Sara’s room is deep underground surrounded by [Crimson Crystals]. Being surrounded by the highest-grade anti-magic material, this room was a former <Magic> Research facility, but it is unused now. It is a room well-suited to hold back the Magic Power that overflows out of Sara.
Or…..that’s how it should be but….
Mira: “Huh? She doesn’t have the bracelet, and the Magic Power isn’t overflowing out of her.”
Igni and Ms. Mira stood next to the bed where Sara slept. Ms. Elenoir had business outside the Academy and wasn’t here, so only Mira was the only one available to look after Sara.
Igni: “On the way back to the Academy, the bracelet completely broke.”
Mira: “Really～?”
Igni: “Yes. Alicia took the broken bracelet back to the Empire’s Research Facility. She said that she’ll be back shortly with a replacement bracelet but….”
Mira: “Is it true that the land did not turn into the [Demon King’s Realm]?”
Igni: “Yes, All of Sara’s Magic Power came flowing into me.”
Mira: “All of it?”
Igni: “Yes, all of it.”
Mira thought and reflected deeply on Igni’s words.
Sara did not sleep all night, so now she’s fast asleep on the bed.
Looking at her now, she just looks like a normal girl.
Mira: “Igni, can I see your right hand?”
Igni: “Huh? Oh, yes.”
Igni stretches out his right hand towards Mira, and she takes it into her hands. As Igni thought, “Her hands are so warm…..”, Mira took Sara’s hand too.
Mira: “..........oh, so that’s what happened….”
And Mira mumbles to herself quietly.
Mira: “There’s a [path] connecting you two together. I’ve never seen a [path] this strong though～”
And astonished, Mira comments to Igni.
Igni: “A [path]......? What is a [path]?”
But not understanding what Mira meant, Igni asked for clarification.
Mira: “Well, um～ well just from the word, I think you get that it’s some sort of way connecting two places together. But in this case, it’s a [path] for Magic Power.”
Igni: “A connection?”
Mira: “It happens from a strong emotional connection or even fate and destiny. But there’s numerous ways it could be established～ So multiple people’s Magic Power gets connected to one another’s.”
Igni: “The Magic Power……..connects together……”
Mira: “Hmm～ I guess it’s no surprise that you never heard of it. It’s something not taught in class. Oh～ but an easy example to understand is that. The [Love Potion].”
Igni: “The [Love Potion]? Does that cause the [paths] to connect??”
Igni was surprised at the mention of the well known potion and had to inquire further from Mira.
Mira: “That’s right～ You never heard about that? The way you can know who the [Love Potion] was cast by.”
Igni: “I have.”
Igni couldn’t say that he directly experienced it personally, so he did not share any details.
Mira: “That actually creates a [path] too. You create a path to a selected individual’s Magic Power, so you start liking the person you’re connected to, and you can also know who likes you as well.”
Igni: “So that’s why……..”
Igni wasn’t well versed in Alchemy, so he groaned as he processed the information provided to him by Mira.
Mira: “Well, in this case, the only thing that’s connected is only Magic Power and not emotions.”
With that, Mira let go of the hands of the two.
Mira: “If your Magic Power is connected, there’s a lot of advantages.”
Igni: “The borrowing and giving of Magic Power…….is it?”
Igni spoke out his first thought.
Mira: “Yup. Magic Power constantly tries to keep a balance. Just like when cold water and hot water mix, and the resulting water turns into the same temperature. The concentrated and dense areas of Magic Power will always try to mix in where the Magic Power concentration is lower to establish a consistent concentration all around.”
Igni: “Oh～......”
Igni was just amazed at the thought but probably didn’t understand it as well.
Mira: “That’s why Sara’s Magic Power is all going to Igni right now～”
Igni: “What would happen if my Magic Power reaches its limit?”
Mira: “It probably won’t reach that limit.”
Igni: “Huh?”
Igni thought Mira’s answer was strange and had to ask again.
Mira: “Igni, when you were on your way back, you’ve been receiving Magic Power from Sara the entire time, right?”
Igni: “Yes.”
Mira: “For how long?”
Igni: “About…….2 hours, maybe?”
Mira: “For two house huh～ From Miru’s reports, after 30 minutes, all of the [Fortune Telling Club] members and even Miru lost consciousness, right? And you’ve been taking all of the Magic Power for 2 hours now, and you’re still on your feet.”
Igni: “I feel great, actually.”
Mira: “Thought so～”
Mira looks up close into Igni’s eyes.
Mira: “Igni, you’re Magic Power capacity is probably monstrous compared to others. At least, that’s my theory.”
Igni: “Monstrous…..”
Igni repeated Mira’s words in his head several times.
He knew that his abilities have developed since 3 years ago when he couldn’t even fire a single {Fireball}, but he hasn’t measured how much Magic Power reserve grew.
Mira: “So because of all that, Igni. Please keep protecting Sara from now on.”
Igni: “Yes. Of course.”
Igni looked at Sara’s sleeping face.
Igni: “Leave it to me.”
And nodded.
<<<<>>>>
The next day.
Edward: “WA HA HA! It’s been a while!”
And with a <DON!> (sfx), Edward sits in his seat behind Igni.
But the owner of that seat in front of him was empty.
Edward: “Huh? Where did Igni go?”
Yoori: “Ohhh, Igni’s not here today.”
Next to Edward, the boy who looked most definitely like a girl told him so.
Edward: “Is he not feeling well? Oh, here’s a gift for you guys. Here you go.”
Yoori: “Thanks.”
Alicia: “Hey, did you bring enough for everyone?”
Edward: “Of course I did.”
Yoori and Alicia took the snack gifts Edward brought back, but there’s still 3 bags in his hands. It’s for Iris, Sara, and Igni.
Yoori: “It’s not that Igni isn’t feeling well.”
Yoori took the snacks and packed it into his bag as he informed Edward.
Edward: “Is that so? Did he have some errand to run?”
Yoori: “An errand…….IーI guess you could call it an errand but…….”
Alicia and Yoori look at each other knowingly.
Edward tilts his head in confusion as he isn’t able to grasp what the two are trying to say.
Yoori: “Soー basically, Igni caught a criminal just the other day.”
Edward: “WHAT?! That’s Igni for you. That’s amazing.”
Yoori: “So he was called to the prison for that reason.”
Edward: “Prison?”
Edward’s face clouds with concern as a far more ominous word pops out into the conversation.
Yoori: “Yeah. Have you ever heard of the [Underground Prison “Labyrinth”]?”
Edward: “YーYeah…...Of course, I’ve heard of it before…… It’s where they take those who try to overthrow the government, mass murderers and…..well, heinous criminals into a….prison…..that was converted from a former underground labyrinth dungeon…….right?”
Though he talked about failed revolutionaries and mass murderers, it was actually different from public perception.
In this world, there are people with monstrous abilities.
There was a man who reduced 99% of the world’s population.
There was one Hero who defeated that man.
And from their conflict, true monsters called [Magicians] appeared, and not every [Magician] was using their Magic for the sake of others or for noble purposes. There has been more than one [Magician] who has turned their fangs against humanity and has attempted to oppress it.
So there is a prison catered to imprisoning those monsters.
That is the [Underground Prison “Labyrinth”].
Yoori: “Yeah. Igni went there.”
Edward: “WhーWhy?”
Anyone would have asked the same questions as Edward.
That’s why Yoori told him.
Yoori: “He said he was called by the person he caught.”
Edward: “.......and…...who was that? Who did he catch?”
Yoori: “Abyss. The “Endless Depths” Abyss.”
At the mention of the unbelievable news, his jaws dropped along with the gifts he was holding.
