Surprised, he presses a hand to his mouth. “Sorry. You are just too unassuming, Elle… I’m in the wrong. I still haven’t organized my thoughts yet. What is the best move…?” he says, acting unusually flustered. He inhales and exhales several times before looking at me again. There’s an ashen quality to his complexion.
“Ultimately, what I am trying to say in the simplest language possible is that you have the potential to become a perpetual magic generator.”
“A perpetual magic generator?” I echo.
“Yes. Elle, have you ever felt like you have run out of magic after casting one of your favorite wide-area spells?”
“…Never. But isn’t that just because I have a larger supply of magic than other people?”
“I thought so, too. But that’s probably not it. In your case, it’s not a matter of having a huge amount of magic to pull from—it’s how fast your magic restores. A normal sorcerer condenses magic particles in the air and in food into their internal magic supply. The only way to replenish the body’s magic is to collect a large amount of particles over a few days and wait as it slowly converts into usable magic,” Julius explains, creating an hourglass in his hand with magic and flicking the glass as each bead of sand slowly spills to the bottom.
“Even my magic restores at the same rate as the average sorcerer. You, however, have an abnormal restoration speed, making you capable of endlessly increasing magic output with magic. No, restoration may be too weak of a word choice. You have the potential to continue multiplying magic as long as your body allows it without ever needing magic particles. Simply put, Elle, you will never run out of magic,” he finishes.
Never run out?
It’s true that I’ve never been able to measure my magical power. On orders from the DemiOracle, I’ve done a lot of experiments to determine how much magic I have, but none of them worked. I just thought I sucked so much at controlling my magic I couldn’t measure it correctly, but…I never imagined a hidden talent was behind it!
Should’ve expected that from the youngest Grand Magi and a prodigy sorceress like me!
My thoughts are interrupted by Julius’s heavy sigh.
“We may have been two of the Four Grand Magi, but we were nothing more than useful cogs put in motion to control Analia. But if your magic has the potential to become a perpetual generator…!” Julius bites out. “Aaah, thinking about it in that light, did you struggle with more delicate spells because adjusting the constant flow of magic was too difficult? Damn it all! Why didn’t I realize sooner?!” He runs an agitated hand through his hair and sinks his teeth into his bottom lip.
I can see that he’s in a huge panic and filled with regret over something. What can I do about it? I don’t really understand what he’s worked up about.
Even if what he said about my magic is true, why does that make him act like it’s the end of the world? It’s not that big of a deal. If anything, isn’t it pretty awesome to have an unlimited supply of magic? What’s so bad about it?
“J-Julius? Why are you so flustered? Is that a bad thing?” I ask gingerly. He looks at me with an ashen face drained of hope.
“…It could be world-endingly bad depending on several factors. One of which I want to confirm right now: Does the Demon Lord know about your condition?”
“You mean the magic circle? I never went out of my way to mention that I can do these things, but I didn’t hide it, either. I’m honestly not sure if it knows or not… But now that I look back on it, I was pretty much made to do nothing but experiments on my magic capacity ever since joining the Centers for Magic Research.”
“I see,” Julius murmurs, his hard expression softening a tad. “We might just be able to get by as long as the Demon Lord hasn’t found out, but…wisdom dictates we assume the worst,” he says softly, walking closer to me.
Determination has replaced the panic gleaming in his eyes only seconds ago. Captivated by the resolved air about him, I don’t move when he wraps his arms around my back.
“Huh?! Uh, hello? Julius…?!”
Julius just walked right up and hugged me! Why is he hugging me? Did I really zone out so bad to end up encapsulated in his strong arms?!
“Elle, refrain from doing anything else to draw attention to yourself. Please don’t use powerful wide-area magic like you did today. We can’t let the Demon Lord catch on about you.”
“Wh-What’s the big deal?! And would you lemme go already?!” I cry, shoving his chest with my hands. Being the strongest Grand Magi, he doesn’t even flinch.
“I will protect you no matter what comes. I swear to never hand you over to the Demon Lord.”
“What has gotten into you?!” I ask, lifting my head. Julius’s face is much closer to mine than expected.
Julius looks like he’s about to cry.
He rarely ever showed any emotion in Analia, earning him the nickname Prince of Glacial Beauty, and while he’s become more expressive since establishing Elle Village, he has always been more mature, calm, and levelheaded than me. That very same Julius is on the verge of tears.
I’m held hostage by those liquid pools of blue. I reach out my hands—
“Oh, hey, there’s someone over here!”
“GYAH!”
I shove Julius away. Is this a case of hysterical strength during an emergency? Julius falls back two steps this time even though he didn’t even blink with my last shove.
Wow, that was dangerously close. What in the world was I about to do?
I lift my eyes to look at Julius just as he turns in the direction of our visitor. I step to the right and look around him at the speaker.
Oh, it’s Laurent. And the village kids are trailing behind him. Seeing as their hair is wet, they must’ve come this way after finishing up in the river. Sounded like one of the younger boys spoke.
Surprise flashes across Laurent’s face when our eyes meet, with me in Julius’s shadow. “Ah, uh, umm, I see Lady Elle was with you. I’m sorry. I interrupted your alone time together…,” he bashfully stammers, cheeks flushed, and averts his gaze.
Oh my gosh! That reaction! Laurent has totally misunderstood what’s going on between us! He’s definitely got the wrong idea about me and Julius.
Seeing him act all embarrassed with rapidly reddening cheeks is making me flustered now.
Stop it! I-It’s not how it looks. Sure, we were gazing into each other’s eyes while hugging, and I was lifting my hands up to his cheeks…
Oh gosh, just thinking about it in that light makes my cheeks burn hot. Stupid Julius, what are you doing to me?! Hugging me close and looking into my eyes in that way will make me…make me…
Gah! Crud. I’m so embarrassed my thoughts are traveling down a dangerous path!
Anybody, not just Laurent, would get the wrong idea about us if they saw what we were doing!
Why did he hug me?! Especially when he’s going to fall in love with the stupid saint someday!
“L-L-L-Laurent! Don’t you get the wrong idea! J-Julius and I are nothing like that! What you just saw was that! You know, that! Julius was just acting funny!” I blurt out in a loud voice, earning a look of dissatisfaction from Julius.
“I wouldn’t say I was acting funny…,” he says. “However, I acknowledge I wasn’t being calm. I apologize for offending your personal space… I’ll go cool my head off. I have to strengthen the barriers I have up around the village anyway.” He quickly takes his leave.
He’s walking away so fast I can hear his feet cut through the wind. He won’t even look back. I don’t know how else to put it except that he got over it and out of here fast!
As for me, my face is still on fire, and my heart is doing a little jig. It’s not fair!
I’m sending all my irritation into a pointed glare directed at his back when I hear Laurent’s reserved “Excuse me, Lady Elle…?”
“What?” I ask without looking at him. My eyes are too busy sending hate beams in the direction Julius left. I have every right to! I mean, what’s his deal suddenly holding me in his arms, then leaving with the wind without an explanation?!
“Um, are you and Lord Julius lovers?”
“Didn’t you hear me say not to get the wrong idea?!” I spin on Laurent and glower at him for asking such a thing. Yet the kid cracks a happy smile.
“You…aren’t? …I’m glad.”
What is there to be glad about?! Sheesh.
“ANYWAY! Let’s head back to Elle Village, since you’re done with your bath! Back to our loving community!” I trumpet while struggling with an annoyance I just can’t put my finger on. I march back to the village with Laurent and the boys.