Ch.173Circle Magic #2

“…Do you really have to do this?”

“Since you asked me, I should be the one to do it. It would be strange if Helena got involved.”

“Still…”

In order to fulfill Eve’s request, I needed to adjust my schedule for a while, and naturally, Helena showed great disappointment upon hearing this.

Perhaps she felt like I was taking away time we could spend working together.

Seeing her concern focused on me rather than mana cultivation made me wonder if this was appropriate, but it was still far better than letting things stagnate.

“Tch…”

Helena pouted, seemingly reluctantly agreeing because the matter was serious and it was Eve’s request.

If Ellen had made the same request, she would have thought the motives were different and absolutely refused, but since it was Eve, she reluctantly gave permission.

“But creating this new magic system won’t happen in just a day or two…”

“I don’t know much about it… but it might take several years, or even more than a decade.”

“What? That long?”

When I assured her it wouldn’t be finished overnight, Helena’s gaze turned cold.

It seemed she was misunderstanding something due to jealousy.

“But that’s just how long it takes to research and create the system. Learning the mana cultivation technique itself shouldn’t take long, right? Since she’s a mage who uses mana, just with a different approach, she’ll understand it much faster than ordinary people.”

“…Ah. You’re just helping her learn the mana cultivation technique?”

That’s right.

When I gave a brief answer, Helena’s cold gaze returned to normal as if her misunderstanding had been cleared.

Seeing her reaction, I realized she must have thought I would be spending all that time with Eve.

If she had thought about it a bit more, she would have known I didn’t have such capabilities, but she didn’t have the peace of mind to consider that, so she just assumed the worst.

“Fine, I understand. But you need to finish it as quickly as possible.”

“I will. I’ll do my best. It shouldn’t take too long anyway.”

I comforted Helena by gently stroking her slightly trembling shoulders, then immediately headed to Eve’s room.

There, I met Eve who was waiting and began explaining the basic theory. While it’s usually faster to learn through physical experience, I thought this approach would be better for someone with a scientific mindset like Eve.

“First, mana cultivation is, as the name suggests, a method of accumulating and utilizing mana in the body…”

The mana cultivation technique in this continent was similar to what people commonly call internal energy cultivation.

It involved gathering mana near the dantian and circulating it throughout the body, with each technique having slight differences in pathways, methods, and breathing techniques for introducing mana into the body.

The greater these subtle differences combined to create significant effects, the better the technique was considered to be, and among them, the Krauser ducal family’s mana cultivation technique was considered quite excellent.

It was already effective to begin with, but it had improved even more after Helena refined it.

Anyway, to learn the technique, one usually needs to start by sensing mana… but Eve didn’t need that step.

Being a mage who already handled mana, she could sense it from the beginning.

Thanks to that, we could immediately start with the process of feeling and gathering mana inside the body, which was quite fortunate for me.

It meant she could learn the technique more quickly.

“Hoo…”

Eve sat with the soles of her feet pressed together, eyes closed, regulating her breath.

I’ve heard that sitting cross-legged for too long can be bad for several parts of the body, but it seemed fine since we wouldn’t be doing this for hours.

Besides, we would stretch afterward.

“How is it? Does it feel somewhat heavy?”

“Yes. I’ll need to gather mana slowly, but I think I’ve definitely got the feel for it. Thank you so much for teaching me.”

When I asked Eve as she opened her eyes after finishing her breathing exercise, she responded with gratitude. As someone who hadn’t done much, I felt embarrassed by her praise.

I had only helped her feel the path of mana and added a few words of instruction, but she had used the technique quite skillfully.

In terms of proficiency, she might even be more familiar with it than I was, despite my years of practice.

“Honestly, I feel embarrassed since I didn’t do much.”

“How can you say you didn’t do anything?! I’m so grateful that you slowly guided me through the initial flow that needs to be drawn with the technique! Please don’t say such things…”

“Ah, um… okay.”

When Eve unusually brightened her eyes and raised her voice, I nodded with intimidation.

It was similar to how someone who rarely gets angry seems more frightening when they do.

“Anyway, there’s a long road ahead… but don’t rush too much. It’s similar to getting indigestion from eating too quickly.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Even though it might have been annoying to receive advice from someone who didn’t know much, Eve just smiled brightly without showing any displeasure.

It was partly due to her naturally kind personality, but perhaps also because of the strong feelings she had for me—strong enough to make her decide to live as a hidden concubine.

“By the way, can I ask you one thing?”

“Yes…? Of course. Ask anything.”

Before leaving the room, as I got up from the cheap cloth spread on the floor, I decided to satisfy a curiosity that had suddenly occurred to me. Fortunately, Eve just tilted her head without showing any discomfort, so I felt comfortable speaking.

“I’m curious about why you suddenly want to create a new magic system. Setting aside whether you can do it alone or not.”

“Oh… that?”

Usually, when someone undertakes a major task, there’s a reason for it. Whether that reason is small or large, there must be some motivation.

At least in my opinion, it’s not something one would attempt on a whim, thinking “let’s just try it once.”

