Chapter 3 Part 1
A week after the incident with Rufus.
“――I want to play in the royal capital…!!”
Millis began saying something similar to what she had said before.
In response, Reid and the others continued eating without showing much concern.
“What now, another one of Millis’s outbursts?”
“Millis is too infatuated with the royal capital.”
“What!? I certainly dream about it! The stylish cobblestones without a blade of grass! Unlike the countryside, where there’s wastefully too much land, the cityscape is built with calculated use of limited space! Stalls hanging with things other than just cheese and dried meat!! I want to experience all of it!!”
Millis passionately spoke of her desire for the royal capital.
She had mentioned wanting to visit the royal capital several times before, but this time, her enthusiasm seemed to be even stronger.
In response to Millis’s words, there was a new reaction this time.
“――Hah, it’s enviable that country bumpkins can get excited over such things.”
That was what Faregh replied with dripping sarcasm.
――While face down on the table, his body shivered.
“Even in this state, Faregh-san can be sarcastic. That’s impressive in its own way.”
“Quiet…! Even if I wanted to move, I can’t…!!”
Faregh, gritting his teeth, remained motionless.
However, seeing Faregh like this, Reid nodded in satisfaction.
“At least you’re energetic enough to be sarcastic. When we started, you’d burn out and collapse after every training session.”
“Why make me do it until I collapse in the first place!? Lately, after training, I don’t remember anything till the next morning. It’s terrifying!!”
“After you collapsed, I carried you back to the academy, forcefully fed you in the dining hall, threw you into a room, then called Valk and Lucas to take care of you. You were fine.”
“Oh, that’s why when I woke up, my clothes had changed and I was already bathed――no, wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘forcefully fed’?”
“I chose a nutritious meal from the dining hall, then stuffed it all in a borrowed magic grinder and liquefied it before pouring it into your stomach.”
“What have you been pouring into me without my knowledge!?”
Faregh was lively in his protests, but he was so tired that he could not even pound the table.
Watching the two of them, Wiesel tilted his head slightly.
“Speaking of which, we’ve been acting separately, but what exactly have you been doing?”
“I’m teaching him ‘swordsmanship’, a close-quarters combat technique. But it’s not exactly the same, so I’m also training him in magic that assists with that.”
For the past week, Reid had been teaching Faregh ‘swordsmanship’.
To be precise, it was not based on any ancient style from a thousand years ago, but rather ‘sword techniques’ that incorporated the knowledge and movements that Reid had learned in battle.
In essence, it was a self-taught swordsmanship, and were ways of fighting that cannot be handled without Reid’s physical abilities, so at that time, it was not something that anyone other than Reid could handle.
However, by incorporating magic for body strengthening and other support magic, one could imitate Reid’s fighting style. Fortunately, Faregh was adept in this area.
When Reid introduced magic that suited his envisioned movements, Faregh could quickly integrate and use it, making the training progress faster than anticipated. But there was one problem――
“As I said! When I try to reproduce your movements, my magic power doesn’t balance out!! Even now, it’s supposed to consume less magic power than offensive magic, but I would run out of magic power midway, you know!?”
“Just work harder.”
“You can’t just dismiss it with that!!”
“Well, aside from knowledge of magic, things like magic power consumption are beyond my expertise…”
In the case of Reid, it was purely physical and endurance-based, rather than relying on magic power. However, when Faregh practiced, the consumption of magic power also came into play.
But since Reid himself had never used magic, he could not offer any advice on how to sense or manage the consumption of magic power.
“I wonder if Elria might have some advice?”
“Mm… I think I might, but I don’t think I have much to offer. The Welminan family should have taught him magic power management methods with a focus on magic combat since childhood.”
“Of course. Besides, managing magic power is something one learns by personal intuition. Even the Caldwens couldn’t teach it.”
Faregh added, and Elria nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Wiesel, who had been deep in thought, looked up.
“Lord Welminan, may I inspect your magic equipment?”
“W-What do you intend to do with my magic equipment…!?”
“…I am a magic equipment engineer from the Blanche family. Unlike Reid, I won’t break it.”
“I-I see… If you’re a magic equipment engineer from Blanche, then it’s alright!”
Remembering the trauma of having his magic equipment broken by Reid, Faregh hesitated for a moment but handed over a small sword-shaped magic equipment to Wiesel.
Holding the small sword, Wiesel scrutinized the magic equipment.
“It was made… in the Estoginia workshop, right? It’s been whittled down due to the break, but it’s been modified as close to its original function as possible. The magic equipment engineer did a good job.”
“Of course! Not only has the Welminan family had its magic equipment made by Estoginia for generations, but we also employ the most skilled magic equipment engineer in the workshop!!”
“I see. However, this clarifies the problem.”
After saying this, Wiesel adjusted his glasses.
“It seems like the magic circuit was adjusted to compensate for the break, and it consumes more magic power than expected when using any magic other than the pre-installed ones.”
“……Is that so?”
“Previous Lords of Welminan primarily used long-range, high-powered magic, so they must’ve created a system that references the use of such a magic circuit and conserves magic power for the most frequently used spells. It’s a good technique, but not suitable if you want to change roles.”
“Ugh… So, I have to make another request for adjustments…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well… when this magic equipment was repaired last time, my father scolded me, saying ‘How could a mage break his magic equipment?’ I’m worried about what he’ll say if I request another repair…!”
“What’s the matter? You’re the young master of a distinguished family, so just keep the economy running.”
“The one who broke it saying that pisses me off the most!!”
Perhaps anger trumped exhaustion, Faregh pounded on the table in protest. It was good to see him so energized.
At that moment, Wiesel seemed to ponder and spoke,
“If Lord Welminan doesn’t mind, I can modify the magic equipment.”
“Really!?”
“Yes. I have a good relationship with the people of Estoginia and have received magic equipment from them a few times in exchange for technology. I should be able to modify it if I check those magic equipment during the process.”
“If you can, please do! I don’t want to be scolded by my father again!!”
“I understand. It’s a rare opportunity for me to see the Welminan family’s magic equipment, and for my own future learning, I don’t need any payment.”
“Thank you… Thank you, magic equipment engineer of Blanche…!!”
With tears streaming down, Faregh took Wiesel’s hands as if in prayer. He must have been deeply affected by the previous scolding.
As the conversation wrapped up, Millis raised her head, seeming to have realized something.
“Wiesel-san, you’re going to do this work at your family’s workshop, right?”
“Yes. As before, I plan to work at the workshop on my day off.”
“That means you will accompany him, Faregh-san?”
“Of course. He will need to adjust it according to new spells and movements, so I’ll need to use it myself for fine-tuning.”
“In other words, if Reid-san is in a situation where there is no one to teach, and Wiesel-san is absent during training, it would increase the workload for Elria-sama, who is on the instructing side――”
“”On our day off, Millis and I will have a mock battle and beat each other up.””
“Don’t team up to gang up on me!!”
After reprimanding them, Millis decisively pointed out――
“――On our day off, let’s all go to the royal capital!!”
As if she had received a divine revelation, Millis declared with glee.
