Magic and Sorcery

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 The day after applying for the Runefelt School of Sorcery’s exam.
 
 In order to receive guidance in sorcery from Johanna, the three test-takers had gathered in the mansion’s backyard.
 
 “Thanks for going out of your way to prepare a target for us, Glen-san.”
 
 Giving my thanks to the knight (in the guise of a swordsman) who had returned from preparing a target for us, Glen grinned widely.
 
 “No, it’s just a practice target bought in town, so this much isn’t such a big deal, Your E— Letty.”
 
 Your Excellency, is what Glen hurriedly stopped himself from saying.
 
 Yesterday and the day before, we’d gone out in a carriage and had a meal together, and had also had a so-so conversation, yet even with that, the young knight couldn’t seem to throw away the honorifics.
 
 He seems to be that kind of person.
 
 Seeing our exchange, Johanna let out a sigh, muttering 『This’s no good』 while exaggeratingly shrugging her shoulders, before turning to face us.
 
 
 
 “Well then, let’s begin the lesson immediately. Letty and Anna have actually never seen sorcery before, right?”
 
 ““Yes.””
 
 When Anna and I replied, Johanna nodded, going 『Ok, ok』.
 
 “On the other hand, has Renee seen proper magic?”
 
 “Uhm… it was only once right at the beginning, but my teacher did show me.”
 
 “Then, let’s begin the review. ——— Anna, Letty, whichever of you is fine, can one of you shoot some attack magic at that target? But, with the least power.”
 
 ““?””
 
 Anna and I exchanged glances.
 
 “Then, let me do it.”
 
 Saying so, Anna went over the line Johanna had drawn on the ground.
 
 She faced the target and pointed her index finger that way, then began her chant.
 
 
 
 “A flame, small like that of the flickering candle. Gather at my fingertip and become a ball of fire, advance at the speed of a horse and pierce the target———”
 
 A magic circle floated at the end of her finger along with her chanting, and at the tip, a ping-pong ball of flame flickered there.
 
 “『Flaming Arrow 《Flam Sageeta》』!”
 
 Whoosh
 
 Along with her shout, the fireball flew through the air while spinning.
 
 And then,
 
 Boom!
 
 Flames rose up on the target it hit, and then immediately went out.
 
 ““Ooh!””
 
 Clap clap, we all applauded.
 
 “You did it. That was a perfect example of magic.”
 
 Johanna praised Anna highly.
 
 Yep, yep.
 My Anna is amazing.
 
 “Just as expected of you, Anna-nee-san!”
 
 As I said this with a smile upon my face,
 
 “If it’s for Letty, it’s only natural.”
 
 Anna smiled cheerfully back at me.
 
 
 
 “Then, next. This time I’ll show you how I do the same thing with sorcery. As I’ll be using the same flame-attribute as what Anna shot, take note of the differences.”
 
 ““Yes.””
 
 Smiling at our reply, Johanna took out a wand less than 30 centimetres from her breast pocket.
 
 “Here I go… Lect!”
 
 Matching her wand to eye level along with her voice, a blue magic light took place at the tip.
 
 “Berteflam con prominelle———”
 
 Waving her wand like a conductor’s baton, the light on the wand’s end turned red———
 
 “Sageeta!!”
 
 The moment she swung her wand down, a marble-sized glowing ball of red light vigorously shot forward.
 
 Zip———Bang!
 
 It hit the target, and burst open.
 
 ““Oohh!””
 
 We cheered and applauded.
 
 ——— amazing.
 
 The chant time was less than half.
 The speed was also fast.
 And most importantly———
 
 “Less attenuation of magic power!… This, is sorcery!!”
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 “Well then. You’ve just seen both magic and sorcery… Letty. Can you guess what I did?”
 
 A mischievous smile flitted across Johanna’s expression for a bit as she asked this question.
 
 I gathered my thoughts, then opened my mouth.
 
 “Firstly, you gathered magic at the end of your wand.”
 
 “That’s right.”
 
 “After that, you converted the magic power’s attribute to 『fire』, then condensed it, and fired it. ——— it looked kind of like that.”
 
 Hearing my words, Johanna’s eyes went wide with surprise.
 
