Chapter 10

Inside a luxuriously decorated room, what looked like a charmingly dressed transvestite teenager was leisurely flipping through a beautiful and well-crafted book. Emerald-colored like her eyes, the title indicated it was a book of arcane science. Frowning, she opened it, her large, round eyes scanning each paragraph with deliberate attention, while she brushed aside a strand of crimson hair that obscured her vision.

 

In the section where those adorable eyes ended up getting fixed, it talked about an updated version of the origin of the Magic Sequences—The Very Basis of Modern Wizardry—and said the following after the title:

 

The hypothesis that would give rise to the Magic Sequences

 

Magical sequences owe their existence primarily to the hypothesis that arose when numerologists at the Tower of Witchcraft discovered that all the laws of nature follow a mysterious mathematical pattern. With this, researchers were able to open the door to a universal "Root," a kind of "law of laws" that encompasses them all.

 

Under the guidance of Archmage Anderson Chavales of the Tower of Sorcery's numerology department, they eventually discovered this interesting, repeating mathematical pattern in the various nature formulas they had developed, which revealed something fundamental about the world they lived in.

 

"Although the material plane manifests itself in a wide range of natural phenomena with varying levels of complexity," the numerologists involved in the study wrote in an article available on the tower's server, "the formulas that describe them all display certain regularities and statistical patterns."

 

To reach this conclusion, Chavales and his colleagues drew inspiration from linguistic laws, "where Narf's law states that the frequency of any word in a large corpus of text is approximately inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table."

 

In other words, Narf's law states that the most common word in a language appears twice as often as the second most common word, three times as often as the third, and so on.

 

In Loveritian, for example, the word "troe" typically accounts for about 6% of any long text, followed in frequency by "ode," which appears approximately 3.9% of the time. Moreover, the same law seems to apply to other situations as well, such as the distribution of population in large cities. And also to the laws of nature.

 

The authors therefore decided to investigate whether such patterns also emerge in the distribution of the symbols and mathematical operations used to construct the various laws of nature. To do so, they employed three completely different corpora of formulas: those used in the famous "Lectures on Nature by the Spiritist Fuynmian"; those from a list of formulas named by the author, obtained from a famous book in his community; and a set of formulas describing the formation of the earliest moments of existence in Genesis...

 

—That's interesting…—the redhead (?) murmured, somewhat intrigued by the topic presented in that slightly thin book, as she calmly continued her reading about the hypothesis that changed the world of sorcery and made possible the very Arcane Engineering that drives human civilization.

 

…Chavales and his team treated each symbol and each mathematical operator as if it were a word, and then analyzed their distribution and frequency of occurrence by applying Narf's law.

 

“One would expect,” said Avalon Lunen Ivrin Lainervorial, third emperor of Loveritia and head of the Bomenslik Imperial Academy, a co-author of the study at the time, “that this distribution would differ significantly between the three sets of formulas, given that they came from different places.” But to his surprise, this was not the case, and all three sets seemed to fit a common pattern.

 

Numerologists were not entirely clear at the time what it meant that the formulas of nature that describe the reality in which we live followed this pattern.

 

An eyebrow rose. The idea that nature could be manipulated the way sorcerers did simply by replicating this strange pattern was incredible. Only now, after traveling far from home to study at this prestigious academy, was he learning of such a thing. After all, not everyone was interested in learning arcane science instead of witchcraft.

 

As a result, many young people, including herself (?), were unaware of the origin of the symbols that made up the magical sequences and appeared in various grimoires. They simply assumed it was the sorcerer's power that did all the work and that the symbols were merely instructions for constructing each sequence and shaping the formula through spells.

 

As far as I know, modern witchcraft is an art that uses formulas composed of symbols representing laws, both natural and esoteric, to manipulate reality by combining a series of specific patterns or sequences. This can be divided into two main techniques of manipulating phenomena: interference and reenactment (although they are not the only ones).

