The Marquis Houston’s family was renowned even among the nobility.
They were one of the three mightiest knights who swept away the Demon Army that had occupied the Capital of the Kingdom of Lumin, and a Knight of Honor.
Jerni Houston was already the subject of admiration among aspiring Knights just for that epithet alone, and the fact that she was a remarkably beautiful female knight only heightened their reverence.
She was so young and striking in appearance that it was hard to believe she was already married, and her honor only added to the allure.
Knights who had fallen under her spell were just as loyal to the Houston family as they were to the royal family.
“Block them!”
“Don’t block them.”
Kwaaang!
Maybe that’s why, even after I revealed I was with the royal family, these fools couldn’t believe it and drew their swords to rush at me.
“Guh, do you think you’ll get away with this…?”
“It’s a royal order, of course we’ll get away with it, you idiots. Do you even know where you’re pointing those swords right now?”
Bang! Bang! Kwaang!
I advanced, knocking down the charging Knights with the Holy Sword.
I could have just cut my way through, but with these idiots, the moment I healed their wounds after cutting them, they’d scream, ‘Are you looking down on us?!’ and rush again, so I simply flattened them with the flat of my blade.
It would’ve been nice if I’d had something simple like a mace or a club, but unfortunately, my current weapon didn’t include anything like that.
For reference, Theresa was waiting outside for a bit.
She was already out of place within the family, and in a situation where a fight was about to break out, her being nearby wouldn’t help, so I’d told her to wait.
Of course, I couldn’t just stop worrying about her.
To prepare for any ambush, I kept a separate watch out.
Once things here were settled, she would have to come in to help settle the internal mood anyway.
After knocking down a few Knights in front of the manor, I stabbed the Holy Sword into the ground and spoke.
“Murfin, Beatrice. Suppress the enemies before your eyes.”
Murfin and Beatrice each readied their weapons and muttered.
“Can’t the captain just handle this himself?”
“Can’t we kill these guys?”
“Think of this as training. And they’ll eventually become allies, so killing isn’t permitted.”
The Knights drew their swords in a frenzy and rushed at us.
“So you’re looking down on us!”
“Even if you have to sever an arm or a leg, capture them no matter what!”
Their fiery momentum as they charged made it seem as if they’d burn their own lives to defend their lord.
Some might think they looked impressive, but to me, it just seemed incredibly foolish.
You have to know your opponent, but these Knights hadn’t reached that level yet.
For Knights tasked with protecting a Marquis’ family, their level was subpar—but then again, the Houston Estate was more like a Knights’ training ground, and all the real fighting forces were clashing with the Demon Army at the front lines, so only these ones were left.
“Easier than I expected.”
“Still, don’t let your guard down. They’re still Knights, after all.”
Beatrice’s sword swept through the Knights’ ranks with fluid movements, and Murfin’s dagger precisely struck the joints of the Knights’ armor, gradually disarming them.
I left those two behind and approached Thrall, who was standing idly by.
“All right, Thrall. This is both real combat and training.”
“…I can’t fight like those two, you know?”
“That’s right. For now, you can’t. Besides, what I’m going to teach you isn’t that kind of brute-force work, so don’t worry.”
Thrall, still confused, asked with a puzzled expression.
“Then what kind of training do I get?”
“Magic training.”
Thrall’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, then clouded over.
“I can’t use magic.”
“That would be the case for normal magic.”
Seeing is believing.
Rather than just explaining, it’s better to show it once.
“Thrall, have you ever tried to use magic?”
“Of course. I failed every time, though.”
“Do you remember how those failures manifested?”
“I know all about how the spell formation wouldn’t form properly, and the mana would dissipate in the air. That’s what always happened with my magic.”
“That’s exactly it.”
“…What?”
I smiled and explained to the puzzled Thrall.
“Thrall, what I’m going to teach you is none other than that very ‘failure.’”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“It might be hard to understand at first. How could mana dissipating in the air possibly be a proper form of magic? That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
“Isn’t that actually correct?”
I spoke with a firm expression.
“Who decided that?”
“…”
“Who decided that wasn’t magic?”
Thrall hesitated, then replied.
“The older Dragons told me so.”
I snorted.
“If you’re talking about those slick-tongued lizards who couldn’t even handle me and collapsed, erase their words from your mind.”
“…”
“No one will be able to find fault with your magic. No one will dare call it a ‘failure.’ Because I know the truth.”
“…”
Thrall looked up at me with trembling eyes.
“Can I really become like that?”
“What I’m about to teach you will be your first step.”
With determined eyes, Thrall spoke.
“…I’ll trust you. Please teach me.”
Standing behind Thrall, I gently took her small hand and held it out before her.
“The Dragon Heart, the heart of Dragons, is the very essence of all magic. It’s a gift from the gods, filled with all the knowledge needed for Dragons to naturally wield the power of magic—a ‘mystery’ unique to Dragons.”
Dragons are called the origin of magic.
They’re born able to use all the world’s magic as if it were natural.
“That’s why, for Dragons, using magic isn’t about learning something new, but simply copying what already exists.”
If Dragons are mistaken about one thing regarding magic, it’s that they didn’t actually learn or acquire it on their own.
Thus, whenever a Dragon tries to use a magic they imagine, the Dragon Heart responds by presenting the answer sheet, and the Dragon simply needs to follow the model answer, channeling their mana accordingly.
But Thrall was a Dragon born with ‘Mana Insensitivity,’ the worst incurable disease for a mage.
So, Thrall tries to forcibly move mana that she can neither see nor feel, resulting in a botched spell formation and failed magic.
“It’s like you have the answer sheet and the ink to write the answer, but your eyes are blind, so you can’t fill it in. That’s your situation, Thrall.”
