[V8C15] The Real Reason

The duel between Cyril and Raul was to take place in the form of a magical battle in the Roseberg family’s Thorn Forest. This location had been managed by House Roseberg for generations, and once boasted an incredibly high mana density, attracting all sorts of spirits, dragons, and other magical creatures.

Consequently, the Thorn Forest was often described to be dark and eerie even during the day, but in reality, once you stepped inside, it was just an ordinary old forest. The trees were covered in verdant leaves, and vibrant flowers and wild raspberries could be seen growing in the brush.

“This spot seems good.”

Raul, leading the group, stopped in a slightly open area within the forest. The sunny spot had flowers with spring-like colors blooming here and there, making it ideal for a picnic.

And Isaac did just that, borrowing picnic supplies from the Roseberg mansion to lay out a picnic blanket while simultaneously preparing tea.

Once Claudia sat herself on the blanket, Isaac promptly offered her another blanket to cover her knees.

Even during the journey from Sazandol to the Roseberg residence, Isaac’s excellent organizational skills had been put on full display. He arranged for a high-quality carriage built for minimal shaking, and constantly cared for everyone’s well-being. Truly, the perfect attendant.

While watching Isaac from a distance, Monica used a branch to carve a magic circle into the ground. The special barriers used in magical battles required many such preparations. Moreover, maintaining the barrier required at least two mages.

(Ike and I can work together to maintain the magical battle barrier, but… there’s no way we can include pain nullification…)

While the barrier for magical battles prevents the participants from being injured by magical attacks, getting hit would still cause pain. There existed additional formulas for eliminating this pain, but they required a considerable amount of effort to maintain. In most cases, doing so would take at least five or six advanced magicians.

(If only Starspear Witch-sama was here. Her ability to cast seven spells simultaneously would let us include pain nullification… Ugh…)

Monica didn’t want to see Cyril or Raul in pain, but also she didn’t have the means to include the pain nullification formula.

Feeling dejected, Monica sighed as she finished the magical circle, then looked over at Cyril and Raul.

Earlier, Raul had said, “If it’s a duel, I have to look the part!” and unusually donned his Sage robe, along with his staff in hand. Unfortunately, his usual work outfit was still visible underneath the robe, but he still gave off an impressive aura when his inherited beauty was amplified by the fancy clothes.

“The magical battle barrier is ready,” Monica announced.

Cyril nodded, and then addressed Thule and Pikeh on his shoulders.

“Thule, Pikeh, you two stand back and watch.”

In response, Thule and Pikeh stared back at Cyril with raised tails.

“Huh?”

“Why?”

The weasels were not the only ones surprised. Monica and even Sophocles let out a gasp.

Raul scratched his head and tried to explain to Cyril.

“Cyril, dragon breath and Pikeh’s ice contain mana. That means they’re effective in magical battles, you know?”

Calling upon one’s contracted spirit in a magical battle was by no means a violation of the rules. Contracting a spirit was considered proof of a mage’s abilities.

There may be some cases where the participation of contracted spirits was prohibited to assess the mage’s own capabilities, such as the selection exam for the Seven Sages. However, in this particular case, both Monica and Raul believed it was only natural for Cyril to borrow the power of Thule and Pikeh.

Why? Because otherwise, the vast difference in strength was readily apparent.

Raul Roseberg, the Fifth Thorn Witch, may be a mage, but he has never learned offensive magic. That said, his immense mana and plant manipulation spells were more than enough to make up for it.

Honestly, he could win against most adversaries by simply creating a fortress of vines. Then, his opponent could deplete their entire mana reserves and still fail to break through.

However, Cyril stated his reasoning in a matter-of-fact tone.

“The contract ritual with Thule was developed by Monica, and performed by Lady Melissa. My contract with Pikeh was also established one-sidedly, as I did nothing.”

Thus, according to Cyril, it would be unfair for him to borrow the power of Thule and Pikeh.

In response to this claim, Thule and Pikeh perched themselves on Cyril’s shoulders, tugging at his collar and hair.

“Cyril, I am in a subordinate contract with you, so I will fight if ordered.”

“We aren’t on a snowy mountain anymore. Only with us are you finally on equal footing. You can’t get past his vines by yourself.”

Pikeh spoke from experience. She had once fought Raul on a snowy mountain brimming with mana, the perfect location for the ice spirit to unleash her full potential. In addition, Raul’s plants were weak to the cold, reducing their effectiveness by a significant margin.

Even given such advantageous conditions, the two were evenly matched. It made no sense for Cyril, an ordinary person, to challenge one of the Seven Sages head-on and expect to win.

However, Cyril refused to back down.

“I’ve devised a few strategies on the way here. I can handle myself.”

