Chapter 66
After teaching Lucius and Rosmas the most basic theory of magic, I picked up a feather pen to start teaching them the essential daily magic they would need the most.
“The first magic you’ll learn is Clean Magic, which is basically the magic of grooming.”
Clean Magic.
Just like how spirit users wash their faces and hair in an instant with the help of spirits, one can achieve a similar effect using mana.
“The principle is simple. You cast Water Ball and then delicately move your mana to wet your face like this. Oh…look, I have just the thing.”
In the inn, we had some condensed milk, whipped cream, and bread in a basket as snacks.
“I’ll show you how to clean this up quickly.”
I mixed the whipped cream with condensed milk to make it sticky and thick.
“S-Sensei?”
“Usually, Clean Magic is used in daily life, but it’s also great for cleaning off the blood and guts of monsters after a battle. Just look at this.”
I lightly smeared the viscous mixture that resembled slime onto my face.
“While it’s alright to deal with monster blood, get splattered with bits of flesh or organs, and it feels gross, right? You could wipe it off with your hands, but until you wash it off with water, you shouldn’t touch it. That’s when you use this. You see that on my bangs?”
“…Yes. I can see it clearly.”
“Watch closely how to clean this off.”
I shoved my face into the Water Ball I had created in the air.
It looked rather ridiculous, but the Water Ball maintained its shape without bursting even with my face inside.
“Next, we do a spin.”
“W-Wait, you want me to talk underwater?”
“If you look closely, my mouth isn’t touching the water while I talk.”
It’s just like casting a shield with mana.
I gently shook the staff I had placed in the water, and in sync with the movement of the staff, the water quickly cleaned my face.
Whoosh.
The water became murky in an instant, and I slowly pulled the Water Ball away from my face.
“Ta-da, how’s that?”
“…It’s all cleaned up, Witch.”
“Right? Now, Rosmas, what should we do with this Water Ball?”
“…Throw it on the ground?”
“Correct.”
I opened the window and blasted the murky ball of water towards the dirt floor far away.
Splat.
As soon as the cloudy Water Ball hit the ground, it burst, splattering white water everywhere.
Once it dries, it’s essentially just milk spread on the ground anyway.
“This is the simplest magic. It’s probably the most necessary magic for you both.”
Attack magic?
After all, if Lucius swung the Holy Sword, he’d kill them all.
Rosmas may not be on the level of wielding the Holy Sword, but she has her own tricks, and if they need attack magic, I’ll step in.
“Once you get used to magic, I’ll teach you some spells good for swordsmen or archers. For instance, for swordsmen…”
Clang.
I drew Lucius’s iron sword and pointed it to the side.
“You attach mana thread between the sword’s handle and your palm. Oh, it’s called Ether Chain in modern terms, but…”
Twang.
I tossed the iron sword to the side.
Then lightly grabbed my hand, pulling the long trail of mana back to the sword’s handle with my palm.
Swoosh!!
“Wow…!”
The sword flew through the air, landing right in my hand.
Lucius blinked and gaped, while Rosmas showed great interest.
“This is how you retrieve weapons.”
“I could use this for arrows too?”
“In theory. But if the distance is too far, retrieving it would consume too much mana, so it wouldn’t be effective. Unless it’s an arrow you absolutely need to retrieve. This magic is good for archers.”
I formed the mana into a long cylinder and handed it to Rosmas.
“Want to take a look through this with one eye closed?”
“…It looks really big.”
“Of course. Magical scope… or as the kids these days call it, a scope.”
Having to change everything into modern terms is a hassle.
Flame Balls are called Fire Balls, and water or ice spells are referred to as ‘Fire Elemental Mage’ or ‘Ice Elemental Mage.’
“Back in my day, we just called them fire mages or ice mages in short and simple terms.”
It’s like they spread butter on their words in modern wizardry.
I don’t particularly want to imitate that, but I also don’t want to be called an old undead with a stiff jaw, so I decided to go along with the times.
“I just made it a light 4x zoom. How’s that?”
“…This would be more advantageous for gun users than archers, wouldn’t it?”
“……”
Hmm.
“…Right? When I first met Lucius, people were using guns, and I thought I’d improve on it. I borrowed a gun from Miss Morzen to try it out. This was essentially applying a magic similar to clairvoyance.”
“Truly, you are impressive, Sensei.”
“Of course. Hehe.”
I think I managed to cover that up pretty well.
I dispelled the scope magic and then, this time….
“Lucius, can I borrow your head for a moment?”
“My head?”
“Yeah. What I’m going to do is….”
Swoosh.
I used Water Ball on Lucius’s head, drenching him completely.
