CH 5

The next morning, Ardis cleaned up the camp.

「I would like to enter the city by night」 (Ted)

Ted’s line of sight fell on the twins.

Although this muscled giant had not intention of staring, he made the little girls feel a bit of fear.

The girls were walking in very small strides, the problem was the rings attached to their limbs.

The circular rings attached to the left and right hands and feet were connected to each other by a short chain.

In order to prevent the escape and rebellion against their master, they were deprived of the liberty of their limbs.

Inevitably their strides would be small.

「Saying that, it may be impossible to catch up to our speed」 (Ardis)

Ted’s eyes moved to face Ardis.

「So, what do you intend to do about those rings?」 (Ted)

「Remove them」 (Ardis)

The three people were taken aback for a moment with the words that Ardis said, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

「Ardis…if they were so easy to remove wouldn’t they all be running around free right now? The rings are designed to not let them escape, I’ve never heard of them being removed before」 (Ophelia)

Shortly after Ophelia finished speaking, Ardis approached the twins.

The little girls were frightened when they saw Ardis, however they did not run away and instead held each other.

Perhaps they knew that they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.

Ardis once again observed the appearance of the two.

Both were wearing clothes which hid their faces. Even now, they moved their heads to escape the sight of Ardis.

Slender limbs and slim cheeks. Both had platinum blonde hair peeking out of the gap of the hood. It looked dirty and dull.

They had slightly bluish green colored eyes which were watching Ardis curiously

「Sit there」 (Ardis)

The twins obediently followed his words, feeling frightened of Ardis.

The fact that they showed no sign of rebellion demonstrated what type of situation they had been in up until now.

Ardis observed the rings fitted to their hands and feet with a serious expression.

(It is easy to destroy…the mechanism is not that complicated but…it must have been created by a magician of this world…)

「How is it? Can you release it?」 (Ophelia)

Interested in magic, Ophelia peered out from the back of Ardis.

「The rings on the hands and feet are interlocking, if you remove one the other three will ignite」 (Ardis)

Although it doesn’t sound like a big deal, the temperature would be high enough to carbonize limbs. It could potentially be a fatal injury.

「So to release it safely you have to remove all four at the same time」 (Ardis)

「I wonder, do we need four magicians?」 (Ophelia)

「No, it wouldn’t necessarily go well with four magicians. If the quality of magical power deviates or is released at an incorrect time then the rings will not release together and ignite」 (Ardis)

Then it’s practically impossible to remove.

「So you can’t remove it after all?」 (Ophelia)

「It shouldn’t be a problem, if I do it alone I can release magic into 4 different magic circles at the same time」 (Ardis)

「That’s impossible! Four simulataneous magics at the same time, not even the kingdom’s best magician can do that!」 (Ophelia)

(That’s probably true, for the magicians of this world)

Leaving Ophelia with a frown on her face, Ardis sat with one of the girls.

He held out his other hand after gathering her arms and legs in front of her.

（Analyzing formula…unlock trap…invoke…begin!）

Four magic circles appeared on each limb of the girl, followed by a loud clicking sound.

「Nn?」 (Ophelia)

Ophelia leaked a stupid voice.

「Eh? Wait a moment please Ardis! What did you just do? How did you make so many magic circles appear!?」 (Ophelia)

「Ophelia, so noisy. You are next, just place you hands and feet the same way」 (Ardis)

Ignoring the upset Ophelia, Ardis moved to the other little girl and released the magic circles again.

With the rings removed, the girls were rubbing their sore wrists. Looking at Ardis with a strange look.

「Don’t worry, I won’t put such things on you anymore」 (Ardis)

Ardis mentioned this in order to make them feel relieved, however they still huddled close to each other immediately.

「Well, looks like it will take a while」 (Ardis)

As Ardis murmured solitarily, the members of 『White Star』 appeared and spoke up without permission.

「You..there was really no need to worry」 (Ted)

「Ahaha, Ardis is interesting after all! You won’t get bored when you watch him!」 (Norris)

Only one person was looking anxiously at Ardis, the red haired magician.

「Wait a minute Ardis! What did you do just now!? Explain right..hey!」 (Ophelia)

For the magician Ophelia, what Ardis just did was amazing.

Until she heard a convincing explanation, she refused to let him go. Capturing both his shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

「I understand! I’ll explain it properly so stop!」 (Ardis)

Her appetite for knowledge was enough to deserve the title of mage.

「I did not do anything special, I just released four at the same time」 (Ardis)

「How is it not special, you’re the irregular one here. It’s impossible to use four magic circles at the same time. You didn’t even chant!」 (Ophelia)

There was a big thing that separated Ardis from the greatest magician of this world.

The magic of this world is not something Ardis is familiar with.

In the first place, he has no conscious thought of using magic.

「Who decided you need to chant in order to use magic?」 (Ardis)

「Eh? That’s how we were taught…」 (Ophelia)

「If you ask me, that came about due to the selfishness of magicians」 (Ardis)

「But…how can you use magic without chanting?」 (Ophelia)

「Even when swordsman swing their swords, do you hear them say 『Slash of heaven!』 or 『Feather stab!』 whenever they attack?」 (Ardis)

「Magic uses magical powers, swordsman use their bodies. It’s completely different」 (Ophelia)

「Really? Well then what do you do when you move your body?」 (Ardis)

「That’s…..well you think about moving and then you move」 (Ophelia)

「Yes, you think 『Let’s move』, but how can you explain how your body 『Moves as expected』 then?」 (Ardis)

「That is…」 (Ophelia)

Ophelia suddenly got what Ardis was getting at.

「Fuun, interesting」 (Ophelia)

Ted spoke up whilst Ophelia was lost in thought.

「I’m only a swordsman, so I can only say stuff from my experience. It seems like most people have doubts that their body moves of their own will, including me. Surely it’s natural that if you think about moving, you will, but why do you move? Even I don’t think I know the answer」 (Ted)

「If you look at trees and rocks, they cannot move of their own free will. We humans are moving around, so is that not magecraft?」 (Ardis)

「Thats…」 (Norris)

Norris was thoroughly listening to Ardis’ explanation.

「Ardis, are you saying it’s as natural for you to use magecraft as it is for us to run and jump?」 (Ted)

「Well, something like that」 (Ardis)

「Since you don’t have to chant, is it easy to use four magics at the same time?」 (Ted)

「It’s not easy, but possible」 (Ardis)

「Ahaha! After all we are not bored if we’re with you Ardis! Ted we have to get him to join 『White Star』! It would be a waste if he was taken by another party!」 (Norris)

「You don’t have to tell me, Ardis you said yesterday that you would think about enterting 『White Star』. If you want to join, you’d be welcome to」 (Ted)

「Ah, I’ll think about it」 (Ardis)

「Also, Norris, Ophelia. It’s useless to try and lure him in, he has his own stuff to deal with」 (Ted)

「Nn, got it」 (Norris)

「…understood」 (Ophelia)

「Well then, let’s head for Toria quickly. Ardis, look after the twins carefully」 (Ted)

With that, Ardis began walking towards the northeast with the twins, to return to the city of Toria.