Chapter 39

It seems that there are plans to talk about Will for a while. Plans, indeed (sweat).

Things just aren't going well.

Since it was going to be a bit long, I split it up.

Will was a bit at a loss.

Serena and Nina were doing magic training.

He shouldn't interfere.

So, Will was running around the garden with Levi and Clayman.

"Clayman, you're so fast..."

No matter how much magic he could use, Will's physical abilities were those of a three-year-old. Still, he was quite active.

In comparison, Clayman was about the same size as Will, but his movements were agile, rivaling those of an adult.

"This is..."

"Probably due to Master Will's imagination."

Rin and Ellis watched the scene and analyzed it.

Will, whose body was not fully developed, couldn't move as his imagination dictated, but Clayman, created from his imagination, could move exactly as imagined.

There was nothing to be done, so Will went to the sandbox where Serena was training and made three more Claymen.

"They've multiplied."

"Hehe..."

Rin looked exasperated at the small Claymen following Will, while Ellis smiled wryly.

"Are you not going to make any more?"

When Rin asked, Will nodded vigorously.

"There are too many, they won't move."

It seemed that making any more would slow down his magic control.

Still, the fact that he could control this many with a newly learned spell was impressive.

"Has your magic power decreased?"

"It's less."

"How much?"

"Hmm..."

Will thought about Rin's question and then answered with delight.

"A little!"

"Can you be more specific?"

"Mmm..."

Will glanced at Ellis, who had not given him a favorable response. Ellis chuckled at his pouting face.

"How does it compare to a golem?"

When Ellis offered help, Will stared intently at Clayman.

"It's still less than a golem."

The magic cost of four Claymen was apparently less than that of a golem.

Since Will didn't seem to want to make any more, it might be just right as a lower-level equivalent.

"Hmm..."

Will tilted his head as he looked at the lined-up Claymen.

Rin, curious about his expression, asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"Something's different..."

"......?"

Rin looked at the Claymen, puzzled by Will's muttering.

They all looked the same.

Human-shaped golems made of earth, with red glowing eyes.

Rin and Ellis exchanged glances, puzzled by Will's muttering.

"Will!"

Suddenly, a voice called from above, and everyone looked up.

A girl descended gracefully on the wind.

"Serena!"

Will, who had stood up, hugged the girl with a smile.

The girl who had descended to Will yesterday was the wind spirit.

The girl hugged Will back with all her might.

"I came to play right away!"

"Serena, look."

Will showed the girl Levi, whom he was holding.

"A wind幻兽. So it went well♪"

The wind spirit girl looked at a piece of wind teaching Nina, who was some distance away.

The piece of wind nodded in response to her gaze.

"Levi, that's it."

"Levi, yes."

"Levi, nice to meet you."

Rin quickly added, and the wind spirit girl nodded, patting Levi's head.

Levi responded by sniffing the wind spirit girl's scent with his nose.

Then Will had an idea.

"Right, let's attach the wind."

"Hmm?"

Will turned to Clayman.

The wind spirit girl put Levi back on the grass and tilted her head curiously.

"Oh, from yesterday? Connection. The upper wind spirit said that saying 'connect' makes the magic elements interfere more easily."

It seemed she had heard this from a higher wind spirit.

"Connect?"

Will didn't seem to understand the meaning, but since he had seen the spirits help, he could mimic the connection.

"Connect, come, wind spirit! Grant swift wind as my companion, oh noble wind!"

Will chanted as instructed, giving Clayman a spell to increase its movement speed.

"Oh, so easy♪"

"Easy, huh..."

Ellis broke into a cold sweat at Will's exclamation of amazement. After all, magic connection had never existed before.

It was impossible to gauge the difficulty.

The Claymen, now faster, ran around the garden.

They moved, jumped, and stopped without any sense of their earthy mass.

When they returned and lined up, Will, with his hand on his chin, grunted again.

He looked like a commander of some sort.

"Something's still different."

He criticized them.

"......?"

Rin, Ellis, and the wind spirit girl exchanged glances.

The Claymen's movements should have been at a very high level.

From Rin's perspective, they were rough but certainly worthy of a passing grade.

Especially considering Will was only three years old.

None of them could figure out what was wrong.

"What's wrong, Master Will?"

When Ellis asked, Will himself didn't seem to know, grunting and muttering.

He wandered around, with Levi following behind.

Levi sniffed at Will's feet and looked up at Will's face.

Seeing this, Will picked up Levi.

"Levi."

Will brought Levi closer to Clayman.

"Sniff."

When Will urged him, Levi turned away, apparently not wanting to.

Instead, he wanted to stay in Will's arms.

"But it's my Clayman..."

Will tried to make Levi sniff again, but Levi clung to Will, clearly not wanting to.

Rin intervened, worried about a rift between the phantom beast and Will.

"Master Will, Levi doesn't like it."

"Why?"

"Why, well..."

Rin glanced at Clayman.

"Of course Levi prefers Master Will's scent."

"......?"

Will frowned at Rin's words.

He clearly didn't understand.

The wind spirit girl, holding Levi from Will's hands, agreed with Rin.

"I prefer Will over the clay figures too."

"Master Will, Levi loves you very much."

Ellis bent down to Will's eye level and looked into his face.

"Master Will, you love Rin, right?"

"Wh-what!? Ellis-san!?"

Rin panicked at being brought up.

(If you say that, I'll be devastated if you say you prefer Clayman or that it doesn't matter...)

(That's unfair, Ellis-san!)

The two were having this mental exchange, but Will, seemingly unaware, nodded.

"Very much."

"Then, Master Will, do you want to be hugged by Rin or Clayman?"

"Rin."

"That's the same. Clayman is Master Will's magic, but it's just a clay figure. You can see which one Levi would choose, right?"

"It's my magic, but... it's not me..."

Ellis nodded at Will's muttering.

Thinking it was safe, Ellis took a step back, but Will's small hand grabbed her skirt.

"Master Will?"

"Hehe..."

Will looked up at Ellis with a smile, as if he had an idea.

It seems Will had an idea.