CH 5

—“…Flame Spirit, follow me and light a small fire. [Small Fire Palum Ignis]!”

As I chanted this in the courtyard of the mansion, a small fire flared up at the tip of my raised hand.

This is one of the least effective of the flame attribute magic, small fire.

The effect is to light a small fire at the tip of the finger, and most people with even a little magic power can handle it.

Its use is as a kindling for bonfires and the like.

Another, less popular use is as a spark for arson.

This is useful because it leaves no evidence compared to using a cinder from somewhere else.

The reason why I know this is partly because it is common sense, but also because I actually used it in my previous life.

Basically, it is better to leave no evidence of wrongdoing.

For that reason, magic is very useful, and I have studied its use so much that I can say that I have mastered it.

Of course, this time I don’t intend to use it that way… as much as possible.

I will not hesitate when it is necessary.

“…Brilliant as ever. As expected from a 3rd degree graduate of the Academy of Magic. There’s no fluctuation in your magic power, and I can hardly see any loss.”

Amalia, my maid and childhood friend, gave that comment while watching me use magic from a little distance away.

She is the only one here now.

I have told the other maids and attendants not to come.

Of course, it would be quite suspicious if an ordinary noblewoman said such a thing.

A normal duchess, wherever she is, usually walks around with a few maids and attendants.

In my case, however, the fact that I was originally a rather selfish person worked in my favor, and I was accepted as if it was a normal thing for me to do.

At this point in my life, I was certainly not involved in any wrongdoing, but I did display a certain amount of selfishness and arrogance.

Looking back now, or rather witnessing the reactions of my servants, I am embarrassed, but for now I have decided to leave it as it is because it is convenient.

Eventually I will clear up the misunderstanding, but that is not now.

Well, the reason they leave me alone is not only because of my selfishness, but because I have an excellent maid named Amalia with me.

She followed me from Estra and is a newcomer to the Duchess of Farrens, but her skills as a maid are highly regarded by those who originally worked for the Duchess of Farrens.

The Duchess of Farrens is a high-ranking noble family that supports the backbone of the Istward Kingdom, so the servants who work there are also first-class professionals.

Despite this, she is highly regarded by them as well.

I feel proud of her, even though she is my childhood friend.

In the past, I accepted it as a matter of course, and didn’t care about it.

I thought that since she was my maid, it was only natural.

But that is not the case.

She made the utmost effort to make my life here easier and as my childhood friend.

I realized this when I started over.

I’m overwhelmed.

And in fact, when I looked at her with clearer eyes, Amalia was extremely competent.

Not only does she have the natural skills required of a maid, but she is also a highly skilled magician.

The words she uttered earlier when she saw my magic would tell you that.

Even with low-level magic, being able to assess the fluctuation of magic power and the amount of loss at a glance is quite a feat in itself.

However, there are some things that even she can’t understand.

I interfere with the lights lit at hand and increase the magic power.

In addition, I also activated wind magic without chanting.

“…? What in the world…?”

Amalia tilted her head in interest, as if she didn’t understand what I was trying to do.

Then, gradually, the flickering, faint light on my fingertip gradually stood up and became like the tip of a sharp spear, and the color of the fire, which had been orange, gradually turned white.

“…[White flame]…? No way. That was only that [White Flame Magician]…!”

As soon as Amalia said that, I stopped applying magic power and the flames disappeared all together.

I smiled at Amalia and showed her.

“…Elaine. Was that…?”

I asked.

“It’s a secret now. So don’t tell anyone.”

I said.

Amalia looked stunned for a while, but finally, remembering that I wouldn’t talk at first after being like this, she laughed like stunned, and said

“…I get it. But you’ll explain it to me eventually, won’t you?”

“That, of course.”

“Then fine.”

She agreed with me like that.

◆◆◆◆◆

After being allowed to start my life over, I’ve tried a lot of things in the last few months and what I’ve found is that there are parts of my abilities that are still the same as they were at that moment when I died before, and there are parts that are not.

The part that is different from before is due to this body itself.

In other words, the physical body itself, such as muscle strength, the amount of magic, the magic circuits… has reverted to the performance it had when I was 20 years old.

There are good and bad parts about this.

The good part, the most obvious part, is that it’s a woman’s dream, rejuvenation.

I was a high-ranking magician and ageing very slowly, so even at fifty I still looked like I was in my early thirties, but I still felt like my body was deteriorating.

But my body now is that of a twenty year old.

It is that of a woman in her prime.

If other ladies knew that I had gone from fifty to twenty again, they would probably try to find out by any means possible how I had done it.

But for me, the fact that my feminine charms had returned to twenty was not that important in itself, although it gave me some pleasure.

I was more grateful that my muscles and nerves had returned to those of a twenty-year-old.

In my previous years, I had almost entirely devoted the majority of my abilities to the magician.

This was because of my position as a duchess, where I was rarely ever in a position to fight anyone.

But… when I think about the future, I need combat skills.

Not only as a magician, but also as a warrior.

I am not a magician, but a warrior, because even if I only develop my skills as a magician, Lily will easily surpass them.

In order not to die when facing her, the strengthening of parts other than the magician should be highly effective.

That is why a twenty-year-old body was desirable in this sense.

And as for the part that has not changed from the previous time… that is, the magic skills.

The amount of magic power has certainly decreased significantly, and the magic circuits that were developed have also disappeared.

However, there is no sign of any decline in the skills acquired.

This was also understood in the small fire magic just now.

Originally, that magic did not have the specifications to create a [white flame].

However, at the previous time I had the technology to make that possible.

Since I was able to practice it like that, my idea must not be wrong.

Incidentally, [white flame] is the essence of powerful flame magic, which in this country is only possible by high-ranking magicians called [white flame magicians].

In the future, I and Lily would be able to use it…

Being able to use it already at this point is a big advantage.

But just being able to generate [white flame] is not very useful, so you have to be able to master it…

Mastering magic.

To do this, she had to engage in a series of real battles.

It is troubling how the duchess, for example, experienced real combat.

However, this concern could be resolved relatively quickly.