Reki and Ursula, even though I can only take one of them, I can’t make them accompany me every day. Simply being able to take care of children isn’t enough.
So, today Reki and Ursula are taking a day off, and I decided to stay in the shelter and just look around lightly. The development of black magic can be done anywhere, even if I can’t do test shots.
Even though it’s a day off, the two of them are not just sitting idle or wandering around.
“I can finally continue ‘Fun Math’ after a while.”
“No way!”
As soon as Ursula pulled out a blue book with numbers that looked just like an elementary school math textbook, Kyle ran away.
“Ah, no, Kyle, you have to study properly.”
“I won’t let you escape!”
“Catch him!”
“Whoa!”
Krus gently blocked Kyle’s way to stop him, and then Vil and Fiaara restrained him on both sides, while Harukia and Ruola clung to his legs, completely immobilizing him. Lilian then disarmed him by taking the wooden sword Kyle was carrying on his back. It was a remarkably skillful capture.
“Vil, you start with fractions. Fiaara, you’re on division, Harukia and Ruola, you do addition, and Kyle, you count numbers with Lilian.”
“Okay!”
“If I have to look at numbers, I’d rather fetch water or chop firewood. Hey, Ursula, please, I can’t handle math!”
“I told you to call me teacher during class. The lesson has already begun.”
With that, Ursula put on some quirky glasses and began teaching math to the children in earnest… not just pretending.
It might be a bit different from the saying that “the arts help one in times of need,” but being able to read, write, and calculate isn’t a loss. Fortunately, Reki and Ursula, who lived in the church, have a certain degree of education, and Krus, also from the church orphanage, has the same level of academic ability. They can teach the fundamentals to young children.
It seems they have been teaching whenever they had time before, but daily life didn’t afford them that luxury… a very realistic and harsh reason indeed.
However, it’s not the same now. While waiting for the big storm to stop, I can indulge in a hermit-like life at this school shelter. It might be nice to take this opportunity to teach everyone a thing or two.
“Lord Chrono, all set!”
“Alright, then let’s go.”
On the other hand, Reki took the children who weren’t attending class with her to clean the shower room. I decided to accompany her.
Even though I was told I could just rest, if I don’t do something like this with the kids, I won’t shorten the distance between us. My own training is certainly important for security, but this is important too.
The shower room is on the first floor of the school building. Since we will be leaving the shelter in the basement, a guardian must accompany us when we use it. Basically, everyone goes together.
This time, only the cleaning team consists of me and Reki as guardians, and the children are Mia, Shamon, Sarri, Neruru, and Beruru.
Reki held Sarri’s hand, while Shamon held both Neruru and Beruru’s hands.
No child held my hand.
“Lord Chrono, can I hold your hand?”
Mia was being considerate. The sense of defeat was greater than I expected.
“I-I’ll get to know everyone better from now on…”
“Uh-huh, right.”
Setting aside that lonely journey, it was time to clean the shower room.
I was satisfied to see the spacious shower room with fresh hot water and hadn’t really cleaned it thoroughly until now. There’s no issue with using it, but upon looking closely like this, I noticed dirt here and there… of course, it was a ruin to begin with.
“It’s really tough to clean this whole space, so let’s just do the places we typically use.”
“It’s a ‘water cannon’!”
“Ah!”
“Cold! So cold!”
“Hey, don’t start playing around!”
As Mia turned the shower on full blast, everyone began squealing and having fun.
“At least do this after we finish cleaning.”
“Blast!”
“Blasto!”
“Hey, cut it out with the concentrated fire!”
With Mia leading, everyone surrounded me with showers and sprayed cold water—hey, I said don’t play around!
“Reki, stop everyone soon—”
“Splaaash!”
“You too?!”
After enjoying a moderate amount of water play, we decided to start cleaning.
Of course, everyone got soaking wet, but with the use of pseudo-fire magic to generate a warm breeze like a dryer, drying off was quick. Magic is really convenient.
“Alright, everyone has their sponges, right?”
Finally, cleaning began.
Preparations were perfect. We gathered enough sponges for everyone, and we had cleaning supplies too. We even had a detergent that’s reputed to create extremely foamy suds.
This detergent was also something I recovered from Slasher’s Mansion. Not just food like carob, everyday items can be produced from dungeons too.
