By Zephyria 
The moment the enraged Ogre clenched his hand to grab me, I didn’t wait any longer and slipped right through his fingers. I swallowed a gasp. My mind snapped awake, and I shook my hands a couple of times.
My arms trembled. They wobbled.
In my past life, I had lived a relatively desperate life, but I only dealt with worldly matters. Compared to such a grotesque being, how easily human flesh is cut and torn. Now I understood why Maelo Sanson had repeatedly emphasized the importance of knowing how to deal with Monsters.
I needed to see something tougher and stronger.
Thuk, I heard the sound of an eggshell cracking. It was a sound spreading from within my chest. A shallow realization brightened my vision. Avoiding the Ogre, who was roaring loudly and shaking his entire body, I turned and jumped back. Whoosh, I cut through the air and landed on the ground.
I couldn’t increase the size of my body, but there was a way.
I drew in the surrounding Mana. Knowing my body’s limits clearly, I didn’t hesitate any further. The blue Sword energy overlaid on my sword swelled in size. The intense light and the drawn-in Mana heavily weighed down the surrounding air. Just as my ears began to ring,
I swung the blue sword, now larger than my body, as if throwing it away.
Light scattered in all directions. I watched without blinking. Kagaak, the sword, making a fierce sound as it cut through the Ogre’s forearm, stopped in between. No matter how much more force I applied, it wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t believe it.
Barely halfway.
It had cut through the skin and flesh but failed to sever the bone.
The spilled blood soaked the floor. It steamed hotly. I really thought I could cut it off this time.
The completely enraged Ogre jumped up and down, shaking the surroundings with each thump, thump. I knew in my head that the Ogre’s blood wasn’t poisonous, but my body instinctively rolled away to avoid it.
What kind of creature is this, anyway? No, is it even alive?
Even with his deeply gashed arm, he didn’t seem to feel any pain as he struck out in all directions. Flagstones kept popping up from the floor, pounded by his fists and feet in offbeat rhythms, and at some point, with a pagak breaking sound, the restoration magic Formula failed to activate.
Dodging him here and there, I stopped abruptly again.
I recomposed myself. Right, if I couldn’t break the thick bone, I should aim for the joints. I stared straight at the fist coming down towards my face. Just a little more, just a little, just a little closer.
Now…!
–Saaak.
The tip of the sword, swung with a snake-like hiss, drew a sharp arc without stopping. Hot blood flew through the air in a parabola. Along with the beast’s cry, his hand collided with one side of the barrier behind me and fell with a loud crash.
Should I keep going?
The moment I readjusted my grip on the sword, I heard a loud ringing sound.
A red haze enveloped the Ogre’s body, which had lost a hand, in an instant.
He flailed his limbs wildly, venting his frustration. The Ogre’s eyes, looking at me, were red with bursting blood vessels. Steam rose in wisps from my sweat-soaked body. Only then did my lungs feel tight.
Before I knew it, the wide Martial arts training ground was filled with crimson blood. With the Ogre gone from before my eyes, it felt empty and vast. Looking back, the severed hand was still there.
Was I dreaming while standing? I lifted my sword and poked the Ogre’s clenched fist. I expected it not to move, but the five fingers spread wide open, and I quickly dodged.
“Euhahaha!”
“No, what are you doing after finishing it off?”
“Take it with you; you can use it as a bed.”
It was newly embarrassing that the Knights watching the scene were doubled over with laughter. As I awkwardly shook my sword to roughly shake off the blood, Maelo Sanson, leaning heavily against the barrier, explained with an expression that he, too, found it hilarious.
“It’s just that the muscle nerves are severed, and the strength is gone, so there’s no need to be so surprised.”
“…I wasn’t surprised.”
“Yes, you weren’t surprised, but I’m saying there’s no need to be surprised.”
I wanted to show off in front of Ruben, but I couldn’t reveal that desire, so I pursed my lips and said nothing. Mage Trickle, who had come down to the Martial arts training ground, cast Clean Magic, allowing me to regain my clean appearance.
Feeling increasingly embarrassed, I made another excuse and briefly left the scene.
❖ ❖ ❖
Thanks to Mage Trickle’s consideration, I was able to borrow the largest and best reception room in the Magic Tower.
In the pentagonal reception room, a fireplace with magically lit flames crackled and burned the air on one wall, and two walls were decorated with tapestries in Sierren style. And on the remaining two walls… bizarre aquariums were stacked in layers.
Occasionally, I heard the sound of frogs, but strangely, not a single living creature was visible.
Rubel was seated in the seat of honor, leaning diagonally against the fireplace, and Edwin and I were seated on the sofas facing each other. Because the color of the tea Edwin had offered was a clear, greenish hue, I felt uneasy, as if I were drinking aquarium water.
