Chapter 71: The Release and the Wizard
Alicia: “MーMs. Mila... thーthis is…?”
Mila: “IーI don’t know. The [Demon King] is a man, and a fully grown adult as well…”
Mila sounds equally confused as Alicia breaks out the question.
Before them is a girl.
And the <Magic Power> is overflowing out of her…….?!
Alicia: “ThーThen....she’s not the [Demon King] then….?”
Mila: “ThーThat should be….the case….but….”
Mila wavers between her words.
She has lived for 250 years.
She is a living witness who saw and survived the Great War between the [Demon King] and humanity.
Mila: “<She is definitely not the [Demon King]>. But…...she is similar to him～”
Alicia: “Ms. Mila...but...Magic Power is pouring out of her....”
Mila: “Yes, I can see that.”
In the midst of Magic Power so dense that breathing would be difficult, Igni quietly watches the girl who sleeps inside the Crystal.
Igni: (.........this girl…..how old is she…..?)
Although this kind of approach to this situation may seem very academic, he is not thinking on such a high or noble level.
Igni: (........she’s so cute.)
Because fundamentally, this is the root of all his thoughts.
Igni: (......wait, this feels familiar…..didn’t something like this happen before….?)
Igni tilts his head.
<<<<>>>>
[Grandpa! That girl’s cute!]
[Okay, okay, Igni. You don’t have to tell me every single time.]
[But Grandpa! I can’t help it if I see a cute girl!]
[The girls you call cute are all the same age as you, so even if you tell me....”
This was when Igni and his Grandpa went to town to go shopping.
[Grandpa, I’m worried.]
[Oye, what about?]
[I...I may be a Lolicon…]
Igni said this with a grim look on his face.
<SMACK!!!>
[UGGHHHHHH! A FIST?! YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME!]
[STOP BEING SO NAIVE!!!]
[...............?!?!?]
[Even though you’re so young, you think you can be a Lolicon?! Don’t be such a fool!!”
[...........! WhーWhat do you mean?! Is that anything to punch someone about?!”
[Of course it is! Igni! What did you just say just now?]
[IーI said I may be a Lolicon…..!]
<SMACK!!!>
[OWWWHHHHH……….!!]
The second punch sent Igni to his knees.
[You are still in the early teens……! How could you be a Lolicon…!! Falling in love with someone the same age as you is <NORMAL>! And you thought you would look cool by saying so…..!]
[ThーThat’s……!]
[Stop being so conceited……!! The path of a Lolicon…...is a dangerous one…..! If you say it out loud, you will be exterminated by the pressures of society…..! You must conceal it! You must go undercover…….and you must live…….!! That is the only way!!]
[...........!!]
[Do you think you can withstand it, Igni……!! An excruciating, long suffering that……...so much so that it would make that year of you not being able to use Spells <would be better in comparison>.......!]
[I…….I……..!!]
[You have…..no comrades…..! The fear that you may be alone in this world……! The loneliness…….! But because of that……..it is the highest of aspirations……!!]
[Thーthe highest aspiration…….?!]
[Igni...do you believe that you can climb up…...that you can reach these heights…..?]
[.........GーGrandpa……! I…..I’ll do my best!! I’ll show you that I can climb to the highest point!!]
[Hmph. I’m certain that as you grow older, you’ll come to understand.]
[.........rーreally?]
[You’ll one day be stirred….by the desire to protect……]
<<<<>>>>
…….sーso this is what he meant……..!
It’s true. What I was thinking of was cute was not at all a Lolicon’s feelings….
Because they were my same age……!
Thinking they are cute…….is what anyone else would feel……!
But it’s not enough! It’s not enough at all…….!!
Do I want to protect this girl…….?!
Are my inner, deepest desires to protect someone being stirred by her…….?!
It’s only those who understand…….who can reach the heights…..!!
But you cannot let anyone know of your thoughts……
As soon as your thoughts are known, all that awaits is…….death……!
You would be excommunicated by society completely…..!
Alicia: “IーIgni…..? What’s wrong…..??”
Igni: “Oh…..I was just thinking about what I should do next…”
Alicia: “RーReally? Because you had a really scary expression on your face…..”
Even Alicia was unable to read Igni’s thoughts just now and gave a concerned look his way.
Igni: “Well……..we’ll have to do something about this Crystal.”
Alicia: “That’s true. We can’t even place her in the [coffin] like this…”
And with that, Alicia brings out the Magical Artifact, a small black box, and pours Magic Power into it.
