Morning has arrived, and I couldn’t be happier to start the day. It’s the first time since I arrived in this world that I feel this way. Magic, magic! Today, I finally get to witness magic.
“Hnnf~ff, hnfufufu~nnn.”
“Good morning.”
I happily hum as I prepare breakfast, and Ignis, rubbing his eyes, enters the kitchen. Ever since Ignis bid farewell to her mother and Temuan gave me a mysterious potion that frightened me, the three of us have been living together.
Oh, I forgot to ask about potions and such. Well, I’ll inquire about it another time.
“Hey, good morning!”
“You seem to be in a really good mood today.”
That’s right, I am!
“Do you want to know something? Can you guess~? Actually, toda– oh…”
Oops, I forgot about Ignis.
Temuan told me it’s normal not to show children magic. What should I do? Ignis always follows me. Even if I leave him with Temuan and go out alone, if I say, “Temuan and I are going out together, so you stay here,” he won’t listen.
“…? What’s the matter?”
Ignis, unaware of what’s going on, looks at me with innocent eyes.
Hmm, this is difficult. How can I explain it to him so he’ll understand? Oh well, I’ll figure it out later!
“Hey, can you go get Temuan? And bring breakfast too!”
“… That’s strange.”
Ignis gives me a suspicious look and goes to find Temuan.
Now what…
The three of us gather for breakfast. I went from being in a good mood to worrying about how to talk to Ignis. By the time they finished eating, we moved on to enjoying tea.
“, what’s wrong? You don’t seem very happy.”
Huh. Did I appear so gloomy? Maybe I’m just the type to easily show emotions on my face.
“No… Yeah.”
I manage to mutter a response and glance at Ignis.
“I see. That’s what it is. You don’t need to worry.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ignis joins the conversation.
Now this is a problem. What should I do? And then Temuan says, “We made a promise to show An magic today.”
“Magic!?”
Ignis opens his eyes wide, sparkling with excitement.
Oh no, what have I done? Did I make him too curious?
“That’s right. Magic. Would you like to see it too, Ignis?”
“Yeah!”
“I see. Let’s go to the lake later. Look forward to it!”
“Yay!!!”
Ignis’s enthusiasm soars. Even though he’s a child, it’s clear that opportunities to see magic are rare for the locals.
“Was it okay to tell him?”
“It’s better than him developing strange interests.”
“Alright then.”
I was worried for nothing.
And just as I’m thinking that, Ignis suddenly realizes something and glares at me, as if sound effects like “Go Go Go” are echoing in the background.
“An! You were trying to exclude me, weren’t you!!!”
“No, no… That wasn’t my intention. It’s just that…”
“Unfair, unfair, unfair!!! I sensed something was off with you this morning, and I wanted to talk to you!”
I didn’t mean to exclude him. I was simply dealing with adult responsibilities and such…
But Ignis wouldn’t understand that.
“I wasn’t trying to do that! Calm down!”
“Hahaha.”
Damn it,
it’s good entertainment for old people!
Temuan just laughs happily, as if it has nothing to do with him.
I ruffle Ignis’s hair affectionately, trying to divert his attention.
“Don’t worry, you’re not an outcast!” I say, attempting to calm him down as he huffs and puffs with anger. He’s a good kid, and I decide that next time, I’ll take the time to talk to him properly if something’s bothering him.
Later, the three of us arrive at the lake. Once there, Temuan begins explaining the spells he had told me about the previous night in a way that even a child could understand.
“Huh? There’s a difference between magic and sorcery?” Ignis asks, intrigued, and I listen intently.
It turns out that even in this world, some adults and children are not aware of the distinction between the two.
“Listen, Ignis. I’ll show you some magic now, but I cannot teach you how to use it yet. Promise me that you won’t try using it secretly by yourself or attempt to copy me,” Temuan says sternly.
“I promise!” Ignis eagerly agrees.
“Very well. It’s a promise then.”
After explaining everything in detail, Temuan takes out a worn-out book from his bag.
“This is a common sorcery book. It contains various magic circles,” he says, flipping through the pages and showing us a few examples.
“If you infuse magic power into these circles, sorcery will be activated, right?” I ask, trying to make sure I understand.
“Basically, that’s correct. However, it will become very difficult to use these common spells just by reading from a book. This is because of the nature of sorcery. As I mentioned earlier, the content of sorcery is predetermined in great detail, meaning there’s almost no room for flexibility. This is a big difference compared to magic. Now, do you have any idea why we don’t just make it easier to use the book?” he quizzes us.
“I have no idea,” I confess.
He chuckles at my quick response.
“Well, it’s because it could be dangerous due to the possibility of uncontrollable outbursts. And, of course, it wouldn’t be very convenient,” he says with a smile.
I smirk at his response. There’s more to this guy than meets the eye.
“Hehehe, it seems like you’ve got the right answer. Feeling confident, I continued. “Is it something like this? In magic, everything is predetermined by the spell formula. That’s the point. It’s easy to understand if you think of a generic fireball spell in fiction. We’ve never seen magic or whether fireball magic really exists, but that’s not important right now. Temuan described it as inflexible, meaning that the magic circle doesn’t take into account human will and always produces a certain result. To put it simply, the person using the magic circle can’t conveniently create a fireball out of thin air. To generate a fireball with magic, you have to specify a point in three-dimensional coordinates as the starting point, specify the size of the generated fireball, and also specify the direction if you want to send it somewhere. And Temuan said it was versatile. For a widely-used magic circle, it would be terribly inconvenient if the magic circle itself were the starting point for activating the magic. For example, if the magic circle has the x-axis as left and right, the y-axis as up and down, and the z-axis as perpendicular to the surface, and the spell specifies that a fireball will be generated in the z+ direction and shot in the y+ direction, it would be difficult to aim precisely and inconvenient. Since everything is predetermined, it’s impossible to control the trajectory of a fired fireball like magic. If the spell specifies that it will generate and shoot the fireball in the z- direction, which is the spine of the spell book, it would be easy to aim, but it would be disastrous if you accidentally imbue it with magic while laying the spell book on the ground or on a table. So I predicted that it would be inconvenient and dangerous. In my opinion, there is probably something that pairs with the spell book as the starting point for activating the magic, and it’s also the key to preventing explosions. If the magic affects a fixed direction, starting from the paired object, it would be easy and safe for anyone to use. Therefore, I think it is sufficient to spread and make it versatile. By the way, the exception Temuan mentioned was for safe spells that can affect the surrounding area, such as healing or buffing or even just slightly cooling the area. That’s about it. Oh, and some of them aren’t versatile. What do you think?”
When I finish talking, Ignis has a puzzled look on her face…
Was it too long?
“Yes, that’s right.”
Isn’t Temuan a little far away?
…I don’t understand.
“An said it was the key, and this is it.”
Temuan reaches into his chest and pulls out a large coin-like object attached to a string around his neck.
Looking closely, one side has a magic circle drawn on it.
In earthly terms, it’s more like a talisman than a coin.
“This is the activation medium. Generally, it can be interpreted that a spell book and an activation medium are a pair. As An suspected, the direction in which the magic is activated from the activation medium is always fixed. In the case of this one, it’s in the direction of the magic circle. There are also various shapes such as staffs and swords. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and people have their own preferences.”
Oh, they even have sword-shaped activation mediums!
This just keeps getting more exciting!
“Now then, although I’ve talked for a while, let me show you some magic.”
It feels like he’s poked fun at me with his words, but I’m probably imagining things.
Ignis looks bored at some point, but it’s probably my imagination too!
Temuan stands up and faces a rock a little way away.
Alright! This is it!
