After a massive mana surge was observed in the Lukewood, wizards tentatively concluded that it was an unknown natural phenomenon likely caused by artificial mana generation, hence akin to a kind of abnormal weather phenomenon.
“That’s quite a reasonable assumption.”
Sorby, listening to the story, murmured with a stretched expression.
Thanks to this abnormal weather or whatever it was, things had become remarkably quiet, which was a good thing.
“Even the monsters have ceased their activities.”
“Well, with that level of mana reaction, it’s understandable to be intimidated.”
Daphne sipped her tea made from the tea leaves Yerina had, watching Luke and Kirke playing badminton over there.
“Thanks to that, these past few days have been unbelievably peaceful.”
The mana surge throughout the forest.
No matter how much monsters were drawn to mana, they couldn’t help but be scared of such a surge.
Overwhelming presence and fear of the unknown.
The monsters could only cower and tremble, hoping that the entity behind the mana surge wasn’t angry with them.
Thanks to that, although the forest wardens, whose main duty was to drive away monsters converging on the city, showed up for work, there was nothing for them to do.
In truth, despite complaining, Sorby rather liked this situation.
She wished things were like this every day.
“Sister, is it impossible to artificially create such a level of mana flow?”
Daphne, hearing Sorby’s foolish question, closed her eyes slightly, shook her head, and replied.
“It’s absurd. Unless someone intends to blow up the entire forest.”
With modern magical technology, there was no way to manipulate such levels of mana.
More precisely, there was no way to manipulate it “non-destructively.”
When considering magic capable of handling that level of mana, the first thing that came to mind would probably be the 9th class military-grade bombing magic, “Absolute Destruction Field.”
Shortened to “ADF,” the effect of that magic, as inferred from its destructive naming, completely disintegrates and annihilates objects over a wide area, down to the mana level, leaving no remnants of mana behind. It’s the ultimate destructive magic.
However, the price of the “single-use” staff required to use such a large-scale magic is a whopping 20 trillion.
It’s a level that individuals could never afford to operate.
Since the government wouldn’t be crazy enough to drop something like that in a forest designated for artificial urban tree mana generation support, it’s practically an impossible task.
“Hmm.”
Sorby muttered with a meaning of “I see,” making a sound and adjusting her posture.
“In that case, could it really be a natural phenomenon?”
“We have to see it that way… Well, as long as it’s not the monsters.”
“That’s true. I don’t mind it either way.”
Sorby murmured while watching a butterfly fluttering towards her.
“Even the weather suddenly got warmer.”
In a forest where winter had suddenly turned into spring in just a few days, everyone was having a hard time adapting.
The opinions of experts on the sudden change of seasons were as follows:
“The lingering essence of winter in the forest has all flown away. It seems like spring came a bit early.”
This, too, was attributed to the effects of climate change.
“Ugh, I don’t mind the warmth, but…”
Sorby muttered discontentedly as she stretched and yawned.
Being originally sensitive to cold, she welcomed the early arrival of spring.
Her only complaint was having to hastily dig out her spring clothes from the depths of her closet.
As she leisurely enjoyed her idle time,
From inside the lodging, Yerina emerged, tidying her slightly tousled hair as if she had just woken up from a nap.
Seeing her, Daphne greeted her casually and said,
“Are you awake now?”
“Ugh… yeah, I guess. Daphne, how’s Luke?”
“She’s having a good time with Kirke.”
“Is that so?”
Yerina smiled contentedly as she looked at Luke.
With her ponytail, neatly tied back by Daphne, swinging as she wielded a badminton racket.
The cheerful sound of “thock, thwack, thock” continued.
With the hem of her dress swaying and her hair tied back, the sight of the child darting around the court, swinging the racket, made time seem to pass quickly if one stared absentmindedly.
“But, she’s surprisingly good at badminton.”
Kirke was naturally athletic, as Daphne said, but Luke was unexpected.
She moved much more gracefully than Sorby had thought.
“I thought she could only read books all the time and couldn’t do stuff like that.”
As Daphne said, Luke’s movements were remarkable.
“Sis, we should consider making her a sports player later.”
Upon Sorby’s suggestion, Yerina briefly imagined Luke engaging in sports.
“Hmm, should we?”
That would be quite adorable, too.
***
“Whew, should we take a short break?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
As Kirke suggested a break to Luke, whose breathing had become heavier.
Luke, catching the shuttlecock descending slowly, raised her body from a crouch and agreed to the suggestion.
Kirke remarked, seemingly amazed at her performance.
“Wow, you’re really good. Especially for someone so young.”
As Luke steadied the circle of her heart that she constantly rotated while breathing, Pie immediately stirred the wind, as if acknowledging her efforts, and gently tousled Luke’s hair.
“Luke!……!”
