Two months quickly went by since Professor Shiro began teaching Herscherik about magic. Shiro’s lessons happening once to twice a week taught him magic, starting from the basics.
“There are different branches of magic, and a person’s qualities can influence it. Is that correct?” Herscherik asked for confirmation.
After having a run-through of the general outline of the basics of magic, Herscherik was reviewing it today. He looked at the paper with the summary of what he had learned up to this point and concluded this.
There were numerous branches of magic. The most commonly used magic was known as the elemental branch of magic. Just as the name implied, this magic converted your mana into flames, water, light, barriers, and such. It was also called the transformational branch of magic. Because you had to transform your own mana into an element, you naturally had elements you were strong at and elements you were weak at. That was why abilities and output differed from person to person.
“Yeah. If we were to go further, it’s possible to fuse various elements depending on the person’s imagination.” Shiro responded.
He continued with an example. The water prison he had used to seal the fireball at the testing grounds was fusion magic using both water magic and barrier magic. The water magic extinguished the flame magic, and the barrier contained it to prevent any damage.
“Wait, wouldn’t a simple barrier work? If you erected a barrier to deprive the fire of air, wouldn’t it naturally extinguish itself?” Herscherik asked.
Flames without air would be extinguished since all the oxygen they need to burn would be gone. Then, should it not be enough to use barrier magic to deprave the fireball of air? When Herscherik brought up this question, Shiro looked surprised for a moment. This wasn’t a question the prince who hadn’t attended school yet should be able to give. While this doubt was still in mind, Shiro answered the question.
“Natural flames and flames produced as a byproduct of flame magic would be extinguished without air. However, that flame was converted mana. It doesn’t burn with the help of air. Even inside a barrier, it will continue to burn until it exhausts all the mana stored inside it. And since there’s three people’s worth of mana there, it’s too much of a hassle to maintain a barrier for that long.”
“I see.”
The magic of this world was triggered by how you use your mana. Herscherik understood that it was different from natural phenomena, to begin with.
“Then, there isn’t any magic that can use natural water, air, or anything else of that sort?” Herscherik asked.
This was a common setting in the novels he had read in his past life. For example, characters used the water from a water supply for water magic to save mana in some stories.
Shiro sighed at Herscherik’s question. “Are you an idiot?”
“Hearing you say that so frankly hurts a little,” Herscherik retorted to Shiro’s merciless words.
However, saying he was hurt without showing any signs of such was very much like Herscherik. Shiro looked at him, sighed again, and spoke again.
“It can’t be helped since you don’t have any mana. Things in nature possess a minuscule amount of wandering mana, remember? In other words, there’s another type of mana out there. I mentioned before how combining magic was difficult, right?”
“Yeah, handling mana with a different property than your own is difficult.”
“Correct. That’s why utilizing natural items that possess some wandering mana for magic is far more difficult than using your own mana. You’ll need to formulate a magic schema for that combination.”
Shiro inwardly added, “That’s why I, who can easily convert wandering mana to my own, and Herscherik’s pocket watch are seen as unusual.”
Herscherik hadn’t changed his attitude towards Shiro even after learning Shiro’s ability. Rather, he used confusing words and showed admiration, “Eh? Then, you never run out of mana, right? You got a cheat for your magic!” This unexpectedly casual reaction was something Shiro hardly ever encountered.
Shiro continued his lecture. “That’s why they were experimenting with a magic tool to aid in controlling combined mana. It would have been great if the triplets using the magic tool could achieve over thirty percent success.”
The triplets used a magic tool and possessed similar mana through their telepathic relay, yet their success rate was only thirty percent. That showed how complicated combining magic was.
“Why are magic schemata necessary?” Herscherik asked about another thing.
(It looks like he’s willing to answer anything.)
Their lessons were usually very quiet. Even if Herscherik were to ask a question, Shiro would just give a general explanation. But since they were currently reviewing all he had learned, questions about things as a whole came up.
“It’s the opposite. Originally, magic was cast by formulating a magic schema and creating a magic chant,” Shiro explained.
“Eh? But you can cast simple magic with just a chant, right?”
The simple light magic that even Herscherik was capable of casting didn’t need a magic schema… In the first place, Herscherik didn’t even know what a magic schema was, but he could cast magic with just a chant.
“Sure, you can cast it, but the mana consumption is on a completely different level.”
Shiro’s explanation confused Herscherik, so he continued.
“It’s probably hard for you to grasp since you use wandering mana, but people normally have a limited capacity of mana. Think of mana as your stamina. Between someone walking slowly to their destination and someone running there, the latter would surely arrive first, but they would also be the one who’s more exhausted.”
