CHAPTER 39………………………
039. Constraints and Seals
Busy—no, that word wasn’t nearly enough.
“Next!”
Of the 322 members, only two remained without a Mark.
Everyone except Ronan and Barent had to be inscribed.
“Next!”
I barely had a moment to breathe.
I didn’t even spare time to go to the mess hall. Instead, I had Hogg bring meals to my quarters.
Even then, I sometimes only managed two meals a day.
“Next!”
“P-please, at least take a short break…”
“No time for that.”
“But you’ll… collapse if you push too—”
“I’m fine. Next. Bring the next one in.”
Hogg wasn’t just bringing my meals.
He also kept the soldiers lined up in order, ushering them in and out according to schedule.
When he absolutely had to leave, Hagen took his place.
“Line up! Line! If you cut in, I’ll erase whatever Mark you’ve got and start you from scratch!”
Sometimes even Ronan and Barent came to help them.
Thanks to that, managing the flow of soldiers went smoothly.
“Are you all right?”
Barent, carrying my food in Hogg’s stead, asked cautiously.
“You must be burning through your circle’s mana…”
“This much is fine.”
I gave a short laugh and ruffled his hair roughly when he kept staring at me in worry.
Unlike the others, Barent, who had formed a circle himself, could faintly sense my mana.
And because he had made his own circle, he knew well how hard it was to keep one replenished faster than the Marks drained it.
But Barent didn’t know.
That I had already reached the Fourth Circle. That my total mana was nearly ten times his.
And on top of that, I had the privilege of [Magic].
Running out of mana simply wasn’t possible.
“Most of the Marks aren’t sophisticated, so the drain isn’t that bad.”
“Well, yeah. Except for the magic unit.”
Barent nodded in agreement.
The state of the Marks on the soldiers was awful.
Someone like Hogg might have tried to patch his up with brute force, but some had no hope at all.
In those cases, I simply erased the Mark entirely and engraved a new one—just enough to raise their total mana.
They couldn’t cast spells, but at least they could channel mana.
“Inefficient, but better than nothing.”
“Still, by tomorrow we’ll be almost done.”
“Tomorrow is when it gets harder.”
“Oh… because of the magic unit?”
“Correct.”
I patted his head.
“They’ll need proper spells inscribed. That’ll take far longer.”
“There’s nothing I can… do to help, right? I haven’t even reached the Second Circle yet…”
I flicked him lightly on the head.
“Go study. What you need more than reaching the Second Circle is learning how to actually use and adapt the spells you already have. Got it?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
He pouted but stood up.
He was the only one besides me who could wield magic properly.
If he pushed himself, he might even reach the Second Circle before the subjugation began.
“…That’s wishful thinking.”
Of course, only if we had the luxury of time.
“All right, no time to waste! Next one in, hurry!”
Days blurred together in the chaos.
Finally—
“At last…!”
I threw both arms up and collapsed flat onto the floor.
“It’s overrr!”
“G-good work, sir!”
“Impressive.”
Hogg and Ronan, standing side by side at the doorway, spoke.
Hogg even clapped his huge hands gently.
“Now every member is at least a Double-Chain!”
“Not everyone. There’s me and Barent.”
“You two don’t count.”
I clicked my tongue at Ronan for raining on the moment.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you adding more to Hogg?”
“Hogg’s fine as is.”
“…Fine as is?”
At Ronan’s question, I sat up.
“Remember how I said a Mark fixes mana in place by forcing it through a spell?”
“No.”
He shook his head without hesitation.
I was sure I’d explained this several times already…
“You’re definitely not cut out to be a mage.”
“Just explain.”
“If you cram in more mana than the body can handle, it risks going berserk. I told you that.”
Hogg’s Marks were and .
Both were simple enchantments, using nothing but the foundation of “Imbuement.”
Because they were so basic, the mana poured directly into raw output.
And I had inscribed them myself—boosted by the privilege of [Magic].
Hogg’s fixed mana already exceeded the others.
It rivaled Gardner’s, who had become a Quad-Chain—or perhaps even surpassed it.
But that was only possible because Hogg’s natural physique was exceptional.
“There’s no need to push him with another Mark.”
“I-I’m fine, really.”
Hogg held no complaint.
Part of it was his modest nature, but also—he knew his own body best.
He still hadn’t perfectly mastered controlling with , and he was well aware of that.
“Anyway, how about you? Progressing well?”
“I wanted to ask you something, actually.”