With a <POOF!>, the black box suddenly increases in size from a box that was on her palm to a [coffin] big enough to fit a full grown man.
This is the consummate product of the Empire’s tireless research and technology - a Magic Artifact that would be able to seal the [Demon King]’s Magic Power.
But the Crystal is too large and would never fit inside the coffin.
Alicia: “If we can fit the <body> inside the coffin, we can seal off the Magic Power.”
Igni: “It’s amazing technology.”
Alicia: “The Empire’s Research Division is indeed a cut above the rest.”
Alicia puffs out her chest with pride.
Igni: (I got to see something amazing…….wait, there’s no time for that.)
Igni: “Ms. Mila, are you able to tell what Spell this is?”
Mila: “Hmmmm………”
Mila walks right up to the Crystal and examines it inches away from her nose and stares intently into it.
Mila: “Hmmmm, at a glance, it feels something closer to a [Earth] Type Seal Spell. But…..there’s a few Spells inside that I’ve never seen before. I wonder what this is….”
Igni: “A Seal Spell…….so this girl is being sealed here?”
Mila: “Hmmmmm…….I’m not sure～”
Mila circles around the Crystal several times as she dissects and analyzes the Spell.
Mila: “If I were to guess, this is closer to a Protection Spell….”
Mila tilts her head to think.
Igni: “Protection?”
Mila: “Yeah. A strong Seal is not just strong on the inside, but it’s also strong on the outside to be able to withstand attacks. If they don’t do that, then anyone can destroy it from the outside with a spell～ and that wouldn’t be good～”
Igni: “I see.”
Mila: “We’ll talk about this at the end of the 1st Year curriculum, so this is a good review for you～”.
Oh...there’s going to be a class about this…..
Igni and Alicia synchronize and think the exact same thought.
Mila: “But as far as I can see…..the inside is…….not that much, but it’s incredibly well built to handle almost any Spell from the outside. Breaking this Seal would be a pain～”
Igni: “How can we break it?”
Mila: “Hmmm…..we can decipher the Seal Spell and undo it or…...brute force it maybe～?”
Igni: “Brute force?”
Mila: “Yup. Even Seal Spells aren’t perfect defensive mechanisms so～ if you dish out more Spells than it can handle, it will break～”
An idea sparked inside of Igni’s mind with Mila’s words.
Igni: “Great. Then I’ll do it.”
Mila: “You’re going to brute force it?”
Igni: “Yes!”
Mila: “.....aーare you going to be okay～?”
Igni: “Ms. Mila, there’s no one who can use the {Fireball} like I can!”
Mila: “Well, it can’t hurt to try. Go for it, Igni!”
Igni can’t use a {Fireball} with too much fire power.
That’s because he might kill the girl inside if he did.
Although it’s hard to tell if this girl is alive or dead…...if she was dead, they wouldn’t have sealed her with this much caution. Then, it’s more probable that she’s alive.
If he uses a {Fireball} with high fire power, he might accidentally crush the Crystal and the girl inside at the same time and kill her.
That’s why….
Igni: “[Equip Flame] {Ignite} : [Molecular Minima]”
He uses a tiny {Fireball} and…
Igni: “[Colony Creation] {Generate}!”
He begins creating countless molecular-sized {Fireballs}.
He slowly carves away at the perimeter of the Crystal, and in this way, he will overpower and destroy the Seal Spell with brute force!
Each tiny {Fireball} cannot destroy the Crystal on its own, but if he uses enough to surround the entire thing, then he has enough power to overwhelm the Seal Spell structure!
Igni began chiseling away at the Seal Spell and a few dozen seconds later…...a giant crack appeared on the Crystal.
Mila: “Igni!”
Igni: “Yes!”
As soon as Igni erases all the {Fireballs}...
<CRAAAAASHHHH!!!>
With the sound of glass breaking, the girl inside the Crystal was released and fell towards the grounds.
Igni: “..........!!”
Igni slides in and…….catches her.
Her long, purple hair tickles Igni’s arms.
Alicia: “How is she, Igni?! Is she alive?!?!”
With Alicia’s words, Igni immediately checks if the girl is breathing.
Igni: “......she’s alive…”
The girl’s chest rises and falls and she breathes.
Igni: (..........whーwho is this girl…..?)
Igni falls silent as he holds the girl in his arms.
And without a doubt, all of the Magic Power…….was overflowing out of this girl.
