HH Chapter 28
by Geli CakeDifferent mages have different styles of drawing magic circles. And my magic circles was a highly condensed version, also known as “shortcut magic.”
I’d studied various magic books, identified the common framework, and extracted the elements necessary for activating a spell. Then, I modified the formulas to my liking, keeping only the necessary components.
As mentioned earlier, there were three main components to a magic circle: the magic’s property, the required amount of mana, and the range of application. If even one of these calculations was incorrect, the magic circle wouldn’t activate.
Out of these three, the only part I didn’t understand from the textbooks was the magic’s property. While the other two elements were calculation-based, the magic’s property was often vague and most people seemed to rely on intuition.
‘If I can’t understand it, I’ll just memorize it….’
I mechanically memorized the properties and functions of the simplest-looking magic circles and started learning how to calculate the amount of mana required based on the range of the magic.
“What is this?”
“It’s the summation formula for the mana consumed during activation.”
“…Where’s the calculation process?”
“I omitted it.”
My magic circle utilized geometric sequences. Who has time to add up all those numbers one by one?
I realized that the tiny numbers written all over his magic circle represented the amount of mana consumed by each stroke. He was adding and multiplying each number individually. I was appalled by the needlessly long and drawn-out equation.
‘It’s too inefficient.’
All magic circles have rules. Once you understand them, calculating mana consumption is a piece of cake.
That was why I didn’t need to learn the magic formulae used in this world.
‘Although it did limit the number of spells I could use….’
I couldn’t even touch magic that I didn’t understand at all. For example, defensive magic.
It was supposedly the easiest type of magic, but not for me. It was a wonder my lack of skill hadn’t been exposed yet.
Haylan stared at the my shortcut magic circle I’d drawn for a while, then asked,
“Who taught you magic?”
Is it that bad? Fortunately, I didn’t have a teacher to be embarrassed in front of. I scratched my head and answered,
“I’m self-taught.”
I’d never learned magic from a teacher. Mages were rare in my city, and the temple priests kept giving me strange looks and offering me food, trying to lure me in like I was a child, so I avoided them like the plague.
Besides, I didn’t need to master high-level magic for mercenary work. Knowing a few basic spells was enough to be treated well.
“…Self-taught? So you came up with this structure on your own?”
Of course, there were limitations. There weren’t many magic books available, so I often had to rely on books published 100 years ago, and the authors weren’t always clear in their explanations. . And there were plenty of cases with errors, like this one.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For the strange structure….”
At my words, a self proclaimed two-year veteran of shortcut magic, Haylan tilted his head cutely, then offered words of encouragement.
“Don’t apologize. Anyway,”
He continued in a calm voice,
“Do you mind if I… analyze your magic circle?”
Is my magic circle that messed up…?
After two years of living as a shortcut mage, the time had come for a reality check. I braced myself for criticism and nodded.
“Go ahead!”
What should I do in the meantime?
I was so bored while Haylan was analyzing my magic circle that I started writing a letter to the mercenary group.
「Hello?
I’m doing well. I arrived at the trading company headquarters, and…」
“……Hmm.”
What should I write?
Officially, I was supposed to be with Odin as his apprentice mage. It was difficult to come up with anything to write since I had to make up lies.
‘Come to think of it, Odin hired me as an apprentice mage….’
And now I’m actually learning magic now?
Finding the situation rather amusing, I glanced at Haylan, then continued writing, adding a bit of truth to my letter.
「I started learning defensive magic since yesterday.
Oh, remember the book Ryzen bought me as a New Year’s gift? <Mastering the Basics of Defensive Scroll Creation>? The person teaching me magic said it’s completely wrong! No wonder the scrolls I made by copying from it wouldn’t activate. I almost got into big trouble!
It’s so cold here, I’m going to burn it tonight to keep warm. Thanks for the gift, even though it’s soon to be firewood.」
Ah, right. Should I add some casual comments about the weather?
