The Empress, her expression filled with worry at the grandfather’s words, asked.
“A Mana Circuit?
What do you mean by that, Father?” The grandfather nodded, stroking his chin as he spoke.
“Just as it sounds.
It seems the Imperial Prince has opened his own Magic Circuit.” The Empress considered all the possibilities.
“So you’re saying it wasn’t an assassination attempt or a curse, but that he gathered mana on his own?” “Yes.
It’s faint, but the path is open.
It seems he’s had a fortuitous encounter.” “A fortuitous encounter?
Father, you saw it yourself.
This child was almost in grave danger.” “Do not worry.
We just need to set up a barrier to block the surrounding mana and wait until the child can understand words.” The grandfather soothed the Empress as if it were nothing, and at his words, I…
‘What?
Block my magic power?
This is a fucking emergency!’ I wracked my brain trying to get out of this situation.
‘Should I cry and throw a fit?
No, they’ll just try to feed me or check my shitty diaper.’ Beginner: Throws a tantrum, crying with undeveloped vocal organs.
Expert: Mother, Grandfather, this humble one will show you something.
My mind raced.
‘What should I show them?
First, this grandfather definitely can manipulate magic power.’ ‘I’m not sure about the Empress, but I just need this grandfather’s permission.’ …but even if I showed them something, I didn’t know if it would meet their benchmark.
‘I’ll just give it a shot…
I will never go down the Eat, Poop, Sleep Route!’ With fierce determination, I reached my hand into the empty air and gathered the mana floating around me.
‘Not too little…
But if I gather too much, the same trouble from yesterday will happen again.’ ‘Just gather a moderate amount in my hand, don’t absorb it into my body.’ I’d never concentrated this hard in my life.
I’d gathered the magic power, but just as I was wondering what to show them next…
“Hm?” ‘Damn it, Grandfather noticed.
Quick, before he disperses the magic power like yesterday!’ 3 seconds until Grandfather noticed.
2 seconds until he manifested a magic circle in the air.
And 1 second until he pressed my hand with his finger.
Within those 3 seconds, I bundled the magic power into a circle and held it out to my grandfather.
“Awoo!
(Wait!)” At that, my grandfather’s eyes trembled violently as he stared at my hand in disbelief.
Thinking it might not have been enough, I dismissed the magic power in my hand, concentrated, made another one, and gave him a bright smile.
“Huhu…
Uwahahahahaha!” “Ah…
Father?” “A genius…
a genius!
No, that’s not enough!
The Seed of a Sage!
You will become the Ancestor of Magic and elevate the world’s caliber by a whole dimension!” A mad gleam shone in my grandfather’s eyes.
His mouth was stretched from ear to ear, as if he was seeing some kind of future through me.
“It’s a shame you were born into the Imperial House, but who cares!
Daughter!” “Yes?” The Marquis, seemingly forgetting to call her ‘Empress’, gazed at the Empress with loving eyes.
The Empress stared blankly at this side of her father she had never seen before…
“You will be recorded in the history books not as the Empress, but as the mother of the Great Mage who will lead the world.” “Kyaaah!
Father, that’s dangerous!” My grandfather lifted me high like Lion X, spinning me around and laughing.
The Empress was horrified, and it became a total mess.
As for me, riding a Gyro Drop in mid-air…
‘Heh heh…
There’s not a single sane person here.’ I just surrendered my body to the pull of gravity and smiled bitterly.
*** After the commotion, night fell, and the plan for the mana blocking barrier fell through due to the Marquis’s fierce opposition.
My freedom, protected by the collaboration of my desperate effort and the Marquis’s madness show!
I decided to start practicing magic power in earnest, but…
‘What should I start with?
Should I just make spheres like before?’ With no one to teach me and no teaching materials, all I could do was repeat what I’d already done.
So, I tried making a sphere in my hand again.
As I willed it, a bit of the surrounding magic power gathered, and a slightly crumpled sphere formed in my hand.
‘It’s not as round as before.
How did I do it then?
I just gave it a good pak!
of power and it became a smooth ball.’ To make the circle rounder, I gathered more of the surrounding mana and started adding it to the existing sphere, and when I came to my senses, the sphere was bigger than my fist.
Startled, I shook my hand, and the sphere fell slowly to the ground.
‘This is it!
The event I’ve seen somewhere, where a young magic genius has a control mistake and destroys the household goods!’ My body tensed in anticipation of the coming impact.
At that, the mana sphere dissipated with a ‘pok’ sound the moment it hit the ground.
It felt like I could hear a sound of ridicule from somewhere, saying, ‘You’re not that great.’ I scratched my head in embarrassment and fell into thought.
‘Aren’t mages supposed to create fireballs out of empty air and shoot water?
How do you make fire with magic power, and where does the water come from?’ There was no way a patient who had been lying on a sickbed and just dropped into this world would know.
‘Hmm, so all I can do right now is gather mana and bundle mana, is that it?’ Even if I just kept doing this, that grandfather was already making a fuss about me being a genius, so I figured it wouldn’t be bad to build my foundation this way.
And so, I fell asleep, having made a grand plan to practice gathering magic power during the day and bundling mana at night whenever I was awake.