Chapter 18. A friend

"Ah?! Y-you want me to be… your friend?..." She looked at me in surprise.

"Because I chased away those guys, they might hold a grudge and vent it on you. It would be irresponsible if I left you now," I said matter-of-factly and nodded in an exaggerated manner. I was just saying whatever felt right.

"Oooh... Well, I'm not sure if I'm… Uh… Are you sure?"

She seemed to lack confidence.

"I'm sure. What's the matter?" I faked confusion. Perhaps she thought of me as a genius magician and son of the knight, and thought she is not fit to be my friend or something. It might have been something like this.

"No n-nothing..." She muttered quietly, then turned away as if to hide her shy and happy smile.

"So from today we are friends," Since she didn't reply affirmatively yet, I finalized the deal. I then smiled and stretched out my hand. "My name is Seraphim, but you can call me Seraph."

She awkwardly took my hand. "Uh, um…. Sylph…"

Her voice was so quiet that it was difficult to make up the second part.

"Sylph…? Sorry, I didn't get it."

I met her for the first time, so it's only natural to act as if I met her for the first time and knew nothing about her, right?

Ask her some simple questions, get to know each other and grow closer…

"It's Sylphiette."

"Sylphiette. Like the fairy of the wind?" I smiled slightly at her.

Sylphiette's face turned red, and she nodded. "Yeah."

"You don't have a family name? It's just Sylphiette?"

"Yes, just Sylphiette…"

"I see..." I said. "Well, let's go."

"G-go? Where?"

"Wherever you're going. You have to bring that basket somewhere, right?"

"Ah, yes. I'm bringing my dad lunch…"

…

We began walking along the beaten road together, to bring Sylphy's father lunch.

Sylphiette kept looking at me intently.

And kept looking at me.

It was getting too awkward.

I finally asked, "Yes?"

"Uh, about back then…" She began to wave her one free hand as she started explaining. "When you made water float and then made it fly and bam, and when you made it sploosh from your hands and then made a nice warm wind like whoosh… How did you do that?"

"Ah, that. It's magic."

"Magic…"

"Yes. I'm a magician."

"A magician…" After speaking weakly, Sylphiette went silent for a moment. Eventually, she spoke up hesitantly, "Could you teach me?... Or is it too difficult?"

"Well, it is a bit difficult."

At my words, Sylphy's hopeful expression dimmed down.

I continued, "You need talent to be able to use magic."

Sylphy's expression further darkened and her ears drooped down like a rabbit's. It was quite cute.

But oh well, I was just speaking the facts.

In this world everyone is born with some mana, but only 1 in 400 would have enough talent to be able to cast Elementary Spells.

As for those who join a magic school and graduate as an Advanced ranked magician, that's 1 in 100.

Therefore, on average an Advanced ranked magician is about 1 in 40,000 talent.

Let alone Saint rank magicians, Advanced ranked magicians are geniuses who are highly sought after by every faction.

"But I can still try to teach you," I added. "Your father is an elf, so you should have some talent for magic."

"Really?" Sylphy's hopes were raised, as well as her ears.

"Yeah."

"Mh… You need to concentrate to use magic, so let's do it later."

"Okay!"

From that moment onward, Sylphy seemed in high spirits as we continued walking and making small talk.

…

Eventually, we arrived at the watchtower.

Sylphy's father was a very attractive young-looking man. He had pointed ears that were shorter than Sylphy, golden blonde hair that almost glittered and a slender physique of a swimmer. It seemed that he inherited the best parts of both an elf and a human.

He stood guard at the watchtower on the edge of the forest, a bow in one hand.

"Dad!" Sylphiette called out. "I've brought your lunch."

"Ah, thank you, Phi, as always. Did you get bullied again today?"

"I'm okay. Someone helped me." Sylphy turned to look at me with a smile.

I touched my heart with my hand and slightly bowed. "Nice to meet you. My name is Seraphim Greyrat."

"Greyrat? As in Paul Greyrat?"

"Yes, sir. He's my father."

"Yes, I heard of you! My, what a polite boy you are. Oh, you'll have to forgive me. My name is Laws. I typically hunt in these forests."

"..."

Laws looked at me and said, "I know how my kid looks, but it's something from further back in our ancestry. I hope you'll be friends with each other."

