Chapter 19 - The Magic Geek Almost Starts a Fire
On this night, as summer was drawing to a close, a magnificent full moon hung in the sky. Though it was a little early for the mid-autumn harvest moon, it still cast a brilliant, clear light. Within the veil of night that shrouded Arcalai village, there was a single estate from which bright lights and laughter spilled forth. Inside that house—the village chief's residence—the spacious dining hall had been made cramped by a multitude of hastily brought-in tables, where a great number of people had gathered, lost in pleasant conversation.
Dishes were carried out from the kitchen one after another as the villagers, cups of wine in hand, ate, drank, and laughed heartily. The doors leading from the dining hall to the garden were wide open, and a steady stream of new faces flowed in. Seeing that food and drink were occasionally brought in from outside, it seemed that other households in the village were also cooking for the feast. The hall was a chaotic swirl of women carrying new dishes and men weaving between the tables. With everyone speaking at once, it was impossible to make out who was saying what.
Amidst the clamor, Ruria and I had been seated in the best spot in the dining hall, near the hearth. For a while now, villagers had been approaching our table in small groups, introducing themselves and cheerfully telling us something or other. I did my best to maintain an innocent, childlike smile and simply nodded along to everything. I hadn't even had a moment to touch the cup in my hand (filled with fruit juice, since I'm a child) or the splendid feast laid out before me. Ruria had been silently plastered to my back since the banquet began, but she had finally buried her face in my shoulder and started to doze off. It seemed she was nearing her limit.
Grandma had declared the banquet open and then promptly vanished. Maria was in the middle of the dining hall, surrounded by a large crowd and engrossed in conversation. Perhaps it was because she'd been reunited with old friends after so long, but her profile looked truly happy as she tipped her wine cup. The village chief and his son were near our table, but they only watched me with pleased expressions as I received the villagers' greetings. It's no use. I have no allies here.
Entertaining is hard work, but being entertained is its own kind of ordeal, I thought, a rather unchildlike reflection for someone whose mental age, including my past life, was over thirty. That was why, in situations like this, I just couldn't bring myself to voice a childish complaint. But it was also true that being a child was helping me. If I were an adult man, I would have been forced to drink cup after cup of wine, and it would have been a disaster.
The group of young villagers who had been in front of me left, and a new trio of older men, arms slung around each other's shoulders, approached. I once again activated my facial muscles to produce a smile and offered vague affirmations to their words, which had become even more incomprehensible thanks to the wine. Ugh… I wish this would end soon.
Muttering my true feelings in my heart, I continued to put on a friendly face for the line of villagers that showed no sign of ending, all while stealing a resentful glance to my side. Right next to the hearth, in the best spot in the dining hall, sat a single chair. Unlike the other stools, this one had armrests, a backrest, and a fine cloth-covered cushion. It had been empty for a long time, yet no one dared to sit in it.
The person who had occupied that seat was the very one who had dragged us into this banquet, only to leave right after it started and never return. Yes, it was my grandmother and the former head of the Arcalai Viscounty, Ester Adoni Arcalai herself. I was supposed to be trying out the ritual I'd deciphered from my family's secret scroll right about now. The fact that things had turned out this way was mostly Grandma's fault. In other words, Grandma was to blame.
Secretly resenting the villagers, who showed no signs of quieting down, I let out another sigh, careful that no one would notice.
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The clock rewinds to the moment I solved the scroll's cipher. Grandma, facing me and Ruria across the desk, fixed me with eyes that held a dangerous light that could only be described as terrifying. She asked in a low voice:
"…Are you being serious?"
"…It's the truth."
After I had successfully deciphered the scroll that no one had ever understood, using knowledge from my past life, Grandma demanded to know the source of my knowledge. I couldn't very well tell her, "It's because I was reincarnated," so I had no choice but to fib, saying, "A goddess told me." And now, because of that, I was being subjected to Grandma's gaze, which had grown even more intense than before, to the point where I could almost feel a physical pressure.
Grandma reached for the long pipe that lay at her hand and placed it in her mouth without lighting it. All the while, her eyes never left me. Just then, someone took my arm. It was, of course, Ruria. She hugged me tightly and stared back at Grandma without a word. Perhaps because of the situation, her profile seemed to say, Don't you dare bully Saki. For some reason, my childhood friend felt incredibly reliable.
Grandma stared at us for a moment longer, then finally broke her gaze and tapped the unlit pipe against the tobacco tray with a sharp clang. When she turned back to us, the pressure in her eyes had vanished. With a somewhat—no, a very—casual air, she rested her chin on her hand and asked me again.
"So, what was this goddess like?"
"Pardon?"
"You heard the goddess's voice, didn't you? What did you think of her, Saki?"
