Chapter 45
"No, isn't the young master the weird one? Your body reinforcement is way too quiet."
"No, Enrique. You're the weird one, aren't you??? Your body reinforcement is way too loud."
"..."
Enrique saw me reinforcing my body and said, "That's weird. I can't sense any magic."
But from my perspective, Enrique seemed to be wasting more magic.
What was going on?
We stopped training and talked it over.
—And came to a conclusion.
Though Enrique and I both used magic to reinforce our bodies, our efficiency levels were wildly different.
For example, let's say I asked Enrique to go all out.
Enrique would use his magic directly to reinforce his body.
So what happened?
Magic leaked out.
"Kakaka... How's that, young master? You can feel it, right?! This wild, rampaging pow—"
"Okay, stop."
And that's what happened.
To put it simply, Enrique revved his magic engine all the way up, then channeled it into body reinforcement. Naturally, he didn't care about efficiency.
That's why, when he went all out, excess magic spilled out around him.
But I was the opposite.
Since I'd only just started handling magic, I was cautious and adjusted things so I could move with as little magic as possible.
For example, if I wanted to strengthen only my legs, I'd channel magic only into them. Instead of carelessly reinforcing my whole body, I directed it efficiently to specific parts.
In other words, from my very first sparring match with Enrique, I'd been extremely careful about how much magic I used on my body.
If Enrique was a gas-guzzling car that burned through fuel, I was more like a fuel-efficient eco-car.
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"Hm? No, wait."
After we'd talked things over, I suddenly asked Enrique:
Why didn't he do things the way I did?
Wouldn't it be better to use magic more efficiently in battle...?
But...
Enrique listened to me, then pondered. "I see."
"That's just your perspective, young master. Adventurers like me don't worry about that."
Enrique shook his head as if exasperated.
"I mean, to begin with, we don't even think about improving that. How you control your body reinforcement is ultimately just a personal quirk. For people like us, we're doing all we can just to channel magic into body reinforcement."
"I see, I see."
In other words, consciously improving magic conversion efficiency at this point offered so little benefit that it wasn't worth it.
"That said..."
Enrique folded his arms.
"A mage who specializes in magic might care about efficiency, but they don't have much interest in body reinforcement in the first place."
"Makes sense."
I sorted it out in my head.
Apparently, "body reinforcement with magic" occupied a rather awkward middle ground.
The muscleheads who use body reinforcement as their main fighting style don't even think about magic efficiency in the first place.
Mages, the intellectual types, consider magic efficiency, but aren't all that interested in body reinforcement itself.
"So the only ones who could manage both would be—"
Enrique looked me straight in the eyes.
"Only a genius who's just started using magic for body reinforcement, hasn't picked up any weird habits yet, and can handle magic with precision from that very stage."
I see.
"That would be me..."
I did seem to fit the bill rather nicely.
For some reason, I was good at controlling magic, at least.
I thought about it for a while.
Whatever he saw in my expression, Enrique hurriedly began trying to talk me out of it.
"No, it's fine, young master. I was the one who brought it up, but in an actual fight, you don't have time to worry about magic efficiency. And there are plenty of easier ways to get stronger..."
"—Enrique."
I cut him off.
I'd already made up my mind.
"I'll go with this."
"What?! B-but there's an easier way to get stronger—"
As Enrique stared in shock, I thought:
—No, this method is ridiculously convenient.
◆
Enrique was right, of course. In general, it was easier to learn other magic or simply aim for more firepower instead of worrying about something as fussy as magic efficiency.
Maybe channeling magic through my body efficiently, the way I did, didn't make much of a difference.
But...
Let's think about it for a moment.
If I followed Enrique's advice from here on out, what would happen to me?
Basically, the way other people fought was by letting magic pour out of them, with an attitude of, "I'm pretty strong, you know. (lol)"
ARE THEY STUPID???????
...That's absurd.
That's not fitting for a mob character.
Lasaka had a reputation for cute girls and exciting developments, but it was a terrifying world where death flags and lunatics were lurking around every corner.
And I was supposed to stand out in a world like that?????
I wanted to ask if he was an idiot.
At that rate, no number of lives would be enough.
"I don't mind, Enrique."
"What?!"
Enrique's eyes widened.
"That's a tough road. It's like doing something else at the same time during a fight."
"No matter—it's a necessary sacrifice."
That's right.
Compared to keeping a low profile and saving my own skin, handling magic delicately was ridiculously easy.
"Damn... once you've made up your mind, there's no stopping you."
And so, I made sure other people couldn't sense my magic.
I was determined to become a mob character who was as energy-efficient and inconspicuous as possible—
Incidentally,
after that, while I was training with body reinforcement,
Enrique got all worked up, saying things like, "You've got delicate magic control and the strong will to endure hardship for your goals. It's incredible!! Stillness and motion mixed together! This is your true nature, young master...!!"
But I thought, Here we go again, and gave him a half-hearted "Yeah, yeah."
What the heck was this "stillness and motion" thing?
"Yeah, every household could use one, a Seito-do."
And so I trained to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and to conceal my magic itself as much as possible.
Day after day.
That's right.
And then,
this was—
"—my Mob-Style Combat Method."
"Mob-style...? You...!"
Baldo's face twisted so badly you could see it from where I stood.
"What school of combat is that, anyway?"