Chapter 497: The Duel (2/2)

After briefly increasing her output to 50%, she rushed at Lucas at a speed close to Mach 1. However, she came to a sudden stop about 1 meter in front of him.

But…

Rushing at a speed just below the speed of sound had created a lump of compressed air in front of Reiko. Then, by suddenly stopping in her tracks, the compressed air mass separated from her and continued to move at the same speed while expanding.

It was as if a giant speaker had vibrated only once while producing an incredibly low pitched sound.

Since it wasn’t actually magic, it had been severely dampened and it could really be used only at a short distance, but this mass of air struck Lucas. It was similar, if not a bit more potent, than the Wind Magic spell “Wind Blow”.

“Uwaaah!”

As a result of taking that at point-blank range, Lucas was sent flying about 20 meters away before falling to the ground where he fainted on the spot.

“…I hope I didn’t go too far.”

“Lucas!”

Shion’s worried voice resounded. Reiko rushed to where Lucas had fallen to take a look at his condition.

“…Father!”

Seemingly concerned about something, Reiko quickly called Jin, who also rushed towards Lucas.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Please take a look at him with ‘Analyze’.”

“Hm? Okay. ‘Analyze’.”

Then, Jin’s face went pale.

“W-What’s this?”

The flow of magic in his body was completely abnormal.

“This didn’t come up during his ‘Diagnose’…”

When Lucas’s body was examined with medical magic, he seemed to be no different from a normal human being, but a clear difference was made evident by using ‘Analyze’. That is his flow of magical power.

Normally, magical power would circulate in the body like blood, but in Lucas’ case, it didn’t. Rather, it felt as if it flowed out from one point in his body and then gathered itself back again.

“Shion.”

“Y-Yes?”

Failing to come up with a good explanation for that, Jin called Shion.

“In exchange for Lucas’ rudeness, could I ask you to allow me to use the ‘Analyze’ spell on you?”

“Uhh…”

Shion’s face changed color. However, he quickly made up her mind and nodded.

“Understood. …Go ahead.”

“Thank you. …’Analyze’. …Hmm, this…”

According to its result, Shion was no different from any other human being.

This meant that while Lucas was very similar to humans and demons, he was actually a different kind of creature.

“Um, Lord Jin?”

Rather than trying to come up with an answer himself, Jin decided to ask Shion directly.

“Tell me, what exactly is Lucas? He’s from a slightly different race from you… right?”

Hearing those words made Shion’s face turn pale yet again.

“…You’ve figured that much, haven’t you? …I should’ve expected that from the Magi Craft Meister…”

Shion hung her head down in dejection.

“Yes, Lucas isn’t exactly a demon. It would be more accurate to refer to him as a ‘Servant’.”

According to Shion’s explanation, in the Land of the Demons (for the lack of a better term, since their territories weren’t divided into countries) there were both “Demons” and “Servants”.

Like Lucas, all members of the servant caste were dark-skinned and had identical brown hair. And they all had brownish-dark eyes.

“Lucas is only 5 years old.”

“What!?”

“Those from the servant caste grow at an accelerated rate. He became my personal attendant only last year, so I don’t have a tight grasp on his reins yet. Please take that into consideration when dealing with him.”

“Understood. Reiko, how’s Lucas’ condition?”

“…He just fainted. He should be recovering consciousness soon.”

Just as she said that, Lucas groaned and opened his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Reiko asked him that just to make sure. Lucas got up slowly and placed his hands on the ground in front of Reiko.

“I was completely defeated! You’re much stronger than me!”

Then he turned towards Jin and lowered his head.

“My apologies! I now fully understand the true ability of the Magi Craft Meister!”

Then, he turned towards Shion.

“It’s exactly as you said, young lady. The Magi Craft Meister will definitely save you and your people.”

After returning to Nidou Castle, Jin handed Lucas a glass of Pelshika juice.

The magical power consumed by the match was restored, and Lucas regained his energy. There didn’t seem to be any injuries on him other than some scratches, so Jin healed them with “Cure”.

“Well then, you must be pretty tired, so wrap it up for today. I’ll leave Ruby 101 here, so please let her know if you need anything.”

Ruby 101 was quite adept at offensive magic, especially of the flame attribute, among golem maids. And she was also able to use Paralyze, so she was the right choice for both guard duty and surveillance.

In addition, Lands 16 and 17 had been called from Hourai Island, and were standing beside Ruby 101, hidden under the mantle of Invisibility.

Jin’s next move would actually begin starting from the following day thereafter.

Using the Warp Gate in his own room on the castle’s 5th floor, Jin went to Hourai Island.