Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109
“Come in.”
The visitor was not an unexpected one. It was Brituang. After opening the door and stepping inside, he looked at me with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
“Shopping the very moment you arrive in the Royal Capital. Impressive. What exactly did you haul back?”
“As you can see, books.”
“Books?”
Brituang stepped closer. I had no particular intention of hiding the fact that they were magic books. I had already prepared an excuse long before I ever reached the Royal Capital.
“These are… magic books, are they not?”
“They are.”
“My, my. And when exactly did you change classes and become a mage?”
He asked it jokingly. Still, the day would come when I would answer that it was no joke at all.
“These are not books for me.”
“Then for whom?”
“They are research books for Young Master Prah at the main house. I happened to hear before that he had done some research into magic. Since I was coming to the Royal Capital anyway, I thought it might be nice to purchase them for him.”
It was apparently not the answer he had expected, because Brituang tilted his head slightly.
“You do things that no one even asked you to do?”
“There is no rule saying I must not.”
“You are not, by any chance, supporting Young Master Prah, are you? I heard you are close to Young Master Hamel.”
“I serve House Adeline. It is my duty to serve any of the young masters loyally.”
“If you lean too far to one side, you may invite unnecessary misunderstandings. In all things, it is best to keep to the middle path.”
Keeping to the middle path. It sounded nice, but I did not trust the idea very much. When one lives long enough, there always comes a moment when one must choose a side.
“Thank you for the advice. I will keep it in mind.”
“I had heard all sorts of rumors about you, so I expected you to be arrogant, but you know how to show proper humility. I like that.”
“Thank you for thinking well of me.”
“Still, you will have a great deal more luggage when it is time to return. To carry all these books, you will need another cart.”
“Would you be able to arrange that?”
“Of course. If they are not for just anyone, but for a young master, then they ought to be sent not by cart, but by carriage.”
Smiling in satisfaction, I bowed my head.
To think I would use the fact that Young Master Prah had written a few papers in this way. The people at the mansion already knew about his hobby, so it let me avoid suspicion.
Of course, I had no intention of taking these back to the main house and handing them over to Young Master Prah. Once I had read them thoroughly, I would probably donate them to the library or something of the sort.
Still, what was that box Brituang was carrying in his hand?
It seemed likely that it was the real reason he had come. The box was too large to contain a letter. When I stared at it openly, Brituang curled his hand into a fist and gave a small cough.
“Ahem. In truth, I came to give you a gift.”
“A gift?”
“For now, just take it.”
I accepted the box he handed me. It was fairly large, and when I opened the lid, inside were a fine tailcoat and gloves.
“You may be an apprentice, but you are serving as the Attending Secretary, so it would be problematic for you to appear in your current attire. At least while you are in the Royal Capital, attend the Young Lady in the clothes I have given you.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
It was an unexpected gift.
I set the box down to one side and gave him a proper bow. Perhaps he had received some sort of message from Yanrof, because it was obvious he intended to look after things with care.
Brituang returned at once to the stern air of a senior butler.
“Now then, dinner must soon be prepared, so bring the Young Lady out when the time comes. And do not forget to change clothes.”
“Understood.”
I changed into the tailcoat. It fit so perfectly that it almost felt as though it had been made for me in advance.
I looked into the mirror and straightened the outfit again. I paid special attention to the short scarf around my neck.
Before I knew it, a strikingly handsome man was standing in the mirror.
“The tailcoats in the Royal Capital have a different feel to them.”
The tailcoats at the main house had felt a little old-fashioned, but the design here was far more refined. After giving my appearance one last glance, I turned my eyes back toward the books.
“Still, I suppose I will have to read the magic books later tonight. I would rather not be disturbed by intruders coming in one after another.”
I headed straight off to fetch Young Lady Sapiela.
“Gah!”
Apparently because I had suddenly emerged in a tailcoat, Arthas looked genuinely startled. It was not the right time for idle chatter, so I simply passed him while he stood there with his mouth hanging open.
The door to the Young Lady’s quarters was half open.
“Young Lady. It is Dilen.”
After knocking, I stepped inside to find Sapiela and Arwen talking together in a good mood. It seemed Arwen had been chattering away about the sightseeing she had done in the Royal Capital.
Smiling, I offered a respectful bow.
“You seem to be enjoying yourselves. I hope I am not interrupting.”
“It is fine. More importantly…”
For a while, the Young Lady did not take her eyes off me. Did she have something she wanted to say?
“You are wearing a tailcoat.”
“Ah, yes. The Senior Butler instructed me to wear it while I am in the Royal Capital. Does it look strange?”
“It suits you.”
The unexpected compliment put me in an excellent mood. Arwen, standing beside her, secretly gave me a thumbs-up as well.
And then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Was it not so the last time?”
“The last time?”
“In truth, this is not the first time I have stood before you in a tailcoat. I do not know whether you remember, but I met you once in the banquet hall before.”
That had been right after I smashed open the hidden box I found in the Arkain Merchant Company warehouse and obtained proof of the kidnapping plot against her. I had run straight to meet her, borrowing Butler Stewart’s tailcoat to do so.
Now that it seemed to come back to her, Sapiela nodded.
“That is right, it did happen. At that time…”
Had I teased her a bit too much? The Young Lady faltered and could not finish her sentence. There really was a certain pleasure in teasing her just a little.
Smiling, I changed the subject.
“Dinner is prepared. I was instructed to escort you there. Shall we go?”
“Let us go.”
Young Lady Sapiela rose, and Arwen and I followed behind her toward the dining hall.
