46 – Safekeeping (2)
46th Episode
Please let me know if there’s anything else I can assist you with!
There is another country besides the Shazar Kingdom, which faces the Bastian Empire, that shares borders with the three nations: Bastian Empire, Estelle Kingdom, and Shazar Kingdom. This small country is known as the Behend Kingdom, even though it is smaller than the Bastian Empire. This small country plays an important role among the three nations. It feels like a realistic Switzerland. A lot of money flows into Behend from the three nations, and that money is circulated back to Shazar, Estelle, and Bastian. Even dark money from Shazar, where many criminal organizations operate, is laundered there. In addition, Behend became useful because if one wanted to move from Bastian Empire to Estelle Kingdom, they had to go through the Behend Kingdom since the relationship between Bastian Empire and Shazar Kingdom was not good. Behend was able to serve as a road for many traders from different countries, which helped develop their distribution industry greatly. Therefore, despite its weak production power, Behend’s capital power overwhelms that of the Bastian Empire. That was the explanation that Frey gave in the carriage, feeling bored. “I’m visiting Behend Kingdom for the first time since missionary work after a long time,” he said.
“When was that?”
“It’s been over five years, hasn’t it?”
This was the first time since the formation of the hero party.
“Weren’t there any dungeons around here?”
“The territory is so small that there were no dangerous dungeons.”
I was slightly puzzled by Frey’s words. I knew that there was a huge dungeon in the Vend Kingdom…
“Is it just not the right time yet?”
Since the world has changed a lot from when I played on extreme difficulty, there was a possibility that the dungeons had not yet appeared.
But if that’s the case…
He tried to meet that guy and get hidden pieces.
It might be difficult to obtain hidden pieces in the dungeon.
The place where hidden items are generated was a huge dungeon in the Behend Kingdom triggered by “The Relationship between Ancient Artifacts and Magic,” which I read at the Estella Kingdom Library.
The item was generated, but why hasn’t the dungeon appeared yet…
According to the story of Evil in the Dungeon, around this time, the Behend Kingdom was struggling with the appearance of a huge dungeon.
Like the Bastian Empire, the Behend Kingdom was also a small country without a warrior party. Therefore, they had to ask other countries’ warrior parties to subdue the dungeon. That’s how the user-led party headed to the Behend Kingdom.
This time we visited for a different purpose, but I thought there would still be a dungeon. But it wasn’t.
‘I’m at a loss.’
Now there’s about a month left. If I don’t get the hidden piece this time, it will affect our bet with Erin. But since the dungeon hasn’t appeared, how can I obtain it…
“Allen.”
At that moment, Leticia quietly spoke to me. She was speaking softly because the others were asleep, except for Frey, who had been chattering.
“What should we do about magic class?”
“Um…”
I still have to learn it again.
“I think we’ll probably camp out in the middle of today’s class. Do you want to sneak out?”
“I was delighted to hear that you would give lectures during camping.”
“…But there’s no need to do it secretly anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now Frey knows too.”
“Well, then why go through the trouble of hiding it…”
Indeed.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah… I’m learning magic.”
“Oh, is it Letitia who is teaching you?”
Letitia nodded slightly. Then Frey spoke.
“Okay. Alan might help us out later on.”
“He will do that.”
“You have a strong will, Alan. I will give you a reward for working hard.”
“… No, that’s okay.”
When I responded with a firm refusal, Frey was taken aback and said,.
“Yes? You refuse without even hearing what the reward is?”
“It’s not like it was last time.”
“… Alan, reading the thoughts of a saint is a disrespectful thing.”
What are you talking about. I didn’t read her thoughts, I just guessed because it was too obvious.
“What reward?”
“… It’s nothing.”
“Would you like to receive it, Leticia?”
“Why are you suddenly…?”
After lifting his buttocks slightly, Frey crawled towards Leticia. It seemed like
“……”
… It feels like the snow is twinkling a little.
“But is this a reward?”
“Allen likes it, though.”
“What?”
“… When did I?”
