Vol 1 Chapter 10 – My Wife and Former Childhood Friend Confront Each Other Without My Knowledge【Vol 1 – When Written in Kanji, It’s Saionji Yumeba】

Yumeba, who’d rejoined Imperial Guard training, was bored enough to stifle a yawn.

(…Bored.)

After spending every moment fooling around with Emilio until yesterday—the happiest time for her as a woman of House Saionji—she’d made a complete reversal to boring training, and her rhythm hadn’t recovered.

(But I understand what Mother said…)

Still, even Yumeba thought it was bad to keep her distance from the Imperial Guard indefinitely.

As House Saionji, who would serve as guardians of the Empire in emergencies, being unable to coordinate with the Imperial Guard—renowned as elites even if inferior to her in ability—was an unwelcome situation.

Yumeba didn’t need to flatter them, but she still needed to participate in training and show her face as much as possible.

“Heh. So the lovesick special officer finally shows up for training. How easygoing.”

But there are always people with bad timing, or idiots who can’t read the room or understand the situation.

Those who’d been in the Imperial Guard previously knew Yumeba’s abilities and wouldn’t underestimate her, but precisely because the Guard was elite, turnover was intense.

Newcomers often joined through recommendations from influential nobles and rigorous exams.

Yumeba didn’t need to bother dealing with such idiots, but…

(For some reason, idiots like this are always pointlessly persistent.)

She knew from experience that ignoring them only made them cocky and caused trouble later.

“Would you like to receive my instruction?”

“Ha! That’s exactly what I want, Special Officer-sama.”

“Special officer” referred to Yumeba’s position within the Imperial Guard.

Though Yumeba had the ability to become captain, as a woman of House Saionji who often acted independently during emergencies, she couldn’t take a commanding position.

Therefore, a special role called “special officer” had been created within the Guard—a position with captain-level privileges during emergencies based on her own judgment.

Well, since this wasn’t an emergency, she currently had only as much influence as an ordinary member, but conversely, she could gain captain-equivalent authority at any time.

While lamenting having to deal with an idiot who couldn’t understand even that much, Yumeba picked up a training wooden sword…

“Hold on. I’m a practical type who uses real swords even in mock battles, yeah? So I’m requesting a real sword match with Special Officer-sama too.”

“…Fine with me.”

She ignored the idiot’s drivel and picked up the wooden sword.

“Huh? I said I want a match with real swo—”

“I said you can use whatever weapon you like. I’m fine with this.”

That was implicitly saying, ‘A wooden sword is plenty for the likes of you,’ and in fact, Yumeba thought a wooden sword was sufficient for this idiot.

“Tch! Don’t regret it when you die!”

“Yes, yes. Hurry up and come at me.”

“You bitch!”

The idiot, enraged by Yumeba’s obviously unmotivated attitude, raised his sword without waiting for the starting signal—but before he could swing down, Yumeba’s wooden sword struck his wrist hard, and he dropped his sword.

“You don’t actually want me to teach you how to grip a sword, do you?”

“Tch!”

The idiot who’d come to his senses frantically picked up his sword and this time calmly raised it…

“Tch!”

The next moment, his sword was dancing through the air again after the hilt was struck from below by the wooden sword.

“…Go pick it up quickly. Your instruction is just beginning.”

“Damn it!”

The idiot rushed to pick up his sword, his face flushed red with humiliation.

Seeing this scene, the other Imperial Guard members directed sympathetic gazes toward the idiot.

Normally they didn’t welcome idiots who got in through noble connections and looked down on the world, but showing sympathy to anyone receiving Yumeba’s instruction had become customary without exception.

After that, the idiot repeatedly picked up his sword only to have Yumeba knock it away—until his spirit completely broke.

Though regular members weren’t informed, breaking the spirits of idiots who lowered the Imperial Guard’s dignity and encouraging them to resign was also one of Yumeba’s hidden duties.

Yumeba wouldn’t remember the idiot’s face or name, and tomorrow she’d surely forget even today’s events.

And so, after the grown man had his spirit broken and fled while crying pathetically…

(…I’m bored.)

Yumeba was once again stifling yawns from boredom.

Well, from Yumeba’s current perspective, everything except time spent with Emilio was boring.

Still, as long as she had the noble cause of protecting her life with Emilio, she needed a proper reason to leave training.

“Um…!”

And that reason came to her.

“…Serina.”

The childhood friend who’d promised to reunite with Emilio and Yumeba eight years ago, and simultaneously the woman who’d betrayed Emilio.

“Could I have a moment of your time?”

“…I don’t mind.”

It was a problem she’d have to face eventually anyway, and Yumeba decided to accept Serina’s invitation, thinking it more meaningful than participating in training while stifling yawns.

