Chapter 15

In Chief Tailsmya's room, Shelle had already come and prepared lunch.

The menu was sandwiches and soup in a cup, that's all.

Although there were fewer items than usual, the volume was quite substantial, so there was no lack of satisfaction.

I can't eat the bread in the sandwich, so it's the usual bread porridge! I asked for it to be less sweet!

Sitting next to Arlshein and eating, the suspicious man Jandis, who was sitting opposite, stared at me.

He was taking notes while eating, so he was spilling all over.

His messy eating, even messier than a child like me, prompted Shelle to approach silently, slap the back of the suspicious man Jandis' head, and take away his notes,

"I would appreciate it if you did not show such messy eating to Lord Keta."

She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

The suspicious man Jandis looked around, looked at me, looked around again, scratched his head, and started eating obediently.

After tea time, the suspicious man Jandis sighed deeply.

"What is it, Deputy Jandis? Sighing in front of a prince, even unofficially, is disrespectful."

"Ah! Prince Arlshein, I'm sorry. I just, thinking that the Holy Beast is right in front of me, and even sharing a meal! The Holy Beast! Eating the same things as me!!"

As the suspicious man Jandis got more and more excited, Chief Tailsmya slapped the back of his head.

"As a fellow researcher, I understand the excitement of new discoveries, but you need to try to control yourself! From an objective standpoint, you look like a pervert excited by a child! If the knights see you like this, you'll be imprisoned!"

"Eh? Isn't that a bit much? I doubt I'd be imprisoned?"

"Imagine a pervert breathing heavily in front of a child, moving his hands as if about to kidnap them, and getting close! Being caught is inevitable, right?"

"! Is it that bad? I'm not that bad! Right?"

In response to Chief Tailsmya's harsh words, he tried to argue, but Arlshein and Shelle nodded in agreement with Chief Tailsmya, so he seemed to reflect and became dejected.

He kept glancing at me, so it's unclear how long this will last.

"Still, you were quite excited just by having a meal."

To Arlshein's words, Chief Tailsmya smiled wryly,

"Until now, there have only been sightings, and even those were from hundreds of years ago. Since it was only after the discovery that the traces of magic didn't disappear that we could speculate it was the Holy Beast, seeing the real thing, let alone being able to touch and eat with it, would make even someone with a basic understanding of research like me excited. However, Deputy Jandis was so excited it was disgusting, so please reflect on that!"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

His response, which left room for doubt about whether he was truly reflecting, but for now, I accepted it.

Now! Let's change the mood and move on to the afternoon training!

"As I mentioned this morning, in the afternoon we will practice another defensive magic. It's a magic that paralyzes the opponent's sensory organs, but it can be dangerous to practice on a person, so we will use the doll I prepared. When the magic is successfully cast, it will react like a human, making it easy to see the effect. Let's give it a try."

Chief Tailsmya cast a spell on a mannequin, which only had an upper body, and the mannequin's eyes started to tear up, and its nose started to run.

The mannequin covered its face with both hands and shook its head violently.

This is really scary!

I instinctively clung to Arlshein, and the suspicious man Jandis, who was staring at me, spread his arms wide, beckoning me to come.

Seeing his ridiculous posture, I regained my composure, left Arlshein, and cast a spell on the mannequin, whose effects from Chief Tailsmya's magic had worn off.

The effect of the paralyzing magic varies depending on the attribute used, and it seems that each person uses a different attribute.

I used darkness.

Darkness not only obstructs vision but also, as an extension of the barrier magic we learned in the morning, blocks sound and smell! From my perspective, the mannequin looks like it has a dark magic sphere covering its face, but from the mannequin's perspective, it must feel like being thrown into a world where it can't see, smell, or hear.

I think a human would not last long mentally.

Indeed, the mannequin, which is said to react like a human, started to tremble and, after a while, went limp, with its arms hanging down motionless.

"...... Lord Keta, what did you do?"

"I used darkness to blind and block sound and smell!"

"It feels like all the senses were blocked at once. I'm surprised that even a doll can show such fear."

Chief Tailsmya started muttering again, so I dispelled the dark sphere, and the mannequin returned to normal.

"Prince Arlshein, your turn."

Arlshein thought for a moment, then covered the mannequin's face with a water sphere, suffocating it.

