Cleanup and Compound Magic

The first to come to his senses was Lucien's guard. He sprinted over at incredible speed and stopped in front of Lucien.

"Lucien-sama, are you hurt!?"

Lucien seemed to finally come to his senses at those words.

"Ah, yeah, I'm not hurt, so I'm fine."

Oh no... I only just realized it, but am I going to get seriously scolded? Exposing the son of the ducal family to danger seems pretty bad...

As I stood there trembling with fear, Lucien turned toward me with sparkling eyes.

"Leon! That was incredibly powerful!"

"Ah, yeah, I put in a little too much mana. I'm sorry... I destroyed the rock, too."

"That's fine. We can just bring another rock. Neither you nor I was hurt."

"I see. That's good, then."

I was relieved, and my face softened a little. But then I realized something. I hadn't used polite speech even though his guard was there!

As I looked back and forth between Lucien and his guard in a panic, the guard seemed to realize what I was worried about and spoke to me.

"I won't give you a hard time about it, so don't worry. Thanks for becoming friends with Lucien-sama. He's always trying to act like an adult, so it's nice to see him acting his age for once."

At those words, Lucien seemed embarrassed and protested with a flushed face.

"Jack! Don't say that!"

So his name was Jack-san. Jack-san smiled kindly at Lucien's reaction.

They had built a good lord-and-retainer relationship. Jack-san seemed like a good person.

As the three of us talked, the other servants came running over. Richard-sama, Christophe-sama, and Frederick-sama also seemed to have come out of the residence.

"What happened?"

Richard-sama asked somewhat frantically.

There was no way I could cover this up... I should tell him honestly.

"I'm sorry! I was showing Lucien-sama some magic, but I misjudged its power..."

"What kind of magic could cause something like this?"

Richard-sama asked cautiously, his face slightly tense. This really was frighteningly powerful, wasn't it...?

I should probably explain compound magic, but I felt it would be better if the servants didn't hear about it.

"Um..."

I glanced at the servants, then looked at Richard-sama.

Richard-sama seemed to understand what I wanted to say, because he sent the servants away.

"This should be fine."

"Thank you. The magic I used earlier combined two or more types of elemental magic, and I call it compound magic."

"Combined...? Is that possible?"

"Yes. The spell I used earlier was called Fire Bullet, and it combined earth magic and fire magic."

After I said that, Richard-sama fell silent in thought for a while. Christophe-sama and Frederick-sama also looked serious.

"Leon-kun, would it also be possible for two people to combine magic by casting it together?"

That's true...! It might be possible with practice. If we could do that, it might be quite powerful. Come to think of it, had no one ever tried it before?

"I don't know, but it might be possible. Had you never tried it before?"

"The times magic is used offensively are during wars or when fighting monsters. We generally fight with swords, while magic serves a supporting role. Even someone with a magic power of five can't use a combat-capable spell many times."

So offensive magic hadn't advanced very much? But if magic would continue to be used only in a supporting role, there would be no need for compound magic, would there?

"I see. But in that case, wouldn't we still have no need for compound magic?"

"No. If Leon-kun teaches us magic, we should be able to use far more magic than before, shouldn't we? In that case, it might be effective to have someone specialize in magic and attack from the rear."

That was true. We would probably be able to use more than three times as much magic as before. In that case, attacking from the rear with compound magic might be effective.

"That's true. Then let's try it. I'll make an arrowhead with earth magic, so could you wrap it in fire magic, Lucien-sama?"

"All right. I just need to do it like the spell we saw earlier, right?"

"Then here goes."

'Bullet.'

'Fireball.'

I created an arrowhead in midair, and Lucien wrapped it in Fireball.

"Let's launch them on three, two, one. Here we go: three, two, one."

Fwoom... The Bullet I created and Lucien's Fireball flew toward the rock, but my spell was faster, so the Bullet reached the rock first, followed by the Fireball.

Hmm... Although heating the Bullet did have an effect, it was pretty underwhelming.

Matching their speeds was quite difficult. It might be possible with a lot of practice, but it would be hard.

Hmm... Rock Tornado wouldn't require us to match their speeds, and it could attack a wide area. That might be better.

"It's difficult to match their speeds. I have another compound spell called Rock Tornado, and that one might be easier to use."

