Chapter 6 - Looks Like I'm Not Dead Yet

“That is quite a surprise.”

Luri said it as she came in with breakfast and looked at Ferda.

As expected of a dragon spawn and Valdrova’s only attendant, she had a sharp eye.

“Did you truly open your circuits?”

In a single night?

Ferda nodded.

“I did.”

“It should be impossible for an ordinary human to open them in a day, should it not?”

“Would that not be because I am not ordinary? More importantly, I would like an answer.”

“What answer do you mean?”

“Have I proven my qualifications to become her consort?”

“...”

Instead of answering, Luri looked up at Ferda with her lips pressed tightly together.

By the standard of potential she had in mind, he had passed.

'No, if anything, he has exceeded my expectations.'

Two weeks ago, when she had made the proposal to Ferda, this was what she had thought.

If, on the last day of the fourth week, he squeezed out one drop by force, that would be a miracle.

But in two weeks, Ferda had satisfied the condition with ease.

'No, I cannot even call it two weeks.'

There had been no sign of it before, so he had achieved it in a single day.

'And the cause of that awakening... must have been my lady’s battle after all.'

What change could he possibly have felt there?

All a human could feel was being overwhelmed by fear and awe.

In fact, she had been the one to move him to bed after his body broke down, so she knew exactly what state he had been in.

She did not like the way such a man acted so calmly, as if this were only natural.

“Why are you not answering?”

“... You have.”

“What have I?”

“The standard, I mean.”

Luri cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“You have met the standard, so you may rest comfortably until the engagement ceremony. You have worked hard.”

“Resting comfortably is fine, but do I not still have a long way to go?”

After finishing breakfast, Ferda wiped his mouth with a napkin and rose from his seat.

“Is there somewhere I can practice?”

“What do you plan to practice?”

“Magic.”

At that, Luri shook her head.

“Unfortunately, we have no supplies for mages. I can have them brought in, but it will take about three days.”

“It will not take that long. That is not what I need.”

But for the training Ferda was about to do, he had no need for such expensive, elaborate things.

“A few targets will be enough.”

“Targets?”

“I mean you only need to set up a few things like scarecrows.”

Luri looked puzzled.

What sort of training could a brat who had only just stepped into the 1st Circle possibly do with scarecrows?

But to Ferda, that was the best and greatest tool.

His magic training was a task requiring a delicacy that supplies could never measure or correct.

And that level of delicacy was something Ferda could already control on his own.

* * *

The place Luri led Ferda to was the clearing where she had spread her wings to head to the mountain summit.

That place had now become a training ground.

It was the sort of place meant for ordinary soldiers, not mages.

Straw scarecrows, distance markers, obstacles, and tools.

'Now I understand how she manages this huge castle alone.'

The speed with which she had turned a clearing into a training ground in thirty minutes.

If she could create a space with this much skill and speed, what could she not do?

Ferda looked at Luri, who was standing neatly at his side, and said,

“Thank you for making this.”

“What exactly are you trying to practice?”

“How to control magic power.”

Luri tilted her head.

“Why control it?”

“To use magic efficiently. There are many cases where mana is wasted from using too much, or magic fails from using too little.”

This time, her head tilted to the right.

“Does that happen?”

“Dragons do not have that problem? I heard all dragons can use magic, even if only a little.”

Luri nodded.

“As you say, we can handle magic. The magic we can use differs depending on which ruler’s blood we have inherited, but nearly all dragon spawn are capable of it.”

“And yet you do not understand?”

“Yes. To put it simply, what you are saying now feels like worrying that you might forget how to breathe. If other dragon spawn heard it, they would answer that it is ‘primitive.’”

Ferda stared steadily at Luri.

“So what I am doing looks primitive to you?”

“I am also a dragon spawn.”

Apparently, it looked primitive.

“Well, you are not wrong.”

What could be done when arrogance was their basic nature?

Dragon spawn, who could use magic by nature.

And humans, who used magic through effort and understanding.

It was only natural that those born with talent and those who achieved through effort could not understand one another.

Ferda turned his head toward the scarecrow.

“May I watch you train?”

“If watching someone practice breathing is interesting to you.”

“Then I will.”

Luri stood well behind him and began watching.

Ferda closed his eyes.

To control magic, one had to feel stillness and slowly approach the gentle flow.