Huh? What's this, Grandma? A complete change from moments ago. What was with that mischievous grin, the kind that came with an imaginary hee hee hee sound effect? While I was grateful that the pressure I'd felt since the questioning began had disappeared, I couldn't read the intent behind her question and hesitated for a moment.
Knowing Grandma, she probably didn't believe a word of some tall tale about receiving a divine message in a dream. One possibility was that she was throwing an unexpected question at me, hoping I would get flustered or overreact. Perhaps she was trying to gauge whether I was lying by my reaction. Then again, looking at that Cheshire cat-like smile, it was entirely possible she was just asking to mess with me.
However. While "a goddess told me" was a complete lie, I had, in fact, met and spoken with the Goddess of Magic (or so she claimed). In fact, you could even say she was the one who came to see me, materializing in the form of a summoning during the [Consecration] ritual. Therefore, all I had to do was answer truthfully, just as I thought. I pictured the Goddess of Magic, Isis, also known as the Eighth Tier Archmage Sister Magisa, and replied.
"Well, how should I put it… she seemed to do things at her own pace. Like, she has a habit of not really listening to what people say."
When I answered, Grandma's malicious smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression. She stared at me intently. Um, aren't you going to say something, Grandmother? After I went to the trouble of answering, being met with silence makes it hard for me to react. As I felt increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze—as if she were looking at some rare creature, genuinely surprised—Grandma covered her mouth with her hand and muttered something.
"…"
Unfortunately, her voice was too soft for me to hear. She said nothing more and fell silent, seemingly lost in thought. Naturally, I also kept my mouth shut and watched her. Silence enveloped the study as time slowly ticked by.
It was then that someone made a move to break the stalemate. Ruria. Without a word, she slid off her chair with some difficulty and began to toddle towards the study door. I watched, wondering what she was up to. Ruria opened the door and said in a small voice to the maid waiting outside:
"Tea and snacks."
I almost slid off my chair and barely managed to catch myself. Grandma looked at us, let out a deliberately loud sigh, and shrugged.
"I suppose this was getting boring for Ruria. Very well, let's take a little break. Menas, prepare tea and snacks for four, including yourself."
The maid gave an elegant, silent bow at her words, then turned with a movement so graceful it was mesmerizing and left to prepare the tea. So, that secretary-like maid's name is Menas. Got it.
Menas's back was turned to us as she presumably headed for the kitchen. I couldn't take my eyes off her wonderful silhouette when my view was suddenly blocked by the door with a thud. I realized Ruria had carelessly slammed the door shut with her back and was now staring at me with a gaze colder than ice. I messed up.
Apparently, my ability to learn from my mistakes drops significantly whenever I'm in the presence of adult women like Menas-san or Laila the temple librarian. In the end, until the tea arrived in the study, I had to endure Ruria continually gnawing on my hand. She probably thought she was punishing me, but it felt more like some kind of marking behavior. Hey, Ruria, stop with the bone. The bone actually hurts.
As we roughhoused, Grandma just watched us with a look that was somewhere between amused and exasperated—in short, a lukewarm gaze.
The tea party that began after we interrupted our talk consisted of nothing but idle chatter. I spoke about my life at the manor and at the private academy, while Grandma talked about her life in the village. Ruria silently devoured the tea and sweets, while Menas-san barely touched hers, simply smiling quietly.
After we had enjoyed the somewhat chilly conversation for a while, Grandma spoke up.
"Let's end our talk about magic for today. I need to go back to my brother's house now and get things ready."
"Is something happening at the village chief's house?"
"I told you when you arrived at the village, didn't I? We're going to introduce Saki and Ruria to everyone. It's going to be a village-wide celebration, so it'll be quite the affair."
What's that? I don't remember hearing about it, I thought, but upon reflection, I vaguely recalled something like that being said. From what I gathered, it seemed to be a village-wide welcoming party for us, and naturally, as the guests of honor, Ruria and I were required to attend. Noooo! I want to experiment with the magic circle and incantation as soon as possible…
But thinking back on how warmly everyone had welcomed us when we arrived, I didn't think it was the kind of atmosphere where I could refuse. They were people I'd just met yesterday, but after being shown so much affection, I felt bad about giving them the cold shoulder. I suppose I have no choice. I'll accept it as the destiny of one born into a noble family.
…Or so I thought at the time.
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The banquet, which began in the evening, was still going on close to midnight. The crowd that had packed the village chief's dining hall had thinned out considerably, and now only a few women remained, watching over a handful of hopelessly drunk old men with expressions that said, "What a handful." The drunkards sitting in front of me were also quite far gone, and for some time now, they had been repeating the same lines over and over: "The previous mistress is amazing," "The current master is amazing," "The young master is amazing."
