Ch.174Circle Magic #3

“Magic is the act of refining and molding mana to create desired phenomena.”

Tap tap. Eve wrote down the first sentence she had learned when studying magic on a blank piece of paper, tapping her pen on it repeatedly.

She was following a senior magician’s advice to look at these words whenever she faced a wall that seemed impossibly high and dark.

One might doubt that simply writing down a sentence and staring at it would provide any solution, but doing so had actually helped her overcome quite a few obstacles.

“Hmm…”

While it was possible to create magic circles using only mana accumulated through mana breathing techniques, it was too dangerous, so she needed to find a new method.

The side effects of mana backflow she experienced while trying to create just a single water droplet were too severe and inefficient, making this search unavoidable.

It was good that she had confirmed her idea of substituting her body for the circle of a magic formation was correct, but what came next was the problem.

What should she do? Eve had been sitting at her desk, lost in thought for several hours.

An unpleasant feeling of almost-but-not-quite grasping something filled her mind, leaving her feeling frustrated.

If she had emptied her mind completely instead, she wouldn’t have felt this discomfort—a thought that only added to her frustration.

“Eve? Are you in your room? May I come in?”

Just then, a knock at the door accompanied by Zion’s familiar voice reached Eve’s ears.

Only then did Eve realize that she had been sitting alone in a half-darkened room without turning on the lights, despite the sun having nearly set. She hurriedly got up.

While she couldn’t help being preoccupied with her thoughts, she couldn’t keep Zion waiting outside.

“Yes, yes!”

As Eve called out urgently while hastily straightening her clothes, Zion slowly opened the door and entered the room.

Although Zion didn’t know that Eve had nearly been in danger from mana backflow during an experiment a few days ago, she had noticed the shadows in Eve’s expression whenever they met and had come to check on her out of concern.

Only Ellen, who had quickly noticed something was wrong and whom Eve had vaguely explained things to, and Eve herself knew about the mana backflow.

Normally, mana backflow was serious enough to warrant several days of rest, but at Eve’s request, Ellen had been secretly bringing her medicine without telling Zion or Helena.

At least Eve was being careful not to do anything reckless again and was focusing on recovery, otherwise her body might have been irreparably damaged.

“My goodness… you were sitting here without even turning on the lights?”

Zion expressed surprise as she lit up the half-darkened room, then looked at Eve with obvious concern.

Eve seemed to be growing more haggard as she struggled with creating something entirely new from scratch—a task that required endless mental effort and should be approached with patience.

“Ah… I guess I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. Of course it’s a difficult task that requires a lot of thought, but that’s exactly why it can’t be accomplished overnight. Take it slowly so you don’t harm your body.”

“Yes… thank you for your consideration.”

What sudden whim had prompted her to create a new system?

Zion looked at Eve with eyes mixed with worry and anxiety, then decided she needed to speak more firmly and put her hands on Eve’s shoulders.

“Grand Duke?”

“I’ve been thinking… you’re not the type of person who will rest just because someone tells you to rest, are you?”

“Ah, well…”

Eve stammered, her expression clearly showing she’d been caught off guard by the accurate observation.

She knew well that beyond her urgency to achieve her goals quickly, she tended to lose track of day and night once she became immersed in research.

And naturally, Zion, who shared her bed, as well as Ellen and Helena, couldn’t help but know this about her.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Good. Since you seem to understand yourself well… let’s implement a five-day workweek.”

Five-day workweek? Eve had never heard the term before, but she could vaguely guess what it meant from the context. Still, she asked what it meant just to be sure, and Zion gave her a very simple answer.

“You do research from after breakfast until before dinner, and rest on weekends.”

“Ah, yes… I understand.”

For Eve, who found 24 hours a day insufficient, this was a disappointing restriction, but she nodded readily, feeling strangely pleased despite herself.

Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t help but feel special because of who was worrying about her.

Moreover, with even Helena supporting Zion’s decision, Eve had no way to resist.

She had no intention of doing so anyway, but even if she had secretly resolved to continue her research, the chances of that plan failing were extremely high.

“Is it really okay for me to be this idle?”

“The Grand Duke and the Duchess specifically ordered it. Of course you should follow their instructions. They were particularly adamant this time.”

“But I should be handling the Magic Battalion duties as well…”

“The battalion is also taking a break for now. Olivia and Orkus will take care of simple tasks and training, so don’t worry. They are the village chief and deputy chief, after all.”

And so, on a certain day when Eve found herself alone on a weekend under Zion’s strict orders, she lay on the ground of the backyard training field, sighing as she talked with Ellen.

They had spread out a cloth as a substitute for a mat, so their clothes wouldn’t get dirty, and the weather was just cool enough to be perfect for lying down.

“Even so…”

“Having a sense of responsibility for your work is admirable, but being driven by responsibility isn’t very desirable. So just rest. Otherwise… you know, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry, unni.”

Eve had been calling Ellen “unni” for some time now, showing her affection, and Ellen also liked this and they had been comfortable with each other.