“In other words, if you don’t use a magic schema, you’ll use more mana to cast magic, right?”
“Yeah. You’ll need an excessive amount of mana. Moreover, quicker casting will lead to less precision. The more precise the magic, the more complicated the magic schema and the longer the chant.”
“Precision?” Once again, Herscherik was confused.
“…Take grilling meat for example. Personally, I like mine well-done. How about you?”
“I like mine medium-rare.”
“Okay, now imagine that we cook ours at the same time. If we cast magic without thinking much of the magic schema, we can only cook them at the same temperature. But, if we use a proper magic schema…”
“We could cook our meat at the same time but using different temperatures, right?”
“That’s right. However, using this new magic schema would take three times as long as the old magic schema.”
Herscherik understood and nodded again.
(Shiro is good at giving examples.)
Shiro gave accurate examples that Herscherik, who didn’t have any mana, could easily understand. He surprisingly might have some talent to be an instructor.
“Magic schemata sound confusing, but I can’t use them anyway. Oh, that reminds me. What were those rays of light around you when you used magic, Mr. Shiro?”
When Shiro used magic during the accident on the testing grounds, rays of light surrounded him. And the light dissipated right when the magic finished.
“Strictly speaking, it’s different, but I guess you can say it’s a magic schema. I can do it in my head if it’s a simple one, but if I were to use magic that requires several elements and high precision, I’ll need to actually see it with my own eyes.”
In other words, magicians can create phenomena by coming up with complex magic schemata.
“…I see?” In contrast to his words, Herscherik was still confused.
“You didn’t understand that, did you?”
“I am sorry. I do not comprehend.”
Being glared at Shiro made Herscherik obediently apologize. Shiro let out another sigh. How many did this one make? Nevertheless, he was steadfast and explained to the prince.
“Think of it like this. You can do simple addition and subtraction in your head, right? But, it’s easier to solve more complicated equations when you write them down. It’s the same thing.”
Herscherik forced himself to conclude that the rays of light he saw before were like a memo note. It was faster for Herscherik to remember things this way than take the time to understand something he didn’t understand.
“Quickly formulating a magic schema, linking effective magic schemata, and producing effective magic are based on the individual’s technique. It’s not guaranteed that it will come out the same as another person’s magic,” Shiro continued.
Learning that magic depended on the individual and their qualities more than he had expected, Herscherik corrected his perception of it.
“Wait, what about magic tools?”
Herscherik didn’t comprehend elemental magic tools, but he knew that anyone could use the scanner-type magic tool.
“The magic schemata incorporated in magic tools produce a definitive result for those people who have mana. By the way, if I were to be more accurate, the magic tools magicians use to supplement themselves with mana are generally different from the magic tools used for everyday life. And going even further, there are also magic tools that can be called magic devices and magic weapons based on their size.”
(If magic is like the food chefs make, then I guess magic tools are like instant food.)
Herscherik used his own example to understand.
He used to make up his own examples to help him remember things. Back when he was a student in his past life, he would personify words and problems he didn’t understand and fervently create his own story to remember them for his tests. Now that he thought back on it, there was something wrong with how he studied back then.
“I understand the relationship between elements. Let’s see. There’s also spiritual magic and manipulation magic… I sort of understand spiritual magic.”
Spiritual magic was composed of healing magic and purification magic. Healing magic was magic that healed the body. Purification magic was magic that rescinded the mana accumulating in animal corpses and turning them into the undead. It also healed and purified the souls of deceased people and animals who remained on this world and had turned into evil spirits. However, people needed a special characteristic to use spiritual magic, like Hoenir. And as such people were few in numbers, there were hardly any practitioners. However, it was exactly because there were few practitioners that medical science advanced in this world, ensuring that healing magic didn’t have a monopoly over the field.
(Thank goodness for medical science…)
If healing magic was the only way to cure someone in this world, then the church, which had a monopoly over spiritual magic, would become an absolute and peerless force. Life was the most important thing to people, after all.
Herscherik continued, “But I still don’t really understand manipulation magic.”
“Manipulation magic, hm.”
“Yes. The name alone makes it sound kind of scary…”
Manipulation magic wasn’t like elemental magic that converted mana into elements; this magic manipulated mana itself. It could be categorized into mental assaults, manipulation, puppetry, and curses.
