CH 79

“Mister Sora, do you have a moment?”

As my reunion with Mia is ending and I’m feeling exhausted, that one maid returns.

She says with an apologetic tone that she went to the merchant guild, but was told that they wouldn’t give her much for the potions because she isn’t a member of the guild, so she came back right away.

I’m the one who’s sorry for making her go there for nothing, so I apologize. I guess I’ll go there by myself tomorrow.

Everyone’s sitting around a table having a tea party. Mia, today’s guest of honor I guess, looks languid like she’s taking emotional damage.

Next to her is the usually quiet and calm Trisha, who is excitedly firing one question after the other. No one’s coming to Mia’s aid.

“It’s like Yor when she’s asking about magic.”

I whisper, and Yor complains, but I don’t see the other four objecting.

Yuri looks interested too. She’s sitting on the other side and listening.

I guess despite everything, she is a saint, and not the kind of person regular people usually have the chance to meet. The daughter of a cardinal probably sees this as a great honor.

That’s something that I sadly don’t get from Yor.

I take a sip of tea and activate magic energy detection.

From what I can see, Mia hasn’t completely recovered her MP, but still has quite a bit. I figured she would have low MP due to her low level, but apparently I was wrong.

And yet, using heal and recovery was enough to exhaust her MP. Was she actually using it before they bumped into me?

“Saint…”

“M-my name is Mia. What is it?”

Her voice is still a little stiff.

Why is she hiding her chest like that? That hurts, you know?

“Can I ask you a few questions?”

She corrects her posture, probably sensing something in my voice.

“I saw that you used holy magic to heal me, but did you use it anywhere else today?”

“No, it was just that one time.”

“Do you usually use holy magic?”

“Sometimes, when people show up injured. At most, I looked after ten people at the same time.”

I guess that’s part of being a saint.

“Do you ever collapse like you did today?”

“N-no. So?”

I see. I really don’t get it.

“Why are you asking that?”

She asks with a worried tone as I think.

I raise my head and see her looking at me with a concerned expression.

“Ah… It looks like what happened was magic energy intoxication. But from what I can tell it’s not like you don’t have a lot of magic energy, so I don’t know why that would happen.”

“That’s true. If she uses it all the time, why did she show symptoms of magic energy intoxication?”

Asks Yor while tilting her head. Even if holy magic spends more magic energy, she uses it regularly so…

Even Mia is confused.

I think I remember hearing from Chris that as you use magic, the maximum amount you can hold increases just a little.

My MP doesn’t increase like that, but my stats and the way I level up are weird anyway.

“Has this ever happened before?”

“Before… When I was little and Shiro… A puppy that we had got hurt, I used it without even knowing what I was doing and collapsed.”

“And this time?”

“I-I was flustered. Something like that happened right in front of me so…”

So she was shocked because she saw an arrow pierce through someone right in front of her. But why is that making her face turn red? Is she embarrassed because she fell victim to magic energy intoxication?

I look for anything that connects these two occurrences. She was flustered… Does she lose the ability to control her magic energy when she’s emotionally unstable?

“Did you simply lose the ability to control your magic energy? If that was it, there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to the way you use it normally.”

Everyone nods in agreement. No, one person doesn’t.

“H-hum, does that mean this could happen again?”

“Probably.”

“Isn’t there anything that can be done about that?”

Maybe there is.

“I guess you could raise your level and increase the maximum magic energy you can hold.”

“Level?”

Oh? Does the concept of levels not exist for them?

“Yes, like how you get stronger when you defeat monsters. Apparently the amount of magic energy you can hold increases too. Do you know what I mean, Bloody Rose?”

“Yes, there have been times when I defeated monsters and felt stronger.”

“Yes, and I’ve felt lighter too.”

“I’ve felt like my magic got stronger and I could use more of it.”

“I get the feeling that I can keep my magic active for longer periods. But I thought it was just because I was getting better at using it.”

I figured everyone knew about levels because those people in the castle did, but apparently it’s not common knowledge.

“Have you ever fought monsters, Mia? Have you had the opportunity to fight?”

“No. I have accompanied the chivalric order, but I just healed from the back. Is that the only way to increase how much magic energy I can hold?”

“It will probably increase to some degree as you get older and grow, but… How about training? But I don’t know how much it will go up, because it varies from person to person.

I’m not actually sure of what I’m saying. I’m just assuming.

“Then can you teach me that?”

“Leila and the others train when they have the time, so how about you learn from them?”

There’s something I want to test. It’s time to start working on the fifth generation, and I obviously can’t do it in front of people.

“Can I ask you to do that?”

“Of course. Let’s do our best together, Miss Mia.”

Trisha is raring to go, and Yor is smiling behind her. Are they happy about meeting someone who is interested in the same things as them?

Watching them get all excited is like they’re in the same club.