Two ducal daughters sat across a table, slowly savoring tea prepared by a maid.

The maid who’d prepared the tea was the one who knew about Serina’s circumstances, and when Yumeba confirmed her presence, she silently asked with her eyes whether Serina had been told the truth, but…

“…”

The maid only shook her head silently.

She was originally just a servant serving the ducal house, not in a position to defy her master the duke’s will.

“Your wedding the other day was small, but it was a truly wonderful ceremony.”

“…Thank you.”

And Serina, who genuinely congratulated Yumeba and Emilio’s wedding, showed no signs of having her brainwashing lifted.

“But I wonder why?”

“?”

“Ever since I saw that wedding, my chest has felt tight… I’m sometimes seized by an unbearable sense of urgency.”

“…I see.”

Even with her memories distorted by brainwashing, Serina still sought Emilio somewhere in her heart.

Seeing such a Serina, Yumeba felt a slight pain in her chest—but only for an instant.

(I… can’t.)

For just a brief moment, truly an instant, Yumeba imagined sharing Emilio with Serina and dividing their love—and jealousy and possessiveness surged forth enough to drive her mad.

The possessiveness and jealousy that could be called House Saionji’s curse were deeply inherited in her too, and she absolutely couldn’t tolerate letting other women near Emilio.

On the other hand, when Yumeba thought about Emilio…

(Ahh… ♡)

Bottomless affection overflowed and filled her with loving feelings.

This was House Saionji.

She had female friendship with her friend Serina, and she sympathized with and pitied her for seeking Emilio even while brainwashed, but…

(I’d rather die than give Lio up.)

Still, the man she’d chosen was tens of thousands of times more important.

“I somehow feel like Yumeba-sama and I could become good friends.”

“Yes. I… think so too.”

Yumeba responded without showing her inner thoughts.

“Thinking about it, if I marry Yuni-sama, then Yumeba-sama and I would be sisters-in-law. It’s only natural we’d become close.”

“…Yes.”

“!”

Yumeba responded again to keep up appearances, but the attending maid caught her breath.

Without realizing it herself—Serina was shedding tears.

(Will Serina someday break free from the distorted brainwashing on her own and regain her memories?)

Yumeba thought that would be very cruel.

Even if she regained her memories, what Serina truly wanted had gone somewhere beyond her reach.

(I don’t dislike you, but even so, Lio alone… I can’t give him up or share him.)

Yumeba noticed the maid’s pleading gaze, but she too had something she absolutely couldn’t yield.

(If only Serina’s fiancé wasn’t Yunix… my heart would be a little lighter.)

While sighing inwardly, Yumeba drank the tasteless tea while Serina continued talking through her tears.

◇◇◇

I’ll try changing my approach to flight magic a bit.

Until now, I’d tried flying by blocking gravity with gravity magic developed from earth magic, or lifting my body with storm magic developed from wind magic.

But that was wasteful and inefficient.

(That said, what should I do?)

I turned on my left eye to visualize mana.

Since my mana was completely managed in my subconscious room, no mana leaked from my body.

What I could see now was—mana existing in the air floating around me.

This was called magic essence, and when I first became able to visualize mana, I’d tried taking magic essence into my body to operate it.

Frankly, I’d hovered between life and death for several days.

Yeah. Magic essence was poisonous to the human body.

If I hadn’t been able to diligently throw the magic essence out in my subconscious room while dying, I would’ve died with high probability.

In this world, this is called magic essence poisoning, and is apparently recognized as a deadly poison with a fatality rate exceeding 90%.

Incidentally, it turned out to be the same poison I’d been given at age six.

Because I’d been given this, my mana-generating function was destroyed, and I ended up being judged to have no magical aptitude.

(Back then I was too traumatized from nearly dying to think about using magic essence, but the stock of mana spheres I’ve stored in my subconscious room is running low.)

The cost of Aegis, which I keep constantly active, becomes negative compared to the mana I generate.

On top of that, I’d hunted massive numbers of monsters as an adventurer, so my stock was running low.

(In other words, the problem is taking magic essence into my body, so if I could manage and operate magic essence outside my body, I might be able to reduce at least Aegis’s cost.)

Now that I was married with a wife, I had no intention of taking unnecessary risks—but I also didn’t want to be content being someone who’s only protected by his wife.

As originally planned, I didn’t need to become strong enough to protect Yumeba, but I wanted to stand beside her without being a burden.

(I’ll try working hard a bit.)

I decided to consider a configuration that would let Aegis automatically maintain itself by absorbing surrounding magic essence.

The improved new Aegis was completed more easily than I’d imagined.

(Hmm. My understanding of magic seems to have increased more than I thought.)

Anyway, this let me escape the constant deficit in mana operation.

In other words, I could now operate mana without economizing.

