Behind the Scenes II

Behind the Scenes II

 

“THIS IS THE ONE, Your Majesty.”

Deep within the palace lay the king’s office. Erhart Hawke, the magus of the Royal Magi Assembly, presented a tray draped in black velvet to the king. Upon the tray lay a large diamond. It was the one Sei had enchanted to nullify all status ailments, increase physical defense, and increase magical resistance.

The prime minister, who stood beside the king, was an impassive, unreadable man, skilled at political trickery, yet at the sight of this enchanted stone he audibly gulped. None could blame him.

The enchanted gem Sei had created was by all rights something that should have been unobtainable, except as a prize from a monster-slaying expedition or from an archaeological excavation in the deepest part of an

ancient ruin. During a monster-slaying expedition, there was a rare chance that upon slaying a monster, it might drop an enchanted tool. The quality of these items depended on the strength of the beast. The stone Sei had produced was as potent as the kind of item dropped by a demon that required every single knight in an Order to defeat. It was the stuff of legends—a legendary-class item.

There were, in fact, a few objects with similar properties kept safe in the royal treasury. However, those had been painstakingly collected over the course of centuries, and the kingdom possessed only a small number of them. This was the first time the king or prime minister had ever seen such a rarity outside of the scrupulously guarded treasury.

“I understand now why you requested we speak in private,” the king said with a deep sigh.

Erhart had communicated discreetly with Johan, the head researcher of the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora, in order to arrange this sequestered meeting. Aside from the king and prime minister, Erhart and Johan were the only other people in the room. As Sei had already freely performed enchantments in plain view of the Royal Magi Assembly, they ordered the mages to silence, but they couldn’t dismiss the possibility that her skills would leak, and so were limiting any further disclosures as much as possible.

As Erhart and Johan described Sei’s legendary feat, these two people, who kept order in the kingdom, were dumbfounded. They also began to grasp the necessity of keeping the truth concealed. As the word implied, the legendary item Sei had enchanted would be exceedingly useful to military operations. If sold on the market, it would go for an astronomical sum. The woman who could create such objects was a golden goose.

If word of her ability got out, there was no doubt people would devise nefarious plots to use Sei for their own ends.

Erhart told the king in detail of the events leading to the creation of the enchanted gem. When Johan had contacted him and spoken of Sei’s interest in magic, Erhart decided to use the opportunity to investigate her abilities. Since the only person who could Appraise Stats was the grand magus, and he was still in a coma following the ritual, they had yet to determine whether Sei or Aira was the Saint. However, half a year had passed since the summoning, and there was no telling when the grand magus would awaken, so the ministers had begun discussing how to test Sei and Aira’s magical gifts.

As Aira was attending the Royal Academy, they had been able to examine her powers from multiple angles. Meanwhile, Sei had been placed in the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora. There, she performed the same tasks as any other researcher, and as a consequence, tests of her skills were progressing more slowly. The officials had been reluctant to press her due to the unfortunate events following her summoning, so her request to experiment with enchantments had been a true lifesaver. At the time, the king had accepted Erhart’s report, and it was decided they would study Sei’s magical power through enchantments a few days later at the Royal Magi Assembly.

The ensuing investigation made plain that Sei possessed astonishing magical ability.

At the Royal Magi Assembly, Sei’s tests were planned in advance. The effect of an enchantment depended on the enchanter’s elemental affinity, level, and reservoir of magical power. More powerful effects cost greater amounts of magical power and required a higher level of Magic skill. Therefore, to an extent, the relative power of an effect could reveal the enchanter’s ability.

First, they would use enchantments to determine Sei’s elemental affinity, and then they would attempt to gauge her level by gradually increasing the difficulty of the type of enchantments she cast. If possible, they would also have her perform enchantments until she exhausted her magical power, then estimate her maximum MP based on how many MP potions she drank after.

Since Sei had been summoned to be the Saint, there was a high likelihood that she possessed Holy Magic, so they began her test with support-type enchantments. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Erhart was compelled to take over her testing, though thankfully he was able to see their plan through to completion. He led Sei step-by-step through enchantments for damage reduction, resistance, and finally nullifying effects, gradually increasing the difficulty of his orders.

The maximum skill level for Magic was typically thought to be ten, though only one or two people in history had managed to achieve it. Most of the mages in the Royal Magi Assembly were only Level 3. Damage reduction was an effect anyone could enchant so long as they possessed the minimum level of Holy Magic. Resistance enchantments required Level 3, and nullifying enchantments demanded at least Level 5.

That was why, when Sei suggested a nullifying enchantment for her first try, the mage overseeing her recommended she begin with the easiest type, reduction, instead. However, she mentally changed her enchantment right before she performed it, so the attempt failed and the gem broke. Nevertheless, her second attempt to enchant a focus with increased magical resistance was successful. From this, they were able to deduce that her level was likely higher than Level 3.

Notably, after half a year, Aira was currently at Level 4 in Holy Magic, though she was at Level 1 when she first began attending the Royal Academy. It was easy to imagine the surprise of the mages when they realized that, despite never having taken a lesson on magic, Sei was at least Level 3.

In order to test her further, Erhart began ordering Sei to perform numerous different kinds of enchantments. He gave his orders in an incredibly businesslike manner, so everyone was on edge while they watched, wondering when Sei would lose her temper with his demands. Thankfully, she performed all of the enchantments as instructed without incident.

