Chapter 353

The day after my meeting with Kaoru, I headed back to the Resistance hideout by myself. Fortunately, this place is close to T’oued, so being apart from Pochi for a few moments won’t be a problem at all.

As for why I’m back here… Well, because what Warren had said about the deciding of details ‘not taking much longer than a couple of days’ turned out to be true.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us at such a busy time, Asley.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Surely you’re way busier than me, Warren.”

“You think so? I’ve heard from my subordinates, you know — that there have been sounds coming from your room in the T’oued mansion… of you carrying out experiments late into the night.”

“What!? Am I being put under surveillance or what!?”

“Hahaha, please consider that as some extra protection.”

Man, I can never underestimate him — he’s definitely got a way with words.

“Well, I sure wish we actually had enough manpower to provide you with full-time bodyguards, though.”

“So… what I have now is surveillance, then.”

“Your life and well-being are no longer yours alone, after all. Surely you understand, yes?”

Warren’s got a… super serious look on his face. Is he actually worried about me?

It’s a strange feeling, but I guess it does feel kind of nice to have people looking out for me like this.

“A-anyway, you called me here today to talk about the magic classroom, right?”

I tried to change the subject, but I’m sure Warren saw through my attempt.

“Exactly.”

And then the subject did change — because Warren is totally the kind of guy to play along like this.

“The teachings will be held in Eddo, the Capital of T’oued — specifically a previously abandoned temple in the southern district. We’ve already arranged for a lease and started renovation work. The location should be ready for use by the end of the sixth month.”

“The southern district… that would make it easy to respond to emergencies, too.”

“Exactly right, Asley. If and when the enemies from the War Demon Nation appear, they are sure to come through the Karam Mountain Range, which indeed leads to the southern district. It’s important that we have capable mages ready to be dispatched at a moment’s notice.”

Head east from Radeata, and one would reach the Karam Mountain Range — and heading further east from there leads to the south side of Eddo. On the other hand, being on the south side of Eddo gives quick access to the Karam Mountain Range and its… abnormally aggressive hordes of monsters.

…Which does mean getting through the mountain range on the surface is exceedingly difficult, though.

I’ve heard that the trade route had caved in a few years ago, too. Well, if the enemy actually wanted to sneak into Eddo, they probably would be using the Teleportation spell instead, though.

“Asley, we would like you to be the Head Professor and provide guidance to the new students. Consider this a formal request from all of us.”

“Well, I did already say that I’d help. Where will we get our students from, anyway?”

“The many unaffiliated mages we have contacted… and Lina, Fuyu, and Jeanne, among others.”

“Jeanne, too?”

“According to Miss Irene, she’s been looking forward to it quite a bit. It’s strange, though — I’ve never seen her that enthusiastic in my presence.”

Looks like she still dislikes Warren now as much as she did back in the day. I’ll keep quiet about that, though — approaching this dynamic the wrong way is sure to cause a lot of unwanted damage.

Still, it’s strange, having a senior back in school be my student like this.

“I will be joining in the project as well, along with Miss Trace and Miss Irene — As both lecturers and your students.”

Seriously?

Warren and Trace I can kind of understand, but Irene…

…Actually, I probably should assume that the situation is so serious that everyone’s willing to take all the improvement they can get.

“Us mages probably won’t be able to do much to help you, but our affiliated warriors are sure to provide you with a wide range of valuable advice.”

“That’s true… I’ve only been researching magic almost exclusively all this time, only starting to work on martial arts a few weeks ago. I’m definitely interested in learning new skills from dedicated warriors.”

“Hehehe, this is shaping up to be quite a lot of fun, Asley. I wonder how much higher you can go…”

As Warren said that with a mischievous grin, his glasses were shining more than ever before.

After the meeting, I received a rough schedule from Warren, then I went to greet Irene for a bit before returning to the mansion in Eddo.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“So what are you up to now next, Master?”

