Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Cleanup and Compound Magic

The first person to regain their senses was one of Lucian's guards. They rushed over with great force and came to a stop in front of Lucian.

"Lord Lucian, are you injured?"

Lucian seemed to come to his senses upon hearing those words.

"Ah, yes, I'm fine. No injuries."

Uh-oh, I just realized, I might get scolded now. It seems dangerous to have exposed the Duke's son to danger...

As I worried about that, Lucian turned to me with sparkling eyes.

"Leon! That was incredible power!"

"Yeah, I might have put too much magic power into it. Sorry... I ended up breaking the rock too."

"That's okay, we can always bring more rocks. Neither I nor Leon are hurt."

"I see, well, that's a relief."

I breathed a sigh of relief and my expression eased a little. But then I noticed something. I didn't use honorifics for the guard!

As I looked back and forth between the guard and Lucian, feeling flustered, the guard seemed to understand my predicament and spoke up.

"I won't make a fuss, so don't worry. Thanks for getting along with Lord Lucian. He's always acting like an adult, so it's nice to see him acting his age for once."

As the guard said that, Lucian blushed and protested.

"Jack! Don't say that!"

So his name is Jack, huh? Jack smiled kindly at Lucian.

They have a good master-servant relationship. Jack seems like a nice person.

As the three of us continued talking, other servants came running over. Richard-sama, Christoph-sama, and Frederick-sama also emerged from the mansion.

"What happened?"

Richard-sama asked, a bit flustered.

I can't hide this, can I? It's better to be honest.

"I'm sorry! I showed magic to Lord Lucian, but I miscalculated the power..."

"What kind of magic did you use to end up like this?"

Richard-sama asked, a bit stiffly. Yeah, this power is probably a bit too much...

I should explain about compound magic, but it's probably better if the servants don't ask too many questions.

"Well..."

I glanced at the servants briefly, then looked at Richard-sama.

Richard-sama seemed to understand what I wanted to say and motioned for the servants to step back.

"This should be fine."

"Thank you. The magic I used earlier is called compound magic. It's a combination of two or more elemental magics."

"Combination...? Is that even possible?"

"Yes. The magic I used earlier was a combination of earth magic and fire magic, creating a spell called Fire Bullet."

When I said that, Richard-sama seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Christoph-sama and Frederick-sama also had puzzled expressions.

"Leon, could two people combine their magic to create compound magic?"

Come to think of it...! If we practice, it might be possible. It could become quite powerful, right? Wait, has no one tried this before?

"I'm not sure, but it might be possible. Has no one tried this before?"

"We usually use magic for battle during wars or when fighting monsters. Magic mainly plays a supportive role. Even if you have a magic power level of five, magic suitable for direct attacks isn't something you can use repeatedly."

So, attack magic hasn't been developed much. But if it's going to continue being used as a support, do we really need compound magic?

"That makes sense. But if I were to teach magic, wouldn't that allow for more magic to be used, surpassing the previous limits? Having someone who specializes in magic for rear support might be effective."

True, I would be able to use more than three times the magic power I used to have. In that case, using compound magic for ranged attacks from the rear could be effective.

"Indeed, that's true. Let's give it a try then. I'll use earth magic to create arrowheads, and Lord Lucian will envelop them in fire magic, okay?"

"Got it. Just like the magic we saw earlier."

"Let's do it."

'Bullet'

'Fireball'

I created arrowheads in the air, and Lucian enveloped them in fireballs.

"Okay, on the count of three, we'll release them. Ready? Three, two, one."

Thud... The bullet I created and Lucian's fireball flew towards the rock. But my bullet was faster, hitting the rock before Lucian's fireball.

Hmm, while heating the bullet like this does have an effect, it's a bit underwhelming.

Matching the speeds is quite challenging. With a lot of practice, maybe it could work, but it's difficult.

Well, with Rock Tornado, there's no need to match speeds, and it can attack over a wide area. Maybe that would be better.

"This is difficult to match the speeds. There's another compound magic called Rock Tornado, which might be easier to perform."

