No, Let’s Watch

Historically, it’s a very common occurrence.

Those who dirtied their hands for the country being executed on the pretext of that dirtiness when there’s no longer a need to dirty their hands.

Such a fate also befell the Jogret family, who had countless contributions to the war, but the head of the family eventually came to retaliate against all forces trying to oppress him.

The moment he dirtied his hands with blood even in an era of peace.

Nevertheless, the current head of the Jogret family believed his decision was right.

Even in times like these…

No, precisely because it’s times like these, someone like him must never disappear.

‘War will happen again.’

Binz’s father always said.

‘No one can be certain that this era of peace will last long. That’s why we must always be prepared, no matter when. To protect not only the Empire but also those who were hostile to the Empire, and furthermore, to be the weight that achieves the balance necessary for peace.’

Peace stems merely from mutual agreement…

It’s a terrible delusion. There’s no deterrent force in mere verbal promises.

Wasn’t even the rescue team deployed to the front lines with the purpose of saving lives exposed to countless murderous intents for the reason of saving enemy soldiers?

Treaties that rely on humanity are meaningless in the face of madness.

But power can control such madness.

If they know that they can threaten each other.

If the balance of power is right, they would never dare to harm each other recklessly.

‘Binz, never forget where peace comes from, at any time.’

Her father, the head of the Jogret family, always emphasized.

Where does peace come from?

Does it stem from the promise that we won’t harm each other?

Where does the basis for that trust come from?

Does peace really come by criticizing those who break that trust?

Who decides those standards, and isn’t even the fight between those who criticize and those who resist ultimately a result of peace being disturbed?

Yes, in the end, mere verbal promises are of no use to peace.

The morality and order that people talk about ultimately stem from the solid system built in society, and it can only be established when there’s a huge power and overwhelming force that can control it.

‘The unity of a group based on control, and the power to resist external forces are truly necessary for peace.’

“…Dale Enberton. Why did you accept the duel with me?”

That’s why the girl couldn’t help but feel a terrible aversion towards the person in front of her.

Just getting along well makes everyone happy.

She knows that those with heads full of such flowery thoughts are actually beings that only cause chaos in this world.

“I wanted to become friends with you.”

“…That thought. I suppose it applies to other students in the advanced class as well?”

Do you think that if you just show that you have no hostility, others will open their hearts to you?

No, peace achieved merely through words is nothing but a scarecrow.

Rather, by giving the other person room to ignore you, humans are beings that use that weakness as a reason to exercise sadistic pleasure and display unwarranted malice.

“You must know too, that none of those there welcome you.”

A person who’s just too nice is just a being that will be crushed, exposed to the world’s malice.

“I too… have not the slightest desire to participate in such nonsense.”

So Binz hoped that the person in front of her would abandon such an attitude.

She hoped that a being with talent surpassing even herself, with such potential, would have an attitude befitting their position.

Because she believed that only then would her efforts to surpass him have meaning.

“Even so…”

Yet the boy still asks back.

“Even so, I… want to become friends with you.”

Just wanting to make friends.

Is it wrong to strive for such a simple ideal, to assert it even while shedding blood?

“…You don’t seem to understand.”

Of course, objectively speaking, it can’t be said to be wrong.

Only an absolute monarch like an emperor can disparage another’s purpose as wrong just because it differs from their own.

But that’s why people always need to think.

To understand what others’ purposes are so that their own purposes aren’t hindered.

And before that, to understand the ‘objectified justice’ that society asserts.

‘Yes, this little boy lacks such understanding.’

That’s probably an inevitable deficiency due to living in Lenin’s Sleeve, a society where laws and norms don’t exist.

She can understand that much.

After all, responsibility is a virtue of those who stand above. Not everyone needs to bear it.

“Fine, I’ll understand that those words are sincere.”

“Then…”

“It’s just understanding, not agreement.”

So I’ll make you fall.

Making you fall miserably from a position that doesn’t suit you.

That’s the only salvation that I, who bears responsibility, can give to an ignorant person like you.

“So I’ll prove it to you. How half-heartedly you uttered those words.”

-Woong.

The mana imbued with such will quietly vibrates, and the air current starts to swirl around the point where she stands.

“How much blood-spilling effort it takes to grasp the position you’re now holding.”

The power derived from that rages roughly due to anger, then gradually settles down through the calmness that follows.

-Crack!

Eventually, as the power dwelling in the earth is converted into physical force, the ground in the area splits and fragments begin to shoot up.

---

And then.

“Circle generation?!”

At that moment, intense exclamations burst out from various parts of the audience.

It wasn’t just students who shouted.

The teaching staff, selected and recruited from the best in the continent.

Even they were expressing shock, showing how unbelievable what was happening in the training ground at this moment was.