***
After dinner and even an evening walk had been concluded, I escorted the Young Lady back to her quarters. She immediately ordered that her bath be prepared. The maids began moving about in a flurry.
The Young Lady sat down in a chair to catch her breath. Tiny beads of sweat had gathered on her skin.
When I first opened my eyes in this world, it had been spring, but now it was hot enough to call it summer. I picked up the large fan resting nearby and began fanning her.
It was work meant for a maid, but I decided to make full use of my own talents. I let Mana flow into the fan to cool it, then stirred the air toward her.
“A cool wind is blowing.”
The Young Lady turned her eyes toward me. I smiled as I continued fanning her with practiced ease.
“You were perspiring. When sweat evaporates, it takes heat away from the body, so it should feel even cooler. I believe I mentioned that briefly during a lesson before.”
“It is not something I do not know, but it feels cooler than usual.”
“Then I will have to fan you more often from now on.”
Sapiela turned her head away. That meant I was to do exactly that.
A little later, once the bathwater was ready, Sapiela asked as she headed toward the bath chamber,
“That concludes today’s schedule, does it not?”
“It does. Is there anything else you require?”
She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. And with that, she went straight into the bath.
“I got my hopes up for nothing.”
With a faint grin, I left the Young Lady’s room. Then I immediately returned to my own room and changed into casual clothes.
The magic books were written in extremely difficult vocabulary and sentences. If the lettering was at least clear, that was one thing, but there were pages where even that was not the case, which made reading even harder.
But I could not retreat now. It was time to show the power of a true self-study devotee.
And for that, I could not allow any interruptions. So I stepped outside and instructed Arthas not to let anyone in.
“My, my. A regular noble lord, aren’t you.”
“If that bothers you, then go become a butler yourself.”
“Tch.”
That brief exchange of banter over, I locked the doorknob.
Now all preparations were complete.
I picked up the magic book I had been reading earlier. Written on the great cover were the words Introduction to Fire Magic.
The reason I had chosen this book was not because I had some special interest in fire magic, but simply because the condition of the book was good.
Once I learned one proper spell, I could apply the principle elsewhere. So I had decided that whatever the magic might be, I would thoroughly master at least one.
“If it is fire magic, then really, Fireball is still the best…”
I sat down on the chair and began reading in earnest.
The opening sections were all theory. The history and definitions of fire magic were listed in pointlessly great detail, enough to make me drowsy, but I pinched my thigh and endured.
How much time had passed? Before I knew it, the world beyond the window had grown completely dark.
For a moment, I rose to clear my head and lit more lamps in the room to brighten it. If Brituang knew that the room still lit late into the night was mine, he would probably feel rather proud of me.
Though that was hardly important right now.
After taking a few deep breaths, I returned to my seat. It felt almost like I had gone back to my school days, cramming for the college entrance exam.
“Let us review. The fundamentals of magic are Hand-Sign Magic… Non-Hand-Sign Magic only becomes possible once one’s proficiency rises.”
Perhaps I had simply been lucky, but the Introduction to Fire Magic I chose had been written in a fairly accessible way.
There were two broad methods of activating magic: Hand-Sign Magic and Non-Hand-Sign Magic.
Hand-Sign Magic, as the name suggested, meant forming various shapes with both hands to activate a spell. Non-Hand-Sign Magic meant drawing in one’s mind the image corresponding to those hand signs.
Hand-Sign Magic was easy to activate, but it took time to form the shapes, and depending on the situation, bodily restraints might make activation impossible.
“So in other words, if your hands were tied, you could not use it.”
The book gave an even more extreme example. It stated that if one lost a hand, the method was utterly useless. The thought sent a chill through me for a moment, but I went on reading.
“For Hand-Sign Magic, one channels Mana into the fingers and traces the prescribed forms. The forms are as follows…”
Helpfully enough, several example spells had been illustrated below. A smile rose to my lips on its own, though it did not remain there long.
“This will not be easy.”
There was no video, of course, nor even individual step-by-step illustrations for each movement. The thing had been drawn in a horribly unfriendly way, showing only the direction and order in which the fingers were meant to move.
Anyone who could decipher this probably would not even need magic to succeed in life. They would be a genius already.
“Well then, let us try the simplest spell first. Once I get a feel for the directions and motions, the rest should come more easily.”
I looked at the illustrations again.
The simplest spell was called Flint. It sounded grand, but taken literally it meant little more than a flint stone, so it had to be a very simple spell. Probably something used to light candles or lanterns.
“First, gather Mana into the fingers.”
My heartbeat quickened. My heart pumped Mana outward, and with practiced control I guided it to my fingertips.
A faint blue light began to glow at the tips of my fingers.
“Then, as though drawing a picture, trace the hand signs.”
I followed the hand signs exactly as shown in the book.
WOOONG, WOOOONG!
A truly astonishing sight unfolded. Even though I had not intended it, blue trails appeared in the empty air and began drawing out the pattern, like something straight from a comic.
If the hand signs grew more complex, I imagined I might end up sweeping my hands about as grandly as a conductor leading an orchestra.
But the spell I was trying now was exceedingly simple.
At last, as the magic circle unfolded, the hand signs were completed.
PAHT!
A shiver ran through me.
Warmth touched my finger. When I looked, I saw a small flame burning at the tip of it. More precisely, at the tip of my right index finger.
I raised that finger, flame alight, like the hero of some fighting game.
“So this… is magic?”
And in that moment, I understood it.
The foundation of magic.