[V4C6] The Resolve of One Who Fights Alone
Translated by Jodas 4: Flying Through the SkyFrederik flew around for a while with Tia on her back but suddenly came to a stop midair directly above the First Spire: White Smoke.
Looking down from this high up, it was clear that, while the White Smoke looked like it was at the center of the Wedge Tower’s three Spires, it was actually a little off to the side.
While the Spires ran — from front to back — in order: Golden Needle, White Smoke, Water Bubble, they weren’t in a straight line. The White Smoke was shifted a little bit to the west, leaving an open space to the east that was occupied by a garden.
“I think it’s about time we head down. Where do want me to drop you off?”
When Frederik asked, Tia answered without hesitation.
“In front of the Water Bubble! Please!” “Got it. Here we go…..”
Frederik chuckled mischievously.
“Hold on tight, and keep your eyes open.”
“Piyo?”
“You wanted to gather information, didn’t you? It would be a waste if you had your eyes closed the whole time.”
Frederik moved alongside the outer wall before diving towards the garden she was looking at earlier. Then, just above the ground, he shifted his trajectory and flew parallel to the ground. At maximum speed.
He dodged people walking about, weaved through the gaps between the garden’s trees, and kept his balance as he flew by making minute shifts with his body. He was fast. So fast. Unbelievably fast.
Directly ahead of them two trees grew with the slimmest of gaps between them. Frederick slipped right through that gap in an instant.
(Amazing!)
The base of Tia’s neck shivered with exhilaration.
She would never be able to fly through such a narrow gap with the Magical Flying Device. The metal wings would get caught and tear off.
“Alright, here we are.”
The next thing she knew, the Third Spire: Water Bubble was right before her eyes.
Tia climbed off of Frederik’s back and held her heand over her thumping chest.
That was amazing. Truly amazing.
While she had been thrilled the first time Frederik let her ride on his back as that was her first time flying in so long, this was so much more than that.
She experienced flight that exceeded anything Harpies were capable of, and the blood pulsed through her whole body.
“Did you get some good intel with that?”
“I got loads! Thank you, Frederik!”
“You’re welcome.”
“See ya.” Frederik waved his hand, then took to the skies with flight magic once more.
Tia only now noticed that Frederik could maintain his flight magic for much longer than Tia could at the moment as well.
While he probably couldn’t compare to Barrett, who specialized in long-distance flight magic, he could still fly for a long time.
(The Magical Flying Device can’t fly for a long time yet……)
If she couldn’t improve that aspect, she’ll never be able to catch up with Frederik.
She needed to fly faster, higher, with more maneuverability, and for longer. There were a lot of tasks ahead of her, but it made her feel strangely excited. It must have been thanks to that rival declaration.
(I’ll do my best practicing with the Magical Flying Device today!)
“Pefu!” Tia exhaled with energy, then she noticed something.
Under a tree near the Third Spire, she saw two people she recognized.
A girl with a pointy hat and a red-haired fuzzy man — Roswitha and Rose.
Roswitha sat on the ground whittling a piece of wood while Rose squatted as he watched her work.
Tia approached the two of them and caught their attention.
“Piyopp! Rose, Roswitha! What are you doing?”
“Oh, hey Tia! I’m watching how catalysts are made.”
Rose spoke in a carefree manner.
Roswitha looked like she was shaving a wooden stick with a knife. Was that stick supposed to be the catalyst?
Tia stared with curiosity until Roswitha stopped what she was doing and looked at Tia.
“…..Hey.”
“What is it?”
“Have you been in a tangle with Dammer, from the Extermination Office, since then? You know, the guy you dragged with your feet when you flew off yesterday.”
It just so happened that she’d seen Dammer just now.
Tia answered honestly.
“I just saw him! I don’t know what you mean by ‘tangle,’ but when I stared at him, I feel like he tried to avoid me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Well, as long as you weren’t fighting, it’s fine. I was the one who started that fight, so…..”
It sounded like she was concerned for her. “Pyofu!” Tia cleared her throat confidently.
