Zenjirou was making it a rule for himself to only attend events that were held for the sake of form as far as practicable, but appearing in public brought about some entanglements that he just couldn’t escape.
On a certain day, his appearance at a luncheon meeting that was held in form of a buffet in one part of the royal palace, was inevitably.
“Oh my, then you made a completely new alcohol drink by yourself, Zenjirou-sama? How wonderful.”
Standing in front of him, a tall beauty, who could pa.s.s as a super model, praised him with such an affected voice while her arms were crossed in front of her chest. It was Fatima Guillén.
“No, it’s just a hobby of mine. It’s hardly praiseworthy.”
Zenjirou tried to somehow end the conversation with an behaviour as cold as the circ.u.mstances permitted it, but she wasn’t the little sister of the “Insatiable Wolf” aka General Puyol for nothing. Her a.s.sertiveness and pus.h.i.+ness were in no way inferior to her brother’s.
“Oh my, how modest. They say alcohol is a kind of culture. Creating a completely new alcohol drink means to enrich our country’s culture and economy. It is wonderful, indeed.”
She held him in place with a nauseating flattery.
“Haha, please stop flattering me. When a beautiful woman like you sweet-talks me, I’ll likely get all stuck-up.”
Saying nothing but empty phrases, Zenjirou protected himself with a forced smile while he inwardly broke out a cold sweat and thought “what a pain”.
As the banquet was no formal event, it didn’t place as much importance on the social standing and etiquette. Since he only had a superficial knowledge about the etiquette, it had the merit that mistakes from him were somewhat overlooked, but on the other hand, it also had the demerit of allowing aggressive approaches like this one.
At any rate, it had been a mistake that he attended this banquet.
Zenjirou regretted his decision all too late.
From the list of partic.i.p.ants that he viewed before, he had concluded that there would be no ambitious person amongst the guests, who would a.s.sertively curry favour with him, so he had attended unmindful, but this situation without an ambitious person turned against him now.
As a result, Famita Guillén, the little sister of an ambitious person, had partic.i.p.ated at the last minute and could monopolize the approach on him to her heart’s content.
(Well, I’m surprised she can throw herself at a man she doesn’t love with such vigour. Guess I just can’t empathize with the values of n.o.bles.)
Zenjirou looked at the tall beauty, who was half a head taller than him and continued to chat pa.s.sionately in front of him, while he was under such an impression.
This may come across harsh, but the woman called Fatima was by far the most awkward person in keeping a poker face amongst all the people Zenjirou had met so far.
Well, considering that she was only seventeen years-old, it was to be expected, but it was obvious even to him that she hadn’t had her facial expression under control.
Her almond black eyes, emitting a strong will, were a problem in particular. No matter how much she praised him with words or how she gave him a charming smile, the glint in her eyes was the same as a “beast targeting its prey”.
Everything she did, including attracting his affection, happened on the orders of her brother. Her desire was the prosperity of the Guillén Family and she saw no value in making a happy family with him.
At least it appeared as such to Zenjirou.
However beautiful she may be, it would be no laughing matter to take her as a concubine. Zenjirou realized that it was a bit childish to think that about a girl seven years younger than him, but he couldn’t help but feel that way instinctively.
As the girl sensed his inner turmoil, Fatima overhasty exaggerated her offence, whereat Zenjirou was even further repelled.
It was an insuperable vicious circle.
“I am not much of a drinker myself, but over the generation, the Guillén Family had a lot of sympathizer for alcohol. I could tell a thousand tales about my brother, the current head of the family, in regards to alcohol.”
“Oho. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but General Puyol sure is an exception. All the tales about him truly describe him as the great man that he looks like.”
Zenjirou had feared that he went overboard with his affected reaction, but his seemingly admiring comment brightened up Fatima’s expression.
“Yes! When my brother was eighteen years old, he drunk our uncle Emidio-dono, known as a heavy drinker, under the table in a contest. My uncle lost his treasured spear to my brother as the stake, which made his loss only worse.
Since then my uncle has never touched alcohol again, so his wife, Lady Deborah, was quite grateful to my brother.”
As usual, the girl kept talking about the brave anecdotes of her older brother.
Zenjirou didn’t have an all that favourable impression of General Puyol, as he was Aura’s former husband candidate, so it was far from pleasant to hear him getting praised to the skies like this.
(Interesting. If he holds his drink so well, I’ll make some super high-proof alcohol next time, like 80% or so, and let him drink it in one go.)
Such mischievous thoughts were crossing his mind.
What a great feeling that would be if he could have the man, who walked about with a confident and overwhelming aura, on his knees for being dead-drunk.
Without an idea about the small-calibre imagination of the man in front of her, Fatima continued the bragging of her beloved brother with even more vigour.
“…Furthermore, a couple of his heroic deeds during the previous war have been made into songs. If you have the time, please invite a troubadour next time and listen to them. Any troubadour a.s.sociated with the royal palace knows of them.”
Even Zenjirou couldn’t withhold his wry smile as the tall beauty proudly continued to brag about her sweet brother.
“You sure respect your brother General Puyol from the bottom of your heart, My Lady Fatima.”
Upon the kind of warm-hearted words one gives to children, Fatima realized that she had completely wandered from one topic to another and flushed her cheeks reddish all too late.