Anyway, with the tools and the number of people all set, cleaning commenced.
I took care of the high places that children can’t reach. Since I have that unnecessarily tall stature. It also felt like I had grown a bit taller than I remembered.
While feeling the passage of time in such places, I scrubbed the walls together with everyone.
“If I could use tentacles, I might be able to wash multiple spots at once.”
While I was considering such a practical method for black magic in daily life,
“Whoa?!”
“Ah!?”
Suddenly, screams echoed in the shower room!
“Hey, what’s wrong—whoa!?”
Turning to look, a massive amount of bubbles was rising from the corner of the room!
“Mia spilled the detergent!”
“That’s a lot of bubbles!”
“Wow!”
“Moko moko!”
Shamon gave a succinct explanation. Covered in foam, Mia apparently toppled a bottle of detergent and now it was nowhere to be seen.
Sally, Nelru, and Beruru were touching the bubbles and playing with them, touching and retreating.
“Hey, Mia, are you okay?”
“Hey, doesn’t this look like a bubble bath?”
“Is that all you have to say?”
Even though she caused the trouble, she was very relaxed.
However, the amount of foam was outrageous. There’s no way normal detergent would create this. As expected of something famous for being super foamy…
“Wait a minute, is this really okay?”
The foam continued to swell, eventually reaching Mia’s chest level, spreading out increasingly across the shower room.
“I think this is a bit dangerous.”
“Mia, hurry, come over here!”
“Whoa!”
Due to the foam swelling even more vigorously, Mia was eventually engulfed up to her head in bubbles.
What kind of detergent is this, a monster? The rate of expansion increased—oh no, the bubbles, oh no!
Now, since I had a fulfilling day off yesterday, I should start back on my black magic development with renewed motivation.
Cleaning the shower room and water play seemed to have slightly narrowed the distance with the kids. There were a few minor troubles, but they were trivial things. I hope that foam has calmed down by now…
“Ugh, this is quite difficult.”
Beside me, Ursula groaned with a serious expression.
She’s also training in magic.
“Since it’s supposed to be the same black magic power, it shouldn’t be impossible.”
“But just concentrating alone doesn’t allow for ‘Materialization.’”
Currently, what Ursula is practicing is the ‘Materialization’ that converts magical power into physical matter.
Even though Ursula is supporting me in developing black magic, she is also conducting her training in parallel.
Though she is the ‘White Night Demon Princess’ known for her powerful drain ability, learning lower-grade modern magic here would not be particularly useful.
What could be the best thing for Ursula to learn at this moment? It seems she has been pondering that for some time, and having consulted with me, she arrived at the conclusion of ‘Materialization.’
Anastasia’s power to absorb all magic power theoretically nullifies all attack magic. The defense against attack magic is considerable.
However, it doesn’t show as much effect against simple physical attacks. While she might defend against earth magic attacks, she wouldn’t be able to fend off thrown rocks.
On the offensive side as well, when facing a warrior or knight brimming with vitality and strong physical defenses, draining alone might not produce a decisive blow. Of course, there are also gears and defensive magic that have resistance to draining.
Therefore, if she could gain physical strength through ‘Materialization,’ she could compensate for her shortcomings in both offense and defense.
At the very least, if she could materialize just her palms, she could deflect arrows and directly hit enemies resistant to draining as well.
So Ursula is now practicing daily to acquire ‘Materialization,’ but as you can see, she hasn’t made much progress yet.
“After all, it might be unrealistic to change from the state of the ‘White Night Demon Princess.’”
“That seems likely.”
“In that case, I might have to do it before it fully activates.”
“Hmmm… My Anastasia just comes out as is.”
Black magic ‘Materialization’ is my specialty.
I feel that the ‘White Night Demon Princess’ is composed of black magic power. If the base magical power is the same, it should be easily materialized. The fact that it can’t be done might indicate that in the activated state of Anastasia, the magic is fully complete, leaving no room for alteration.
“During this opportunity, it might be good to learn how to control my power from the activation stage.”
“I understand, I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best, so please let me recharge for a bit.”
“Sure, I’ve still got plenty of magic power.”
As soon as I gave her permission, Ursula hugged me.
Being hugged around the waist like this makes me feel she’s still a child after all.
“Mmm, huh…”
However, Ursula, who is hugging me, is letting out a voice that isn’t exactly childlike.