“Ah, thanks, Pie.”
Feeling the refreshing breeze that cooled her sweat, Luke said to Kirke, “You’re quite impressive yourself.”
‘As expected, simultaneous casting of ‘Enhance Body’ and ‘Wind’ from the 2nd Circle poses no problem.’
In fact, Luke was in the midst of facing Kirke by enhancing her physical abilities with magic and adjusting the trajectory of the shuttlecock bit by bit with Wind.
To Luke, magic was like breathing.
In the past, even simple magic could be transformed into overwhelming magic through simultaneous casting, which no one could imitate. This time, Luke wanted to test the perfectly settled 2nd Circle and accepted Kirke’s badminton proposal.
The 2nd Circle worked perfectly as expected.
‘My body feels much lighter, and the efficiency of reinforcement magic is excellent. Most importantly, I can exercise without the annoying joint pain.’
If the 1st Circle was about ‘basic mastery of mana,’ then the 2nd Circle went further, ‘mastery of non-material properties.’
Authorization to manipulate mana in forms similar to gases, including fire and wind.
That was the meaning of the 2nd Circle.
With a sense of satisfaction at finally reclaiming it, Luke found herself smiling involuntarily.
Kirke, feeling a pleasant breeze blowing from somewhere, also smiled back at Luke.
Suddenly, Kirke spoke up, “Oh, it’s already the time.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by ‘the time’?”
“It’s lunchtime!”
“Oh, is that so.”
They must have been playing badminton until lunchtime.
It seemed like they were so caught up in the sensation of hitting the shuttlecock with the racket that they lost track of time.
As Luke turned around, she met eyes with Yerina, who was smiling at her from afar.
Feeling awkward under her gaze, Luke instinctively scratched her neck and looked away.
‘That gaze as if she’s looking at that kid… it’s uncomfortable.’
Whatever Luke did, that gaze made her feel somewhat awkward.
Well, now she was actually a kid, but hse hadn’t quite gotten used to the uncomfortable feeling that gaze gave her.
No one had ever sent such a gaze to an old man until now.
The fact that Luke became a Archmage at a relatively young age meant that she hadn’t seen such a pleased smile that seemed to be looking at a child since her twenties, making it even harder to adapt.
‘It’s embarrassing, though.’
But that shy response seemed like nothing but childishness to everyone, including Yerina. Was that the problem?
Luke wasn’t unaware of that fact, but apart from feeling embarrassed, she couldn’t react differently.
“Yerina, are you awake now too?”
As Luke approached, Yerina handed her a bottle of cool water and asked, “Did you enjoy badminton, Luke?”
“Well… yeah. It was more fun than I thought.”
Kirke smirked and said to Luke, “Isn’t that right? But, Sorby, that lazy one never intends to exercise.”
“What? Lazy? Have you said enough?”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
When Kirke shrugged, Sorby shouted as if to say it wasn’t true, “Not lazy, it’s just that I don’t like sweating from exercising! That’s why!”
“Yes, yes. Excuses, excuses.”
“Grr! Just wait, you!”
Kirke, suppressing a smile as if to mock, while Sorby frowned heavily, as if unable to tolerate it any longer, stood up and approached Luke, whimpering.
“Ugh~, Luke, Kirke’s bothering me!”
“Ah. Don’t come any closer.”
“Gasp.”
Sorby, with a shocked expression at Luke’s firm refusal, froze in the motion of wanting to embrace.
Luke, as if explaining her reaction, said, “…Didn’t you say you don’t like sweating? My body is covered in sweat right now, it would be uncomfortable for you.”
Sorby, hearing this, was greatly touched, making a boiling kettle sound and hugged tightly.
“Luke’s sweat is an exception!”
“Ah.”
Luke regretted saying that.
Honestly, even Luke found it uncomfortable to hug while sweating.
But what could she do now that she had already embraced? Luke sighed and said to Sorby, “Well… just be careful not to get poked by my horns.”
“Are you worrying about me, small sister?”
“….”
Luke looked at the spirit making puppy-like noises nearby as if it envied it.
‘Is it possible for a formless spirit to hug?’
Considering that even trying to touch the spirit’s ethereal body would ultimately pass through it, it seemed that it couldn’t interfere physically with the world beyond a certain point.
The meaning of not being hugged would ultimately come down to not sharing body heat.
Yerina, as if poking fun at Luke’s contemplation, said, “Sorby, since Luke seems to dislike it, let her go.”
“Eek, that’s mean! Luke, do you dislike big sister too?”
When Sorby made a pitiful expression and looked at Luke, asking, Luke immediately replied, “It might be better to step back a bit because it’s hot.”
“That’s mean!”
Kirke sighed with a shake of her head and muttered, “Is that really necessary?”
