CH 45

“I didn’t tell you about it? I felt a strange wave of magic there. Dian, didn’t you feel it?”

“If it’s the cliffside, I won’t feel anything there unless I use a detection spell.”

“Humans have such dull senses. I felt it even all the way from the coast.”

Sante shrugged and pointed out the window.

“A wave of magic isn’t something to be concerned about, but the young sirens ran out and wondered if there’s something fun going on. I was going to catch them because it didn’t look like they’re coming back. First of all, our species have limited numbers.”

“So did you catch them?”

“I heard all of that and came here.”

“But didn’t you say the number of sirens is little?”

“The weak ones who die from just that won’t be needed in the flock.”

At Sante’s words, Alei and Ophelia stared at him quietly as if they made a promise.

It was Ophelia who spoke first.

“When seeing something I don’t understand, it seems like it’s because I’m human that it can’t be helped.”

“I agree.”

“And I think we should go there. What about you, Alei?”

“If it’s a suspicious magic wave, then that’s all the more reason to go.”

Ophelia nodded softly and agreed.

There must be something going on where Sante passed by.

And Ophelia somehow had a hunch on what that wave was.

‘It’s time for their arrival.’

Cornelli Deurang from the magic tower, or Yennit.

She didn’t know who it’ll be. Ophelia glanced out the window.

Time had passed enough that the sun was quite high up on the sky. Fortunately, she was nearly done with the things she needed to do.

But there was one thing bothering her.

‘It’s past the time for Lilith to come back.’

She wondered if this is the part where there would be no contact.

Ophelia thought about it for a moment, but that moment didn’t last long.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Turquoise forest.

Funnily enough, this was the name of the forest Ophelia was heading towards.

It was named like this because the forest was near the sea, reflecting blue light from the waters to make the forest look turquoise.

From the strong currents and waves hitting the cliffside, to the moment that the forest’s trees stretching out to the steep cliff could be seen from the height of a person, it was so far from where people lived that no humans could be found there.

In other words, it also meant that there’s no better place than this to do something that would need to be hidden from other people’s eyes.

‘It’s that dangerous.’

No one would come and go there except for hunters, so no matter what happened in that place, no one would notice.

Standing on a tree that was several times taller than her, she looked around. The shadows of the forest’s trees covered a large expanse.

Shwaaaa.

As the wind shook the leaves, Ophelia’s red hair fluttered like maple leaves.

‘It’s a quiet forest.’

This was the atmosphere Ophelia felt when she came to this forest.

For her, it was just a chilly forest with the unique blended scent of the ocean’s salt and the forest’s grass.

But for Sante and Alei, the atmosphere they felt seemed to be different.

“We’re almost there. Is it near that spot?”

“You can definitely feel it, right? But can you stop speaking so stiffly? It’s awkward to hear you speak so politely.”

“I apologize, but no. Ophelia, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

“I’m fine. Rather than that, what is it that you feel?”

“The forest is holding its breath.”

Alei approached where Ophelia stood and took her hand, helping her come down.

“Since it’s a forest, there should be some commotion in it, but this tranquility means that there already was a commotion.”

“Did you learn that through experience? Or through magic?”

Ta-dak, ta-dak. The sound of their footsteps rang. Sante, who was flying instead, followed behind them and broke a branch as he spoke.

“To be exact, it’s kind of like a sixth sense for magic that both of us feel, so if you’re sensitive to it, it’s something you’ll feel naturally. Can’t you feel anything?”

“I’m not sure…”

As Ophelia said this, she looked down at her hand.

There on her hand was the ring that blocked mana.

She suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know why, but Ophelia took off the ring slowly.

And—

“…Ah.”

She just took off the ring, but how could it feel as if she wasn’t suffocated anymore?

The forest, to her, transformed beyond just the dark green forest.

She felt the chattering wind as it scattered her hair, the dew of a tree’s moss that tickled her five senses.

It wasn’t that she only felt refreshed, but as if this change itself was something new.

A few steps away from her, Alei spoke.

“The imperial family has a high affinity for mana, so you’ll definitely feel it.”

“…I can now. Is this the forest’s magic?”

“Yes. It’s easy to feel it in such an uninhabited place. If there’s a lot of people, your senses will be blurred.”

“Then you must have felt it, things like this.”

Since he talked about magic all the time.

Unlike people like Ophelia who couldn’t wield mana, Sante or Alei must have felt these things at all times.

“Both of you, really. You’ve been living in a completely different world than me.”

The more she learned about the things she didn’t know and the wider her originally narrow point of view became, the more the world shone in a different light compared to what she knew.

She had a sudden thought that she didn’t want to miss this light.

‘I don’t know, but I might really learn magic.’

Just before Sante came, the reason Ophelia had sought out Alei and magical research materials was simple.

Because she began to have an interest in magic.

To be exact, should she say that she gained the courage to learn?

The public did not know much about magic because it was being suppressed by the temple.

Most people whose natural talents could be seen would go to training institutes just enough to become a mage.

So Ophelia, whose talent in this field was not displayed, couldn’t even think of learning magic from the very beginning.

There was one such opportunity last night.

When she was talking about conditional magic with Alei.

—No matter what result a conditional magic spell produces, it’s all just one formula.

Alei showed a piece of paper with a long formula written on it.

To Ophelia, that formula was made up of only unrecognizable symbols.

However, one thing’s certain—she could see the empty gaps between them.

—Are those parts supposed to be empty?

—This is where the price to pay should be written, this part is where the range and targeted person should be defined, and this part specifies the spellcaster. If it’s a regular magic formula and if magic is cast in this state, nothing would come out.

Or, a catastrophe would rise.

Listening to his explanation, Ophelia suddenly remembered what Sante said about Cornelli Deurang, whose face she also recalled.

—I’m not sure about that guy. He experimented with the magic formula of turning sand into glass, but he accidentally didn’t factor in the range, so he changed all the glass windows of the tower into sand.

She was wondering how that was possible.

After looking at a magic formula, Ophelia seemed to be able to understand its principles to some extent.

—That certainly looks like it. The formula should come together here, but the part that sets the range is missing, so the other parts couldn’t be connected and be executed.

And there’s also the blank spaces of the spellcaster and the price to be paid.

She could see why the formula looked so incomplete.

It was like a veinless leaf, or a bottomless lake.

It was something she knew for sure, that there was something important missing.

Ophelia was preoccupied with looking at the formula for a while, but as she realized that the person opposite to her hadn’t answered in a long time, she raised her head.

Alei was looking at her with surprised eyes.

Why did he look so surprised? Ophelia blinked in wonder.

—Did I say something wrong?

—No, the opposite. The composition of the formula… can you see it?

—I think I can recognize the composition to some extent. But it doesn’t seem like a flat structure either.

—That’s right. It takes the form of a formula, but a magical formula is actually close to a three-dimensional structure. But there aren’t many people who could comprehend this…

Alei tilted his head to the side as though he was curious.

—You must have an innate viewpoint. The imperial family is known for their high affinity for magic, so it could be that.

That topic ended with his light tone.

What they needed to talk about wasn’t Ophelia’s hidden talent, but conditional magic. So they couldn’t dwell on this topic for a long time.

However, Ophelia couldn’t hide the feelings of encouragement that she felt after hearing Alei’s words.

‘You may have a natural talent for magic.’

Wanting to learn about magical formulas, this idea suddenly surged within her.