With a strangely seductive tone and breath, Ursula is currently draining my magical power to recover.
She consumes more magical power by actively practicing magic than I do thinking during black magic development, so this is how I allow her to recharge…
“Ursula, don’t you think that’s enough?”
“Mmm, just a little more.”
Ursula looked up at me with heated eyes.
“Stop it already; you’re getting drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Drunks all say that.”
Half forcefully, I pried Ursula off to end her recharge.
“Mmmm.”
Ursula’s face, hinting at dissatisfaction, was red and slightly out of breath.
Though it’s the same black magic power, it seems the quality differs slightly from person to person. When she drains from me, she often feels tipsy, so I usually let her rest a bit before practicing afterward.
However, I wonder why she doesn’t feel anything when draining from various monsters with Anastasia.
“Stay cool over there for a bit.”
“I can’t help it.”
Ursula, slightly wobbly, sat down on some nearby rubble.
“Now, I have to take care of my own matters.”
For the past few days, I’ve been engaged in black magic development and sparring with Ursula and Reki. Thanks to their assistance, I’ve been gradually discovering my limits in black magic and physical abilities, but… I still feel like there’s some forgotten secret within my body.
Putting aside that vague feeling, I started systematically completing what I could do.
First, I aimed to reproduce magic bullets infused with various attributes.
Beginning with the fire ‘Grenade Shelling,’ as well as the lightning ‘Thunder Cannon’ and ice ‘Freezing Strike,’ I noted that some could be used at a practical level immediately, while others, like earth and wind, were not very suitable for bullets.
Since I was initially creating bullets using the metallic-like materialization of black magic, switching to stone bullets using earth attributes wouldn’t make sense. The wind attribute would only create strong winds upon detonation, not contributing to offensive power.
Also, using light as bullets wasn’t a good application. A method that irradiates light itself, like a laser beam, seems more suitable. However, making it a super powerful laser beam that could burn everything is difficult.
Ultimately, I settled on creating a simple ‘Flash Bullet’ that only emits bright light.
Next to the magic bullet series, which became my most fundamental offensive magic, I started working on defensive magic. Here, the earth attribute, which wasn’t suited for bullets, proved beneficial.
The only defensive magic I had learned during the mobile experiment was a square shield made of solidified black magic power. I could only use truly basic performance types.
However, utilizing the earth attribute now allowed me to create black rock walls by popping them up from the ground. The guard range is now exponentially larger than before.
In addition to simple defense, it seems I could also use it for blocking paths to prevent enemy intrusion. If those gang members return, I could maneuver much more easily this time.
If I blacken the ground itself, both strength and deployment speed will increase, providing additional advantages. This could be used for both offense and defense, but affecting the ground with blackening first and then flowing magical power through it would speed up the blackening process.
It’s also essential to grasp the characteristics of each attribute in detail.
For the earth defensive magic, I named the smaller ones ‘Black Wall’ and the larger ones ‘Black Earth Barrier.’ In terms of modern magic grades, they feel like low-grade and mid-grade spells.
I can produce hardness comparable to high-grade spells, but the activation time is still somewhat lengthy, making it less practical.
However, seeking further strength, I must invent black magic with power and performance above high-grade. To land an attack on Sariel or to defend against one would require more than just mediocre capabilities.
I should at least acquire techniques that can stop a blow.
For attacks, I want a power that’s deadly if possible. Just a little scratch probably won’t stop him.
“…It seems like I truly need a finishing move.”
I think about it, but no concrete idea has come to mind yet. If it could be done so easily, I wouldn’t have to struggle…
“Look, it’s a slime!”
The black mage summoned a black slime!
“Awesome, a slime!”
“It’s super black!”
“Get it!”
Kyle and Sarri began pummeling the black slime that appeared in the middle of the room with their wooden swords. While the two energetic kids went at it, Shamon watched to see if it was alright to hit it.
“Oh wow, it’s so soft!”
“So squishy!”
“Pouy pouy!”
Other kids were also enjoying the feel of the slime by poking it.
Why has this come to be? Because I’m struggling to find a use for pseudo-water magic.
Water is harmless to touch and has no hardness since it’s a liquid. Whether using it for offense or defense, I need to put some thought into it to increase its power.
