Chapter 3: Spring Palace (part three)

Holy–. This is a quite hard chapter to translate. Mostly because of the explanations. While I do understand the explanations, somehow I couldn’t quite convey it into words. Let me know if there’s something strange with the explanations and if you have better suggestion for things.

TL: clover

ED: xtostos, eristol

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The tour of the garden ended pleasantly.

Ann was very happy.

She looked very surprised at the modified flowers in Aurelia and enjoyed the tour very much.

After parting with Ann, I remembered to return to the gardener on my way back to bundle up the flowers Ann had picked up and have her room decorated with them.

She will be pleased when she gets to her room.

As I was about to return to my room before the dinner party began, I came across a surprising scene.

“…Ugh, not yet, another round…!!”

“Now this is troubling. Aren’t you already out of breath, Claus? I’m getting famished myself, so it’s about time we call it a day.”

It seems that Klaus and my older brother Eduard have been sparring in the courtyard of the palace.

Klaus wielded a staff favored by the eastern mages, while Eduard was armed with a wand used by the western alchemists.

Apparently, Eduard was on the winning side.

As expected of Onii-sama.

No, wait, your sparring partner is a child so go easy on him, you twenty-year-old man.

The turf of the courtyard has been hollowed out, no way~

“Oh, Erica. How were things on your end?”

Eduard came over with a look saying ‘I am saved’ when he saw me.

I saw Klaus tremble in surprise from the corner of my eye as he heard Eduard’s voice…

I guess he didn’t want anyone to see the scene of him being thoroughly defeated like that.

“Well, Ann-sama seemed very pleased. Have the two of you been sparring with each other?”

“Aah, Klaus-kun said he wanted to put my abilities to test. Well, he’s really good. I was on the defensive the entire time.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

How modest of him to say that.

But you should be careful as excessive modesty might seem sarcastic, Onii-sama.

It isn’t difficult to guess what happened. Perhaps, he nonchalantly invalidated every offensive magic Klaus sent at him?

“Tch…!”

See, the trembling Klaus has turned red, I was right.

In the first place, in this spar Klaus was in a disadvantage, if you think about it.

Basically, mages far outperform alchemists with the freedom and variation of spells they use.

However, the physical and mental burden is correspondingly high.

That is because the spells constructed by mages generate in their own body and are executed immediately.

An immature body and unstable mind will only obstruct the process.

On the other hand, magic generated by strong flux of emotions can become frighteningly powerful.

Alchemists, however, assemble spells from various materials, then concentrate and store them in various tools, like a wand for example.

Afterwards, they can reform and execute this magic as necessary.

Neither physical condition nor mental health is relevant.

The question is whether or not they have properly prepared for the situation.

As a result, between Eduard, the experienced alchemist who was sufficiently prepared, and the mage Claus, who has yet to complete his physical maturity, it would not even be a match.

By the way, I, Erika, am an inferior alchemist. An unskilled alchemist is a rarity in Aurelia family in this era.

The fatal problem is, I can neither construct spells nor concentrate and charge them into any tool.

I do have the magical energy to do so but not the constitution to use it. At best, I can only use the items created by other alchemists.

Actually, that can be done by any human, even if they aren’t alchemists…but…hahaha.

How painful.

Although my capacity for tool creation is slim, at the very least, I can make golems by physically carving sigils into metals, ceramic and the like. Right now I am under the patronage of my father and older brother, but what will happen when I enter the academy? 

Anyway, that aside.

“You two, the dinner party will start soon. Wouldn’t it be better to use the time to get ready?”

I passed on my calm brother who was unfazed and looked at Klaus.

“You heard her, Klaus-kun. We don’t have time for this, so let’s just call it a draw.”

“…Tch, I will not lose next time…”

“Oh, that’s right. I was called by my friend from the academy a while ago for an emergency. I will be returning to Lindis right after dinner.”

“What did you say…!?”

“Well, my apologies, Klaus-kun.”

This is my first time hearing about my older brother’s urgent return to Lindis Magic Academy.

I guess Eduard also used this chance to flee from Klaus.

“That’s so sudden, is it not possible to stay, at least while the Hafan’s guests are here?”

“Sorry, but this is urgent. Make friends with Klaus-kun for my part too, Erica.”

“Eh…? Alright.”

And then Eduard scurried off.

I was left behind with this disagreeable boy Claus.

This is awkward.

I glanced at Claus and caught him openly glaring at me.

As I smiled while thinking about what to do, he scowled even more.

“It is unfortunate, but my brother is a very busy person.”

“I see. So it wasn’t just because he didn’t want to deal with me.”

“Yes. He might seem elusive, but he tries his best to be sincere with things like these.”

“I see.”

He dropped his gaze, seemingly lost in thought. I decided to go back. As I turned my back, a voice called out to me from behind.

“…I apologize for being so rude before.”

