Published: January 22, 2026
“Luna, are you alright?”
While I was diligently working on developing a new composite magic technique, the fairy who always stays by my side—Pixie—spoke to me.
“Yes, I’m fine, Pixie. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“That’s good. But Luna, how long are you going to stay here? The Sylph said the air here feels stagnant, and the people who come to talk to you seem strange. Don’t you think it would be better to leave soon?”
Pixie rarely initiates conversation herself. She simply watches over me and occasionally lends a hand. But after I’ve been here for ten days, even Pixie seems to have lost patience.
“What you say is quite reasonable, Pixie. However, I’m not allowed to leave this place. That’s the rule.”
“I see. How long must you stay?”
“I don’t know. But I probably won’t be able to leave for a while.”
“I understand.”
After that murmured reply, Pixie fell silent again.
It has been ten days since Mr. Oliver and Ms. Philly destroyed the city and the demonic beast flood broke out.
I am currently locked inside a cell at the criminal detention center in Tsutolairu.
Though it’s a detention center, the area where I am housed has partitioned restrooms and showers, and clothes are provided.
It seems this facility is used for detaining people of noble status, so it’s not exactly a harsh environment.
I’m honestly grateful for that.
I wonder why someone like me, who isn’t even a noble, has been assigned here—but since I was, I’m making full use of it without hesitation.
â—‡
Ten days ago, after I had exhausted my strength defeating the water dragon, I watched the battle between Mr. Orun and Mr. Oliver.
When I first caught sight of it, a golden mana pierced Mr. Orun’s abdomen, and I envisioned the worst.
Fortunately, that did not come to pass.
Mr. Orun instantly healed his injury and, although he was struck once, he overwhelmingly dominated Mr. Oliver thereafter.
His overwhelming strength surprised me, but what astonished me most was that multiple unfamiliar magics were activated without any magic circles appearing.
Magic is a phenomenon caused by channeling mana through a magic circle—also called technique construction.
In other words, magic always manifests where a magic circle appears.
Yet, no magic circle appeared with Mr. Orun’s black magic.
If a phenomenon resembling magic occurs without a magic circle, it must be a supernatural ability.
However, Mr. Orun’s known supernatural ability, Mana Convergence, cannot explain those phenomena.
Could it be that Mr. Orun’s supernatural ability isn’t Mana Convergence? No, the heavenly flash he unleashed in the martial arts tournament final was definitely through Mana Convergence.
Then it must be something neither magic nor supernatural ability—a phenomenon I don’t know.
Perhaps Titania knows about it.
Next time she comes to me, I should ask.
Until then, I’ll think about various possibilities while continuing to develop composite magic.
After all, I have plenty of time.
After the battle between Mr. Orun and Mr. Oliver ended and the demonic beasts that appeared on the surface were mostly defeated, I was taken into custody by the military.
Since then, I’ve been interrogated and have spent all my time in this room.
I’m currently awaiting judgment.
A senior military officer told me there’s a high chance I’d receive a pardon for my efforts defending the West Gate during the recent incident.
That said, since there’s suspicion of my involvement in the child abduction committed by my family, I probably won’t be acquitted outright.
Child abduction is a grave crime that can carry the death penalty depending on the case.
It’s fortunate that the worst possibility might be avoided.
“Still, although I don’t have complaints about this room itself, not being able to verify techniques is definitely troubling,” I muttered in frustration.
Even though my current circumstances are quite privileged, human desire never fades…
The process of developing magic divides broadly into creating and verifying techniques.