Roswitha went back to silently working with her knife. The stick was only as wide as her pinky finger and only as long as a fork or spoon. It was a little small to work even as a wand.
“Piyo? Is that some kind of wand?”
“No. It’s a catalyst for my magecraft. My family always uses Rowan branches, and I was having trouble finding a way to make them, so Rose asked the Management Office for supplies. He was honestly a huge help.”
“I go in and out of the Management Office all the time, so it was no big deal!”
Rose’s fuzzy beard rustled as he laughed cheerfully.
It seemed like even those who weren’t in Hütter’s class often went to other Offices during their individual lesson hours.
Regardless, it was the catalyst that interested her the most.
Tia stared closely at the small stick in Roswitha’s hands.
“What’s a catalyst? Is it different from a magical device?”
“It has some similarities, but it’s a different thing. It depends on what style you use, but a lot of Classical Magecraft requires some form of catalyst. It’s like the skeleton of the magecraft……. the most important part.”
“…….Piyo? I thought the important parts were mana and magical formulas though?”
“That’s the Modern way of thinking. We Ohlendorfs use magecraft like this.”
Roswitha held one of the small sticks in her hand and began an incantation.
With her perceptive ears, Tia could tell that her incantation was entirely different from the Modern Magecraft chants she’d heard before.
Whether it was Otto’s magic sword or Frederik’s flight magic, Modern Magecraft incantations tended to resemble mathematical formulas.
On the other hand, as a Classical Mage, Roswitha’s incantation could be better compared to a poem or a song.
(It’s like she’s telling a tale to someone…..)
Roswitha’s incantation had a distinctive rhythm to it. Her intonation was totally different from Modern Magecraft as well. Getting the pronunciation right was critical. Tia understood that part well. Intonation was important to a Harpy’s song as well.
”‘Thy irrational devotion. The rain which dwells within thee. Thou fish who hast lost thine eyes, swim forth and show.’”
The stick in Roswitha’s hand became enveloped in water. Then, that water took the form of a fish with the stick in its center.
The fish of water swam in circles around Tia before eventually flying higher, swimming through the gaps in the trees until it vanished from view.
Roswitha closed her eyes and spoke.
“I can see Wren through one of the windows in the Third Spire. Looks like he went to the Library Office. Behind us, around the corner of the Spire, Oliver is training…… Hey, why is he just jumping really high like an idiot? ……..I guess I don’t really care.”
Eventually, the fish came back to Roswitha’s hands. The moment Roswitha opened her eyes again, the fish of water fell apart and the stick she’d used as a catalyst dropped unceremoniously to the ground.
Tia blinked rapidly and asked the first question that came to mind.
“Roswitha, could you see what that fish saw?”
“Yes. It’s called vision sharing. It’s a spell primarily used for reconnaissance.”
Tia and Rose both reacted with a loud, impressed “Oooohh…”
Rose was practically jumping up and down as he asked the next question to Roswitha.
“Can that fish move according to your will, Roswitha? Or does it just swim wherever it wants to?”
“It’s all my will. If I couldn’t do that, it would be pretty useless, wouldn’t it?”
“Woooww, awesome! That’s gotta be really hard to do, right?”
“Well, kinda.” Roswitha replied with a dissatisfied face. She stuck her nose up and it twitched a little.
“Those Modern School guys will say the fact it needs a catalyst is a weakness, but I’d say the presence of a catalyst is precisely what makes advanced magic like this possible.”
“There’s mages like that in my home country as well. Guys who control plants by imbuing mana into them.”
While Roswitha picked up the stick off of the ground, she responded “I’ve heard” to Rose’s words.
“You’re talking about the ‘Thorn Witch,’ right? A true genius when it comes to imbuing mana into plants. One of the Seven Sages of the Ridill Kingdom. The Thorn Witch can control rose flowers to do anything.”