“Hmm? Ah, I’m thinking about this magic spell that Gaspard and that Belial Devil used — the Levitation spell. I mean, it totally lets them fly… Hey, what’s that look for?”

“Didn’t you abandon that project already, saying it was ‘a dream in a dream,’ sir?”

God damn it, that salty look she’s giving me… she really is hell-bent on digging up my past.

I did give up on it before, yes. But since I have gotten to see it in action, it doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. As a mage, I shouldn’t write things off as impossible — that’s what I realized recently.

Heh, maybe there’s a little bit of the Devil King inside me or something. That thought makes me feel… less burdened, for some reason. My Holy Warrior title may have disappeared, but my time in the Devil King and Sagan’s eras has made changes that still stick with me to this day. Am I the only one who feels this way?

“Well, you’re good at copying stuff, Master — so maybe you can try doing that. It’s probably faster than trying to create your own original spell anyway. I’ll help in any way I can, sir.”

Looks like our adventure has changed something in Pochi, too. Maybe it’s a boost of confidence from killing the Devil King?

“All right, I’m counting on you, Pochi!”

“Yes, sir! So what’s the problem you’re facing now?”

“The repelling force resulting from the attempt to combine incompatible magic formulas.”

“What kind of formulas are you working with, sir?”

“One is Whirlwind… and the other is a gravity-type spell. For starters, I tried combining it with the plain old Gravity Stamp formula. The Whirlwind’s normal use is for helping with ascending and descending, by forcefully creating a swirling updraft of wind. The Gravity Stamp, on the other hand, is a spell that crushes a target by applying a strong magnitude of pressure from above. In theory, if I direct it up at the sky instead of down at the ground, while also keeping the Whirlwind active, then I can levitate and adjust my direction of travel from there… But the thing is, when I tried doing that, it ended up getting in the way of the Whirlwind’s regular functions. By the way, Pochi, are your eyelids feeling a bit heavy right now?”

“Huh!? N-no, of course not! I’m listening to every single word!”

Really… I could have sworn I heard her peeling her eyes open just now, though?

Well, all I need to do is give her a little test.

“Then what’s your take on that, Pochi?”

Pochi opened her eyes wide, shook her head, and proceeded to groan as she tilted her head like a pendulum… and eventually made a troubled face.

Damn it, she can’t even hide the fact that she was nodding off.

Still, just when I was about to say something, Pochi managed to squeak out a response,

“Is…!”

All right, that’s the first word.

“I’m listening.”

“Is there a different way to connect their functions together!?”

Ooh, that’s unexpected… well, not really, but it’s still an attempt from Pochi at a serious answer.

“I already tried thinking about it, but no, that’s probably not doable. I couldn’t find a way to edit their formulas in ways that bypass their regular functions, and I can’t use magecraft formulas for this kind of thing, either.”

“I see… It sure would be nice if there was a way to just force the connection, sir…”

Hmm? What was that, again? I feel like I’ve heard something similar before.

What does it remind me of? And where? It sounds pretty mundane, but it kind of stuck with me…

‘Listen, Leole Mask… a Nation does not revolve around doing a single thing. Broadening our horizons… sometimes calls for heavy-handed methods. You WILL have your reward, Leole Mask… I will make sure of it, even if I must force things with my own two hands! HAHAHAHAHAHA!’

…!

“That’s it!”

Oh, that’s right — it hasn’t even been that long. Sagan, the previous War Demon Emperor, has said something that stuck with me back when he showed me Rewrite Magic… And no, that’s not all. Sagan’s also taught me another technique.

‘Worry not — I’ll teach you the trick to it later. As the saying goes… a good teacher promotes the growth of his students, and good students promote the growth of their teacher! Hahaha!’

The technique to trap two people within one Boundary magecraft — he taught it to me in detail, though that’s not important now.

What’s important for me now is not when it’s technically two people… but two THINGS.

If those two things were magic spell formulas, would they be forced to connect with each other?

“Hehehe, looks like you’ve come up with a new idea, Master.”

“That’s right, Pochi! So help me out here!”