 “That’s pretty much it. Did you perhaps do any prep?”
 
 “No. There wasn’t anyone around who could use sorcery.”
 
 “Is that so. Then just by looking at the conversion of magic power, you understood… I’d heard the rumours, but you’re quite a big deal.”
 
 Saying so, Johanna thought for a bit, then looked at me.
 
 “… Letty, want to try it out yourself?”
 
 “Huh, al-, already???”
 
 I was surprised.
 
 “Welll, if you understood that much, there’s no longer anything for me to teach you, you see.”
 
 Ha ha ha, laughed my senior in sorcery.
 
 “And so, what will you do? Maybe you’ll understand more by trying it out?”
 
 “… understood. let me try it!”
 
 When I responded this way, Johanna gave me a thumbs up, saying 『that’s how it should be!』.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 ——— A few minutes later.
 
 “This is, difficult!”
 
 Having given up, Johanna had a delicate expression as she tilted her head.
 
 “Yeaahhh… You understand the principle. Your magic control is also perfect. Even so, it doesn’t seem to be working. Well, if you could do it just by seeing sorcery, then the school and I would be put in an awkward position, you know.”^[1]
 
 Saying so, she smiled wryly.
 
 Certainly, it takes two years till graduating from the Runefelt Sorcery School to learn sorcery.
 If you could learn it by just looking, no one would think of going to the school.
 
 That said, as a magic toolsmith, it’s frustrating not being able to activate it despite being shown a demonstration and even understanding the principle.
 
 “When you try to convert the magic power attribute, it just ends up becoming 『fire』 itself. If that happens, it’s no longer sorcery, but magic instead, no?”
 
 “That’s right. If magic is 『a method of converting magic power into physical phenomena and using it』, then sorcery is 『a technique to change the characteristics of magic power and use it』. Having gotten used to activating magic, I guess you’re drawn more that way.”
 
 Hmm, we pondered on it.
 
 It was then that I suddenly looked up, and noticed Renee fidgeting around, bored.
 
 “That’s right! Renee can use sorcery, can’t she?”
 
 “Huh, me?!”
 
 Suddenly being called out to, my friend timidly looked at me.
 
 “Right. ——— If it’s fine, can you teach me sorcery?”
 
 “Um, but, I’m not that good at it…”
 
 Eyes cast down, Renee curled up her body.
 Seeing that, Anna took her hand.
 
 “It’s alright. You’re going to school in order to get better at it. Compared to an expert like Johanna, you, who haven’t been learning for that long, might serve better as a reference. If it’s alright with you, I’d like you to please show Letty and I your current ability.”
 
 Saying so, Anna winked at me.
 I nodded.
 
 And then, Johanna gave a further push.
 
 “I’d also like to see Renee’s true ability. The exam is in one week. Which means we can’t be wasting time.”
 
 Having been persuaded by the three of us, Renee was puzzled for a bit, then gave a small nod.
 
 “… understood. I’ll do it. But I’m bad at it, so please don’t laugh, ok?”
 
 The little sorcerer in the making, having said as much, took out an aged wand from her breast pocket.
 
 
 
 One minute later.
 
 “…… so, what do we do about this?”
 
 As we stood frozen, dumbfounded, Johanna was the first to open her mouth.
 
 In response, Glen spoke up with his hand to his head.
 
 “No matter what, we’ll have to go apologize. ——— To the neighbours.”
 
 “I guess we really have to, huh.”
 
 Johanna’s smile was twitching.
 
 “Uhm… I’m truly sorry!!”
 
 Renee lowered her head, looking like she was about to cry.
 
 Seeing her like that, I took her hand.^[2]
 
 “Renee isn’t to blame. I’m the one who asked you to use sorcery.”
 
 “But, but———!”
 
 “It’s alright. I’ll compensate the neighbour for it… yeah. It’s alright! This much is nothing!!”
 
 I shouted this out with pretend cheeriness.
 
 “But even so, that’s quite flashy.”
 
 ““…””
 
 When Glen said that, we turned to look at the silent target.
 
 And at the end of our gaze.
 
 Over there, was the target without a single scratch ——— and the wall on the neighbour’s property, which looked like it had been blown up flashily with dynamite.