episode_0004

“Magic?”

“That’s right. You need a certain amount of power to live here.”

Doubt appeared on Edith’s face at my words.

Could it be that she doesn’t want to learn magic?

It wasn’t that kind of doubt.

“You’re not a mage, are you?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

This is news to me.

She definitely must have seen the magic I used.

She surely couldn’t have not seen it, so moving on.

What kind of intention could she have had asking a question like that?

“I also know the basics about mages. You use the mana within your body to cast magic, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But you don’t have any mana in your body at all.”

-Flinch

I was slightly surprised by the unexpected question.

In the novel’s descriptions, it was written that Edith was born with prodigious talent in all areas.

There weren’t detailed descriptions about it, so I didn’t have a sense of how much, but now I know for sure.

Even archmages who had reached the peak of magic hadn’t noticed that I didn’t possess mana.

“Miss Edith.”

For now, I spoke as calmly as possible, sidestepping the question.

“Speaking of which, didn’t you see me using magic?”

“That… that’s true.”

“Then wouldn’t it be right to say I’m a mage?”

“Hmm….”

A reluctant murmur.

She didn’t understand, but it seemed she was convinced.

To avoid unnecessarily troublesome situations if she probed further into this, I quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, are you familiar with magic to some extent?”

“I don’t know how to use magic, but I know how to manipulate mana.”

“Ah, I see. In that case, learning will be fast.”

The first thing you do when learning magic is mana manipulation.

How the mana within the body circulates and flows. Recognizing that can be seen as the most basic stage.

However, if you know how to manipulate mana, you can skip that stage.

-Slide

A staff made of birch wood that I had procured to give to Edith.

To use magic for the first time, it’s faster to learn through a medium.

Skilled individuals can use magic by drawing out the mana within their bodies even without such a medium, but it is inefficient.

The mana conductivity of staffs created through various processes is so high that nothing comparable has appeared yet.

It’s to the point where even in a Duchy that has advanced the level of civilization to the 1890s, they still use staffs.

When I handed her the staff, about two palms’ length, Edith accepted it with a blank expression.

Taking the staff, she immediately swung it briefly in the air.

Seeing that, it reminded me of when I first learned magic, and I felt a new sense of emotion.

As I watched her with satisfaction for a moment, she stopped what she was doing and asked me a question.

“Did you get this to give to me?”

“That’s right. Do you like it?”

“It’s sturdy. But why are you doing this much for me?”

She could have just said thank you, but she added an unnecessary remark.

As in, why are you doing this?

If I said, ‘Because you’re someone I support and someone who has to save the world,’ I’d be mistaken for a madman.

It’s only been three days since we met, and if I suddenly said she had to save the world….

Hmm… I guess I shouldn’t say it.

I sidestepped it again.

“There’s something I need to do. So please don’t worry about it too much.”

“…Suspicious, as expected.”

I lightly laughed off the gaze filled with suspicion and instructed Edith.

“Please sit down for a moment.”

***

At Owen’s command, Edith sat on the floor.

She took a straight posture, gathering her legs and straightening her back.

-Slide

As Edith sat on the floor, Owen placed his hand on her back.

“Hic…!”

Startled by the sudden touch, Edith hiccuped.

She hadn’t been this surprised when he touched her arm or hand.

When his hand touched her back, something felt strange.

Suddenly her face felt hot… and her heartbeat quickened slightly.

‘…He’s trying to teach me magic. Don’t think anything strange.’

To shake off the distracting thoughts, she shook her head.

Owen looked at her strangely, and then spoke to Edith.

“Concentrate. I will now infuse mana.”

-Whoosh

Mana flowed in through the hand that was touching her.

She felt the mana flowing, somehow strange yet warm.

In what he was doing now, she couldn’t sense the malice she had felt from others.

Also, when he said he would teach her magic, she hadn’t felt any malice.

Edith decided to first concentrate on this sensation.

-Humming

Closing her eyes and concentrating, she felt the mana swirling within her.

The mana, formed in her heart and flowing with her blood, was gathering in the center of her chest.

-Sting!

“Ugh….”

A small groan escaped her lips at the unfamiliar pain she felt for a moment.

The mana that had flowed naturally with her blood was deviating from its path and gathering in her chest, making the pain intensify.

As the pain grew harder to bear, Owen spoke in a low voice.

“Please bear with it a little longer. You need to form a circle.”

She knew about circles.

Everyone possesses mana within their body, but only a few can use magic.

That originates from the presence or absence of a circle.

It is the power source that allows one to use magic, and talent.

Magic is used by only a select few.

No one would know whether she had talent or not, but there was a strange certainty in his words.

As if she could definitely form a circle.

“Move the mana as if drawing a circle within your chest. That is the most efficient form.”

The mana, which had been flowing like a small stream, gathered in her chest, filling it precariously as if about to overflow.

The circulating mana moved through different paths, accumulating continuously, as if tearing her body here and there.

He definitely said it would hurt a little… it hurts like hell.