He looked bewildered with his wet head, and I draped the towel I had used to wipe my face over his shoulder.
“Wait a second.”
Twang.
After tossing the puddle of water back outside, I gently patted Lucius’s head with the towel.
“S-Sensei, my hair…”
“Stay still. I need to dry it, don’t I?”
“W-What are you doing?”
“I’m using drying magic. Are you saying you don’t want the towel I used?”
“A-Actually, no…I’m fine. …I’ll stay still.”
“You should’ve said that from the start.”
As I lightly thumped my fist on the towel, Lucius finally stopped moving.
‘Every time I dry a guy’s hair, it reminds me of that guy.’
That guy.
He may be human, but even as an old man with snowy white hair, he was that much younger than me when we met.
The problem was, this old man had early-stage dementia, so I had to take care of him.
Fortunately, all the washing up was handled by magic, so I didn’t have to look at anything unpleasant or anything like that…
-What is this barrier…?
-Finally caught you, Demon King.
-Wha…!
-It was really hard pretending to be a senile old man. Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor. It’s time to die.
-You bastard!!!
-Return to dust, Demon King!!
Right after joining the Hero Party, I had to take care of this senile old man, but it turned out later that he was the true Hero of the Holy Sword disguised as a senile old man trying to kill me.
He was the guy who had played senile for years, knowing I was infiltrating the Hero Party for my enjoyment.
Fortunately, I won and buried him deep underground, but my battle with him lasted a whole week.
-Hey you con artist! If you’re the Hero of the Holy Sword, fight like a hero using the power of the Holy Sword!!
-Shut up! To truly defeat the Demon King, I must win with magic!! This Holy Sword is nothing but a magic stone I use for infinite mana!
-Damn, you coward! Use the Holy Sword and fight fair!
-Shut up! By killing you, I’ll use your soul-infused flask as an ornament behind my throne to prove I’m the greatest sorcerer on the continent!!
The cowardly guy only used the Holy Sword for infinite mana without swinging it.
-Ha ha ha! Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor! Are you trying to defeat me without magic? As expected, magic is far superior for me!!
-You insolent fool! You’ve said something you shouldn’t have!
For some reason, it turned into a battle of pride, and I risked my life to ensure I would defeat him with magic, which took a whole week.
The pervert didn’t even fully unleash the Holy Sword at the end.
I recognized his determination to defeat me with magic, but thinking back to how he pretended to be a senile old man just to trap me inside his barrier still sends chills down my spine.
“Sensei…?”
“Oh, right. Just got lost in thought for a moment.”
I moved the towel aside and cast heat magic on my hands, applying warmth to Lucius’s head.
“This will dry your hair quickly. It’ll be easy to catch a cold if your hair stays wet.”
“…….”
Lucius stayed still for quite some time until his hair dried, and I finished drying it like before and stood in front of them.
“I’ll let you get your hair dried next time, Rosmas.”
“…Okay.”
Noticing Rosmas’s not-so-happy expression, I offered her some comforting words and then started lecturing them about magic again.
“Magic is….”
In general.
With mana.
The power to do everything.
“If you know the method and have sufficient mana, you can even become a god.”
“A god?”
“Yes. Even gods can realize things that are impossible through magic.”
The best part of mastering magic.
There’s one magic that only I can use, that only I know in this world.
“Do you know the Hair Growth Magic?”
“…Hair Growth Magic?”
“That’s right. It’s a magic that regenerates the cells of the body… or rather, it duplicates existing ones to revert them to their original state.”
I brought my hand to Lucius’s head and plucked a hair strand, shaking it.
“This magic is a secret to regrow hair using the life information contained in the pulled hair.”
“……Is that really possible?”
“Of course. I am the Grea—”
Tap tap.
“I’m a sorcerer.”
That was a close call.
I almost slipped up due to my pride in magic, but fortunately, I managed to pass it without a hitch.
“If you ever go bald, let me know. I’ll help you grow your hair back. Hehehe.”
Even skeletons from the Demon King’s army can have hair.
For skeletons that have all of their bodily tissues decayed and disappeared, I simply implanted hair roots directly onto their skulls so that hair could take root in the bones.
Ah, a legion of Knight of Death flaunting their flowing white hair.
“Then Sensei, if I learn this Hair Growth Magic… I could grow hair anywhere I want?”
“That’s right. Although its biggest significance lies in duplicating cells, it’s all possible.”
Hair Growth Magic is just a fragment of ‘some magic.’
“I can even create a person if I want to. Because I am a Grea— sorcerer.”
Homunculus.
Beyond just stealing someone else’s physical body, I can create a body of my own, possessing that form.
“Have you ever heard of human transmutation?”