Interlude
I changed into some comfortable clothes and led Dia and Tarte to the mountain behind the Tuatha Dé estate.
We typically used the courtyard or the training grounds for combat practice, but when we needed a wide space or expected major damage to our surroundings, we chose this spot. It was perfect for testing new magic, and our many sessions had turned the once-thick forest into a wasteland.
“Did you both finish your homework?” I inquired.
“I worked really hard so I could surprise you, my lord!” exclaimed Tarte.
“I aced it,” answered Dia.
Confidence radiated from both of them.
Tarte and Dia both really enjoyed being praised. Strangely enough, it appeared to make them happiest when I did so as if they were children. Being talked to like that should become embarrassing once you reach a certain age…but that didn’t seem to be the case for them.
“Okay, can you go first, Tarte?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Tarte clenched her fists and concentrated until her fluffy fox ears and tail popped out.
As always, her fox features made her look adorable. Underlying that adorable appearance, though, was a palpable bloodlust like that of a wild carnivore.
This was her Beastification skill. I’d gained it from the hero’s skill My Loyal Knights, and I then passed it on to Tarte. It was Tarte’s trump card, giving her explosive physical strength and sharply heightened senses. The downside was that her behavior was affected by the animal instincts she gained.
Tarte had always been unable to deny those impulses. But now…
“I can see it in your eyes. You’ve maintained your intelligence,” I observed.
She was giving off an aggressive aura, but her eyes still looked like Tarte’s.
“Yes, my lord. Just as you told me to, I used Beastification as much as I could and fought to calm myself the entire time. It didn’t work at first, but I got better at it little by little,” she said.
“Let’s test it out, then. Use your best spell, Wind Shield.”
Wind Shield covered the body in armor made from air. It provided defense, and it could also be released to gain acceleration, meaning it possessed offensive uses as well. I often employed it myself because of its great utility. It was also an original spell and fairly difficult.
“Watch this. Wind Shield!”
Tarte’s incantation was fluid, owing to how much she’d used the magic, and the spell activated without faltering. Wind rose around Tarte and wrapped around her.
“Perfect… If you can use difficult magic like that during Beastification, you should be able to use most spells.”
“I tested that while you were away. Of all the spells you’ve taught me, there are only two I can’t use.”
I knew what they were without asking. Of all the original spells I had given Tarte, a pair of them stood out as especially challenging. Even in her regular form, Tarte could only successfully cast them one-third of the time. Not being able to use those properly had more to do with her ability than Beastification.
“Good job, Tarte. That was a harsh assignment.”
I hugged her, and she released her wind armor and leaned her body into mine. I patted her on the head.
“Hee-hee, it was tough, but I persevered whenever I thought about how it would help you, my lord.”
The homework assignment I had left for Tarte was meant to strengthen her control over Beastification. Until now, every time she used it, she would lose herself to animalistic impulses and rampage blindly. Her vision narrowed, she attacked recklessly, and she could only use the simplest of spells. The skill did a lot to diminish what she was good at.
Beastification increased her strength tremendously, so even with those weaknesses, she was more than powerful enough. But in a battle with a truly mighty opponent, those shortcomings were a risk.
Wildly attacking alone wasn’t enough. Tarte also needed the awareness to defend herself, deceive her opponent, and flee if necessary. The stronger an opponent was, the more important strategy became. Having multiple options was essential to forming a varied battle strategy.
Tarte had many ways to attack and defend, including her spear, hidden pistol, and the many spells Dia and I had given her. Without both her raw force and her wits, she would eventually come up against an enemy she couldn’t defeat.
That’s why I’d instructed her to cast an advanced spell during Beastification as a benchmark.
Accomplishing that was only possible if she maintained consciousness. It was evidence that she had the ability to reason even after triggering Beastification.
“You passed. I’ll give you the reward I promised later,” I said, pulling apart from our embrace and placing my hands on her shoulders.
“I can’t wait!”
The reward Tarte had requested was a little unexpected, but her eyes were shining with anticipation, so I wasn’t going to reprimand her for it.
Tarte dispelled Beastification and stepped back. Dia stepped forward in her place.
