episode_0009

“Virudem, what are you doing?”

It was Lady Firnea. Normally, she wouldn’t come to my room at this hour.

“My lady? What brings you here?”

I hurriedly tried to hide the book and the crystal in the drawer, but Firnea’s eyes were faster.

“Huh? What’s that? Did you get it from the abandoned mine?”

Firnea scurried over and snatched the book and crystal I was trying to conceal.

“Please return them, my lady.”

“No way? What’s this that you’re looking at alone?”

Firnea held up the fragment of the heart to the light. The faintly pulsing red glow reflected in her blue eyes, making them sparkle.

“It’s pretty under the light… It almost looks alive.”

“It could be dangerous, so please give it back.”

“It’s not dangerous. The mana is stable.”

As expected of a magic prodigy. She instantly discerned the flow and state of the mana—something I couldn’t even sense.

This time, Firnea flipped through the book. Though it was filled with unrecognizable characters and symbols, she turned the pages with keen interest.

“These… look a lot like magic circles? But they’re a bit different.”

“It’s a book about ancient dwarven enchantment techniques. It’s difficult to decipher, so…”

“Want me to try?”

“Pardon?”

I doubted my ears.

“Are you saying you can decipher this, my lady?”

“Hmm… I’m not entirely sure, but a lot of it resembles ancient magical language. And these symbols seem to represent the flow of mana… Maybe it’s worth a shot.”

Firnea confidently opened the book with a self-assured expression.

“…Are you serious?”

If Firnea could decipher this book, it would be an incredible stroke of luck for me.

Alone, it might have taken me years—or worse, been impossible forever.

“Then, want to research it together?”

The lady proposed.

“It’d be boring to do it alone. You should join me. You know a lot of random things, so you might be helpful.”

Random things. Well, considering my past-life memories, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“If that is your wish, my lady…”

“Great! Then starting tomorrow, we’ll look at it whenever we have time!”

Firnea, as if she’d found a new game, excitedly left the room.

I stood there dazed for a moment before taking out the heart fragment I’d hidden in the drawer.

It still pulsed with a red glow.

From the next day onward, the lady and I began our secret research.

Of course, I asked if there was any real need for secrecy. It wasn’t like we were doing anything bad.

“It’s more fun this way!”

“…Ah, yes.”

We used the evenings after Firnea’s official duties or spare moments after teatime to gather in her study or my room and pore over the dwarven book.

Honestly, Firnea’s abilities were—astonishing.

She deciphered ancient dwarven script in no time and deduced the principles of mana flow and function from the complex magical symbols.

Of course, there were many roadblocks, but Firnea never gave up, proposing various hypotheses and solving the puzzles piece by piece.

Not that I had any right to say this, but her intellect was far beyond what one would expect from a child.

My role was to record Firnea’s deciphered notes, find necessary materials, or cautiously offer suggestions based on my past-life engineering knowledge (though much of it didn’t align with this world’s laws).

Surprisingly, my “random knowledge” sometimes became the key to unlocking Firnea’s stuck points.

“Virudem, this part here. It looks like a structure to amplify mana, but why is it twisted like this? Wouldn’t a straight connection be more efficient?”

Firnea pointed to a section where mana was designed to flow in a complex spiral pattern.

“Hmm… Could it be related to resonance?”

“Resonance?”

“Yes. The principle of amplifying vibrations at specific frequencies. Perhaps mana also has properties like specific frequencies or waveforms, and this spiral structure maximizes efficiency by resonating with certain mana waves.”

It was a clumsy explanation borrowing from my past-life physics knowledge, but Firnea’s eyes lit up.

“Mana waves… resonance… That could be it! Then the spacing and number of rotations in this spiral… Ah!”

As if struck by realization, Firnea quickly began scribbling notes in the book.

Watching her, I was once again amazed by her incredible focus and comprehension—hard to believe she was just an elementary schooler.

Progress was slow but steady. We successfully deciphered the book’s early sections on basic enchantment techniques and a few simple mana tool crafting methods.

For example, techniques to enhance a blade’s cutting power with mana or methods to create lanterns that emitted light using small mana stones.

“Virudem, let’s try making this!”

The moment Firnea deciphered the mana lantern crafting method, she immediately wanted to put it into practice.

“My lady, we don’t have the necessary materials or tools. And there are safety concerns—”

“I’ll get the materials! If I ask Dad, he’ll get everything! As for the tools… you’ll make them!”

“…Me?”

“Yep! You’re good with your hands. Remember when you whittled that bird out of a branch before?”

That was just a little carving I did out of boredom…

But under the lady’s expectant gaze, I couldn’t refuse.

“Understood. If you provide the necessary blueprints, I’ll give it a try.”

Over the next few days, Firnea wheedled rare mana stones and metal materials out of Pitus, while I stayed up nights crafting crude but functional magical tool-making tools based on the dwarven book’s designs.

Hammers, anvils, tongs, even a special soldering iron capable of fine-tuning mana flow—every bit of my past-life memories and miscellaneous skills from butler training were mobilized.

