Reborn as the Head of the Stolen Magic Family

Chapter 2

“If you absolutely must go to the Kirhausen mansion, you’ll need this.”

With those words, the director handed me a sheet of paper bearing his signature.

It was an identification certificate.

A document proving that Eddie Summerson was a child under the protection of Delphonso Orphanage.

I stared blankly at the paper in the director’s hand.

“…”

Just as I was about to ask why I needed an identification certificate, the director’s next words froze my expression like stone.

“I don’t know if the Kirhausen family will accept an orphanage child as an enrollment assistant, though.”

Enrollment assistant…? No way.

Hoping I’d misunderstood, I asked, “Are you saying the Kirhausen family is… taking in ‘tails’?”

“Yes. That’s what they used to call them, ‘tails.’ Isn’t that why you suddenly want to go to the Kirhausen mansion, Eddie?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Tails. Tails.

Haa…

A burning sensation welled up deep in my chest.

But I nodded calmly and filled in my name on the blank space of the certificate.

A bitter feeling surged alongside my anger, causing my grip on the pen to tighten.

‘Not only did they sell off all the training schools, but they’re also taking in tails. Just how far has the family fallen?’

Tails.

Commoner children who enroll in the academy alongside the heirs of wealthy noble families, serving them like servants for six years.

The practice of tail enrollment was a deplorable custom among rich but magically deficient noble families.

And yet, of all places, the Kirhausen family was recruiting tails.

Judging by the fact that even an ordinary orphanage director knew about it, the recruitment seemed to be happening quite openly.

‘There must already be countless children from across the empire lined up at the mansion’s entrance.’

Swallowing a sigh, I finished writing my name.

To think I’d enter the family not as a servant but as a tail.

It was a path I’d never imagined.

But for now, I couldn’t think of a better way.

To understand the state of the family that had been taken from me and to reclaim my past life’s power, I had to get into the family somehow.

In my current state, with nothing to my name, charging in headfirst would be futile.

I wasn’t here to lose; I had to win.

To properly confront the current Kirhausen family, I first needed to restore my mana, which was far below my past life’s capabilities.

And the first step was to recover the secret techniques stored at the main estate.

That was why I was willing to endure the humiliation of becoming a tail for my enemies.

Thus, with the identification certificate in hand, I stood before the Kirhausen mansion.

Or rather, to be precise…

“Good heavens…!”

I stood before the hundreds of people lined up in front of the mansion.

***

Shainborough, the main estate of the Kirhausen family and the largest mansion in the capital, Grainsville.

Commissioned to the era’s greatest architect, Kainus Artr, Shainborough held special significance for me.

In Grainsville, only noble families officially recognized by the empire could build grand mansions.

Thus, Shainborough was proof that the Kirhausen family, once a minor lineage from the outskirts, had risen to the ranks of the elite.

And now…

“Mom, look over there! There’s a fountain inside the mansion!”

“Oh… They say it’s the greatest mansion in the capital… and now I’m seeing Shainborough with my own eyes.”

“Patrick, just do as we practiced. Got it? Don’t forget to act politely!”

The murmurs of the crowd.

That significant grand mansion stood before me.

With its majestic gates wide open to recruit tails.

“Haa…”

Tap.

I stood at the end of the long line, touching my forehead.

‘There must be hundreds of people here. Are they spreading the word that “our family is looking for tails”?’

The children, holding their parents’ hands in line, were all dressed as neatly as possible, polished to perfection.

Watching parents coach their nervous children on self-introductions, I let out a small sigh.

These hundreds of parents probably didn’t know.

What a miserable life awaited a child who became a tail.

A tail was essentially a slave attached to a noble heir under the guise of an enrolled student.

They had no autonomy.

They existed solely to serve the family’s heir.

They might stay up all night studying only to submit assignments under the young master’s name, or serve as a tool for the young lady’s magical training, exhausting their bodies.

And above all…

‘Being called a “tail” for six years, enduring all sorts of contempt and discrimination.’

That was the life of a tail.

Yet, despite this, so many commoner parents had brought their children to Shainborough.

‘As long as their child can become an academy graduate, they don’t care about the cost…’

I let out a heavy sigh, filled with pity.

Of course, I understood their feelings.

Even if their child had the talent to enter the academy, their circumstances likely couldn’t cover even a single semester’s tuition.

So how could any commoner parent resist the promise of all expenses, including tuition, being covered?

Even if their child was treated like a servant, enduring six years would make them a graduate of the prestigious Lieferden Academy.

Blinded by that desire, unaware of how foolish it was.

Step. Step.

I walked along the shrinking line, steeling my resolve.

‘At the very least, the Kirhausen family won’t be the one to fulfill that blind ambition.’

.

.

.

How much time had passed?

Shainborough grew closer, and my eyes narrowed as I looked at the main gate.

‘Ho… A device to measure mana sensitivity?’

A mana barrier was set up at the gate.

Invisible to ordinary eyes, that barrier seemed to be the first hurdle for selecting tails.

I watched a child about to pass through the gate.

“I’ll be back.”

The child waved goodbye to their parents. As they passed through the gate…

-----!

