06

‘That magic—he called it attack magic. That was what I had been looking for.’

When Ains was left alone, his mind was filled not with the dead villagers or the state of the village, but only with magic.

“…He was muttering something. Maybe that was necessary for activation?”

However, the words were unfamiliar to Ains. And besides—

“Up until now, I could use everyday magic without saying anything.”

He generated water with his remaining left hand.

He did it with the same familiar sensation as always. He had wondered if losing an arm and a leg would cause problems, but there were none.

“Which means words aren’t required to activate magic. Then maybe words have some other meaning.”

That glow the man had shown at the very end—

“…Lightning.”

That was the closest comparison Ains could come up with.

“For now, I’ll try it.”

He looked at his left hand and tried to reproduce the light he had seen, using the same sensation as when generating water.

A few seconds passed.

“…Nothing’s happening.”

What was different?

Ains immediately started thinking about the difference between successfully generating water and failing to generate lightning.

He thought for a while, but couldn’t figure it out.

“…Then I’ll try something else.”

The man had fired lightning toward Ains.

Which meant it could be projected.

Ains opened the window and pointed his left hand outside.

‘Generate water. Shape it into a ball.’

A spherical mass of water formed in his left hand.

‘And then, like that man—project it!’

The water sphere shot forcefully outward.

“…I did it!”

He really did it.

“Next is fire.”

Just like before, he used everyday magic—fire kindling—to generate a small flame in his left hand.

‘Make it bigger.’

He focused his consciousness on the small flame.

But—

“I can’t…?”

‘So does that mean what I’m imagining can’t be done with everyday fire magic?’

In his mind, Ains pictured Silve Village engulfed in flames.

The raging fire that burned everything down as people fled in panic.

“Ains, I’m coming in. …How are you feeling? Can you eat?”

Silica entered the room, carrying dishes on a tray.

Click—the puzzle pieces in Ains’s mind snapped into place.

As a sudden wave of weakness washed over his body,

A power he couldn’t quite put into words welled up in his left hand.

A massive flame erupted from it.

Not a small spark like everyday magic, but a violent blaze that could clearly burn down a village.

“Huh!? …A fire!?”

Faced with the flames spreading from Ains’s left hand and nearly filling the room, Silica reflexively dropped the dishes she was holding.

Crash! At the sound of shattering dishes, Ains snapped back to reality and stared in shock at the roaring flames before him.

“Generate water… extinguish it.”

As he focused on his left hand, the flames vanished before the water could even form.

“…”

Both Silica and Ains stood there, stunned.

Silica had only been shocked by the sudden fire and its sudden disappearance. Ains, meanwhile, was sorting through what had just happened.

‘The fire I couldn’t produce with everyday magic appeared once I imagined it.’

But—

‘Even so, I still couldn’t create lightning like that man did.’

Which meant—

‘Magic won’t manifest unless you have a sufficiently accurate image.’

If that was the case, then the words the man had been muttering—perhaps they were a way to recreate an image through language.

By supplementing an unclear image with words, it could be brought into reality.

“…I see. Interesting.”

Ains had gained a rough understanding of what magic was.

“And what exactly is interesting about that!?”

Silica dropped a fist onto the top of Ains’s head.

“…That hurt.”

“Don’t say ‘that hurt’! I leave you alone for one moment and you’re doing something this dangerous! The house could’ve burned down!”

“…Magic.”

“Magic?”

“Yeah. I was testing magic.”

In Tas Village, everyday magic was widely known, so Silica was familiar with magic as well.

But she didn’t know any magic that could produce the kind of raging flames she had just seen.

Was that really the same kind of magic she knew?

She didn’t know—but she felt that even if it was the same magic, its purpose was surely different.

Fear. That was the impression it left on her.

“Even so, you shouldn’t do this here! The house will catch fire!”

Silica put her hands on her hips and glanced at the soup spilled across the floor.

“Honestly… I spilled dinner everywhere.”

“I’m sorry. …By the way, who are you?”

“Huh?”

Silica froze mid-wipe, holding the cloth she had grabbed from the room.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier?”

“Sorry. I wasn’t listening.”

“Seriously…”

Though exasperated, she felt relieved to see Ains talking more than before.

“I’m Silica. I’m twelve this year. You’re younger than me, right?”

“Yeah. I’m six.”

“I see. I always wanted a little brother. From now on, you’re my little brother, okay?”

“Little brother?”

“That’s right. Your village is gone, and you don’t have anywhere to go, do you? You can live here. Mom and Dad already said it was fine.”

“I see. Thank you.”

A small measure of life returned to Ains’s expression.

“You accepted that surprisingly easily. For a six-year-old, you’re very reasonable.”

Silica laughed and said,

“When I was six, I think I was much more selfish.”

She resumed wiping and finished cleaning up the remaining soup.

“Then… Silica.”

“Just Silica is fine.”

“Then, could you teach me the magic you know?”

Once again, Silica’s hands stopped.

She widened her eyes and asked Ains,

“W-Why?”

“Why… because I want to know more about magic?”

Ains tilted his head, unsure how to answer.

That wasn’t what Silica was asking.

She was asking about his state of mind—after seeing his village destroyed, after understanding his own situation, after sitting lifelessly as if dead only moments ago, why had he regained vitality just to ask first about magic, rather than about himself, his village, or what would happen next?

As Ains stared at her with eyes reflecting nothing, Silica felt a faint sense of fear.