I Favor the Villainess Chapter 204

Published at 29th of October 2020 11:24:38 AM

Magic Chorus

“I don’t quite understand what’s going on, but…… we can’t go against what the apostle said. I will have to teach you as much as I know.”

After the apostle made their exit, Claire-sama and I started on our magic training with Tred-sensei.
We were currently in a vacant lot located right behind the Bauer dormitory.
It didn’t look like there was enough space to practice magic, but sensei insisted that there were no issues with it.
Claire-sama and I pulled out our magic wands and awaited Tred-sensei’s instructions.

“For now, let’s just go over what the apostle said to us. From now on, I will be in charge of teaching you how to accomplish a magic chorus. Just think of it as several different individuals working to recite a single spell together.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Yes…… in theory, at least.”

Doesn’t that basically mean that there were problems with trying to put it into practice?

“Did you know that humans can have different types of blood from one another?”
“I’ve heard of it before, as well as the fact that certain types of blood are incompatible with each other.”

They were probably referring to blood types.
Since this world was still quite underdeveloped when it came to medicine, it seemed that they had not publicly discovered the different types of blood yet.

“It’s just as you say, Claire-sensei. Magical energy works similarly in that it needs to be compatible. In order to achieve a magic chorus, it is absolutely necessary for all of the magical energy being poured into it to be compatible, or else they’ll end up rejecting each other.”

“At worst, it could lead to fatalities,” Tred-sensei added.

“I created a ring that was sealed away in the Forbidden Box that was based on this theory. That ring has the effect of amplifying certain types of magical energy, but if the wearer is not fit to wield the ring, then it will cause them to lose control. It was something that ended up sacrificing my own daughter as well as many different people, only to gain so little in return.”
“Sensei……”

Claire-sama called out to Tred-sensei sympathetically as he mocked himself.

“Well, let’s put my remorse aside for now. Let’s continue. For the magic chorus to work, it is absolutely necessary that you are both compatible. Let’s start by having you two overlap your magical energy with each other.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s do it.”

When Claire-sama and I gave our replies, it reminded me of our days as students at the Royal Academy.
Being like this felt just like how it was when we had our first lecture with Tred-sensei, back before I even adopted Relaire.
Only two years have gone by since then, but somehow, it felt like it had been much longer.
That was proof of just how much time Claire-sama and I have spent together.

“Now then, let’s start by having you two join hands.”
“Like this?”

Claire-sama took my hand.
If this were back in the old days, she probably would’ve said something like, “I would never touch the hands of a commoner.”
Claire-sama has changed a lot since then.

“Please grip them tighter and intertwine each and every one of your fingers.”
“Oh, we’re holding hands with our fingers locked, huh?”
“W-With our fingers locked!?”

I adjusted my hand like Tred-sensei instructed us to do, but Claire-sama seemed a little shaken up.
Even though we’d already become so close that we typically engaged in nightly activities together, just like always, Claire-sama was acting like she was still an inexperienced beginner.
I found that part of her quite cute, though.

“Claire-sensei, I understand how you feel, but this is absolutely necessary. Now then, the two of you must become strongly aware of each other’s existence.”
“If anything, it’s more difficult to not be aware of it……”
“Claire-sama, your hands are so soft.”
“Uwah!? Could you please stop stroking the back of my hands!?”

I mean, since we were given an opportunity to hold hands while locking fingers like this, it’d be rude to not jump at the chance to have my fill of Claire-sama, right?

“Next, try letting your raw magical energy flow through each other’s hands.”
“Okaaay.”
“Wait a minute, Rei! And Tred-sensei, what are you saying!?”

I wanted to get right to it, but Claire-sama suddenly flipped out.

“? Is there something wrong?”
“There’s a lot that’s wrong here. If you try to pour raw magical energy into somebody else, it could cause their health to deteriorate, you know? This is incredibly basic knowledge when it comes to magic.”
“Eh, is that so?”
“You didn’t know!?”

Nothing like that ever came up in the game.
But most likely, it was such common knowledge in this world that there was no need for it to be mentioned anywhere.

“It’s just as you say, Claire-sensei. This normally wouldn’t be doable. My daughter also lost her life in a magic-related accident because of this. But since the apostle is assuming responsibility for anything that happens……”
“I guess there’s nothing else we can do other than to give it a try?”
“…… It can’t be helped then. If, on the off chance, anything happens to us, we’re counting on you to administer emergency treatment, Tred-sensei.”
“Yes. Please leave it to me.”