Rubel was looking at me intently with his eyes, already shining like black pearls, sparkling as if he wanted to talk about the Sparring with the Ogre we had just seen.
However, perhaps because Edwin was beside him, he was behaving much more gently than usual. I bit my lip tightly to suppress a laugh, feeling as if he was playing a secret prank.
In such a setting, it was customary for the person of higher status to speak first.
Naturally, Rubel greeted Edwin first.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Young Master Kiadris.”
“Thanks to Your Highness, I have spent a day filled with grace, so this much is only natural.”
Edwin replied with as much courtesy as ever, lowering his sharp eyes as he always did.
And a quiet silence fell.
…I knew these children were awkward with each other, but is it still the same? Didn’t they spend time alone once before? It was strange and amusing.
A heavy sense of responsibility to lead the conversation rested on my shoulders.
Hesitating, I opened my mouth.
“I heard that the two of you arranged a meeting last month… May I ask what you talked about?”
“…”
“…”
I could clearly see Rubel and Edwin exchanging glances.
I watched carefully, wondering if they weren’t just awkward with each other but had something to hide from me. Rubel looked straight at me with a friendly attitude, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. His eyes were honest, as if not a single grain of falsehood was mixed in.
“We talked about the agenda for the next imperial conference and what Young Master Kiadris is researching these days.”
“…That’s right. We talked about research for a long time. I had a lot I wanted to explain.”
Edwin nodded slightly, but there was a reluctant air in his voice. I hesitated for a moment and asked again.
“What kind of research is Senior doing now?”
“Research on the properties of the Mana cultivation method you newly created.”
“…Huh?”
“What you created this time isn’t about converting Mana into aura outside the body, but a form of cultivation method that imitates Divinity, purifies it once, and stores it inside the body. I checked how far that ‘Purification’ function goes. For example…”
Edwin paused, glanced at Rubel, and then turned his gaze back to me.
“You saw the Ogre’s bones earlier, right? If you meticulously accumulate Contaminated Mana, something like that comes out. Monsters’ bodies basically contain a lot of Mana, but in the case of Ogres, a large amount of Mana tends to accumulate in their bones, and in the case of Trolls, in their blood. Usually, you can use Divine Power to break down that bond.”
“…Hmm.”
“But your Mana cultivation method imitates Divinity, right? After several tests, I found that something called ‘internal energy’ can loosen the bond of Mana. If we apply it further, I’m researching whether we can come up with a way to weaken Monsters.”
“…Hoo.”
I couldn’t help but gape at the explanation. I knew this kid was smart. But even if I dissected and examined the Internal energy cultivation method in various ways, I only thought it would be used for its original purpose of increasing internal energy and strengthening martial power; how could I have imagined that he would devise the opposite?
But Douglas and Boulder had only just said they would write a paper, so I asked again, wondering how this kid knew about it.
“It’s a great thing, but… how did you already know about a cultivation method that hasn’t been widely publicized yet?”
“Professor Mustang had a few Knights check the Mana cultivation method in the 1st Magic Tower laboratory. I learned about it by seeing and hearing the purpose and process of the experiment. I wanted to make it the topic of my next paper, so I looked into it a bit more.”
“…Hmm.”
It was a clean explanation. It was neat, with nothing to add or subtract, so I nodded. Edwin sat in a straight posture, seemingly conscious of Rubel, and requested in a soft voice.
“It will take Professor Mustang at least three months to publish the paper. If there’s anything you can tell me before then, give me a heads up in advance. I want to write something too.”
“Um… I don’t really have anything to explain… Ah.”
Something suddenly came to mind. I thought he probably didn’t know this yet, so I easily spoke.
“I’ve decided on a name for that Mana cultivation method.”
“What is it?”
“Hip-Circlet.”
Rubel, who had been listening quietly, coughed lightly and swallowed a laugh. I wondered what had pleased the child. Curious, I began to carefully examine Ruben’s expression.
“What’s so funny?”
“No, it’s just… because you said you named it after a flower…”
“Yes.”
“…It reminded me of the day we went to the botanical garden together.”
How cute.
One side of my chest tickled. I laughed along too. It was really hard to suppress the laughter that was flowing out. As I ran a hand over my face to control my expression, Rubel opened his mouth again.
“By the way, you were really amazing just now. To think you’d try to have a direct strength contest with an Ogre.”
“Well, Professor told me to try…”
“And you did it. You’re really amazing, Mika. I was so surprised.”
His gentle voice was so sweet that my ears tickled. Ahem, I cleared my throat to calm my heart and turned my gaze away.
…Edwin Kiadris was looking at me with an even more terrible expression than usual. I was greatly startled. He had caught me being captivated by Ruben’s affectionate charm.
Feeling awkward and embarrassed, I quickly straightened my posture.