Chapter 6

The next morning, after cleaning up the campsite, Aldis and the others stood there.

"I'd like to get to the town by nightfall."

Ted's gaze was directed at the twins.

The young girls, intimidated by the stern-looking giant man—though he had no intention of intimidating them—tensed up.

The twins, who already had small strides, had an even bigger problem: the rings on their hands and feet that marked them as property.

The rings on their hands and feet were connected by short chains.

These rings, meant to prevent escape and rebellion, deprived the property of their freedom of movement.

Naturally, this made their already slow pace even slower.

"Even if we wanted to, it's impossible for them to keep up with us in that state."

Ted subtly conveyed to Aldis with his eyes that he should carry the two.

"I intend to have them walk as much as possible on their own."

"But how can they walk with those shackles on—"

"Remove them."

Aldis said this as if it were no big deal, leaving the three of them momentarily stunned.

"Hey, Aldis. If it were that easy to remove, all the property would have escaped by now. These rings are designed to prevent that... you didn't hear that, did you?"

Before Orphelia could stop him, Aldis approached the twins.

The young girls were still afraid of Aldis and the others, but they didn't try to run away. They just huddled together, clearly aware of their helpless situation.

Aldis observed their appearance more closely.

Both wore hooded cloaks that covered their faces, and they kept their heads down to avoid Aldis's gaze.

Their thin limbs and gaunt cheeks, the platinum blonde hair peeking out from under the hoods, which looked dirty and dull, and their slightly bluish green eyes, which watched Aldis warily, all told a story of their past.

"Sit there."

The twins, though frightened, obediently followed Aldis's cold command. The fact that these young girls, without a word of protest or question, followed orders so meekly spoke volumes about their past.

Aldis, though he didn't show it on his face, felt a pang of pain in his heart as he carefully examined the rings on the girls' hands and feet.

(Destroying them would be easy. But of course, that's expected... The mechanism isn't that complex, but... Ah, I see, indeed, the mages of this world can't remove them.)

"Can you remove them? Is it possible?"

As a mage, Orphelia was purely curious and peered over Aldis's shoulder.

"All the rings on the hands and feet are linked. If you remove one, the others will ignite."

While it might sound like a minor issue, the heat was intense enough to char the limbs. The fact that it wasn't immediately fatal made it even more cruel.

"To remove them safely, you need to remove all four at the same time."

"Does that mean we need four mages?"

"No, it's not as simple as just having four people. If the quality of the magic power used is different, even with perfect timing, there will be a discrepancy. It might happen by chance once or twice in a thousand tries, but it's impossible to do it on purpose."

In other words, it was practically impossible to remove them.

"So, you can't remove them, right?"

"Not exactly. If the problem is the different qualities of magic power, then one person can remove all four rings simultaneously."

"That's impossible! You're saying one person has to cast four removal spells at once. Even the best mages in the kingdom can't do that!"

(That's true, for the mages of this world.)

Ignoring Orphelia's frown, Aldis made one of the girls sit with her legs crossed, bringing all the rings together. He placed his hand over them.

(Analyze the formula... Remove the trap... Synchronize the activation... Now!)

With a satisfying click, the four rings on the girl's hands and feet came off.

"Huh?"

Orphelia let out a surprised sound.

"What? Wait, Aldis? What did you just do? Why are the rings off!?"

"Orphelia, be quiet. It's your turn next. Sit with your legs crossed like her."

Ignoring Orphelia's shock, Aldis did the same for the other girl. The twins, now free from their restraints, rubbed their wrists and looked at their wrists and Aldis with curious eyes.

"Don't worry. I won't let anyone put those on you again."

Trying to reassure them, Aldis spoke, but the twins quickly distanced themselves and huddled together.

"Well, I didn't expect them to trust me so quickly."

As Aldis muttered to himself, the members of 'Morning Star' were evaluating him.

"You really can do anything, can't you?"

"Hehe, Aldis is just so interesting! It's never boring watching him!"

Except for one persistent red-haired mage.

"Hey! Aldis! What was that all about!? Explain it properly, okay!"

For Orphelia, a mage, what Aldis did was not something that could be dismissed with a simple "Wow, that's amazing."

Determined to get a satisfactory explanation, she firmly grabbed Aldis's shoulders and shook him.

"Fine! I'll explain, so stop it!"

The thirst for knowledge seemed to drive mages to the brink of sanity.

Like a cat losing itself to catnip, a mage's curiosity could strip away their rationality.

"I didn't do anything special. I just removed all four at once."

"How is that not special! That's beyond irregular! No one can cast four removal spells at once! And you didn't even chant!"

This was the fundamental difference between Aldis and the mages of this world.

To Aldis, the magic of this world wasn't really magic.

Aldis didn't even think of himself as using magic.

"Who decided that chanting is necessary to use magic?"

"Well, that's what we're taught when we learn magic..."

"To me, that's just a misconception of mages."

"But... how do you use magic without chanting?"

"Do swordsmen say 'slash from the shoulder to the head' or 'left sweep feint' every time they swing a sword?"

"Using magic with mana and using sword skills to move your body are completely different."

"Are they? Then tell me, how do you move your body?"

"That's... you just think about moving, and it moves."

"Then, when you think 'move,' can you explain how your body moves as you think?"

"That's..."

Caught off guard by the question, Orphelia was at a loss for words.

"Hmm, interesting."

Ted, who had been listening, chimed in.

"I'm a swordsman, so your question makes me think. Almost no one, including me, questions why our bodies move as we will. It's just taken for granted. But if you ask 'why do they move?' the only answer is 'that's just how it is.'"

"That's right. From the perspective of trees and rocks, which can't move, our ability to move around might seem like a mysterious magic. Of course, that's assuming trees and rocks have self-awareness."

"In other words..."

Norris, who had been listening, spoke up.

"For Aldis, using magic without chanting is as natural as running or jumping for us?"

"More or less, that's it."

"Because he doesn't chant, using four spells at once is easy?"

"Not easy, but possible."

"Hehe. Being with Aldis is never boring! Ted, we have to get him to join 'Morning Star'! It would be a waste to let such an extraordinary person go to someone else!"

"I know that without you saying it. Aldis, as I said yesterday, seriously consider joining 'Morning Star.' We'd welcome you with open arms if you're interested."

"Sure, I'll think about it."

"Also, Norris, Orphelia, keep this to yourselves. We don't want Aldis attracting unnecessary trouble."

"Got it."

"...Got it. I think if I told anyone, they'd think I was crazy anyway."

"Alright, let's head to Tria. Aldis, take good care of the twins."

With that, Aldis and the others started walking northeast on the road, heading back to the town of Tria with the twins in tow.

2017/11/01 Typo correction: 伺う → 窺う

2018/07/16 Typo correction: 飛んだり → 跳んだり