The Court Magician

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I held my hands up as if in surrender.

Beside me, Yae shifted to a defensive crouch. Linze held her hands up, index and forefingers out, in a warding gesture. While magic stones were necessary for most spells, the fact that they were essentially magic AMPLIFIERS meant that it was possible to cast some simple spells without a wand. Or certain personal Null abilities completely without.

Rather than the number of techniques known, I feared more the person that honed the basics to the most effortless perfection. A court magician was a dangerous existence.

"Miss Charlotte!" the Duke said, not quite chiding.

"Hi, Miss Charlotte!" Sue greeted brightly.

The court magician blinked. And then her blush deepened from just exertion into pure embarrassment. She lowered her arm and bowed. "Excuse me," she said softly, and then swiftly pulled back and closed the door again.

Wait.

Wasn't the whole point of this to meet each other?

From beyond the door we could dimly hear a feminine scream. And "Stupid! Stupid! You know the whole reason for this thing was to make a good first impression!" in a squelched voice. Then several wooden thumps.

And then, a few more moments later, the door opened again.

We made the usual rounds of introductions.

"Please pardon my rudeness," Charlotte said with a thin smile. She was still blushing and looking away. "Duke Ortlinde, Lady Sushie, thank you for your time." She looked up now and addressed us "May I know if you are indeed the persons that were said to have a unique understanding of Light elemental Healing magic?"

I could hear my heart going doki doki. Monika stared suspiciously at me.

"I admit to nothing," I replied.

"Oh..." Charlotte looked crestfallen.

"Except to having a mediocre idea of medicine and anatomy, magic is quite frankly incidental to it. Magic is AMAZING, it can do so many things without having to open the body up to surgery. But if you're just throwing magic at the problem, should you really expect magic itself to know more about what you want to happen than you do? I don't really know much about magic, but the thought that it has an intelligence of its own is really scary to me."

Then her face brightened up again. And here I thought Sue had a million-watt smile, but Charlotte's enthusiasm and intellectual lusts just poured out of her grin. "Yes! Exactly! Magic without knowledge is just wasted energy! The more things you know that is NOT magic, the more that you can accomplish WITH magic!"

I grinned back and leaned forward, placing my elbows over my knees. "But I don't believe that magic can violate the fundamental laws of the universe. These laws have to be the same EVERYWHERE or else life cannot exist. But perhaps magic provides the easiest way of getting there and proving them."

Charlotte sat down and copied me in a sitting position most unlady-like. "But by that do you think the fundamental laws of magic are different from the fundamental laws of universe? That is a very… radical… thought, because there are those that say magic is the foundation of life. That magic is the last lingering touch of the gods on the world, the way to alter creation given to mortals."

"Really? But what does a fish need of magic? What does a dragon have to care about being moral to more mortal creatures?"

Charlotte nodded again. "That is so! Magic is a force separate from morality. It is us who decide what is moral or not about magic. Large monsters are powerful because of magic infused deep into their bodies, and they are not made superior to anything because of it. If they are a danger to others, then they are hunted down, and in fact their magic-infused hides and body parts become components for magic tools.

It is HOW we use magic for the betterment of all that transforms magic from just a tool for personal power and into a real force for good. Magic is something dangerous, but it can be made safer by knowing MORE about it, instead of hiding it away only for the use of the few and the powerful."

Then she opened her right palm out to me. "So, if I may ask, did you modify the [Cure Heal] spell in any way? Is it something that can be taught to others?"

"It's just the regular old [Cure Heal]. Just how important is visualization in magic? What happens if you try to make a spell do something more than what it's supposed to do?"

"A failed spell only fails to activate, costing you the mental energy… the internal magic energy, that would also have gone to a successful spell. Even more than that, usually. If it worked where other attempts at using [Cure Heal] failed to affect honored Lady Ortlinde in any way, then it can only be from a more successful way of visualizing what will happen. I would really like to know HOW you did it!"

"It failed, you know? [Cure Heal] is not the spell we needed."

"But it did something! This proves it! The ancients had the best spells because they had a greater understanding of the world. These lost magics we barely comprehend… they work only so well from our limited understanding. It's visualization!"

She beamed, and began to gesticulate wildly. "I would really love to know more about that! How did you learn about the inner workings of the human brain? How do you visualize what is inside the skull? Where in the brain are the memories located?! No one made a record of the lecture you gave about what portions of the brain are responsible for what senses, please let me write that down!

