Chapter 471

Chapter: 471

After wrapping up the deal with me, the skeleton began to seriously intervene in Joy’s magic, showcasing its power as a great wizard without holding back.

“Are you thinking of having the academy’s wizards use this? That’s inefficient. It’s better to directly imbue this property into the academy’s barrier.”

“You don’t know about the magic circle of the barrier? Doesn’t matter. Since I laid its foundation, we can just add magic to that base. Ah, but in this case, there might be compatibility issues. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Should I modify the very foundation of the barrier? Yeah. That would be better. It’s been a while since it was made, so there must be all sorts of problems.”

“I can update the barrier while also bestowing this property on it.”

“Who’s going to do the modification? Naturally, it should be the wizard—you. I’m the one who can’t leave this place.”

While the skeleton fiddled with the magic circle according to its own ideas, it suddenly turned to Joy, who was throwing realistic questions.

“Uh. Me?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not too difficult. With your pretty good talent, you’ll learn it in no time.”

“Is that so?”

Commended by the great wizard, Joy grinned and melted into a smile.

The skeleton wasn’t wrong. Joy’s talent is among the top-tier characters in Soul Academy.

However… there was something unnerving about entrusting something to just Joy alone.

“Prince Partlan. Stop standing there like a fool and come over here to listen to my words.”

“…Me too?”

“Are you planning to leave everything to this nuts wizard? I can’t do that. Besides the wizard’s talent, this kid isn’t someone to be trusted.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Hey, pious one, come over here too. The more safety devices, the better.”

“Yes, understood.”

Oh, as expected of a great wizard! They quickly figured out what kind of person Joy was.

If only I hadn’t seen her begging for her life in front of the sloppy fox, I would have been genuinely impressed. What a shame.

While I was having such thoughts, Joy’s face turned red as she raised her voice.

“I’m not that bad! I might make mistakes sometimes, but I’m not to the level of receiving such insults!”

“Sometimes? Joy, do you really believe it’s just sometimes? Try listing all the mistakes I’ve seen you make until now.”

“I’m sorry! I overstepped my bounds!”

“Pitiful Prince, do you remember all the stupid things the sloppy fox has done? It’s a bit creepy, but aside from that, I’m curious.”

“I’m curious too. Third Prince, mistakes of Joy that I don’t know about.”

“I’m a person too. I can’t remember everything. But there are a few things that stuck in my mind.”

“Prince?! You’re a prince!? Can’t you even hear what I’m saying?!”

“Was it when you were just starting to learn magic? You said you’d show fire magic and while making the magic circle, you burned down the royal garden…”

“If you keep bringing that up, I’ll set you on fire this time!”

Joy actually had the ability to incinerate a few people, so we all stopped talking.

I’ll have to casually ask about it when we return to the academy later. Hearing the tragic tales of the idiot that weren’t even included in the game would surely be a blast.

While Arthur, Joy, and Phoebe were learning about the barrier from Erginius, I was doing my utmost to materialize the vague fairy dance in my head.

But!

There was one decisive problem.

It had been so long since I’d seen the fairy dance.

The last time I saw that dance was right when I started the game.

You know how game cutscenes are. The first time you see them, you can’t help but be amazed, but after the second or third time, you naturally start hitting the skip button!

Honestly, I think it’s amazing that I even remember it vaguely!

Seriously!

Was it like this? Or was it not? Was it something like this?

As I ruminated over the blurry memories, I felt my frustration gradually rise.

I thought once I crossed the mountain, I’d be able to descend into easy territory! But here comes another uphill!

Who did this awful course design!?

Aren’t you afraid of the mesugaki causing trouble?! You brat!

[Still, a path has been set. Compared to not knowing a proper path before, this is a significant change.]

‘You’re pretty optimistic, huh, Grandpa.’

[Heh heh. It’s not optimism; that's the normal reaction.]

‘Normal?’

[You’ve been growing rapidly, so you might not realize it, but the path of nothingness is usually about wandering around. But since you've found that distant marker, it's only natural to feel happy. Now you just have to go towards it.]

‘That doesn’t get rid of the overwhelming feeling, though.’

[What does it matter? I have plenty of advice to give you. There are blessings from the goddess of beauty and art, and there’s also what the god of history has given. Plus, there's me.]

Grandpa’s words about eventually reaching the destination were quite reassuring. If only I hadn’t listened to someone make similar comments before.

‘You remember when I first tried developing a new hunting method? You said something similar back then, right?’

<…Ugh.>

‘And look at how that turned out! The path you were leading me down was a cliff, you know? What do you think of that?’

[A cliff?! That wouldn’t have been your path; it was certainly the right answer for others!]

‘For me, it was a wrong answer, Grandpa. Do you want to explain your own incompetence that way?’

[Urk.]

I could tell Grandpa didn’t have anything to say as he coughed a few times and then fell silent.

Although I couldn’t see his expression, I could feel he was watching me.

