Valentine came to Lara’s room. For the past few days, he had walked fluttering like a pinwheel. He also had not been listening to Lara when she advised him to take a rest, nor to Konny when she told him to take better care of his meals. All of it was the result of only focusing on relics and records found underground.
“Milady, umm… If I just say it, you might not believe me… I think…”
“Just say it. I will believe everything you say, Valentine.”
“Hmm, about that…”
Valentine blushed and twisted his body. Konny waited for his next words with Lara, and eventually, she screamed.
“Oh, so frustrating! Can’t you just spit it out?”
“I, I made a magic circle for long-distance travel.”
“I see. So you made a magic circle… Wait what?”
Lara smirked. Konny did not understand what he was saying at all.
“Magic circle what?”
“My, my apologies! Entrusting me with the relics underground would have meant to interpret the old records, but I was blinded by greed… The black magic book that I have never seen before… I kept looking at the records of elemental magic that I thought had long since disappeared…”
“Wait, wait a second. Valentine?”
“Yes?”
“Can you tell me one more time? What did you make?”
Lara sprang up from the chair. Valentine faced her scarlet eyes from the front and opened his mouth as if possessed.
“A magic circle for long-distance travel.”
“Oh my God.”
A magic circle for long-distance travel was a miraculous device that allowed someone to travel a long distance in one go after setting up two magic circles at the designated places.
If someone else had said that, Lara would get angry and tell them not to lie. If they want to commit fraud, at least do it with something believable. It might be better to just say that a dragon appeared in the sky and was vomiting fire.
However, Lara knew that Valentine would not lie to her carelessly, because she was Valentine’s savior and patron.
“It’s true. I know it’s hard to believe, so to show you, milady, I set up magic circles in the basement of this abode and in my workroom. But… because it was dangerous, at first, I moved an inanimate object, then plants, then yesterday, I even succeeded in moving pigeons and rabbits.”
“Valentine.”
“Hmm, because I can’t just take anyone to do the experiment, I’m going to do it myself. So, milady… please.”
Valentine bowed his head toward Lara.
“Please come and see if the magic circle I made works properly.”
“Of course.”
Lara nodded vigorously. She could do anything at Valentine's request.
“Let’s go right away. I want to be the first person in the world to see Valentine’s great work.”
“Me too, I want to go too! …I can go too, right? Valentine!”
Lara, who had always been calm, rushed out to the hallway. Konny ran after her, pulling Valentine’s hand.
The magic circle Valentine made was in the basement of the abode. It was an old study, a place sealed by the High Priests to hide the traces of black magic in the Temple of Glory.
Lara and Konny went down to the basement and stood in front of a complex painting. It was the magic circle drawn by Valentine over a long period of time.
A smoothly processed stone was placed on the floor. It was a stone that reflected everything around it like a mirror. On top of it, numerous lines, symbols, and unknown characters were strangely intertwined to form a large circle, like a carriage wheel.
“What’s all this?”
Lara asked. Konny shook her head excitedly and circled around the magic circle.
“I don’t understand anything written here. I think my brain will get bigger just by looking at it.”
“What should I do now?”
Valentine told Lara to stand a step away from the magic circle.
“I will go to my workroom, activate the magic circle there, and then transport myself back here…”
“But then me and Konny will have to wait a while, right?”
It would take a long time for Valentine to go to his workroom. Even if he rode a carriage, it would not be that short of a time.
“I’m really sorry. I don’t have any intention to take away your time…”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Lara reached out to Valentine.
“Let’s go together.”
“Par, pardon?”
“It’ll take too long. Let’s just use the magic circle here and go to your workroom together.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
“Isn’t it also dangerous for you, Valentine? You said you’ve succeeded with rabbits and pigeons.”
“Even so…”
“Did you forget? I’m the saintess. If the magic goes wrong, God will save me. The one you should be worried about is not me, but yourself.”
Lara felt sorry that she kept looking for God only at times like this, but she really did think so.
Valentine hesitated and came into the magic circle. Konny was cheering for him.