“And yet, you said I could use magic.”
Thrall stared at her hand, her face resolute.
“Please tell me. What should I do?”
“Seeking guidance is a good attitude.”
I placed one hand on Thrall’s left arm, and the other on her back, then spoke.
“Imagine the spell you want to use.”
“I did.”
From Thrall’s hand, mana wriggled and reached out, trying to move.
And above her fingers, a semi-transparent spell formation appeared.
Now all she had to do was fill that wriggling mana into the formation.
“What do you see?”
“An incomplete spell formation.”
“How should you fill it?”
“I should follow the formation and fill the empty spaces with mana.”
“That’s the standard for ordinary Dragons.”
But for Thrall, even if she could see the formation projected by her Dragon Heart, she didn’t have the delicate mana control to fill it.
“You have to be different.”
“How?”
“Think of pouring everything into it. Or, you have to make the mana overflow far beyond what’s needed for the spell in front of you—like a glass of water overflowing.”
The Great Sage Ryuk once said that mana is like the power of one’s will.
It’s a power that moves according to the mage’s will, so it makes sense.
“You can’t feel mana, but that’s fine. Just imagine the flowing water is mana, and the formation before your eyes is a glass. Fill it until it overflows.”
“…Won’t it explode?”
“Yes. Make it explode. That’s the key.”
The reason Mana Insensitivity is the worst disease for mages isn’t just that you don’t have a Dragon Heart to offer up an answer sheet like other Dragons, but more importantly, you can’t gauge your own mana consumption.
If a mage runs out of mana, they suffer unbearable pain and can no longer use magic. But those with Mana Insensitivity can’t feel that pain and keep casting magic.
By doing so, their lifespan drops precipitously.
That’s why most mages with Mana Insensitivity can’t use magic at all, and even if they do, they tend to die young or suddenly.
‘But a Dragon is different.’
A Dragon’s Dragon Heart keeps supplying mana.
The Dragon Heart naturally gathers mana from its surroundings.
While mages struggle to create organs in their heart to store mana for a single spell, Dragons accumulate mana just by breathing.
With Mana Insensitivity, they can’t use magic, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use mana at all.
Otherwise, the Dragon Lord’s Polymorph spell wouldn’t have worked on Thrall in the first place.
Following my intent, a massive surge of magical power began to flow from Thrall’s fingertips.
As the mana clashed, forming electric currents and trembling with power, the sight was so destructive that Murfin and Beatrice—who had been fighting in front—turned pale and quickly dodged aside.
“All right, Thrall.”
I gently nudged Thrall’s back.
“Throw it.”
With my words, Thrall swung her outstretched arm and hurled the spell above the manor.
Thrall seemed to instinctively realize that a power even more dangerous than expected was forming.
KWA-A-A-AANG!
The ‘oversaturated mana mass’ that Thrall hurled exploded in midair, blowing off a section of the manor’s roof.
“W-What the hell…”
Murfin, Beatrice, and all the Knights who had been fighting fell into stunned silence.
Blinking at the spectacle, Thrall looked at me and asked,
“Isn’t this… a magic failure?”
I nodded in response.
“Yes. It’s what you know as ‘mana dissipating in the air.’”
“…I’ve never seen it explode like that before, though.”
“Then now you know there’s a kind of ‘magic failure’ that explodes with that power.”
“…”
Ignoring the fearful stares from the humans around her, Thrall’s eyes shone as she looked at what she’d accomplished.
“Brother. What should I call this magic?”
With a bitter smile, I gave the name the Storm Dragon King once uttered.
“Success.”
Thanks to Thrall’s performance, we entered the manor without much bloodshed, and I immediately started searching the interior.
Of course, I brought Theresa, who had been waiting outside.
No matter how much she’d been pushed aside, when the daughter of the Marquis appeared with the captain of the Special Knight Order, the Knights’ and servants’ morale, already battered, plummeted to rock bottom.
“…It really worked.”
“If I’d thought it wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have tried.”
I said to the dumbfounded Theresa,
“Bill the royal family directly for the cost of fixing the roof.”
“Do you really think I have the authority to handle administrative matters like that…?”
“Why are you suddenly being formal?”
“Come to think of it, since you’re under direct royal authority, I should be more respectful… sir.”
She just realized that now?
Well, I wasn’t paying attention to it either, so I let it go.
“Sounds nice. Keep it up.”
Theresa sighed and asked,
“That aside, will you tell me now? How are you planning to conduct this inspection?”
“Just as it sounds. I’m going to inspect every corner of the manor. And I’ll visit your mother, Theresa Houston, in person.”
“She ordered absolute rest, with all visits forbidden… but I guess that won’t mean anything now.”
Even if their skills were lacking, the Knights were still charged with guarding the Marquis’ family.
There were twice as many as in other domains, and their training wasn’t the worst.
Yet, all those Knights had been defeated by just four people.
Now, there was no point in bringing up her noble status.
Theresa’s authority was much lower, anyway.
“Let’s start with Jerni Houston, then.”
“I’ll guide—”
“Please wait a moment.”
Just then, an old butler approached from the side of the manor, his expression grave.
“The lord has ordered that no one is to enter her chambers until she wakes herself.”
I threw the Holy Sword.
The butler’s body was instantly pinned to the manor wall by the Holy Sword.
Theresa cried out in alarm,
“W-Wait! What are you doing—”
“Listen. I don’t have much patience, but there are a few things I absolutely cannot tolerate, no matter what.”
Ignoring Theresa, I approached the butler.
Then I grabbed the Holy Sword and twisted it.
“Urgh!”
The butler coughed up black blood.
Grinding my teeth, I asked in a cold voice,
“How dare a mere demon raise its head and approach me? Are you looking to die?”