Revelation

Balkun said that the Magic Library Director Seneran was his business partner.

"I provide the technical skills, and she provides the capital."

On the surface, it was the kind of collaboration you could see anywhere, but the things they actually made together were far from ordinary.

Magic-Armament Alloy.

Making something that was exclusive to the Demonfolk usable by humans, and laying the foundation for humans to awaken Magic Power. What the two of them dreamed of could be called wildly far-fetched by ordinary standards.

Whether it was far-fetched or not, the first thing that came to my mind as soon as I heard that was my future teacher, Widra.

"Was the court mage Widra also involved in that?"

"Hm? No. I haven't had a chance to make contact with someone like him..."

"Heu aehaehiheung aeha hingheong hangahahngheho hunghunghanghaeh heohyeong hanghahuheho hanghwahaeho!!"

"...Hey. I can't understand a word you're saying, so blow your nose and speak properly."

I wasn't the only one staring awkwardly at Seneran, who had suddenly grabbed my trouser leg and started crying as if the world had ended. Balkun was also rubbing the back of his head, looking at her nearly insensible state. Considering they had been raising their voices and arguing earlier, their relationship didn't seem so bad after all.

"Well... being human, her lifespan is a bit short, you see. So I guess she's been suffering from anxiety in many ways."

In the meantime, I had bought the music box, and later she tracked me down and planned to ask my cooperation for various experiments. She came to pick up the Magic-Armament Alloy weapon, only to hear that it had already been sold. That was the story before I arrived. Actually, this is something I should hear from the person involved, but she was a total mess now and couldn't talk properly.

Still, as if she had finally pulled herself together, Seneran blew her nose with a Pang! and spoke again.

"That son of a bitch! I went to see him several times in person, and he wouldn't even meet me, let alone turn me away at the door!!"

"...Ah."

Come to think of it, I'd heard he'd fallen into deep frustration and cast a lot of things aside. She probably went to see him around that time and couldn't even get a proper meeting.

Wait. So this woman had turned to the dark side because of that, built a whole Magic Library, and became a slave to capitalism? If she was even acting as a patron to a dwarf blacksmith, it meant she was making a shitload of money. What kind of insane talent was that?

"That was probably because of me. My teacher had his own circumstances too, so please try to understand."

"...What? Teacher? You're his student? But why do you call him that way?"

"Because we haven't formally established a master-disciple bond yet?"

"......Oh, could I perhaps hear a more detailed story?"

I take that back. She clearly didn't have her head on straight. Watching her switch gears like that after she'd been sniffling and whining just moments ago made a sense of unease creep over me.

"Anyway... Magic Power. So that's what it was. It wasn't aura."

If I'd used aura skillfully, it wouldn't have been obvious, so I had planned to just shoot it off and pass it off as aura. But because the other party was Seneran, who had devoted her life to Magic Power research just like Widra, I'd been caught red-handed with no way out. If it hadn't been for that, I would've been happily enjoying the fact that I could use it as I pleased.

Still, I could only give an awkward smile and apologize to Balkun, who was speaking in a lowered voice out of worldly wisdom and tact.

"I'm sorry. It's a matter I can't easily speak about."

"No need. It was the natural decision. Does Gin know?"

"No. Mr. Gin doesn't know either."

"Hm. I understand. I'll keep my mouth shut. With something like this, you can never be too careful, even a hundred times."

While I was feeling touched by the living modern man Balkun, who would have proudly taken first place on the continent if there were a customer satisfaction survey, Seneran realized she was being ignored and started grabbing my trouser leg and hanging on again.

"Don't ignore me! Talk to me! This is a business where we can both gain!"

"Well, I'm grateful you made and sold the music box because I thought it would be extremely useful. But that's that, and this is this, isn't it? We just met today. Can't we keep some distance?"

"Keeping distance won't feed my research results! Please!"

"This is driving me crazy, seriously."

She was supposedly a hugely successful mage called the Golden Mage or whatever, but she could become this desperate just from discovering a Magic Power user? Apparently wealth and fame weren't that important to her. Still, the fact that she wasn't being coercive suggested her character was decent, but...

"You're like that because you don't know how special you are! Or you know but don't care because it's someone else's problem! If there were just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two more humans like you on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the continent, I wouldn't have suffered this much!"

"Well, fine. It's true that I seem to be a very useful human resource for you. But wouldn't it be polite to at least clearly state what benefits you can offer me before clinging to me?"

"I'll give you everything!"

"...Huh? What?"

"I said everything! I'll give you everything except what I need for my research!"

I started to get seriously fucking scared. What was in Seneran's eyes was clearly madness.

As I recoiled in disgust and stepped back, Balkun shook his head, gave Seneran a knuckle rap on the head, and at the same time interposed himself between us.

"Human, get a grip!"

"I'm holding onto my sanity more firmly than at any other time in my life!"

