episode_0099

As I sat in the academy’s training hall and summoned Lu, a large wolf with silver fur appeared in front of me and looked at me, and I carefully stroked Lu’s head. It really was a strange hair. There was a strange coolness to the touch, but it did not cause a feeling of cold. I think it would be quite helpful as summer approaches, but I don’t think we’ll be that close in winter. While I was idly stroking Roo’s fur while thinking about that, Roo looked at me and started crying, and at that moment, I heard a voice in my ear.

[What happened today?]

No matter how many times I heard it, I couldn’t get used to it. Of course, I could hear voices right from my head, but who would get used to this? Seniors Erica and Isabelle sometimes spoke to me using this kind of magic, but it was an ambiguous area that didn’t feel that good or bad, like teleportation.

“I want to see your strength.”

[It’s about proving it.]

At those words, Lu slowly moved his feet and began to look around, and I carefully placed the scarecrow in the center of the training room and opened my mouth.

“Since it’s a wolf, it probably attacks with its body, right?”

[Do you think I am a dragon or a spirit?]

“I think it’s a wolf.”

[But, I am different from those wolves.]

At that moment, Roo’s eyes flashed and he ran quickly and bit the scarecrow, and I smiled in small admiration at that sight.

“Strong?”

And when I looked at Lu, ice crystals were flying around. There was no reaction when I touched its fur before, but when I tried to attack it, I saw its fur shining white as if ice had been wrapped around it, and a light thought occurred to me.

Isn’t that ice also controllable?

With a thought, he held the staff in his hand, concentrated his mana and aimed it at Lu, trying to move the ice, and the ice surrounding Lu’s fur began to gather around the staff. If I could control this too… … Magic was emerging in my mind.

Lu’s attacks are fast, and I can control his ice.

I smiled at Lu as I imagined magic in my head.

“Lu, something interesting came to mind.”

[…] … What a strange owner.]

If you think about it a little seriously, a joint attack with Lu could easily target the opponent’s weaknesses. But the problem was that it was a trap that was too clearly visible. Shouldn’t we operate in a way where I cover the opponent’s eyes and Lou delivers the final blow?

As I slowly finished practicing and sent Lou away, someone was walking towards me, so I turned my head and saw Miles waving at me.

“Are you studying for the test?”

“Probably because I didn’t use summons much in the first place.”

“But it still came together pretty well, right? Because my summons don’t acknowledge me yet.”

“But didn’t you sign a contract?”

“I don’t know, I guess he has a similar personality to me, but I signed a contract because he seemed interesting… … He didn’t listen to me very well.”

“It’s a strange summon.”

“They say it resembles its owner’s personality, so I guess that’s the case.”

As I was laughing at that story, Miles also took out his wand as if he was practicing and started using magic to drag the scarecrow in the corner of the training hall to stand. Seeing that, I opened my mouth to Miles.

“Then do your best, Miles.”

“You don’t have to leave your seat?”

“I have to get ready for work anyway, so I have no choice.”

“It’s amazing that you can both go to work and study.”

“The irony of commoners.”

“Sorry, but I’m a commoner too, friend.”

“I never thought about that before.”

Miles laughed a little at my story, then looked at me and spoke with a smile.

“Do you know it’s the Willow Kingdom?”

“I saw the prince there recently, but was it Prince Lusanda?”

“Oh, Prince Lusanda. He is a noble man. I heard that he always travels around the Willow Kingdom and makes people he likes as his subjects.”

“He’s a strange person, I think. If I met him in person, he would run away and say I was a strange person.”

Miles started laughing out loud at my words, and when I looked at him blankly, Miles thought for a moment and spoke.

“He was that kind of person, did he say that to you too? Be mine? Like this?”

“From the way you say that, it sounds like something like that happened to you too.”

“A year before I joined the academy, I met him in passing and he was a fun person rather than a strange person.”

“He’s an interesting person… … I don’t know.”

After that conversation, I said hello to Miles and walked toward the restaurant.

Today’s afternoon lecture was free time. From what I heard, the professor said he was going to a foreign country for work, but I didn’t know the details, but I didn’t even think about asking. I had to go to work after dinner, so I went into the academy’s cafeteria and sat down, and the fairies placed dinner in front of me. After eating quickly, I walked along the familiar path to Ignolia.

When I arrived at the front door of the familiar academy, there was no one at the door. The moment I approached the door, wondering what was going on, a familiar person was standing beyond the door, looking at me.

“It’s a good night?”

“Good night, senior Isabel.”

“I heard about it at the academy, it looks like you got into a fight with quite a few students?”

“I did it for the assignment my senior gave me, and I haven’t lost yet.”

“That’s a good thing. It’s good enough to grow without being defeated, but I also want you to know that not being defeated means you can’t think backwards.”

“I’m already used to losing.”

“It’s still not enough, right?”

Senior Isabel smiled at me, and when I looked at her, I saw Jeremy crouching down next to her. As I was about to pose a question to my senior at the familiar sight, he asked me a question first.

“I heard that Erica hasn’t returned yet.”

“Yes, I don’t know anything either.”

“It’s not easy to meet Arnold, so I heard you asked another 5th grader to show you some magic. Was it helpful enough?”

“It helped me a lot, so I would like to see senior Isabel’s magic if I get the chance.”

“I already showed it.”

“Isn’t it just fire magic?”

Isabel smiled slightly at my words and gestured toward Jeremy. At her gesture, Jeremy climbed on Isabel’s shoulder and made eye contact with me.

“Wouldn’t it be a bad idea to ask Jeremy to show you some magic too? For Astan, it would be difficult to beat Jeremy.”

“… … That is also true.”

With those words, Isabel looked around for a moment, then stretched out her right hand towards me and held it in that position.

At that moment, the world turned black.

“This is the peak of my magic, but I don’t use it often.”

“… … Is it a barrier?”

“Barrier is a magic that creates the world a wizard wants, but my magic is a little different. Astan may not be able to understand this magic… … To tell you a little bit, it is a magic that deletes a barrier. It is a different concept from removal.”

Those words were not easy to understand. Removing a barrier and deleting are different concepts… … Of course, there was a difference in feeling, but I couldn’t tell how the difference was.

“Light magic can attract mana and heal someone, but I can handle the opposite quality, darkness. That’s what dark magic is, it’s closer to the concept of deleting mana.”

“Dark magic… … ”

It was dark magic, so I remembered seeing it in a book. The origin of magic in the beginning diverged from the magic of light and was divided into various series, but in the end, the end of all magic is dark magic. But I’ve never seen any dark magic around.

Isabelle has shown magic similar to this a few times, but I have never thought of it as dark magic.

“The reason why I am called the reincarnation of Denatus is probably due to the power of this magic. The only person in this world who can handle dark magic is… … Because there will be almost none.”

“I have heard that dark magic is the magic of demons.”

“Not all demons can use it, of course, there are people Astan knows who use dark magic.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s the devil.”

She smiled while saying those words.

When I thought about the word ‘demon king’, it felt awkward. A demon king who uses dark magic and a hero who uses light magic, really… … It was a story like something out of a novel.

“Then it ends here.”

With those words, senior Isabel snapped her fingers, and at that moment, the black world began to return to its original state.

“It’s nice to see different types of magic, but didn’t I say that? The important thing is observation. You can never understand magic just by seeing. Keep following along and make it your own. Astan, there isn’t much time left until this semester ends.”

“… … I will keep this in mind.”