Ken yo, kaku katariki – 65

#08 – Rosenkreutz

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“Holy Grail of Dawn…?”

Ms. Stelia’s eyebrows rose as I explained what had happened during that time.
She knew something? I gave her a questioning look, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“I know nothing.”

She clearly did know something. But I didn’t pry.

In the first place, if I was being honest, I was not that interested in their purpose or identity.
I just wanted to make sure that if we did meet again, I would be able to take them down without a doubt.
For instance, if they were some incredibly dangerous criminal organization, then I would leave that to the police or any heroes of justice who wanted to deal with them.

“Well…there are two problems.”

“The water drop magic, and the water clone… Especially the clone. I can’t think of any countermeasures.”

“Clones, eh? I have never even heard of such an art before… Still, it must have been connected to the caster.”

“Connected?”

“With such techniques, they cannot do any complicated movements. Not to the point of looking like a human. And so the caster must have…been connected and moving it the whole time.”

Like a puppet.
If that was the case, I should have been able to ‘follow’ the string and read the puppeteer.

“In any case, there is one thing that you need now. The conclusion is the same, both for the first and second person.”

She snapped her fingers, and then six flames appeared around us.
Again. It was like that water user.
Without being able to sense the magic energy, the magic art had suddenly been activated.

“There are two merits with techniques. The first is that you can pass them on. The second is that by preparing them in advance, you can speed them up and strengthen them. And not just its force. It can be concealed as well. Of course, it is more difficult to do that.”

“I see…”

The concealment technique she mentioned before.
Perhaps that was why I was not able to see through the technique until the end.

“Though, it is not so much complete concealment, but trickery.”

The magic energy that occurred could be felt instinctively by humans.
Though, it was only magic energy that was detected through the Sacred.

“In other words, humans are only able to feel magic energy with a particular quality. And you can use this for concealment techniques.”

“Changing the quality…to trick others?”

“Kind of. That being said, the concealment technique is still a technique. Even with the trickery, it is essentially the same. Just harder to see. And so you need to make it visible.”

“But how…”

“I would usually tell you to figure it out yourself. But…I shall give you a hint.”

In the next instant, I sensed something, and I jumped away.
The fireball that had appeared behind me slammed into the floor and dispersed.

“That attack was the same as the concealment technique I showed earlier.”

But I had noticed it. Why?

“You can think about the rest yourself.”

◆　◇　◆

Stelia sighed as she looked at the man—Yukito, who started to train.
Currently, he was surrounded by several candles. They were like simple magic tools. A random candle would light up, and with his eyes still closed, he would have to detect which one it was.

Not only that, but a concealment technique was being used to hide the activation. Just like the ‘Water drop’ magic arts that Yukito had spoken of.
In other words, in order to detect it, he would have to be able to read the concealed magic energy with precision.

Still…
For something like that, this man would probably clear it in one day.

When Sylt had first brought this matter to her, Stelia had been against training Yukito.
—Because it was too dangerous.

(How much training did he do to get to this point…)

He was only eighteen. Younger than she was.
But his ki arts…when it came to controlling magic energy, he was superior to her.

It was…like breathing for him.
They said that first-rate magicians could use magic arts like breathing. But it was just a metaphor. But when it came to ki, breathing was part of it. And he did so naturally as if it was normal.

Stelia believed that no one was a genius from birth.
If talent existed, it was the ability to train until you improved.

However, this man was just absurd. It was like he was trying to overturn all her theories.

(A man who was found in the Galeon mountains was raised there…)

What kind of environment was that?
The Galeon mountain range was one of the empire’s red zones. Even in the modern day, when human territories had expanded so much, it was a place where powerful monsters roamed and nested.

Sometimes, humans change in order to adapt to their environment.
There were even theories that babies born in territories with denser magic energy will be more suited to using magic.
Perhaps this man was also a monster that was the product of his environment.

(If he were to master magic arts as well…)

That could lead to the creation of something that no one would be able to surpass. Someone like a Demon King.

That fight…with the magic spear-wielder. She had forgotten his name.
When she heard that Yukito didn’t know about magic swords, she thought it was impossible.
He should not have been able to do it after seeing someone else do it once.

However, she had witnessed it happen.
And no one else seemed to realize the gravity of it.
Right now, he was still just within the realm of sword arts. However, he might eventually become someone who could steal magic techniques after seeing them once.
That was too dangerous.

When the members of Grimoir find out, what will they think? Will they try to eliminate him as a dangerous element, or will they try to recruit him?
That war that had happened a hundred years ago. It could be recreated. What a nightmare.

But…

‘You should understand. You, and no one else.’

Stelia recalled Sylt’s words and shook her head.

(Power did not surpass personality.)

No matter how strong he was, he was a living human.
Just like Stelia.

She had sometimes been insulted and called a monster.
The power to easily kill people. That was all it took for many people to ignore everyone else about her. And many adults had cursed her existence.

Perhaps that was right in some ways.
After all, she really could kill someone with a snap of her fingers.
For the person being killed, it was just like standing there with a gun barrel pointed towards you.

She was always the enemy of justice and what was right.
And amidst all that…the one who supported her was her old friend.

He did not have any remarkable abilities like she did.
However, he did not pity or flatter her. He just stayed by her side. And was just a friend.

As if he was assuring her that she was human.
And that was all the support that she needed to live.

…But now she was starting to feel anxious as she thought about this man’s future.

It was so foolish that she had to laugh.

(Sylty said that he could be trusted.)

And so she would trust him.
But—if he should ever do something to harm her old friend. If he should become a real monster.

(I will kill him myself.)

Rosenkreutz, 8th seat of El Adeel. With everything that she had.

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