Chapter 131
“Then at least change the flavor!”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
Flavor? What a joke. I can only make strawberry jam anyway.
“To summon an ancient elemental spirit, you need two abilities. First — a huge amount of magic power, enough to attract the spirit’s interest. Second — the fine control to manage that magic precisely. The first is entirely a gift you’re born with. The second can be learned through effort.”
Winter bit the tip of his finger and began to draw on the floor with the drop of red blood that formed.
“You were born already meeting the first condition. So all you need is to master the second, and you’ll be able to summon a spirit.”
Circles and triangles overlapped in a messy way before gradually becoming neat lines, forming a clear pattern. It looked exactly like a magic circle. Winter pointed to it.
“You must send magic into these thin lines. But it can never spill outside the lines, and every line must receive exactly the same amount of magic. Ancient spirits are picky — if you can’t manage at least that, they won’t even respond.”
[Spirit? You’re going to summon a spirit?! Why does the master even need those stuck-up things? None of them are even close to the greatness of me, Raglia!]
Ignoring Raglia’s jealous whining, I placed my finger at one corner of the magic circle.
I closed my eyes and followed the path of my magic as it flowed through my body. It circled around and returned to what mages call the “second heart,” the magic circle inside the body.
‘This is hard…’
It had been less than a month since my magic circle awakened and I realized I had magical talent. Just keeping up with the flow of magic was still a struggle.
“Think of it like pressing the end of a hose with low water pressure to keep the flow steady. That should make it easier,” Winter advised.
I took his advice to heart and whispered carefully:
“[Release.]”
A hot energy suddenly rushed through me.
[Don’t you dare go around saying you’re my student!]
When I opened my eyes, the magic circle Winter had drawn in blood was burnt black.
And not just that — the entire floor in front of my finger had turned black too.
“You overdid it. You have to control it much more delicately.”
“…Let me try aga—”
Ah.
Damn it…
***
From then on, I spent every time-loop practicing magic control with Winter while waiting for death.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
“You’re doing worse than last time. You’re losing focus,” Winter said.
The thought that a blinding white light might strike at any moment made me impatient. I kept flinching, worried the wall might explode, and my attention kept scattering.
Once the thought I’m going to die soon got into my head, the pain of death came before I could shake it off.
Whenever that happened, I looked at Winter’s face.
Sometimes I even thought, Maybe I’m already dead and in heaven, which was a ridiculous thought — but it kept me grounded.
Like that, shock therapy helped me barely keep my mind together through loop after loop. At some point, I lost track of how many times I had returned.
Agrisen? Oh, he was probably dying just fine on his own. I had no energy to worry about him.
“Hey!”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
The moment I woke up in another loop, I muttered the spell out of habit.
“Hey!”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
“Talk to—”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
“Wait—”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
“U-ugh.”
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
Then, in one loop, while observing the situation, my bracelet suddenly spoke:
[Master, did you just kill that mage?]
“Huh? No. He’s just killing himself over and over.”
[Hmm!]
Raglia’s casual question spread like ripples in my mind.
Was Agrisen dying from choking on my strawberry jam, or was he killing himself on purpose?
If it was the first… did that mean I was killing him?
Dozens, maybe even hundreds of times?
That thought made me look at Agrisen for the first time in a while in the next loop.
“Hey, Cat Butt—”
Agrisen was talking to me. Probably nonsense, like always. But now I realized he’d been saying something to me in previous loops too.
Had I been killing him without noticing? But he’d been trying to kill himself before…
At some point, the order had flipped. Was I the one killing him now?
“Murder.”
That word hit my chest like a stone.
This time, Agrisen looked at me and his lips trembled as if to speak.
But he stopped, staring right into my eyes.
“Heh…”
The almost-pleading look on his face suddenly vanished, replaced with a slow, twisted smile.
It was like he was enjoying my confusion.
My own expression twisted slowly, like someone burned by hot oil.
He was mocking me.
Right in front of me, he spat out blood again.
But before it could even hit the floor, his head flew off —
And then everything went black.
***
“He’s always liked playing these kinds of tricks,” Winter said, pulling me out of the prison.
“He was always a snake, but after ten thousand years, he’s rotted inside. Don’t forget — he’s the one who caused this situation.”
Winter drew another blood-red pattern on the floor.
“So focus on this pattern…”
Then he lifted my chin, making me look up at him.
“…and on this face.”
Surprisingly, my mind cleared. Light returned to my eyes, and Winter leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
I bent down, touched the pattern — I could almost draw it with my eyes closed now — and said:
“Thanks. Seriously, that face… wow. It’s a shame, though.”
“What is?”
“Well, I can look at your face and instantly feel clear-headed, but who does your grace look at to feel that way? I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if someone as good-looking as you had beauty by your side?”
Clearly, I was still a bit crazy, but thanks to Winter, I was motivated again to focus on training.
“My older brother looks exactly like me. He’s exactly fifteen years older. I often wonder if I’ll look the same in the future. Of course, I’ve never survived that long before.”
The Emperor of the Northern Empire, Glass Orcheus.
People always praised how much Winter looked like him — though, technically, it was Winter who looked like the Emperor.
“The only difference is my brother has slightly curly hair. Back then, just looking at him made me feel good. I thought, ‘If I survive, my future face will look like that.’”
…Curly-haired Winter Orcheus?
The thought made me speak without thinking:
“[Re…lease.]”
When I opened my eyes, instead of another burnt-black circle, a faintly glowing red magic circle awaited me.
Had I… succeeded?
‘A curly-haired Winter Orcheus…’
I’d wanted to see that someday — but to succeed this way?
I looked up in doubt. Winter’s eyes had widened slightly in surprise.
“As I’ve said before, desire for beauty often leads to unexpected results. I didn’t think this would really work…”
“So you mentioned the Emperor just to motivate me?”
“I only mentioned it as a shallow thought… but it seems to have worked.”
Winter blew lightly on the magic circle.
The glow vanished, and it returned to the dark-red pattern.
“Don’t forget that feeling you just had. Want to try again?”
“Release.”
Ah. Failed this time.
As the sense of death started creeping closer again, Winter restored the circle and spoke like he was thinking aloud:
“My brother’s face is so youthful that even at his age, people once rumored he bathed in the blood of young men.”
“[Release.]”
…
…
…Success.
