Position (1)
"Hoo, hoo, hoo hoo hoo hoo."
"…The princess has barely left and you're already making that face."
"You're going to tear your mouth at this rate, brother."
A chiding voice came from the side, but I couldn't stop laughing. No, seriously—I had just pulled the Successor of Red and Blue Blood into my camp?
With her absurd mana capacity and control, plus her talent optimized for Blue Light, the most versatile of the three combat magic types, she was a true all-rounder who could be raised into any bizarre build imaginable. If I handed her various secret spells the way I matched weapons for Ligret, I could already imagine how ridiculously strong she would become.
The Nameless War Demon holding the front line, the Successor of Red and Blue Blood raining firepower from the rear. And the Greedy Hedonist diligently farming items, handing out potions, and focusing entirely on support.
Yeah. Perfect.
Of course, there were limits. The princess had just said it herself—she couldn't help me every single time. This wasn't some RPG where registering someone in your party meant they would tag along day and night. Everyone had their own goals and personal circumstances, so I couldn't ignore that and force them to move solely for my convenience.
If I had to name exceptions, it would be Ligret, who had shared the same goal with me even before entering the academy, or Fiore, who was tied to me by family name. Even Fiore had sat out the last dungeon run, though.
The standard party in Planetarium consisted of four main members and two reserves. It would be wonderful if I could fill those six spots with carefully chosen elites and always have them together, but since that was impossible, I needed to keep backup cards ready at all times.
If Ligret was unavailable, use Crow. If Crow was unavailable, use Rabaul. If even Rabaul wasn't around… well, what choice did I have? If I really didn't want to tank myself, I'd just have to put Loto to work.
The magic side was even more dire. If Lyla was absent, Pino was the only real option. The Pendevig siblings? There was no way those arrogant twins would listen to me. Even in the original story, controlling those two was nearly impossible unless you were on the level of the Successor of Red and Blue Blood. And it wasn't like Lyla could just tell them to follow me.
In truth, even Crow and Akasha I mentioned earlier didn't really follow me directly—they were more like connections I cleverly leveraged through Ligret or Fiore. So the number of people I could purely command on my own was extremely limited.
Then what choice was there? I had no option but to keep making new connections and steadily strengthening my existing acquaintances. The request I'd made to Lyla this time was an extension of that plan.
"From what I've seen so far, the princess is well-versed in pretty much every spell formula. Having her take on the role of Pino's instructor should be a huge help. And in your spare time, Fiore, you should learn some healing spells too. It'll be worth it."
Fiore tilted her head.
"Well, the basic structure of spell formulas is the same for support and magic, so that makes sense. But will Miss Pino even want to learn from her?"
"She's got plenty of ambition despite how she acts, so I doubt she'll refuse. The real problem is Rabaul."
I'd already found it suspicious, but after hearing that during the last assignment he had thrown Pino into the distant sky with pure physical strength and no reinforcement at all, I became certain. That guy was a physical-type talent. If he could display that kind of raw power with his bare body, then even if he only properly learned Red Light, he probably had near first-tier potential.
I even suspected he might actually be the Proud Barbarian, but… Grendel, who had been hanging around with Alphonse last time, was simply too strong a candidate. Honestly, if Rabaul really was the Proud Barbarian, that would be its own kind of infuriating, so I was almost afraid to confirm it.
What the hell did he do with his pride? Selling it off to obsess over magic and preach about wisdom? The true wisdom is smashing the heads of rude civilized people!
"Well, for Mr. Rabaul, I'll try persuading him again myself."
"I'd appreciate that. The guy's stubbornness is top-class."
Ligret casually rested the shaft of her spear on her shoulder and spoke.
"If I beat him up enough, won't he use it just to survive? Red Light, I mean."
Just become the barbarian yourself.
Pino thought to herself: Was this bastard Chrome getting revenge for her not joining the last dungeon run?
"Hello, Pino. I'll be in your care today."
Lyla Everblaze Barhart smiled with such elegant grace that even someone of the same gender might unconsciously feel their heart flutter.
