Chapter 41: Inherited Feelings

Scattered all around—paper confetti.

A grinning magician shouting like a madman.

“……”

That was the moment when Yuri’s father, Yuma, burst onto the scene. My eyes were instantly drawn to the bundles of research papers he’d thrown all over the place.

Everything written in them was so-called "joke magic."

Magic that made earthen dolls whip you, or spells that sprayed mist to create rainbows—none of it seemed remotely useful.

And yet. My gaze was stuck on a single paper. I couldn’t look away.

“Oh my, Irine? What are you doing picking up something like that…”

A bundle of papers Yuma had brought from home, using them as makeshift confetti.

Among them, one clearly emitted a faint glow.

A gentle, pale, warm light.

“This is…”

That light—without a doubt.

It was the same kind of gentle, heartfelt emotion that the commoner Roppo had shown when she tried to save Princess Rita.

────Can you hear me?

“Yes, I hear you just fine.”

As I held the paper in my hands, a voice rang out clearly.

It echoed with a strange resonance. From the sound of it, no one else could hear it.

…A spirit. Most likely, a spirit was bound to this paper.

────I see. So you can hear me.

“Yes.”

With a soft, bluish-white glow, something appeared in the air before me.

An old man’s face I felt like I’d seen somewhere before. I was certain it was our first meeting, yet for some reason, it didn’t feel that way.

Who was this old man?

────Very well then.

The old man slowly opened his eyes and, with a lifeless expression, hovered there in front of me…

────Please, insult me.

“Begone, you filthy pig.”

────Oohohoooh!!

The old man pleaded with me to insult him like some masochist, and when I reluctantly obliged, he blushed and beamed with joy.

Sakura, seeing me suddenly hurling insults at thin air, gave me a confused look.

---

────It’s been so long since someone insulted me. What a treat.

“Not at all. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

From that short exchange, I realized who this guy was.

Well, he was haunting a paper Yuma had brought in. I had a feeling from the start…

────I am none other than Yuma’s father and Yuri’s grandfather. In other words, I am Souma.

This old geezer was none other than Yuri’s grandfather—the legendary joke magician himself.

“And what brings you here?”

────What brings me here… I suppose you could say I had lingering regrets about my research.

The old spirit shut his eyes, solemn.

Apparently, one of his research papers had left such an impression on him that he turned into a spirit after death.

────No one, no one, ever tried to understand the value of my research.

He continued, his tone tinged with sorrow.

────Sure, some of it was magic made purely for jokes. But this one… this one was real.

It was clear the old man was deeply frustrated that his work was never recognized.

And I realized—I’d seen this particular paper before.

If I remembered right… it was the one Yuri brought in, about “magic that puts you through hardship to promote greater growth.”

────No. That’s not what the magic is really about.

The old man shook his head, rejecting the thought I hadn’t even spoken aloud.

It seemed the essence of this ultimate secret spell—one he’d spent his life perfecting—wasn’t about growth.

A hidden masterpiece of the joke mage, misunderstood and neglected.

“Then what kind of magic is it?”

I asked him.

If I wanted to turn this hopeless situation around, I needed something new. And maybe this “real research” of his was the key…

────This spell drags the user into peril. A magic that lures danger, embraces pain. Growth is only a side effect.

Ah, I see.

So if I use this so-called ultimate magic, I’ll end up in mortal peril.

“In other words, it’s a deranged masochist spell. Utterly useless. Kindly disintegrate, you foul spirit.”

────That’s not it!

Seriously. What a waste of hope, getting excited over a supposed game-changer spell.

All that buildup, and it turns out it’s just some fetish spell to satisfy a masochistic craving.

────Yes, any ordinary mage would find themselves in serious trouble using it. But… if you have that, then it solves everything.

“…That?”

What the hell is “that”?

Is this guy okay in the head? Is he so senile now he can’t speak in anything but pronouns?

No, actually, he was always messed up. And now, senility’s just made him worse…

────As long as you have muscles, this magic poses no issue.

“You are a god.”

What’s this, this old man’s a good guy.

──── Modern magicians just don’t have enough muscle. It’s utterly deplorable, truly.

"You're absolutely right."

──── That’s why they can’t see the true worth of my magic. If only they had muscle, everything would go smoothly.

"Indeed, it is the truth of the world."

──── Oh, you have good insight, young lady. I’d be willing to teach you this secret technique, no hesitation.

So, it was muscle, huh.

Yeah, that’s gotta be it. In this life-or-death situation, the only thing I can do is transcend everything with muscle.

It was muscle after all. Everything revolves around muscle.

──── What an extraordinary thought process. You truly are the embodiment of muscle. Do you perhaps have muscle stuffed in your head instead of a brain?

"I’m honored by your praise."

