Part 6 — Discussion

“You’ve learned many forms of magic, but what stands out among them is Divination. You acquired that skill, albeit on a basic level, just by reading a book about it.”

Underlying those words is an issue that concerns her very mission as an educator. It’s understandable for someone like Shouzo or Ran, who have overwhelming amounts of talent, to be able to learn great things with just a little push.

However, for Saiga, he’s struggled immensely to develop anything beyond that level. It’s almost as though he’s hit the limits of his talent. By contrast, all of his other Arts have continued to develop in the meantime.

“Basically, there’s something about you that helps you learn the basics very quickly. So quickly that you can learn a new Art just by reading a book.”

Even with the existence of an instruction manual, it shouldn’t be possible to learn an Art without an instructor to make sense of it, so there must be something that helps him grasp the basics.

“Sansui can identify those with the Tainted Blood. I suppose we could have one of them learn how to wield it from there, but Ran, the Marked, doesn’t seem to have any awareness that she’s actually using an Art, so she has no way to teach it.”

The powers associated with the Marked are probably as Eckesachs described. That is, it’s an Art that vastly reinforces a person’s physical abilities and reflexes. As such, for the Marked — Ran and every other one in history — their ordinary state is one where they’re using their Art to enhance themselves. Since they’re not consciously doing anything out of the ordinary, it’s likely to be extremely difficult to teach someone else how.

But, in Saiga’s case...

“That...might be true.”

At the very least, there’s something he finds attractive about the idea. He doesn’t doubt that it’s something that only he can do. He could provide a ray of hope for students who couldn’t otherwise learn magic. If they’d rather not learn it, then that’s fine; they can choose not to take that option. But to lack the choice entirely, to have no opportunity to even know their own talent...

“No,” Happine says, putting a stop to the whole idea. “She’s a berserker, Regent. I can’t simply agree to serve as her guarantor.”

It was easy enough to restrain her using an ace, to be sure, but it’s necessary to consider the situation further. Essentially, she’s a very strong, rabid dog. To treat her as a guest meant that House Batterabbe would bear the responsibility if she caused a problem.

“I have no interest in being the guarantor of someone who goes on a rampage just because she’s bored.”

Happine’s sentiment is perfectly understandable. Further, Saiga is to become Lord Batterabbe’s son-in-law. As such, he can’t go against House Batterabbe’s wishes. Moreover, Happine’s sentiment is both reasonable and natural. House Batterabbe would bear all the costs, so Happine and her father are the ones who have to make that call.

“Oh, that’s disappointing.”

Evidently the Regent is well aware of those facts, and doesn’t bother to press the point. With both sides set on tabling the proposal, Saiga can’t pick it up and give it a try on his own. But because he was so drawn by the proposal, his heart also can’t just let go.

“Come with me, Saiga.”

Evidently aware of this, Happine pulls Saiga out of the room by the hand, and the other members of the Batterabbe party follow with them. As the youngsters file out of the room, the Regent flashes them a warm smile. They can only guess at what she’s thinking. But at the very least, that smile doesn’t contain any malice.

Having left Ran’s room, the party then finds a random side room to hold a discussion. The subject at the heart of this discussion is, of course, Saiga. It’s not just Happine, either. Zuger also appears less than pleased with the situation.

“Saiga, what’s been bothering you?”

“I saw it, too. You’ve been very melancholy as of late.”

Evidently, it was clearly written on his face. Their words weren’t even a little doubtful.

“...Yeah. I’ve been struggling. I’ve been worried about ending up a jack of all trades and a master of none.”

He’d thought his ability to deal with a wide range of situations was his strength. In truth, he’s perfectly capable of dealing with most situations. Being able to defend himself with mysticism, attack with magic, and have his abilities amplified by a legendary sword means that almost anything is within his ability to handle. Adding additional capabilities to those just increases his fighting ability and reduces his weaknesses. That’s all fine, of course, but there are plenty of places where he just can’t match a specialist. If that’s so, can he really be described as strong?

“A little while ago, I’m sure I would have eagerly learned that Art, and then happily taught it to someone else, even without the Regent’s suggestion. But now... Yeah, I’m definitely struggling with this. Even though I felt the proposal was a good one.”

Saiga thus honestly reveals what’s been going through his mind. The proposal had felt like it’d be The Answer for him. Something that only he could do, and something that would help others.

“Well, I doubt the Regent is completely serious about it. If she was really intent on manipulating you, she would have gotten you alone and talked you over first.”

Besides, it’s really doubtful a con artist would have asked for his cooperation out of the goodness of his heart. She probably said it was for the Academy’s sake to make it easier for him to turn her down.

“What do you think you should do at a time like this? Talk to us, of course!”

“That’s right! I may not be useful in combat, but I can at least serve as a sympathetic ear!”

“Yes, exactly. You are our man, and we are your women. As such, having heart-to-heart discussions goes without saying.”

Three women crowd around one man and subject him to an interrogation. The situation is most certainly grim. He’s completely surrounded.