“Ugh…!”

Amidst the pain of thousands of needles tearing at her skin little by little, Edith concentrated.

The thought that she might die crossed her mind, but she didn’t break her posture.

If it were someone else, she might have shaken off the hand on her back and attacked, but Owen was an exception.

He hides a great many things, and he’s someone who says suspicious things with a suspicious look on his face every day-

‘He doesn’t lie.’

In every moment of conversation with him, a headache had never occurred.

Because of that, she followed his instructions even in this painful moment.

An unconscious trust had firmly taken root in a corner of Edith’s heart.

‘Make a circle.’

She knew about circles.

A circular shape where countless lines gather and gather, so that no angles are observed.

Could making a circle mean something like that?

In the pain, the thread-like lines of mana were gradually gathering, forming the shape of a circle established in her mind.

But at the same time, a question arose.

‘Why do I have to make a circle?’

The most efficient method.

The form that allows mana to be utilized most stably.

Since she can’t even use magic yet, those things didn’t resonate.

Thoughts derived from curiosity and doubt continued to chase each other, giving rise to various questions.

Perhaps thoughts that can only be had because one knows nothing.

Ideas that can be attempted because one knows nothing.

The shape of the circle began to distort slightly.

-Whoosh

The lines that had been forming a single circle deviated and were creating a new circle.

This is a new path that no mage has ever achieved before.

Can’t a new form of circle be made? Occasionally, there were those who thought this, but their thoughts ended without being realized.

This was because mana that could not circulate, unable to connect its beginning and end, was a dangerous thing that could not be handled.

However, Edith is different.

The protagonist of this world. Possessing a heaven-sent talent unlike others.

If you ask for the difference between a third-rate mage and a first-rate mage, everyone would say in unison:

Did their own interpretation go into the magic they cast?

A freedom not confined by form, shape, or common sense.

And the talent to wield that freedom.

-Flash!

As the lines that had deviated from the path found their destination, a flash of light burst forth for an instant.

Pure and highly concentrated mana that could not be contained overflowed and filled the room.

“…This is new again.”

This is a new path that no one has ever walked.

The shape of the circle where circle and circle overlap was.

“You definitely said it would hurt a little……”

It contained Infinity (無限).

***

-Swirl

White mana was swirling around the room.

I have never felt mana this pure and refined.

Although I didn’t achieve great success, I am also someone who has stepped onto the path of a mage.

I’ve seen countless mages and people with unusual mana, but this is the first time I’ve felt something like this.

From my perspective, one who utilizes external mana, it felt even more special.

The Edith in the novel could use magic.

However, she hadn’t studied magic deeply, so she only used it as a support when using her main skill, the sword.

Her mana circle also wasn’t particularly different from others.

But is it because I intervened?

Edith’s mana circle was formed in a new shape.

“Is this really okay? You told me to make a circle, but it changed weirdly.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it too, but there shouldn’t be a problem.”

If there was a problem, Edith’s body would have exploded and her flesh would be rolling around the room.

But what’s filling the room now is Edith’s pure mana.

If the Klaris Magic Association had seen this themselves, they would surely be making a fuss about it being a discovery of the century.

Even so, I should check first.

“Miss Edith, do you feel any strange sensations?”

“None at all.”

“So that’s how it is.”

When I learned magic, I was extremely amazed by the mysterious sensation.

In contrast, Edith’s seemingly nonchalant reaction was a little disappointing.

It would be fun if she was a little surprised.

Still, since there’s no problem, I decided to think of it as fortunate.

“First, I’ll teach you about the basic magic system.”

Originally, I planned to show her about a day later, but if she formed a mana circle without any aftereffects, it seems okay to move on to the next step right away.

“Miss Edith, what do you think the first stage of magic is?”

“You have to gather mana.”

“That’s right. We call that condensation.”

-Swoosh

I gathered the mana in the air onto my outstretched palm.

A small sphere with a faint blue light.

If attributes and formulas are instilled into this, something that can finally be called magic is created.

Edith stared at the blue sphere for a moment, then spoke.

“You’re pulling mana from the air?”

“That’s because I’m a special case. Now, try following along. Miss Edith, you gather the mana circulating in the circle.”

“…….”

Edith, like me, spread her palm and closed her eyes.

-Humming

As expected, she has talent.

Immediately, a sphere began to form in Edith’s palm.

But something was strange.

“Miss Edith?”

The size of the sphere was unusual.

At first, it was the same size as mine, but gradually… it kept getting bigger.

And then-

-Crack!

A slight crack appeared on the sphere, and a massive current of mana began to writhe.

At this rate, it will definitely explode.

Unconsciously, I cried out urgently.

“Stop at once.”

“…….. It’s not stopping?”

“Uh.”

The sphere getting bigger and bigger.

The cramped, narrow room.

Immature magic skill.

“Hmm….”

The three situations I faced, forming a trinity, led me to one conclusion.

“…We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

The next moment, the room was bathed in a white flash of light.