On their way to the fortress, the reunited pair caught up on all that’d happened in the past two decades, filling in the blanks between them. When they arrived, they met the young knight responsible for the fortress. For some reason, he started when he heard Victoria’s fake name. Afterward, Loretta and Victoria headed to a meeting room to discuss things in detail.
“First of all, the mothman nest is here, and the fortress is here,” Loretta said, looking at the map. “It seems like there’s an elf village to the south.”
“Involving the elves would be inadvisable. I think we should place the magic circle…around here.”
Magic that used a magic circle was more powerful and lasted significantly longer. It’d be extremely effective for taking out a nest of monsters.
“I assumed as much. That’s one complicated magic circle, though! Even if we borrow magic from all the mages here, we’ll need protection until it’s complete.”
Higher-tier magic circles were bigger and more complex. Looking at the designs Victoria brought, she could see this magic circle was about as large as a pond. She wouldn’t be able to draw the circle without a certain amount of magic power, and on top of that, it had lots of intricate sections; it would take days to finish.
“I’ll leave those details to you. I don’t know much about that sort of thing,” Victoria admitted apologetically, adding, “If Master were here, he’d create the entire circle with his magic and activate it in no time.” The only people who could that, however, were elves or the great sage Altorius.
“No point worrying about someone who’s not here,” Loretta replied. “There seem to be a few military mages here at the fortress. We can ask them to help.”
“Good idea. I’m not familiar with that kind of thing, either, so I’ll leave it to you.” When it came to magic, Victoria knew more than most mages, but she’d learned very little regarding government or military affairs.
This was probably a factor in why her brother, the king, had sent Loretta with her. Loretta wasn’t only a court mage, she was well-versed in the Duchy’s political and military spheres. Her social expertise was a huge relief to Victoria.
As they hammered out the details, Loretta was silently astonished. She really is a genius.
Even Loretta, a court mage who’d received the best education the Duchy offered, didn’t completely understand the schematics Victoria had put together. She could generally discern its purpose and see that it would work, but the details that went into its creation were over her head.
Victoria was one of the most talented mages on the continent. Even as a pupil, she’d completely understood Altorius’s complex, innovative theories. She was the Witch Princess of the Duchy, and listening to her explain this piece of magic far beyond her own talents reminded Loretta why her old friend’s talent warranted such a nickname.
And she’ll keep researching magic for over a hundred years, Loretta reflected, feeling the envy with which mages looked upon half-elves firsthand. She’d never catch up to Victoria.
Wiping her feelings of resentment away, Loretta asked, “Victoria, how did you find out this magic circle connects to the Western Continent’s northern region? Did Lord Altorius tell you?”
“That’s partly how. But I also went there myself. It was incredibly cold—I swore I was going to die,” Victoria grimaced. Apparently, it was a memory she’d rather not recall.
“Huh?”
“There are tons of old elven artifacts on the Western Continent, so Master and I went to check them out,” Victoria explained. “We used his teleportation magic to reach the Sand Nation, then traveled all the way north.”
That can’t be! Loretta thought, before reconsidering.
When Altorius was younger, the great sage was one of the Four Heroes who’d traveled to defeat the multiple demon lords that still existed. Altorius had supposedly been all over the world, and the teleportation magic he brought back made Victoria’s statement possible.
“W-wow,” Loretta stammered. “You’ve been all kinds of places, huh?”
“Mm-hmm. On the Eastern Continent, I’ve been south of the Empire, to the city of the dead, and even to the Red Dragon Mountains. Those were extremely dangerous, so Master didn’t want me traveling there alone.”
“Care to share your stories with me later…?” Loretta asked her old friend, who’d seemingly been on quite a staggering adventure.
“I’d love to,” replied Victoria with an enthusiastic nod.
Knock! Knock!
“Uh, pardon me, Lady Pudding.” Beyond the door was a familiar masculine voice. “The master asked me to give you this. Is now a good time?”
That’s the young knight in charge of this fortress who greeted us when we arrived. Heinrich, I believe? Loretta wondered whether the situation with the mothmen had changed. Under the circumstances, Heinrich sounded surprisingly calm.
“Can I open the door?” Victoria asked her.
“Sure,” Loretta nodded.
As Loretta had expected, the young blond knight was there, holding a white box. “Ah…um…Lady Pudding, I really didn’t expect you to come to our aid. You have my deepest gratitude. I’d like you to accept these as thanks. When I asked the master, he said they were a good choice. Apparently they’re seasonal…?”
Heinrich fumbled, seemingly unused to this sort of thing, but the white box evidently contained a gift for Victoria. Somehow or other, judging from their back-and-forth, this knight had become one of “Pudding’s” associates. What’s this? Victoria, you sly girl!
“According to the master, they’re sweets,” Heinrich added. “So, you should eat them soon.”
Victoria took the box with a smile. “Got it. Thanks.”
“Right. Well, um…see you later.” Noticing Victoria’s smile, Heinrich blushed and closed the door behind him.