Why Can't You Form a Circle?
"How come you can't make a circle?"
"H-Hamel... It's cold. I can't..."
"Then shall we take a short break and try again?"
"Why on earth are you trying to teach me magic...?"
The Karstein Grand Duke's Residence training grounds.
I supported the panting Freira. The recoil from casting her ignition spell had caused the young lady's body temperature to plummet dramatically.
"Activating heat mode. Come here."
"Sorry, but I can't even lift my arms."
"Then a back hug it is."
As I wrapped my arms around her from behind, Freira leaned into me. She was so fragile, it felt like she might snap if I squeezed too hard.
Why try to raise a girl like this into a knight?
Ulrich wanted his daughter to become a knight like him. It was an attempt to improve her frail body and congenital incurable illness.
Naturally, it had failed. The young lady couldn't properly wield a greatsword, let alone a rapier.
She's got all her talent dumped into one side—why take the opposite development route?
I could understand it, though. The Karstein bloodline was born with "ignition," but every time Freira used it, she suffered severe side effects. Mana circuit backlash, acute hypothermia, and so on.
She hadn't even managed to form the circle she should have awakened years ago if she had any real magical talent to begin with.
She couldn't even catch up to the toes of her own mother, who had floated eight circles.
Freira placed her small hand over mine.
"Hamel. To be honest... I have no talent as a mage or a knight."
For a Grand Duke's bloodline, that was a total fail—sounded like she was telling me not to waste my effort.
Sorry, but the choice isn't yours—it's mine.
I pulled the young lady a little tighter against me.
"Milady. Listen well. The witch is coming back soon."
"...You're serious? How do you know that?"
Freira shot me a glare over her shoulder. My words had apparently rubbed her the wrong way.
How did I know?...
Bang.
The training ground doors flew open roughly, and a woman strode in.
"Greetings. The witch has arrived. Now, applaud."
Elise had appeared out of nowhere. Dressed to the nines in a maid outfit, no less.
"...Hamel."
"I didn't call her. For real."
Freira's eyes filled with venom.
***
The Karstein Grand Duke's Residence drawing room.
Freira sat with her arms crossed, openly radiating I'm not happy about this.
"Even I have to admit she's cute. A born maid, perhaps."
Clap clap clap clap.
Elise, on the opposite side, didn't bat an eye as she gave herself a round of applause.
The clear-eyed automaton glanced at me, then plugged her connection cable into my panel.
> Senior. Cute, right? Adorable, isn't she? Admit it.
> ....
> Answer.
This was highly disconcerting.
I hadn't chosen the route where Elise joins the household as a maid. Why had she come on her own?
As if answering my question, Ulrich entered the drawing room.
"I did it."
"Father. Why didn't you even ask my opinion...?"
Ulrich wrapped an arm around his muttering daughter's shoulders, beaming with a moist smile like he'd accomplished something grand.
"The Magic General offered to loan us a cutting-edge automaton for free. Unlike Hamel, it has a full autonomous thought module, so it acts just like a person."
Without hesitation, Elise hopped onto the drawing room table.
"Of course. Your Grace, behold—one-handed handstand."
"Hoho. What a fine era we live in. But no doing that in a skirt, if you please."
White panties, huh.
Come to think of it, Ulrich had his own loose screws—maybe he and Elise got along because of that.
"Freira, she looks about your age, so get along well."
In short, he'd wanted to give his daughter another friend. It had backfired into total trolling, though.
"Why do I have to deal with her...?"
"Grand Duke's lady? I'm Elise. Pleased to meet you."
Freira eyed the bowing Elise with deep displeasure. I asked the uninvited junior:
> How long do you plan to stay at the Grand Duke's?
> Until I capture Senior's heart.
> What the hell does that mean?
> Affection meter isn't budging. After 'caring senior,' I'm curious what comes next.
Was she seeing things that weren't there? Or was it grand delusions? Either way, I cautioned Elise.
> Lise. While you're a maid here, Freira is your employer. Serve her with utmost courtesy and devotion.
> Got it.
Even her curt reply felt unsettling somehow.
***
Over the next few days, Freira's magic training continued. Ulrich, sensing something, offered to summon a mage from the Magic Tower, but his daughter's firm refusal killed that idea.
Honestly, I probably knew more about magic than those guys. I'd seen mage endings through multiple playthroughs.
"I beseech thee, ignite my body with flames."
As Freira chanted, a small spark appeared above her clasped hands. She could handle minor spells like this just fine, but she still couldn't form a circle.
"Gathered mana, form the first ring!"
The mana flowing through her circuits vibrated fiercely. A golden ring flickered into existence behind her head.
Crack.
It scattered and vanished almost immediately.
"Haa, huu, huu..."
"Well done. You've improved a bit."
"...You think so?"
No. Not at all.
I gently helped Freira sit down. As I rubbed her ice-cold stomach, she leaned into my chest.
"Hmph."
Elise snorted, then approached the dejected Freira.
"Grand Duke's lady. Chin up. Even rotten fish is fish, as they say."
"...Is that supposed to be encouragement?"
"Shoes come in pairs. Even the rich can't last three days if they go bankrupt. When you think it's too late, it's not really."
