Chapter 78
“Reading lots of books and building up your knowledge is very important. Only once you can form a clear image of magic can you say you’ve reached the gate. Alice-chan, you need to learn much, much more.”
“Okay, I understand, Kururu-san.”
In the meeting room beside the casino’s break area, a pointer tapped sharply against a diagram beside the words “What Is Magic?” written on the blackboard.
Kururu stood before them, holding the pointer with a proud expression. Rex and Alice had placed books on the conference table and were listening to her. David stood to one side, watching over them.
Ten days had passed since Kagami set out on his journey.
The casino was running smoothly. It wasn’t yet on pace to hit the 10,000-gold target, but it was steadily producing results. Thanks to David and Takako’s efforts to attract customers, the number of visitors had more than doubled compared to the previous week.
The two of them had implemented just two measures: distributing special invitation coupons in various places and forming partnerships with every kind of establishment in town.
Visiting the casino was practically the same as visiting Valman. That meant the whole city benefited, and if visitors went on to patronize the shops there, it was a dream come true for anyone with a business in Valman.
David seized on this and asked every establishment and shop in Valman to cooperate, putting measures in place to draw visitors to the city as a whole.
As a result, the casino was bustling, and so was the entire city. Nearly every inn was full, and some visitors who couldn’t find a place to sleep had even forced their way into the church.
On Takako’s instructions, they were now using part of the casino’s earnings to buy up vacant land in Valman and build inns on it. They had also hired several adventurers as escorts, along with builders to expand the city. Work was now underway all over Valman.
Kagami had handed decision-making authority to the two of them, and they were showing such remarkable skill that Tina couldn’t help mocking him: “What purpose does Kagami-san serve at the casino?”
“By the way... why are you here too today, Rex-san?”
“I’ve wanted to learn magic for a while too. I spent all my time making my body stronger and never properly read any books. Even if I was born a Hero and have a lot of magical power, it’s pointless if I can’t use it. I can use one sword technique that draws on magical power, though.”
Hearing Rex say that, Kururu and Alice pictured the familiar special move that could be used without shouting its name.
The results might have made things sound hectic and overwhelming, but they weren’t. The original members, including David and Takako, were living much as they always had.
They even had enough time to hold magic lessons for Alice before work began.
That was thanks to David, who managed the business deftly without sparing the cost of labor. He smiled easily and said things that might have made Kagami hole himself up in his room: “A good manager knows how to handle their staff. Ho ho ho.”
“That reminds me... the ice-blade spell you use so often, Kururu. What kind of image do you have in mind when you use it?”
“Let’s see... I imagine particles of cold, then manipulate the flow of magical power inside my body to make them sharp, layering them over and over until they take shape. It’s easy once you get used to it.”
Kururu said this with an unconcerned expression. Rex murmured, “I-I see,” then looked at the grimoire she recommended and grimaced, feeling that he had a long road ahead of him.
Alice seemed to feel she could never manage it either. Holding the grimoire in both hands, Alice slumped over the table with a sigh.
“Magic is a power you can wield by consuming magical power. If you have magical power, you should be able to use it.”
Kururu said this proudly, but it didn’t quite click for either of them.
In other words, even if you had plenty of magical power, it would be wasted without the knowledge and skill needed to control it. Both Alice, a demon, and Rex, a Hero, possessed more magical power than most adventurers, but could barely use it.
Rex’s Holy Thunder: Ferocious Wave Slash also used magical power, but it consumed far more stamina than magical power, so it was hard to say he was making good use of it.
Alice had spent the past ten days reading lots of grimoires as Kururu instructed, but still didn’t really understand how to manipulate magical power and had made no progress.
Alice had wondered if the magical power of demons and humans was fundamentally different, but according to Takako, demonic magical power merely had the added function of generating monsters from spawn blocks. Its essential nature wasn’t all that different.
The principle behind using magical power to cast spells was the same for humans and demons. Magical power was merely fuel. That was why they couldn’t sense demonic magical power in Menou’s magic: by the time it became a spell, the magical power had already been consumed.
That was why it was standard practice to estimate someone’s magical power from the scale of their spells.
“Maybe... I don’t have any talent.”
“That isn’t so. Just as Kururu-sama said, if you have magical power, then you should certainly be able to use it too, Alice-sama.”
Seeing Alice mumble this with her face against the table, David spoke to her in a reassuring tone.
“But it’s already been ten days, and I still can’t do anything.”
“Magic isn’t something you can learn to use so easily. But at the very least, your knowledge must be steadily accumulating, Alice-sama. The important thing is to keep going and not lose heart.”
At those words, Alice’s expression brightened with renewed determination. Encouraged by David’s words urging Alice not to give up, Alice replied cheerfully, “Okay, I’ll do my best!” Then Alice turned attention back to the grimoire Kururu had given her.
Watching Alice, David smiled with satisfaction.
“Then let me offer you a piece of advice. First, learn just one spell you want to use. Once you get the knack of handling magic, I’m sure new possibilities will open up for you.”
“A spell I want to use...?”
“Yes. Alice-sama, what kind of magic would you like to learn first?”
Alice considered this for a moment, but soon found an answer. Meeting David’s gaze, Alice smiled shyly.
Alice had also wanted to learn offensive magic, like Menou’s, that could support allies in battle. But remembering how painful the battle in Salmaria had been, Alice immediately thought of the magic she most wanted to learn first.
“I want to learn healing magic.”
Alice had answered that way because, if anything happened to Kagami, Alice wanted to ease his suffering, even a little.
For some reason, David looked taken aback for a moment at Alice’s words. But his expression quickly softened, and he murmured, “...That’s a wonderful choice,” before smiling again.