After hearing Pray’s story, Letitia squinted her eyes slightly and looked at me. I’m not sure why she’s looking at me like that… Anyway, it never happened.
“… Anyway, meet me at night under the lamppost. I’ll teach you then.”
“Alright.”
If you do that, it would have been a pleasant thing for me.
As expected, we ended up camping without being able to directly transfer to the kingdom of Behend. Naturally, we had to guard the horses and wagons, so we decided to take turns keeping watch. Leticia and I volunteered for the night shift.
“hahahahaha, you two seem to get along well these days.”
“We do get along well.”
“…Are you trying to learn magic?”
I nodded in response to Clara’s question. Ser-Aria, with a slightly flustered look, asked Clara.
“Uh? Can we talk about that?”
“They all know by now anyway.”
“What? When did they find out?”
That’s right.
“Learning magic is great, but you need to be cautious, right? Even idiots won’t forget how much money they have in the carriage, right~♡”
“I know. Besides, we have this lizard thingy.”
Kaishius looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.
“…Am I doing it too?”
“Then should I stay awake while you sleep?”
Since we’re bound by contract, you and I are a set.
And as a dragon knowledgeable in magic, I thought maybe I could give Letitia some advice on what she’s learning.
“Then I’ll ask for your help.”
“Trust me and sleep well first!”
The party members, including the maids, were asleep, and only Latisha, Caius, and I were outside the carriage, sitting around a bonfire.
“Today, I’ll tell you about elemental magic.”
“Did we finish the basics from last time?”
“At first, I wanted to move on since you said you would practice alone. Is there any part that you’re having trouble with?”
I have already practiced drawing out mana and imbuing it into weapons. However, I didn’t get a chance to try the basic spells that I learned…
“I haven’t tried using magic yet.”
“You still haven’t tried this time?”
I didn’t have a chance to do it…
“I haven’t tried. I did try channeling mana into a weapon, though.”
“Then, do you want to try it now?”
Laetitia pointed towards a tree in front of her and said,
“You can knock it down if you want.”
“But won’t that wake up the kids?”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t make any sound.”
In that case…
I calmly drew out my mana. Laetitia nodded slightly and said.
“It seems I’ve become much more familiar with manipulating magic power than before.”
“Just by trying a few times, I figured it out.”
“Good job. Do you remember the magic I taught you?”
“Yeah.”
Previously, Leticia had shown me some basic magic in my room. Among them was an offensive spell called ‘Energy Ball’, which was an elemental-neutral magic.
Recalling what Leticia had demonstrated, I manipulated magic power. The magic power formed small dots that connected to form a circle, merging together to create a force.
I converted one of the created forces into magic and softly chanted.
“…Energy Ball.”
-Activating the neutral 1st-tier spell, [Energy Ball].
Pow, the magic burst out as if it would explode. I vigorously threw it forward, resting on the palm of my hand.
Kwaang!!!
With the sound of an explosion, the tree swayed. Seeing that, Letitia quickly stepped forward and supported the falling tree with her bare hands.
“…Well done, you did a good job.”
I was slightly taken aback by her appearance and stopped talking. Why did she personally stop it with her own hands?
“Well, are your hands okay? You could have used magic to stop it.”
“Did you forget? When Allen uses magic, he takes all of my magic with him.”
Ah.
I had forgotten for a moment. Due to the phenomenon that seems to be caused by the characteristic of [magic condensation], Letitia couldn’t use magic when I used it.
“Anyway, I remember what you taught me. So…”
“What does that mean?”
Kaius, who was next to me at the time, asked with a puzzled expression.
“Take the magic along?”
Kaius asked me seriously. I nodded my head in response to him.
“So, when I use my magic, Leticia’s magic is drawn towards me and entwined.”
“Are you saying that you’re stealing her magic, Allen?”
“No, it’s not that. I can’t use it… It’s just bound.”
“Is it a story about losing control?”
Caius looked at me with slightly surprised eyes and asked one more question.
“Can you show me once?”
“Huh? Why?”