After a massive mana surge was observed in the Lukewood, wizards tentatively concluded that it was an unknown natural phenomenon likely caused by artificial mana generation, hence akin to a kind of abnormal weather phenomenon.
“That’s quite a reasonable assumption.”
Sorby, listening to the story, murmured with a stretched expression.
Thanks to this abnormal weather or whatever it was, things had become remarkably quiet, which was a good thing.
“Even the monsters have ceased their activities.”
“Well, with that level of mana reaction, it’s understandable to be intimidated.”
Daphne sipped her tea made from the tea leaves Yerina had, watching Luke and Kirke playing badminton over there.
“Thanks to that, these past few days have been unbelievably peaceful.”
The mana surge throughout the forest.
No matter how much monsters were drawn to mana, they couldn’t help but be scared of such a surge.
Overwhelming presence and fear of the unknown.
The monsters could only cower and tremble, hoping that the entity behind the mana surge wasn’t angry with them.
Thanks to that, although the forest wardens, whose main duty was to drive away monsters converging on the city, showed up for work, there was nothing for them to do.
In truth, despite complaining, Sorby rather liked this situation.
She wished things were like this every day.
“Sister, is it impossible to artificially create such a level of mana flow?”
Daphne, hearing Sorby’s foolish question, closed her eyes slightly, shook her head, and replied.
“It’s absurd. Unless someone intends to blow up the entire forest.”
With modern magical technology, there was no way to manipulate such levels of mana.
More precisely, there was no way to manipulate it “non-destructively.”
When considering magic capable of handling that level of mana, the first thing that came to mind would probably be the 9th class military-grade bombing magic, “Absolute Destruction Field.”
Shortened to “ADF,” the effect of that magic, as inferred from its destructive naming, completely disintegrates and annihilates objects over a wide area, down to the mana level, leaving no remnants of mana behind. It’s the ultimate destructive magic.
However, the price of the “single-use” staff required to use such a large-scale magic is a whopping 20 trillion.
It’s a level that individuals could never afford to operate.
Since the government wouldn’t be crazy enough to drop something like that in a forest designated for artificial urban tree mana generation support, it’s practically an impossible task.
“Hmm.”
Sorby muttered with a meaning of “I see,” making a sound and adjusting her posture.
“In that case, could it really be a natural phenomenon?”
“We have to see it that way… Well, as long as it’s not the monsters.”
“That’s true. I don’t mind it either way.”
Sorby murmured while watching a butterfly fluttering towards her.
“Even the weather suddenly got warmer.”
In a forest where winter had suddenly turned into spring in just a few days, everyone was having a hard time adapting.
The opinions of experts on the sudden change of seasons were as follows:
“The lingering essence of winter in the forest has all flown away. It seems like spring came a bit early.”
This, too, was attributed to the effects of climate change.
“Ugh, I don’t mind the warmth, but…”
Sorby muttered discontentedly as she stretched and yawned.
Being originally sensitive to cold, she welcomed the early arrival of spring.
Her only complaint was having to hastily dig out her spring clothes from the depths of her closet.
As she leisurely enjoyed her idle time,
From inside the lodging, Yerina emerged, tidying her slightly tousled hair as if she had just woken up from a nap.
Seeing her, Daphne greeted her casually and said,
“Are you awake now?”
“Ugh… yeah, I guess. Daphne, how’s Luke?”
“She’s having a good time with Kirke.”
“Is that so?”
Yerina smiled contentedly as she looked at Luke.
With her ponytail, neatly tied back by Daphne, swinging as she wielded a badminton racket.
The cheerful sound of “thock, thwack, thock” continued.
With the hem of her dress swaying and her hair tied back, the sight of the child darting around the court, swinging the racket, made time seem to pass quickly if one stared absentmindedly.
“But, she’s surprisingly good at badminton.”
Kirke was naturally athletic, as Daphne said, but Luke was unexpected.
She moved much more gracefully than Sorby had thought.
“I thought she could only read books all the time and couldn’t do stuff like that.”
As Daphne said, Luke’s movements were remarkable.
“Sis, we should consider making her a sports player later.”
Upon Sorby’s suggestion, Yerina briefly imagined Luke engaging in sports.
“Hmm, should we?”
That would be quite adorable, too.
***
“Whew, should we take a short break?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
As Kirke suggested a break to Luke, whose breathing had become heavier.
Luke, catching the shuttlecock descending slowly, raised her body from a crouch and agreed to the suggestion.
Kirke remarked, seemingly amazed at her performance.
“Wow, you’re really good. Especially for someone so young.”
As Luke steadied the circle of her heart that she constantly rotated while breathing, Pie immediately stirred the wind, as if acknowledging her efforts, and gently tousled Luke’s hair.
“Luke!……!”
