visited every day for a whole week and she never even opened the door?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s harsh.”

Luana sympathized with the cold treatment Aion had received.

“…But still, there’s something odd about her, isn’t there?”

Luana tilted her head thoughtfully.

“Odd in what way?”
“Well, even if we grant that she took the entrance exam to get into Excion Academy, the fact remains—she doesn’t participate in the lectures at all.”
“…Really?”

Aion had been unable to solve this riddle for the past week.

“If she wanted to live as a Prima, she could have stayed in Calion, the imperial capital. So why did she come to Excion?”

Luana fell silent for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak.

“…Well, I’m not sure if it’ll help, but I’ve heard something about this.”

She lowered her voice slightly.

“It’s not something that’s been officially confirmed, and I was going to say ‘don’t go spreading this around’—but honestly, she doesn’t seem like the type to worry about that.”
“Tell me. I’ll hear it and forget it.”

Gulp—

Luana swallowed hard, glanced around to ensure they were alone, then began her story.

“There’s talk that she was adopted.”
“…Adopted?”

It was indeed shocking, given the buildup.

“Right. It’s more of a rumor, really, but there was never any record of the Balera House having a daughter. Then one day, she simply appeared—as if she’d fallen from the sky.”
“You’re talking about Aria.”
“Yes. But it’s only rumors, you understand. Only she would know the truth.”

Aion listened to the rest and tilted his head again.

“But even if the adoption is true, what would that have to do with her behavior?”
“I don’t know… but wouldn’t it make sense? There’s no way to know more unless she tells us herself.”

It was a plausible story, at least.
Aion could only hope that she hadn’t left him standing in the garden for a week with no reason whatsoever.

If there was a reason, then perhaps he could set things right.

“You’ve been unexpectedly helpful.”
“H-helpful? Ah, ha… No, I only told you what I knew. There’s nothing to…”

Luana laughed awkwardly, then remembered she was still eating and popped a honey-glazed fruit into her mouth.

Munch, munch—

“But everyone seems to be hiding secrets. Laila, you’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”
“…….”

When no answer came—contrary to what she’d expected—Luana stared at Laila in shock.

“W-what? You actually have something?”
“I can’t say.”

Thump—

The sound was answer enough.

“Then what about Aion? You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”
“Not particularly.”
“Right? Phew… thank goodness. For a moment I thought I was the only one being deceived by my friends.”

Just then, something fell from the sky.

Crash—!

…And it came from nowhere at all.

“What… what is that?”

The three of them stared frozen at the fallen object.

It was far too massive to call an object,

……and it was alive.

“Grrrrooooowwwwl…!”

A Brumbear.

For whatever reason, the creature had just plummeted from the sky to the earth.

Thump…
Thump…

Somehow the beast was sturdy enough to rise without incident, and now it lumbered slowly toward the table.

“Wh-wh-wh-what…”

Luana’s bewildered cry remained unfinished.

Crack—!

The Brumbear’s entire body, starting with its head, was driven into the ground.

Crunch—

This time, every bone in its body had shattered.
The creature’s form had been flattened completely.

“What on earth…”

Aion slowly looked up at whatever had crushed the Brumbear.

A scent he remembered from not long ago, mingled with a deeply ominous premonition.

“…This is bad.”

A silver fox with three tails.
Its golden eyes gazed down at the three of them gathered at the table.

The Great Spirit of the Wind, Sien, whose body dwarfed even the Mountain Lodge itself.

“Luana. Take back your answer to that question from before.”

A question about what she might be hiding.
The answer to that question stood before their eyes now.

“Yes. …No, there was.”

The Talentless Mage Consumes a Calamity-Class Future Episode 30

Author
Wang Mochi
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover Design
Dalli

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0030

© 2026, Wang Mochi

※ This e-book is a copyrighted work protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of the contents of this work may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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