Chapter 129: The Former Marquise’s Brilliant Method 2
*
I explained my hypothesis to Erica.
That this vein-like pattern appearing on my Sword is probably something like a Magic Circle.
Erica tilted her head at my words.
I understand why she’d tilt her head; it’s like getting a lecture on Magic Circles from me, someone whose grades at the academy were practically crawling on the ground.
In fact, it’s good enough that she isn’t making a face like, “What is this guy talking about?”
“Haven’t you ever felt magic ‘settling in’ the more you use it?”
I told Erica about my own experience.
It was from back when I was still a child and couldn’t accept that I couldn’t use magic properly.
I discovered with these eyes that can see Magicka that the more you construct the same Magic Circle in the same place on your body, the faster the construction becomes and the better the Magicka flows.
I explained this to Erica, omitting the part about being able to see Magicka.
“So, about this pattern that looks like leaf veins or blood vessels, maybe it’s something like a Magic Circle?”
I tapped the faintly reddish-black pattern on the Sword with my fingertip.
Constructing a Magic Circle on an object isn’t particularly unusual.
Magic Tools are exactly that kind of thing.
Even with Tepe’s Sword, it’s probably made using similar technology so that Physical Enhancement extends to the Sword itself.
However, regarding this Sword, after returning from the Demon Realm Forest, according to Tepe, it changed into some special Magic Iron he supposedly saw in the Library City.
“So, here’s my hypothesis, but maybe the Magic Circle that formed on this Sword has made it difficult for other people’s Magicka to pass through because my Magicka was constantly flowing through it?”
It’s just a hypothesis, but I thought this was the correct answer.
That’s the reason why others can’t make magic activate by pouring Magicka from the outside into a Magic Circle constructed on someone’s body.
It’s also the reason why Magic Tools need Magic Stones to operate.
But well, it’s a hypothesis with holes.
Magic Circles don’t function if they’re haphazard.
The pattern emerging on the Sword is too haphazard to be called a Magic Circle.
Well, since it’s the hypothesis of someone who spent about eighty percent of magic classes at the academy stealing glances at Erica, it’s full of holes… or rather, eighty percent of my magic theory is Erica’s side profile.
What, isn’t that a perfect theory?
“Um, excuse me, Shin. Could I possibly have a moment, yes, just a little time is fine? The amount of information is a bit overwhelming, and I need time to organize it.”
Erica, with a serious expression, pressed her hand to her brow and became lost in thought.
“D-d-did I, d-do something wrong?”
Seeing Erica’s serious expression, I panicked, thinking I’d messed up somehow.
Is she thinking something like, ‘How dare the guy who was stealing glances at my side profile during class proudly state his hypothesis?’
Sorry, I’ll go die now.
Sorry for being creepy.
“Please be quiet for a moment.”
I nodded silently.
I didn’t even twitch, trying not to make a sound.
I can’t believe it, but is this what they call a secret technique? Or rather, isn’t it straight-up a secret technique? No matter how you look at it, it’s a Longdagger Family secret technique, isn’t it? Yes, I am also a Longdagger now, but no, no, that doesn’t mean it’s something you should reveal so easily.
Erica muttered an unusually loud Soliloquy after a long time.
“Shin.”
I straightened my back at Erica’s words.
Yes, I am a creepy shadow-dweller.
“Is this alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why the polite language? No, what you just spoke of is a Longdagger Family secret technique, is it not?”
I tilted my head.
“Especially the part about the Magic Circles, that’s completely a secret technique, right? It’s true that I am a Longdagger right now, but…”
Erica hesitated for a moment.
“S-since it’s for a limited time, is it really alright for you to tell such a secret to me?”
Erica looked somewhat pained for some reason… no, that’s not it. It must be because she knows about my feelings that she hesitated to say that. How kind.
Or perhaps, though I don’t know what misunderstanding this is, she’s troubled by having learned this supposed Longdagger secret technique.
Our family’s secrets amount to little more than the fact that the contents of Dad’s treasured liquor stash have already been replaced with cheap booze.
Incidentally, the culprit is Mom.
“It’s a misunderstanding. It’s not particularly a secret or a secret technique. Even the matter with the Magic Circles is something everyone feels intuitively.”
I denied it with a wry smile at Erica’s exaggerated misunderstanding.
Being so knowledgeable, she probably took it too seriously because it was information she didn’t know.
“Recognizing it as actual knowledge? That makes a world of difference, you know?”
Erica gave a wry smile as if exasperated, but…
I shrugged and denied it was anything significant.
“At this rate, it seems like if I asked you to teach me the Supreme Skill of cutting beyond the Sword, you would.”
“Eh? Sure, I don’t mind?”
I was surprised because Erica said it in a tone that implied she surely wouldn’t be taught something like that.
Though I don’t understand why she’d want to learn it from me, since Erica can do it too.
Having answered lightly, I looked at Erica’s face and was startled.
Because Erica was making an expression that was hard to describe.
It was like the face someone makes when forcing themselves not to pucker their lips after eating something sour, closing her eyes and looking up at the sky.
What was with the cute “Nnngh! Nnngh!” groans she was making? Was it intimidation?
I was bewildered before the cutely groaning Erica.
Shara Lansra was playing by plucking grass behind Erica.
Before I knew it, summer had truly arrived.