When I said that, Richard-sama seemed surprised at first, then maybe a bit exasperated, but he quickly switched gears, perhaps because it's me.

"In that case, please demonstrate that."

"Understood. This one uses earth and wind magic. Does anyone here know either of those?"

"I can use earth magic."

Frederick-sama said so. So Frederick-sama is of the Earth attribute.

"Can you create multiple arrowheads using Earth magic?"

"The ones Leon made earlier?"

"Yes. I will create a tornado using wind magic, so I would like you to create arrowheads within it."

"While I can't make things created with Earth magic float, would it be acceptable to create them and then throw them in?"

Um... Can I throw things in from the outside? I feel like they might bounce back. Besides, this time, I don't need to make the arrowheads float; I just need to create them within the tornado.

"With this magic, there's no need to make the arrowheads float. It's fine as long as you can create them within the tornado, but can you create them at a distance?"

"I haven't done that much... Let's give it a try."

Frederick-sama said as he used Earth magic, and arrowheads were created firmly in the distant airspace.

"It seems possible."

"Then, that will suffice for now."

I was about to try the magic, but Frederick-sama was staring at me intently. Huh? What's wrong?

"What's the matter?"

"How do you make things created with Earth magic float?"

"Well... It's not necessary this time, right?"

"I still want to know. Would you teach me?"

Um, explaining this is quite difficult. I thought that way and looked around to find someone who could stop Frederick-sama. Everyone was eagerly waiting for my explanation. Sigh... I guess I have no choice but to explain.

From there, I started by explaining the concept of gravity in this world and went on to explain about zero gravity. To make things created with Earth magic float, imagining zero gravity works best. Trying to make them float without that image requires a significant amount of magical power, making it impossible for ordinary people.

...Finally done.

It took quite a while to make them understand, and everyone bombarded me with questions full of curiosity. Since I didn't know all the details either, I gathered whatever knowledge I had and provided answers. Anyway, I'm exhausted.

But the real test begins now.

"Can we try the Rock Tornado then?"

"Ah, sorry for getting sidetracked. Please go ahead."

"Understood. I'll create the tornado. Since it might be dangerous if the arrowheads fly over here, may I create a wall as well? I'll leave a hole that's big enough to look through."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Alright, 'Wall.'"

I surrounded the area where I planned to create the tornado with a wall. This should be fine. A peephole was also carefully created.

"Here we go. 'Tornado,' Frederick-sama, please."

"Got it. 'Bullet.'"

The bullet Frederick-sama conjured got caught in the tornado I created, giving it a menacing look.

Maybe it would be easier to understand if I threw something in. Can I use that target?

"Christoph-sama, may I put that target into the Rock Tornado? I think it would make the power more evident."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Thank you."

I tossed the target, made of wood and cloth like a scarecrow, into the Rock Tornado.

Crack, crack... It shattered into pieces immediately. As expected, this magic is quite formidable. I need to think carefully about how and when to use it.

After maintaining the tornado for a short while, I stopped the flow of magical power after some time and dissipated the tornado. Since bullets were made from real soil, they remained intact.

With Earth magic, you can create soil from magical power, but using nearby soil consumes less magical power. Therefore, in most cases, real soil is used.

Phew... I'm relieved it worked. I'm satisfied that the composite magic was successful and turned around. Everyone is frozen in astonishment.

Oh... They're still quite surprised, it seems. Well, it's quite a formidable magic, after all.

"What do you think? The magic did technically work, but..."

"Yeah... I'm just shocked by how high the power is. This could be useful against monsters."

As Richard-sama said that, everyone snapped out of their daze, wearing thoughtful expressions.

They're probably considering various situations to use this in. But for now, I want to return to the mansion because I'm tired. It's already past noon, and I'm getting hungry.

"Um, shall we head back to the mansion? It's already past noon..."

"Is it that late already? Well, let's put off thinking and return to the mansion for now. We'll need to consult His Majesty as well."

Richard-sama left with these ominous words, heading back to the mansion.

Is this going to be another case where they need to consult with His Majesty?

I'm trying to keep a low profile, but why does it always end up being too much...

Feeling tired, I took slow steps towards the mansion.