She seemed to think it was a joke, but it fell flat. Freira didn't even have the energy to get mad—she just sighed and hung her head.
"...Grand Duke's lady. Allow me to demonstrate."
Elise stepped back a few paces and raised one hand. She was activating her body's magitech circuits.
This'll just make it worse.
Before I could stop her, Elise muttered:
"Core output 5%. Mana supply to magitech circuits. Rotation normal. Petition begins. Gathered mana, form the first ring!"
She snapped her fingers with a crack, and a golden ring formed behind her head. Mana sparked off the rapidly spinning ring like fireworks.
"1st Circle. Formation complete."
It was a near-perfect shape. As a cutting-edge military model, Elise could form several more if she wanted.
Making just one was probably her way of being considerate.
This time, she didn't mock or say anything weird. Maybe because she'd watched Freira push herself for days.
"Grand Duke's lady."
"...Yeah. You're good. Way better than me."
"Shall we try again? I can provide close guidance."
Time for me to chime in. I spoke carefully.
"You'll form your circle soon. Trust me."
Freira bit her lip hard. Then she shook her head weakly.
"...I quit. Thanks for showing me."
The young lady used me to stand, then staggered out of the training grounds. I watched her retreating back in silence.
Elise glanced at me, then slyly connected to my panel.
> Senior.
> You could just say it out loud—why connect?
> Grand Duke's lady might hear.
So she couldn't bring herself to say harsh words to a downcast person. Elise was being considerate in her own way.
> How can she fail at even one circle? My housecat could do it. It's beyond talentless—it's hopeless.
She must've been holding back to avoid getting chewed out. I explained to her step by step.
> Elise. Could you pick up the entire Imperial Magic Tower and spin it around?
> How? You're delusional.
> That's what it's like for Freira.
Elise didn't reply. She didn't get it, but since it was me saying it, she let it slide.
So the standard method won't grow Freira, huh.
I recalled previous playthroughs and countless branches. In hindsight, Freira always awakened in crisis situations.
The problem was that those crises involved extreme psychological shocks, like someone close getting murdered.
I obviously didn't want anyone dying, and I didn't want to push the emotionally fragile Freira that far.
> Senior. What is the Grand Duke's lady to you?
> Someone very precious. An ally, like I said before.
> Then what are you to her?
Hmm. A handsome guy friend who matched her tastes, maybe.
On second thought, no. What friend? I was a tin can butler. We weren't equals.
> Probably like a cherished pet.
> She'd be devastated if you died.
Why suddenly shove me into a grave?
As I opened my mouth to retort, enlightenment struck.
"Lise Lise."
"Ow. No headknocks. I'll cry and scream pathetically."
"Good girl."
I ruffled her hair, and Elise perked up her head.
"Pet my chin too."
"You a cat?"
"Purr purr."
Found it.
A way to awaken her without anyone dying or Freira getting hurt.
***
Midnight.
I quietly opened the door to Freira's bedroom. The young lady was deep in slumber, her breathing soft and even.
Long lashes, snow-white skin. No makeup, yet stunning. The epitome of a romance fantasy heroine.
I slowly opened the bedside drawer. Deep inside was a jewelry box, pristine and dust-free unlike the other items.
A rune lock with numbers secured it tightly. I turned the dial carefully, and it clicked open with a small sound.
A deep blue glow settled over the pitch-black room.
I lifted the necklace. Its form was exquisitely carved, like ice sculpted by a master.
The Promise of Frost.
The necklace Freira had received from her mother.
The guards patrolled outside. I slipped past them and entered the Northern Wall, choosing an empty spot to raise the necklace high.
Imperial mages wouldn't detect its faint mana, but mana-born demons surely would.
Come on, take the bait. Witch. You have to come reclaim what you think was stolen.
***
Deep in the North lies a land brimming with machines. A place with technology centuries ahead of the barbaric human Empire.
Acidic black smoke blanketed the sky, and the mana-squeezed earth had long since cracked open.
The Demon Realm.
That was what humans called it. A place taught as full of sorcery, heresy, and blasphemy.
"That's why humans can't have it. The great civilization we forged."
As the woman spoke, a human dangling upside-down from the ceiling wailed. The usual pleas—spare me, I have a family.
"I'm sick of it. Just die already, you primitive worm."
She whispered in his ear.
"Transform. Fall. Lose your intellect."
The whisper became power, sucking in surrounding mana. The wailing human gradually forgot human speech.
"Ughruk. Aghruk. Gruughruk."
All that remained was a fallen beast in the form of a ringed worm.
The woman stepped over the monster and ascended to the tower's peak. Far off, somewhere south, a familiar scent wafted.
The fragrance of snowflakes in the bitter cold. The deep, icy hue of mana.
Above the humans' wall, perhaps.
"Look there. Humans are waving around the Promise of Frost."
"Without even knowing what it means. They stole it from us."
Dozens of voices joined from behind the woman. As the demons draped her in a translucent robe, she floated smoothly.
"You wait here. I've shown the bait—now I devour it."
"How far? Just the promise?"
The woman's torn lips curved up.
"Everything. The entire wall. I'll turn them all into worms."
The Transformation Witch, Circe, reached out her hand.