Manipulation magic used mana to attack the target’s mind and destroy their psyche. Puppetry magic was the opposite of purification magic. By breathing mana into corpses and inorganic material, you could control it at will. And curse magic was exactly as it sounded. By using words, things, or contracts as an intermediary, you can be in control of your own or your target’s movements, mind, life, and death.
“It’s true that those abilities alone make it scary. However, that depends on how you look at it,” Shiro said. “Take spiritual magic for example. Spiritual magic attacks are scary, but it also deals with the heart. What if someone was burdened with past trauma? If you were to use spiritual magic to have them overcome it, wouldn’t you say that it saved them?”
Puppetry magic could end a life, but it could also freely control something that had no life. It can greatly minimize dangerous situations by using puppetry magic to control something to go somewhere living humans shouldn’t be in. And curses could be described to be the same as wishes and suggestions.
“In short, it comes down to the person using the magic, right?” Herscherik nodded.
It was the same as a person with a sword not necessarily being a murderer. A practitioner of manipulation magic wasn’t necessarily evil. It depended on the practitioner.
Shiro nodded at Herscherik and added, “The presence of other mana will sharply raise the difficulty level. On top of being generally difficult to use and having low success rates, manipulation magic requires precise magic schemata and intensely drains your mana.”
The success of spiritual magic can depend on the target’s mana and mental state. It can be difficult to control a target with puppetry magic if they already possess mana, and casting such magic requires a large amount of mana. And curse magic originally had a low success rate.
“In addition, the royal castle and essential buildings erect barriers to defend against that kind of magic,” Shiro continued.
Herscherik felt relief hearing those words. He wouldn’t know what to do or how to deal with things if his father or brothers were controlled by spiritual magic.
(In the first place, if that magic was so handy, those guys would’ve used it.)
Those guys didn’t use magic and still controlled his father like a puppet. Herscherik tightly clenched his fists. Unless he could quickly dispel that curse, the future of the kingdom was heading towards destruction. That was why he had to do something.
He suddenly caught sight of Shiro erasing the letters on the blackboard. Shiro’s attitude hadn’t changed at all during these two months. He maintained his aloof and disgruntled face. Even though Shiro didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to, he came on time every time for their lessons. And only when he talked about magic did he not look upset; he was comparatively excited.
“You love magic, don’t you, Mr. Shiro?”
“Hah?”
Herscherik’s sudden statement caused Shiro to furrow his brow as he brushed the chalk dust from his clothes. As if looking at a strange creature, he stared at Herscherik and said, “What are you saying all of a sudden?”
His face distorted into a scowl. But that was not all. He couldn’t completely hide his embarrassment. That was something Herscherik had picked up on recently.
“I mean, whenever you talk about magic, the furrows in your brow disappear.”
When Herscherik pointed this out, Shiro unconsciously touched his brow. He looked even more upset and glared at the prince. It was scary when a beauty got angry, but Herscherik had become accustomed to it as of recently.
“…I only have magic,” Shiro muttered.
He had been called a monster. He had been abandoned by his own parents.
(But…)
“…Because I have magic, I was able to meet that man.”
“That man? You mean Lord Hoenir?”
Herscherik picked up on the words Shiro had unconsciously muttered. Although Shiro was still glaring at him, Herscherik didn’t back away.
“I see. So you don’t only love magic but also Lord Hoenir.”
“…Harumph.”
Shiro didn’t refute Herscherik’s statement. He simply faced away. However, as his ears were slightly red, it was clear that he couldn’t completely hide his embarrassment.
“…Because of Lord Hoenir, I could live. I could also study magic. Just that.”
Even though he said, “Just that,” those words coming from Shiro’s mouth felt very heavy. The moment Herscherik was about to ask about the meaning behind it, a knock echoed through the room. His question was interrupted, and Kuro entered the room after being prompted by Herscherik.
“Lord Herscherik, it’s almost time.”
“Huh? For what?”
Herscherik tilted his head. Seeing his master like this, Kuro maintained his expression and continued to speak. He continued to act as the perfect butler before Shiro, but if the man wasn’t there, he would have sighed.
“You will be meeting with Marquess Barbasse’s daughters.”
“Ah!”
Herscherik quickly began to clear his desk of his study tools. Today’s schedule was lessons with Shiro in the morning and meeting Marquess Barbasse’s daughters in the afternoon.
“Then, I’ll…”
“Ah, wait, Mr. Shiro!”
Shiro was heading out of the room when Herscherik called out to stop him.
“Do you have any afternoon plans? If you’d like, you’re free to join us.”
At Herscherik’s proposal, Shiro looked back with an annoyed look on his face.
Towards the Sky 
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