"From the bullshit you're spouting, you clearly haven't. Where's the guarantee that your research will definitely bear fruit with Eldmia's help? Without that certainty, you're giving him everything except what you need for research? What if it fails? How will you scrape together money for the next research then?"

"Money is an infinite resource, but time is finite!"

"I'm losing my mind."

I was losing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my mind too. This wasn't a situation where talking would work. She looked like her eyes could start spinning behind her glasses at any moment and it wouldn't be strange. I'd never thought that a woman grabbing my ankle would be a bad experience, but right now I was realizing in real time that that idea had been completely wrong.

In the end, unable to bear the pressure, I decided to flee.

"Uh, look. I'm kind of busy today anyway. Let's talk next time."

"Ah, no! Why are you busy? Who's making you busy?"

Of course, Seneran wasn't the kind of easy opponent who would fall for that.

"I said we just met today! Why are you so curious? This is an invasion of privacy!"

"I-I'll help you! So you help me too!"

"How could you possibly help m... ooh, you actually can."

This lady was the library director, right? Was this that thing where the universe helps you if you desperately wish for it?

"Come to think of it, I think we might be able to maintain quite a good cooperative relationship. Do you know how to do an imprint contract?"

◈

Seneran, who accepted without hesitation in a no-nonsense, straight-up manner and accompanied me, fortunately knew how to perform imprint contracts.

"There's no special reason that only a limited number of mages can perform imprint contracts. It's simply because forcing the other party requires a lot of Mana, or you have to know how to construct more detailed spell formulas."

In other words, 'You're the exception,' she declared as if it were nothing, like dropping a bombshell. As I stared blankly at her, Seneran looked at me like I was some weirdo. It seemed there was a gap between us born from a small misunderstanding.

"I still don't know much about magic. Since I can't use Mana."

"What, so you're almost completely ignorant of magical knowledge too?"

"I don't know absolutely nothing... theoretically, maybe low-rank magic?"

I had neglected studying since anything beyond that I knew but couldn't use. Only recently had I realized I shouldn't do that and started studying again, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not being a genius brain, I hadn't achieved any dramatic results in a short time.

Only after seeing my reaction did Seneran nod as if she'd finally understood something and begin explaining.

"The common knowledge that you have to go to a place like a library to engrave an imprint contract is because most people don't have an overwhelming amount of Mana to unilaterally engrave an imprint on another person. In the case of warriors, half of them can't handle Mana at all. That's why you need a third party who can use more precise spell formulas to reduce the Mana consumed and efficiently engrave the imprint. But since you're using Magic Power, you're already crushing it with sheer total quantity. My guess is, even a rough imprint would work on you?"

Honestly, if it weren't for Merdela, imprint contracts were something that wouldn't have reason to appear in my life for a while, so it was extremely unfamiliar. Instead of pretending to half-know, I decided to just boldly admit I didn't know.

"I had no idea what the structure was."

Normally, I'd expect a reaction like 'I can't believe it' or 'How stupid,' but surprisingly, Seneran just nodded normally and continued speaking.

"Magic is originally like that. Just like people know what a waterwheel is but don't know the mechanical structure inside, that's how most people live. Still, both you and I are lucky. During the process of engraving an imprint contract, any mage assisting would inevitably notice the anomaly in your body."

"...You mean the Magic Power?"

"Right. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's similar to the feeling of trying to extract Mana from a normal person but ending up refining and drawing it from thin air. Fortunately, since I'm involved, you can now keep your secret safe, which is good for you. And I get a pretext to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with you, which is good for me. At this point, isn't this fate?"

Seneran, who had been sniffling and seemed on the verge of delirium moments ago, was now carrying on an extremely calm and normal conversation. Of course, I could sense she was subtly emphasizing her own usefulness and naturally angling for my help, but... thinking of Widra, I could understand how desperate she must have been, so I could let it slide. In fact, just her explanation about imprints had been useful enough.

"But where are we going?"

But maybe it was her natural personality to focus on one thing and be indifferent to the rest, because it felt like she was missing a few screws, which worried me.

"...We're going to the residence of Margrave of Levien."

"...? Why there?"

"I was originally going to ask Margrave of Levien for help. Since I'm a disciple of Sir Radnelbandes."

"Grand Battle Mage Radnelbandes? Are you perhaps someone rather extraordinary...? Wait. What did you say your name was?"

It felt less like a few screws were missing and more like there were hardly any properly fastened. Still, having come this far, I pushed aside my distrust as much as possible and introduced myself again.

"I'm Eldmia Ega."

"Eldmia? Ega...? Aah!"

At that, Seneran, who had been rolling her eyes and tilting her head for a moment, jumped up and shouted.

"So you're the Guillotine of Levien!"

That bastard Gish had called me that at the Envelde mansion too. It seemed that had become my nickname.

Seriously, why was I the only one who didn't know my own nickname?