I’ve got a hint—it’s worth a try.
Last time, I stayed up here for quite a while to test out a few things, but this time I flew right back down—farther and farther—until my surroundings started to look brighter once more. There, I summoned my item box and began stuffing it with air—something I wouldn’t normally do—and flew back up to the darker heights.
Up here, it was pretty hard to breathe, but that was the last thing on my mind when I was so close to preparing the perfect lighting for Amelia’s concert. I resummoned my item box and unleashed all the air I’d stuffed inside.
Whoooosh! The air howled as it was released from containment and instantly dispersed into the surroundings. For a second, I feared I’d failed, but my worries were unfounded—my item box replenished the space with air faster than it could disperse.
Once the air around me had become denser, my surroundings also grew brighter.
“It was the air,” I whispered in awe.
With that confirmed, my next question was: Why did the air make the surroundings brighter?
Dust came to mind—the little specks of dust I would sometimes see indoors, and the image that I visualized for my spell earlier. Could it be that something in the air is influencing the light?
After some thought, I decided to cast a spell: “Shrink.”
This spell made me smaller—smaller, and smaller, and smaller—until I could observe the world on the same scale as these specks of dust. As I shrank, so did my view of the world gradually shift. By the time I was much smaller than one of the specks of dust that slipped out of my item box, I almost doubted that I was still looking at the same world I’d been living in all this time.
Most important of all, I found that the air was filled with something much smaller than dust—something that usually looked transparent to me in my original size. It looks like...mist? Or fog? Upon closer inspection, this fog seemed to be shining faintly—no, actually it was reflecting light!
I swiftly undid my spell and grew back to my original size. The world looked normal again, and the area around my item box—which was still unleashing air—was as bright as earlier.
“I get it now... Those tiny particles in the air are reflecting light.”
How is that even possible? No, wait... It is possible. Come to think of it, mirrors weren’t the only things that could reflect light. Anything similar could do the same. In the village I used to live in, snow would pile up in the winter, and the days where the sun was out would be especially bright...because light was reflecting off the snow! It was no mirror, but it could reflect light just fine.
It made perfect sense for all these tiny particles to do the same; the reflected light was much weaker because of their size, but there were countless of them to compensate. If I could make plenty of these things that can reflect a lot of light...
No, no. I should approach this differently. I had a feeling that I was on the cusp of a breakthrough. This feeling fueled my brain and sped up my thoughts.
Earlier, I’d tried but struggled to make many little light sources. However, there were already countless of these light-reflecting particles in the air. All I had to do was amplify their effects—after all, it was worlds easier to influence multiple targets than to make them all from scratch! Roughly put, this would function as a wide-area spell.
I slowly descended back to the surface. At this height, the pulling force of the surface had no effect—this was why I could leave my blue ant beads here to begin with—so initially my descent was slow and gradual, giving me lots of time to think of this new spell.
This one would be much easier than the last. After all, it’s just a wide-area amplification spell.
Some time after, I finally slipped back between the beams of the venue and landed on the stage. Once my feet were firmly on the ground, I held my hand up and cast my new spell: “Reflection Lens, thirty-onefold!”
Thirty-one casts was all it took to complete this simple spell. Magical light expanded around me into a magic circle, bestowing its effects on the air around me.
The next moment, the venue became much brighter. There was no direct spotlight, nor shadows cast over the ground. All I had done was amplify the effects of the tiny particles that were reflecting the light seeping in between the beams.
“Yes!”
Although I’d deviated from my initial plan, I still attained the results that I wanted. I clenched my fist in victory.
Mission accomplished!
✦ ✦ ✦
Naturally, I turned stiff as a statue as my thoughts screeched to a halt. Amelia handing me a towel was the last thing I was expecting to see here.
“Is something the matter, Lord Liam?” she asked with a small tilt of her head.
“Huh? Oh, uh... N-Nothing,” I sputtered lamely.
I had no idea what she was doing here, but she was kindly offering me a towel to use. I cast aside all other thoughts and just accepted it for now, using it to wipe my sweat.
“Oh, th-thank you!” I blurted, nearly forgetting to say so amid my confusion.
My awkward display drew another stifled laugh out of Lardon. Too embarrassed to acknowledge it, I instead decided to ask Amelia, “Wh-What are you doing here?”
“I was watching you,” she replied.
“M-Me?”
“Yes. As we discussed the other day...”
“Oh, right...”
Just recently, Amelia had stuck by my side for one full day. Apparently, it was necessary for her performance. I had no idea how, but this wasn’t the first time I was clueless about something, and I could rest easy following the lead of a professional like her. If she said shadowing me was important to the show, then it was.
Was she doing the same thing again today?
“H-Have you been watching me?”
“I have. I was hoping to learn more about you... Was I being a nuisance?”
“N-Not at all! If it’s necessary to you, then by all means!”
“Thank you very much,” she said with a smile. “I’ve realized all over again just how amazing you are, Lord Liam.”
“Am I...?”
“You were thinking about magic, weren’t you?”
“Oh, well... Yeah. I was making a new spell.”
“You were so focused on your work that you couldn’t even see your surroundings. Truly like a master craftsman.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. I sincerely respect you.”
I fell speechless. Was I hearing things? Amelia... Amelia just told me that she respects me. The shock left me an utterly confused mess. “Wh-What did you just...?”
“Your earnest and single-minded effort toward your craft is truly worthy of respect.”
Again, I couldn’t find the words. Was I finally losing it? Did my ears break down? Still, asking her to repeat herself any more than this would be rude, so I decided to change the topic. “Is there anything else you need, Amelia?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Well, I’d like to prepare whatever I can for you. If you still need anything else, then please feel free to tell me now.”
“Er... May I?”
“Of course. Tell me anything,” I affirmed.
I said I’d do whatever was needed to make her best performance a reality, and I meant every word. Anything I could solve with magic, I would; anything else, I could ask for Bruno’s help. My resolve was firm and I wouldn’t go back on my word, so I braced myself for whatever Amelia might ask of me. But...
“In that case, could you stand right in front of my stage during the performance?”
“Stand...in front?”
I never would have expected that. It was such a simple request that the resolve brimming within me wilted instantly.
“Yes. I would like you to watch me from the very front.” Amelia paused, her gaze searching. “Is...that a no?”
“Of course not!” I exclaimed. “I can definitely do that for you. It’s just... Is that really all you need?”
“Yes. This is very important.”
“Okay... I-If you say so. I guess...I should stand at the very front, where the most important guests usually stay? Is that right?”
“Yes. Thank you very much.” Amelia bowed deeply.
Is this really enough for her? Still, she seemed incredibly serious about this. I had to see it through.
After a brief discussion with Amelia, I parted ways with her and watched her leave the venue. Soon, I was left alone on the partly constructed stage.
“You consented to it. Were you not planning to patrol the border that day?” Lardon asked.
“I’ll make it work,” I replied firmly.
I still had to think about how, but for Amelia, I’d definitely make it happen one way or another. Since I had no clue as to why she wanted me there, I couldn’t just make a half-baked effort and leave my clone to attend the concert—it had to be me.
So, how should I go about this? With a new puzzle on my hands, I once again fell deep into thought.