[Quest Complete]
[You have received 6 shop coins as a reward.]
A window appeared, indicating the quest was completed.
What this means is that Trie has fully accepted the fact that her father, Gawayn, is dead.
It’s not just pretending to believe with lies.
But the problem is…
“I plan to continue with magic. I just got into the Imperial University, why would I give up magic? I want to try becoming a magic knight like my father.”
Trie still has no intention of giving up magic.
How did it come to this?
In the original story, she smoothly transitioned away from magic and returned to a life devoted to swordsmanship.
I thought perhaps the side effect of revealing her father’s death too soon caused this to happen.
Damn it. That would be a waste.
“A magic knight. Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I’m going to give it a shot. The chances of it working out are low, but.”
A magic knight.
Literally, it’s a combination of a magician and a knight.
For a long time, magicians and knights have been viewed as contradictory.
Magicians inscribe spells externally while knights use inner spells to fight, so the methods are completely different.
The talents they require are entirely opposite.
Yet, the very person who coined the term magic knight is Gawayn von Shulzenburg.
He is recognized for reaching the top in both magic and swordsmanship.
Many unfortunate souls in the Imperial University sought to imitate Gawayn.
The setting was that hundreds of students had dropped out trying to double major.
In the end, no one since Gawayn has come close to being called a magic knight.
If we’re talking about ability, Henderson was probably the closest to being a magic knight.
The problem was that guy was active in the shadows, so the title ‘knight’ didn’t suit him.
Thinking about it, that guy is already dead.
“I wish I could tell you to give up on magic.”
“……”
“But Trie, it’s your choice. I will support you. It would be great if you get recognized as a magic knight.”
“Schlus…!”
I heard Trie’s voice sounded like she was touched.
Support my foot.
To be honest, I believed she would falter soon.
I have no memory of any description that indicated Trie has talent in magic.
In fact, there was a mention that despite studying hard for a year, there was no significant progress in magic.
Now I can’t stop her, so all I can do is wait for her to despair and give up.
“I didn’t expect to have such a conversation here.”
“Neither did I.”
“Ha! I feel so relieved!”
Of course.
Now, without guilt, I can wield the sword I loved so much.
All that’s left is to grow and reach the level of the Sword God.
“But how do we get out of here?”
“……I’m thinking.”
Right. I still haven’t figured out how to escape this minefield.
[Quest: Escape Whist Forest Before Dawn.]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★]
[Reward: 10 Shop Coins]
This quest condition hasn’t changed.
The quest must be completed before dawn, but in reality, there’s not much time left.
“Mana energy is about to surge in.”
“Ah! Really? Then we need to get out quickly!”
The mana energy in this area flows through like tides, and it’s time for it to come surging in as the night deepens.
Even if we somehow endure the mana energy, the magical beasts pose a greater problem.
As the mana thickens, magical beasts will inevitably roam this place.
Then we would have to face incoming magical beasts from all directions without being able to move a step.
“Isn’t there any way?”
“I’m thinking. Stop talking.”
The first method that came to mind was to detect each mine one by one, avoiding or deactivating them as we went.
Mines are a type of spell too.
The activation condition is a magical spell triggered by external shock.
Of course, they go through a concealment process to hide their form, but even then, a slight mana wave is unavoidable.
The problem is that there is generally no way to detect that.
‘Selection and Concentration would work, but.’
If I use Selection and Concentration on my computational power, I could detect and amplify that minor wave to find the surrounding mines.
The issue is how many I could find in the 5 seconds available.
I’ve already ventured quite deep into this minefield to call Trie, and even if I ran at full speed, it would be impossible to escape the mined area in just 5 seconds.
In the end, after 5 seconds, we’ll be trapped there again.
So this is rejected.
‘Memory of True Self…?’
I wonder if there’s anything useful in Schlus’ memory.
But, no matter how much I waited, the Memory of True Self wouldn’t automatically activate.
It seems there’s no related memory.
Then the remaining method is…
‘Magic.’
Creating a detection spell is the only option.
I recall seeing a similar spell in Elemental Magic textbooks.
The issue is that the necessary spell now is on a much larger scale.
At least, it needs to detect at a radius of about 1 kilometer to escape this place.
And composing the spell isn’t as simple as doubling its size just because I need twice the effect.
It transforms into an entirely different form.
Only the core part remains the same while the rest is completely different…
‘This is really giving me a headache.’
I rummaged through my mind for everything I’ve studied, Ludwig’s lectures, and the content I read in the library.
I don’t know what will be helpful among them.
“Schlus?”
“……”
Think.
First, fix the core part.
The mana input is proportional to the detection range, while it’s proportional to the square of the radius.
“Uh, Schlus? Can you hear me?”
