novelraw Chapter 62
Chapter 62
Chapter 62
I couldn't help but take my eyes off the goat demon and look at Erika.
Erika, with a dazzling smile on her face, and by the way, Shara, who was seriously checking her own chest, came into view.
This smile, it's that one.
It's the smile she had when the prince of Faltarl tried to push himself into a plan where Erika and the Priestess of Light were supposed to go out together, and she firmly refused.
Does this smile, along with the words "I'm counting on you," mean that Erika is angry and telling me to take responsibility...?
As a test, I point at the goat demon, then at myself.
Erika nods with a smile that seems to say, "Well done."
Shara quietly places a hand on her chest with a serious expression—how can you be so concerned about that with a demon right in front of you?
"What about the marriage vow?"
While turning my gaze back to the goat demon, I ask despite knowing it's pointless.
"Right now, I'm an adventurer."
What does that mean?
Huh? Does that mean we're not married?
A cold sweat breaks out all over my body.
No way... does this mean divorce?
Calm down! Calm down, me!
I desperately call out to the part of me that's impulsively looking for a cliff to jump off.
It was a one-year promise to begin with; it's just been moved up.
Wasn't this a conversation that was bound to happen someday? It's not something to despair over.
...No, I'm going to die.
Since Erika asked me to take care of that, I'll kill that goat demon, and after I kill it, I'll die. Yeah, I'll die.
"Well, if it looks like you're about to lose an arm or a leg, I might remember that marriage vow."
So, if I lose an arm or a leg, I can avoid divorce? No way, knowing Erika, it's not like she means she'll step in to help if I lose an arm or a leg.
In other words, she's saying she'll forgive me and not divorce me over losing an arm or a leg—how kind she is.
Erika, so kind. I love her.
For now, I guess the left arm will do. Since it's one arm, it should be from the shoulder, I think, as Erika adds to her words.
"I would hope it's merely a groundless worry that a human who calls himself my husband would suffer such an injury against a slightly large, hairless goat."
Alright, no injuries.
I'll take that guy's head off without a scratch.
*
"My apprentice, you're all about ruthless efficiency, aren't you?"
My mentor, known as "Kindhearted Barbara," says this to me while I'm holding a magic tool that grows heavier the longer time passes, with no idea what it's even useful for.
Having held it for about an hour now, I'm already near my limit and can barely nod properly.
"No, I'm talking about how you use magic, my apprentice."
Perhaps sensing the question in my gaze, my mentor answers.
"Your magical energy is average at best, so naturally, if you try to gain strength, output, and duration, it ends up like this."
While wishing for the magic tool to use up its magic stones and free me from this weight, I'm curious about what my mentor is trying to say, though I can't quite grasp it.
My kind mentor probably thought I'd get bored with just physical enhancement magic training, so she decided to throw in some classroom learning, but I can't help being distracted.
"If you ignore duration, and want to quickly increase strength and output, then just increase the magical energy you put into the magic circle."
It's what you'd call increasing the pressure, my mentor says.
But doing that means the magic circle's limit comes quickly. The circle can't hold up.
"Exactly, my apprentice."
My mentor naturally picks up on a question I didn't even voice.
"Simply increasing the magical energy in the magic circle will quickly bring it to its limit. So, what do you do? Right, you increase the strength of the magic circle."
Hey, wait, what is this mentor planning? What's that magic stone in her hand?
I'm already so weighed down that I can't even tell if the weight is increasing, desperately trying to keep up the strength of my physical enhancement.
"There are mainly two ways to increase a magic circle's strength. One is to increase the magical energy itself that forms the circle. That's, well, the genius way. Unless you've got a bit more magical energy than most, you probably can't even construct the circle properly."
My mentor, holding the magic stone, approaches me.
"The other way is simple. Strengthen the side on which the magic circle is built. A high-quality body increases the strength of the magic circle. In other words, my apprentice, train your body."
So, I'll give you an extra magic stone, she says, adding the stone to the magic tool.
Her face shows genuine satisfaction in being able to help, with a smile that seems about to say, "See? Aren't I kind?"
This kindness is too much right now!
I desperately try to squeeze out what little magical energy I have left, but I can already foresee a future where my arms get crushed in just a few minutes, and I feel like crying.
Beside me, my mentor says something about increasing the amount of magical energy flowing into the magic circle, but that's also a genius's method, incredibly inefficient, though I no longer have the capacity to think about it.
*
We adventurers handle magical energy in a pretty rough way.
Putting magical energy into a magic circle—does that mean the amount of energy flowing into it, or increasing the pressure of the energy flow? It's all pretty vague.
Most of the time, we just use the word "put in" based on the vibe of the moment.
That's because we adventurers don't study magic systematically like nobles at the academy. Well, in my case, I was just too irresponsible as a student.
I'm not bragging, but I'm confident I spent more time looking at Erika than at the blackboard.
"So, I've got a question for you, goat demon."
There's no way the goat demon could hear the inner voice of me recalling my mentor's teachings, and I sense something like confusion on its face, though I don't know what "so" refers to.
As expected, it does have intelligence.
Slowly, deliberately slowly, I approach while continuing to speak.
"Unlike you lot, my magical energy is average at best. So, if I wanted to increase the strength of my physical enhancement right now, how would I do it? That's the question."
Following the goat demon's gaze, a line of magical energy moves along my body as if licking it.
I can tell it's debating whether to use a tentacle or magic.
I stop at a distance where either option would be effective.
I'm still only using regular physical enhancement.
"This is something I realized just a little while ago."
Every time I speak, I forcibly ignore the sense of revulsion and discomfort rising from my gut.
"I noticed it while fighting Oganight. I don't have the magical energy to build a strong magic circle, nor the capacity to pour a huge amount of energy into one, and it's not like my body will suddenly become strong enough to support a solid circle."
"Kindhearted Barbara's" lecture on interpersonal combat.
If you can't take the initiative, disrupt the opponent's timing as much as possible.
"Then it hit me. Wait, physical enhancement can be used on armor too? The clothes that physical enhancement passed through are fine even though my arms are a mess."
Having intelligence must be tough in its own way, having to put up with my pointless chatter like this.
Are you that curious about Erika behind me?
"If physical enhancement can pass through it, doesn't that mean it's part of my body? A sturdy body, sturdier than my actual body?"
So, like this.
Before I finish saying that, the ground beneath my feet explodes.
A tentacle strike, far faster and more ferocious than the long-range attack from earlier, gouges the ground.
But the ground exploding is mostly my fault.
Because I, still inexperienced, used physical enhancement like a rookie adventurer just starting out, spectacularly carving up the ground.
Staring at the human-like neck supporting the goat's head from behind, I said this.
"Why not just build a physical enhancement magic circle on the armor as well?"
Feeling creeped out, I finish my words while swinging my sword at the neck of the goat demon, which still hasn't located me.