I’ll trust this old man.

Look at him, this divine figure. Far more godlike than that suspicious goddess who appeared before.

I’ve believed in him from the start. This mysterious, holy old man with such an aura must be the real god.

──── Well, not really a god...

"Thank you so much."

──── I mean, even if you worship me...

The old man slowly began to explain the composition of his magic to me.

At almost the same moment, the roiling torrent of magical power ceased. It seems the enemy’s magic is ready.

That meant the magic’s convergence was complete, and we were about to enter the phase where it would be launched.

──── Hurry up, brainy muscle girl. We don’t have much time left.

I know.

But I’ve only just learned the incantation for this magic.

What kind of magic is this? Is it some magic that makes my muscles swell up 300 million times?

──── That can’t be right. This is an ancient and proper magic that has existed since old times.

"…Oh?"

---

"Bravo, Yuma-sama."

I memorized the incantation.

I understood the concept of this magic with just a brief explanation.

It’s an amazing magic. Until now, I only thought of magic as crude strategic weapons.

I never imagined there was such wonderful magic.

"Irine, what are you doing…?"

"Don’t worry, Sakura-san. I’ll take care of it now."

I calmly faced the magical cannon that was being launched.

If I trust this old man. If I trust the wisdom of the Yuri bloodline, passed down for three generations.

Surely, this magic will save Yowin. I’ll save everything on their behalf.

"I have indeed received it, this secret technique."

The spirit, having taught me the magic, disappeared like smoke.

Perhaps, all along, it had been lingering in hopes of passing on its secret techniques to someone.

"Yuri, your grandfather was never just a gimmicky magician."

A man whose entire life was regarded as a joke.

A pitiful researcher who, even his own descendants couldn’t understand, had his revived ancient secret techniques once again buried in the darkness of history.

"My grandfather to my father, my father to my daughter. The thoughts passed down through three generations, I will borrow that power."

Now, I will call forth that magic.

In a sense, it is the ultimate, that technique. The magic of sorrow that no one understood.

I murmured the incantation, carefully weaving the words together.

—

—

—

“Give applause, Prouditz! Give applause, Prouditz!”

────Why… Why does no one understand?

The old man roared.

The magic he had spent his entire life researching was finally complete.

It had always been his heartfelt wish to present this magic at a conference, to pass it on to future generations.

────No, you don’t understand. This magic has such profound meaning…

His presentation was met with laughter.

No one at that conference could grasp its value.

They dismissed it as just another one of his pervy joke spells.

Crushed by disappointment, the old man trudged home in silence.

“Ye who thirst for victory, Killed Warrior! Blood-drenched fighters, Wannabe a War-n! Raise your battle cries, Howlzem!”

────Old man, that spell’s just not it.

Even seasoned adventurers couldn’t make sense of the old man’s magic.

The problem was, there were no obvious benefits to the spell. If anything, its obvious drawbacks stood out more.

As a joke research project, it had its charm, but as a practical tool, it was useless.

That was the verdict from adventurers hardened by a thousand battles.

────Sure, maybe if you used it right, it could be handy for something. But there’s a mountain of better options out there.

The spell, in theory, had high potential. Used well, it could become immensely powerful.

But likely, there wasn’t a single mage in the world who could make it work in real life.

So said a renowned adventurer, dismissing the spell without hesitation.

“Now then! Here begins the frenzied warriors’ banquet, The Greatest Party! I hereby declare it open—It’s Open Donau!”

Eventually, the old man came to realize something.

It was he himself who had been mistaken.

The research he had dedicated his entire life to was, in the end, just a joke spell born from pushing ahead without regard for others.

His life had meant nothing.

────Like hell it didn’t.

────No one understands. No one even notices.

────But this spell will definitely, someday, save the world.

That silent scream buried deep in his heart was sealed away by his own resignation.

He passed away at the age of 60.

Mocked as a second-rate joke mage, the old man died quietly in his bed, never once understood by anyone—even at the very end, surrounded by his family.

“I offer my vow to the goddess of battle—Swear the Goddess of Battu! My fighting spirit is pledged solely to my body—And Swear My Body!”

—

—

—

“A spell that seals magic, you say?”

“That’s right. This spell creates a space around me that nullifies all magic.”

…Is this really just a joke spell?

“Within this space, neither I nor my opponent can use any magic at all.”

“Even you can’t use magic?”

“Indeed. It’s a barrier that renders magic unusable, no matter who the caster is.”

Yes. The ancient spell the old man resurrected was, in fact, a barrier that sealed magic.

“And what merit is there in that?”

“No matter how powerful a mage my opponent is, I can fight them in hand-to-hand combat.”

“…You do realize we’re mages, don’t you?”

A mage had created a spell that sealed away their greatest strength—magic.

