Chapter 29 – Ririi’s first magic

It’s probably obvious, but being able to make magic energy come out doesn’t mean someone can become a sorcerer right away.

Magic energy and magic itself aren’t the same thing. It’s like wheat flour and bread. Magic energy is just an ingredient that gets turned into magic using technique and knowledge.

Of course, sometimes something happens that makes magic energy accidentally come out as magic, but generally speaking, knowledge is the true essence of magic.

That’s why we have magic schools.

“Daddy, the sandwiches are good!”

“They sure are.”

I brought Ririi out to a forest near the capital. It’s close enough that a kid can walk here, and it’s often used by the magic school as a place for practical lessons.

There’s a rumor that says Miss Esmeralda destroyed half of it decades ago, but there’s no sign of that now.

It really shows the vitality of the vegetation.

“Munch munch…”

Ririi is sitting on a tree stump and eating a sandwich. She has jam on her cheeks, but she doesn’t seem to care.

I scoop it up with my finger and put it in my mouth, and a fruity sour taste fills it.

“Well then… What are we going to do now?”

The sun has already passed its highest point, but… I haven’t made any progress with Ririi’s training. We left early in the morning, but all we’ve really done is walk through the forest and eat lunch.

This isn’t training, it’s a picnic. How did this happen?

I had a bad feeling about this when I saw Ririi was bringing her bug catching net…

“Ririi, once you’re done eating, let’s train.”

“Train?”

“Magic training. That’s our goal today, right?”

“Hn… Ah, yes! Train!”

I guess she completely forgot why we’re here. But she suddenly remembers, and starts shoving the sandwich in her mouth.

“Take your time eating.”

◆

“Do you understand?”

“Y-yes…!”

Beneath a blue sky and the sunlight filtering through the trees, I use a beginner magic book to teach Ririi the basics of magic. I start with the mental readiness to use magic (that I don’t really care about but I suppose I should teach anyway), the meaning of magic circles, and the techniques to convert magic energy into magic.

A perfect setup for a beginner that wants to be a sorcerer.

Ririi has been taking everything in pretty smoothly, probably because of that high elf brain of hers.

Forming magic circles depends a lot on one’s knowledge, but I’m sure she’ll be fine, with her lectures in school.

“Hum, are there any monsters around I can use…”

There’s a very simple reason why this place is used for practical lessons, there aren’t any monsters that will put people’s lives in danger. Even a fresh new first year sorcerer can defeat them.

People tend to think of monsters as scary creatures that threaten people, but for the monsters that live here, humans are the real demons.

“…Oh, there are.”

I look around, and find a big and a small slime walking around. Well, not walking, because they don’t have legs.

The smaller one is following the big one, and their color means they’re blue slime.

…Blue slime are particularly weak even among slime. They’re placed squarely on the bottom level as far as the monsters in this forest go. I’m sure even Ririi, who is starting to learn about magic, can take them down.

In fact, she doesn’t even need magic. She could probably beat them by just hitting them with her bare hands.

“Ririi, can you see slime over there?”

“Slime? Where?”

“Those round blue things.”

“…Ah! They’re all bouncy!”

Ririi points and laughs. Slime are pretty popular even though they’re monsters, because people say they’re cute. Some people even keep them as pets, but from what I hear, they soon grow tired of them because their low intelligence means they don’t listen to anything people say.

Not that we’re planning to keep one.

“Ririi, let’s test what you just learned. Try shooting fire at those slime.”

“Eh…”

I think they’re good opponents to gauge Ririi’s talent, but she’s looking at me with a sad face.

“But the poor bouncies…”

“…I see.”

“Yes…”

“Then… Let’s not?”

“Yes.”

She feels sorry for the slime…

I didn’t think about that. I’ve hunted more monsters than I can count.

I even took down two so-called messengers of god the other day. And yet, that doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not that good of a person.

“Then… How about that tree? I don’t think your magic will do anything to it.”

I say as I point to a giant tree. This tree is thick enough that a few adults could spread their arms around it and not fully encircle it, so it shouldn’t even budge to Ririi’s magic.

“Really…?”

“I’m sure a tree that big will be fine. Try firing the strongest fire magic you can.”

“All right…!”

Ririi holds her hand up towards the tree.

And then, a small red magic circle faintly appears.

“…Good…”

I mumble quietly.

If she can draw a magic circle with her magic energy, she just has to put magic energy into it to activate her magic.

High elves really are great at handling magic. The fact that she drew a magic circle on her first try is proof that she has a knack for this.

“Tah!”

Ririi yells, and sends magic energy to the magic circle.

…And at the same time, the tree that’s big enough that it looks like it’s poking at the sky goes up in flames.

That story of Miss Esmeralda blowing away half the forest suddenly flashes in the back of my mind.

“…Oh no!?”

I quickly draw a blue magic circle and send magic energy gushing into it.