Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 4

「Well then… 」

 

Siluca, who was left alone, rose from her chair and stretched her stiffened limbs out.

 

And then she pulled out her magic wand.

 

「Worlds exist infinitely and never intersect. However, dimensions sometimes bend and cast shadows on different worlds… 」

 

While chanting a Summoning Magic spell, she imagined the appearance of a creature from another world.

 

「Converge! Cait Sith from the world of Tir Na Nog! 」

 

And she thrusted the tip of her wand into her own shadow.

 

The Chaos that was latent in the room materialized as a black mist and converged into a single Core.

 

It then became a sphere of shadow and gradually started taking an entirely different shape, resembling one of the types of creatures that are common in this world: a cat.

 

However, it was one size larger than a normal cat, and above all, it stood on two legs. The hair on its whole body was glossy black, but there was a single tuft of white hair on its chest that looked almost like a frilled necktie. The eyes of the creature were also bluish gold, and they were turned right at Siluca.

 

It was a Cait Sith, a type of cat-like fairy who lived in the fairy world called Tir Na Nog.

 

「It’s been a while….. 」

 

As the Cait Sith stretched its back and tail before assuming a proper posture, it then spoke to Siluca using human language. Its tone sounded overly pompous.

 

「It has indeed been a while, Your Highness Balgary. 」

 

Siluca pinched the hem of her uniform and bowed her knees slightly in greeting.

 

Cait Sith is the name of the race that the creature belonged to, and Balgary was its proper name

 

He is said to be the heir to the throne, and he will eventually become the King of all the  Cait Sith.

 

「That it was. In celebration of this reunion, I will allow you to hug me, and you can even rub me behind my ears. 」

 

Cait Sith said while putting his hands on his hips.

 

「I would be honored to. 」

 

Siluca reached for Cait Sith’s sides and held him to her chest. Unlike when he was standing, Balgary curled his body up in Siluca’s arms. As Siluca stroked him behind his ears and on his torso, he closed his eyes comfortably and clapped her arms together. While he was doing that, he looked like a completely normal cat.

 

「So, may I know what did you call me for? 」

 

After a while, Balgary asked.

 

「I would like to ask you to deliver message to Aishela. 」

Siluca answers while stroking Balgary.

 

「To Aishela, you say? 」

 

Balgary’s hair bristled for a moment.

 

「I don’t like that woman very much. 」

 

Balgary turns away from her.

 

「I know…… 」

 

Siluca smiled wryly.

 

「When you come back, I will prepare Your Highness’s favorite food as tribute. 」

 

「Oh really? 」

 

Balgary’s long whiskers twitched.

 

「Then let’s assume that I am going to grant your wish. What exactly do you want me to say to her? 」

 

「I need your help, so please come here immediately. 」

「Umu, I understand. 」

 

Balgary pricked his ears and widened his eyes, and then he leaped from Siluca’s arms. After landing on his four feet, he stood upright again.

 

Siluca told him the name of this castle and that it is to the east of Clovis. Cait Sith nodded and stepped back into Siluca’s shadow, disappearing while sinking into it like a puddle of water.

 

「I hope you’ll make it in time… 」

 

Siluca muttered to her own shadow.

 

Their enemies may as well attack them tomorrow, so every moment counts.

 

「Alright, only one more thing left to do now. 」

 

Siluca sighed and looked at the magic wand in her right hand. Then he chanted words to activate one of the magical powers given to it.

 

*          *          *

 

「What did I do to deserve this?!!! 」

 

In the Headmaster’s office of the Elam Magic University, Sembros Stratos put his hands on his balding gray hair, stunned for a good while now after what he just heard.

 

Just now, one of the secretaries came into his office and delivered an urgent message from Siluca Meletes in which she reported that「Due to unavoidable circumstances, she had to make a contract with a certain Lord. 」 What’s more, Siluca stole the Crest and territory from one of Clovis’s minor Lords, and declared her new Lord a member of the Fantasia Union while being  surrounded by the forces of the Factory Alliance.

 

No self-respecting Lord would ever take such an audacious action. And yet, for some reason Siluca decided that this would be the approach that she would take and took the initiative herself.

 

「Even though she has been taught that a Mage must be nothing more than an adviser to the Lord… 」

 

There was a problem with Siluca’s personality that has been repeatedly pointed out to her since her days at the  Magic Academy. The principal of the Magic Academy even tried to screen her out for it. Sembros, who learned about Siluca from a certain incident, also gave her a warning to try to improve it, but although she has definitely grown up in a physical sense, her personality didn’t seem to have changed one bit.

 

「You are still such a child… 」

 

Sempros let out a heavy sigh.

 

That’s why he wanted to keep Siluca close to himself for as long as possible.

 

Siluca was aiming to become a Rainbow Mage, so there were still a few years left until her graduation, and she intended to remain a Faculty member at the Magic University after she graduated as well.

 

However, for some reason, Villar Constance, Count of Artuk, took a liking to her and offered to make a contract with her, and because of the circumstances, it was an offer that Sempros simply could not refuse.

 

With the integration of the system of ranks, the relationship between the Lords and the Mages Association is changing from what it used to be. The Lords began to put various pressures on the Association, and it became difficult for the Association to refuse their ever-increasing demands and requests. If the Association were to go head-to-head with the Lords now, the stability of the world would collapse in an instant, plunging them back to an era of extreme Chaos.

 

「What do you think should be done about this?「

 

The secretary asked about his opinion on the matter.

 

「I have no choice but to explain the truth to Earl Constance: that due to unavoidable circumstances, Siluca Meletes was forced to make a contract with a certain Lord. We are also going to need to prepare a Mage that is going to be sent to him as her replacement. 」

 

「I will see to it at once. 」

 

At the current moment, Siluca should already be at war with her neighboring Lords. In this situation, it would be impossible to call her back so that she could explain the situation personally, because that would be the same as having her betray the Lord that she made a contract with. Because of that, they have no choice but to wait and see what is going to happen when the storm blows over and the situation stabilizes itself.

 

「Understood… 」

 

The secretary bowed her head respectfully and left her room.

 

Now that he was left alone, Sempros stood up from his chair and faced the window. When he looked outside through the glass, he saw many young students coming and going in the school grounds of the Magic University.

 

Looking at them, Sempros narrowed his eyes.

 

「That is the only thing that hasn’t changed is this  entire spectacle… 」

 

Back during the  time when extreme Chaos engulfed the entire world, Elam was the first place to win the war against it. Chaos disturbs the laws of nature itself. It is because of it that various accidents and disasters occur. However, people have found a way to use that Chaos as a source of power and learned how to manipulate it at will. That’s is the magic as we know it today.

 

It was about 1700 years ago that the great Mage Michael, who was a follower of the Founding Lord Leon invited excellent Mages from all over the continent to this land of Elam and established the Mages Association. That is how research and the training of the Mages began in this place.

 

His goal was to put an end to the Chaotic Age and restore the lost civilization that is said to have existed before the current era.

 

To do so, he had no choice but to help a Lord who could turn Chaos into order. The Mages who grew up here were then scattered all over the continent, looking for a Lord whom they wanted to serve, confronted the Chaos at its maximum concentration, and spent many years calming it down.