"Yes. It doesn't bother me. I don't think it's right to mistreat someone just because of their hair color," I replied with a slight smile.

Laws let out a sigh of astonishment. "These are impressive words for a boy your age. I'm kind of jealous that Paul has such a clever kid."

"Well, I just mature faster than others. Sylphy is also quite clever. I think she just lacks confidence. She can still become a splendid adult in the future."

I figured it wouldn't hurt to put in a good word.

"Heh. Now I see what Paul was talking about."

"Yes…"

I kind of figured what he was talking about. That I'm too mature for a kid.

Laws smiled wryly and continued, "He was saying that you're such a nice and kind boy that it makes him doubt that you're his son."

"Eeh, that's what he said?"

Laws laughed.

"I hope you understand that it's just him joking," Laws added with a small smile while looking at me intently, as if in case a child might have misunderstood him.

"Yes, I get it." I smiled. "Mother wouldn't have cheated, and father was a troublemaker…"

While we were talking, I felt a tug at the hem of my shirt.

I looked, and Sylphy was clutching it, her head cast down.

A grown-up conversation like this was probably boring for a child.

"Mr. Laws, I'm going to go play with Sylphy now. Is that alright?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Just don't get too close to the forest."

Mhm. One day, I'll go into the forest, for now I'll just nod.

I added, "We're going to play near the large tree on top of the hill. I'll bring Sylphy home before it gets dark."

"O-oh. Okay. Yeah, I know about the place you're talking about."

With one more look back at laws, Sylphiette and I headed back for the tree on the hilltop.

Sylphiette was clutching her hands and walked quickly in an excited manner.

I could notice Laws looking after us with slight bewilderment.

After we made some distance, Sylphiette asked, "So, um, how come you change between I (boku) and I (ore) from time to time?"

It was a question about the grammar of this world's language.

I was taught about it by both Zenith and Lilia, but it seemed Sylphiette didn't understand it yet.

"Ahh. It's polite to adjust your speech to match the other person's position. Polite speech should be used toward someone with a higher status or with seniority."

"Polite speech?"

"Like I did earlier."

"Hm?"

I explained, "It's fine to talk in a casual manner with your friends or peers, but when talking to someone with a higher status, you should use polite speech and honorifics."

"Honorifics? Like -san and -sama?" (Mister and Lord, basically)

"Yes."

Sylphy was looking around, seeming bored by what I was saying.

Well, she'll get it eventually.

She picked up the pace and said, "More importantly, let's hurry! You promised to teach me magic! Right?"

…

After reaching the large tree, I put aside my book and wand, and then turned to Sylphy.

"Let's see. First, to cast magic you need to learn an Incantation."

"Incantation?" Sylphy repeated slowly as if it was a word she heard for the first time.

"Yes, an Incantation. Incantation is a string of words that triggers a Magic Spell and produces magic."

"Okay…"

Seeing Sylphy focused on me, I stretched out my hand and said, "Like this… Let the great protection of water be on the place thou seekest. I call a refreshing burbling stream here and now. Water Ball!"

I consciously controlled my mana to not trigger the spell early and then created a water ball just as I finished the incantation.

I then dropped it to the ground and looked at Sylphy who was staring at me intently.

I said, "This is an Elementary Ranked Water Magic spell called 'Water Ball'. You need to say the entire Incantation all at once to make it work."

Sylphy showed me a troubled expression. She probably completely forgot the lines I said earlier.

"Listen carefully, I'll say it again." I said. 

I continued repeating the Incantation several times until Sylphy finally somehow managed to say it all in one go.

As she said the final words of 'Water Ball', a bit of water formed in her hand.

Perhaps because she lost concentration out of excitement, she only formed around ⅓ of the usual water volume before it plummeted to the ground.

"Oh... I did it! " Sylphy exclaimed in happiness, then looked at me as if for approval.

I hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said the line I prepared, "Yes, you did it! You did it on the first try. Wow! You're very talented!"

"Really?!" Sylphy's ears flapped and her eyes glistened as she looked at me.

I smiled wryly and nodded. "Yes. But you lost concentration at the end. Now try again, but with more focus. Try to make it a full-sized water ball."

