"Leave the tickets to me."
Mother was more excited than ever, so I decided to leave everything—the venue setup, guest reception, tea and snack preparations—to Adoptive Mother and Mother entirely.
"
"Tell me, Lady Florentia—don't you want to hold this as soon as possible?"
While Mother clasped her hands together with even greater resolve, desperate to host the concert as soon as possible, Adoptive Mother furrowed her brows in a troubled expression.
"I would like to take as much time as possible for preparation. We cannot afford to fail, can we?"
Since this was the first-ever concert where we'd charge admission via tickets and sell merchandise on-site, Adoptive Mother apparently wanted plenty of time to prepare.
I sided with Adoptive Mother. I wanted to buy as much time as I could.
The reason was that, on top of creating the program, I had the crushingly demanding task of providing the Chief Priest with new songs and recipes. As long as I was in the castle, I'd be safe, but the moment I returned to the
No, wait. The Chief Priest had an excellent memory, which meant he held onto old grudges forever. Stalling might actually make his anger worse.
"Ordonnaunce."
At some point, Adoptive Mother had picked up her glowing baton and used the magic stone on her bracelet to summon a messenger bird.
"The concert will be held in one month. If this is inconvenient, please specify an alternative date."
With that, she flicked the baton and sent the bird flying. Just as I'd seen many times before, it passed straight through the wall and disappeared.
After a while, the bird returned, flapping down onto the table to deliver the Chief Priest's message.
"One month is fine. My apologies, but please inform
The same message repeated three times in that cold voice before the bird reverted to a magic stone. Just hearing that voice made my spine stiffen and cold sweat break out—though maybe that was just me.
"...Lord
"That does not sound like the voice of someone in a good mood."
"It's such a... refreshingly cool voice."
Technically a compliment, but even Mother's smile looked a bit strained.
"In this situation, Adoptive Mother, I believe you should say it's the kind of voice that freezes the marrow in your spine, not 'refreshingly cool.'"
True to the bird's message, I obediently took my medicine, and by the next day I had fully recovered.
I was still worried about the Chief Priest's level of anger, but "magical training" sounded promising. What would he teach me? Would he finally let me read the magic-related books he'd never shown me before?
...There were probably going to be so many new books to read. Was there really a textbook-style book called something like "Fundamentals of Magic"? ...Wait! Could this be how I finally completed the Mine Decimal Classification?
Remembering my struggles with classifying magic-related books, I waited for the Chief Priest's arrival with barely contained excitement.
"My lady, we've received word from
"Let's go at once."
Guided by Richarda, I headed to the main building's reception room with my guard knights. All four of them were on duty today, and once they surrounded me, I was completely hidden from view.
"Good morning, Rozemyne."
In the reception room, the Chief Priest sat with an expressionless face that betrayed no emotion. Whether he was angry or not was impossible to tell, but when I saw the pile of books stacked in front of him, none of that mattered anymore.
"Good morning, Lord Ferdinand. Are those books for me?"
"Ah, yes."
It's here, it's here, it's here! New books! Yes!
Inside, I was practically shaking maracas and dancing a samba, but outwardly all I managed was a smile and an attentive gaze at the books. The fact that I could restrain myself from lunging at them proved that my lady's education had accomplished something truly remarkable.
Behind me,
"Richarda, please take these books to my room. Now then, let's go."
"Understood, Young Master."
I had been bouncing with anticipation, thinking I'd get to read books and learn the fundamentals of this new skill, so I was caught completely off guard by the Chief Priest putting me on hold. I watched sadly as Richarda carried the books away, then turned to him.
"...Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where releasing Magic Power won't cause any problems."
Following the Chief Priest, who had summoned a riding beast out on the balcony,
"Ow!"
"My apologies."
Unlike during the Trombe subjugation, the knights usually wore light armor instead of full plate. Their standard outfit consisted of a one-piece garment woven from thin, magic-infused metal, along with a chestplate, gauntlets, and shin guards from the knee down.
Brigitte's outfit was the same as usual, but when I rode behind her, her chestplate kept hitting me in the head.
"I should have done this first. It shouldn't hurt now."
Brigitte ran her hand smoothly over the chestplate, and the next instant, the chestplate area warped and softened.
She said it with such a serious expression, and she had clearly done it for my sake, so I decided not to comment—though the resulting shape was quite distinct. The chestplate had always hidden everything before, but Brigitte was actually quite well-endowed. I might have hit the jackpot here.
...Ah, Cornelius, I understand you're at that curious age, but don't look over here with such a shocked expression. Take a lesson from
Brigitte carried me to a tall, spacious building a short distance from the castle. We could see that the Chief Priest had already arrived and was heading inside.
After setting me down, Brigitte started to follow him in.
"Brigitte, thank you for going to all the trouble. You can revert the chestplate back to normal now."
"Oh, right."
As if she'd completely forgotten, Brigitte touched the chestplate and restored it to its original hard, smooth form.