What we were doing was similar to what Mei had to do back when she opened the Forbidden Box.
It was easy for magical energy that didn’t have any attributes to spread everywhere, so it was a little difficult to maintain control of it.
While being extremely, extremely cautious, I allowed a bit of my magical energy to flow through Claire-sama’s hands.

“…… How is it? Do you feel sick or anything?”
“No, not really. If anything, it feels so warm flowing through our hands, it makes me feel really comfortable.”
“Claire-sama, your magical energy feels really good.”
“Don’t say it like that!”

I mean, that was the truth, though.

“Hmm…… It seems that the apostle was right. Both of your magical powers are fusing quite beautifully. Your powers must be incredibly compatible with one another. If that’s the case, then perhaps accomplishing the magic chorus won’t pose as a problem.”

“Let’s move onto the next stage,” Tred-sensei added.

“Let’s have you try reciting the spell now. The spell can be made up of any of the attributes that either spellcaster possesses.”
“In that case, between Rei and myself, we should be able to use earth, water and fire magic?”
“That’s right. I think it’ll be a bit difficult to control in the beginning, so just start by firing a very simple flame bullet.”
“Understood. Are you ready, Rei?”
“Yes.”

I had never handled fire magic before.
It was a completely unknown feeling to me, so I wondered if it would turn out well……

“Please stick your connected hands out in front of you.”
“Like this?”
“That’s fine. Next, try to imagine forming a flame bullet at the tip of your fingers. The main spellcaster who’ll work off of intuition will be Claire-sensei. Rei-sensei, you’ll be assisting her with it.”

Claire-sama and I struggled while we stood in a position that felt a lot like we were ballroom dancing.
This seemed to be quite difficult.
By the way, one of our pairs of hands was facing behind us, while the hands that were facing the front were wielding our magic wands.

“Don’t try to rush it. Magic chorus is an extremely complicated technique. It’s something that took years and years of study to learn――”
““Ah.””

A flame bullet was fired from the tips of our fingers.
I was sure that I had made an attempt to narrow down the amount of power we used, but the bullet was unexpectedly large and strong enough to incinerate the tree in front of us.

“…… Did you just do it?”
“We did it.”
“It seems like we did.”

Tred-sensei had an indescribable look on his face.
Magic chorus was a technique that took Tred-sensei and his daughter an exorbitant amount of time to perfect.
He must’ve been feeling complicated over just how quickly we were able to put it into practice.

“Well, I’m incredibly pleased with your success. Congratulations, Rei-sensei, Claire-sensei.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you very much.”

But even so, Tred-sensei flashed a smile at us, which was perhaps out of natural virtues.
After he congratulated us, he continued.

“Well, as you may have experienced just now, the magic chorus is extremely powerful. Even a simple flame bullet turned out to be incredibly strong, so just imagine how terrifying Claire-sensei’s Magic Rays or Rei-sensei’s Absolute Zero would be.”

Tred-sensei pointed it out as if he was reminding us not to misuse it and to keep it under control.

“Rei-sensei, you’re able to combine your spells together too, right?”
“Yes, just a few of them though.”
“Since you’ll be able to use fire magic during the magic chorus, if you can, you should try increasing your repertoire by combining some spells together with Claire-sensei.”
“Yes, we’ll do that.”
“Please be sure to practice it.”
“But…… do we have to look like this every time we do it?”

Claire-sama said, embarrassed.

“Eh, do you really dislike it that much?”
“It’s not like I dislike it, but…… it’s incredibly embarrassing.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden…… We’ve done a lot more embarrassing things already, haven’t we?”
“Rei!”
“Hahaha, it’s nice that the two of you get along so well, but please don’t forget that I’m here too, okay?”
“This is all Rei’s fault!”

I mean, if I’m given the opportunity to, I want to play around with Claire-sama.
Lots of serious things have happened lately, so I haven’t had much time to flirt with Claire-sama.

“That’s pretty much it for learning how to perform a magic chorus. Next, I’ll teach you what sorts of spells you can perform during it too.”
“Please do.”
“We’re counting on you.”

Tred-sensei’s lesson went on all the way until the evening.
The magic chorus was undoubtedly our greatest weapon.
I was glad.
However, there were a lot of things that I became curious about.
Why did my magical energy fuse so beautifully with Claire-sama’s?
And how was the apostle aware of that already?

It was only later when my questions were finally able to be answered.

Chapter end