“Me? Not Captain Siruela?”
“Do you know what responsibility comes with being a knight?”
“That’s obvious, it’s—”
I stopped mid-sentence.
“…Wait. Did the Captain ask you that?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re doing well.”
“What?”
Ronan tilted his head, puzzled.
“He said once I figure it out, I’ll be able to manifest Aura.”
“I could tell you. But even then, it wouldn’t matter. You have to find the answer yourself. That’s the important part.”
“…I see.”
Ronan sighed.
Siruela’s words meant his skills were already honed enough.
And truly, he no longer lost in sparring against Gardner.
Now he just needed real battle.
Through it, Ronan would become a true knight.
It would still take time, though.
“Good. Then this works out.”
“What does?”
Ronan narrowed his eyes at me.
“I’ve got a task for you and Hogg.”
“A task?”
“M-me too?”
“Yes.”
I pulled myself up with effort as I answered them both.
The engraving was done.
Now it was up to the soldiers to adapt to their Marks.
Three requirements to subjugate the Calamity of the Snowy Mountains:
Strengthening our forces, which was mostly complete.
Increasing manpower, which was impossible.
And lastly—high-level magic.
For that, I had to reach the Fifth Circle.
Normally, there wasn’t enough time to gather the mana needed.
Even absorbing mana through [Magic] wasn’t enough—my body simply required too much.
“You plan to find more mana stones?”
“Can we… hunt more monsters?”
“Unlikely.”
Despite continued searches, we hadn’t found anything worthwhile since the Echofang.
“Finding that one was already a miracle.”
“Then what else is there?”
“Of course there’s another way.”
I had said the normal way was impossible. I never said there was no way.
“That’s why I went through all that trouble reaching the Fourth Circle.”
I clapped my hands together.
Wuuuum.
The four circles resonated with mana.
“<One by one, the links entwine, infinite potential bound in chains, shackles that cannot reach the sky.>”
As I chanted, blue light flickered at my chest.
It twisted into chains, wrapping around my clasped hands.
The light solidified into cuffs around my wrists, binding me tightly.
“<The river that does not flow, the sea without waves, the deep calm of the sunken abyss.>”
The resonating mana stilled, fading as though it no longer existed.
“<An oath spoken, a vow written—this is the constraint I bind to myself.>”
The chains and cuffs glowed brighter, sharper.
“<Upon the scales that do not tilt, I place the fragments of chains, and shatter the balance.>”
I lifted my hands slightly and spoke the activation word:
“<Sigillo.>”
Fwooom!
The chains of blue light flared with dazzling brilliance—then vanished.
In their place, thick lines remained tattooed around my wrists.
“W-what was that?!”
“What have you done?!”
I grinned at their alarm.
“Nothing much. I sealed my magic.”
Sigillo—a spell that binds its target with a constraint, sealing certain actions.
Normally, it’s used to silence someone, preventing information from leaking.
The key is, the constraint must be chosen by the target themselves.
If the caster tries to impose it by force, the seal won’t hold.
The harsher the constraint, the stronger the seal.
That’s why it’s often used when demanding life-or-death trust.
“This time, I cast the constraint on myself.”
“…You’re not explaining enough.”
Ronan scowled.
“So why seal your magic?”
“To gather the mana I need to reach the Fifth Circle.”
When used on others, the seal ends there.
But when cast on oneself, the seal brings compensation.
The longer the seal lasts, the greater the reward.
“Then… you really can’t use magic now?”
“That’s right.”
“Not forever, though. How long?”
“I can break the seal whenever I choose.”
At that, they both looked relieved.
“But I’ll hold it as long as possible.”
Otherwise, there’d be no point in doing this.
Sigillo could be cast even at the Third Circle.
But I had waited until the Fourth to ensure a stronger constraint—and thus a greater reward.
“So how long…?”
“The longer, the better.”
I answered Ronan firmly when he pressed with irritation.
To reach the Fifth Circle, I needed at least as much mana as it had taken up to now—maybe more.
Every time, it had cost more than the calculations suggested.
Without the Echofang mana stone, I never would have reached the Fourth.
“By next winter.”
That was the shortest time I calculated necessary.
“I won’t break the seal until then.”
A summer subjugation would be nice, but there simply wasn’t enough time to prepare.
Even reaching winter would be a stretch.
“In the meantime, I can’t use magic. So you two…”
I looked at them both.
“…will have to protect me.”