When I said that, Richard-sama looked slightly surprised, or perhaps exasperated, at the fact that there was another one. But perhaps because it was me, Richard-sama seemed to accept it and quickly moved on.

"Then I want you to try that one."

"Certainly. It uses earth magic and wind magic. Is there anyone here who can use either of those attributes?"

"I can use earth magic."

Frederick-sama spoke up. So Frederick-sama had an earth affinity.

"Then could you create several arrowheads with earth magic?"

"The same kind Leon was making earlier?"

"Yes. I'll create a tornado with wind magic, so I'd like you to create the arrowheads inside it."

"I can't make objects created with earth magic float. Would it be all right if I created them and threw them in?"

Um... Would throwing them in from outside actually work? They might just be deflected. Besides, this time we didn't need to make the arrowheads float; we only needed to create them inside the tornado.

"The arrowheads don't need to float for this spell. We just need to create them inside the tornado. Can you create them at a distance?"

"I haven't done that very often... But I'll try."

Frederick-sama used earth magic, and several arrowheads appeared in midair a fair distance away.

"It looks like I can do it."

"Then that will be fine for now."

I was about to try the spell, but Frederick-sama was staring at me intently. Huh? What was wrong?

"Is something the matter?"

"How can I make objects created with earth magic float?"

"Um... We don't need to do that this time, do we?"

"Even so, I want to know. Could you teach me?"

Ugh... Explaining this was going to be a pain. I looked around for someone who could stop Frederick-sama from asking, but everyone was waiting for my explanation with keen interest. Sigh... I had no choice but to explain.

I began by explaining that this world had gravity, then went all the way to explaining zero gravity. To make something created with earth magic float, visualizing zero gravity was the most effective method. Without that image, trying to make something float required a tremendous amount of mana, making it impossible for an ordinary person.

At long last, it was over...

It took quite a while for everyone to understand, and they bombarded me with questions because they were so interested. I didn't know that much myself, so I gathered together every bit of knowledge I had and somehow answered them. In any case, I was exhausted.

But now the real thing was beginning.

"Then, may I try Rock Tornado?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for getting us sidetracked. Go ahead."

"Certainly. Then I'll create a tornado. Since it would be dangerous if the arrowheads came flying this way, may I create a Wall as well? I'll leave a hole large enough to see through."

"Yes, that's fine."

"Then, 'Wall.'"

I surrounded the spot where I planned to create the tornado with a Wall. This should be fine. I had also made a proper viewing hole.

"Then here goes. 'Tornado.' Frederick-sama, please."

"All right. 'Bullet.'"

The Bullet Frederick-sama created was caught up in the Tornado I had created, making it look incredibly vicious.

It would be easier to understand if we put something in it. Could we use that target?

"Christophe-sama, may I put that target inside Rock Tornado? I think it will make the spell's power easier to understand."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Thank you."

I threw a target made of wood and cloth, like a scarecrow, into Rock Tornado.

Crack! Crack! Crack!...

It was instantly smashed to pieces. As expected, this spell was vicious. We would have to think carefully about when to use it.

I kept the tornado going for a little longer, then stopped channeling mana and dispelled it. Since the Bullet had been made using real earth, it remained behind.

Earth magic can also create earth from mana, but using nearby earth reduces the amount of mana consumed. That's why real earth is used in most cases.

Phew... I was glad it had worked. Satisfied that the compound magic had succeeded, I turned around. Everyone was standing there frozen, wearing stunned expressions.

Wow... They really were pretty shocked. Well, it was an extremely vicious spell.

"How was it? The spell worked, at least..."

"Yes... I was just surprised by how powerful it was. This might be useful against monsters."

When Richard-sama said that, everyone came out of their daze and began thinking hard, their expressions growing serious.

They were probably considering all the situations in which it could be used. But I was tired and wanted to return to the residence. It was already past noon, and I was hungry.

"Um, shall we return to the residence? It's already past noon..."

"Is it already that late? Yes, let's put off thinking about it and return to the residence for now. We'll need to consult His Majesty as well."

Richard-sama ended with those ominous words, then walked back toward the residence.

Another matter worthy of consulting His Majesty about!?

I was trying not to stand out, so why did I keep going overboard...?

Tired and dragging my feet a little, I started walking toward the residence.