“T-That’s true... Yeah. Sorry.”

“Anyway, that aside... What do you think is the most important thing right now? What to do with that girl...those girls. Do you want to kill her or not? Which is it?”

“...I’d rather not kill her. If that’s possible.”

Did the others want to kill her regardless? No, they probably didn’t. It’s not as though Ran had actually done anything wrong so far, so they can’t really bring themselves to want to kill her. Sure, they all feel that she’ll probably be the source of future problems if left alive, but they can’t bring themselves to actively want to kill her now.

“Then let’s try to move things in that direction. Even if there are hypothetical situations where we’d have to kill her, we can discuss ways to make sure we don’t have to unless absolutely necessary.”

Everyone nods their agreement as Happine speaks. How can they avoid having to kill her? That’s the first and most important issue.

“So, how about it? Just how much do you know about berserkers, Eckesachs?”

“What I know is how to defeat them. As an Immortal, Suiboku was able to identify that they were prodigiously talented Rare Arts users and named their talent Tainted Blood. That’s all it is.”

The Marked, high-performance human beings with superhuman abilities. The way to defeat them is relatively well-known in the wider world: put them up against overwhelming numbers and wear them out, reinforce your defenses and wear them out, or attack them from outside their line of sight.

So on and so forth. They’re difficult opponents, but not impossible to defeat. There’s no need for Eckesachs to bother explaining those facts.

“To put it as precisely as possible, the Marked are wielders of an Art that enhances their abilities but puts them into an agitated aggressive state. That art is always active, and that is why they are dangerous.”

“What an enormous bother.”

Zuger’s words are entirely appropriate.

A warrior in a constant state of agitation is nothing but a walking nuisance. When that agitation is combined with overwhelming strength, the only options left for dealing with them are to kill them or drive them away. The residents of the hidden village are likely grateful that she left the village without needing to be driven out.

“At the moment, though, she’s exhausted her Tainted Blood and can’t use her Art. That is why her healing abilities don’t work and she’s collapsed from exhaustion... I wonder how long it takes her to recover.”

“No way to know. In general, once a Marked is exhausted, they’re just killed outright.”

They’ve come to the obvious conclusion that exhausted Marked are safe. Well, that goes without saying. Even the most ferocious beast is harmless if exhausted. The problem is how to get them to that point, or how to go about taming them.

“What about using hex magic to restrain her? From what I heard, your older brother cast a spell of that sort upon House Caputo’s ace. Is that possible, Zuger?”

“I-It’s not impossible, but that’s only possible with consent from the person in question...”

Zuger shoots down Sunae’s proposal as a specialist in her particular field. “If you don’t behave, you’ll be turned to stone.” “Okay, I consent.” If the individual had that kind of temperament, there’d be no need to restrain them with hex magic in the first place.

“It’s always active, right? If they’re not consciously aware they’re using magic, it’s difficult to restrain them with Hex Arts.”

For Shouzo, casting magic involves at least some conscious thought. At a minimum, he’s not constantly using his magic. However, for Ran, it’s natural for her to be using her Art at all times, which means telling her not to use her Art would probably be impossible for her to understand.

“If her Art is constantly active, it means we may as well permanently petrify her.”

“I see... Apologies.”

“No, I’m sorry I can’t be of any use...”

So, they’ve come to the conclusion that Hex Arts can’t be used to restrain her. It’s a kind of progress just to know that’s not an option.

“So the problem definitely seems to be that she’s in a constant state of agitation... Say, Eckesachs, do you know of an Art that can seal off someone else’s Art?”

“I do not, though my knowledge of the world is hardly comprehensive.”

Hrrrm...

Well that’s another idea that’s run against the rocks. House Caputo undoubtedly struggled with Shouzo in much the same way. Keeping someone alive who’d otherwise die if you just left them to their own devices is rather difficult.

“...I guess that means I can’t do everything myself.”

It’s not that he wants to become omnipotent, but not being able to restrain her on his own is frustrating. If asked why he was being so sympathetic toward Ran or her companions, he wouldn’t really be able to put his feelings into words. At the same time, though, it has got nothing to do with lust or attraction. He simply wants her to live.

“Then maybe it was impossible to learn how to become Marked from her in the first place...”

“...That’s it!”

As Zuger remembers the Regent’s homework assignment and mumbles her disapproval, Happine lets out a cry of realization. They’d been missing something that was right under their noses. It’s possible that the Regent had set everything up to include that realization, but at the very least, this gives them a first step to aim for.

“Saiga! You have the Tainted Blood as well, and you’re really good at learning the basics, right?!”

“Y-Yeah...”

“Then, first, you learn how to become Marked, then learn how to stop being Marked, and then you can teach Ran how to do that!”

“I-I’m not so sure I can...”

At the very least, they’ve found a solution. Well, it’s more a proposal and potential solution than a sure-fire solution, and there’s no guarantee that it’ll actually work. But even so, the Batterabbe party has a concrete proposal to offer the girls from the Tempera Village.