Ch.341Chapter 341. Al-Kaski’s Rebellion (6)

“?”

I turned my head to look at Ms. Reika, wondering what she was talking about—

She had an incredibly serious expression, one I’d never seen before.

It meant she hadn’t just thrown out that word without thinking.

And the soldier’s eyes contracted for a split second as he registered her question.

“Y-yes, that’s right. H-how did you know…?”

“I thought as much…”

I considered asking if she had some idea about it, but since Reika seemed to have more to say, I kept quiet and waited for her to finish.

“Did all three people use magic simultaneously?”

“I-I’m not sure about that. I was watching from a distance… But I’m certain they used magic.”

“What kind of magic was it?”

“They shot something like fireballs forward. It was confusing at first, but… since we were aware that ‘there were mages present,’ our formation didn’t completely collapse. Though I suppose that’s not something I should be saying as someone on the losing side…”

“Did you happen to witness all three of them using magic individually?”

“I think I saw two of them… I’m sorry. The battlefield was no place to observe details… Besides, I’m not even certain if I saw it or not, so please take this as just a reference.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d be grateful if you could tell me what you clearly remember.”

After a few more questions and answers, Reika bowed slightly and said:

“I understand. Th-thank you for sharing this information with me…!”

“Not at all. The honor is mine, Great Mage.”

“G-Great Mage…?”

The soldier looked at Reika, whose ears had turned red at the title, with eyes full of admiration.

“I wasn’t sure at first… but judging by your hair color and clothing, aren’t you Great Mage Reika?”

“Y-you know my name…?? M-more importantly, Great Mage…?”

“Of course I know. Haven’t you been involved in all our recent major victories? I’ve always heard about your achievements from afar. I sincerely thank you for raising the prestige of our Serpina army.”

“Oh my…”

After the conversation with the soldier ended.

“You’ve become quite famous, Great Mage.”

“D-don’t you start calling me that too, Lord Swen… Uuugh. Great Mage, when I’m still so lacking…”

Starting with that light joke, I was able to have a proper conversation with her.

“You asked about them holding hands, or using magic simultaneously… Do you have some idea about what’s going on?”

“…Yes.”

Just a moment ago, when I was joking, the atmosphere between us had been somewhat playful.

But now, all of that had disappeared—and an almost suffocating tension surrounded me.

“I’m becoming more certain now. Probably… there’s only one mage among the rebels.”

“…What?”

But didn’t he say he saw three people?

He wasn’t completely sure, but he witnessed two different people using magic. Wouldn’t that mean at least two of them are mages?

At that moment.

“You’re thinking that at least two of them must be mages… right?”

“…!”

I was uncharacteristically unable to hide my surprise at having my thoughts perfectly read by Reika.

“How did you know?”

“Ehehe… I’ve gotten a little better at understanding what you’re thinking… by looking at your expressions. We’ve been together for a long time, after all…”

Reika said that, then gave me a silly, beaming smile.

“…”

Wait…

What’s this all of a sudden?

The fact that someone who’s revered as a Great Mage by soldiers and whose name is already widely known across the continent… shows such a somewhat foolish but happy smile only to me, was strongly stirring something in a corner of my heart.

My gaze fell on her lips.

For some reason, I remembered when I kissed Reika.

It was a bit clumsy, but… delicious. There was definitely a fresh innocence to it that was different from Lady Serpina and Lady Irene.

And naturally… going a bit lower, her unmistakable voluminous chest came into view—

I quickly turned my head away.

‘…Am I sexually frustrated?’

We were having a serious conversation, and it wasn’t like I was in heat, so having such thoughts was disrespectful to Ms. Reika.

Alright.

I collected myself and looked back at her face to continue our conversation.

“…Huh?”

Reika was looking at me with a face as red as a radish and spinning eyes…

“Yes?”

“D-did you just… look at my chest?”

“…I’m sorry. My eyes wandered suddenly. We’re having a serious conversation, and I deeply apologize. I’ll focus properly.”

“No, I… I don’t mind…”

“What?”

