Kashick

Kashick (カッシーク, Kasshiiku) is a layscholar in Ehrenfest. He is married to Jonsara and is the father of Philine and Konrad.

Kashick was born a laynoble in Ehrenfest. His family had very little wealth, so their estate was located at the southern edge of Ehrenfest's Noble's Quarter.

Kashick married a woman named Theresia, and they had two children, Philine and Konrad. However, Theresia died not long after the birth of their son, and Kashick remarried another noblewoman, Jonsara. Within the next few years, she gave birth to Kashick's third child, another son.

Jonsara's treatment of her stepchildren was markedly cold, and worsened into physical abuse after her own son was born with more mana that Konrad. Kashick was mostly absent due to his work at the castle and spent little time at home, leaving the care of the younger two children to his wife.

Kashick spends most of the winter working at the castle and hardly ever returns to his family estate, so he is shocked when he is suddenly summoned to a meeting with the archduke's daughter Rozemyne and Ferdinand. When they inform him that Philine was given money that was supposed to go to other duchies, potentially causing a diplomatic incident, he hurriedly agrees to set the matter straight.

Once he guides them to his home, they recover the money without incident. However, it soon emerges that Jonsara had physically abused both Philine and Konrad using her schtappe. She had also taken away the mana draining magic tool given to him by his mother Theresia, drained it of mana and re-registered it for her own son, effectively dooming Konrad to a slow death by mana exposure.

While Kashick is more conflicted over the decision than his wife, he agrees it is best to prioritize the child with the most mana, since the family doesn't have the money for another magic tool. When Rozemyne suggests sending Konrad to the temple, Kashick admits that they don't have enough money to support a blue priest either.

In the end, Rozemyne decides to take Konrad in at the temple as a orphan gray priest, cutting his ties with his family. She also offers to take in Philine as her own dependent and provide her with a room in the castle, and Philine immediately accepts since she no longer has to worry about her brother's safety.

Still, Philine is furious at her father for letting Jonsara take the magic tool, since it is one of the few things left from her deceased mother. Hearing this, Rozemyne somewhat forcefully buys the magic tool off of Kashick, leaving him little choice but to accept the "offer" due to their difference in status.

When they leave, Philine vows to never return again. Kashick is devastated, having lost both of the children he had with Theresia in one day.


 * His name "Kasshiku" is an anagram for "Shikkaku"(失格), which means "failure" or "unfit for duty" in Japanese.