 

Interference is the act of using thaumaturgical formulas through magical circuits to interfere with the mechanisms of reality and control similar elements with which one has an affinity. Reenactment, on the other hand, is the act of simulating a "false reality" and promulgating it as real in the world to recreate natural and mythical phenomena.

 

All this was done based on a single system.

 

The Aduptivus magiischus Sequinzialungssystren (Adaptive Magical Sequencing System in the Alumita Magical Language), or simply AMS, was a magical modulation system invented by the Third Emperor himself to improve magical efficiency. This system granted the Loveritia Empire an absolute advantage in its undisputed magical superiority for nearly two centuries, before the rest of the Tower of Sorcery and the nations finally began to follow suit after its steadfast demonstration, breaking away from the old ways.

 

In fact, it was in the vast empire he came from, Loveritia, that part of the current system of sorcery used throughout the continent in recent years was born at the hands of the most famous emperor in history after the founder, a source of great pride for them to have this legacy.

 

Anyway, the concept behind this system is that each word of an incantation is actually a mnemonic for a unique magical sequence module composed of multiple sigils and symbols, which can allow the Sorcerer to construct a complex weave of maryoku from mythic threads.

 

These magical sequences are engraved in the magical nerves as a set of thought bodies that allow the sorcerer to combine them into a complete magical formula designed to achieve a spell that takes advantage of the sorcerer's best qualities to achieve the best results, allowing them to create their own 'Style of Sorcery'....

 

Well, that was all he knew. He'd never bothered to learn much about the principles of sorcery for personal and objective reasons, and even if he'd wanted to, his territory was so poor that no one would waste money on obtaining resources that wouldn't be of any use to him with his meager talent...

 

The young woman (?) shook off that self-critical thought with a wry smile and continued reading while she waited for her friend. She looked for where she'd left off for a moment and then continued from there.

 

On the one hand, numerologists believed this might reveal something important about how the very nature of existence works. After all, each formula on its own is remarkably accurate at predicting actual events in the natural world, so a "general pattern" followed by all the formulas together might very well contain valuable information about how the world we live in is organized.

 

Chavales, a supporter of this idea, then explained that the pattern found is very consistent, and that it occurs even in the symbols that appear less frequently: "The operators that appear less frequently (the exponential, logarithmic, hyperbolic, and trigonometric functions) follow the same law. Which is surprising."

 

Avalon, for its part, cautiously suggested at the time that the result might simply be a statistical byproduct, reflecting numerologists' attempts to express their ideas succinctly....

 

The young girl (?) commented as she opened her eyes slightly in surprise: “The Emperor himself, who helped the rise of “Modern Sorcery”, was cautious with his pillars… Now that is unexpected…”

 

He continued quickly, showing a writing that supposedly represented the thoughts of the most powerful Imperial Archmage in existence regarding this ancient hypothesis, now the greatest theory of all regarding sorcery.

 

…"We create formulas that we know are useful," said the then Third Emperor. "With language, we want to communicate as much information as possible with as few symbols as possible or in as little time as possible, and the same is true of formulas that describe nature."

 

«However… understanding the underlying reasons behind this statistical pattern can shed light on Nature's modus operandi, but also reveal recurring patterns in researchers' attempts to formalize Nature's laws.»

 

With this last statement, His Majesty Avalon raised the intriguing possibility that both scenarios are equally real and could occur simultaneously. "By pioneering the study of statistical regularities in nature's formulas," the Archmage finally concluded, "our results would open the door to a 'Root' of Nature, a fundamental principle of existence that defines reality and to which all natural laws obey."

 

And with that door open to the Root, which supposedly governs reality, the sorcerers under His Majesty's direction would over time develop magical sequences that would simplify the entire magical process of sorcery by reducing the complexity of the rituals, improving the Phenomena Operation Technique to a new level of….

 

"There's a lot I didn't understand about all this, but for a casual read on academic topics, it was unexpectedly entertaining," he said openly, stopping when he saw it was getting more complex; not noticing that the book the maid brought him said in small print: "A condensed and simple read of arcane knowledge for idiots."

