It’s thanks to all of you who keep reading that I’ve been able to continue this far. Thank you!
This time, the chapter got long, and I couldn’t finish it by today, so I’ve split it into two parts. The second half might be shorter… orz
Also, with this chapter, I’ve updated Chapter 03 of the main story: Aira-chan’s healing magic level has been changed from 3 to 4. In Chapter 12, the enchantment effect has been changed from “poison resistance” to “poison mitigation.”
Editor’s Note
By the time you’re reading this, the changes have long been made but I thought it’d be nice to see the author’s comments so you get a peek behind her creative process.
“Here it is.”
Deep within the royal palace, in the king’s office, Airhardt Hawk, Vice Commander of the Court Mage Corps, presented a tray covered in black velvet to the king. Placed on the tray was a diamond over a centimeter in size. It was the very item Sei had enchanted the other day with the effects of status ailment nullification, magic resistance boost, and physical defense boost. As the enchanted core was set before him, the chancellor standing beside the king, a man usually adept at hiding his emotions, audibly swallowed.
It was no wonder the chancellor, a master of political intrigue, had let his true feelings slip. The core Sei had created was something that could typically only be obtained from the depths of ancient ruins or through the subjugation of powerful magical beasts. When defeating such beasts, there was a rare chance that an enchanted tool might drop, with the quality of the item corresponding to the beast’s strength. A core with effects matching Sei’s creation would require a beast so powerful that an entire knight corps would be needed to defeat it. Truly, it was a legendary item. In fact, a few similar items existed as national treasures. Of course, these weren’t gathered in recent decades but over centuries, and even then, only a handful had been found. For the king and the chancellor, this core outside of those locked away in the treasury was something they were seeing for the first time.
“I see. It’s no wonder you requested a private audience.”
After a brief silence, the king let out a sigh as he spoke.
Airhardt and Johan, the Director of the Medicinal Plant Research Institute, had requested a confidential report, and the only people present besides the two of them were the king and the chancellor. Since the magic enchantment had already taken place openly in the Court Mage Corps, a gag order had been issued. While it couldn’t be guaranteed that the mages wouldn’t leak the information, clearing the room was deemed better than doing nothing. What the two reported, that Sei could create legendary enchanted tools was reason enough for the private meeting, and it was no surprise that the two men at the pinnacle of the kingdom were left stunned. As the term “legendary” implied, the core Sei had made was militarily invaluable. If sold, it could fetch an astronomical price, making her a veritable golden goose. Should this information leak, there was no doubt that shadowy figures would begin plotting to target her.
When Sei showed an interest in magic this time, Airhardt had received a message from Johan and proposed to the king that they use the opportunity to investigate her magical abilities. The only person capable of appraising a person’s status, the Commander of the Court Mage Corps, had been unconscious since the [Saint Summoning Ritual], so it remained unclear whether Sei and Aira, summoned in the ritual, were saints. However, over six months had passed since the ritual, and with no sign of the commander awakening, the ministers had begun discussing ways to investigate Sei and Aira’s abilities. Aira, attending the Royal Academy, had been subtly examined through her classes, with multifaceted investigations into her capabilities already underway. Sei, on the other hand, was stationed at the Medicinal Plant Research Institute, working alongside ordinary researchers, so progress on investigating her abilities had been slow. Given the incident immediately after her summoning, the palace couldn’t push her too hard, making her voluntary request this time a golden opportunity. The king accepted Airhardt’s proposal, and a few days later, Sei’s magical abilities were tested during the enchantment session at the Court Mage Corps.
This investigation revealed Sei’s astonishing capabilities.
At the Court Mage Corps, a rough plan had been laid out in advance for how to test Sei that day. In magic enchantment, the required attributes, skill levels, and amount of mana varied depending on the effect. Higher effects demanded proportionally higher skill levels and mana. The relationship between effects and the necessary skill levels or mana amounts was somewhat understood based on accumulated experience. Using this, they aimed to identify Sei’s magical skill attributes and gradually increase the difficulty of the effects she enchanted to gauge her skill level. If possible, they planned to have her enchant until her mana ran out, then measure her maximum MP based on the amount of MP potions she’d need afterward. Since Sei had been summoned in the [Saint Summoning Ritual], it was highly likely she possessed holy-attribute magic skills, so they started by guiding her toward support-type enchantments that required holy attributes. Though an unexpected hiccup led Airhardt to take over handling Sei mid-process, the plan proceeded as intended.
Enchantment effects increased in difficulty from mitigation to resistance to nullification. Magic skill levels were generally considered to max out at 10, though only one or two people in history had reached that height. Even among the Court Mage Corps, most mages were at level 3. Mitigation effects could be enchanted with the lowest holy-attribute skill, but resistance effects required at least level 3, and nullification effects needed a minimum of level 5. Sei had initially tried to enchant the highest-difficulty nullification effect, so the assisting mage recommended starting with the simplest mitigation effect. Due to her last-minute change of effect, the first attempt failed, cracking the material, but on the second try, she successfully enchanted a magic resistance boost. Since resistance and defense boosts fell under the resistance category, this confirmed her magic skill level was at least 3 or higher. Aira, the other candidate, had reached level 4 in holy-attribute magic after six months, surpassing the court mages, but when she started at the Royal Academy, she could barely handle level 1 holy magic. For Sei, who presumably had never taken a magic lecture, to start at level 3 was something the mages could hardly believe.
To dig deeper, Airhardt instructed Sei to enchant various effects. His curt, businesslike orders had those around them on edge, wondering when she might get upset, but fortunately, she carried out the instructions without taking offense. While mitigation effects generally required only a level 1 skill, some demanded higher levels depending on the specifics. For example, poison mitigation could be done at level 1, but paralysis mitigation required level 2 or higher. Using this, Airhardt sought to pinpoint Sei’s exact skill level. He had her enchant increasingly difficult effects in sequence, but she effortlessly succeeded even at nullification effects requiring level 5 or above.
At that point, Airhardt’s curiosity as a magic researcher grew. His next instruction was something only historical figures had achieved: enchanting a single material with two or more effects. Half expecting it to be impossible and half hoping it might work, he chose the simplest mitigation effects, and yet again, Sei succeeded with ease. By then, everyone was keenly watching to see how far she could go. The mages, who’d been discreetly observing, were now openly fixated on her work. When Sei asked how long this would continue during a break, Airhardt gave his final instruction, one deemed impossible. Status ailment nullification, magic attack nullification, physical attack nullification. Not just two, but three of the highest-difficulty nullification effects, an item so unprecedented it was questionable whether it could even exist. As expected, even Sei couldn’t manage it, but she proposed an alternative she thought feasible: status ailment nullification, magic resistance boost, and physical defense boost. A legendary item nonetheless. And as she declared, she succeeded.
Thus, it was concluded that Sei’s holy-attribute magic skill level was likely the maximum of 10. In truth, it wasn’t quite that level, but it would be some time before Airhardt and the palace officials realized that.