I tried hard to suppress my urge to pout, but my lips were way too light.

A laugh escaped naturally from my mouth.

[Haah. Were you mocking me?]

‘Now you understand why I said not to hit me with the facts?’

[That! Next time, I’ll talk with a bit more caution.]

‘Glad you got it.’

What can I do since my memory is hazy? Now I have no way to see that scene again.

All I can do is to try my best to work as hard as possible to get as close to the original as I can.

With that thought, as soon as I regained my posture, Frey, who had been dozing off until now, opened her eyes and quietly watched me move.

Then she got up, stretched, and walked over to me.

“Lucy. Lucy.”

She didn’t say much, but her sparkling eyes conveyed her intention.

“Do you want to get smashed around? ‘Maestro’?”

“Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”

Seeing Frey easily counter my insult made me chuckle.

It’s true that there were still plenty of areas I needed to work on before using it in actual combat.

I hadn’t even been a few hours since I gained enlightenment from the fairy dance!

But I had no intention of rejecting Frey’s suggestion. I felt the itch in my body too.

Ahh. How did I become such a muscle-brained person?

Before falling into this world, I was just a weak young man shouting that the outside world was dangerous.

“If you want to come at me, then come. I’ll roll you on the floor until you’re tired of it.”

“Was that a promise?”

*

My duel with Frey went as usual.

My provocation got Frey all worked up as she charged to break through my shield. I blocked her attacks while looking for an opening to counterattack.

Since my shield technique could fend off even Lasha’s attacks to some degree, no matter how fierce Frey’s sword became, it was still a struggle to break it apart.

Seeing the sword getting sharper every day, it felt like there might come a time when I’d get shattered if I hesitated, but not yet.

So, was there nothing different than usual? No, there was definitely something different.

“…Lucy, your movements are so annoying.”

From Frey, who seemed to have collapsed and was resting her head on the ground, her voice brimmed with frustration was evident; my movements, mimicking the fairy dance, specialized in getting under my opponent’s skin.

I’m not entirely sure, but it seems like just watching me made her blood boil or something.

Grandpa said that the more malicious part was that it had an alluring charm that made it hard to take your eyes off.

You see her getting heated up and rushing at me, but she can’t help but keep watching my moves.

Such perfectly tailored moves for me!

What’s it going to be like when I actually complete it!?

Heheh. Just thinking about it makes me happy.

If I ever get the chance to talk to the god of martial arts, I’ll definitely ask for some tips.

Surely that god would give some great advice.

…But still, when is that sense of crisis they promised?

Ganshu! Aren’t you working?!

As I internally grumbled while soothing my tired body, the skeleton approached me, leaving behind the three semi-conscious people.

Even when we pulled all-nighters preparing for the exam at the academy, it wasn’t this bad.

How much did they push them?

“I’ve completed the method to counter the power of the void. Now I just need to apply it back at the academy.”

“Are you confident? If that magic turns out to be as pathetic as the Sympathy Wizard, then even the chicken coop auntie will spend her entire life in a dream.”

“I don’t know who that chick coop auntie is, but don’t worry. As long as that wizard doesn’t make any weird mistakes, it’ll be fine.”

“…The idiot’s bound to do something idiotic.”

“I know. That’s why I put two safety devices beside her.”

Erginius confidently claimed that there wouldn’t be any possible issues while looking at me and chuckling.

“I’ll just wait then.”

“It’ll be quick. It wouldn’t do if the Sympathy Wizard broke into pieces.”

“Ha. How did you say you broke the ceiling? A promise is a promise.”

“I don’t know the details either. I’ll show you the breaking part, so you analyze it, Sympathy Wizard.”

After saying that to Erginius, I grabbed the shoulders of the dizzy Joy and brought her over, having her use her magic to attach a bomb to the ceiling.

Then, I had Phoebe create a barrier and—BOOM! Just like when I came in, I broke the ceiling.

The skeleton, who had likely keenly analyzed Joy’s magic, would understand this principle in an instant, right?

While I was expecting him to confidently explain, I turned my head slightly and found the skeleton with its mouth agape in disbelief.

“Sympathy Wizard? Why do you look so dumbfounded?”

“…What is that?”

“…Huh?”

“Wait. Huh? What is that?!”

Uh. Um. You can’t expect me to answer that!

“Just a moment. Please do it again. I’ll engrave it in my memory, please!”

Sorry, but I’ve got no materials and no time. We’re done here, so I’ll take my leave now, got it?

“Just a short moment! Please! Just a tiny bit more!”

“Sloppy fox! Attack again!”

“Lucy, you seem to be using me a bit too generously.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“No, I’m saying I do. If you could use me just a bit more like a tool. Ugh. Argh.”

While the sloppy fox incapacitated the skeleton, we escaped out of the dungeon ceiling.

Now, let’s head back to the academy! It’s time to take down the Followers of the Void!

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