“Ah, thanks, Pie.”
Feeling the refreshing breeze that cooled her sweat, Luke said to Kirke, “You’re quite impressive yourself.”
‘As expected, simultaneous casting of ‘Enhance Body’ and ‘Wind’ from the 2nd Circle poses no problem.’
In fact, Luke was in the midst of facing Kirke by enhancing her physical abilities with magic and adjusting the trajectory of the shuttlecock bit by bit with Wind.
To Luke, magic was like breathing.
In the past, even simple magic could be transformed into overwhelming magic through simultaneous casting, which no one could imitate. This time, Luke wanted to test the perfectly settled 2nd Circle and accepted Kirke’s badminton proposal.
The 2nd Circle worked perfectly as expected.
‘My body feels much lighter, and the efficiency of reinforcement magic is excellent. Most importantly, I can exercise without the annoying joint pain.’
If the 1st Circle was about ‘basic mastery of mana,’ then the 2nd Circle went further, ‘mastery of non-material properties.’
Authorization to manipulate mana in forms similar to gases, including fire and wind.
That was the meaning of the 2nd Circle.
With a sense of satisfaction at finally reclaiming it, Luke found herself smiling involuntarily.
Kirke, feeling a pleasant breeze blowing from somewhere, also smiled back at Luke.
Suddenly, Kirke spoke up, “Oh, it’s already the time.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by ‘the time’?”
“It’s lunchtime!”
“Oh, is that so.”
They must have been playing badminton until lunchtime.
It seemed like they were so caught up in the sensation of hitting the shuttlecock with the racket that they lost track of time.
As Luke turned around, she met eyes with Yerina, who was smiling at her from afar.
Feeling awkward under her gaze, Luke instinctively scratched her neck and looked away.
‘That gaze as if she’s looking at that kid… it’s uncomfortable.’
Whatever Luke did, that gaze made her feel somewhat awkward.
Well, now she was actually a kid, but hse hadn’t quite gotten used to the uncomfortable feeling that gaze gave her.
No one had ever sent such a gaze to an old man until now.
The fact that Luke became a Archmage at a relatively young age meant that she hadn’t seen such a pleased smile that seemed to be looking at a child since her twenties, making it even harder to adapt.
‘It’s embarrassing, though.’
But that shy response seemed like nothing but childishness to everyone, including Yerina. Was that the problem?
Luke wasn’t unaware of that fact, but apart from feeling embarrassed, she couldn’t react differently.
“Yerina, are you awake now too?”
As Luke approached, Yerina handed her a bottle of cool water and asked, “Did you enjoy badminton, Luke?”
“Well… yeah. It was more fun than I thought.”
Kirke smirked and said to Luke, “Isn’t that right? But, Sorby, that lazy one never intends to exercise.”
“What? Lazy? Have you said enough?”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
When Kirke shrugged, Sorby shouted as if to say it wasn’t true, “Not lazy, it’s just that I don’t like sweating from exercising! That’s why!”
“Yes, yes. Excuses, excuses.”
“Grr! Just wait, you!”
Kirke, suppressing a smile as if to mock, while Sorby frowned heavily, as if unable to tolerate it any longer, stood up and approached Luke, whimpering.
“Ugh~, Luke, Kirke’s bothering me!”
“Ah. Don’t come any closer.”
“Gasp.”
Sorby, with a shocked expression at Luke’s firm refusal, froze in the motion of wanting to embrace.
Luke, as if explaining her reaction, said, “…Didn’t you say you don’t like sweating? My body is covered in sweat right now, it would be uncomfortable for you.”
Sorby, hearing this, was greatly touched, making a boiling kettle sound and hugged tightly.
“Luke’s sweat is an exception!”
“Ah.”
Luke regretted saying that.
Honestly, even Luke found it uncomfortable to hug while sweating.
But what could she do now that she had already embraced? Luke sighed and said to Sorby, “Well… just be careful not to get poked by my horns.”
“Are you worrying about me, small sister?”
“….”
Luke looked at the spirit making puppy-like noises nearby as if it envied it.
‘Is it possible for a formless spirit to hug?’
Considering that even trying to touch the spirit’s ethereal body would ultimately pass through it, it seemed that it couldn’t interfere physically with the world beyond a certain point.
The meaning of not being hugged would ultimately come down to not sharing body heat.
Yerina, as if poking fun at Luke’s contemplation, said, “Sorby, since Luke seems to dislike it, let her go.”
“Eek, that’s mean! Luke, do you dislike big sister too?”
When Sorby made a pitiful expression and looked at Luke, asking, Luke immediately replied, “It might be better to step back a bit because it’s hot.”
“That’s mean!”
Kirke sighed with a shake of her head and muttered, “Is that really necessary?”