"Yes! Um…"

Seeing Sylphy look uncertain, I repeated the Water Ball incantation to make it easier for her.

On the very next try when she succeeded in repeating the entire Incantation, she was more focused and managed to create a complete fist-sized Water Ball without problems.

I nodded in satisfaction.

This was talent!

"You're amazing, Sylphy! Normal people can't do it that easily." I didn't forget to praise her.

"Ha-ha!" Sylphy was smiling in satisfaction, looking quite happy.

"Now I want to teach you something special. Do you want to try it?" I asked. I knew that Sylphy was trustworthy, and she was 

Sylphy looked at me seriously and nodded her head with a solemn expression.

"But you have to promise me that you won't share this method with anyone. It's my special magic. Do you promise?" I looked meaningfully into her eyes, trying to make her understand that I'm serious.

"I promise." Sylphy nodded seriously in return.

"Okay. Then I'm going to teach you how to cast magic without an incantation. Though I'm not sure if it's going to work…"

Of course, I knew that Sylphy should be able to grasp silent casting rather easily.

But I still had my role to play and had to behave realistically, since it's my first time meeting her in reality.

Whether it's for Hitogami or a Miko looking over some of my or Sylphy's actions or memories, for example, I also want to minimize any suspicious points or holes.

It was a bit tiring to play the part, but at the very least I had to act as if I knew nothing about Sylphy, or even she herself would find it weird.

I said, "Most people can't do it, so I don't know if you will be able to learn it. You must try hard."

"O-okay! I'll try!" Sylphy gave me a childish expression of promising to try her best.

"Okay… So when you cast a spell, you can feel mana gathering in your fingertips, right?"

"Yes."

"Try to recall that feeling and squeeze out mana out of your fingertips. If you can repeat the flow of mana, you can learn how to cast magic without an Incantation. Try it."

"Yes!"

"Just do the same thing you did earlier, but without an Incantation," I explained again, more simply.

"Yes."

Sylphiette closed her eyes while uttering a 'hmmmmmmm' sound.

I silently watched her.

She had only managed to cast a Water Ball spell barely twice, so I'm not sure if she could grasp chantless magic that easily.

At this moment, Sylphy continued twisting her body like she's doing a funny dance.

"Hmmmmmm! Hmmmmm…"

10 seconds, 20 seconds.

Nothing happened.

As I thought.

She would need to practice more with Incantations first, practicing her basics.

In contrast, I had much more mental focus and concentration when I cast my first silent magic at 2 years old. I had a more mature mind, despite being younger.

It would be difficult for an average 5 year old to compare.

But after a few days of practice she might succeed.

Even if it takes her several days of practice to succeed, she would still have begun practicing with silent casting 1 year earlier than in the novel.

As I remembered, Rudeus began teaching Sylphy magic at 5 years old, but he only taught her silent casting at 6 years old when she asked about it.

"I did it! I did it, Seraph!!!"

But things didn't go the way I expected.

Sylph happily shouted as she created a water ball without an Incantation, then turned to look at me, as if checking my reaction.

After a moment's lag, I reacted. "Wow, amazing! You're a genius!"

"Hehehe…" Sylphy laughed with an embarrassed and shy expression.

After that, she cast the Water Ball silently a few more times, but then seemed to have hit her limit.

"Uuuh, I feel bad," Sylphy muttered while making a noxious expression.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It's mana exhaustion. You used up all of your magic power, so you can't cast any more magic for today. Sit down and rest for a while."

"Yes…"

As Sylphy sat down next to the three, I sat down next to her and taught her some basic theoretical knowledge on magic - the different types of magic, the ranks of magic and other fundamental knowledge.

I felt that she would get bored with what I'd talk about, but she didn't. She was very curious and excited to learn anything I'm saying all throughout.

Was it because the magic spell I used against the bullies earlier impressed her?

After telling her most of the basics while giving examples by casting magic, I then began to do my own magic training while Sylphy, who was out of mana, was simply sitting at the side and watching.

Among other things I did, the highlight of the day was me creating a person-sized stone statue of Sylphy in a 1:1 scale.

Since I was already making a figurine, why not make it big?