He stopped scowling at me and made an awkward-looking timid expression.

“It’s fine, Klaus-sama.”

“It seems that I was weak to begin with before catching weakness from others.”

Klaus looks like a dejected puppy.

Eduard-oniisama, just what did you do…?

“You are that man’s sister. You must be a refined alchemist yourself.”

“No, I have no talent for alchemy.”

“Is it a custom for you Aurelians to humble yourselves or something?”

Aah, after Eduard-oniisama’s exaggerated humility, it does look suspicious.

“No, it’s true. Unfortunately, the magical energy needed for constructing spells gets obstructed inside my body

“…! I-Is that so? I am sorry.”

Even in Aurelia this kind of constitution is considered a bit harsh, but in Hafan this would be quite a fatal constitution

Suddenly, Klaus’ eyes that were looking at me turned sympathetic.

Now I am seriously concerned about my future.

Perhaps the Erica in the original game had gone astray due to inferiority complex regarding this area.

“But, um…don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s something I am curious about. I feel a trace of strange magic around you. If that is not your own magical energy then I wonder what the source is.”

Oops, what is it?

“Oh my, I have not noticed anything at all.”

Of course, I also have items with defense magic.

However, this is the home of Aurelia family.

There is no need to use such things in my home ground.

“That’s concerning. Sorry, can I come a little bit closer?”

“Eh? Yes, it’s alright.”

Klaus said so and came close to me.

He began to inspect me closely.

“Hmm…”

Does he understand something?

As expected of someone who would be a versatile mage in the future.

“I understand, it is coming from your chest. Are you holding some special ornaments with magical energy?”

Aah, you mean that–!

The star crystal necklace I got from my brother.

“I received this from my older brother this morning. I didn’t know it was imbued with magic though.”

I couldn’t show this to Ann, but since it is just Klaus there shouldn’t be any problem.

Having said that, I pulled out my necklace from under my dress.

Right now it is evening.

The stone overflowed with blue light as one might see from a star in response to the dim surroundings.

“…Beautiful. So this is Aurelia’s famous star crystal…”

“Onii-sama said this is a good luck charm for me to make friends.”

I thought it was just on the level of a good luck charm, but did he seriously cast a spell on it?

Klaus is staring at me as if fascinated.

“This isn’t your brother’s magic. Rather, this is a type of magic that even I don’t know of. It doesn’t belong to Hafan, it is not from Aurelia either.”

“Well, I heard that this was found in the Ruins of Visitor. It must be something ancient.”

“Ruins of Visitor, huh.”

Oh no, something went wrong.

Somehow the fact that the keyword itself came out feels like an omen for bad things to happen.

“But why didn’t Eduard-oniisama notice the magic inside this stone?”

“I also thought that it’s just my imagination since the trace of magic is very faint. But considering this is a magic that even I don’t know, this must be very rare.”

Klaus is a prodigious mage.

He probably noticed it since he perpetually has a magic called Glam Sight¹ deployed, which allows him to visualize traces of magic.

Magic of Hafan’s mages activates automatically, even subconsciously.

Unfortunately, we, western alchemists can’t respond to situations beyond our calculations.

It is no wonder that Eduard-oniisama didn’t notice this.

Even so, Klaus is surprisingly ambitious, huh~?

Although he has not entered the academy yet, he has already covered both eastern and western forms of magic.

“It is amazing that you noticed, Klaus-sama.”

“Naturally. This is the result of training to my utmost every day.”

I felt that Klaus’ eyes were glittering.

Talented people are driven by their insatiable greed for their favorite field.

“I want to check out those ruins. Erica, will you show me the way?”

—This flow, I only have bad feelings about this.

Somehow my death flag seems to have been raised.

In the game, Ann was possessed by the evil spirit in the Ruins of Visitor.

If Klaus goes to the ruins instead of Ann, Klaus will be possessed by the evil spirit, and then he will curse me~~!!

“Impossible. I cannot. That is a very dangerous place.”

“Wasn’t it possible for Eduard to go there without any problem? Or, do you think I am incapable?”

Oh no, I triggered a strange sense of rivalry in him!

I guess I will hurt his pride if I say that is the truth.

What should I do?

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¹ I changed Gram Sight into Glam Sight. I think it makes more sense. Thank you for the suggestion, HFZ!

I’ve seen people saying that ‘why did Erica show the necklace to Klaus?’ or ‘why didn’t Erica just put away the necklace somewhere?’ or ‘she’s supposed to have memories of an adult, why is she so stupid?’. First of all, adults aren’t omniscient; we still make mistakes and we don’t know everything. Erica thought that the problem is in the OG!Erica’s attitude of provoking Ann and showing the necklace to Ann. How would she know that showing the necklace to Klaus (a boy) would result in a similar situation? Second, that necklace is from her beloved older brother as a charm to make friends. Why would she put it away?

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