Several days had passed since my father and Kris had left for their presentation to the emperor and empress, and I received a letter from each of them. I immediately headed to my room to read them. As far as I could tell, the presentation had been a success.
Kris’s letter was mostly filled with complaints about how I’d off-loaded my responsibilities onto her. There were also some extreme statements sprinkled throughout.
“Count Roland has been banned from my shop,” her letter read.
This count, whom I’d never even met before, had suddenly been banned from the Kristie Trading Company. My father’s letter contained plenty of complaints about Count Roland as well.
Just what kind of trouble is this guy getting himself into?
“Empress Matilda is terrifying,” Kris’s letter said. “She’s dangerous.”
Such a statement on its own could lead to Kris being charged with insolence toward the throne. I hadn’t heard much about Empress Matilda from my father, but perhaps I could ask Kris to tell me about her once she was back.
“Margrave Reiner kept looking the other way the whole time,” the letter detailed. “Also, I was the victim of a surprise attack.”
What does any of that mean?! My father was looking away? A surprise attack? None of that makes sense!
“Before she left, Kris seemed pretty excited about visiting the capital,” I remarked. “I wonder what happened.”
She had been happy about the opportunity after members of the Saffron Trading Company had told her that she was “paving the way to do business in the same region as humans.” That enthusiasm was nowhere to be found in her letter, which instead emitted a dark and menacing aura.
She definitely wasn’t of sound mind when she wrote this.
The Kris I knew was a much more intelligent person. I decided not to think about it much longer.
My father’s letter discussed the following: the presentation was a success, the empress had taken a liking to Kris, and the Kristie Trading Company and Valdia Mark had secured the privileges to the profits from the presented products. There was one line at the end of his letter that was slightly concerning.
“When I return, there is something important we must discuss.”
Just as I finished reading both letters, there was a knock on my door. I answered, and Garren entered.
“Lady Sandra is waiting for you at the training grounds,” Garren announced. “What would you like to do?”
“Oh, please tell her that I’m getting ready and will be there right away!”
“Very well,” Garren replied and left the room.
I put away the letters and changed into clothes that would be more comfortable to move around in, then I headed for the training grounds.
“You’re late, Sir Reid!” Sandra pointed a stern finger at me with her left hand, her right sharply pressed against her hip.
It’s impolite to point at people.
“I apologize for my tardiness, Professor Sandra.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” she reassured me. “I’m just going to make your training that much harder.”
Why is there always the tiniest bit of poison in her words?
Although that thought was on my mind, I actually didn’t mind it. After hearing about what Sandra’s time in the capital had been like and asking for her help in making a mana healing potion, it felt like we’d grown a bit closer—like we were siblings, which I found quite fun.
Our lesson today began with me practicing mana conversion under her guidance. In order to cast spells, I needed to increase my mana capacity, so I was doing my conversion drills every day. When Sandra was here, she would check whether I was effectively performing mana conversion and correct any mistakes I was making, so I improved a lot when she was supervising me.
Once we were done with the drills, I told her that I wanted to learn more about specialized magic.
“It’s normally a bit soon for that, but I think you may be all right, Sir Reid.”
We moved to one of the training ground rooms that was equipped with a blackboard, and Sandra began her lecture.
“The main prerequisite for casting elemental magic is having elemental potential. Currently, there have not been any people confirmed to have absolutely no elemental potential. Everyone has at least some. This is the most up-to-date understanding of magic theory. Even if you didn’t have any elemental potential, theoretically you should still be able to cast nonelemental spells. Anyone can cast magic as long as they practice. Any questions so far?”
Sandra was wearing glasses right now even though she normally didn’t. They really suited her.
I swiftly raised my arm to ask a question. “Professor Sandra, why don’t you normally wear glasses?”
“What? Because...well, Sir Reiner saw me remove my glasses once and said, ‘You look better without them.’ Wait, what are you making me say?! This is a lecture on magic theory! Keep your questions on the topic of magic!”
“Okaaay,” I replied.
She had unintentionally answered my question, and her face had gotten bright red with embarrassment.
Is my father aware of the effects of his words?
Sandra cleared her throat before continuing the lecture. “Elemental potential is necessary to cast elemental magic. In that case, does specialized magic require a special type of potential? Please answer, Sir Reid!”
“Erm...I don’t know!” I answered honestly.
I knew about elemental magic from the game I’d played during my previous life, but specialized magic was something I had only learned about after coming to this world. I had no better response than to honestly say that I didn’t know.
“It’s important to be able to admit when you don’t know something,” Sandra praised me. “In that case, I will tell you the answer: You don’t need anything. There’s no special potential required.”
“What? So anyone can use specialized magic?”
“Well, not exactly. In order to do so, you must go through countless hours of practice. After that, you can cast either a spell you made yourself or one that someone has imparted to you.”
I can make up my own spells?
As soon as I learned of that possibility, I grew incredibly excited. I’d already come up with my own attack spells, but the thought of creating even more specialized magic really tickled me.
“When casting attack spells, it’s necessary to have a clear image of the spell in your mind. Does the same apply to specialized magic?” I asked.
“Yes, it does,” Sandra replied. “However, compared to attack spells, specialized magic requires an even clearer image and more mana. Even if you have a strong image of the spell you’d like to cast, if you don’t have enough mana, you won’t be able to do it. The same goes for having enough mana but not a clear enough image.”
“So attack spells can be cast with proper mana conversion and a clear image,” I summarized. “Specialized magic requires mana conversion, a high mana capacity, and an extremely clear image of the spell. Is that correct?”
“That’s exactly right. As I expected, you grasp concepts quite quickly, Sir Reid.”