That was the ordinary method of controlling mana.

'But that is only a control method limited to the Blue Circle.'

Most established magic was made for the Blue Circle.

Ferda’s Circle was the Red Circle.

The Red Circle, formed from surging emotion, could not be controlled by Blue Circle methods.

Even if one controlled it that way, one’s ability would diminish beyond usefulness, becoming what people crudely called a “half-cripple.”

'I have to control what must not be controlled.'

The Red Circle was illogical and full of contradictions.

As long as one knew the secret to breaking that contradiction, one could dominate its power.

And Ferda had made that possible.

With his eyes closed, he slowly lowered his senses.

His consciousness sank below the lake and reached the energy center in his lower abdomen.

The Circle spinning tautly in a ring came vividly into view through his closed eyes.

Ferda quietly observed it.

The fast-flowing mana was like a rapid current in the rainy season.

It felt as though he would be swept away if he approached carelessly.

Ferda carefully reached his hand toward it.

What he was trying to do was like shaping pottery.

He had to carefully touch the edge of the rapidly rotating Circle, maintain its form, and draw up mana.

'Scooping it up.'

Even with the relatively slow-flowing Blue Circle, this was a stage that required more than a year of training.

For the Red Circle, it was a process that required several times that amount of time.

'I had worked until I bled.'

That sensation remained vivid in Ferda.

Ferda focused on the Circle and brought his finger to it.

The mana of the rapid current brushed gently against his finger, and the mana within rode his finger out as though it had found a new stream.

'I can feel it.'

He could feel the magic power that had been in his lower abdomen rising through his blood vessels.

Through the blood vessels to his heart, and from his heart to his arteries.

Using his blood vessels as its path, the magic power began to move.

'The time it takes to do this is one year.'

But Ferda skillfully found the path, and at last, it reached the tip of his right index finger.

'It took one minute.'

A process of one year had been completed in one minute.

Since he had drawn up the mana, he entered the next stage, “sphere formation.”

HUMMM.

The mana gathered at his fingertip was released outside his body and scattered.

He felt blue threads spreading from his fingertip.

'Condense.'

The mana that had been spreading gathered about one finger joint above and condensed.

The condensed and compressed mana took on a deep color.

Once it condensed enough for even someone who had not awakened to magic to see it clearly, that stage was complete.

Ferda’s sphere formed a smooth, solid, perfect sphere.

Normally, one would fail to control it all, and some would disperse as blue vapor.

But there was no such waste in Ferda’s sphere.

'It takes another year to reach this point.'

A series of processes that had taken a total of two years had been done in two minutes.

He did not rejoice greatly.

As Luri had said, this was an act as natural as breathing.

Just as no one rejoiced after figuring out how to breathe, to Ferda, it was that natural.

'The final stage.'

A task that took every mage six years.

And a task that even the talented Ferda had only barely mastered after three years.

He entered the “three-part coordination” stage.

Ferda looked down at the lump of mana gathered above his finger.

It was a pure crystal that could transform into anything according to the user’s will.

The first thing one did with that crystal was the thrown “Mana Shot.”

As the name implied, it had the simple meaning of firing a lump of mana.

But that training also measured whether a mage could perform their role.

'Cohesion, speed, and accuracy must all align.'

That was the three-part coordination.

It was a stage called the wall of lamentation, and there were countless mages who had reached the 3rd Circle yet failed to cross this stage.

Ferda had only barely managed it after becoming 2nd Circle.

Ferda, who had been looking down at the lump of mana, raised his head.

He could see the sign and scarecrow marked as being exactly 50 meters away.

“Hmm...”

Ferda narrowed his eyes and let out a low hum.

“This will not do.”

After muttering that, he focused once more on his finger.

Then three spheres formed and floated above his finger.

Ferda looked at them and muttered,

“Yes. This is it.”

It had to be at least this much to be worth doing.

Ferda’s finger drew a broad line through the air.

At the same time, three mana bullets flew out together in an arc.

Their point was precisely the scarecrow’s forehead.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The high-density mana bullets burst and exploded.

The scarecrow’s head vanished without leaving a trace.

Ferda looked at it and muttered,

“Looks like I’m not dead yet.”

Though firing three shots at 1st Circle had blown away half of his mana, it was fine.