“Ah, f- forgive me. Here I go on all by myself…”
She lowered her head embarra.s.sed with these words and her coquettish played smile made her look numerous times more lovely. Still, she was hardly as radiant as when she was talking about the heroic deeds of her beloved brother, which grated a bit on Zenjirou’s nerves.
“No need to apologize. General Puyol is a very prominent figure in the military. It’s revealing to hear about his deeds and I personally am quite interested in it as well.”
“Many thanks, Zenjirou-sama.”
When he smoothed the situation out, the tall beauty leaned over her tall body and lowered her head bashfully.
* * *
The extremely tiring luncheon meeting somehow came to an end and Zenjirou had returned into the inner palace, but unfortunately it was not time to relax just yet.
“Octavia-sama is awaiting you, Zenjirou-sama.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Today’s afternoon was scheduled with a magic lesson from Lady Octavia.
Over past year, Zenjirou and Lady Octavia had settled into the “cla.s.sroom”.
Like always, they sat across each other on chairs with a table in-between them, carrying out the mysterious lesson.
“Well then, Zenjirou-sama, please go ahead. Show me your magic.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Obeying his “teacher”, Zenjirou took a deep breath while remaining seated comfortably in the chair.
Since he had awakened the “ability to detect magical power” by now, he was able to perceive the faint magical glow coming from his body.
Zenjirou vividly pictured the effect of the magic inside his head while registering that glow coming from his folded hands on the table in the corner of the eye, then he spoke the “incantation”.
‘Cut off a spherical s.p.a.ce of the world around the tip of my finger. As compensation, I will make three-hundred and fifty-nine offerings of magical power to the s.p.a.ce-Time spirit.’
He was speaking in the Magic Language. That language could cram various meanings into a single syllable, so the automatic translation from the Soul of Words made it sound like a rather long sentence, even though only a few words were spoken.
A moment later, the spell activated correctly.
A transparent light dome, centred around Zenjirou— or to be more precise, around the upheld index finger of his right hand, took shape.
It was a kind of s.p.a.ce-Time Magic, the bloodline magic of the Carpa Royal Family: “s.p.a.ce Isolation Barrier”.
It was a powerful defence magic that isolated s.p.a.ce itself and prevented all interference from the outside, but it didn’t last for more than thirty seconds, so there weren’t many practical usages for it.
“Great.”
Anyway, Zenjirou unintentionally leaked a joyful utterance as he succeeded in activating the magic.
“Well done, Zenjirou-sama. You can use ‘s.p.a.ce Isolation Barrier’ almost perfectly already.”
“Guess so. In terms of magical output, this magic is the most simple for me after all.”
Since he wasn’t used to such straightforward praise, he reflexively conducted himself humbly, even while the corners of his mouth twitched happily.
The magic of this world was easier to activate when the output of the magic was closer to the naturally discharged magical power of the spell caster. Zenjirou actually couldn’t yet use the essential ability for a magician: The “control over magical output”.
But while he said so with a shrug of his shoulders, his composed female teacher showed a faint smile and spoke in a rare playful tone.
“Not quite, Zenjirou-sama. You are already beginning to get the hang of the ‘control over magical output’. Have you not noticed it? The naturally discharged magical power of a person is not identical on every day.
It fluctuates subtle based on your physical condition and mental state of the day. Your magical output for today is a little bit higher than the required output for the ‘s.p.a.ce Isolation Barrier’.”
Zenjirou was at a loss for words for a moment upon the unexpected statement.
“…Then why did the magic activate?”
Lady Octavia, likewise his teacher for etiquette and culture, was inwardly delighted that Zenjirou kept his way of speaking befitting for a royalty despite his perplexity, and explained in a calm manner.
“For the very reason I just told you. Although it was just for a little bit, you unconsciously regulated your magical power and restricted the output.
How about we try it again? This time pay close attention to the magical glow coming from your body.”
The “s.p.a.ce Isolation Barrier” had a short duration, so it had already dissipated.
“Mhm…”
Still somewhat doubtful, Zenjirou obeyed his teacher nevertheless and used the earlier magic again.
‘Cut off a spherical s.p.a.ce of the world around the tip of my finger. As compensation, I will make three-hundred and fifty-nine offerings of magical power to the s.p.a.ce-Time spirit.’
However, he now focussed on the change in the magical power coming from his body.
By doing so, he clearly saw that the magical glow emitted from his folded hands on the table became fainter. In the next moment, the magic activated without problems and the dome of light appeared in the air.
“Aha… Looks like I’m really regulating my magical power.”
“Indeed. It is not much yet, but once you come to grips with it, you will be able to control your magical output at will. That is the second step for a magician.
After you awakened your ability to detect magical power and learned how to control your magical output, the only thing you have to do is to memorize the individual spells. You are now at the second most important turning point, Zenjirou-sama.”
“Okay. Keep on instructing me.”
When he uttered the words in a commanding tone from a superior, which he finally could use now without feeling awkward, Lady Octavia respectfully lowered her head.
“As you wish. I may be inexperienced, but it is my greatest joy to be able to serve you.”
Her conduct was so perfect that it didn’t offend a single etiquette and her polite way of speaking sounded like sincere courtesy. A too well-mannered behaviour could make one feel like being treated as a stranger, but in Lady Octavia’s case, it was a natural virtue.
The young n.o.ble woman emitted a warm-hearted kindness just by smiling sweetly.