With that sorted, I nodded and entered the building. It was completely empty—a stark white structure with nothing inside.
"What is this place?"
My voice echoed through the cavernous space, and the Chief Priest answered.
"It's a building where knights practice fighting with large amounts of Magic Power. It's designed to prevent Magic Power from leaking outside. I'll be teaching Rozemyne how to handle Magic Power here, so the rest of you should train over there. Damuel in particular—you're in a growth period where your Magic Power is increasing, aren't you? Make sure you push it further before your growth stops."
"Yes, sir!"
The guard knights heard the Chief Priest's orders and headed to the opposite side to begin training.
Curious about what kind of training they'd be doing, I peeked over—and got a light rap on the head from the Chief Priest.
"Ow!"
"Eyes forward."
The Chief Priest's gaze was terrifying. Richarda wasn't here, and the guard knights were training on the other side. There was no one to back me up or shield me. I was completely on my own. I'd better avoid making him angrier than he already was.
"
He called it "magical training," but it felt like nothing more than revenge for the Feshpiel concert.
"You're not yet a student at the Noble Academy, so you don't have a Stab."
"Teacher, I have a question. What is a Stab?"
"This."
With a flick of his arm, the Chief Priest produced a glowing baton. The formal name for the glowing baton that Noble Academy students carried was apparently a Stab.
"Having a Stab makes handling Magic Power far more efficient, but it's not impossible without one. For now, what I need you to learn is how to create a riding beast from a magic stone and master riding it."
As he spoke, the Chief Priest pulled on a pair of thin leather gloves. Then he reached into a leather pouch hanging from his belt and produced a transparent magic stone about the size of my fist—the same kind used to transform into riding beasts, attached to knights' gauntlets or dangling from their belts in jangling clusters.
"You infuse the magic stone with Magic Power and transform it into the shape of a living creature. Then you must be able to move it at will and fly through the air. There may be a Trombe subjugation this autumn, and since you can't ride in the low-town carriages for extended periods, you'll need to master this to attend the Harvest Festival and the Prayer Ceremony. More importantly, this technique will be necessary for gathering medicinal ingredients. It's not a place you can reach alone on foot."
With that, the Chief Priest placed the magic stone in my hands.
I cupped it with both hands so I wouldn't drop it, but the moment it touched my skin, I could feel my Magic Power being drained. It was flowing out at a frightening rate, so I hastily released the Magic Power stored deep within me.
"Teacher, my Magic Power is being drained at a tremendous rate..."
"Ah, it's fine. First, the stone must be saturated with your Magic Power. That's necessary so you can control it with your will."
"The ring I used to borrow before—it only used Magic Power when activated, but it never drained it like this!"
As I squeezed the magic stone with both hands, the Chief Priest shrugged lightly.
"There's a difference between using a magic stone and using a Magical Tool. I'll explain those details later. For today, it's not relevant. ...That's quite a large amount, though. It's saturating quickly."
If it were a low-ranking knight with limited Magic Power, they'd have to fill the stone only enough to avoid making themselves sick, and it could take several days.
Once a magic stone was saturated with someone's Magic Power, it became unusable by others. More precisely, it became difficult to use. If two people had similar Magic Power colors, it wasn't entirely impossible, but the difference in performance compared to one's own saturated stone was like night and day.
While receiving this explanation, the magic stone in my hands had apparently finished absorbing my Magic Power and released a bright flash of light.
"Once the stone is saturated with your Magic Power, we'll move on to training in shape transformation. You're already accustomed to handling Magic Power, so picking it up shouldn't take long. First, pour Magic Power into the stone while imagining it expanding, and reshape it with your power. You need to be able to change it into whatever shape you imagine, but for now, just focus on changing its size."
"Yes."
Following his instructions, I gradually poured Magic Power in while using my fingertips to push it outward, expanding the stone as I pictured it in my mind.
I'd expected some difficulty, but the magic stone ballooned into a sphere exactly as I'd imagined with surprising ease.
"Wow, it expanded! It's just like a balloon!"
It grew round and larger little by little, just like the balloons I pictured in my head. The stone, which had been slightly smaller than a tennis ball and about the size of my fist, was now roughly the size of a softball.
"Keep pouring Magic Power while placing it on the ground, and try to maintain the flow even after you let go. Once you can do that, we'll move on to training specific shapes."
"Yes."
I crouched down, gently placed the magic stone I'd been cradling in both hands onto the floor, and gradually reduced the surface area touching it, lifting one finger at a time. Worried that the Magic Power might cut off the instant I released my last finger, I poured in extra through what felt like a wider channel as I pulled away.
"Oh my..."
The Chief Priest let out an impressed breath as he looked down at the magic stone, which was still continuing to grow. The fact that it kept expanding proved that my Magic Power flow hadn't been interrupted.
From softball to dodgeball to beach ball size, I was gradually getting nervous. ...This won't break, right? It'll be fine, right?
"Teacher, I have a question. How big is this going to get?"
