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The fans (customers)¹ were difficult to handle…… Since they were all genuinely worried about me, I couldn’t just tell them off.
Ah, but for the one who asked about the multiplication stuff, I just replied with my polite retail smile. That’s sexual harassment, you know? I should report this to the chairman (Ryzna-san) later.

「So because the leader came that time, we really had a hard time at work.」(Natsuki)
「That idiot leader……」(Nera)

After our training, Nera-san invited us out for lunch, so I told her about what the leader did that time.
With that said, this soup is so good.² It’s like pot-au-feu-ish but I wonder what it’s actually called.
This eatery is for the people working at the castle like the knights, the mages, and the other staff, but the food here tastes relatively good. Moreover, it’s free. I can even see some young guy getting a ridiculously huge serving of this soup, so just including that, they probably give us good benefits, huh.

「The leader said that he wanted to talk because there was a misunderstanding, correct? I’ll be joining you two at that time, so please don’t worry about it.」(Nera)

Yay~! Now I’ll be fine in case anything happens. Really, Nera-san should just be the leader instead.

「The leader is troublesome enough, but after what happened during the training and all, are you really alright?」(Ruti)

Ruti asked me in a worried tone. This is because we had magic power circulation training earlier, and yeah, as expected, I already developed some weird habits from training by myself. But later, I somehow managed to do it properly, so I got really happy and…… Yup, I’m sorry, I got a bit too 𝙘𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙮 and actually let my magic power run in full force and after doing that, scales began to form in my arms and legs, yeah. Also, there were some forming on my forehead and my cheeks as well, it seems. I quickly stopped the circulation and it all went back to normal but looking at it objectively, well, that was probably pretty worrying to see.³

「That doesn’t happen even to a scalekin like me. It might be something unique to dragonoids but…… At any rate, there are only a few documents on them, so it’s hard to know for sure.」(Nera)
「If you feel something strange, say it immediately, alright? We have some servicing doctors here too, after all.」(Ruti)

Same as with the eatery, there are full-time doctors here for the people working in the castle. The service is generally free too. It might be because the knights and the others get wounded sometimes during training but it’s probably another part of the welfare package as well.⁴

「I’m fine, really. In fact, I feel absolutely great. Thanks for worrying about me, though.」 (Natsuki)

That’s right, I actually feel better. I felt like something that was clogged in my body suddenly disappeared. Something like how stiff shoulders feel after a good massage, I guess?

「By the way Ruti, how about you? How does your body feel?」(Natsuki)
「Ugh…… Well I do feel better as well? But unlike you, Natsuki, my body didn’t actually change.」(Ruti)

Well, I did have some visible changes to my body unlike Ruti, but even if she didn’t have any changes, I really think that she felt something similar to me, though.

「You can be a bit too optimistic sometimes, you know Natsuki?…… Haah, I’ll make sure to check on you then. If I notice anything strange, I’ll be bringing you to the doctor, alright?」(Ruti)

Mmu, zero trust, huh. But well, it is true that I am sometimes careless, so I guess it’s best that I just obediently follow Ruti.⁵

In the afternoon, we’re doing chant magic training while doing the magic power circulation. The lecturer this time is not the leader but a different captain. I’m relieved about that, but since I haven’t seen him since that incident, I’m getting concerned for a different reason. I really hope that it’s not because he’s suddenly missing for unknown reasons.⁶

「By the way, what do we do about the chants?」(Natsuki)

We learned the other day that the words used for chanting aren’t particularly fixed. Since it’s only for reinforcing your own mental image, it seems like saying words related to your imagination makes it act like a sort of self suggestion.
But in my case, since I immediately get flashbacks of my dark past, it practically destroys my mental image instead, so yeah…… Well, no, see, everybody has a time when they think of some cool spells and stuff, you know?…… They do, right?⁷

「We have no other choice but to just go with our imagination, right? Ummm, for example……《Freeze, freeze, let time freeze⁸, let everything halt.》」(Ruti)

All of a sudden, Ruti’s atmosphere changed; I had a bad feeling about this and immediately, the training grounds froze. Just as she said, it was as though time had stopped. She probably exempted me subconsciously, so I’m fine but everybody else is frozen solid. Crap, crap, they’re going to die!

「Ruti, that’s too much!《Oh spring breeze, all healing breath of spring》」(Natsuki)

As I chose my words, I focused on imagining warmth and healing wounds. Because I had a firm image without my dark past getting in the way, the breath I blew thawed everything around me. It looks like magic power circulation and chanting affects your control as well. If it was me before, at worst I might have burned the entire place down instead.

It went by so quickly and as such, the frozen people fortunately didn’t realize what happened to them. Since they got thawed immediately, there doesn’t seem to be any side effects…… I think?⁹ I just hope that this doesn’t spread some weird rumors later on.

「I’m sorry, I only wanted to try something simple¹⁰ but…… It seems that my image became too strong.」(Ruti)

Ruti became more efficient thanks to our afternoon training and her chant’s self suggestion was really strong, so it seems like, in contrast to me, Ruti’s control slipped.
Still, this just from trying something simple, huh.¹¹ Isn’t this like a lot worse than when I messed up back in the forest? Yup, properly learning about the basics and stuff is really important.
Also, if Ruti actually did this in full power…… Nope, let’s just stop thinking about that, scary.¹²

「Still, you also make these kinds of mistakes, huh?」(Natsuki)
「Hmm, a part of it could be because I spent more time learning magic on my own, so it might be why I’m having a harder time adjusting. In contrast, since you didn’t really have much experience with magic, this might be the reason why you had a relatively easy time correcting yourself, don’t you think Natsuki?」(Ruti)

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember Ruti also having a harder time with the magic power circulation as well. Still, it’s just a bit harder compared to me. Probably because she’s really good at magic in the first place.

In any case, with this we now actually know the basics and we’ve even finished testing it, so all that’s left is repetition.
I feel like Ruti probably has a lot of room for growth, so the question is, do I?

1. Lyly: Another mental correction
2. Lyly: Sudden soup
3. Silva: Natsuki has learned dragon form!
4. Lyly: Fantasy healthcare, lol
   Fire: Better than US healthcare at least
5. Lyly: Airhead Natsuki
6. Lyly: Muffled fanclub noises
   Fire: Hi, I’d like to file a missing person report. He was last seen at a cafe with angry fans (customers)
7. Lyly: ChuuChuuni~
   Silva: hmm yea, I once made myself believe that I am Blossom of Powerpuff Girls~
   Fire: And I still believe I’m a flame
8. Lyly: Ummmmm?
   Fire: That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?
9. Lyly: Worrying
10. Silva: Simple? That is simple. Huh~?
    Fire: I wonder what would happen if she went full force
11. Silva: Huh~?
12. Lyly: Spoopy