Chapter 13: New Magic and Old Magic

“Indeed. But when you say ‘Not a big deal,’ what do you mean?” 

Selfers directed his question at Anne-Marie.

“We just need to make it public after we acquire the strength to not be told to bring him in.”

“Hmm, and what do you mean by ‘acquire the strength’?”

“Well, the fact that Isamu-sama has become a sought-after individual is because he’s perceived as easily snatchable. So, the solution is to make it not so easy.”

“That makes sense, but… how do we go about that specifically?”

“That’s easy too, or rather, there’s only one way. Our weakness is Isamu-sama, but at the same time, our greatest weapon is also him. First, we’ll limit it to our family and some close aides, and they will be taught the meanings of the magic words. Since they can already use magic, they should be able to use old magic with little effort. At the same time, Isamu-sama will also learn magic. With the ability to read magic words and see magic power, he should quickly become one of the country’s top magicians. If that happens, it’s unlikely that anyone would dare target Isamu-sama directly. Instead, they would fall behind, so we’ll gradually introduce old magic to our magicians and soldiers. In the near future, the Klaufeldt territory will have the world’s strongest army of magicians. In the meantime, we’ll keep Isamu-sama’s skills hidden.”

Anne-Marie laid it all out in one go. Her eyes showed no signs of hesitation.

Listening attentively with his eyes closed, Selfers spoke softly after Anne-Marie finished talking.

“I see. It sounds rough at first glance, but when you think about it, there’s no other way, is there? Hehe, yeah, it was certainly a simple solution.”

“I like it. We, who were mockingly called ‘Trash magic stone,’ will become the strongest magician army… It’s a dream!”

Nicolette also seemed delighted.

“Yes, I’m already looking forward to it.”

Anne-Marie’s expression remained filled with anticipation. The only one in the room with a less-than-excited expression was Isamu.

“Uh, is the discussion moving ahead too fast when we don’t even know how it will turn out? I mean, honestly, do I have that much value?”

“You do.”

“You do!”

“You certainly do!”

All three voices matched in unison. Their expressions all seemed to say, “What is he talking about?”

“Is that so…”

Intimidated by the overwhelming consensus, Isamu muttered, and at that moment, a knock was heard.

“I’ve brought the spellbooks.”

“Sorry for the delay. Come in.”

Rudolf returned holding beginner spellbooks for Fire and Wind magic.

Isamu immediately began confirming the magic words in the spellbook.

“Well, as expected, I understand all the meanings here. Blast Edge, which Anne-Marie used before, has the incantation ‘Wind, become overlapping blades and fly.’ ‘A fireball born from nothingness turns into a blazing flame to defeat the enemy,’ is probably the incantation for Fire Blast used by Liddell and Marcela.”

As Isamu flipped through the spellbook, he spoke out the meanings one by one. The others were in awe.

“Even though we knew you could read them, seeing you read them fluently is still amazing.”

“Really, it’s like you’re reading from a picture book.”

“Isamu-sama is amazing!”

One of them might have been slightly off on the evaluation, but no one seemed to mind.

“But, it seems that I can only understand the ‘text’ part of it. Just by hearing the sound, I can’t understand what it means. In the future, I should be able to recognize the words I’ve seen when I hear them, but I need to learn the combinations of sound and meaning.”

“According to the description of your ability, you ‘see’ and understand, right?”

That’s right, from what they’d learned during their investigation, Isamu’s ability was limited to ‘seeing’ things. It didn’t extend to understanding sounds just by hearing them. If he’d been able to understand sounds, he would have noticed it much earlier.

“Yeah, that’s right. So, it’s confirmed that Isamu-dono can read magic words. That’s more than enough. There’s no need to force yourself to learn to understand them by listening. So, it’s finally time to conduct experiments to recreate old magic. Rudolf, prepare barriers and protection in the backyard training area.”

“Of course, I’ll do it right away.”

“Anne, Nico, I hate to ask this, but would you mind pushing my wheelchair? After all, I need to see the experiments with my own eyes.”

“Sure, understood.”

“Please, be careful. Don’t overdo it.”

“In addition, Nico, could you also teach Isamu-sama how to manipulate magic power? I want him to start using magic soon.”

“Leave it to me.”

Selfers issued clear instructions, and in no time, preparations for the magic experiment were completed.

In the Backyard

The group that had come to the backyard had slightly nervous expressions on their faces. They were about to take on the challenge of using old magic, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Alright, Anne. First, try using a regular Water Ball.”

“Understood.”

“Water, emerge from nothingness and gather in my hand… Water Ball.”

With a flawless incantation, similar to what they had seen before, a water ball appeared.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s still such a beautifully flowing magic. Now, try hitting a target with it.”

In response to Selfers’s instructions, Anne-Marie nodded and muttered the magic words, “Hit it,” while sending the water ball flying. The water ball hit the target perfectly and burst.

“Alright, now let’s finally try the old magic.”

“Understood. Isamu-sama, could you explain the meaning of the Water Ball incantation once more?”

“Sure. It’s ‘Water, emerge from nothingness and gather in my hand,’ I think.”

“Thank you. I’ll try using it, keeping the meaning of those words in mind.”

Anne-Marie took a deep breath, trying to focus just like before.

“Water, emerge from nothingness and gather in my hand… Water Ball.”

And finally, Anne-Marie chanted the incantation with intention. Simultaneously, Isamu saw a more brilliant magic circle and denser beads of azure light than before with a greater intensity.

“!!”

Even though she had chanted it herself, Anne-Marie was surprised by the difference.

“Anne, now try hitting a target with it.”

Anne-Marie, back to her senses, muttered the magic words, “Hit it,” and sent the water ball flying. The water ball moved slightly faster than before, hit the target, burst, and shattered it into pieces.

“…”

Seeing the result, Anne-Marie, who had cast the spell, was left speechless. Despite using the same incantation with the same amount of magic power, the difference in power was astounding. Everyone except Isamu, who had been watching the experiment, was convinced that the era of the new magic had arrived.

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