To an outsider, it must have looked nothing short of sheer idiocy.

“All you need to do is train your body. Build your strength, use this spell, and challenge your enemies in close combat.”

“Ridiculous. How could we possibly beat a warrior in a physical fight?”

“You’re just putting yourself at a disadvantage!”

The spell, once announced as the greatest invention of the century, was met with harsh criticism from the scholarly community.

“What’s the point of casting a barrier that nullifies all magic in the area?”

“A mage abandoning their own strength—what’s the use in that?”

“The spell demands too much magical power and is too complex for a warrior to use. It’s utterly useless.”

“This is something only a masochist would enjoy.”

…They might have been right.

And yet, the technology itself was revolutionary. The old man tried to explain this to everyone, but in the end, no one understood.

“…Ancient arena, Antique—now bloom in all your glory, Colosseo.”

…How frustrating. How deeply frustrating.

True, it didn’t offer any obvious advantages.

Its applications were limited, and in the wrong situation, it could even be a handicap.

…But still, this magic—

“This is a spell that someone devoted their entire life to.”

…This magic, into which I poured my everything—

“A secret art born from prayers that continued even beyond death, believing it would one day save everyone.”

…In theory, it was the most powerful—

“Because in theory, this is the ultimate—”

Muscle noblewoman Irine raised her hand high.

To reclaim the pride of the old man who had been mocked all his life.

If the attack coming her way was magical in nature, then there was no way to break through this barrier.

Because this was a defensive spell specialized solely in nullifying all magical interference from any and every spirit.

It was, without a doubt, the ultimate—

“Anti-magic defense barrier.”

…And then, the monstrous magic cannon was unleashed.

An overwhelming torrent of magical energy, enough to completely annihilate the city of Yowin and still be overkill, surged forth like a floodgate burst open.

“…Here I go.”

But—however.

That merciless blast from the demon would never reach the city.

“What the—!? Wh-What is this!?”

“An earthquake!?”

Blue magic surged and spiraled around the noblewoman.

“OOOOOOOOOOHH!!”

The girl raised her hand high, staring straight into the enemy’s spell as she let out a mighty roar.

Her scream became a chant, and with a rumble from deep within the earth, something blue and translucent rose up all around.

“…Could this be—a barrier?”

The Hero of Demon Flame stood in stunned silence, muttering as she faced a spell unlike anything she had ever seen before.

A radiant wall, shining with aurora-like light, stood firm against the approaching inferno.

Indeed, the barrier was clearly deployed with a single girl at its center.

“Wh-What is happening!? What is going on here!?”

“…A wall?”

Visibly, it was a translucent blue barrier.

Etched into its surface were figures of ancient warriors who had once fought in a long-forgotten coliseum. It radiated the timeless beauty of an ancient age, captivating all who laid eyes on it.

“Irine! What is this!?”

“Exactly what it looks like, dear.”

“Exactly what it—No it’s not!! What are you doing, Irine!? Inside this barrier, we can’t use magic!”

“Precisely.”

Only Aldebaran immediately sensed the disturbance and cried out in alarm.

The realization that all her magical power—the very foundation of her strength—had become unusable struck her like a blow.

“Aldebaran, you’re absolutely right. This barrier is—”

---

Immediately after that, the aurora struck the barrier head-on.

The brilliant light spread like ripples across glass being splashed with water, scattering and dissipating as it was swallowed into the barrier like mist.

“…What!?”

Irine’s barrier didn’t even tremble.

Of course it didn’t—this barrier was created for exactly this purpose.

“This is…”

“This barrier allows absolutely no interference from magical energy. As long as the enemy’s attack is magic, they won’t be able to get so much as a speck of dust into the city."

This was the ultimate anti-magic barrier.

It was the life’s work of a man once mocked as a joke of a mage.

“This is your grandfather’s magic, Yuri.”

“…I see. So this is what it was. No wonder they laughed at him… To present a spell that kills mages, to mages themselves… My grandfather really was uncompromising.”

Truly magnificent. A spell after my own heart.

Inside this barrier, not even body enhancement magic can be used. Only pure, physical strength is allowed in combat.

According to Yuri’s grandfather, this magic was originally used in ancient arenas to prevent cheating with magical doping.

In other words, within this barrier, you can challenge any enemy to a fair fight of pure muscle. All the more reason to keep up with strength training.

“I see… So we’ve been saved, then.”

“…Opportunity often follows crisis. The enemy took quite a bit of time to prepare their third shot.”

“Yeah… you’re right.”

“Well then, let’s leave the rest to him.”

With that, my role was finished.

All that remained was to leave everything to him.

Far off in the distance, we saw the rising dust cloud closing in on the demons’ artillery position—
and we knew then that victory was ours.