(Mana… mana, huh?)

What exactly is mana in the first place?

I’d been taught it was necessary for using magic and hadn’t thought deeply about it, but wasn’t elucidating this mana the key to mastering magic?

Rather than using mana to perform magic, I tried extracting mana as mana from inside my body to outside.

Previously I’d struggled just to gather it from my subconscious room to a body part, but now I could freely move mana from my subconscious room at will.

I tried moving it not to operate inside my body, but outside my body…

(Mm. Once mana leaves the body, maintaining it is difficult.)

I desperately controlled the mana that seemed ready to dissipate if I let my guard down, compressing it into a sphere and maintaining it.

After concentrating on maintenance like that for a while, I finally got used to it, and a small sphere of mana floated above my fingertip.

(…How is the mana floating?)

You could say mana has no weight and that would be that, but the mana controlled by my will was floating normally without relying on wind or gravity.

“…Can’t I use this?”

“Use what?”

“Hyaa…!”

I forgot to mention, but my current location was the bedroom—the room that used to be Yumeba’s room at House Saionji, now used as our marital chamber.

The current time was already approaching late at night, and naturally we were in bed—in the so-called aftermath, embracing each other completely naked.

More precisely, I’d been pondering mana operation while embracing Yumeba’s warm body, but I never expected a response to my quiet murmur.

“I was dozing a bit while pondering new mana operation.”

“The kind you’ll forget by tomorrow morning?”

“…I’ve experienced similar things several times.”

I’d ponder various things right before sleeping, thinking I’d try them tomorrow, only to completely forget by morning—that really did happen often.

“Tee-hee.”

Yumeba laughed happily in my arms and gently wrapped her arms around my back, embracing me in return.

“Good night.”

“…Good night.”

Anyway, I’ll sleep for today and try it tomorrow.

◇◇◇

The next morning.

Today too, Yumeba went out to Imperial Guard training…

“I’m so excited!”

Rather than going out, she was nearby watching my experiment.

“Um… is work okay?”

“Yesterday when I showed up for training, various things happened. So it’s probably better if I don’t show my face for two or three days.”

“What happened?”

Why do problems arise just from showing your face for one day?

“Besides, if the Empire faces an emergency, they’ll summon House Saionji anyway.”

“…True.”

House Saionji are guardians of the Empire.

Even without actively working, they bring work from their side, and completing it automatically brings in large sums of money.

“So? What kind of experiment are you doing today?”

“…New mana operation.”

Anyway, what I’d thought of last night was—if mana floats according to my will on its own, couldn’t I fly freely by cloaking my entire body in mana?

“But I always have mana leaking from my body, and I’ve never been able to fly with that.”

“That’s just surplus unused mana leaking, not intentionally cloaking your body… probably?”

“You’re half-doubting it.”

“Well, I’m about to experiment with it.”

“True! ♪”

Yeah. Yumeba really looks happy.

Anyway, I operated the mana secured in my subconscious room and carefully cloaked my entire body.

“Okay. Now I just need to try floating and—!”

“Lio!”

I’d been in the courtyard of House Saionji, but before I knew it, I’d been slammed into the outer wall surrounding the ducal house.

“A-Are you okay? Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?”

Yumeba worried and ran her hands all over my body, but…

“I’m totally fine, but… what happened?”

“I don’t know. I just saw Lio suddenly go toward the wall at incredible speed and crash.”

“Incredible speed?”

I’d certainly cloaked my entire body in mana and tried to float a bit and move forward—but I never expected to crash into the wall at super speed.

“Actually, I’m surprised you’re okay after being slammed at that speed.”

I checked my body just in case, but there were indeed no injuries or pain.

For the sake of cloaking mana, I’d temporarily released Aegis, but despite that, I was completely unharmed.

“This is… incredibly mana-efficient, and just by cloaking I’m getting defense comparable to Aegis?”

“Really?”

Yumeba poked at me cloaked in mana with her finger, but I felt the poking normally.

“Looks like I need to experiment with various things.”

“…Be careful, okay?”

“I know.”

I carefully began my experiments so as not to worry Yumeba.

After several hours of experiments, what I’d learned was that I could fly freely with less than one-hundredth of the mana I’d initially cloaked myself in—incredibly efficient mana operation.

While cloaked in mana, I didn’t receive physical effects.

Apparently mana is free energy unaffected by physical laws.

And highly efficient too.

“Ah, I see.”

And I suddenly understood.

Mastering magic to reach true magic.

To do that, I had to change my approach not from magic arts but from how to use mana itself.

And having understood that—I could already use true magic.

Simultaneously, I understood that the negative energy from misfortune I’d been forced to collect on Earth had transformed into the form I desired.

And before I knew it, I was standing in a place like a pure white temple.