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「So with that said, in using sorcery, control is always important and the foundation for that is magic power circulation.」
「Yes, but you can’t use powerful sorcery with just magic power circulation.」
「To begin with, in the case of water attribute sorcery, there are only a few spells specialized for combat. Besides, having a good circulation will increase your circuit’s total magic power, allowing the use of powerful sorcery. Naturally, magic power circulation isn’t everything, but when two people use the same spells, the one that has better control would be stronger.」

As I was teaching Perla, one of the members of the three person party I was told to work with next, Carol mutters 「You teach surprisingly well.」 in praise. Since Carol is with us, she really should be the one teaching. It’s making me feel like a child on parents’ day, it’s awfully uncomfortable.

As for why I’m teaching Perla sorcery in the first place, it’s because she was hesitant to join, knowing that we have a member who is a D-rank hunter and she didn’t want to be a burden. After the ice witch coaxed me to teach her, and with the offer of a “Promotion Advantage,” I finally gave in and started instructing her before we formally acted together as a party.

Somehow, whenever the term ”promotion” comes out, it feels like I always do everything that I’m told. Rather, Ciel already said 『Ain has a habit of nodding whenever promotions get involved, don’t you?』 and pointed it out. Upon hearing that, I was left speechless. Still, it didn’t particularly sound like Ciel was against it.

Though we are having lessons, I am unable to use combat sorcery, so I am relying on Ciel’s advice while teaching Perla.

Changing the topic, when I first met with the party, they were surprisingly welcoming. They were respectful from the start, although a part of it seems to be because Carol told them I was the one that actually helped them before and due to me having been in a party with Brass like them.

They then apologized about what happened with him. It seems that they were friends from the same village. After receiving his Job, Brass started to get smug, and set himself a course directly towards the stratosphere.

「What is your usual role, Perla?」
「Umm, when outside of combat, I make drinking water and wash off the splashes of blood. During a fight, I shoot out water balls but it’s only enough to stop monsters from moving, I can’t defeat them. I can’t use ice sorcery too, I’m just a burden.」

Putting aside Perla’s current state of depression, I take a moment to reflect. From what I observed, Terencio holds off enemies with his one-handed sword while Perla and the archer Ilda attack from a distance. While this strategy does keep the two girls out of harm’s way, Perla’s contributions to the battle seem insufficient.

After all, even when attacking from the rear, she still lacks lethal force. I can’t be sure but Terecio probably kills more while he’s keeping the enemies away.

Besides, she’s a Lesser Sorcerer and a commoner, meaning she is believed to have practically no magic power by nature. Therefore, what she can do is limited. While she may be able to use a large amount of water to push away an enemy, doing so would likely exhaust her magic power after just one shot, leaving her out of the fight.

In the first place, she is already performing well outside of combat, but it seems that Brass may have enforced the mentality that “Great hunters” are those who defeat stronger monsters on them.

「When sorcerers fight, what do you think is important?」
「High offensive power.. and… control over sorcery?」
「In my opinion, it’s to observe.」

While it’s good that she remembered our discussion about control, I think that awareness is important for sorcerers. This isn’t really limited to sorcerers, but the rear guard in particular should have a whole picture of what’s happening. Especially in the case of individuals acting solo. If they don’t observe their surroundings, they could just drop dead.

「I generally act alone, so I don’t know much about how to act in a party but no matter how strong your spell is, it would be useless if you hit your allies, isn’t it? To make sure that doesn’t happen, you should consider where your allies are, where the enemies are concentrated at, and where it would be good to release your spell.」
「So to be aware of that, I should observe, right?」
「If people can do it after simply being told to, it wouldn’t be considered a difficult thing. However, if it’s only about stopping and disrupting an enemy, powerful and complicated spells are unnecessary. After all, just making a puddle by an opponent’s feet should be enough to obstruct their movements and simply hitting their eyes with a splash of water should be enough to make them open to attacks. To perform these skillfully, observing is really important.」
「So in other words, I should be focusing completely on support?」
「Yes. In my opinion, doing so should be more practical. Still, I’m sure that your party has your way of doing things, so please discuss it together with them. Even if you change your methods, it wouldn’t go well immediately after all.」

With our lesson ending here, I announced 「That will be all.」 as I clapped my hands twice.

I do not consider classroom lectures to be entirely useless; in fact, they are likely the primary method for learning sorcery. However, Perla has not yet reached the stage where she needs such lectures. Instead, it would be more beneficial for her to focus on practical training to solidify her fundamentals before delving into more complex topics. With this in mind, I have decided to end the lesson.

Perla lowered her head, gave her thanks, and left the booth provided for us. It’s hard to describe, but I believe that someone who’s completely self-taught really shouldn’t be teaching. Without any clear idea of what I was doing, I learned detection and barrier sorcery, how to conceal it, minimized the energy consumption, and I’m not even sure if it’s still sorcery or actual magic at this point.