But Eve felt sorry that this comfortable person was spending time monitoring her because of her. If not for this situation, Ellen would have been spending time with Zion in the office as usual.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, I feel bad for pushing you into this.”

“What? That’s not your fault at all…”

“Still. My heart doesn’t quite feel that way. Anyway, you have nothing to be sorry about.”

“…Yes.”

When Ellen suggested they consider themselves even if they both had things to be sorry for, Eve’s shoulders trembled slightly as she responded with a small word.

Of course she felt sorry, but her throat tightened at the feeling of being cared for.

Ellen seemed to read this sentiment and murmured absently while gazing at the sky.

Her attitude suggested that it didn’t matter whether Eve listened or not, making it easy to let the words pass by without comment.

“You know, watching clouds drift always makes me feel relaxed.”

“Clouds…?”

“Yes. They seem to move forward while dispersing, they seem slow yet they’re fast. Sometimes you blink and when you open your eyes, their shape has changed… Flow is really fascinating, don’t you think?”

“Um… I suppose it is.”

Even casual conversation can be extremely uncomfortable depending on the person, but fortunately, Ellen wasn’t an uncomfortable presence for Eve.

Rather, she had learned spirit magic with Ellen’s help and had hoped to become a concubine for similar reasons, so she felt quite close to her.

So although her response seemed awkward on the surface, there was a natural quality to it, but her eyes were actually following something else.

Even though she was looking at the same flowing and changing clouds as Ellen.

“Eve? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Thinking it was too quiet, Ellen turned to look beside her and saw Eve staring at the clouds with a dazed but sharp gaze.

Ellen instinctively called out to Eve, but she was so deeply concentrated that she didn’t hear.

For a moment, Ellen debated whether to stop her or not, but soon decided to just watch quietly.

She couldn’t interrupt this time when Eve was clearly trying to solidify a thought that had struck her like lightning, rather than simply pondering.

How much time passed like that?

Eve suddenly let out a low exclamation and jumped to her feet. She was filled with the desire to organize and try out the process that had just come to her mind.

“Unni… I’m sorry, but I need to go to my room.”

“Did something come to you?”

“Yes. I need to do this right now. If not now, I feel like all the processes I’ve conceived will become blurred.”

While it wouldn’t be right to disobey Zion’s order to rest on weekends, it also wouldn’t be right to forcibly stop Eve when she was struck by inspiration.

The reason for forcing her to rest on weekends was to prevent Eve from becoming haggard due to research, but her current state was far from haggard.

Perhaps that’s why Ellen nodded as if she had no choice and got up to follow Eve.

How could she stop someone who was speaking so clearly and with such conviction, without hesitation as usual?

“Alright, let’s go. Normally I should stop you no matter what, but… if the Grand Duke saw you like this, I think she would understand.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Ellen gave her permission, Eve’s lips curved into a smile, and she led the way to her room.

Flow. It was just a word Ellen had mentioned casually, a word sometimes used in conversation… but because of it, Eve remembered something she had forgotten.

That magic itself changes the flow Ellen had mentioned artificially. That this expression was much easier to understand and more resonant than “molding.”

First, she needed to create a magic that would allow her to see the flow of mana. This was absolutely necessary for creating a new system.

Eve explained this to Ellen, who was watching her back from a chair prepared for guests, as she took out several wooden boards from the drawer of her experiment table.

To inscribe magic that would allow her to see the flow of mana.

“I wondered what was happening when you suddenly went to your room… but if that’s the case, it can’t be helped.”

A little later, Zion, who had secretly entered Eve’s room, nodded with a resigned sigh after hearing the situation from Ellen.

She couldn’t interfere with someone who was riding the flow of inspiration and losing track of time, unlike someone forcing themselves to sit at a desk.

Moreover, inspiration is something that comes and goes quickly, so one must catch it when possible.

And so, after several days…

Thanks to the people who were careful not to disturb her and their consideration, Eve was able to take the first step on the path she desired.

However, even though she had gained eyes that could see the flow, there were still many processes ahead—observing, memorizing, recording, and physically realizing what she saw.

This meant there were many mountains yet to climb.

But facing these numerous mountains, Eve felt more hope that things were flowing well rather than feeling overwhelmed.

From the simplest magic to create light, to the magic to create a water droplet that she had failed to accomplish using only mana stored in her body.

She could see all those flows and felt that they were worth trying.

She had only thought about creating magic according to formulas, without considering the transformation of mana…

Eve couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, thinking that this too was a blessing from the Grand Duke who had given her the opportunity to create a new system.

The phenomena of mana transformation were diverse.

Some activated by grinding mana as if sharpening a blade on a whetstone, while others worked by wringing it out like a rag and letting it drip.

Eve tried to see all these magics with her eyes and record them so she would never forget them again.

Although creating these phenomena herself would require calculations different from creating magic circles, she believed that remembering the forms and processes was even more important for the new system.

And she was convinced that this process would become the foundation of the new system.

In a way, this meant turning her back on the conventional magic system based on calculations, but Eve didn’t consider it heretical.

She just wanted to uncover the identity of that faint sense of dissonance she had felt when interacting with Zion, and that would be enough.