“……”
So, I’ll change the mana storage formula to a large capacity.
Additionally, I’ll reinforce the surrounding parts to stabilize the form…
No, rather than a single unit, how about using a segmented formula?
By dividing it into the triggering and explosion parts, I could handle the triggering part requiring minimal mana, and Trie would handle the explosion part.
That way, even with my meager 1000 mana, I could activate the spell.
But then another problem arises.
“Schlus! Are you listening?”
“Uh! Trie. I thought of a way.”
“Really? What is it?”
“I’m going to use detection magic to find and destroy all the mines around us.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It is. If you and I work together.”
“What do you mean?”
“Trie. It’s a segmented spell. It means you have to draw the explosion part.”
The one who’s terrible at magic, Trie, has to draw the explosion part herself.
I can’t draw it for her.
Even if I handed over the key code, without a complete understanding of the spell, it wouldn’t activate.
“Okay! Leave it to me! How should I draw it?”
“Ha…”
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
A spell isn’t something that can simply be drawn like a magic circle just by following lines.
One has to understand the structure to draw the spell.
The problem is I need to explain all of this in words.
This is getting increasingly difficult.
“The core part is the same as what’s in our textbook…”
“Mmhm!”
Still, I earnestly explained as clearly as I could.
You never know.
Maybe Trie miraculously understands it in one shot and completes the spell.
Of course, I wasn’t expecting much.
If necessary, I could just use my mana and Selection and Concentration to activate the spell alone.
But for now, I wanted to save every second of Selection and Concentration.
We don’t know how many magical beasts we might face when retrieving the enlightenment.
“Did you understand?”
“Yeah. I got it!”
That was a voice I could trust.
Did she really understand it instantly?
That explanation contains the essence of four weeks of Elemental Magic lectures!
“Let me explain once more-”
“No, it’s okay! I’m working on the spell right now!”
“……”
Right into action?
I started to doubt whether this was indeed the right course.
Is she seriously not messing this up?
Ha. Let’s put our trust in her for now.
If it doesn’t work out after all, I can use my powers later.
After waiting aimlessly for about an hour…
“Trie.”
“I’m focusing right now!”
“Is it not going well?”
“Ha… Yeah. It’s a bit difficult.”
But the explosion part is quite simple.
If it were the triggering part, there would’ve been no hope at all.
“I think I explained everything.”
“Right. You really made it easy to understand…”
“So all I can offer you now is a small piece of advice.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t try to understand.”
“What do you mean? How can I figure out the spell if I don’t understand?”
“It’s fine if you don’t understand. Just accept it. Don’t try to rationalize the theory I explained. Just remember the facts and the cause-and-effect.”
Trying to understand usually complicates things further.
As speed approaches the speed of light, time slows down, and length contracts—is there any intuitive way to understand that?
Most people just accept that fact based on the theory of relativity, right?
It’s the same principle here.
Actually, magic is even more so.
In a world where bizarre things occur beyond just length and time changing.
If you try to understand and accept everything, you won’t be able to learn magic.
“Don’t try to understand; just accept it… Got it.”
The bushes beyond fell quiet.
Instead, the mana wave that was being emitted changed ominously.
What’s going on? Is a proper spell… being completed?
“Don’t try to understand… just as it is…!”
“Ha.”
A chuckle involuntarily escaped me.
I only gave one piece of advice that anyone could give.
Suddenly, she’s acting like a different person.
At this point, could it be she was pretending all along?
“I did it, Schlus!”
It was true.
The spell inscribed in mana matched the one I had originally envisioned in my head.
Every detail was undeniably my spell.
Despite only hearing my clumsy explanation, Trie perfectly replicated my spell.
I was flabbergasted.
“Good job.”
I layered my triggering part of the detection spell onto Trie’s spell.
Now there was just one thing left to do.
“Trie. Infuse mana into it.”
“How much?”
“All of it!”
Trie’s mana amount was 25,000.
That should be enough.
“The mana infusion is complete!”
I poured a little mana into the triggering part.
Then the spell began to activate—
*Whoosh!*
With a roaring sound, the detection mana wave spread through the forest.
Now everything is visible.
The mines scattered everywhere.
“Whoo.”
Now we were at the final stage.
I turned off my sight and hearing and concentrated solely on the hundreds of mines laid around us.
In an instant, I connected with the core of all the mines—
“It’s done.”
*Boom! Bang…*
All the mines were deactivated at once.
Suddenly, colorful lights burst from everywhere, decorating the surroundings.
The dark forest instantly brightened, and I felt as though I stood at the heart of a fireworks display.
As I took a step forward, I could finally see Trie.
With her mouth agape, she was admiring the beautiful scenery.
I too was gazing at her, spellbound by her beauty, even more radiant than this spectacle.
