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Vol 01 Chapter 20: Magicraft

「I messed up…」

I held my head in my hands.

Currently, a very serious problem has arisen. We are out of feed for the livestock. Why did this situation occur? The reason is simple and clear.

I didn’t know horses ate this much. This horse is clearly eating four times more than a cow.

Why? Aren’t they about the same size?!

Is it just that this particular horse eats a lot?

「No, horses naturally eat many times more than cows.」

Lia said hesitantly.

In short, it’s my fault for not researching properly.

So, what to do now…

「Should we cull it?」

Tetra suggested, gripping the hilt of her iron sword for self-defense.

「Culling it… What a waste…」

It was expensive, so I don’t want to kill it. Can’t we somehow maintain it?

「Um… the area around King Ferme’s Country is filled with grasslands, right? Why not take it there? I think horses, being faster than cows, can easily make a day trip…」

Hmm, there’s that. It’s the only option, but… The areas with grass suitable for livestock feeding are within the borders of King Ferme’s country. In other words, allowing our horse to feed there without permission is akin to invading the borders of King Ferme’s Country.

I really don’t want to have much to do with King Ferme. I haven’t heard many good rumors about him.

He became king through a rebellion and is now thoroughly purging anyone who opposes him, or something like that. It’s not a strange way to rule in this world, but… it’s still frightening.

But it’s too late now. I’ve already negotiated directly with King Rosais. We frequently interact with the surrounding villages, so our village’s existence must be quite well-known by now. Contact with them is probably just a matter of time…

Well, as long as we don’t get found out.

「So we’ll go with that plan. Now, who will accompany Lia to…」

「Nii-san! I’ll go, I’ll go! It would be a problem if the horse runs away, and it would be terrible if they’re attacked by wolves!」

Roswald raised his hand.

It’s good that you’re eager, but if you’re attacked by wolves, you better run away immediately. There’s no way you can win against wolves.

For now, it looks like we’ve managed to find a solution, right?

◇

In the middle of the night, I woke up.

「The full moon is as beautiful as ever.」

A large moon was shining in the sky.

They say the Earth’s moon is large for a satellite, but the moon in this world appears several times larger. Is it because it’s closer, or is the moon itself actually bigger?

Thanks to that, the nights in this world are quite bright. Of course, it’s not as bright as the urban areas in Japan, but it’s definitely brighter than the night in some rural villages in Japan.

On the nights of the full moon, Julia comes to the village. I have to wake everyone up.

Most of the older kids have already acquired some anti-curse skills, but the new children haven’t yet learned these techniques.

Furthermore, Soyon, Tetra, and Lulu are exceptionally talented and still have room to grow, so I can’t afford to let them slack off.

「First, I should wash my face.」

Tetra is the one who has the hardest time waking up among the children. Waking her up requires a tremendous amount of effort. However, when I wake her last, she gets sulky, so I have to wake her up first.

It’s going to be quite an intense battle, so I need to wake myself up properly to stand a chance.

Holding a torch, I headed towards the stream in the village.

The stream is used not only for washing but also for agricultural water, cooking, and drinking. Although, it’s hard water, so I can’t say it tastes good.

「Ah…」

There was someone already at the stream.

A pure white back was reflected in my eyes. Noticing my presence, the person at the stream turned around.

It was Tetra. Our eyes meet.

A few seconds later, Tetra, her face turning bright red, sat down. The stream is shallow, so naturally, Tetra’s body wasn’t hidden by the water.

「…Did you see?」

「I only saw your back.」

「…That’s the problem. Did you really not see anything else?」

Is having her back seen that bad? I don’t quite understand.

「At least I didn’t see anything weird.」

「Is that so?」

Tetra seemed convinced, maybe relieved even, her expression softened. Then she stood up, wrapping a piece of cloth around her body.

「Bring me those clothes over there.」

「Eh!? Oh, okay.」

I picked up Tetra’s clothes that were lying at my feet and handed them to her.

Looking at her like this, Tetra really is a beautiful girl. Farm work inevitably leads to tanned skin and rough hands, but Tetra’s skin is very smooth.

Her chest cannot exactly be called large, but considering she is only thirteen, it’s more than enough. There’s room for future growth, I suppose.

「Actually, I’ve made something amazing. So, I’d like some time to show it off.」

「I don’t mind, but… what did you make?」

When I asked this, Tetra smiled mischievously.

「You’ll see.」

◇

「Hey, Julia. Do you know what Tetra made?」

「Ahaha. Well, yeah. You’ll probably be surprised,」

Julia replied with a cheerful laugh. I turned my gaze to Tetra, as did the rest of the kids.

「This is what I wanted to show you.」

Tetra spread a piece of paper in front of us.

On the paper, there were geometric patterns drawn with something that looked like bright red ink.

What is this?

「This red stuff is my blood.」

「Hey, are you okay?」

「Yes. I washed it with water and then put alcohol on it, just like you taught us, Almus.」

Tetra said this while showing her thumb wrapped in a piece of cloth. I did teach them about alcohol disinfection, but I wish she wouldn’t do dangerous things like this, she could get an infection or something worse.

「I’ll be more careful next time.」

While saying so, Tetra neatly spread the paper on the ground and placed her hand in the center of it.

「Shine.」

As Tetra murmured softly, the geometric pattern began to glow faintly.