 

For her sanity, it would be best if she didn't notice this malicious act at all... Not to mention not noticing the lack of attention being given to her by not being present in the guest room... the poor (?) noble whose status was no different from a peasant was thankfully unaware of this blatant disregard on the part of the staff.

 

In my situation, I should do my best to understand sorcery more after all…

 

While she (?) was thinking thus in blissful ignorance of the situation, the door of the drawing-room was opened by the hand of an obedient maid (?) and a beautiful young woman with auburn hair entered, which made her... wait, no, he was the son of a baron, Lars Hamilton von Laniere, who placed the book on the table and then looked up at her with curiosity and some annoyance.

 

—Jheane-nee... What happened? Why did it take you so long?

 

The moment Jheane entered the visiting room with a quick step and saw the figure of her innocent and adorable imouto-tsundere... Correction, saw the figure of her little brother, the first thing she heard from him was a complaint about her lateness, which made her roll her eyes impatiently while breathing somewhat raggedly from her short run.

 

—Haha... It didn't even take me an hour to get here, you know. Besides, I was just checking out the luxurious bathrooms in my room when one of my maids told me you were looking for me, so I had to get ready and dressed before coming. I should also mention that the hallways aren't small, Lars-kun.

 

Jheane simply lied about the reason for her delay, and Lars believed her without question. Even though he had no reason to.

 

-...How envious, you have maids and a luxury bathroom to enjoy and I have to go to a communal bathroom like everyone else in the Aereus District....The food is so little that it is so good

 

-If you would at least behave yourself I'd bring you another Bento.

 

Lars could easily imagine the uproar he'd cause if a pretty SS-Class girl brought him a bento to his dorm, so he immediately declined. "No, I'd rather go to those fancy restaurants in the Shopping District. Why does there have to be a stupid rule saying you can't enter unless invited by Class A or higher...? And don't treat me like a child."

 

The redhead moaned and Jheane put her hands on her hips as she frowned at him.

 

“Your entry into Bomenslik was a stroke of luck that only happened after that incident, you know. I think Headmistress Amelia took quite the risk by having a young man who doesn’t even meet the age requirements to enter or possess the necessary talent to register like you. You’re already lucky to have been given a temporary pass to use the transport gates between the islands… A District and a Class better than G for you?” Jheane snorted. “You could have him officially dismissed for overstepping his authority. You didn’t forget that the only reason you managed to qualify for Class G was because of your ‘special ability,’ right?”

 

-Yeah... I know, you don't need to remind me- Lars nodded bitterly at the matter.

 

The mysterious Trait that awakened while trying to save Jheane from a dangerous situation within the Barony of Hamilton, Lars felt conflicted just remembering it.

 

On one hand, it was a power he gained during the worst situation of his life so far, where his friend was almost kidnapped and who knows what kind of terrible fate would befall her if he hadn't intervened... (Or so he thought, then he found out the master alchemist's people were there to save her anyway. Though he would have kept trying anyway.)

 

On the other hand, that same power was what changed her life forever and gave her the opportunity to stay connected to the person she considered her older sister, even though they weren't blood relatives. (Although being separated by such distant districts with a vast difference in status and influence makes things very difficult.)

 

However, if Lars, personally, had to point out the biggest problem he had with this power… it was its origin, in the words of the Director herself, Amelia Dumbardonnia.

 

The power of the Authority of a Demon King?

 

How was I going to achieve something like that?

 

And what am I supposed to do with that? I can barely use it... And I even need an enchantment, even though an authority doesn't work with that!

These questions and complaints filled him with anxiety every time they appeared. And the memory of how he used it the first time, which left him unconscious for at least three days or more, was still fresh. In short, he didn't know how to use a Trait that wasn't his, which left him exhausted, almost comatose, and on the verge of death...

 

-Witchcraft authority or whatever, it's useless if you don't know how to use it properly...

