Ch.175Circle Magic #4

“…With this training, I announce that this year’s knightly training has successfully concluded. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your guidance this year as well!”

On a day when the first snow fell—so delicate it seemed to melt without a trace at the touch of a finger—after the cool season had passed and chilly winds brushed against skin.

I stood beside Helena as she announced the end of training to the knights who were standing in neat, orderly rows.

With this, the last and most significant task of the year was complete, and I felt at ease.

“Ah, I’m hungry…! Does anyone know what’s for lunch today?”

“I heard it’s some kind of assorted dish seasoned with spices… but it’s hard to imagine just from hearing about it.”

“It’s difficult to get a sense of it just from the description. Still, since it’s made by the Duke’s household, it can’t be bad.”

Even though training had ended, we didn’t immediately take down the tents used as barracks or pack away the necessary items.

The fatigue wasn’t something that would disappear overnight, so we allowed everyone a day of rest to help recover, and also to finish preparations for the knights’ return to the capital.

“Ah… the embers have all died out. Perhaps I should lend a hand…”

Curious about how preparations were progressing, I went to peek at the cooking area and noticed people busily trying to light a fire.

While the tents had magic items installed so there was no need to light fires inside, that didn’t mean fire wasn’t needed at all.

Fire was necessary for cooking food in the kitchen area, and some people gathered around bonfires outside to chat.

As I was about to enter through the back door to help, Eve, who had entered the cooking area a step ahead of me, approached the simply constructed hearth.

As the leader of the Magic Corps who had led the Dark Elf army in training with the knights, it wasn’t strange for her to be anywhere here, but something about her approach seemed odd.

It was as if she was about to do something unusual.

“May I help you?”

Eve crouched down and poked her head next to a man who was busy trying to light a fire. Startled, the man responded:

“Ah, Magician! We’d be grateful for your help, but I couldn’t possibly trouble you…”

“It’s no trouble at all. Broadly speaking, we’re all family living in the same estate. Oh, please step back for a moment. It could be dangerous when I light the fire.”

“My goodness. I’m both sorry and grateful. You’re doing us a great favor.”

“It’s not a favor. Please don’t think of it so heavily.”

It was pleasant to see her relaxed demeanor, without a trace of her usual timidity, but it was also strange enough to make me tilt my head in confusion.

Eve usually only showed confidence when she completed a magic spell she had been researching for a long time, or when reciting magical theories that were difficult to understand, as if they were sacred texts.

But when Eve’s fingers snapped with a sharp sound, I finally understood why she seemed so at ease.

A flame suddenly appeared on the dry pile of firewood under the hearth.

A small but very bright flame.

“Oh, my! Goodness…! The fire suddenly blazed up?!”

“Yes. That’s why you needed to step back. Otherwise, you could have been seriously injured, or even momentarily blinded.”

The man who had obediently followed Eve’s advice and kept his distance from the woodpile muttered in great admiration.

Not just him, but anyone would have reacted the same way, so his surprise was completely understandable.

Moreover, when she casually lit fires in the remaining hearths, everyone in the cooking area was staring at Eve with wide eyes.

“Magician! Can all magicians light fires out of nothing like that?”

“Um… I suppose they probably can? I’ve mostly been doing research in my room, so I haven’t seen how other magicians use their magic. I’m embarrassed to admit…”

“How fascinating, truly fascinating.”

Starting with the man who called out to Eve, the others also bombarded her with questions.

Their evident excitement and surprise made them look like an audience amazed by a magic show.

Perhaps because of this, Eve lost her confidence under the barrage of questions and reverted to her usual timid self, struggling to answer the flood of inquiries.

It wasn’t that the questions were difficult, but simply that there were too many, making her dizzy.

“Ah, um… could you please keep what happened today a secret? This magic is still experimental, and I wouldn’t want people to be disappointed if they expect too much…”

“Oh, of course. If that’s what you wish, we’ll certainly respect that. Still, it’s quite remarkable.”

“Yes… thank you.”

Bart, who was in charge of the cooking area, nodded in agreement while still gazing at the burning woodpile with wonder.

True to his position as the head cook, he soon regained his composure and began directing people to prepare ingredients for roasting or boiling, quickly returning to his duties.

“Well then… I’ll take my leave now.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

Eve bowed her head in greeting before leaving the cooking area, escorted by Bart’s farewell.

I wasn’t sure why she had come to the cooking area in the first place, but she probably thought her task was done and was being considerate not to get in the way.

“Phew…”

However, since she exited through the back of the cooking area, she happened to pass right by me.

For a moment, I thought she might have noticed me, but seeing her sighing deeply with her head down, it seemed she hadn’t.

If she had known, she would have made eye contact with me as if she had been waiting to do so.

“You seem quite tense? I suppose that’s natural with all those questions coming at you.”

“Yes… it was almost frightening… Huh?”

Eve, as if proving my thoughts correct, answered absentmindedly before raising her head.

