I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me. - Chapter 11
- Home
- All
- I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me.
- Chapter 11 - The magician is surprisingly easy to find.
“We weren’t able to determine the cause.”
Arina-san and I were in the office, reporting the results of our patrol to Milena-san.
Although we had encountered especially dangerous species and an abnormal number of demons, we were unable to uncover anything explaining the phenomenon.
With a grave expression, Milena-san picked up one of the magical stones lying on her desk.
“A high density of demons and a chimera that shouldn’t be here… I just don’t believe that there isn’t some external cause. But if it really happened naturally, then there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“It might just be deeper in the forest. Oh, but we’re not going alone, okay?”
“If you want us to go again, give us a raise.”
Arina-san and I firmly expressed our displeasure. I didn’t want to police the forest every day. We have our limits too, you know? Increasing the size of the patrol would probably be more efficient.
Milena-san gave an understanding smile.
“I’m not such a tyrant. The other time was a direct order from the management. I don’t want to burden you.”
“I hope so…”
I sipped my tea with greater peace of mind.
I’m relieved. I didn’t know what I would do if they had told me to go. Thankfully, Milena-san wasn’t the kind of person to abuse her authority.
“To be honest, the increase in numbers is only a matter of suppression…”
“Raize can do it from the palace. Problem solved.”
“Hey, are you asking me to do it all by myself? Sniping them every morning is a lot of work, you know?”
I didn’t have the sort of self-sacrifice to take on everyone else’s burden. In my opinion, jobs are supposed to be equally delegated. Especially since court magicians are all paid the same salary.
Also, would you mind not casually recommending me like that? I’d appreciate it.
“I’ll try to figure something out, but I think we should proceed with the investigation in the meantime. Either way, we can’t leave it alone.”
“I agree. If we let demons as dangerous as the chimera roam around, it’ll affect traffic to the city.”
“Investigating the cause…”
Milena-san tossed the stone she was holding onto the desk. Shouldn’t you be taking better care of that?
“It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle without knowing what it’s supposed to look like. I have no idea where to start.”
“About the chimera, could someone have brought it here?”
“That can’t be true.”
That’s right… There’s no way someone could have brought it from afar. Chimerae usually stay away from humans, and this one was especially ferocious. I knocked it out easily, but most people wouldn’t be able to scratch it. Not to mention I needed Arina’s help to do so.
“No, you can’t deny that there’s a possibility.”
“…?”
A question mark hung over my and Arina-san’s heads.
“It exists, doesn’t it? A hidden power that makes the impossible possible.”
Her tone prompted us for an answer.
What? A hidden power… I’m drawing a blank.
“—Possession magic?”
“Ah.”
Arina-san’s answer surprised me. I see, of course she’d think of that.
Milena-san nodded.
“What if there were a spell that could multiply the monsters? Magic is deep. There are countless spells that we don’t know about, and maybe special magicians too.”
“I guess Arina-san’s Earth Interference would be an unreal experience for someone seeing it for the first time.”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“Must you say so yourself? …Well, not that I can deny it.”
As I’ve said many times, Arina-san’s Earth Interference is hyper-offensive. Within her range, I’d surrender immediately. Pride is cheap. I’d rather beg for my life than waste it.
An owl hooted outside.
“It’s late, so let’s stop here for today. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“The pile of demons is still there in front of the gate, so they need to be collected. Maybe the Knights can do it.”
“I buried the chimera. I’ll collect it later myself.”
“What are you going to use it for?”
“It looks interesting, even if it’s dead.”
“…Don’t do anything troublesome, either of you.”
“All I’m saying is that this should have been the Knights’ job in the first place, so they should clean up after us.”
“They can’t stand up to us anyway.”
“You guys…”
Milena-san, rubbed her temple and shot us an exasperated look.
That look isn’t going to change how we feel. We risked our lives killing dangerous demons, so the least they could do is collect the dead bodies, right?
I grinned.
“You both look evil right now. I’m the one that’ll get in trouble if you guys do anything!”
Milena-san pleaded with us, but it only made me want to mess around even more.
Don’t worry. I won’t do anything strange… Probably.
***
After the debriefing, I was on my way back to the boarding house. Engrossed in my thoughts, I walked through a hallway in the royal palace.
“Possession magic…”
I recalled Arina-san’s proposition.
If a possession magic user was involved, then why? What did increasing the number of demons accomplish?
Was it just to endanger those travelling to the royal capital? Or was there a deeper reason…
I couldn’t think of anything. Even if I did come up with something, it would’ve been nothing more than a hunch.
“I should stop thinking about this.”
I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts, but my mind kept running. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. I needed to cool my head.
I turned around and soon arrived at the most comfortable (according to my research) area of the palace: the courtyard at its center.
I hadn’t been here for a while, but the trickling fountain and trees swaying in the cool night breeze calmed me just as they used to. It’s a bit cold, but I’ll get used to it.
It was late, so I was sure no one would come. Invisibility was unnecessary at this hour.
I unbuckled my rapier and leaned against the edge of the fountain. Looking up, I stared at the stars twinkling in the sky.
There was no better place to clear my head.
“—Fine Ice.”
I invoked the magic lazily, without adjusting my posture.
A thin white mist spread throughout the garden, suspending particles that shone in the moonlight.
Water Attribute Mid-Range Elementary Magic—Fine Ice.
This spell lowers the temperature in a certain area just enough to crystallize the moisture in the air. Offensively, it’s useless. It’s more of an entertaining party trick.
But at the right place and the right time, the view it created was gorgeous. Crystals of ice shone like jewels and swirled around before melting against a surface.
I didn’t really have a good reason to use it, but…
“There’s no point thinking about it this deeply. If anything happens, we can just crush them one by one—“
“Found you.”
I snapped my head toward the voice. Cautiously, I sat up and held my rapier to my waist. At this hour? Who is it?
My eyes widened at the figure that appeared in front of me.
I cursed my stupidity for thinking I could relax for even a few minutes.
“It’s you…”
“Long time no see. I finally found you—Raize-sama.”
Her Highness greeted me with a devilish smile.