What on earth…

「Almus, try it.」

「Me? I don’t have that kind of talent.」

Unfortunately, my talent for magic is at a normal level, and I can only perform anti-curses. Only a few girls can use magic other than anti-curses.

Currently, in our village, only ten girls can be called magicians and can use magic other than anti-curses. The only ones who can use very advanced magic are Tetra, Soyon, and Lulu.

「Just do it.」

Tetra nudged me from behind.

I guess I have no choice. I’ll give it a try.

I placed my hand in the center and murmured just like Tetra. Then the geometric pattern began to glow faintly!

「What does this mean?」

「As you know, there is a difference in talent for magic. There are two reasons. One is the power of the soul… the magic power varies from person to person. Generally, women have stronger magic power than men, but even among women, there is a big difference. Magic can only be performed by a handful of women. You also know this much, right?」

「Yeah.」

I nodded, and Tetra began to explain again.

「The issue of magic power can be easily solved. You can bring in power from outside. Sacrifices, the blood of a magician, or spirit stones can supplement it.」

A spirit stone is a stone imbued with magic power. They appear when you dig the ground. There are theories that they are the solidified grudges of people, parts of fallen gods, angels, spirits, or the remains of fairies. The truth is a mystery.

「The second reason is that constructing a spell requires very advanced skills, and it relies heavily on empirical rules.」

Outstanding magicians can use simple magic naturally from birth, even without being taught. Therefore, it’s very difficult to teach it to others.

「It’s like being asked to teach someone how to breathe. Few people can actually explain it. It’s similar to that.

So, how do you learn it? There’s a method of speaking to the soul.

Great magicians can interfere with the soul. They use their own souls to perform spells, allowing the learner to grasp the sensation.

If you don’t get it within about ten tries, it’s likely you don’t have the talent, and it’s better to give up.

「The construction of the spell can be somewhat compensated by actions like dancing or singing.」

Magic can be performed simply by willing it. However, to successfully perform magic just by willing it requires an iron-like concentration.

That’s why spells and other methods have been devised to reduce the burden. But in the end, dancing and singing also require their own talents, so they are not a complete solution.

Only a handful of people, like Julia, who have tens of times more magic power than normal humans, iron-like concentration, perfect pitch, and high physical abilities, exist.

「This is a geometric representation of a light-emitting spell. The magic power is supplemented by my blood. It lasts for about ten seconds.」

「…So you mean, you’ve represented a magic spell… in geometric patterns?」

「Yes. If it’s a shape, it can be written on paper and carried. Besides, since the spell is complete, all it needs to activate is willing it.」

Many magicians can only create spells through methods like singing, dancing, or chanting. This is because they can’t rationalize magic. As they understand magic instinctually, it’s easier for them to perform magic while singing or dancing. That’s all there is to it.

The success of a spell ultimately depends on the magician’s ability. Tetra overturned all of that.

「How did you figure out these patterns?」

「I tried a little at a time. And then there’s this. Just follow this to draw the geometric patterns.」

Tetra handed me five pieces of paper. They were filled with formulas.

「The root of all things is numbers.」

Why do you sound like a Greek philosopher?1

「I’ve decided to call this a “spell formula”.」

A formula that represents a spell, hence the name. Pretty straightforward.

「Hey, if this becomes practical, won’t magicians become obsolete?」

If that happens, Julia’s characterization will be too thin! Her only trait would be being a beautiful princess… Well, that’s more than enough.

「I don’t think so. There are things that can’t be expressed in formulas.」

「That’s right. There are things in this world, like pi or square roots, that can’t be expressed with numbers. It seems possible to replicate natural forces—creating fire or wind, for instance—but it seems impossible to represent curses or barriers that heavily involve emotions.」

That’s a relief. I was a bit worried that you would try to kill yourself in a river when you found that you couldn’t represent the root of two with rational numbers.2

「So, combining the usual magic and this spell formula will make us invincible!!」

Lulu said excitedly.

「By the way, everyone’s been quiet, but do you all understand?」

Tetra turned to Ron and the others who had been silent and asked.

「It seems amazing, that’s all I get.」

「Well, it’s enough if you understand that much.」

I don’t understand most of the formulas written, either. After all, I can’t use magic.

「But, you know, it feels a bit off to call magic both the usual spells and these new patterns. The spells that Tetra created are too different from normal magic.」

That makes sense. A distinction would be convenient.

「Then, Almus, why don’t you decide the name?」

「Me? Well, then… how about “magicraft”?」

Creating fire or making the wind blow does remind me of RPG magic more than the magic normally used here, but as the name is already taken, I think I will go with “magicraft”. It uses mathematical knowledge giving it a more scholarly feel so -craft fits well with it. I think.

「Isn’t it a little too similar?」

「In the end, the two are related, so having a descriptive name is better.」

「That’s true.」

「Then from today, this new method is called magicraft. I am the world’s first mage… Yeah, that’s cool. Shall I be known as “The Founder”?」

Tetra muttered with a grin.

She’s at that age, huh?… I’m a little worried.

◇

At this moment, Tetra laid the foundation for what would later be known as magic tools. In the ancient history textbooks of the world, her name is everywhere, right after Almus.

Furthermore, the names “The World’s First Mage” and “The Founder” will be told and known for thousands of years, all over the world.

TN1: Those are some famous words of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras.

TN2: This probably refers to the death of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. The legend says that he threw himself into a river, where he drowned. His suicide was due to the depression he developed when he was unable to resolve a mathematical problem involving the concept of irrationality.