Chapter 38

Ask Maria
Pulling myself together, I, along with the Mage Corps Commander Arcland, practiced magic in a hands-on session.

We started with moving mana within our bodies.
Focusing my awareness on the area around my navel, I felt a faint warmth—proof that I was sensing mana.
The next step was to practice circulating that mana throughout my entire body.

I focused my awareness on my navel and felt the faint warmth.
Now, I needed to circulate the mana through my whole body.
I figured I could do it by imagining blood flowing through my veins.

Hmm… I lost focus halfway through and couldn’t manage to spread it properly.
It kept cutting off abruptly~

When I mentioned this to the commander, he said he would transfer his mana into me so I could get a feel for it.
Holding my right palm, he sent his mana into me.

The faint warmth began to flow through my body, only to suddenly vanish.
Then it came back, flowing through me again.
This process was repeated several times.

I think I got a rough sense of it.

Canal, on the other hand, couldn’t circulate his mana at all.
The commander repeated the process with him, sending and stopping the flow of mana, until Canal, too, seemed to grasp the concept.

We were told that it usually takes anywhere from three days to a week to reach this stage, so our progress in just one day surprised him.
With that, today’s lesson ended.

Now that our studies were over for the day, I grabbed a book and headed to the greenhouse—only to be stopped by Henry, who led me to my father’s study.

Inside, I found Commander Arcland waiting.

Ah, this must be about the earth magic discussion from earlier.

“Hardt, Arcland told me about the effectiveness of your earth magic. It sounds like something you could master with practice. Do you have any other spell ideas?”

I don’t even know what magic exists and what doesn’t yet, and my studies are just beginning.
But since I had assumed everything I spoke about earlier was already known and in use, I shared my thoughts on the matter.

Father let out a sigh and said,

“Whenever you think of something, tell Arcland.”

With that, I was dismissed.

He seemed utterly exasperated, but I ignored it and continued on my way to the greenhouse.

While running around the mansion as part of my physical training routine, Brother Gerald called out to me.

I asked why he was out at this hour since he usually ran early in the morning. He told me he was in the middle of Ripka’s flight training.

Looking up, I saw Ripka flapping his wings.
His body was still mostly orange, but hints of vermillion were starting to appear.

Apparently, he could no longer fit inside Brother Gerald’s pocket.

I asked how Ripka spent his time in Brother Gerald’s room.
He said the bird either slept on a cushion by the window or perched on the back of a chair.

When I asked why he hadn’t set up a perch for Ripka, he just said, “What’s that?”

I explained that birds usually perch on trees and that he should create a similar environment for Ripka in his room.

I also mentioned that training Ripka to relieve himself only while on the perch would make cleaning much easier for the maids.
If they placed a sheet with deodorizing properties beneath it, it would make cleanup even simpler.

High-rank magic beasts cannot properly convert what they consume into mana while they’re still chicks, so they expel waste like regular animals.
However, once they learn to control their mana, they can fully convert everything they eat into energy and no longer need to relieve themselves.

That’s why Atre doesn’t produce waste.

I suppose we could just feed Ripka mana instead, but he loves fruit and sweets, and Bianca enjoys eating the same food as we do.
It would be cruel to deprive them until they master the skill.

“Does something like a deodorizing sheet even exist?”
“I don’t know. You should ask Maria.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then have Maria make one.”
“Got it. I’ll go ask Maria right away.”

With that, Brother Gerald turned and ran off.

“Brother Gerald, the perch isn’t something Maria can make for you~” I called after his retreating back.