_Ruria had long since reached her limit of sleepiness and had been carried off to a bedroom by Maria, and Maria hadn't returned either. Damn it. She must have been planning that from the start, drinking at such a high pace. I hadn't counted on her as an ally from the beginning, but the people she was talking to even came over to greet me, which only intensified my lonely battle. I can't forgive her. I really can't._
And so, I was left alone to receive the villagers' affectionate greetings and listen to their stories. Honestly, before it started, I was thinking about my duties as a noble and all that, but isn't this a little different? The sense of distance isn't that of a lord and his people; it's more like the heir to the village headman and his villagers.
This is weird, I thought, as I continued to nod at the words of the men who had turned into bots. Then, one of them, overcome with emotion for some reason, started crying. It spread instantly, and all the men sitting before me slung their arms around each other and broke down in tears. Hey, hey, hey, what happened? What am I supposed to do with this?
At a loss, I glanced sideways at the village chief sitting nearby. The chief, who had been watching me and the villagers with a silent smile, nodded at my gaze, stood up, and clapped his hands.
"Alright, everyone. The night has grown late, and the young master looks tired. Let's call it a night, shall we? Ladies, I'm sorry to ask, but could you take these drunkards home?"
"What a hopeless husband. Come on, we're going home."
"Our apologies, young master, for having you put up with our husbands."
With those words, the women helped their respective partners up and left. After seeing them off, the village chief turned to me and spoke apologetically.
"Thank you so much, Saki-sama, for staying with us so late. You must have been terribly bored, but seeing the villagers so happy, I just couldn't bring myself to stop them…"
So you knew. Well, I can understand not wanting to rain on their parade when they're having fun.
"It was a meaningful time, as it really conveyed how much everyone adores my family. I feel I must strive even harder to meet your expectations from now on."
I gave a model student's reply for the time being, and the village chief continued with an awkward expression.
"Seeing how kind you are, Saki-sama, I believe everyone got a little carried away. Unlike the master in the capital or you, Saki-sama, my older sister is… how should I put it… more feared than loved."
Ah, I see, it clicked. Grandma left the banquet as soon as it started because she thought they wouldn't be able to let loose if she was there. I still don't really understand that grandmother of mine, but she's probably not just a scary person.
"Well then, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go rest now."
"You must be exhausted. Please, rest well."
I turned my back on the bowing village chief and headed towards the guest room in the back. It might already be past midnight. For this body, which in my past life would have been a preschooler, staying up this late is quite difficult. The fact that I can't stop yawning is proof of that. Ah, I just want to get into bed and sleep—
…is what I thought, until I lay down.
Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling, perplexed by my own increasingly alert eyes. I ended up listening to the breathing of Ruria and Maria, who were sleeping together in the bed next to mine. The faint sounds of the banquet cleanup I'd heard from a distance had already ceased, and there was no sign of anyone being awake in the chief's house. After waiting a little longer, I quietly slipped out of the bedroom.
My destination was the backyard of the village chief's house. It was a place with a moderate number of trees, hidden from the view of other houses. There, I drew the magic weapon I wore, the [Fire Short Sword], and began to draw a pattern on the ground. In the deserted outskirts of the village, the sound of scraping against the earth echoed softly. Yes, I had snuck out to conduct a magical experiment—to try the incantation using a magic circle I had seen at Grandma's mansion during the day.
I just couldn't wait. It was possible Grandma would get strangely stingy and not let me see that scroll again. Fortunately, I had stared at it so intently during the day that the pattern of the magic circle was burned into my mind. It also helped that it wasn't too different from the magic circles I was familiar with from my past life. I had memorized the incantation word for word, without a single mistake. Alright, let's do this.
Since this was just an experiment, I drew a circle on the ground about one and a half meters in diameter, not too large, and inscribed a five-pointed star within it in a single stroke. I drew the sign for fire in the center of the star and carved short words—probably divine names—in the spaces between the circle and the star. It was a makeshift creation, but with that, the magic circle was complete.
Careful not to step on the divine names, I stood inside the circle. In the fiction of my past life, demons and spirits were often summoned from within a magic circle, but in actual magic, the practitioner stands inside the circle and the target is summoned outside of it. This is because the magic circle serves to protect the practitioner from the summoned being should it break free of their control. That's why an adept, confident in their control, might not use a magic circle at all.
At any rate, this was a ritual experiment. I held my [Fire Short Sword] and first performed the 'Qabalistic Cross.' I drew a cross with the [Fire Short Sword] from my head to my chest, and from my right shoulder to my left, chanting, "Unto Thee, the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, forever, Amen." I visualized a giant cross of light before me and imagined my aura being purified.
