Volume 1 - CH 2.2

“I don’t feel like I’m getting any stronger……. is that okay ? I’ve done nothing but swing a sword properly, no ?”

“Yes, that’s good enough. You can imitate any martial art just by looking at it. It is not worth the trouble to learn.”

Felice, saying simply, “It’s more than that……,” she trailed off.

“What you need to learn now is another counterpart to the martial arts. Well, I don’t have to tell you this, do I ?”

When I was asked this question, I came up with an answer.

“Could it be…… magic……! ?”

After the physical, the next step is magic, she said. It certainly makes sense.

And I was excited to say the least. Time-stopping, mental manipulation, physical restoration, and much more…… It’s been a 100 years since I came to this world. I have seen many of Felice’s amazing magic up close and personal. And since I am a man, how could I not admire it ? Compared to the humble training I’ve done up until now, I’m suddenly more motivated.

…… But apparently, I was a bit too hasty.

“Too bad. It is not about magic, but about magical power.”

“…… How is that different ?”

“Hmmm, Right…… To wield a martial art, you need muscular strength as a prerequisite, right? It’s the same thing. It is magical power that is needed to exercise magic.”

Well, I don’t know if I can understand it or not……. Well, whatever it is, it seems that there is no mistaking the flow of learning magic. I’m so excited that this is finally starting to look like another world…… However, I was a little bit worried about it.

“Oh …… but you know, I don’t understand magic or witchcraft or any of that.”

I somehow mastered the discipline of physical control because it was an extension of the movements that I did on a daily basis. But when it came to magic, it is a different story. I have never used magic in my entire life, and to be honest, I was worried about it.

But Felice smiled gently.

“Don’t worry. I am here to teach you. …… And besides, magic is not as difficult as you think.”

“Eh, is that so ?”

“Mm. In the first place, magic is nothing special. It is a very common thing. It is not so difficult to handle. Well, your world is an exception, but right here…… you should be able to handle it as easily as breathing.”

“Oh, really ?”

How delightful to hear this…… But then a doubt came to my mind.

“Huh ? But I’ve never been able to use anything magical before…..”

Even though we are in suspended time, we have been in this world for almost a hundred years now. But I have never been able to use magic or magical powers even once. If it is as natural as breathing, then it should not be surprising that I have used it by some chance…..

To which Felice replied simply.

“That’s right. Because I have sealed off anything related to magic.”

“Wha !? Why did you do that……!?”

Is she being mean to me, by any chance ? But of course, that was not the case.

“There is an order to things. In fact, your magical abilities are first-rate. Even if you are left alone, you will become stronger than most magicians…… However, that is not enough to achieve my goal. Just as a healthy tree needs the right place, the right temperature, and the right nutrition, so too does your magic need the right timing.”

“Hmmm……”

I’m not sure I’m completely convinced, but if Felice says so, then so be it.

Well, whatever the case, I could tell that it was going to take a long time again.

“Hah…… means another 100 years of basic training……”

When his shoulders slumped, Felice laughed and shook her head.

“Ha-ha-ha, what are you talking about ? How can that be ?”

“Eh, really ?!”

I was expecting that it would be surprisingly easy to learn it, but there was no way it was going to be that easy.

“It can’t be more than 100 years. At the very least, it would take 10,000 years ! Kuha-ha-ha-ha !”

“…………”

Thus begun the tremendous training in magic.

“You see, magic is like “color”…… or “sound”. It exists naturally in the environment, and it also exists within us. If you listen carefully, you can hear your heartbeat, the sound of your breath, the contraction of your muscle fibers…… can’t you? It’s the same thing. First, listen to and feel your inner self. Now that I have released the seal, it should not be difficult.”

I closed my eyes, half in doubt, wondering if it was true.

At first, I felt nothing. All I could hear was the sound of my own heart and blood vessels beating. I was aware of it gradually, though I was still in a state of shock. Something warm pulsing along with my heartbeat. Something slow flowing with the pulsation. Something gentle, melting with my body heat――something I didn’t know existed in every nook and cranny of my body.

“Areh, I think, I might know what that is……?”

“Yes, I suppose so. It is a natural thing for even a baby to feel magic. It is a natural feeling, just as you are born with the ability to sense sounds and colors.”

Indeed, Felice is right, there is nothing difficult about it. It seems that until now I really just didn’t notice it because it was sealed up.

And I’ve noticed even more. It’s the same as moving my hands or uttering a voice. Just by being aware that I wanted to do so, I could move the magic in my body as I wished. With this, surely magic would be a piece of cake. I don’t think it would take 10,000 years.

But……

“Hmmm, is it still instinctively possible to control magic ? Magic is, in other words, the fundamental potential to cause all kinds of phenomena. By controlling and manipulating magic power, as you are doing now, it is possible to exercise magic.”

Felice, who explained in a matter-of-fact manner, added, “But…….”.

“―― It’s too early for you.”

Felice then mutters some kind of incantation. ――The next moment, the magic power that had been so easily moved stopped moving even a bit. I could feel it, but it was no longer obeying my will. Perhaps only the manipulation of magic power was blocked.

“Oh, hey, why ……!?”

“I told you. The order is important.”

Saying this, Felice suddenly lit a flame on her fingertip and showed it to me.

“How many different kinds of magic do you think this fire magic is built from ?”

I was surprised at the sudden question, but I am sure this is part of the test. If I could answer correctly, I would be allowed to move on to the next step. I earnestly sharpened my senses.

At first glance, there was only one type of magic power that I could sense. It is a small flame, just an inch or so in diameter. The amount of magic power that can be put into the flame is very small to begin with……. but if you listen carefully, you will hear more than one sound. One, two, three…… or even four. This flame is made up of four compound sounds.

