* * *
“I heard it was a Divine Beast, so I thought it would have some special power.”
The unspoken part seemed to be that it was less than he expected, and a faint disappointment crossed his expression.
He had the experience of fighting a Pegasus and had seen the majesty of a wolf.
In addition, the Elder radiated a mysterious and sacred aura, so it was inevitable that his expectations for a Divine Beast were high.
The bird seemed to notice this as well and protested with rapid wing flaps.
[I did not use my full strength because you are the Master’s partner!]
“……”
The two might not have good chemistry.
No, after meeting for the first time in a while, he had grabbed its body to prevent it from moving, so why would it have a good impression of him?
[Moreover, hasn’t my magic power increased since last time! Surely… did you feed that precious fruit to this fellow?]
“Well, yes. I gave it to him first.”
[Cough! You vile creature. You knew your magic power was rising and were playing with me…!]
The bird trembled all over.
But its small, blue body trembling with anger was also cute.
“Adrian. Can you communicate with this bird?”
“It seems so, as soon as it acknowledged me as its Master.”
If we couldn’t communicate, I would have simply thought of it as a cute chirping bird.
As I approached the cage, the sharply rising ice dissolved and disappeared, and the creature quickly flew and landed on my shoulder.
“What do you mean you gave it to him?”
“It’s the fruit I received in the forest. It was an item that increased magic power. Did you not have any other changes?”
“Hmm. No wonder…”
He held out his hand and created a transparent, round, glass-like sphere.
Inside the clearly covered membrane, ice grains swirled violently, as if a fierce snowstorm were raging, and it glittered beautifully as it reflected the light.
[Eek! Master! Don’t go near it! Is he in his right mind to use such a dangerous thing here!]
The bird seemed worried that I might touch the magic, and it held my collar in its beak and pulled me back.
Of course, my body did not move backward, pulled by that small force.
Klen then clenched his hand, and the beautiful magic vanished before my eyes like a mirage.
“No wonder I felt my magic power was stronger than before. I just thought it was the effect of visiting the forest. Was it because of the fruit?”
“……”
He was already a strong person, and now his magic power had increased too.
That a human skilled in swordsmanship was also proficient in magic.
The magic displayed before my eyes made me realize how unfair the world was.
And the thought that it was fortunate that he was the kind of person who found everything bothersome followed immediately after.
If he had shown his power, he might have been designated as the successor long ago.
If that had happened, I wouldn’t be able to overturn the situation no matter what I did.
“Did you finish reading the report?”
“I skimmed through it.”
When I handed the report over, he skimmed through the contents even more carelessly than I did.
And his hand paused at the data about Rodney.
After reading it meticulously, unlike the other pages, he folded the report and looked at me.
“Since it’s confirmed that my magic power has increased. There is something I want to test.”
Klen extended his hand to me.
Naturally, I took his hand without any hesitation.
We moved locations after that. We sentVis back to the room, left the small garden, and the place Klen chose was near the entrance of the forest.
The reasons were that the small garden was inconvenient to move around in, and that a small commotion inside the castle would draw a crowd.
Unlike me, who was cautious even about borrowing a horse, Klen had no reservations.
He simply added the excuse that his wife was not feeling well and would be going for a walk.
The stableman wore a skeptical expression.
However, since I had already recovered that way once, he couldn’t object.
And so, we stood near the entrance of the mysterious forest.
If I had been included in the list of people Ebony was investigating, wouldn’t my name have been the first to come up as a person who frequently visited here?
This place had already become almost as familiar to me as our room.
“But don’t the knights patrol here?”
“This is a secluded spot, so they rarely come here.”
This must also be from Ebony’s information.
But wasn’t it a problem that there was a place the patrolling knights missed?
I felt like reporting it myself.
[Indeed, the energy around here is the best~]
The bird on my shoulder hummed a tune, as if pleased to be back home.
The clear bird chirping, which suited the surrounding scenery well, continued.
My mind cleared following the sound, but my anxiety was not entirely resolved.
“Will it really be okay?”
Was there a plan in case the knights changed their minds and came this way?
Klen might have thought of a perfect way to deceive them.
When I turned my head to ask that, the bird, which had been sitting quietly on my shoulder, flew up to the top of my head.
[Don’t worry. I will check if anyone is coming near.]
“Oh? Really?”
The creature lifted its head as if to say, ‘Leave it to me,’ and quickly flew away towards the distance.
A sparkling light fell from beneath its tail as it circled around.
It seemed it wasn’t just checking with its eyes but was casting some kind of magic.
“Where is that bird going?”
“It said it would monitor the surroundings for us.”
“……That might be helpful.”
A faint smile appeared on Klen’s face.
The bird often grumbled that Klen was rude, but since he couldn’t hear the bird’s words, it just seemed cute to him.
It was cute, yes.
I fully understood that sentiment.
“What do you want to test?”
“Please take out Levatein and hold it out in front of you.”
“……?”
I followed his words, took Levatein out of its sheath, and held it out in front of me.
Then, an energy gathered in Klen’s hand, clearly visible even to my eyes, which could barely feel magic.
That sight was still unfamiliar to me.
Although I had rarely seen it, swinging a sword was rather more familiar.
That was because, clearly, the novel never once showed Klen using magic.
“A little farther.”
“……Farther?”
The sword that was placed right in front of me moved farther and farther away.
But no matter how far I stretched, I wasn’t told to stop, and my slowly extended arm was now stretched out straight, to the point where it would be difficult to swing the sword properly.
I couldn’t stretch it any farther anyway.
I didn’t even know why I was in this posture.
I tried to imagine how best to move if I were attacked in this state.
Since my arm was sore, it would be faster for my body to move toward the sword than to pull it back.
‘And centered on my other hand…’
* * *
