“It is strange, though. Even we ninjas know that a mage can still use magic, even if their mouths are, um, covered and their limbs are, um, bound. That’s why they could gather in a, um...windowless room on the ship. But the only one who actually used their magic was that, um...little one.” Momochi told Joshua, thinking it odd the more he considered it. There were five mages, including Juana, in the room, yet the only one who used magic was the thumb-sized mage.
“Interesting... So they don’t need to chant a little spell or use a wand?” The mages Momochi told Joshua about had a lot more freedom in how they used their magic than he’d imagined. Apparently, they could use it at will.
“Why would they need to chant? Are they...cursing someone? And why a wand...?”
“Huh?” Joshua had always thought you had to say a little spell and have a wand to use magic. Just like Momochi said, Joshua had never read anything that claimed you needed spells and wands either, so where had he gotten the idea???
“Oh.” When he thought back to try and figure out where he’d learned such a ridiculous tidbit, he realized the exact cause: Lord William. When they were both younger, William would tell him all about these “magical girl” stories. He remembered they were supposedly young girls who wore colorful clothes and fought for their world or something. While Joshua didn’t understand why young girls should be forced to fight, by the time he’d met William, it seemed the concept of magical girls had already been set in stone for the boy. Joshua had been internally a bit taken aback that William was so particular about the little details when all they were doing was playing pretend. He’d figured that maybe because the Stewart family lived so close to the barrier in the Pallas region, which already didn’t have a large population, and he had no friends his own age, he’d grown a bit obsessive with his imaginary friends.
“No no, her eyes were bigger and more beautiful than that!”
“Oh, yeah, her eyes were pretty big... But I don’t really remember how big.”
While Joshua was thinking, the more artistically inclined knights were trying to draw a picture of what they thought Juana looked like, but the others kept saying this, that, and the other thing weren’t right.
“That’s not the same person,” Momochi, who had stayed invisible and took a peek at the picture the knights were drawing, whispered to Joshua.
“I see... Which means...” The proof that the knights had had charm magic cast on them was more solid, and now that magic had worn off. But why? “Violet...?”
Joshua came to this theory as he looked at the thread binding Juana. Violet’s webbing was all-encompassing. It could heal wounds, work as binding, act as bowstring...it really could do it all. The string they’d used to tie up the mages was made from Emma silk with some of Violet’s webbing mixed in. If Violet’s webbing had some kind of antimagic properties to it, that would also explain why the charm magic hadn’t worked on Joshua. After all, he always wore the cuff links Emma had given him. When he thought back to how things were at school, it wasn’t like the entire populace were Saint Juana’s adoring fans either. Emma’s friends and the boys from the areas around Pallas who’d also received cuff links never acted any differently toward Emma. And it wasn’t just the cuff links either; all those little trinkets that Emma had made in her Embroidery class and generously given out to had saved the entire school...no, the kingdom at large from the worst. Lady Rose’s connection to the Stewart family had the royal family procuring their goods as well. If that charm magic had reached the king himself, the kingdom would have been done for.
“Ha ha...” How could Emma not have been named a saint? Just how greatly would Emma surpass Joshua’s expectations? He was well aware that he wasn’t just one foot in the Emma obsession swamp—he was drowning all the way up to the tip-top of his head. To think that he could sink even deeper into the swamp filled him with surprise and had him shuddering with indescribable joy.
Anyway, the all-purpose nature of Violet’s web was also far greater than he’d thought. As a merchant, he realized he probably should rethink the market price he had set for this glowing purple thread. As he calculated it, he decided it might be wise not to distribute it outside of the Eastern Empire. Violsok was still fulfilling her side of the duty even while away, and Nyacom was doing their duty to protect the Stewart family home and the kingdom itself. The Stewart family home security system really was one to be proud of. Joshua thought he should make sure to prepare them some snacks as thanks next time he saw them, then turned to face the knights to tell them that the woman in the picture was indeed Juana.
“I believe she may have changed her appearance using magic. That may be why you can’t remember her face, though her eye and hair colors appear to be the same as her natural ones.” Even after Juana was unable to use magic, there was no change in her eye or hair color, which was a blessing, since her unusual hair and eye colors made it easier to convince the knights. (Unfortunately, it didn’t wipe away the allegations that the king had had an affair.)
“This is what the real Lady Juana looks like? But she was so cute...”
All the knights were shocked speechless by Joshua’s explanation. They remembered vividly thinking how adorable that smile had been as she’d personally passed out all that cotton...but they couldn’t remember the smile itself. The people of the kingdom were hardly familiar with magic, as it was practically the stuff of fairy tales to them. Yet the knights were far more astounded that Juana’s beauty was all a lie than the fact that magic was cast on them.
“No... It can’t be... Tell me you’re lying!” The younger knights were especially devastated, as they’d regularly fought to get even a glimpse of Juana in the courtyard, where she often spent her time. How could that Saint Juana be...this?
“No... She stole our hearts... Give them back!”
Emma likely would have blown a gasket if she were present.
“Now, hold on. You’re all being hasty.” One man among the bewildered knights, their commanding officer, knelt down in front of Juana. The very stern officer didn’t seem like he was about to criticize Juana in the slightest.
“Wh-What have we been doing?! Even if we were tricked, how could we be criticizing a lady’s appearance so?!”
“W-Wow... Leave it to the squad leader... He’s truly a knight among knights...”
“He’s still completely calm even after such a striking before-and-after...”
“We still have much to learn... How could we have been so thrown off by an enemy’s appearance?!”
The younger knights all felt terrible for immaturely criticizing the poor girl so freely. A knight’s creed began with protecting women. As such, the fact that their squad leader hadn’t said a word about her appearance was demonstrable proof that he was a true knight among them.
Luckily, the younger knights didn’t hear their squad leader, a man who would be turning fifty next month, whispering, “Well, I’ll be... No, she’s not bad. In fact, she’s the opposite. She’s very, very good. Incredibly so, I’d say! Yes, she’s magnificent!”
The Fogey’s Fancy had struck again.
Juana looked just like Emma had in her past life as Minato Tanaka. Yet even Juana didn’t know the special power her face held—the one she’d subconsciously activated right there.