"Both of you did wonderfully! However, this is no longer just defensive but has enough power to be an offensive attack. We need to either reduce the power or find another method. It's fine against monsters, but when dealing with criminals, we need to capture them alive."

Thinking again when asked to do it once more.

Paralyze... paralyze... numb? electric? No, that could be fatal... How about putting it to sleep? Yes, let's go with that!

I cast a spell on the mannequin.

"Sleep, sleep, sleep!"

It worked! I looked at Chief Tailsmya with a smug face, and she clapped and smiled.

Next, Arlshein?

He was using earth magic to throw sand at the mannequin's face! It's a blinding technique!

It was also successful, and Chief Tailsmya clapped.

I asked for a high-five, and she happily obliged.

The suspicious man Jandis was also raising his hand, but I ignored him!

"Today's training is over. If you practice the barrier magic regularly, your proficiency will improve, and you can change its hardness and size freely. With further practice, you can even create barriers that only specific people can pass through. Please practice!"

"Thank you very much."

"Thank you."

Arlshein and I thanked her, and the three of us, including Shelle, returned to the room.

The suspicious man Jandis was calling out from behind, but we ignored him!

On the way back, I tried practicing the barrier magic as Chief Tailsmya suggested.

I almost hit the floor when I was deflected by Arlshein's barrier, but I was caught by the Prime Minister who happened to be passing by. We stared at each other for a moment, and I was surprised by how good he was at holding me, but I continued practicing the barrier.

As we passed a corridor with a view of the garden, we heard loud and excited voices from outside. Looking out, we saw the Two-Tailed Saint and Caven dish, along with their entourage of knights, practicing magic in the neatly maintained garden.

The plants around them were buried in the soil, blown away by the wind, or burned, making a mess.

I couldn't understand the nerve of those who were destroying the garden that the gardener had carefully tended, while laughing.

Caven dish, noticing our disapproving expressions, approached with a smug look,

"What are you doing, observing the enemy? Too bad! We are far ahead of you! You must be frustrated, but that's the difference in ability! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Dish, what are you doing? Instead of dealing with such people, come here and teach me more magic!"

From what I saw, they could only use magic spheres, but were they really that far ahead? They seemed to be overconfident and looked foolish.

It was a waste of time to engage with them.

As we tried to pass by silently,

"Oops, I made a mistake!"

The Two-Tailed Saint's monotone voice rang out, and I turned to see a fireball heading straight for us.

But we didn't panic.

Of course, we had our barriers up.

Arlshein and I were practicing by taking turns casting barriers, and it was my turn to cast one. Naturally, I had a repelling barrier up.

After practicing multiple times, it had become more of a counter-barrier.

The Two-Tailed Saint, who had no idea about this, was grinning as she cast a magic sphere at me.

The magic sphere hit the barrier and returned straight to its source.

The Two-Tailed Saint, who could only use magic spheres, had no way to defend herself, and the fire magic sphere hit her with a thud, setting her unnecessarily flashy dress on fire.

"Ah! What, what, what! Ah!"

The Two-Tailed Saint screamed and thrashed around.

Her entourage just stood there in shock, doing nothing.

Caven dish, too, was flustered and couldn't do anything.

Unable to stand it, I created a water magic sphere and hit the Two-Tailed Saint, extinguishing the fire. However, her dress was now tattered and soaked, and her makeup was ruined.

She glared at us with a fierce expression, but it was her own fault, and she had no right to complain.

However, the unreasonable Caven dish shouted,

"You scoundrels! What did you do to the Holy Saint? I will have you arrested for harming the revered Holy Saint! Don't move!"

He drew his sword and charged at us.

I was calmly wondering if a barrier could block physical attacks.

I was calm because I knew that Arlshein's bare hands were stronger than Caven dish's clumsy sword.

As expected, Caven dish's sword was easily deflected by Arlshein.

"How dare you defy me! Remember this! I will report to my father about harming the Holy Saint and defying me, and have you thrown in jail!"

He shouted and disappeared with the tattered Two-Tailed Saint.

Phew, what a hassle.

I was exhausted from the exchange.

Magic practice was a hundred times more enjoyable.

When we reached the room, Shelle served us tea.

By "tea," I mean different fruit juices each time.

While drinking tea and spacing out, it was time for dinner.

Let's move to the dining room.