The Returnee Wants Peace

“…What?”

Sir Nox asked a beat late, but no answer came.

Instead, magic rushed in.

Woooong!

Sparks that had risen from all directions suddenly swelled and shot towards him.

He barely avoided it, feeling its presence like an approaching tidal wave, but the attack didn’t end there.

Swish-

Flames dancing lightly captivated his eyes.

What followed was an attack from the vine beast, which happened to be swinging this way.

Sir Nox, who noticed it belatedly due to focusing on the flames’ movement, hurriedly created a shield, but he couldn’t avoid being flung to one side.

“Ugh!”

Overwhelming.

This was the only word he could use.

Of course, if comparing just the total amount of magical power, no one could match him. Her cultivated magical power wasn’t even a tenth of what he possessed.

However, Roshanak Aper made up for that difference with her control.

Without using time-consuming grand magic, she did it solely through multiple casting.

Whoosh-

Long stems made of fire seemed to bind his fallen limbs, then divided into small bubbles like soap bubbles and exploded with time differences.

The sparks spread in the air then rose up suddenly, pouring down like rain as if the atmosphere was circulating.

The movement of magical power changed so rapidly that he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Nox, who had layered thick shields around his body, watched her movements.

‘What’s next?’

It was interesting. He was subtly looking forward to it.

His Majesty the Emperor had bestowed upon him enormous magical power and numerous spells, but Nox didn’t know how to use them properly.

All he knew was to output the magic in his head as it was.

That alone could produce tremendous firepower, and there was no major problem in breaking the fifth trial alone.

But this…

“…Beautiful.”

The battle of a magician who never gives an opening.

It was like listening to beautifully composed, intricate music.

Flower petals fluttered under the round full moon, and magical power danced at her fingertips.

Rosha moved her hands without being shaken by any external shock.

Sometimes gently, sometimes boldly.

Like a conductor leading an orchestra, the flames, said to be humanity’s greatest discovery, changed their form moment by moment according to her intentions.

They bloomed like gorgeous flowers, floated in the air like dandelion seeds, gathered above like clouds and then poured down like rain.

It was an incredibly fantastic sight.

[A magician’s creativity, the intuition to realize it, magical power control, improvisation and decisiveness. Additionally, you must consider harmony with the surroundings. Only when all of these align can one be said to have reached mastery.]

Suddenly, a passage written in a magic book owned by someone called Marquis Lycaon came to mind.

At first, he couldn’t grasp what it meant at all, but seeing the fantasy unfolding at her fingertips, he vaguely understood.

However.

Magic wasn’t just fantastical.

Swish!

Nox hurriedly turned his head at a spear of fire that suddenly flew from the air where sparks were floating like fireflies.

It shattered his shield and burst the thick stem that was approaching from behind with a bang.

“Lady Roshanak! Great! That’s amazing!”

“My goodness, how can she aim so well at that speed?”

The conquest party magicians using fire magic against the vine beast gaped in awe.

In fact, Rosha was dealing with Sir Nox, but due to the distance and the obscuring fire and vines, the situation wasn’t clearly visible.

“L-let’s try too.”

“Yeah! You in front, dodge well!”

They supported the swordsmen who had stepped forward while straining their eyes to observe the vine beast’s movements.

Thanks to Prince Nardil’s efforts at the forefront, they were able to grasp some of the beast’s attack patterns. The magicians at the rear were also responsible for relaying this information to everyone.

“Area attack! Dodge to 3 o’clock!”

“Watch out for the green seeds that just fell!”

“Fall back, I said!”

Amidst the thunderous shouts mixed with magical power.

Nox hurriedly dodged the spears of fire shot by Lady Roshanak.

Though he had been able to endure without injury thanks to his shields, his magical power wasn’t unlimited.

As his shields gradually thinned, small wounds began to appear on him one by one.

“Are you just going to keep dodging?”

“But I want to get along with you and I can’t attack you. His Majesty also said to get along.”

“And you still intend to kill them?”

“Yes.”

Her face grew even colder.

In fact, even without His Majesty’s words, he wanted to get along with her, but the situation wasn’t allowing it, which was frustrating.

‘When I see her magic… it’s like being drawn into a fantasy.’

It was interesting, and he looked forward to what would come next.

His heart, which had always beaten slowly, was now pounding at an unprecedented speed.

‘Is this what it feels like to be excited?’

For Nox, Rosha was the first peer (?) friend introduced by His Majesty.

Considering that in his seven months of life, the only people he had seen were His Majesty the Emperor, Count Nigel, researchers, and the old head butler, this was a very encouraging thing.

Moreover, His Majesty had allowed him to go outside the capital. He had been out once before, but this was the first time with people.

-Lady Roshanak is someone who has agreed to cooperate with us. We can’t fully trust her yet, but she’s clearly a capable talent. I hope you get along well if possible.

His Majesty said he could kill her if she interfered with the work, but he didn’t want to easily kill the first friend he met.

‘I should get along well.’

He tried hard.

When he had time, he would loiter around her, and when she was teaching magic to the conquest party people, he even gathered the courage to advise that it would be useless.

He even offered to turn a blind eye to up to three people she wanted to save from this place, for her sake.

It was his own decision, without asking His Majesty’s permission.

But she got angry despite that.

Boom!

The air heated up intensely and another area-wide magic unfolded.

This couldn’t be avoided.

The iron mask was violently blown off by the strong wind.

“Ugh!”

His silver hair fluttered from the sudden impact, and his head rang.

But right after, magical power surged from all directions.

It was a sign of grand magic, but the magical power didn’t gather towards her.

“Oh no…”

All the magical power she had scattered in the air until now shone at once, summoning a massive spell.

A dragon with scales gleaming smoothly like red-hot iron and a huge burning horn appeared.

The dragon opened its mouth wide towards him and charged straight on.

It was unclear when she had prepared this, and its sudden appearance was bewildering.

“Kugh…”

Nox drew up his magical power to the maximum and used a defensive spell.

However, its completion was far from enough to face grand magic.

Ripples appeared in the eyes of the one who had only massive magical power but had never experienced such a versatile battle.

‘No.’

Though he had spent time without any desires until now, suddenly he felt the urge to live.

He wanted to live.

But in front of the huge dragon wreathed in flames, he was an infinitely weak being.

As the dragon quickly shattered the silver shields and was about to swallow him in one gulp.

“…!”

Suddenly-

Lady Roshanak’s face filled his vision.

Her hair fell on both sides of her face.

Perhaps because of the flames, her hair looked like it was shining a bright red.

Only after seeing flower petals fluttering belatedly did Nox realize that he was now lying in the flower field.

‘Did she save me?’

He couldn’t grasp the situation.

As their eyes met, she asked:

“Just now, you wanted to live, right?”

He nodded. Yet he could only gaze at her endlessly.

‘…Beautiful.’

Flower petals and sparks fluttering all around enveloped her.

Explosion sounds kept coming from behind, and the waves of magical power emanating from her, perhaps due to the grand magic’s aftermath, were utterly enchanting.

How wonderful it would be if this beauty were mine.

Unaware of his thoughts, Rosha continued:

“It’s the same for everyone here. You have no right to take that away from them. Do you understand now?”