“Wow...”
Amelia stopped singing, her wide gaze drawn to the spectacle of an explosion above. I was no better. With an aria and Amelia’s singing, I was able to simultaneously cast twice as many spells as usual.
“Amelia,” I called.
“Wh-What is it?”
“Could you sing again, please? There’s something I’d like to check.”
“Of course. As you wish, Your Majesty.” Amelia swiftly set her fingers over the zither and once again filled the air with her melodious voice.
I was overcome with the same invigorating sensation, and my body brimmed with strength just as it had moments ago. The sensation was still fresh in my memory, so naturally, this wasn’t what I was curious about.
I cast a furtive gaze to Amelia—it didn’t seem like she was emitting any sort of power.
My multicasting capacity increased significantly with her song. Several reasons came to mind, the first of which was that her song contained some sort of power that I’d absorbed. However, that didn’t seem to be the case. I sensed no such thing from Amelia, be it mana or anything else. Her voice was immaculate as always, but I felt no sort of “actual” power from it.
Once again, I chanted an aria. Since this was just a test, I used Magic Missile instead of Power Missile. It was much weaker and harder to simultaneously fire more of it, but the result was essentially the same: 199 magic arrows collided in the air, causing a loud explosion and forming a smoke cloud up above.
This time, Amelia paid the explosion no mind and continued singing. I had to signal for her to stop; I’d already checked what I needed to.
“Thank you very much, Amelia,” I told her.
Her song paused, and her hands lifted from the zither. “Are you done?”
“Yes. This is enough...” I trailed off. “Hmm, but... This is very strange. Your voice produces no mana yet amplifies mine. This is a first for me.”
Amelia cocked her head. “Really?”
I nodded. “I’m not entirely sure what’s causing this. You?”
“I’m afraid not... I couldn’t possibly know something about magic that you don’t, Your Majesty...”
“Oh... Right.” I felt kind of bad for making Amelia say that. I just wanted to ask her for good measure, but clearly that was a mistake. I struggled to think of what to say next to shake off this awkwardness. “Er... Th-Thank you again,” I blurted out lamely.
Amelia raised her downcast face, and our eyes met.
That moment, the words I’d been racking my brain for suddenly yet naturally tumbled out of my lips.
“You’ve introduced me to new horizons.”
Her expression pinched in a mix of humility and guilt. “That’s—”
“It’s true!” I insisted, and her eyes widened in surprise. “It’s true. I mean it. This has opened the door for me to an entirely new world. It’s unlike any research and training I’ve ever done. I’m... Urgh. I’m not sure how to explain this.”
“Tell her it’s akin to learning to sing a round for the first time,” Lardon suggested. I had no clue what that meant, but Lardon’s advice had never failed me, especially when it came to matters outside of magic.
“It’s like learning to sing a round for the first time,” I told Amelia. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise before she nodded in understanding, proving once again that trusting Lardon was the right call.
“I see... So, I was able to be of help?”
“Very much so.”
“Thank goodness...” Amelia hung her head, though her cheeks turned slightly rosy and her lips curled into a bashful smile.
I mentally expressed my thanks to Lardon. Thanks to her, I’d managed to smooth things out. Now we could keep the conversation going.
“So—”
“Um—”
We accidentally spoke over one another. In fact, our words overlapped so perfectly that I—no, both Amelia and I physically reeled back in shock.
“S-Sorry!”
“No, I apologize too...”
“Um, Amelia... You can go first.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. You may speak first, Your Majesty.”
“Er...”
“Ah...”
After that flustered exchange, the words on the tip of my tongue became a tangled mess in my head. Amelia seemed to be the same. Whatever it was she wanted to say, I could see from her expression that we were suffering the same dilemma.
As panic festered within me, Lardon suddenly manifested by my side with a huff. “Good grief.” She propped her hand on her hip. A single look at her face, and I could tell how exasperated she was.
“I have a suggestion.” She turned to Amelia. “You. Move into this country.”
Lardon caught us both off guard. In my case, it was because she took the words right out of my mouth. Amelia was my favorite songstress, and her song amplified my mana. I had every reason to want her to hang around more, but I’d lost the chance to bring it up.
Gosh, I need to thank Lardon for saying it in my place...
But suddenly, Lardon turned her exasperated gaze to me. “As for you. She wishes to move in. Well?”
I blinked. “What?”
My mind failed to keep up. It took me quite a bit of time to realize that Lardon had spoken not only for me, but also for Amelia.