“My turn. Time to unveil the fruits of my research!”
She looked even more smug than usual. Though in her case, her pompous expression made her look unbelievably cute.
“Don’t tell me you actually did it? I thought I was asking the impossible.”
“Really?! I had a feeling. It was ridiculously hard!”
Dia puffed out her cheeks. That looked cute, too, making her appear more funny than scary.
“Sorry about that. You really are amazing, Dia.”
“That’s ’cause I’m your older sister. This is the improved magic bullet.”
It was the type of projectile we used in our pistols. When performing the spell Gun Strike, we created the bullets within the barrel and then used an explosive spell to fire them. For our pistols, however, we prepared the rounds beforehand.
The bullet Dia gave me was engraved with magic runes. It was a magic tool crafted using information I’d obtained by analyzing the Leather Crane Bag.
The little thing was imbued with magic.
“Wow, you made a lot of changes to the prototype,” I remarked.
“That’s because you got a number of things wrong. It was super difficult without the real thing,” she responded.
Before I left, I’d given Dia a prototype bullet, a paper summarizing the results of my research, and the records of my tests with the prototype. As she said, it would have been best to give her the target of my analysis, which was the Leather Crane Bag, but I wouldn’t have been able to win the trial without it.
I closely inspected the improved projectile and realized that my theory during my attempt at constructing it had been incorrect.
Geez, that means I never would have been able to finish it.
“I have one question. How did you notice my method was wrong without even having the Leather Crane Bag?” I asked.
Finding errors in my thesis without the object of study should have been impossible.
“That was easy. Certain parts of it felt wrong to me. The rest of it made sense, but those pieces just seemed off. How can I put it…? It was like it stopped sounding like music. I just adjusted things so that they flowed properly,” she explained.
“You’re a genius…”
I’d thought I knew just how clever Dia was, yet she still managed to surprise me. She had always been better than me at discovering the rules of magic and developing formulas. I possessed knowledge of the concept of programming and had been a wizard-level hacker in my previous life, but she still noticed things I didn’t. Her awareness had always been far greater than mine.
It was possible that what I saw as characters, she perceived similarly to how one sensed sound. She had an innate gift that no amount of effort could acquire.
“Mind if I try it?” I asked.
“Go ahead! I can’t wait to see your reaction,” she answered.
I nodded, then grasped the bullet tightly and chanted a spell. Finally, I loaded it into my pistol and fired. I successfully hit a large boulder located about two hundred meters away. A few seconds later, an explosion within the boulder blew it to smithereens.
“Perfect… The spell imbued in the bullet activated.”
“Of course it did. It’s amazing, right?”
“Amazing doesn’t begin to explain it.”
Dia had taken something I had been at a total impasse with and completed it in just one week.
Rounds like these were sure to be incredibly useful.
Magic’s biggest weakness was its range. Explosive spells could only reach a few dozen meters away. If you disregarded accuracy completely, they could reach one hundred meters at best.
However, infusing a spell into a projectile enabled us to fire accurately from hundreds of meters away. Being able to cause a magic explosion from inside of something like I had with the boulder was a massive advantage.
This bullet would serve us very well.
“Are you impressed by your older sister?”
“Of course.”
“Do you really mean that?”
Dia stepped forward and glanced up at me with a cute smile. I smiled awkwardly, then hugged her and patted her head like I had with Tarte.
“You really enjoy this kind of thing for someone who likes to call herself my older sister.”
“This is totally different. I want to be respected and relied upon like an elder sibling, but I also want to be spoiled as your girlfriend.”
“I see. Then I’ll do just that.”
I did respect Dia, and I enjoyed spoiling her, too. Supply and demand were in sync.
“And don’t forget my reward. I pulled multiple all-nighters for that!”
“You worked really hard…”
“You’re the one who gave me the homework that required it!”
“That’s true.”
I was truly surprised that she had succeeded.
They’re both amazing.
Tarte and Dia had both triumphed over the massive hurdles I’d set before them and gained new strength in the process. I needed to reward them for their hard work.
I needed to keep growing, too. I wanted to continue to make them proud.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login