It was quite amusing to watch her expression change from weariness to surprise.

“Y-Your Grace? Why are you here?”

“I came to check on the cooking area and saw you. So I decided to watch for a bit.”

“Oh, I see…”

Though her tone was calm, her trembling eyes revealed how flustered she was.

She looked so uncomfortable that even someone not particularly perceptive would find it awkward to speak to her.

So I changed the subject to help calm her anxiety, while also curious about how she had performed that magic earlier.

“By the way, how did you cast that magic just now? It didn’t seem like elemental magic… Did you use a magic item?”

“Ah… To answer about elemental magic first, I have no talent for fire elemental magic, so I can’t use it. What you saw was magic I tried using a new system.”

“You’ve already completed it?”

I remembered that it was about two months ago when Eve said she would create a system.

I naturally thought that time was far too short to complete an entire system, yet she had used it to cast magic like that.

It was truly astonishing.

However, Eve’s subsequent answer helped alleviate the tingling sensation running down my spine.

“No… Unfortunately, it’s not complete. Though it’s also strange to call it incomplete.”

“Strange?”

Complete yet incomplete. What could that possibly mean?

I felt dizzy at what seemed like an explanation of the origin of paradox, but the explanation that followed helped me regain my senses.

“Yes. The framework seems solidly refined, so it’s complete in that sense, but there’s still much to fill within that framework, so parts of it remain incomplete.”

Simply put, Eve’s new system involved observing how magic transforms mana and then mimicking those movements with her own mana.

In other words, it was incomplete because she needed to cast magic the conventional way first, then observe and learn it to increase the variety of spells she could use.

“And since just considering the body as a circle of a magic formation isn’t stable enough, I created a small circle in the lower abdomen where mana accumulates. It involves condensing mana to form a circle, and it was the most difficult part because it requires so much concentration.”

I was secretly shocked to hear something that sounded familiar, something I had heard or seen before.

As I’ve thought whenever surprised like this, if I hadn’t received the blessing of mental fortitude, I would surely have cried out with wide eyes.

“You formed mana accumulated in your body into a circle? Is that possible?”

“Um… somehow it worked. I created it using techniques similar to drawing a magic formation.”

Right. If you say so, then it must be true.

I gave up trying to understand and simply nodded quietly.

There are far more amazing things and people in the world than one might think, so I supposed such things were possible.

However, as far as I knew, circles were usually formed near the heart, but could they also be formed in the lower abdomen—the dantian area?

“So you use the mana you’ve formed into a circle to cast magic?”

“Yes, exactly. If I can understand the structure of a phenomenon, I can use magic much faster than conventional methods. The disadvantages are having to calculate coordinates each time and being unable to cast until I replenish the compressed mana in the circle if it diminishes or disappears… but I think I can overcome that by increasing the number of circles.”

In simple terms, she could cast magic much faster than before, but it required quicker and more complex calculations.

However, for a system created with such effort, the speed advantage seemed somewhat underwhelming.

The time to inscribe a magic formation wasn’t that long to begin with, so I couldn’t help wondering: why bother?

I was about to ask “why?” but then closed my mouth, thinking she probably wouldn’t answer.

I had asked before and she had kept it secret, so there was no reason she would answer now.

Still, I had a feeling that the real reason for creating this system lay in what Eve wasn’t saying.

“So your research has reached a conclusion for now? You won’t be holed up in your room for months like before?”

“…Y-yes. I suppose that’s right.”

Eve blushed and showed signs of embarrassment, as if sensing my subtle teasing. It looked quite cute.

A woman over twenty blushing like a child—that was indeed endearing.

After a moment, as if finally emerging from her embarrassment and regaining her composure, Eve spoke with determination in her eyes.

“Um, since this seems like a good opportunity, there’s something I’d like to ask… Could you hear me out?”

“Hmm? Go ahead. If it’s something I can do, I’ll gladly help.”

Curious about what she might ask, I waited with inner excitement for her answer. After a brief pause, Eve uttered something that made my head spin.

“Could you… provide your seed separately? I need it for my research…”

“Uh… you mean…”

I instinctively put my hand to my forehead, thinking she surely meant what it sounded like, but quickly composed myself and removed my hand.

Thinking about it, when couples have difficulty conceiving and try in vitro fertilization, sperm and eggs are often collected separately, so viewing it similarly, I didn’t feel particularly averse to the idea.

That was quite fortunate.

“…Alright. Let’s do that. It’s not particularly difficult.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Eve smiled brightly and even bowed at the waist, seemingly very grateful.

I thought it was a strangely satisfying sight, then immediately felt pathetic for thinking so, but ultimately decided it was understandable.

It also felt like something worth trying.

“There’s no need to bow like that. And… Helena will be waiting for us, so let’s head back to the tent.”

For now, it seemed best to help Eve straighten up and return to the tent where Helena would be waiting.