 

Looking at the childish pout the boy made as he whispered to himself in the wine-red plush chair he was sitting in, Jheane held back a fond smile.

 

Acting so adorable... How am I supposed to stop seeing you as a little sister?

 

She thought it was only natural, not just because of his unconscious actions, but because of everything else. Because if there was one thing Jheane wanted to mention about her little brother, it was that Lars suffered from Klinalvager syndrome. 

 

Narrow shoulders and wider hips.

 

Taller than the others.

 

Less facial and body hair to the point of non-existence.

 

Breast growth and a pitifully small penis (Don't ask how the hell Jheane knows that last one, seriously...)

 

Weaker bones, a very low apparent sexual interest in the opposite sex or, at worst, in the same sex, and pathetic physical stamina...

 

All these symptoms that he was previously unaware of and only realized when he learned about many diseases that Alchemy could not cure for now, Lars had them, shaping his current self.

 

Lars's crimson hair, cut almost to his small shoulders, was so beautiful that it made ordinary women envious, especially since it required no special care to keep it beautiful. His hairless, rather white and slightly pale skin gave him a particularly delicate appearance, especially due to the obvious lack of masculine muscles in his arms.

 

His height, difficult to gauge from his seat, was much larger than most, making him taller than the average man, at least 179 cm. He also had attractive pink lips, which, along with his beautiful emerald eyes, made him especially charming.

 

Adding to the excessive lack of masculine features, at least from Jheane's point of view, is the fact that Lars could easily pass for a handsome teenager of ideal height if he dressed like a girl. Especially with his small, adorable breasts and pitiful body, which can be easily hidden if necessary...

 

He could easily pass for a girl, even right now... Jheane imagined him in the Academy's female uniform.

 

-... Hmm? - Lars looked at her suspiciously when he noticed her gaze - Are you thinking something very rude, Jheane-nee?

 

Wow... She even has our famous feminine instinct! What a cute and adorable little thing!

Jheane laughed fondly in her heart as she responded with what she deemed appropriate, “What could you possibly be thinking about besides the stupidity that won’t leave your head even though I keep hitting you with all my might, Lars-kun?”

 

Lars's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds as Jheane figuratively hit him with her words, her lips trembling at the memory of a certain beating, before he gathered his strength to defend himself and exclaimed indignantly, "But was I supposed to ignore him? That guy was insulting his fiancée's dreams by dismissing them as worthless! How is that supposed to be acceptable?"

 

—Yes, yes, you're upset because Sir Pendragon made the beautiful and defenseless Princess Laura cry, I know. Don't you know you're too weak to pretend to be a knight in shining armor? If Sir Pendragon weren't an immature man, unlike you, being beaten would have been the least of your problems, you know?

 

Lars groaned as if her words seemed ridiculous to him. He exhaled deeply and looked at her again; a strong suspicion emanated from his green eyes.

 

-Because... Why do I feel like you're on that guy's side?

 

Jheane laughed as she crossed her arms, absentmindedly highlighting her enormous breasts. "Am I on his side? Is that what you think, mmh? Perhaps... at least knowing that he didn't beat you up or anything worse, as some other spoiled nobles who think they own the world might have done. Otherwise, I would undoubtedly hate him... but no, he simply taught you a lesson with words that, while scathing from what I heard, were very apt and showed that he was a man magnanimous enough to overlook your disrespect and your recklessness in challenging a high noble like a mere country baron, let alone the only Archduke of this Empire and son-in-law of the Emperor himself. Really... what were you thinking? No matter how much I think about it, you're stupid, little brother..."

 

"Hey! What the fuck are you talking about? That guy looked at me with contempt and told me to my face that I wasn't worth a second of his time!" Lars gritted his teeth at the memory; his eyes, slightly larger than a normal man's, threatened to shed angry tears (at least according to Jheane) at the memory of those humiliating words.

