“55.”
I answered honestly, and got three very different reactions. The Commander froze with his smile still in place, the Vice-Commander’s eyes widened, and the Director’s mouth dropped open. Director, your face is a mess right now.
“55… is it…?”
The Commander was the first to reboot, muttering a confirmation. I nodded, and he let out a short “Haha” laugh.
“Indeed, at that level, it’d get repelled.”
“Your base level was that high…?”
The Commander laughed as if pleased, while the Director looked at me with exasperation. Don’t give me that look, I can’t help it. It’s been that way from the start.
“I see. That’s a problem.”
The Commander said this, but he didn’t seem troubled at all. When I tilted my head, his brows furrowed slightly into a worried shape.
“If ‘Appraise’ doesn’t work, we’ll have to confirm it the old-fashioned way…”
“The old-fashioned way?”
“Yes.”
At that, the Vice-Commander stood smoothly from the sofa. He placed a pen and paper from the Commander’s desk in front of me. As I stared at them, the Commander explained.
When no mage could use appraisal magic on people, status confirmation relied on self-reporting. Even now, not everyone gets checked by the Commander, most do it this way. Apparently, everyone working at the palace has to declare their status beforehand. Since the types and levels of skills you have affect promotions, some exaggerate their stats. For suspicious cases, surprise tests are conducted to verify the claims. For magic skills, they make you use attribute magic corresponding to your declared level in front of several examiners. Since the current Commander took over, though, he’s just used appraisal magic, skipping the tests.
“Is everyone’s status public?”
“No, it’s generally treated as confidential.”
I asked out of curiosity. In Japan, it’d be personal info, but Jude and the knights seemed casual about it. According to the Commander, declared statuses are handled as confidential. Still, since having useful skills boosts promotion chances, plenty of people at the palace spread the word themselves.
“I see.”
I gave a short reply and looked at the paper again. Hmm, what to do? Maybe I should write it, but…
Since I wasn’t moving and just staring at the paper, the other three stayed silent too. The room grew quiet with the conversation stalled. On the way here, I’d talked with the Director about what might happen next, but my heart’s still wavering. Writing my status now feels like locking myself into acting as the [Saint]. Should I lie, then? I’ve heard bits about statuses from Jude and the knights, but I don’t know this world’s averages. Writing something off could expose me.
“Not feeling up to it?”
Lost in thought, I was interrupted by the Commander. Looking up, I saw him smiling gently.
“You don’t have to write it.”
At that, the Vice-Commander beside him widened his eyes in shock, and the Director next to me did the same.
“Is that okay?”
“It’s fine.”
“Commander—”
The Vice-Commander called out in a panic, but the Commander didn’t back down. He said forcing a declaration wouldn’t help since they couldn’t verify it anyway. True, but is that really fine? Judging by the Vice-Commander and Director’s reactions, it doesn’t seem so. They could test magic skills to some extent, right? I didn’t say it, but my puzzled look must’ve shown, because his smile deepened slightly.
“Instead, could you show us your magic?”
Oh, so there’s a magic check after all. Tons of people saw me use magic at the hospital, so that’s probably fine. I nodded, and he said, “Then…” before explaining the process.
We’d use ‘Heal,’ the same spell from the hospital. There’s no one injured here, but it’s apparently safe to cast on healthy people. Still, ‘Heal’? It’s the most basic holy-attribute magic you learn first. Its power scales with your holy-attribute magic level, sure, but on healthy people, the effect’s hard to judge by numbers or visuals, making it tough to confirm the level on my status.
“You’re confirming my holy-attribute magic level with ‘Heal’?”
“No, I want to check something else.”
Curious, I asked, and it’s not about the level. He wants to see if there’s a difference between magic cast by someone summoned from another world versus a native. Is there a difference? I’ve seen Jude use water-attribute magic, but it looks so different from holy-attribute magic. Sadly, I’ve never seen anyone else use holy-attribute magic. I’d love to say, “Show me a native’s first,” but that’d be admitting I’ve got a hunch, which I do. I’m already hesitant to write my status, so after mulling it over without an answer, I figured the worst case, obvious differences could be brushed off as being from another world or having a high base level. With that, I quietly decided to cast the spell.
I focused to cast the magic. Since no target was specified, I chose myself. Activating ‘Heal,’ my body was faintly covered in a glowing white mist. As always, golden glitter sparkled within it, pretty as ever.
“This is…”
A small murmur drew my gaze, and the Vice-Commander was staring wide-eyed in surprise. So there’s a difference after all? Looking at the others, the Commander’s eyes sparkled with interest, while the Director… was his usual self. He didn’t seem fazed and just watched the Commander and Vice-Commander’s reactions curiously.
“Was there a difference?”
“Yes.”
I asked, and the Commander nodded, a bit excited.
“Watch this.”
He cast ‘Heal’ on himself. His body glowed white like mine had. When the light faded, he asked, “Did you see?” but I couldn’t tell what was different. I shook my head, so he cast it again. His body glowed white once more, but… wait. Something clicked, and I cast ‘Heal’ on myself too. My body glowed white, but unlike his, mine had golden light mixed in.
“Did you notice?”
“Yes.”
He explained that knights from the Second and Third Corps I’d healed mentioned the magic looked unusual. When other mages cast it, like the Commander, it’s just white light—no glitter like mine. Apparently, magic power can become visible when a spell’s cast. This white light is holy-attribute mana, and other attributes appear as different colors. Normally, you can’t see mana without special perception training, though.
He said it’s unclear if the cause is my otherworldly origin or something else. From his words, it sounds like Aira’s status hasn’t been checked yet. I asked, and he confirmed, “Not yet.” I hoped to hear her results, but since status details are confidential, he couldn’t share. However, since the glitter relates to me, he promised to inform me once they figure it out.
This confirmed my magic differs from this world’s people. It kinda ties into everything since I was summoned, especially that “50% bonus curse.” Thinking back, the curse mostly affected mana-related stuff, and I sighed inwardly at the realization.
Afterword
I posted character designs in the activity report. I forgot to mention last time—sorry about that. If you’re interested, check it out!