“Let’s get started.”
“Great.”
Valentine chanted a long spell.
Lara expected to get magical side effects such as dizziness or vomiting. It was natural for her to have such expectations as the distance where they should ride a carriage was shortened to a blink of an eye. But she did not feel anything. As soon as Valentine finished chanting the spell, they both were already in a different place.
“Huh?”
“Milady, are you okay? Huh?”
It was the workroom behind Valentine’s shop. Lara stood blankly with her small mouth opened and looked around. Valentine wondered if Lara had any problems so he took a closer look at her condition. The magic was successful and there were no problems with Lara.
“Valentine.”
Lara called him. She looked excited until a while ago, but she had a calm voice as usual again.
“Keep this a secret for the time being.”
“Pardon? Oh, yes.”
“I will do whatever you want, so can you… install this somewhere else?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Valentine smiled proudly and said.
“I can do anything you request, milady.”
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
On the day when spring flowers were in full bloom, the three countries under the Eastern Union officially sent a protest message to the Tarragon Empire.
Their claim was simple. The Emperor of the Tarragon wanted war so he used the Barbarians to drive demon worshippers to the east. They strongly criticized the Empire’s territorial ambitions by saying that the Empire was trying to declare war after making the Eastern Union a mess.
However, the Emperor was angry at the Eastern Union’s delegation. He questioned their true intentions, saying that the Barbarians were not of Tarragon’s people and that what they were doing had nothing to do with the will of the Empire. He also praised the Barbarians for punishing the demon worshippers and that they should be called heroes.
Everyone was curious. If it was not for the Emperor’s orders, then whom in the world were the Barbarians fighting for?
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
“Of course, it’s for milady.”
Konny shrugged and spoke. Valentine nodded, saying that he strongly agreed.
Lara was going to deny them, but then she remembered the conversation she had with Demian through the receiver last night. So she just kept her mouth shut.
『Lara, what do you want me to do now? Just give me your orders.』
Orders?
Lara told him not to joke around.
『I’m not joking. I’m your mighty warrior after all.』
Demian was laughing. Domino, Lampion, and Oscar were laughing together next to him. They said that they would attack the black sorcerer’s hideout soon, where they would be able to get evidence that the Eastern Union and the demon worshippers secretly joined hands. Then, the Emperor of Tarragon would declare war against the demon, and as the Emperor of an Empire, he would then notify the royal family of each country of cooperation.
“Have you figured out what you wanted yet?”
Lara asked Valentine. She expected him to ask for a bigger and better workroom than the one he had, or probably something like a rare relic. But he really wanted something unexpected.
“I want to see the giant of fire.”
“What did you say?”
“If you don’t mind… I mean, I really want to see that mysterious being at least once.”
This was all because of Konny. She had met the giant of fire several times and every time she would stamp her feet excitedly saying it was small and cute. After that, she would run to Valentine and brag about meeting a fairy.
“Konny…”
“I didn’t say much! I only said that it’s the cutest being in the world, even cuter than dogs, cats, and chicks…”
As Konny continued, Valentine's face was dimly flushed.
Lara agonized for a moment. Even though it’s a giant, it’s not narrow-minded enough to get sulky about this. She reached out on one hand while thinking like that.
“Please come out.”
On Lara’s palm, a spark arose like flints bumping into each other, and soon, a ball of fire the size of a fist appeared. First, two legs were formed, then, the arms popped out. Its round, large head was filled with its eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Ohhhh…”
“Wow…”
Valentine and Konny burst into exclamations at the same time. The giant of fire looked up at Lara with a puzzled face and soon felt the hot gazes of the two pouring toward it.
Fwoosh!
Sparks rose from the giant’s shoulders. It put its hands on its waist and raised its head, it also inflated its small chest to grow in size. Then it opened its mouth and spat out flames as if it was spitting. No matter how you look at it, it was a gesture that looked down on the other person.
“That’s not how you say hello. Where did you learn that from?”
Lara said sternly.
