Chapter 37

The World Is Small—That’s for Sure
I arrived at the practice hall inside the mansion to receive practical magic training from Fritz Arcland, the head of the Westland Magic Division.
When I got there, I found the commander and a boy about my age sulking while waiting.

"Canal, this is the lord’s son. Greet him properly." Fritz said, grabbing the boy's head to make him bow.

"Is he your acquaintance, Commander Arcland?" I asked.

"He’s my sister’s son. He was recently discovered to have two attributes during his magic evaluation, so he will be practicing basic magic and water magic alongside you, Young master Reinhardt."

Ah, so he’s the kid who was shouting during the magic evaluation.
People say the world is small, and they’re right.
But from the way he’s sulking, it’s clear he didn’t come here willingly.
That’s a little annoying.

"Canal, wasn’t it? During the evaluation, you said something like, ‘I want to be a knight, so having earth and water magic is the worst.’ Even though in this frontier land, those attributes are the most useful. Are you still not satisfied?"

"It’s not that, but..."

"Then what is it? Earth magic is essential for defending the fortress and villages near the Sea of Trees. With earth and water magic, you can cultivate barren land. Both can be used for offense and to protect the people. They’re practically omnipotent."

Canal suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.

"Earth and water magic can be used for offense and to protect people... is that true?" He asked in a loud voice.

That startled me—my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

"Earth magic can be used for both offense and defense. And you can make good use of water magic too. If you learn to combine them, your attack power will increase even further."

"Young master Reinhardt, what kind of offensive methods are you referring to for earth magic? And how do you combine it with water magic?" Commander Arcland seemed intrigued and asked me.

Wait, does that mean no one has thought of this before?
Oh well, I’ll just explain.

For earth magic offense, imagine an earth version of an ice needle spell.
If sharp spikes suddenly rise from the ground, they would be highly effective during a monster outbreak.
If you launch hardened earth, you might be able to use it like an air shot or water shot.
If you can form walls, then you could also create boulder-like projectiles and drop them onto monsters.

That said, in our army, which prioritizes resource conservation, anything other than a shotgun-like spell would likely be reserved for emergencies.

For a combined earth-water spell, you could turn solid ground into mud to trap enemies and slow them down.
Then, by extracting the water from the mud, you’d harden it again, immobilizing them—making it much easier to finish them off.

When I finished explaining, the two of them stared at me, dumbfounded.

"Commander Arcland… did I say something weird?"

"No, these are all practical and highly effective against monsters. This will be a blessing for earth magic users—I mean, we will make sure they learn these techniques. And using the properties of earth and water for monster hunting… it’s eye-opening. I don’t know if Canal would be able to do it yet, but we should definitely have other mages with earth and water attributes learn these spells."

Currently, only knights who are master swordsmen enter the Sea of Trees alongside earth magic users.
On expeditions, earth mages were mainly tasked with reinforcing fortress defenses, creating temporary cages for captured monsters, and assisting with cooking and other support duties.

If earth magic could be used offensively, more mages could accompany expeditions into the Sea of Trees.
Additionally, patrol units would be better equipped to handle emergencies—strengthening the knight order overall.

Oh no… I did it again, didn’t I?
Well, if this strengthens the Knights Order, I guess it’s fine.
I’ll just use this reasoning to smooth things over with Father.

"I'm sorry.” Canal suddenly bowed at a full ninety-degree angle.

Apparently, his paternal grandparents' village had been severely attacked by a group of orcs and goblins.
His grandfather only suffered a broken leg, but there were casualties.
He had spent a lot of time in that village and was deeply shocked by the destruction.

That’s why he wanted to become a knight—to reduce such tragedies.
During his magic evaluation, he yelled out in frustration without thinking.

But after hearing me say that his magic could be used to achieve his goal, he realized how wrong he was—both about his attitude toward me and about underestimating his own power.

"I’ll dedicate myself to learning everything that can be done with earth and water magic. Please teach me everything!" He pleaded.

Um… I’m still learning magic myself, though?
Shouldn’t you be asking someone who has already mastered earth and water magic?

"Let’s train together every day!"

… Nope.

"I’ll come here every day!"

… Twice a week at most.

What do you think about this chapter?