“There’s nothing you can’t show me…”
Leticia gently placed the fallen tree on the ground. How did she support such a big tree with that physique? Although there wasn’t a significant difference in strength stat between me and her.
“Allen, release your magic.”
“Uh.”
As I brought out my magic again and gathered it, this time Letitia also activated her magic. Then a message appeared.
– The skill [Magic Convergence] is being triggered.
Surprisingly, just like what happened in my room before, Letitia’s magic fluctuated and then dispersed. And that magic was absorbed into the place where I had gathered my magic.
“What’s happening… Kaius?”
Kaius’s eyes, upon seeing that sight, widened as if he had witnessed something shocking.
“…How did this happen? Allen, what did you do?”
“Uh? I didn’t do anything in particular.”
Just an odd characteristic arose, and it only activates automatically when I use my magic.
“Do you not know?”
“…It’s been like this for a while now.”
“Doesn’t even the dragon know about this phenomenon?”
Kaisius lifted his chin slightly and watched as my magic and Leticia’s magic became one for a while, as if observing a mysterious phenomenon.
“I haven’t been out in the outside world for long, so my knowledge is lacking, but I’ve seen my father do similar things before.”
“If it’s your father….”
“My father is an Ancient-class dragon. He told me he conquered my sister’s rebellion and took complete control of her magic. At that time, my sister’s magic moved according to my father’s will.”
Ancient-class dragon… It was an amazing lineage.
“But this is a little different. The bound magic hasn’t become Allen’s. So Allen can’t use this magic as he pleases.”
“Yes, my father actually took my sister’s magic. But this, it’s not that he took the magic….” Kaiusius said.
“He simply tied it up, making it uncontrollable. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Kaiusius, looking very interested, as he alternated between examining the magic and talking.
“Remarkable.”
Remarkable… Could this sudden development of abilities be related to my possession? Or was there originally a talent related to magic in this body?
“…Aside from being special, is this ability of any use to me?”
“Why do you think that?”
“If I raise magic, does it mean other people can’t use magic? I should be able to assist them, but instead of being helpful, I seem like a troublemaker.”
“Think about it the other way around.” Kaisius said.
“If you generate magic power, other people… I mean, your enemies won’t be able to use magic power, right?”
“…Huh?”
That’s what I thought.
It’s not just Letisia’s magic power that is drawn to me. If magic power is being drawn away, it means that the opponent is rendered unable to use magic…
“So, can’t you make use of your magic power then?”
“…In this condition?”
“Try moving only a part of it.”
“Try moving just a part of the magic, I had never tried that before. At that moment, when I was pondering, Leticia approached.
“Think about dividing the magic. If it helps you to think of it more easily… think of it as splitting a big cheese into two pieces.”
Cheese? It was a cute analogy. I wonder if Leticia likes cheese.
It is easier to think about it a little, but I don’t quite get the feeling. It’s not particularly special to take the cheese off, just taking it off like this…
“Oops.”
…seems to be enough.
“Got it?”
“Uh…”
“Try composing magic with that.”
“However, if I do this, I can’t achieve the force needed?”
With the extracted magic power, it was not enough to make up the force necessary for the energy ball. Then Kaisius spoke.
“Any simple magic you can do will do, even if you can’t do it now, when your mana increases… no?”
From Noble mtl dot com
Kaisius asked.
“It would be faster to see how much magical power is needed to tie up the opponent’s magical power first.”
“…So you mean keep extracting?”
“Yes.”
I separated my magic again, like tearing off a piece of cheese. It was then that I went step by step and split away.
Kugung!
“Oops!”
Letitia’s magic, which had gathered around here, was released and moved back to where I had newly separated and collected it.
“It seems that’s your limit.”
Kaisius said,
“As you can see, Allen, if you bind your opponent’s magic, you can also use your own magic. Do you know how big an advantage this is?”
“… Uh.”
Not only can you counter all attacks utilizing magic with proper refinement, particularly for wizards whose entire skillset depends on using magic in their attacks, it was akin to the ultimate form.
“If you want to get stronger, it seems like refining this will be the best way.”