Different School of Magic
"Menu open"
Holding the card that once was The Saint Night's Item, she recites the familiar incantation.
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Akitto
Type: Common Card
Mana: 50/50
Magic uses: 0/100
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The menu appeared before my eyes.
Status display on the translucent panel—very similar to Doreca's.
But the content was completely different.
Only my name stayed the same—otherwise, the card type had shifted from something resembling a credit card to more of a trading card, with mana values shown as smaller numbers and a maximum value indicated.
And above all else.
Something entirely different from DORECA, lying beneath the status.
Doreca's is magic that creates things physically—but this is different.
In a word... it's magic that causes phenomena.
Let me try one.
Tried using the one at the top—“passing rain.”
The magic circle bloomed beneath her feet.
The magic circle was different from Doreca's.
Doreca’s was a circular magic circle. This one—triangle-shaped, sharp-edged.
It glowed—then rain fell.
A downpour for about a minute.
After the magic wore off, I opened the menu again.
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Akito
Category: Common Card
Magic Power: 49/50
Magic Uses: 1/100
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Magic power dropped by one. Uses increased by one.
Try again. Use the spells in the list, one by one, from top to bottom.
After using all ten spells once.
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Akito
Category: Common Card
Magic Power: 40/50
Magic Uses: 10/100
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That’s how it was.
No matter which spell I used, it cost one magic point and added one use. (This part was obvious, anyway.)
Got it.
“Fifty…?”
I stared at the menu like it was a hole in the world.
Maximum magic power—fifty.
Just an ordinary number—nothing special. But there’s one thing that comes to mind.
“……Shall I try it?”
☆
I arrived in the forest.
A forest conjured by DORECA’s magic, expanded further by the slave card’s enchantment.
Trees thickened, animals gathered.
I stepped into the earthly paradise guarded by Ilya’s Spring, and wandered aimlessly.
After walking a while, I saw Risha’s figure.
“Master.”
She noticed me too, paused her work expanding the forest, and came over.
“What is it?”
“Nothing urgent. I came to see you, Risha.”
I glanced around the forest as I said it.
“It’s getting busier by the day. Birds, small creatures—more than before.”
“Yes.”
“Deer, too. A pair? Mother and child?”
Two deer appeared between the trees.
“Yes. They came a little while ago. The mother was injured, so I healed her with the universal remedy. She stayed after.”
“Ah, I see.”
Nodding, I look at the deer family.
Two deer approached, hesitant and shy.
Reaching out, I ran my hand from the fawn’s head down its neck, giving it a firm, gentle rub.
“Mother and child, huh?”
“Yes….”
Risha watched the deer I was touching, her eyes full of quiet envy.
What she was envious of… well, no need to ask.
After a moment, Risha spoke up, voice soft and unsure.
“Um… Master. Do you have something for me?”
“Ah.”
I nodded, meeting her gaze straight on.
“I’m here to keep the promise I made.”
“A promise…?”
“I want a child.”
“Ah….”
Risha’s face flushed instantly, her head dipping down.
Even with her eyes lowered, she still looked up at me—adorable, in a way that could only be described with one word.
“Listen.”
“Yes… um… if I—”
“Yeah?”
“If a child comes… then—”
“That child too will be my slave. You understand— I’ve planned it from the start.”
“Thank you….”
Risha, eyes shimmering, overwhelmed.
“Now, where shall it be?”
“Here.”
She clasps her hands, gazing up at me with damp eyes.
“In the forest—better yet, a forest made by us, master… together…”
“Is that so.”
I wrap my arms around Risha, her spirit growing ever more endearing, and gently lay her down on the ground.
She closes her eyes, surrendering her body completely.
Even as she clenches her teeth against the pain, she forces a smile.
So utterly sweet— I nearly forget my original purpose, lost in how much I adore her.
—— Magic power increased by one.
I held her so close, I nearly missed the most important sound… completely indulging her in my arms.