I first created a large vague person-like shape of a squatted humanoid, then added more bulk to it in the necessary places for clothes and such, slightly adjusting it to more resemble the reality, then I slowly began to sculpt it in more detail piece by piece while maintaining the spell.

In the meantime Sylphy was posing for me sitting down and holding a book with a blush while going through the pages of the botanic encyclopedia and watching the pictures.

As the sun began setting, the statue was mostly complete and I was sick of adding any more details, so I finalized the spell.

"Phew."

I then walked Sylphy back home, and received a warm farewell from both her, Laws and his wife.

…

When I got home in the evening, Paul was standing before the entrance of the house.

He stood imposingly, his hands crossed in front of his chest.

I immediately knew he was waiting there to reprimand me about what I did earlier.

Huh, so I finally reached this event…

Earlier, I used magic against those kids, but that was my intention from the start.

My aim was to appear as heroic as possible while chasing away the bullies, after all, so I simply used the simplest method.

What else? Throw mud at them? Get into a fist fight?

I did nothing wrong, only threw some water at those guys, and if Paul reprimands me, then it's even good. He seemed like he wanted a chance to act more as a father; at least, me acting a bit bratty will put him at ease.

And if he overreacts, it will be amusing too.

If he tells me I shouldn't have used magic, I'll tell him: should I have gotten into a fistfight then? I'm a magician. Dad, are you stupid? Or did you want me to get hit by a rock in my face?...

"I'm home," I said.

"Seraphim. There's something that I need to talk with you about." Paul looked at me with a stern expression.

"...What is it?"

Although his gaze was sharp, he didn't seem as angry as I expected him to be.

Hmm?

"Mrs. Eto came by earlier and told me that you used magic against her boy Somal and his friends. Is that true?"

"Oh, so that's it… Yes, it's true." I nodded.

This was not the kind of development of a conversation that put me in an advantageous position, but it's fine to let Paul dig his own grave first too. I can then still make a comeback.

Paul frowned. His eyebrows were tightly kneaded and he looked conflicted. After being silent for a few seconds, he eventually said, "Explain to me what happened."

"O-oh?... Okay."

Paul wanted to hear my side of the story first.

That was unexpected.

But since things were like this, I told him about everything objectively, starting from the beginning.

There were three boys in an empty field pelting mud at another kid walking along the road. I hit them with some water balls to make them back down. I made them tumble into the mud, but I don't think I hurt them. I then used magic to clean the mud of the one kid, met Laws at the watchtower and played with Sylphy near the large tree.

"So… It's true. I used magic against these three, but I think they deserved it. Sylphy was also hurt by them, but her wounds were more than just physical," I finished in a slightly indignant and angered tone.

I didn't try to paint myself completely white and I also said slightly questionable things, but I felt it was alright.

No one is perfect, and especially a child.

Me making some blunders would only allow Paul to act out his role as a father more, which is something that he was unsatisfied with in the original story.

At the end of my explanation, Paul's shoulders drooped and he let out a breath of relief. "I see. So it was like that."

He looked very relieved.

It seemed that he thought of reprimanding me harshly at first, but was glad that he asked me for an explanation instead.

When I saw that, I continued, "I really don't think they were hurt by my magic. At least, they were healthy enough to run away while shouting insults."

I shrugged, then let out a breath.

"I see." Paul looked at me intently. After being silent for a while, he crossed his arms again and said, "I can't say that what you did was wrong, protecting the weak is what a man should do, but try to be careful with your magic…"

Paul then gave me a small lecture to make me more aware of my power compared to others and the responsibility behind it.

Something along the lines of: with great power comes great responsibility.

But isn't it that: with great power comes no responsibility? If not, you're simply not strong enough.

While I was joking in my mind, Paul's speech eventually ended, and I nodded in acknowledgement.

His tone was rather soft throughout.

What brought forward this change that Paul didn't instantly verbally attack me like he did with Rudeus?

Maybe he just thought better of me, I'm not sure, but what I know is that Zenith and Lilia were full of smiles when I walked into the house. They seemed to have been listening in on the conversation from the inside, if I were to venture a guess.

Even if not Paul, whether it was Zenith or Lilia, I think that with all of the actions I have taken so far, they would have taken my side in this situation and wouldn't think that I would attack some kids for no reason. I guess Paul could have consulted with them beforehand.