Chapter 52

The magic circle used to activate magic is generally written in the ancient language of Balms. Although it is a language from several thousand years ago, it is still used today because it is suitable for expressing magical meanings. However, as long as the meaning can be conveyed, the magic circle can be written in other languages or even symbols, not necessarily in the ancient language of Balms. The term "write" rather than "draw" for inscribing a magic circle comes from the practice of writing in the ancient language of Balms. Even if symbols are used, they are still "written," but if the use of symbols had become more prevalent, it might have been called "drawing."

Now, I am currently lecturing the members of the clan 'Mitsukuru' about the composition of magic circles. What about the clan competition, you ask? Well, our clan competition has already ended.

In the first round of the main event of the clan competition, we were having a fireworks show. However, the dragon launched from the magic circle I created was so well-made that it couldn't be evaluated. In fact, it was hard to even determine if it was a firework... hahaha. Karla and Clara protested to the teachers, but it didn't change anything.

And the venting of Karla and Clara's frustration on Peron and Pritz was a sad event for the two of them.

As for me, I was being questioned by the teachers, so I didn't see the state of Peron and Pritz. I only saw the aftermath, where they were completely burned out.

With nothing else to do, Peron and Pritz asked me to teach them how to write magic circles, so I decided to hold this lecture. And, of course, Karla and Clara are also participating with a straight face.

However, the four of them are only focused on the magic circles, so I decided to break it to them.

"Let's start with the basics of magic!"

"“Huh?”"

"Do you all know that magic and sorcery are both methods of invoking supernatural phenomena?"

"“(Nod)”"

"Then, do you know that sorcery is a derivative skill of magic?"

"“(Shake)”"

"Since you don't know... I'll start from there. In ancient times, the only method to invoke supernatural phenomena was magic. Later, skills like [Chant Cancellation Magic], [Non-Chant Magic], [Summoning Ritual Magic], [Spirit Magic], and [Magic Circle Ritual] were born from magic. [Summoning Ritual Magic] and [Spirit Magic] have been lost over the years, and there might be more, but let's put that aside. [Magic Circle Ritual] was shortened to [Sorcery] over time."

The four of them are stunned. I'll continue the explanation regardless.

"Leaving aside the lost [Summoning Ritual Magic] and [Spirit Magic], [Chant Cancellation Magic] and [Non-Chant Magic] are considered advanced magic skills in this era, and that's correct. However, there's a misconception that [Magic Circle Ritual] is also a magic skill. ...Is that clear so far?"

"“...”"

Was it too difficult? I'll accept questions after the explanation.

"This is written in a book called 'The History of Magic' from the ancient Balms era. Although magic and sorcery are treated equally now, the foundation is magic. I didn't know this until I read this book in the restricted area of the library at the Royal Magic Academy, but reading it resolved the doubts I had been harboring."

"“...”"

"In other words, the foundation of sorcery is magic! If you can skillfully control magic, it will be easier to control sorcery, and understanding magic is necessary to deeply understand magic circles. In my case, I naturally developed this ability because I used sorcery based on magic."

"Um, that... is it true?"

"Of course, it's true. The book is in the library, but you can't enter the restricted area without permission."

Let's change the topic a bit...

It is generally believed that if you don't have an innate affinity for an attribute at birth, you will never have one. However, I know that you can acquire an affinity for an attribute even after birth.

I believe that affinity is a form of knowledge. In other words, if you have the knowledge, you can acquire an affinity even if you didn't have one before. This hypothesis was formed because the slave magicians Lock and Jamon, who work for the Brutus Guild, showed new affinities.

Initially, Jamon showed a new affinity, but I couldn't figure out why. Later, Lock also showed a new affinity. Reflecting on recent events, I realized that when I explained the fire attribute magic circle to Lock, Jamon, who was listening, showed a new fire attribute affinity. When I explained the earth attribute magic circle to Jamon, Lock, who was listening, showed a new earth attribute affinity.

In this world, scientific knowledge is scarce, and natural phenomena like hurricanes are attributed to the whims of gods or the rampages of evil deities. As a Japanese person, I have some scientific knowledge, and I realized that if I explained the scientific knowledge of fire to Lock, Jamon, who was listening, showed a new fire attribute affinity. When I explained the scientific knowledge of earth to Jamon, Lock, who was listening, showed a new earth attribute affinity.

From this, I formed a hypothesis. When I explained the scientific knowledge of fire to Feelia, who had no attributes, she showed a fire attribute affinity. With my Japanese knowledge, I can explain the six attributes of fire, water, wind, earth, ice, and lightning theoretically, but light, darkness, and space-time are beyond my reach. ...Earth is also a bit tricky. I have a bit more scientific knowledge than the people in this world, but I can't go into advanced knowledge.

Now, why do people with innate affinities have them? This is still a hypothesis and not proven, but I believe that the knowledge is contained in their genes, and if the gene-level knowledge is strong or if there is some trigger, it manifests as an innate affinity. For example, there might be families where affinities are more likely to appear, or there might be breeding rules. This idea can be imagined if you have some knowledge of horse racing, and it also suggests that nobles and royalty might unconsciously breed to maintain excellent genes.