「It’s so cold here that I can’t seem to get used to it. I feel like I’m freezing to the bone whenever the wind blows. Asileth’s winter was nothing compared to this!
What will I do when it actually starts snowing?」
‘Done.’
After adding a common closing greeting, I finished the letter and glanced at Haylan.
What should I do now…?
“If you’re bored, read a book or something.”
Wow, does he have eyes on the back of his head? Haylan said casually, without even looking at me. I got up from my seat, feeling dismissed.
‘There are way too many books.’
I had searched for defensive magic books all last night without finding anything, but Haylan found it right away. Yet, the quest wasn’t complete. It seemed there was a specific defensive magic book I needed to find.
‘When will I ever find it?’
I sighed and looked at the quest window.
[Main Story Progress: 3%]
‘It increased.’
I was too surprised by Haylan’s affection points this morning to notice, but the progress had gone up again.
What did I do last night?
…I met the ghost.
Haa….
It seemed there was something about that ghost after all.
‘I thought he was just an extra.’
Actually, even calling him an “extra” was an overstatement. I had assumed he was just a passing ghost, nothing more, nothing less.
Who is that man, anyway?
“…….”
I might meet him again tonight.
The defensive scroll I had relied on as insurance didn’t work, so shouldn’t I come up with a countermeasure?
I stared blankly into space, then remembered the title of the book I’d noticed yesterday.
<101 Ways to Exorcise Ghosts, Believe It or Not>
‘Should I just take a look?’
I went to the spot where I remembered seeing it and pulled the book out. I flipped to a random page, and a detailed exorcism method was described alongside an illustration of a creepy-looking doll.
【Ingredients: A healthy offering, a cup of salt water, a straw doll to seal the ghost, a kitchen knife
- Wait at the location where paranormal activity occurs, starting one hour before midnight. (Caution: The ritual must be performed alone.)
- When the clock strikes twelve, spray the salt water you’ve been holding in your mouth evenly onto the straw doll.
- Hold the doll tightly and close your eyes, counting to 100. Do not open your eyes, even if you hear strange sounds during the ritual.
- After 100 seconds, stab the straw doll deeply with the prepared kitchen knife.
- If black blood flows from the doll, the exorcism is successful. There will be no further paranormal activity. (If the prepared kitchen knife disappears, the sealing has failed. Quietly await your impending death.)】
“…….”
Who wrote this?
I closed the book and checked the author’s name, but it didn’t tell me anything. I returned to the table with the book.
Haylan was writing something on a piece of paper. Was it feedbacks on my magic circle?
His handwriting was quite messy. His penmanship was still childlike, as if he lacked strength in his hand.
He seemed like an adult when he spoke, but whenever he was obsessed with snacks or his handwriting was messy, I found him incredibly cute.
“…….”
Haylan looked up, saw the book I’d brought, and chuckled in disbelief.
[Haylan’s affection points have increased. +1]
‘Oh my.’
I finally made Haylan laugh.
It must seem ridiculous to you too, right? Even I would laugh and tease someone if they said they were reading a book with that title.
“What, do you have a ghost you know?”
“…….”
I saw Haylan in a new light. To think he could make jokes like this.
Are we finally getting closer?
I felt a little excited at his words. I played along with his joke, responding with equal absurdity,
“I recently made a new acquaintance.”
“You’re still scared of ghosts at your age?”
This kid was trying to provoke me.
Suddenly ringing up my age?
For some reason, I suddenly felt competitive and replied seriously,
“No, I’m not scared at all.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Now that I think about it, you said this house is cursed, right?”
…Cursed?
As if to support Haylan’s words, one of the servants members who had been hovering nearby chuckled and joined the conversation.
“There were rumors that strange sounds could be heard at night. People said it’s like a haunted house.”
“…….”
Although the rumors were likely due to the house’s dilapidated state, she said some servants had even quit because they were scared.
Hearing her words, which were faithful to the horror game setting, made me feel like all the blood was draining from my body.