Book 1: Chapter 2: The End of Monicas Happy Slow Life (1/2)

———What is the difference between ”magic” and ”spellcraft”?

This is a basic problem that any aspiring magician will see at least once in their life.

To put it simply, magic is ”making some phenomenon happen by exercising mana”, while spellcraft is achieving that phenomenon by using a method. And the method of using mana can be called a spell.

A spell refers to exercising mana by weaving a magical formula through chanting.

In the first place, magic is not the exclusive domain of humans. Spirits, dragons, and the now endangered species known as magical beasts and demons also can manipulate mana. They are born with a natural ability to manipulate mana, so they do not need to go through the process of ”weaving” a formula. That's why chanting is not necessary.

For example, dragons, depending on their species, can fly freely in the sky and breath fire from their mouths.

Both of these phenomena are caused by mana, but do dragons bother to chant when they fly or breathe fire?

The answer is no. Dragons do not need chanting because their race is proficient in manipulating mana.

So, only humans, the only beings who cannot use magic without composing a magic formula by chanting.

In short, humans unable to use magic without chanting.

However, there is one genius girl who made the impossible possible.

Her name is Monica Everett, a shy girl who can't talk to people properly and has shut herself away deep in the mountains, and one of the Seven Sages, the [Silent Witch].

Spellcraft can be classified into three categories: advanced, intermediate, and lower level, with advanced spell taking 20 to 30 seconds, intermediate spell taking 10 to 20 seconds, and lower-level spell generally taking 3 to 10 seconds to chant.

While not every magic formula, Monica can perform about 80% of the techniques without chanting.

The biggest weakness of magicians is that they become defenseless while chanting. So, it goes without saying that the time spent chanting can be the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

Some advanced magicians use shortened chanting (quick spell) to cut their chanting time in half, but even so, Monica is the only one who can do chantless (no spells).

That's why, two years ago, at the mere age of fifteen, Monica Everett was chosen as one of the Seven Sages, the highest level of magicians in the country.

This is a very simple and straightforward story of how such a genius girl came to master Chantless Spell.

Being extremely bashful and shy, Monica was unable to speak properly in public.

It's still better when she's dealing with Annie, but when she's in front of someone she didn't know or the type of person she didn't like, she would become so convulsed that she couldn't even speak. In the worst case, she would either throw up or collapse. Of course, chanting was something she would never be able to do.

At the time, Monica was on the verge of dropping out of school after failing her practical exam due to her inability to chant.

Then Monica thought about it.

She was too nervous to chant in front of the examiner. Then, why can't she just use her magic without chanting?

Normally, she would have tried to overcome her shyness and aggression, but Monica's ideas took off in a completely different direction, and to everyone's surprise, her talent blossomed.

And so, for a rather trivial and not at all inspiring reason, Monica mastered the Chantless Spell and became one of the Seven Sages in no time at all.

Indeed, her effort has completely ended in an unexpected direction.

＊ ＊ ＊

Calming her shaking hands, Monica made the coffee using the same procedure as in the morning and placed it gently in front of her guest.

”P-P-Please h-have a d-drink.”

”That's an unusual extraction method, isn't it? Thanks for the drink.”

The beautiful-looking guest sat down on the chair Monica had prepared for him while sipping his coffee. As for his maid, she was standing behind him

His thin eyebrows furrowed and his purple-gray eyes glared at Monica behind his spectacles.

”This bitter coffee seems to have been boiled down with malice, is meant to harass me?”

”Hiiiieeek, I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorrryyyy!”

”I've traveled a long way to the depths of the mountains, and now I'm being treated like this. Isn't this just a bit exessive?”

This man, who is a co-worker of Monica, is also one of the Seven Sages.

His name was Louis Miller, the Barrier Magician. He was twenty-seven years old, ten years older than Monica, but since he became one of the Seven Sages at the same time as Monica, he often got the same treatment as her.

Louis was a handsome man who looks delicate when he's not talking, but he is also an extremely fierce magician who boasts the second-highest record for killing dragons alone. He has also served as the leader of the Magic Corps and was feared by the members of the Corps for his shrewdness.

Anyway, it would be horrible to make him angry, so when Monica placed the glass of water in front of Louis, she was trembling with fear.

”U-um… M-May I a-ask what y-your business is t-today?”

Louis took a sip from his glass of water and turned his attention to the woman in the maid's uniform standing behind him.

”Lynn… put up a soundproof barrier.”

”Certainly.”

The moment the maid called Lynn nodded her head, the sounds in the area around the cabin suddenly disappeared.

The sound of the wind, birds singing, and all other sounds from the outside are isolated from the inside of the cabin.

Nero, who was pretending to be asleep on the shelf, shivered his beard uncomfortably and looked at the woman in the maid's uniform with golden eyes.

She was a tall, slender, beautiful woman. However, her well-formed face was expressionless and somewhat doll-like.

The reason why she was able to set up a ward without chanting was, precisely that she was not a human but a high-ranking spirit. There were only about ten magicians in the whole kingdom who have high-ranking spirits as their followers.

In other words, having a high-ranking spirit as your follower was a kind of status for a magician.

”Miss Monica, why don't you make a contract with a high-ranking spirit? I think that would help you gain some credibility.”

”I-I have… a-already got an excellent familiar with me.”

Nero on the shelf wagged his tail, nodding his head in approval.

Louis took one look at Nero on the shelf and snickered as if he had noticed Nero's presence.

”It's quite a cute little familiar.”

At his somewhat mocking murmur, Nero made a clear ”meow” sound.

”Well, anyway, let's get down to business. I've come here today to ask you for a favor.”

”…a-a favor?”

When Monica made no attempt to hide her wariness, Louis smiled graciously, crossed his white-gloved hands, and rested his chin on them.

”Yes, actually, I've been guarding the second prince in secret for the past month under the orders of His Majesty.”

”Huh?”

Louis's words made Monica widen her eyes.

In this country, there were three princes with different mothers.

Prince Lionel, who was twenty-seven years old, Prince Felix, who was eighteen years old, and Prince Albert, who was fourteen years old—as to which of the three would become the next king, the nobles in the country have different perspectives.

Monica was not interested in this kind of power struggle, so she only knew about it from what she heard from others, but according to rumors, the first and second prince factions were almost equal in number, and the third prince faction was slightly outnumbered.

Among the Seven Sages, there were those from the First Prince faction and those from the Second Prince faction. And this ”Barrier Magician,” Louis Miller, was a prime example of the First Prince faction.

So why was that Louis has been ordered to guard the second prince? Monica's eyebrows furrowed in discomfort.

”U-Um… Louis-san, you're, from the First Prince's faction, aren't, you?”

”Yes, so why did His Majesty give me an order to become the second prince's personal guard? I have some thoughts about it, but it would be inappropriate to speculate about His Majesty's will, so let's not do that here. What's important is that His Majesty ordered me to protect the Second Prince without being noticed.”

Not to mention how difficult it is to protect a person without the target noticing.

Why did the king give an order to Louis, a member of the First Prince faction, to protect the Second Prince?

Why does it need to be kept unnoticed by the second prince?

To Monica's confusion, Louis continued his words without hesitation.

”As I mentioned earlier, His Highness Felix is currently attending Serendia Academy, a prestigious boarding school. So, in order to protect his highness without him noticing… Well, it would be reasonable to infiltrate the school, but that school is under the control of the Duke of Crockford, so it would difficult.”

Duke Crockford, the maternal grandfather of the second prince, and was one of the most powerful men in the country and the leader of the second prince's faction. To put it simply, he and Louis were like water and oil.

It was unlikely that Louis would cooperate to become his secret bodyguard.