 

What kind of disrespect is this? You're being too rude, Sir Hamilton. Even if you're the son of a mere country baron who barely qualifies as a noble vassal, you should at least strive to maintain your aristocratic dignity at all times so as not to bring shame on your family and treat your superiors accordingly, or you'll simply be no different from those despicable, unedcqf mercenaries.

 

-Ha?! Are you blatantly looking down on me?

 

—Did you notice the obvious…? How wonderful, you are much more perceptive than you seem, it's a miracle I don't think I'll ever see again in my life. —An indifferent voice came from his lips, saying something that, no matter how you looked at it, was an insult to his intellectual depth.

 

-You!

 

Even when he tried to show his anger at his disdain, the other party didn't hesitate to turn away and completely ignore him. Only when Lars asked him how cowardly he was to provoke him and why he wouldn't accept his request for a duel did Arthur deign to look back.

 

-Hmmm – He seemed to think for a few seconds, and answered with a weak smile –... Why are you insignificant?

 

-That!?

 

At that moment, Lars couldn't help but open his eyes in total disbelief at seeing that guy say such a thing to his face, but he didn't bother to at least allow him to process his words that seemed so absurd to the redhead and said in a more arrogant tone:

 

—Aside from the fact that I have no idea why you're challenging me to a duel, Sir Hamilton, I'm not particularly interested in fighting a man as weak as you. It would be a valuable waste of time that could be spent on more important things, regardless of the type of duel you desire. Still, it's not cowardice if you're so weak from the start that the outcome of the duel would already be obvious to anyone with eyes, is it?

 

That infuriated him. Lars told him point-blank that he shouldn't be arrogant, that being an "Awakened" didn't give him the right to be so condescending to others, and he just responded...

 

"You knew of my power, and yet you still defy me? How foolish. You should recognize the difference between our powers before doing something so foolish. If you'll excuse me, I won't waste any more of your time."

 

...or something like that he remembered.

 

Basically, they treated him like someone inferior who wasn't even worth their time. Not because he had a lower status... but because he was so weak and insignificant in comparison!

 

And damn... it's true!

 

The redhead thought ruefully, admitting something he never, ever wanted to say out of his own mouth, even if he was beaten mercilessly like Jheane did later.

 

The guy was the son of the first Archduke in centuries and the youngest Archduke in history, he was also the most powerful noble after the Emperor, some would say more in certain aspects, a powerful episcopal rank as far as he knew... and he was as handsome as the legendary incubi.

 

That he was not superior to Lars, the mere son of an earl whose ability barely reached Peunis rank in any sense?

 

I thought it looked great too...

 

She thought reluctantly as she remembered seeing him walk with unparalleled dignity and poise, his back as straight as a sword and his steps firm and powerful.

 

The man left after saying what he had to say with the presence of a gentleman above all others, and Lars... no, many of those present that day, whether women or even men, could not help but feel great admiration for him.

 

Arthur was full of charm and charisma, something one could only admire, even when confronted. He, too, reluctantly acknowledged it. Of course, and once again... Lars would never admit it in his own words!

 

Especially since he's an idiot who doesn't consider his fiancée's feelings and makes her cry by rejecting her dreams! Mmm!

 

That clearly took a lot of points off his genius, at least in his mind. Well, he wouldn't say it out loud either... Arthur's noble fans, who looked at him like a pathetic animal after that incident, would kill him.

 

I had no proof of it, but no doubts either.

 

-To you, Sir Pendragon may sound like an arrogant bastard, but to me, he's quite kind of you not to leave you half dead, based on what I know of most of the Aristocracy...

 

Jheane waved a dismissive hand, bringing him back to reality. And before Lars could retort, she quickly said, "Also, think about it for a moment, will you? Why would he care about your existence? At least he talked to you, that's pretty good, I think... hehe," she finished with a smile.

 

-What? Do you like it or what?

 

Lars pointed an accusing finger at his older sister, silently hoping it wasn't true.

 

—Yes, I'm incredibly attracted to his sensuality, and I want him to dominate me in bed until I'm satisfied. Whether he treats me like a bitch and fucks me mercilessly from behind with his powerful hips, makes me swallow his cum, or destroys my anus, I want it all, every last drop.

