18

“By the way, Ains-sama. What became of the boy who was carrying that young girl? Before you rejoined us, it seemed you were doing something with him. …Was the girl saved?”

At those words, Laika’s expression tightened as well.

She could not stop thinking about the boy who had desperately sought help while carrying his critically injured younger sister with his small body, and about how she herself had been unable to extend a helping hand.

“Yeah. His sister is fine now.”

There was no falsehood in the casual way he said it. Laika secretly felt a sense of relief.

“Did you teach him healing magic, Ains-sama?”

“No. I didn’t teach him magic. Unfortunately, Rito had an extremely small total amount of mana. He couldn’t even use beginner-level spells.”

“That boy—Rito, was it? Then how did Rito save his sister?”

“He couldn’t use magic, so I taught him sorcery.”

“!?”

Both Sophia and Laika reacted in shock.

What the two of them imagined when they heard the word “sorcery” was that mysterious right arm of Ains.

The power that had crushed the bandits’ hearts all at once—an ability far beyond the realm of imagination. To think that sorcery of the same nature had been taught to such a small boy.

Their astonishment was only natural.

“Rito didn’t have talent for magic, but he did have talent for sorcery. I only helped awaken that talent. From there, the construction of the sorcery itself was his own achievement.”

“…And what kind of sorcery does he use?”

Laika’s voice trembled slightly.

“Benevolence Through Seizure. A sorcery that steals mana without the target’s consent and uses it to heal someone else. It’s a sorcery unique to Rito, who has no mana of his own.”

Ains closed his eyes and recalled what had happened with Rito.

During his journey in pursuit of sorcery, meeting Rito had been a wonderful experience for Ains.

Right before his eyes, an art that stepped outside the framework of natural law and interfered with the world had taken shape. Ains had witnessed this phenomenon several times before, yet it never grew dull.

“That is… a terrifying sorcery. To be able to steal mana without consent…”

Sophia swallowed reflexively.

“Sorcery is born from a person’s deepest desire—what they truly wish for, what they truly want.”

“Then does that mean Rito could become a mage killer? He could steal mana and use attack magic endlessly.”

Laika keenly sensed the danger of Rito’s sorcery, Benevolence Through Seizure.

“That doesn’t seem possible. His Restriction won’t allow it.”

“Restriction?”

“Yes. Do you really think someone could use such powerful sorcery with no limits at all? Sorcery deviates from the laws of nature like magic does, but it’s bound by different constraints.”

“And those are called Restrictions?”

“Exactly. The one true weakness of a sorcerer. Breaking a Restriction means death. Literally.”

The sole weakness of sorcerers who wield powerful sorcery was some form of Restriction.

“Rito is like my disciple, so I’ll tell you something special. Though even if someone exploited his Restriction, in Rito’s case he probably wouldn’t die outright.”

Perhaps the carriage’s swaying was reaching Ains’s limit. He tapped his waist lightly as he continued.

“He’s forbidden from harming others from now on. That’s his Restriction. So using attack magic would be completely off-limits.”

“I see. That would make things difficult. Still, even then, in fields other than direct attack, he’s no less of a monster.”

As long as the magic caused no harm, it could be used endlessly. Even ultra-tier spells that consumed massive amounts of mana could be activated. Despite being bound by a Restriction, it was hard for Laika to believe that such a small boy had become a living threat—a monster.

The Ains speaking cheerfully before her was also someone who belonged to that same realm.

If anything, he was the one who had created that monster.

Once she recognized that, a thin line of cold sweat ran slowly down Laika’s back just from sitting across from him.

‘Still, if stealing mana through Benevolence Through Seizure is permitted, then what exactly counts as “harm”? Depending on how that’s defined, there are probably plenty of loopholes left.’

Though he didn’t say it aloud, Ains sensed even greater potential in Rito’s sorcery.

All that remained was whether Rito himself would realize it—and whether he could break through that wall with ambition and relentless effort.

The next time Ains saw Rito, would it be as a corpse killed by his Restriction, or as someone who had shattered that wall and truly become a sorcerer?

As he placed his expectations on the small boy, a smile naturally formed at the corner of Ains’s lips.