The barrier rippled silently, like a pond disturbed by a wave, reacting to the child’s mana sensitivity.

But neither the parents seeing their child off nor those waiting in line noticed the barrier’s ripples.

Only the middle-aged servant wearing a monocle, standing inside the gate, observed the rippling barrier.

‘A monocle that can detect mana movements.’

The middle-aged servant nodded, and other servants ushered the child into the mansion.

It likely meant the child’s mana sensitivity met the family’s standards.

The selection process continued.

Children were allowed into the mansion.

Parents and children were turned away with curt dismissals.

And the tedious waiting time dragged on.

At the first hurdle, the mana barrier at the gate, nearly half the children were filtered out.

Those rejected had to turn back, teary-eyed, without any explanation.

The parents were bewildered seeing their children return, but they couldn’t protest against the high-handed attitude of the Kirhausen servants and left.

However, not all those filtered out left quietly.

“Please, reconsider just once! To just say ‘go back’ without any explanation is too much!”

The mother of a rejected child shouted toward the middle-aged servant inside the gate.

The two, particularly shabby compared to others, looked far more desperate.

“My son is a truly talented boy…! He won’t be a burden by Young Master Marcel’s side and will serve splendidly!”

“Go back. Cause more of a scene, and we’ll drag you out.”

“Then… at least look at the magic my son prepared! You might change your mind if you see…!”

“Drag her out.”

At the middle-aged servant’s command, other servants grabbed the mother and began dragging her away.

The crying child, who had been watching, clung to the arm of the servant pulling his mother.

“S-sir…! We’ll leave quietly. Please, just let my mom go!”

“I told you to leave quietly…!”

In frustration, the servant shook off his arm, causing the child to fall to the ground.

The shocked mother rushed to her child, calling their name, as the crowd gasped in surprise.

“…”

I closed my eyes and ground my teeth in dismay.

Crunch.

The identification certificate crumpled in my clenched fist.

To think the family had lost not only its dignity but also its humanity.

I wanted to punish the servants immediately and seize the current head by the collar, slamming them to the ground for ruining the family to this extent.

But…

‘Right now… I don’t have that power.’

Gritting my teeth, I strode toward the gate.

As I tried to enter without going through the verification process, a servant hurriedly blocked my path.

“Where do you think you’re going…?”

Thwap!

I roughly shoved the crumpled identification certificate into the servant’s chest and continued forward without hesitation.

“…An orphan?”

The servant, checking the certificate, let out a baffled laugh and followed me.

They only accepted children from proper commoner families, and here was an orphan. The audacity of this kid reaching the gate was astonishing.

“Stop right there!”

Just as the servant reached to grab my tattered clothes…

Ku-woong!

“!”

A heart-stopping, overwhelming wave surged through.

The servant chasing me staggered slightly, shaken by the unfamiliar, powerful aura.

“What… what was that…?”

It wasn’t just the servant who was shocked.

The hundreds gathered near the gate widened their eyes, feeling the immense wave of power.

But the most shocked was the deputy butler with the monocle.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the barrier, which still shimmered vividly even after I passed through.

A mana sensitivity on an entirely different level. His mouth fell open slightly without him realizing.

“What in the world…”

He stared blankly at the barrier for a moment.

“Where do I go?”

A clear, ringing voice snapped him back to reality.

Standing before him was the shabbily dressed boy who had just passed through the barrier with that tremendous aura.

Unlike the other children, who fidgeted nervously, this one stared directly at him, asking questions clearly.

At a glance, he was no ordinary child.

“…”

The deputy butler alternated his gaze between the still-rippling barrier and the boy through his monocle.

His bold attitude and fierce temperament.

‘Not exactly suited to be a tail.’

But the boy’s mana sensitivity was so astounding it made him doubt his eyes.

If this child became a tail for another family, it would be a significant loss.

‘Fine. Even with that fierce temperament, we can control him through his parents. Where are his parents?’

As he scanned the area near the gate, a servant hurriedly approached.

“Deputy Butler, sir! Here it is.”

The servant handed over a crumpled sheet of paper.

“What’s this?”

“It’s… this boy’s identification certificate.”

“…Identification certificate?”

The deputy butler’s eyes quickly scanned the top of the paper.

And the first thing that caught his eye was the text ‘Delphonso Orphanage.’

It revealed the boy’s identity.

The deputy butler’s expression hardened instantly.

‘I thought his particularly shabby appearance was odd, but an orphan…’

Of course, some families took in children from orphanages as tails if they were highly skilled.

But this was the Kirhausen family, the empire’s most prestigious noble lineage.

No matter how much the child was a tool for the young master, they couldn’t just pick ‘anyone’ to bear the Kirhausen name at the academy.

And this boy, besides being an orphan, had a defiant temperament.

‘He meets none of the conditions except for his extraordinary mana sensitivity…’

The deputy butler’s eyes narrowed as he stared at me, his thoughts deepening.

But then, the still-shimmering gate barrier caught his attention once more.

‘Fine. If I let a child with that level of sensitivity slip away, who knows what I’d hear later.’

Making his decision, the deputy butler pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled a short note on the certificate. He handed it to the servant with instructions.

“Take this boy to Teacher Patman.”