Once everything was ready, we set to work in a small workspace set up in a corner of Firnea’s room, attempting our first mana tool.

Firnea’s role was to engrave magic circles onto the mana stones and infuse them with mana based on the deciphered instructions, while I handled metalworking and assembly.

Our first attempts were riddled with failures.

Mana infusion failures cracked the stones, and mismatched part sizes made assembly impossible.

But instead of blaming each other, we analyzed the problems, found solutions, and tried again.

After several failures—we finally completed a palm-sized mana lantern.

When Firnea carefully infused it with mana, a bright, serene blue light flowed from the central mana stone.

It was far brighter and more stable than a normal lantern.

“Wow! It worked! Virudem, we made it!”

Firnea cheered like a child, waving the lantern around. (Well, she was a child, so it made sense.)

I, too, felt a swelling sense of accomplishment. Even if it was just a small lantern, the thought that we’d made something real…

Felt pretty good.

“Magnificent, my lady. It was only possible thanks to your mana control.”

“You did great too! You made the tools and parts so well.”

We exchanged awkward but proud smiles.

Then, something strange happened.

Firnea, who had been watching me laugh, suddenly widened her eyes in shock and clamped her mouth shut.

Puzzled, I asked,

“My lady, is there something you wish to say?”

“Hmm…? Hmm?”

She leaned closer, scrutinizing my face—dangerously close.

At a distance where I could feel her breath, she muttered to herself,

“What is it…? Weird. You look ordinary, so why…?”

“Pardon?”

“What was it…”

After tapping her chest a few times, Firnea took the lantern and left.

…I’m the one who wants to ask.

What was that about?

Time passed quickly.

Between being the lady’s playmate, research partner, and even her dance partner at balls—all while keeping up with my butler duties—

“V-Virudem, sir. Leave this to us…”

“It’s the lady’s matter. Please entrust it to me.”

“Y-yes…”

The last part was unavoidable to maintain at least some reputation.

If I were seen as a slacker butler (though in reality, it was anything but slacking off) coasting on Firnea’s favor, I’d be labeled a useless burden in a place where I had to last ten years.

Naturally, my workload was overwhelming.

Blink, and the night was gone.

Before I knew it, a week had passed.

…And just like that, three years had passed since I began serving Lady Firnea.

In that time, Firnea had changed a lot. Though she still had childish tendencies, her old tantrums had diminished.

Instead, she made efforts to explain her demands and emotions more logically and even began showing glimpses of considering others’ perspectives.

Of course, “others” still seemed limited to just me and MacLaine…

Our social training and dwarven relic research continued steadily.

Firnea had grown adept at navigating noble intrigue and deflecting it with wit. Our book deciphering had progressed enough to uncover several fascinating enchantment techniques and clues about the heart fragment.

As expected, the heart fragment wasn’t an ordinary mana crystal. It was an ancient artifact capable of functioning as both a mana battery and a control core.

The dwarves had apparently used it as a power source for powerful golems or as a core component in devices that regulated regional mana.

The book’s later sections even described methods to craft personal accessories that amplified the user’s mana or enhanced specific elemental magic using the fragment.

But the content was so complex and dangerous that we didn’t dare attempt it recklessly.

Then one day, MacLaine approached me with a graver expression than usual as I was arranging flowers.

“Virudem, I need to speak with you.”

“What is it, Head Butler?”

“In a few days, the imperial palace will host a founding anniversary banquet. Naturally, the master and young lady must attend.”

“A banquet? It must be on a different scale from last time’s tea party.”

“Beyond comparison. It’s the largest official event where all the empire’s influential families and high-ranking officials gather.”

MacLaine paused, then added in a low voice,

“And this time, I have a special task for you.”

“A task for me?”

“Guarding the young lady goes without saying… but beyond that, I need you to surveil a specific individual at the banquet and, if possible, make brief contact.”

“A specific individual?”

I was puzzled. It was unusual for MacLaine to personally assign me such a covert mission instead of handling it himself.

“Yes. The eldest son of House Laurencia, Kyle Laurencia.”

House Laurencia—the family of Emily, the young lady who had harassed Firnea at the last tea party.

And Kyle Laurencia was the heir to the marquisate, known as a top talent competing for top honors at the capital’s academy.

“Why surveil him?”

MacLaine glanced around and lowered his voice further.

“Recent intelligence suggests House Laurencia’s movements are suspicious. Rumor has it Kyle has been secretly meeting with other young heirs, plotting something. No concrete evidence yet… but it might be an attempt to rally forces hostile to House Seriratus.”

“…A political matter, then.”

“Indeed. I apologize for assigning you a dangerous task, but I believe you’re the right person. You’re young and a butler, so you’ll draw less suspicion. And I trust your sharp eyes and quick thinking.”

MacLaine’s gaze was grave.

“Moreover, this banquet carries an unsettling undercurrent. I have a dreadful premonition something terrible will happen.”