“Is she, really generating a circle?”

Compared to the entire training ground, a 14-year-old girl is very small, but the shimmering air around her was clear enough to confirm its shape.

The mana gathered around gradually forms a ring shape, and furthermore, the rough flow slowly stabilizes.

It was the moment when the circle, which proves the measure of a mana user’s level, manifested.

“How can that child use a technique that’s usually only possible after entering high school, no matter how talented?”

“Isn’t this something that’s almost unprecedented even at Maris?”

The generation of a circle. With just that, the girl proved to everyone here that she was a born prodigy.

But probably some, including myself, sensed it.

That what that girl intends to do won’t stop at just circle generation.

“Teacher Saine, that…”

“Yes. It’s not just simple circle generation.”

Yes, I knew this technique.

It was used by the hero character belonging to the Jogret family in the game.

The technique that was used by the Imperial-born magician who was active on the front lines.

-Woong.

The circle generated around her body gradually sinks below the girl, and its power begins to release as it dwells in the underground earth.

The moment the mana she controls interferes with the energy of crustal movement.

When that power was drawn back up to the ground, its form had changed into something other than a ring.

A terrain that covers all 360 degrees, with its upper part formed in a curve.

A form that can be called a ‘dome’, just like the glass surrounding this arena, has been formed centered on that girl.

‘A space, not a ring.’

A form that can theoretically gather much more energy than a circle.

But since it’s only theoretical, it’s a technique that ordinary people can’t even imitate.

Unless they use an arcane secret passed down through generations.

“A family’s arcane magic…”

Arcane magic.

Generally, it’s a unique technique passed down through generations in closed groups like families or religious orders.

To explain precisely, it’s the result of orally transmitting the usage method of ‘techniques whose principles are unknown but produce results’.

In essence, since it’s the result of repetition until specific results are achieved, even in modern times, there are many cases where the principles can’t be interpreted or people outside the group find it difficult to implement.

Naturally, it’s even more difficult for those with little experience to attempt.

Nevertheless, that girl succeeded in implementing this incredibly difficult technique using the circle she awakened at an early age.

“Teacher Lloyd, are you perhaps thinking the same as me?”

“Yes, probably…”

Teacher Lloyd nodded while sweating at the shocking sight.

Having belatedly grasped the situation, he covered his mouth with his hand and widened his eyes.

“Right now… I’m sincerely thinking it’s fortunate that the war ended before that child became an adult.”

It’s not an exaggeration.

Although still lacking, I too have only felt such an impression towards that damn mother.

To make an analogy, a human nuclear weapon.

A being corresponding to ‘asymmetric power’ that suppresses all hostility of the opponent just by existing.

The potential that the girl is showing in the training ground at this moment, although not yet reaching that level, was showing the potential to reach such a future someday.

Just by gathering mana in the form of a dome rather than a ring, that girl would be able to handle ‘over 100 times’ the mana that ordinary people handle.

-Rumble, Crack!

Of course, controlling all that mana alone is virtually impossible.

No matter how much mana one can gather, if you try to directly control that power, the loss will inevitably be just as vast.

Look now. Most of the mana in the dome generated around the girl is spreading uncontrolled to the surroundings, unintentionally creating cracks and sweeping up debris?

It’s not an exact analogy, but if mana gathered by a circle has about 50% loss rate, when operating mana gathered by a dome, that loss would exceed 95%.

With that much loss, it’s just barely holding onto the mana, so it’s impossible to use ‘magic’ through application.

But if we look at absolute values rather than ratios.

5% of 10,000 and 50% of 100 show a difference of 10 times in total.

In other words, it’s overwhelming by distorting the terrain with 100 times the force in momentum, and 10 times the force in actual combat.

The one facing it would surely feel like they’re facing an army alone.

“Well, even if it’s a family secret, mastering it is a separate matter.”

Talent or effort…

It’s a realm that can’t be achieved with just those. After all, mana ultimately stems from will.

To hold such vast physical force to oneself requires an equivalent will, which means that girl’s will is that extraordinary.

The desire to stand above everyone else.

Enough to overwhelm everyone at this moment.

“Wow…”

But solely one person.

While even the continent’s prominent teaching staff couldn’t hide their shock at that realm, there was one person who was calmly watching it.

“…Amazing.”

Dale Enberton.

What should we call that boy who feels awe towards a genius who embodies an army’s strength in an individual body?

“Shouldn’t we stop this? With that much mana, regardless of protective gear…”

“No, let’s watch.”

Seeing that innocent appearance made me start to feel expectant.

“I want to see. Just how far the child I guided can reach.”

The boy who mastered controlling his power in just one week.

The expectation of how much he might have grown in places beyond my sight.