On the other hand, I think Ciel has a completely orthodox way of learning. However, her fundamentals come from the Rispelgia family’s bookshelves, so they might be pretty unconventional. The part where magic power resides in the soul is already different from the general perception after all.

「Was that really enough?」
「The basics are important. Even more so if you originally couldn’t use sorcery.」
「Well, good enough. You haven’t said anything wrong after all. Incidentally, could you teach me something too?」
「Why should I have to teach you?」
「Is there anything you’d like?」
「I want B-rank hunter qualifications.」
「Could you make it something possible for me? Celia’s in charge of those sorts of things.」
「Then a magic bag please. A small one is enough.」
「Oh, so you’re good with that, I see. How about this one then?」

After making a surprised look, she took out a generally small sized pouch, which is slightly bigger than Ciel’s hand, and placed it on top of the table. It’s scary how smooth this conversation is going, but if I can get it then I really want to have it.

「Magic bags are expensive, right?」
「Well, they are, but this one isn’t. It was crafted by an apprentice of my acquaintance who is practicing item crafting. It’s practically worthless, but since you can only obtain one if you know an item crafter, it could be quite hard to come by.」
「This, how much can it hold?」
「About as much as a hunter’s typical shoulder bag. If you’re using it as a purse, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?」
「I already think it’s too much, but if you’re giving it away then I’ll have it after we’re done.」

With the negotiation complete, time to think of what I should talk about. Since I’m getting something I want, if possible, I want to give Carol information she’d like as well. Rather, because Carol likes doing research, she would probably be much happier if I give her some material she can research on. In that case, since Perla was here earlier as well, maybe I should talk about Jobs and magic power. Besides, there’s something I’m curious about.

「Before we discuss, I want to confirm something about the general perception. Carol, where do you think magic power comes from?」
「… Just from this preface, I already feel like this is going to break the sorcery community. Well, anyway, what’s typically believed is that magic power flows from the heart. However, since there are people that have it slightly off where the heart is, the latest theory is that it’s from a vessel controlling magic power somewhere inside the body.」

As I thought, that is what’s considered to be common knowledge. If it wasn’t, then the information I’m about to share would be worthless and I wouldn’t get the magic bag, so this is good.

「About that, the truth is that it comes from the soul.」
「You sound awfully confident saying that. Normally no one would believe it if you say something that absurd, you know?」
「I’d say both you and I probably aren’t a part of that “normal” though. As for why I’m so confident about it, all I can say is that I had first hand experience myself.」
「I won’t ask you what kind of experience it was. I have a feeling that, if I do, I’d end up having more work to do. However, I do know that you aren’t lying. At the very least, there’s no need for you to tell such a useless lie.」
「Though, if I really hated you so much, I could probably make up a lie or two. After all, it would probably steal so much of your time.」
「If after telling me this much, what you said actually wasn’t true, I’d be at awe.」

Saying so, Carol’s eyes sparkle with excitement. From my perspective, I don’t think that where a person’s magic power comes from would have a significant impact on their ability to use sorcery normally. While I am aware that it can have an impact, our current conversation doesn’t seem to suggest that it would be a major concern.

「Oh. In spite of experiencing this breakthrough yourself, you don’t really have much of a reaction.」
「Well, from where I left off, it’s not as if anything would particularly change after all. Is it really something to be that excited about?」
「What are you talking about? As long as you know where magic power comes from, it might be possible to draw out more magic power, you know? In that sense, it’ll be at least a direct increase in firepower.」

I was overwhelmed by Carol’s excitement. While it’s true that it should lead to an increase in firepower, or rather output, since I already discovered it pretty early, I don’t really feel the effects myself. Nonetheless, if Carol’s happy about it, then great. Now we can have the magic bag without any weight on my conscience.

Still, I’m a bit worried about Carol’s pure excitement.

「I’m glad that you look happy about it but please keep in mind that this information originated from an individual that brought forth a being like me.」
「That’s right.」

Seeing Carol turn calm in an instant is a bit scary. Really, why didn’t she have this composure during our formal match?

「Actually, was it alright to tell me about this?」
「There’s already a noble that knows about this. Even if I didn’t tell you, someone else might discover and spread this information one day. While we’re at it, you might even discover it yourself. So in this case, wouldn’t it be much safer that I taught and warned you about it?」
「That might be true. At the very least, I’d think of being careful about it.」
「Besides, in the event that we’ll be up against said noble, the knowledge of the information could affect the tide of battle.」
「So you’re thinking that this might be a possibility.」
「Who knows? I was simply imprisoned. While I’m somewhat aware of the methods he was using to accomplish his objective, I have no idea what he is trying to achieve. However, it’s an individual that would lock up an infant for 10 years to fulfil his objective and sell her when she’s unneeded after all.」

He’s probably done some other nonsense besides what he did to us but judging from the rumors, there’s nothing on him. While at the pub, I have only asked about superficial topics to avoid drawing attention to my investigation of the Rispelgia household. However, people seem to freely speak about the terrible behavior of the nobles, even without my prompting. As a result, I have already decided on the route I will take to reach the ocean once I leave this town.