Raul and Monica were thoroughly taken aback by Cyril’s stubbornness. Though Sophocles said nothing, the ring had clearly been rendered speechless.

Cyril directed his gaze at Sophocles and continued.

“Also, to avoid any possible damage to the Key of Knowledge, I shall leave the ring with…”

“No, Cyril, that won’t be possible.”

Isaac, who had finished preparing the tea set, gently pushed Cyril’s hand back down. With a perfectly serene smile, he turned his attention to Sophocles before continuing.

“Since Sophocles is the one who proposed this trial, he will be watching your performance from the front row… right?”

“D-Do I have the right to refuse!?”

“A tool with rights? What an amusing joke.”

Isaac’s gentle smile created a terrifying contrast with his cold eyes. After silencing Sophocles with his stare, Isaac turned back to Cyril.

“Cyril, do your best. I’m counting on you.”

The previously tense Cyril quickly blushed with excitement.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

In contrast to Cyril’s gleaming eyes, Sophocles began to groan, having missed his last chance to back out.

＊　＊　＊

Cyril and Raul stood facing each other about ten paces apart, as Monica began the final check on the magic circle. Meanwhile, the two weasels were staring at the magic circle with curious looks.

As Isaac observed this scene from a short distance, Claudia quietly approached him from behind and uttered a hushed whisper.

”‘I’m counting on you,’ huh… You’re going to say that again, even after what happened last time?”

“Cyril would be more hurt if no one expected anything from him.”

In which case, it would be better to say that you’re counting him, then stop him if he attempts to push himself too hard. Above all, Isaac had never lied about his high expectations for Cyril.

Without turning to meet Claudia’s eyes, Isaac replied in a voice only audible to her.

“You called Cyril ‘easily manipulated,’ right?”

“…”

“Well, if you ask me, there aren’t many people as difficult to handle as him. If you don’t count on him for anything, he gets depressed. If you do, he pushes himself until the breaking point. Not to mention how he often misinterprets my intentions in a subtly skewed way, then goes off on a complete tangent…”

This ended up being quite the miscalculation. Isaac had initially thought Cyril Ashley to be someone who was easy to handle, but he turned out to be just as difficult as his sister.

“…In that case, why did you make such a difficult to handle person your vice president?”

“Do you remember the chess match between Cyril and Elliott?”

“…That time he dragged me into practicing with him.”

Back then, Elliott had been constantly picking on Cyril, and challenging him to a chess match was one such incident.

While Cyril wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with chess, he couldn’t possibly stand up to Elliott, who had been honing his chess skills since childhood. After uttering crushing Cyril, Elliott had goaded him with a condescending look, “You claim to be a member of the Ashley family when you can’t even play chess properly?”

That was all it took to light a fire in Cyril.

Following his defeat, Cyril sacrificed his sleep to study chess, developing dark circles under his already pale face. Coincidentally, this was similar to his state when he appeared at Monica’s house in Sazandol.

“Back when Cyril was studying chess, I made him an offer: ‘How about I teach you a good strategy for countering Elliott?’”

For example, Elliott utterly despised upstarts, so he always refused to promote his pawns. He also had a tendency to prefer using the queen, the highest-ranking piece, in critical situations.

With enough knowledge of Elliott’s habits, it would be trivial to devise countermeasures. However, Cyril shook his head at Isaac’s proposal.

——”I appreciate your concern, but I must achieve victory with my own strength if I am to stand proudly before you, Your Highness.”

Isaac thought that he could win Cyril over by lending him a hand. He also had the simple desire to see Cyril defeat Elliott.

But his plan had one flaw: Cyril Ashley was simply too sincere, and excessively serious.

Cyril ended up challenging Elliott to a rematch with his own strength, and even managed to drive Elliott into a corner. However, this was followed by him collapsing onto the chessboard mid-game. The cause was obvious to everyone present: overwork and lack of sleep.

This was the same guy who developed mana hyperabsorption after pushing himself too hard in magical training. Despite the evident lack of reflection, Cyril’s sincerity knew no bounds.

“You ask why I chose Cyril as my vice president? There are two reasons. The first is simply because he is good at what he does. As for the second reason…”

Isaac smiled faintly at the sight of Cyril about to undergo a magical battle without the support of his powerful allies, the white dragon and ice spirit.

“Because he can’t do anything unfair. I can easily resort to underhanded tactics, so having my right-hand man be a bit of a stickler is just right.”

At that moment, Monica raised her head from the magic circle and rushed over to Isaac, followed by the two weasels a short while later.

“Ike, we’re ready! I’ll need your help to deploy the special barrier for the magical battle.”

“Roger that, Master.”

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