"If we could target [Cure Heal] much more precisely, that would improve the usefulness of the spell for everybody! What can you tell me about that?!"

"Would you like me to teach you all I know about anatomy?"

She bobbed her head up and down excitedly. "Yes please!"

Hurgh. Mah heart.

Her bright and bubbly enthusiasm, her voluptuous, tall and statuesque appearance…

This woman was gap-moeing her way past all my defenses. I couldn't deal with her at all!

Linze jabbed me in the side with a fingertip and I bent over because I was ticklish as hell. "Yowtch! What was that for?"

"… Mister Zah, please control yourself."

"Heh. But I'm serious." There was only really half innuendo in there.

I took a deep breath, calmed myself, and continued, "The greatest mystery is not outer space, but inner space. Here." I tapped at my VR case. "The darkness behind everyone's eyes. It is your memories that makes you. Every nerve, every sense, every mood, every bit of love or hate… it doesn't come from here," I pointed at my heart, "But here. We are patterns of thought wearing meat."

Linze still gave me an affronted look, like I had said something blasphemous, or at least unromantic. The Duke and Sue just had looks of tranquil trust. Yae looked unaffected, for if the power of the spirit was not manifest, then how does the shadow sword influences the senses and the mind without anything physical to it?

Charlotte had a studious expression that was almost... sultry.

Monika interrupted /"The biomachine philosophy introduces a whole set of ethical issues too, Player, as much as you might wish it is the first step to transhumanism."/

"Ah. Right. Like for example, the Hitler brain dilemma?" I mused. "What if someone lobotomized Hitler after being captured, destroying his memories and effectively making him someone new. Should he still be held responsible for something he doesn't remember, something that was effectively done by a different person in the same body?"

/"You're resorting to Godwin so quickly, but all right. Humans societies are programmed by symbols. Memes. Fairness itself is one such meme. It could go either way, but a living brain-damaged Hitler would always be enduring unfair hostility and becomes a living symbol… if his memories could be said to come back, then he would still be incentivized to hide it and pretend to be an invalid. Do you believe in a reform-based punishment system, Player?"/

"Actually, yes. But here there's nothing to reform. So it would still be politically most prudent to see him hang and conclusively end the Second World War. The many also need to be able to finally move on."

/"That is so grossly utilitarian, you could justify so many evil acts for the sake of helping the most people. You would technically be destroying an innocent to palliate the feelings of the many. Omelas calls."/

(ʰᵗᵗᵖˢ﹕//ᵉᶰ⋅ʷᶦᵏᶦᵖᵉᵈᶦᵃ⋅ᵒʳᵍ/ʷᶦᵏᶦ/ᵀʰᵉ_ᴼᶰᵉˢ_ᵂʰᵒ_ᵂᵃᶫᵏ_ᴬʷᵃʸ_ᶠʳᵒᵐ_ᴼᵐᵉᶫᵃˢ)

"Maybe. But for this particular question, brain damage is the start of karma, not a convenient way out. A villain can become a savior can become a villain again and literally split into two good and evil halves and find redemption the end, as witness the Case of Darth Revan. It's all in the mind. An Adolf Hitler is not particularly useful to the war effort and the reconstruction."

/"Then what about Casval Reim Deikum, Quattro Bajeena, and Char Aznable? All of them the same person."/

"What about him? He was a deeply flawed person. Different names don't make a person. No one messed with his memories, all his mistakes was his own to bear. A person changes through the years of their lives too."

/"Then what about Zah Playa Von Chara?"/

"He too will have to carry that weight." I said with wan smile. "He remembers what was before, and just refuses to allow that to influence the now. Our minds might hold us, but it is our actions that define us. Also, he will stop referring to himself in the third person now."

"Aaaahhh!!"

We turned at Charlotte's scream. She was pointing again and leaning so far off her chair she looked almost ready to lunge at me. "That… that sound. That voice! So… is it true?! Have you really contracted with a spirit?!"

"… contract is… not how I would put it. Prenuptial agreement?"

Monika scoffed. /"You certainly won't find a paralegal for a paranormal relationship."/

Charlotte was giving out a happy little squeal. "Can you… can you hear me? Please, may I… may I speak to you, oh honored spirit?! There are so many things I wish to know… please, I beg you!"

"Let me handle things from here on, Player. I have questions too."

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