Carol said 「I’ll bear it in mind.」 as she earnestly nodded, so it would probably be bad if I don’t tell her this as well.

「Come to think of it, I’ve been lecturing Perla just some time ago but don’t you think that she’s quite an interesting individual?」
「… Wait, by magic power comes from the soul, that’s what you mean?」

Just by saying Perla’s name, Carol was shaken up. She really is quick on her head. And based on the anxious tone of her voice, she likely felt that the relationship of Jobs and magic power is a dangerous one.

「From my experience, the two of them are different. However, I can’t say that they have absolutely no influence on each other.」
「I see, you’re right. A cheap magic bag won’t be enough for this information. Are there any other things you’d like?」
「In that case, please keep our conversation a secret and the research that you’ll start based on this discussion to yourself. At least, while I’m still in this country.」
「That goes without saying. There’s no way I can publish this.」
「Then will you still do a study on this?」
「It’s not like I’m doing sorcery research to particularly stand out after all. I’m doing it because it’s fun. I have tons of other private studies besides this one.」
「In that case, I don’t mind if it’s after I leave this country, please tell me about the results in the future. I just turned 10 recently, I don’t have a good grasp on my Job in the first place.」

When it comes to our Jobs, Ciel likely has better control over hers compared to mine. However, if I am able to master mine, it could potentially greatly enhance my abilities. The question is, how many years will it take for me to reach that level of mastery?

「Oh, that’s right. When we discuss things, it really makes me forget about the concept of age. Once you reach B-rank, call me at the headquarters. I’ll invite you to my house. By then, my work in this country should be done as well.」
「When the time comes, please take care of me. Well then.」

To ensure that I wouldn’t forget it, I made sure to take the magic bag with me as I left the room today.

Hiya~! First of all, Ain! Your age is showing! For the whole chapter! I know you’re not really good at acting but try harder! lol

In this chapter, we had a short time skip and a surprise lesson from Ain. It’s quite nice to see new people to interact with and considering how the next party is, and their lesson for today, it should be a good sign of what the future holds for our princesses. Well, we already knew that Terencio and the gang are good peeps, lol. Also, thanks to a previous comment, I remembered that Perla is a word too, is relevant to the girl’s abilities, and rolls off the tongue better than Pelra, lol, so I changed Pelra to Perla. Minor change, since it’s both “r” sounds in Japanese, no “L”.

Anyway, while there was just little AinCiel fluff this time (a really nice one though, lol. Ain, you’re being too easy) there’s a lot of Carol-Ain banter again~! Love it. Also minor Carol bullying. Perfect. And now, we finally have one of what’s practically a prerequisite in Isekai stories lately, magic pouch, item storage, inventory, whatever you call it, the thing that makes the item management part of story writing easy! Also, it was fun to see more of Carol being a scientist, lol.

—-Warning, wall of text incoming! It’s not about the story, so feel free to skip!

I’m neutral in the unlimited, time stopping inventory matter, however, how the character gets their items, abilities, cheats, or whatever really affects the enjoyment of the story sometimes. For example, many Isekai just has unlimited item storage as a given, which is a bit lazy in my opinion, a lot of interesting stories you could have told are now out of the option as well. The worst part would be if it’s just a bonus, not even a part of your power, and if it’s just a container that you can’t do anything else with. Like, it’s an economic threat! And you don’t even use that as an advantage! Start a business or something! Physical magic bags and, for example, Ruti’s shadow storage from Life with a Tail, is a good way to shake things up.

For the physical magic bags, the characters would need to obtain it. Also, there’s a possibility of it being used as a plot point. What I like in this chapter is that, even though she was given a magic bag, it’s not immediately the big, rare, unique, time-stopping, one that usually goes with mainstream isekai. It leaves room for improvement. As for the other example, Ruti’s shadow storage might be magic, but it has an undisclosed limit (since they couldn’t carry furniture, another story being told because of the limitations given) and it doesn’t stop time inside it (which also makes their shopping interesting, since there’s always a need to buy food, since while it’s easier to carry fresh foodstuff, they don’t stay fresh).

Making things “unlimited” and “overpowered” ironically limits the story you can tell, and takes away a lot of the improvement phases you could have used as plot points. Still, it’s not a completely bad thing. While it limits the story somewhat, you can also use it to bulldoze over part that you don’t want the story to be about and focus on what you want to write. Overpowered heroes can now focus on their daily life, since they instantly murdered their foe, and you can even put limits on the unlimited, such as All Might being only able to fight for a limited time. What’s important is the creativity and the execution.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!