"Y-yes, ma'am."
In contrast, Pino's face was stiff as a board and her voice trembled awkwardly.
The real Pino had quite a strong personality. She wasn't like Loto, who had the sensibilities of a complete civilian and would shrink before nobles, nor was she like Rabaul, who lacked common sense and would just freeze up. She would show proper courtesy if the other person held higher status, but she wasn't the type to grovel or freeze for no reason when she hadn't done anything wrong.
Even so, there were lines.
When the princess of the most powerful empire on the continent personally stepped forward to give private lessons, even Pino couldn't help but be nervous.
It had all started that morning.
On her way to class, she had run into the boy with the golden monocle. The moment he saw her, he casually dropped this bombshell:
'Ah, after class today, Her Highness Lyla said she'll look at your spell formulas in the magic training ground. Go if you feel like it. Or don't.'
'Excuse me?'
At first she thought it was a joke. The second-busiest student in the entire academy—the first being that damn nouveau riche who was busy raking in money with cubes these days—how on earth did he have the free time to bother with Pino's spellwork, which had no connection to him whatsoever?
Thinking it was some lame prank, yet curious about what kind of trap he might have prepared, Pino had headed to the magic training ground anyway. There, she saw the princess actually waiting for someone and nearly fainted on the spot.
Go if you feel like it? Or don't?
Pino imagined what would have happened if she had ignored the training ground and gone straight back to her dorm.
'Your Highness, why are you standing here all alone?'
'I was going to give lessons to a student named Pino, but it seems she declined. Nothing to be done.'
'I see. Please return for now. We will handle the rest.'
Wasn't that basically a death trap over a single wrong choice? The realization that she had almost ended up hanging from a pole made Pino's whole body tremble.
Petty is one thing, but this is ridiculous!
"Then, could you first tell me what kinds of spells you can currently use?"
"Ah, um, for now I have Low-tier Mana Arrow and…"
The saving grace was that Princess Lyla was not at all authoritarian. She didn't scold the nervous Pino or criticize her lacking skills. Whenever she pointed something out, she always provided a convincing reason and concrete ways to improve. She also shared her knowledge without the slightest hesitation.
Considering how most people called geniuses were notoriously bad at teaching others, this was exceptional.
'…This child has more talent than I expected.'
Of course, the one inwardly impressed was Lyla as well. While Pino was indeed still rough around the edges, considering she had only started walking the path of magic after entering the academy, her learning speed was actually quite fast. Her sense for shooting-type spells in particular was outstanding.
The accuracy of her mana arrows was especially astonishing. If there was one flaw, it would be insufficient firepower.
When Lyla asked about that part, Pino answered like this:
"Hmm, how should I put it… I understand the part about creating an arrow in empty space, but then what exactly launches that arrow? That's the ambiguous part. With a bow, the more you draw the string, the stronger the power, but mana arrows don't work that way."
Lyla understood immediately.
'I see. She originally used a short bow, so that image remains strongly imprinted.'
The realization of a spell's effect depended on the form of the formula manifested outside the body, but what composed that formula was the user's knowledge and mental image. It was common for ambiguous imagery to prevent the spell from manifesting properly.
And the solution was clear.
"Pino, would you like to learn this spell?"
What Lyla showed her was the spell called Forest Keeper's Magic Bow.
Pino asked back, "This isn't a tiered spell, is it?"
"Correct. It's a special spell. However, among special spells, its effect is very simple and the difficulty isn't particularly high. It only creates a bow of mana."
The effect of Forest Keeper's Magic Bow was straightforward. It allowed spells of the OO OO's Arrow family to be nocked like real arrows, converting all the 'forward propulsion' or 'target-seeking power' inherent in those spells into pure arrow firepower.
"A normal mage would probably prefer using other spells rather than something like this, but I think it would suit you perfectly, Pino."
After listening to Lyla's explanation, Pino's eyes sparkled.
"Yes. I'd really like to learn it."
Whatever else she was, she wasn't the indecisive type who would let an opportunity slip right in front of her.