While a base reduction effect required at least Level 1, some effects required a higher level to produce. For example, Level 1 was sufficient to cast a poison-reduction enchantment, but paralysis reduction could only be cast once one reached Level 2. Erhart gradually and meticulously increased the difficulty and variety of effects he asked from Sei, and eventually she proved able to cast nullifying enchantments as well—an effect available only to those higher than Level 5.

It was at this point that the researcher in Erhart got the better of him. The next thing he ordered was one focus with two effects—a feat that had never been successfully achieved, even in historical record. He knew it was likely impossible, but he wanted to see her try. He instructed Sei to enchant a focus with two of the simplest types of reductions…and Sei was able to do it just as she had the rest.

By then, the whole Assembly was extremely curious to test the limits of Sei’s magic. Up to that moment, the other mages had been watching surreptitiously, but at that point it was evident they were all focused on her.

As they were about to take a break, Erhart gave one final order just to see how far Sei’s magic could go: nullify status ailments, nullify magical attacks, and nullify physical attacks. It was a definitively impossible request. Two simultaneous enchantments had been infeasible enough, let alone three of such a powerful type. Yet Erhart asked it of her all the same.

Sure enough, Sei was unable to perform that final test exactly to order…but in its stead, she enchanted a stone that could nullify status ailments, increase magical resistance, and increase physical defense—a legendary object in every respect. Consequently, Erhart determined that Sei’s Holy Magic skill must be the maximum at Level 10.

The truth was that this wasn’t her level at all, but this wouldn’t become clear until much later.

“I believe that her Holy Magic must be Level 10 and her base level exceeds Level 40,” Erhart said in a hushed tone.

The king and prime minister went wide-eyed at his words.

A person’s Stats included a base level in addition to their Battle skills, Production skills, and the like. Base level affected fundamental stats such as HP, MP, physical attack, and magical attack powers. The base level of an ordinary person was usually between Levels 5 and 10. A graduate of the Royal Academy might be between Levels 15 and 20. Knights and mages employed by the palace were around Levels 30 to 35. Only the commanders of the Orders and the grand magus were above Level 40.

Given the amount of MP potions Sei drank during her enchanting, Erhart estimated Sei’s maximum MP to be around 5,000. Only the grand magus himself had that much MP, and his base level was Level 45. Erhart had estimated Sei’s own base level by working back from there.

“That’s quite high,” the prime minister let slip.

As for Aira, the crown prince regularly had her check on and report her levels. According to her, her base and Magic skill levels when she first started at the Royal Academy were both Level 1, but over the course of the past half-year, she had reached Level 16. Considering that other students reached anywhere from Levels 15 to 20 during their three years at the Academy, the ministers determined that Aira was able to level up with unbelievable speed. It wasn’t just her base level either; her Magic skills increased from mere consistent use. With potion brewing, she was able to proactively level up, and now, at Level 4, her Holy Magic rivaled that of any mage in the Royal Magi Assembly.

However, these levels still fell far short of Sei’s.

“If her level is so high, can we not confirm she’s the Saint?”

“It’s too early to say. My mages have been combing through our archives for the specific Stats of the Saint, but we have yet to find anything that describes them in detail.”

“If only we had just a few more records…”

“Perhaps the important thing to identify is not her Stats but whether she is able to purify the miasma and wipe out demons. We have found a number of books describing those aspects of her abilities.”

The royal library was brimming with stories of the Saint’s monster-vanquishing feats, as well as romances between past Saints and historical royalty or knights, but nothing was written about their daily lives, such as Sei’s success in making potions and casting enchantments.

Of course, there was a reason why the books were more focused on certain aspects of the Saint. Previous Saints had indeed been able to perform enchantments like Sei. None produced legendary-class enchanted gems like she had, but they were still able to produce magical items beyond the strength of common people.

The king and his advisors were ignorant of this fact because of the wisdom of prior generations. Those past leaders had realized that if the Saint’s true skill set became known, some people would inevitably try to manipulate her to ends outside her most critical purpose. As such, they prohibited the chronicling of anything other than her ability to eliminate monsters.

The current king was likely thinking along similar lines. Since the beginning of the secret meeting, Erhart had watched the king’s expression gradually grow darker and darker.

The mere existence of the Saint was categorically a marvelous thing, and regardless of whether Sei actually was the Saint, her talents would greatly influence the nation’s strategies. However, if her abilities became public knowledge, in all likelihood, people from both inside and outside of the kingdom would make attempts to possess her for themselves, and the kingdom would fall into chaos.

The king had a duty to consider how to protect Sei from such people. He couldn’t allow himself to be simply happy they had found the Saint when he thought of what was to come.

“We must strengthen her guard,” he said.

They all understood what the king meant. Recently, though more people had been coming into contact with Sei, few actually visited the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora where she worked, seeing as it was so far removed from the palace. Guards had quietly been installed to watch over her since she moved to the institute, but because of its location, it was easy to spot any suspicious people. Furthermore, Sei usually kept to the institute, so they didn’t need to post as many guards. But given that the results of her tests had been leaked, the current guard was insufficient.

They would increase her protection immediately. However, this need for increase brought to light yet another problem. Johan had made clear that Sei desired a normal life. Therefore, they couldn’t have guards dogging her footsteps like they did Aira. They had to maintain a small enough squad to ensure that Sei remained ignorant to their presence.

In the end, they decided to have the new guards pose as chefs in the research institute dining hall and as additional researchers in the institute so that there would always be several protectors near her at any given time.