Magic, magic power, and magic tools

 ☆

 
 The next day.
 
 Anna and I were walking along the path leading from the staff entrance.
 
 ”Over here, it looks a bit like a forest, doesn’t it?”
 
 Anna said something like that cheerfully, while holding an armful of cleaning tools with both hands.
 
 ”Yeah. There are just trees planted around here, but… since the path twists, it looks almost like we’re in the middle of a forest, huh.”
 
 The sunlight is pouring down in the space between trees like ribbons, producing a dream-like scene.
 Turning my gaze to the side, I could see the mansion past the sparkling, reflective pond’s surface.
 
 In fact, Anna isn’t the only one getting excited by this spectacle.
 Honestly, I was excited as well, with my heart pounding so hard that my ill body felt light.
 
 This place is important to me.
 In my previous life, I immersed myself in making magic tools in the spare moments between bridal training…
 
 ”Oh, is it that one?”
 
 Anna dexterously pointed with a broom in her hand.
 And where she pointed, was———
 
 Quietly tucked away in the woods, stood a single cabin.
 
 
 
 The nostalgic cabin in the woods. I unconsciously came to a standstill before the laboratory for the Ainsworth head’s exclusive use.
 
 ”Thank goodness. It hasn’t changed…”
 
 ”Huh? What was it that you just said???”
 
 Having unconsciously leaked my inner thoughts, Anna, who had gone ahead, turned around with a start.
 
 ”Nah, it’s nothing.”
 
 I waved my hands in a fluster.
 
 Thankfully, Anna didn’t pay it much attention, and went right up to the cabin and began spreading the cleaning tools she brought out.
 
 ”Fuu”
 
 I let out a small sigh, and looked all around.
 
 In the area around the cabin and the path leading up till here, weeds and such had been pulled out and maintained by the mansion’s servants.
 
 There’s no problem with the outside.
 The problem seemed to, in fact, be with the inside.
 
 Only the current head and their family are able to open the special mechanism locking the cabin.
 Dad and my brothers seem to have not used it in a long time, so there’s probably quite a lot of dust piled up.
 
 In other words, that was what Anna’s psyched-up preparations were for.
 
 
 
 The attendant that loves cleaning briskly set about with her preparations.
 She set the broom against the wall, placed the feather duster on a footstool, and put a bucket by her feet.
 
 And then Anna held both hands above that bucket.
 
 ”[O pure water. Flow from my hands and fill the bucket. Water Creation]!”^[1]
 
 A simple chant.
 Seeing something I hadn’t in a long time, it was a marvellous sight.
 
 Having finished her chant, water flowed from both of her hands. A miracle that would be unthinkable in [Japan] was happening right before my eyes.
 
 Clear water poured into the bucket.
 
 Water Creation is a beginner-level magic that even those with little magic power can easily activate.
 It produces water by converting the magic power within the body.
 
 Incidentally, the intermediate-level magic called Water Tornado, which is an application of this magic, is often used in combat.
 I was able to use it during practical lessons at the academy in my previous life, but… what about the me right now?
 
 ”…”
 
 My curiosity was tickled.
 
 
 
 ”Just a bit is fine, right?”
 
 This is a world that expressly has magic.
 I want to try and see if I can do it.
 
 Having lost to my curiosity, I point my finger towards the pond beyond the trees.
 
 Since it’s a test fire, I’ll keep the power to a minimum.
 
 If I’m able to fire magic the same as what I could before, then firing with maximum power would completely destroy the mansion.^[2]
 
 ”Suu~~, Haa~~”
 
 I took a deep breath and chanted with a whisper.
 
 ”[O flowing water, small as a cup of water. Collect at my fingertip, swirl into a whirlpool, and continue at walking speed in the direction I point. Water Tornado]!”
 
 The constructed magic chant guides the magic power within my body.
 
 In the next moment, a whirlpool of water the size of a toy trumpet^[3] materialised at my fingertip, spun with a whoosh and flew towards the pond.
 
 (I did it!)
 
 My first magic since when last seems to have been successful.
 
 My magic slipped past the gap between the trees at the speed of a person walking, and went to the surface of the pond.
 And then the tiny whirlpool of water made a splash, and…
 
 (Huh?)
 
 Bushushushushushu!!!!
 
 The water’s surface was torn apart, and rotating with all its might as though it’s a screw, it scattered in a forceful splash.
 
 (Th-, that’s bad!?)
 
 My magic launched a flashy spray of mist as it submerged itself underwater, heading straight down till the bottom of the pond while gurgling and bubbling.
 
 
 
 Fortunately, despite its flashy outward appearance, the surroundings didn’t seem to have any visible damage, and at most, only up to the edges of the pond got flooded.
 
 Anna didn’t seem to notice, and there didn’t seem to be any witnesses from the mansion’s direction.
 
 ——— but still, I’m seriously reflecting.
 
 ”After all, you really can’t just casually use intermediate-level magic…”
 
 Had I made a mistake, I could have maybe made a hole in the mansion the size of a tennis ball.
 
 The thing that happened just now was clearly due to a blunder in the chant.
 
 The amount of water was specified as [about a cupful] and [small].
 The direction of movement was specified as [the direction I point].
 The speed was also specified as [walking speed].
 However, I forgot to specify the rotational power of the whirlpool and the magic’s termination condition.
 
 As a result, that happened.
 
 When invoking magic, the scope of the size and effect, the termination condition, as well as other things, need to be finely specified when chanting.
 If you don’t properly specify it, it will run wild in proportion to the magic power of the practitioner, as it did earlier.
 
 If you have little magic power, the damage is negligible, but if you have a huge amount like I do, you could literally blow up a building.
 
 It looks convenient, but is in fact very difficult to use properly.
 That is magic.
 
 In fact, chanting isn’t always necessarily needed.
 It can also be invoked by visualising it in your mind and manipulating your magic power. However, controlling it becomes more difficult proportionately, and the risk of it running wild rises.
 Under the kingdom’s laws, chanting is obligatory for those who are able to use intermediate or higher level magic, even if it is beginner-level magic that they’re using.
 
 It is for this exact reason that magic tools are superior at invoking magic compared to chant- and chantless-magic.
 
 Because the magic formula is built into it, there are no omissions in the orders specified. Magic of a fixed power can be invoked immediately and reliably.
 Moreover, the user isn’t chosen.
 These are the merits of magic tools.
 
 The magic tool I am going to make will make the most of these merits.
 
 I felt the desire to create magic tools, and the plan of the magic tool I am going to make, welling up within me.
 
 At that moment, a cheerful voice was heard from the direction of the cabin.
 
 ”Ojou-samaa. Please open the looock!”
 
 My attendant wildly waved her hand.
 
 ”Fufu.”
 
 Anna was full of motivation.
 Though it doesn’t mean that I got caught up in her energy, I also headed to the cabin excited.
 

TL Notes:

[1]lol, this honestly sounds so funny to me. She uses such regal language, to fill a bucket XD ↩

[2]I feel I should remind everyone here, but it has already been mentioned that she does have a high amount of magic power. It was one of the reasons for the engagement, after all. Hence, this isn’t something that the author suddenly added in (although I did mistakenly think that way at first before remembering. Too many conveniently OP MC’s, without reason…) ↩

[3]I don’t know why they used this specific comparison, but that’s definitely what it said ↩