“Four….. ?”

When I answered, Felice giggled with satisfaction.

“Well done…… but it’s incorrect. ――The correct answer is 300,000. This magic is generated by three hundred thousand kinds of magic.”

“Thr- Three hundred thousand……!?”

How could such a kind of magic power be in this small flame ? Even after being told the answer, I still could only identify four types.

Then I suddenly remembered an English class I took in junior high school. “Japanese people cannot distinguish between the《r》and《l》consonants” —-The point is that the Japanese, accustomed to a language system that does not distinguish between the use of《r》and《l》have lost the ability to distinguish between the two.

The same thing is probably happening with this magic, although on a completely different scale. For Felice, who is skilled at sensing magic, she can see a completely different world than I can.

“You would have guessed it by now, wouldn’t you ? A person who can feel magic only in a cursory way cannot use subtle magic. First of all, you must know magic and nurture your sense of it. That is what you must do.”

From that point on, I trained myself to recognize magical power.

The magic power that is inside of me, the magic power that is floating around the world, and the magic power that Felice creates…… of all kinds, and at the same time, cultivate the way I feel it. How to feel it like a sound. The way to imagine it in colors. The way to recognize it as a smell. After 300 years of repeating these methods, I finally learned how to generate magic power from my own roots, and finally moved on to the step of moving magic power. However, it is still prohibited to use it as magic. I was taught only how to move it in various ways: bigger, smaller, faster, slower, more, less……

By the way, it took me about 10,000 years to complete the training. To be honest, I was quite distressed by this. To tell the truth, it was a very simple training, and more importantly, I was not getting stronger at all. After 10,000 years, I still haven’t been able to create even a single tiny flame. I’ve been using all kinds of things like “secret potions that increase your growth rate by 1000 times” and “bracelets that give you experience just by wearing them,” but I don’t feel like I’m growing at all.

……I mean, to begin with. Once you transfer to another world, you’re supposed to get amazing cheat abilities, right ? Why should I bother with such a humble training ?

One day, when I couldn’t take it any longer and mentioned it to Felice, she replied curtly.

“What, you want the cheat ability ? You mean the 《Inherent Ability》? I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. It is a secret of the goddess race only to give a transferee unique abilities. They are under a different logic from humans and demons. Even I cannot easily imitate them.”

Felice shrugged her shoulders and then lifted her eyebrows.

“First of all, the spirit of trying to have fun like that is outrageous ! Come on, stop talking nonsense and practice !”

“Eep…..”

Thus, the cheat ability was put aside. My basic training had to continue for another 5,000 years.

From there, however, it was finally time to move on to the practical side. Starting with swordsmanship and spearmanship that made full use of magic, to the use of specific magic, and then to actual battle-style training. Basically, I fought against the training golem that Felice had created, but at times she herself would directly fight against me. However, in every pairing with Felice, she would just beat me up one-sidedly. It was half bullying. She probably didn’t exhibit even one percent of her true strength.

But even so, I was happy. Unlike the basic training I had been doing up to that point, the number of things I could do was steadily increasing.

In between the intensifying training, there was no such thing as recreation. After all, this is a《Abandoned World》…….It’s an empty place with nothing to offer. There is no TV, radio, or even books other than grimoires. Even if I wanted to play some sports, why would Felice and I play soccer ? So the only entertainment left for us was to talk together.

But Felice always preferred to listen to what I had to say. So it was solely my role to talk. I talked about school, home, and the cartoons I liked. My life, however, was pretty ordinary. No great adventures, no exciting romances. So my stories were so boring that even I got tired of them. For the Demon King, who had lived in a fantasy world, it would have been even less worth listening to.

But for some reason, Felice wanted to hear what I had to say. And she always nodded her head happily. She was especially fond of telling the story of a black cat we used to have. “That lovely creature is a true miracle !” she said. Exchanging words like that makes Felice seem like an ordinary woman from anywhere.

But one fact is certain. She has destroyed many worlds and plucked countless lives. The more I learn about the ordinary side of Felice, the more this fact weighs heavily on my mind.

Is this a lie ? Or were there unavoidable circumstances ? The doubts just kept piling up. She never wanted to tell me her story, and I was too timid to ask her…… Yes, I was afraid to hear the truth.

At first, I was afraid she would kill me for asking something bad.

Next I was afraid of ruining our current relationship.

And next, I was afraid of hurting her by asking.

So…… it was only after twenty thousand and a half had passed since our first meeting that I was able to hear it properly.

“Hey, Felice…… Why did you kill them ?”

After the usual training, I asked it without any context.

Felice did not deceive or ask back. It was as if she knew the question was coming from the beginning…… Maybe I should say that she was waiting for it.

In any case, Felice looked me straight in the eye and answered.

“The answer is simple. ――I am the Demon King. I was created that way. I was created as the sword of the apocalypse, the sword that will destroy the world. As a mass of power that destroys everything. That is my essence and root. I am but a weapon.”

“But you…..”

Felice and I are having this conversation right now. I can’t believe that she is just a weapon without a heart. Perhaps sensing my skepticism, Felice responded before I could.

“This ego that I am talking to you about here is a fake that happened to be born after it had done its job. In your world, you would call it a bug. So when I came into my own like this…… everything was already broken.”

Felice’s eyes gazed into the distance. I couldn’t help but interject.

“Hey, then that means it’s not your fault ! It’s all the fault of the people who created you――.”

“――Oh, you think so ? Do you really think I am innocent in the face of so many innocent corpses buried in this dead world ?”

I was at a loss for words when she asked me that. However, I was not able to tell a lie when I looked into Felice’s eyes, which were so pure and straight.

“If…… you want to…… die, is it to atone…… for that sin ?”