“It’s you after all, Lord Swen… so…”

She pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and then—

“I-it’s… okay if you look…”

She blurted out.

“…”

Since she said exactly the same thing as Lady Irene, I lost my words and rolled my eyes around…

—No!

I cut off something inside me and put my hand on her shoulder!

“Th-thank you! But, for now, let’s finish our conversation! Okay?!”

“Huh? Oh, yes!! R-right! Oh my! Aha, hahaha…!”

I wonder how we looked to others?

Judging by how hot my face felt, I probably didn’t look much different from Ms. Reika, who was blushing intensely and flustered.

For my part, and especially for Ms. Reika’s dignity as a Great Mage, it was truly fortunate that there was no one around.

“So, is there a reason you can be certain it’s just one person, even though two people were seen?”

“…”

The atmosphere became serious again.

Reika carefully began to speak.

“Before I explain, please understand this is still at the level of conjecture.”

“What’s the probability you’re right?”

“90%… no, over 95%.”

“That sounds more like certainty than conjecture.”

“Honestly, apart from the lack of physical evidence, it’s pretty certain from the fact they were holding hands…”

Reika sighed briefly and then.

“Lord Swen. You know that the Einhart Grand Library has many novels about ancient mages, right?”

“Is that so?”

Come to think of it, she worked as a librarian when there was no war.

Being constantly buried in books, she must have encountered many different stories.

“Books that have been passed down orally from ancient times, with unknown origins. They describe various types of magic. Shooting fire, striking lightning… Everyone on the continent now knows these aren’t just fantasy stories, right?”

“They also include scenes where forbidden techniques are used.”

“Forbidden techniques?”

“The kind of magic that villainous characters in novels would use. For instance, taking one’s mana—”

—and forcing it into someone who hasn’t awakened to mana yet.

“Wait. By ‘forcing,’ you mean—”

“That’s right. By transferring mana, you can temporarily turn a non-mage into a mage.”

“That’s what it was?”

“There are various mediums, but the simplest is holding hands. Do you remember? What happened when we caused the earthquake.”

Ah, that’s right.

I held hands with Ms. Reika then too. I still vividly remember how she said my hands were warm and that she liked it.

“From the perspective of someone who knows how to handle mana, it’s much easier to simply transfer flowing mana to someone holding your hand than to create something like a fireball with mana.”

“I see… So that’s why you said only one of them is likely a mage?”

“Exactly.”

I naturally asked her about a question that came to mind.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to create and operate a mage unit rather than using such a cumbersome method?”

“People without mana can’t accumulate it in their bodies. So… Lord Swen, you know the rapier you always carry?”

“Yes.”

“If you have something like that, it’s fine. Like when we caused the earthquake… if there’s a medium to store mana, it’s possible to temporarily store it there, but otherwise it’s impossible. Does that make sense…?”

So, without something like a rapier, they return to being ordinary people once they let go of hands?

“It’s not perfect, but I think I understand what you’re saying.”

“So unless they’re holding hands, they can’t utilize mana, which means adding two more people with both hands is the best they can do.”

“I understand that far. Another thing I wanted to ask—”

“You’re wondering why I haven’t done something like that before, right?”

“…You really are getting good at reading my thoughts now.”

Reika smiled faintly at my words.

“I told you… you’re special, Lord Swen.”

That’s when it happened.

Her expression, which had always been hesitant, somewhat timid, but nevertheless peaceful, suddenly turned cold.

“I could never… do something like that.”

“…Pardon?”

Reika’s voice began to tremble.

The emotion readable there wasn’t fear. —It was anger.

Reika was, for the first time in front of me, showing anger.

“Without something like a rapier to act as storage, if you keep forcing mana into someone who can’t store it in their body, that person’s body will be ruined. Anyone who has awakened to mana knows this. You feel it when you first try to move mana freely within your body. You realize that forcing it through where it doesn’t flow would be disastrous.”

“And yet, that person is doing it so nonchalantly. Whoever they are…”

Her pink eyes shone more sharply than ever before.

“I can never… forgive someone who uses magic in such a way.”