Published: July 31, 2025
Multiple chapters posted today.
This is the second chapter.
Since Mr. Reinhardt was absent from the afternoon training, it was decided that the four of us—myself, the young lady, madam, and Lord Reinbach—would carry it out.
“Honestly, my father is always like this when it comes to work…”
“It’s troubling that he neglects his daughter and Ryoma-kun, don’t you think?”
“Well, I’m partly to blame as well… Besides, Mr. Reinhardt is just diligent with his work, which is better than being lazy.”
“That’s true… We’ve arrived. This is the place.”
Guided by the two adults, we reached the entrance of a relatively large mine shaft.
“Now, from here on, the two of you will mainly decide the course of action. My father and I will follow you. We’ll help if things get dangerous, but otherwise, no assistance.”
“This is to give the area some experience, and since Ryoma-kun is already quite experienced, I’d like you to keep your input to a minimum, okay?”
Suddenly, the young lady gave us a task.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Understood.”
Seeing that the young lady obeyed without hesitation, it seemed she was used to receiving sudden assignments. Without hesitation, we stepped into the mine shaft. This time, the tunnel was wider than the last, and patches of moss covered the walls here and there. It seemed risky to step carelessly as one might slip. Better to be careful.
“It’s dark, and we can’t see far ahead.”
I’d noticed this in the morning too—unlike me, who was used to hunting in the darkness of night, the young lady couldn’t see very well ahead.
“Mr. Ryoma, how did you manage hunting at night? Did you use light magic?”
“If you don’t mind being detected when approaching, then yes. When attacking bandits, for instance. But if you want to act without being noticed, it’s better to use null magic detection. There’s a chance your mana will be sensed, but it’s less obvious than using a light.”
“I’m not good at detection magic. How do you do it, Mr. Ryoma? I was taught to expand my awareness, but I don’t really understand it.”
Detection, huh…
After thinking for a moment, I shaped a stone vessel with earth magic and poured water into it with water magic.
“Take a look at this.”
“Hm?”
Showing her the vessel, I dropped a stone into its center, and naturally, ripples appeared on the water’s surface.
“Imagine the stone at the center is yourself, and the ripples represent the flow of mana. You expand your mana outward like waves from your center to the area you want to sense. If there’s a magical beast there—”
After dropping a few smaller stones and calming the ripples with magic, I dropped the center stone again. Ripples appeared once more, but some were blocked by the smaller stones.
“Like this, when the waves hit a magical beast, they’re interrupted. That’s how a magical beast or person triggers a reaction during detection.”
“I see! That’s easier to understand than the previous explanation. Um… ‘Detection’!”
The moment the young lady cast detection magic, a considerable amount of mana radiated outward from her, spreading around. It was a massive wave of overflowing mana unlike anything I’d ever sensed from anyone else besides myself.
I didn’t even need to concentrate to feel it strongly—it was amazing in the usual sense. But if an enemy mage were nearby, they’d probably notice this, right…?
Sensing the mana inside oneself is the absolute fundamental for using magic. So even if one is good or bad at it, no mage exists who can’t sense mana.
“There’s a large number of something a little ahead.”
“A success then. But that’s a bit too much mana. If there’s a mage around, they’ll probably notice for sure.”
“Is that so? I need more practice.”
“I’ll handle detection as well as frontline combat. Young lady, please focus on your magic like you did this morning.”
“Understood. Thank you, Mr. Ryoma.”
The responsibility was mine. Since there was something large ahead, I also used detection, confirming that indeed, a huge number of magical beasts were there. But they all seemed to be a gathering of many very small magical beasts.