Next, I cleansed the ritual space itself with the ritual of 'Purification'—also known as the 'Banishing Ritual.' Its content was partially the same as the [Consecration] ritual. The difference was that I drew pentagrams towards the four cardinal directions, and at the end, just like in the [Consecration] ritual, I chanted, "Before me the Pentagram, flames arise. Upon the pillar, the Hexagram shines." I imagined the backyard, centered on the magic circle, being enveloped in light and purified.
And then, finally, I began the incantation to evoke the [Fire Elemental]. I focused my consciousness on the ground before me, imagining the [Fire Elemental] appearing there as I chanted.
"O primordial flame, that burnest within eternity, root of all life.
I awaken thee and summon thee here.
O, mighty primordial flame, in thy fury thou destroyest all, and thus become the harbinger of rebirth.
Thou art the beginning of life, and bringest the thirst for ascension.
Therefore, I purify thee in the highest name and call upon thee here.
I evoke thee, by the spell of thy evocation."
As I stared at a single point on the ground throughout the incantation, I saw a red point of light emerge. The point of light flickered irregularly as it glowed, and then a mass of fire erupted from it, falling to the ground and continuing to burn silently. Whoa! Did I do it? Did I really do it!? Did I succeed in summoning a [Fire Elemental]!?
As it flickered, the mass of fire gradually grew larger, reaching the size of a small bonfire. At the same time, a burnt smell wafted from the silently burning flames, accompanied by a crackle, crackle sound, as if something was popping…
"Whaaaat!"
I couldn't help but scream, and in that instant, the fire that had been burning before me vanished as if snuffed out. But my attention was caught by something else. The undergrowth in the backyard, nicely dried out as autumn approached, had caught fire from the summoned flames.
I rushed over, took off my robe, and holding it in both hands, frantically beat it against the burning undergrowth. If I started a fire here, it would be a disaster in more ways than one. Fortunately, since I started putting it out right after it caught fire, this little blaze was quickly extinguished. Coming back to my senses, I looked around, my slightly soiled robe in hand. The village of Arcalai was still shrouded in the silence of midnight. Okay, I'm good. It seems no one noticed.
Relieved, I erased the magic circle I had drawn on the ground with my foot and thought back on the ritual. My concentration broke midway through and I had to abort it, but it's safe to say I did summon a Fire Elemental. The fact that the surrounding grass actually burned proves that the [Fire Elemental] had materialized in this world.
Well, I guess I should be happy that the flame I summoned was a cute little one. On second thought, if I had summoned a massive fiery [Fire Elemental], the situation could have been much worse than a small grass fire. Hmm, I was so eager to try it that I experimented with the ritual, but maybe I should think things through a bit more before I act.
To cool my excited head with the night air, I stood in the backyard for a while, reflecting on various things, before returning to the guest room of the village chief's house, careful not to wake the family.
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"…Unbelievable."
At the same time, in her study, Ester Adoni Arcalai murmured to herself as she sat in her chair. Her face was tilted towards the empty air, one eye covered by her hand. And in that covered eye, which should have seen nothing, was the reflection of Saki's form, quietly opening the door to the village chief's backyard and slipping back into the house.
She knew Saki had snuck out of his room in the middle of the night, thanks to a notification from his guarding [Unseen Servant]. He seemed to be up to something in the backyard, so wary of being detected by Saki's [Magic Vision], she had been monitoring him with a [Scrying] spell. But the scene she witnessed was beyond her comprehension.
That was a Fifth Tier spell, [Evocation of the Fire Elemental]. The spirit he summoned was extremely small, and it seemed he lost control midway and the spirit returned. But even if it was incomplete, how could a child who hadn't even attended a magic academy possibly use a Fifth Tier spell?
The Fifth Tier was a level that, at least in this kingdom, only Ester had ever reached. Even her son and beloved disciple, Levi, had not yet reached that realm. If a novice magic user tried to use such a high-level spell, they would lose all their mana and die instantly. For Saki, who was lacking in mana as a magic user, it was impossible for him to emerge unscathed.
"To think that scroll held such a secret…"
The reason Saki had succeeded, albeit clumsily, with the [Evocation of the Fire Elemental] was undoubtedly related to the family scroll she had shown him today. The pattern drawn on the ground where Saki stood—wasn't that the diagram from the scroll? The [Scrying] spell couldn't pick up sound from the location being watched, but the poem-like text also recorded in the scroll must have been related to the spell's success.
A technique that allows one to use high-level spells without consuming mana. It was astonishing that such a thing had been passed down in her family, but the real issue was her grandson, who had not only deciphered it but had also effortlessly recreated it.
"Really, how am I supposed to handle him?"
As Ester murmured this, her expression, though smiling, was colored with a sense of helplessness.
It took a great deal of time, but I have posted the eighteenth chapter. I truly struggled with this one. However, I will persevere with the spirit of "I do not worry about my slow pace, I only fear standing still."