In modern magic, there’s an attack spell called ‘Water Arrow,’ but it’s only effective when used by those with aptitude for water attributes, allowing them to deal proper offensive power.
If I attack with the same amount of magical power, I would rather shoot with a normal magic bullet than go through the effort of shooting with water.
“It’s easy to manipulate, though.”
As I moved the created pseudo-water attribute slime around, the children’s excitement skyrocketed. They were having a grand time with the moving toy.
“This won’t do; at this rate, it’ll only be a mere plaything.”
The black slime was something I developed while experimenting with water attributes. Nonetheless, merely increasing the viscosity to turn it into a gel-like form doesn’t change much.
Dark, ink-like water might seem unhealthy, but its nature is just like that of plain water. It has no toxic effect, and at worst, it would only provide hydration if consumed. Unless I found myself lost in the desert, I wouldn’t think of drinking it.
“I guess I managed to improve ‘Physical Compensation.’”
It’s a crude method of sealing wounds by stuffing black magic power in gel form to patch them up, but it was highly useful during the operating experiments to sustain life. When used with pseudo-water attributes, the healing of wounds became faster.
However, I want to avoid self-inflicting serious injuries for experimentation, so I haven’t been able to solidify it much.
It’s not the kind of cloaking magic that can heal anyone like standard healing magic. More like a regeneration technique specialized for myself. With Ursula, she might be able to heal perfectly, given her strong aptitudes for black magic.
“I guess the uses for the water attribute will still be on hold for now.”
There are still plenty of things I want to try. For now, as the moving pseudo-slime, as long as it serves as a toy for the kids, that’s enough.
While I was pleasantly watching the scene, one child had disappeared amongst the slime and was not moving at all.
“Hey, Fiaara… you okay?”
You’re not drowning, are you?
Fiaara, the girl with distinctive blue hair, was stuck face down, almost as if she had plunged into the slime.
I hurriedly flipped her over and saw that she was safely closed-eyed and was slowly waking up. It seemed she was fine.
“What’s wrong, are you sleepy?”
“…It’s nice.”
With her hazy golden eyes gazing at me, no, they seemed to stare somewhere much farther away, Fiaara spoke softly.
“This is a really nice pillow.”
“It’s not a pillow, though.”
“Please, Lord Chrono. Can you give this to me?”
It seemed this girl was really fond of the slime. I hadn’t thought of it as a bedding item rather than a toy, but… indeed, it was incredibly soft, and the feeling of being enveloped could easily become addictive.
“I don’t mind giving it as a present, but since this is magic-made, it’ll disappear soon after.”
“I see… then I will sleep here until the last moment.”
“Since this is right in the living room, if you’re going to sleep, you should head back to your room.”
Reluctantly, I carried Fiaara, who was buried in slime and wouldn’t let go, to the girls’ room. It was already after dinner, so I would let her sleep like this until tomorrow morning. It should last until morning for her.
“Speaking of which, there’s also a spell called ‘Permanent.’”
Magic generally dissipates with the passage of time, eventually disappearing, but by using spells like ‘Permanent,’ you could completely solidify something as a physical entity.
In battle, the power during that moment is enough, so there’s no necessity to fix something that was materialized using ‘Permanent’…
“If I could give Fiaara the ideal pillow as a gift, I need to develop it.”
Thus, the next day, I proudly created ‘Permanent,’ which could solidify my black magic exclusively.
Maybe the version of me in the past had learned it already. It was completed instantly as soon as I thought about it.
“Thank you, Lord Chrono…”
As Fiaara embraced the gifted pillow slime, she fell asleep mid-sentence of her thanks. It seemed the quality was excellent.
I was satisfied, but shortly after, I learned that giving a gift to only one child was a bad move among the kids.
“That’s unfair!”
“Fiaara is the only one getting special treatment!”
“I want one too!”
“Reki wants one too!”
The girls, in particular, were quite vocal about their discontent.
Well, that’s fine; if they want it, I can provide as many as they like. After all, it’s just my magic power, so the cost is zero.
“Alright, I’ll give everyone one too. You can use them as pillows, cushions, or balls, whatever you want.”
However, these slimes could probably earn quite a fair profit if sold as daily goods. I thought to myself while watching the children throw the slimes around with full force, perhaps living a peaceful and easygoing life without adventuring might not be so bad after all.