"Until you stop the Magic Power or lock the shape in place. Since you need to make one big enough to ride, you can still make it much larger."
At his words, I let out a sigh of relief and looked back up.
"That's a relief. Then it won't just suddenly go 'pop!' like a balloon and burst—"
Before I could finish saying "So there's no danger of it bursting," there was a sharp cracking sound.
"You fool!"
Simultaneously with the Chief Priest's curse, his mantle spread wide as he shielded me.
The next instant, the magic stone burst with exactly the same sound I'd imagined in my head—POP! The shattered fragments rattled against his mantle like hail, falling to the floor with a clear, glass-like tinkling.
"Magic stones are supposed to change according to what you visualize in your mind—what in the world were you thinking?! While you're in the middle of reshaping the stone with your imagination, imagining it bursting is a surefire way to make it burst! You absolute fool!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"...Good grief. A perfectly good magic stone, reduced to powder."
At the sound of the Chief Priest's utterly exhausted voice, I went pale. Come to think of it, magic stones were rare and expensive. This was bad.
The shards scattered across the stark white floor were immediately visible. I hurriedly gathered them up and, pouring Magic Power into the pile, chanted, "Clay, clay, stick together, roll up!" Kneading the magic stone fragments in my palms like clay, rolling them round and round.
"What are you doing? A broken magic stone can't be restored. You'd need to crush them further and use them as material for Magical Tools."
The Chief Priest looked down at me with an exasperated expression as he said this, but I could feel the fragments—saturated with my Magic Power—changing shape in my hands.
"...It's fine. Clay sticks together when you do this. ...See?"
When I opened my hands to show him the dough ball I'd formed, the Chief Priest stared at the stone and then at me in wide-eyed disbelief, alternating between the two several times.
He took the magic stone from my hands, held it up to the light to inspect it, and let out a deep sigh.
"Extraordinary..."
"Huh?"
"Well, fine. Gather up all the remaining fragments. Once that's done, today's training is over."
Waving his hand dismissively, the Chief Priest pressed his fingers to his temples.
I cheerfully acknowledged the order, then began rolling the magic stone ball across the scattered shards on the floor. Like sweeping up a mess, I picked up fragments and stuck them onto the dough ball. Once I'd collected a fair amount, I kneaded it again, pouring in Magic Power and rolling it round.
After crouching and rolling for a while, I'd cleaned up all the fragments beautifully, but my legs had gone numb and I couldn't stand.
"Without understanding what you're doing, if you were to lose control of your Magic Power, it would be catastrophic, so do not practice manipulating Magic Power on your own."
The moment we returned to the room, that was the first thing I was told. Having already ruptured a magic stone, I hung my head and listened obediently. An explosion in my room was exactly the kind of thing I did not want, so I had absolutely no intention of practicing in secret.
"Good."
After nodding his approval, the Chief Priest began stacking the magic-related books he'd brought today one after another onto the table.
"These are books from this castle's Library. They all cover the fundamentals of magic."
"Yay! Thank you!"
The instant I reached for the stacked books, the Chief Priest held my hand down. "Wait."
"Richarda, Rozemyne has a habit of diving into books the moment she starts reading, ignoring everyone and everything around her. Make sure she maintains a proper routine."
"Yes, yes. Leave it to me, Young Master. I'm quite used to it by now."
"Also, she should be tired from today's magical training. There's a chance she'll take a turn for the worse again."
The Chief Priest glanced at me as he said this. At the mention of "taking a turn for the worse," Richarda's expression sharpened.
"Then, my lady. Let's save the reading for tomorrow. Just as Young Master Ferdinand says, this was your first magical training session today, so you should rest early, or you'll fall ill again."
"Huh? Um, Richarda..."
The books piled before my eyes were whisked away in an instant. Every time I reached for them, I was scolded with "Don't!"
"Oh, yes. Rozemyne, come to the Temple tomorrow. I need the songs and recipes I was promised."
Watching Richarda scold me, the Chief Priest's lips curled into a smirk.
Revenge! This was revenge for the Feshpiel concert!
Placing a pile of unread books right in front of me, then filling my schedule so I couldn't read them, and appointing Richarda as my warden—the sheer pettiness was staggering!
"This is terrible, Lord Ferdinand!"
"Richarda and I are simply concerned for your health. There is nothing terrible about it at all."
He said it with such a refreshingly satisfied expression that anyone could see the truth. This was absolutely, undeniably mean. I glared at the Chief Priest, and he just snorted derisively.
Fine. If that's how it's going to be, I'm done holding back.
The
But no more holding back, no more restraint. In a world where portrait rights don't exist, considerate restraint can go straight in the trash.
Within one month, I would absolutely complete the wax stencil master.
And for the first-ever stencil print, I would commission a detailed, exquisite illustration centered on the Chief Priest's face and upper body to grace the cover.
My first magical training ended with a ruptured magic stone.
And with the Chief Priest's revenge, the limiter has been released.
Next time, I'll dive into wax stencil production with full enthusiasm!