Mana was bound to increase as the number of Circles increased.

Now that Ferda had even finished a practical test, Ferda no longer doubted his own ability.

His practice ended there.

The time from the start of practice to the end was only ten minutes.

* * *

That night, Luri went down to the lair.

In her hand were documents she had personally organized.

“I will give the weekly report.”

-Go on.

Though she lived in seclusion, she still had to know how the world was turning.

That role was carried out by Luri, her only attendant, and Luri accepted the task gladly.

Valdrova calmly listened to her summary.

Thus the thirty-minute situation report came to an end, and Luri closed the documents.

“That is all.”

-Yes, you have worked hard.

“It is not something I would call hard work. Is there anything you are curious about?”

There is not. You may go.

Those were the words Luri had always heard, but what reached her ears was a rather different phrase.

-Something I am curious about...

Valdrova’s claw scratched at her chin.

Because Luri had served her for a long time, she could tell immediately.

Valdrova was curious about something.

'Has she finally taken interest in the outside world?'

Luri’s eyes sparkled for an instant.

Valdrova’s mouth twitched, but then she shook her head sharply.

-No, nothing.

“Please tell me. What are you curious about? This unworthy Luri is prepared to answer every question you have, my lady.”

Luri’s eyes sparkled.

Valdrova looked down at that and reluctantly opened her mouth.

-How has the one who will... become my consort been living?

“Ah.”

What settled in Luri’s heart was a sense of betrayal.

It felt as though her dream had been shattered.

To think the only thing Valdrova was curious about was that bastard’s recent state.

But since she had urged her to ask, it was only proper that she answer.

“Your future fiancé is doing well.”

-Did he seem to have any discomfort?

“Yes, there is nothing to worry about. At first, I expected he would be uncomfortable because we did not bring in separate attendants, but contrary to that expectation, he is doing well. He is very different from the things they call nobles these days.”

-I see.

“And so...”

Unlike what Valdrova had thought would be the end of the report, Luri’s lips twitched.

She spoke after struggling inwardly, as if wondering whether she should say this.

“And so I cannot get a read on him.”

-You cannot get a read on him? Do you mean he is below expectations?

Luri shook her head.

“No. His ability is exceptional. Rather, that is precisely because he is beyond what I expected.”

-A human that even you acknowledge. How unusual.

Valdrova was surprised.

She already knew how much Luri loathed humans.

-So what is the problem? Is that ability unstable?

“No. It was too perfect.”

-Is that not a good thing?

“Of course perfection is good. But not for a human.”

Luri remembered what she had observed while watching Ferda.

In particular, what had made her think him so dangerous was this training.

“Humans are a race that learns through mistakes. Therefore, they can absolutely never be perfect from the beginning.”

He had not failed even once.

It was not only today.

That was the feeling she had gotten while observing him over the past few days.

Even Luri, who hated humans, had no choice but to acknowledge Ferda, because his attitude was different.

And because of that, beyond incompetence, beyond acknowledgment,

“All I can think is that the man is dangerous.”

The emotion called awe settled in Luri’s chest.

Because it felt as though there was something she had missed.

Because it felt as though he carried something she did not know.

As a loyal servant, she could not allow him to stand at her lady’s side.

-For you to hold such thoughts, he must truly be an astonishing man.

“I do not want to admit it... but yes, he is.”

Valdrova heard that and thought deeply.

-Still, it is fine. Did you not say he came to meet me with pure intentions?

“...”

-Then I shall try to trust him.

It was something one could call truly optimistic.

Here Luri was worried to death, while the person in question was speaking so blithely.

'This is my lady.'

Luri knew this and had factored it into everything.

'So I must do everything I can.'

If she could not do that, she at least needed a situation where she could sound out his true thoughts.

'As expected... perhaps trying that would not be bad.'

Luri decided to set the stage outright.

She was certain that even if he did not reveal his true colors, it would be a means to check his inner thoughts to some degree.

As she fleshed out that plan, the words Valdrova had said lingered in her mind.

“An astonishing other side...”

As Luri mulled over those words, something came to mind.

It was Ferda’s face, the sight of him smiling and admiring Valdrova even in the midst of pain.

She made a disgusted expression, as if she had stepped in filth while walking down the road.

“My lady. By any chance...”

-What is it?

“... It is nothing.”