However, Eve seemed reluctant to reveal her reason, hesitating considerably before finally forcing out a response.

“Um… I’m really sorry, but could I tell you later? It’s related to the expected results I hope to achieve if things go well…”

“Hmm…”

Expected results.

From my perspective, it was a puzzling statement in many ways, but seeing Eve so nervous made me reluctant to press further.

Perhaps she didn’t want to give room for expectations about something that might not succeed, or maybe the results themselves were difficult to discuss.

I couldn’t imagine what it might be, but at least I was sure she wasn’t planning anything harmful to us or herself.

So I trusted Eve, nodded silently, and left the room without another word.

.

When working, especially when receiving support from someone, results are particularly important.

Eve, a mage who had lived and researched in the magic tower since she came of age, knew this well, and her thinking hadn’t changed despite becoming involved in a special relationship with someone from the ducal family.

Even if the supporting party didn’t think that way, Eve’s conscience made her feel that way.

If the results of the support are poor or nonexistent, one’s evaluation naturally decreases, and the gazes from those around gradually grow colder.

In the past, Eve had painfully experienced this feeling, but still couldn’t give up her field of research due to stubbornness and obsession.

“Hmm…”

Since the circle of a magic formation serves as both a container and a circulator that draws in and cycles mana, she needed to start by doing this through her body.

Eve used the mana accumulated through cultivation to create a formation by circulating it internally like drawing a circle.

Though she sensed that this method would change as her research progressed, she wanted to start with familiar methods for her experiments.

As if proving that creating a magic formation inside one’s body and making it effective was more difficult than imagined, a bead of cold sweat ran down Eve’s forehead.

Unlike magic formations that work well once inscribed unless deliberately damaged, formations created internally dissipate like fog if concentration wavers.

Still, Eve, the mage whom Jion always called a genius, somehow managed to successfully create and use a magic formation.

The result was merely producing light equivalent to a small lamp, but it was still a success.

“Argh!”

As Eve, emboldened by this small success, attempted increasingly complex magic, she groaned while intensely furrowing her brow.

The pain, like her body was being wrung out like a rag, was so severe that she could barely breathe, naturally causing her to roll on the floor, unable to control her body.

Thud.

Even as a small but heavy sound echoed through the room, Eve continued to emit low groans while crawling on the floor.

She wanted to scream with all her might, but imagining the shadow that would fall over Jion’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to raise her voice.

“Eve…!”

However, someone noticed even those small sounds.

It was Ellen, who exclaimed as she flung open the door to Eve’s room.

Among the three people working in the office, Ellen had the best hearing and was most sensitive to mana, allowing her to sense what had happened in Eve’s room.

“The door… ugh! Please… close it…”

Ellen quickly complied with the woman’s request to close the door first, to prevent anyone from seeing her crawling on the floor.

Though she didn’t understand the exact situation, she could comprehend the feelings behind such words.

“What happened?!”

“Ugh…! Just… wait a moment…”

Eve, cradled in Ellen’s arms who had rushed over in alarm, barely managed to utter a few words before groaning again.

The terrible, agonizing sensation—like blood vessels bursting with popping sounds, or blood flowing backward and tearing her insides—wouldn’t stop.

“Haa, haa…”

Perhaps due to her efforts to endure the mana backflow that caused the pain, Eve began to show signs of stabilizing as she relaxed her furrowed brow and started breathing slowly.

“Thank goodness. You seem to be returning to normal… but what exactly happened?”

“Haa… I was experimenting with a new system and… experienced mana backflow.”

“What?!”

Since mana backflow was dangerous enough to potentially cause immediate death if mishandled, it was natural for Ellen to raise her voice in shock.

Though she lacked specialized knowledge of magic, she knew well what mana backflow entailed.

“Just how much did you have to… for mana backflow to occur!”

“Well… the magic itself was relatively simple—creating water—but when I tried to do it in a new way… as you can see, it didn’t go well.”

While creating water magic varies in complexity depending on scale, what Eve referred to was indeed simple magic that would only produce a large droplet.

She thought it wouldn’t be risky enough to cause mana backflow, yet here she was in pain from such a basic spell.

Ellen, thinking that Eve’s condition was due to the new system, slowly spoke.

“Eve. Do you really need to create this new system? Can’t you use the existing system as you’ve done until now?”

“That… I’m not sure. But I think there might be more potential than continuing with the old methods.”

“Potential? What kind of potential are you talking about?”

“There are various reasons, but… I thought it might help you conceive the Grand Duke’s child.”

Ah…

Ellen sighed softly as she met Eve’s eyes, who was forcing a smile.

She had discussed with Eve about finding possibilities for someone who couldn’t naturally conceive, and knew Eve was subtly working on it, but she never imagined Eve would take such risks for this reason.

For Ellen, it was a statement that inevitably mixed feelings of sadness, gratitude, and guilt.

Even if it wasn’t solely for her sake, she felt responsible for having contributed to the situation.

Eve, perhaps sensing Ellen’s shadowed expression and emotional state, smiled and said:

“Don’t worry. Through this failure… I’ve learned that I need a new approach. Things will probably go well from now on.”