“Yeah, that’s it! You sure know your stuff, Roswitha! We don’t really use the term Classical Magecraft back in the Ridill Kingdom, though. There’s only a few families of mages that use that kind of old magic left, so it just gets treated like it’s a kind of magic unique to those families.”
“Pretty much everyone over there uses Modern Magecraft, huh. Even in the Empire, that’s how it is outside of the Wedge Tower.”
Tia made a satisfied ‘pyofu’ noise. Roswitha and Rose were both amazing! They knew so much!
Tia recalled what she had learned in their group lessons and asked a question.
“Um…… so magical devices are Modern imbuement magic…… and using catalysts is Classical magic? … Did I get that right?”
“That’s pretty much right! Modern magical devices are usually made by imbuing mana into gems or metal. That’s why you’ll sometimes see people mixing metal into ink or embroidering cloth with gilded threads.”
“That’s right. It’s because imbuing mana into plants is a very advanced technique.”
As Roswitha said that, she glanced at Rose out of the side of her eye.
“Wow, Rose, you know quite a bit about Classical Magecraft! Are you sure you’re fine staying in Sombart’s class? He only teaches Modern Magecraft, you know.”
“I came here to study the fundamentals of Modern Magecraft anyways, so I’ve got no problems with that! At the moment I’m learning Modern magic from Mr. Sombart while researching imbuing mana into plans on the side.”
“……For that, you’ll need to know both Modern imbuement magic and Classical plant control.”
“Yep, that’s right. That’s why I’ve been relying on the Management Office for things like soil and fertilizer.”
“Hmm? Wouldn’t it help you more to study Classical Magecraft then? ……Well, Classical magic relies a lot on your bloodline and natural talents, so I guess there’s no use pushing yourself if you can’t do it.”
Since the old era, many lineages of Classical magic have died out either due to a lack of inheriors or because they were persecuted as heretics.
The Wedge Tower as an institution took an active role in preserving that sort of magic.
“Piyo! That means you must be amazing then, Roswitha!”
“I am! That’s why I’ll have no issue handling the upcoming magic battle by myself!”
“Pirorororo……”
I’m not sure about that, Tia thought.
Roswitha was impressive, without a doubt. She could use magic that Tia hadn’t even heard of.
That said, Frederik had the mobility advantage with his flight magic.
As long as he could close the distance, a mage like Roswitha would be at a disadvantage.
“I think it would be best if we all worked together! The folks from the Extermination Office won’t go down that easily.”
Rose spoke on behalf of Tia’s sentiment.
He spoke not like a scolding senior, but in a more gentle, friendly tone. Nevertheless, Roswitha scowled as she responded.
“I have to do this fight by myself.”
She sounded like she was mostly trying to convince herself.
“I’m going after the Primordial Beast who scarred my Mama’s face. I came to the Wedge Tower for the chance to go on a hunt for it.”
The Primordial Beast — a magic beast born from the darkness of the Abyss.
In the old age, there were once countless beings that were known as Primordial Beasts.
There must have been one for the Harpies as well. A Harpy born not from an egg but from the Abyss itself.
However, those Primordial Beasts disappeared one after another, and only one remained alive to this day.
A silver wolf; the ancestor of all Wolf Monsters.
Tia couldn’t stop herself from mumbling in amazement.
“……Roswitha’s mama was super strong, then.”
Everyone knew that silver wolf only left the mark of its claws on the face of truly strong people that it took a liking to.
This legend was not only told among humans. It reached the Breakneck Gorge as well.
Roswitha responded “That’s right.” To Tia’s muttering.
With a voice that rang of pride, frustration, sadness, and many more complex emotions all mixed together.
“Mama was a genius. She was beautiful. She was smart. She was the pride of the Ohlendorf Family……she was really amazing. Had those Modern School mages not held her back, I know she wouldn’t have lost.”
The words poured out of her mouth until Roswitha straightened her face and declared with confidence.
“That’s why I’ve decided to fight alone! Be it in the upcoming magic battle, or against the Primordial Beast!”
To Tia, her voice sounded sincere, yet somewhat sad.