 

Jheane answered without hesitation and sincerity, leaving him speechless. "Perverted woman," she whispered softly, her expression absurd at that level of depraved thinking, and Jheane ignored it because it was completely true anyway.

 

If you were a woman, we would join a party of depravity together with my dear... what a shame... He lamented inwardly for a moment.

 -So, Lars-kun, why did you want to see me?

 

Jheane asked as she closed her eyes, sitting down on the luxurious sofa opposite Lars as the latter's gaze casually wandered around the room.

 

The guest room, the one they both occupied, had a beautiful wooden floor, a marble fireplace, a magnificent golden chandelier with the same mana light used in the rest of the bedroom, and some paintings of very powerful nobles and heroes of the past, looking dignified and majestic. It could accommodate at least ten people.

 

The Avalon Guest Hall is named after the late Third Emperor of the Loveritia Empire, who was the Emperor who had the greatest contribution in helping expand the territory of his empire to what it is today... if we ignore, of course, the current magnificent size thanks to the existence of the current Pendragon Clan.

 

Although it was just a simple room for receiving guests, it exuded a remarkable elegance and richness that you couldn't ignore unless you were used to it.

 

"Oh, of course," patting his legs covered by the white Imperial Academy uniform, Lars gave him a serious look with an attitude that seemed like a matter of life or death. "Is it possible that you can make me... a potion that will help me develop muscles effortlessly?"

 

-Huh?

 

Jheane frowned in disgust despite her better judgment. Why did she want to do something so disgusting?

 

The image of my dear little sister has almost vanished from your sight... And you want me to help you make her disappear? No, no way! I won't!

 

While Jheane mentally shook her head and resisted doing the same in reality, Lars continued waving his hands with a shy smile at her reaction. "I-it's not like I'm asking you now. Only when you have time... and if you can't, never mind, I'll find another way..."

 

"Lars... Leaving aside how brazen it is to ask for something that improves your physique without putting much energy into it, why are you suddenly asking me that?" Jheane expressed her doubts with a certain coldness in her voice.

 

-W-well, look at me... I look like a sissy no matter how you look at it, so building muscle would definitely help me look more manly. - Lars subtly looked away while scratching his cheek with a finger.

 

She definitely couldn't tell him that was the case because the look Arthur gave her, as if he was analyzing her figure and finding it pathetic, was simply so humiliating that she wanted to become stronger so she could never look at him like that again.

 

Definitely not

 

-Sorry, Lars, there's no recipe for a potion that helps with muscle growth, and researching something like that would take a long time...

 

-No, it's okay, you don't have to worry about that.

 

Lars shook his head as he stood up, having no idea that his beloved sister had just lied to his face with a fake expression of regret.

 

I have to stop you from any kind of physical training, Jheane thought shamelessly as she looked at him. It'll be easy, your low stamina makes you give up so quickly when you've tried in the past... I just have to stop you from having access to the Dulcias... Shit! Who the hell came up with that nonsense? My Larissa-chan is getting further and further away and the existence of those things doesn't help!

 

If she had any idea who he was, she might kick up a fuss...

 

-Are you leaving already?

 

"Yes, Jheane-nee," he sighed, shaking his head. "After all, curfew is approaching, and it would be troublesome to let time pass without thinking..."

 

—Ah... I see. Well, be careful...

 

-Okay, see you later.

 

-And Lars...you...maybe...

 

"Hmm?" He turned to look at her curiously, and Jheane regarded him with deep seriousness as she said in a solemn voice, "Have your breasts grown back? They look a little bulging from here..."

 

-...What the fuck!?

 

Lars cursed as he reflexively patted his chest and sighed in relief before shooting a glare at the giggling Jheane, whose lips formed a mischievous grin.

 

Oh gods... Do I need to be reminded that I have two little pimples where there should be a ton of man hair?

 

The effeminate boy felt very sad.