Chapter 205 - The King’s Magic
After that, the council members, for some reason appearing subdued, took turns demonstrating their magic.
I had been eagerly waiting for the light magic. When it came, light illuminated the surroundings as if the sun itself had appeared, revealing the previously invisible depths of the valley floor. They said that using it at night could make the illuminated area as bright as day, but I couldn't focus because I kept worrying about the remains of the water pillar that had yet to fully melt.
Next came the dark magic; the opposite of light magic, which plunged the surroundings into complete darkness as if absorbing all light. As with the light magic, I truly couldn't understand the principle behind the dark magic either. Science offered no explanation.
If it involved manipulating particles of light, I could comprehend that, but since I couldn't even imagine how that worked, I likely couldn't reproduce it.
"What concept does that darkness represent? Did you remove the light from a fixed space, or did you spread darkness into that space? I understand that it differs from ordinary shadows, but in a sense, the darkness of night or indoors is synonymous with shadows. In that case, one could say that the current darkness is essentially being inside a shadow. Perhaps you treat shadows as a substance and sublimated them three-dimensionally into darkness... No, that logic doesn't hold up. After all, isn't it more correct to say that you temporarily removed the substance of light itself?"
"Uh, well... Th-that is, I'm not sure... I mean, f-from ancient times, this kind of magic has borrowed the power of spirits to produce its effects..."
Perhaps because I fired off questions one after another, the thin elf who had performed the magic stumbled over his words as he struggled to explain the concept.
However, his explanation was utterly incoherent. Or rather, he seemed to be using the single statement "spirits exist and help me" as his entire explanation, but that didn't satisfy me.
"...I see. Come to think of it, I've heard that the universe contains something called dark matter. If we consider that you temporarily filled a designated space with dark matter, like filling it with smoke, then perhaps something like that..."
"D-daaku mataa...?"
The thin elf who had performed the dark magic, looking utterly perplexed, repeated my words and glanced around at the others. Then, Glenn walked over quickly and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Now, now... For the time being, you've seen the dark magic demonstration, so how about moving on to the next one? As for me, I'm thoroughly satisfied having seen so many impressive spells in a row."
Hearing that, I nodded in agreement.
"...You're right. There's rarely an opportunity to see such a wide variety of magic all at once. For now, I'll observe as much magic as possible, and if I could research it later... Ah, to the two who demonstrated light and dark magic earlier, I'd like to question—pardon me, I mean, ask you some questions on another day."
When I said that, for some reason, the two council members who had shown me light and dark magic ran off toward the Elder Council group as if escaping.
I followed their backs with my eyes and silently looked at Glenn.
"...I understand exactly how you feel, so I won't say anything."
Glenn said something utterly incomprehensible.
While this was going on, Rivett, who had remained seated in his chair until now, muttered an "Oop" and rose to his feet.
"Well then, I suppose it's my turn next."
Saying that to no one in particular, Rivett lightly turned his head and then rotated his right shoulder. It looked like stretching exercises, but perhaps it was some kind of routine. When I practiced *kendo, I used to make deep breaths and grip checks as my routine, so I understood the feeling well.
[*Kendo (剣道) translates to "The Way of the Sword". It is a traditional Japanese martial art that evolved from samurai swordsmanship.]
He had created a switch within himself to heighten his concentration. Going through a routine mindlessly always helped me transition smoothly into the right mindset.
Meanwhile, as Rivett stepped forward, the expressions of the Elder Council members changed. They tightened their features, determined not to miss a single thing, and fixed their gazes on Rivett's every move. Also, Langus and the others straightened their postures and fell silent. Even Owen did the same.
As expected, the king must hold a special status in the elven kingdom. Everyone showed respect, and I could sense a hint of fear in the air.
Caught up in that atmosphere, Strass, Eliza, and Shenley also held their breath and stopped moving.
Rivett lightly scanned the tense faces before finally stopping his gaze on me.
"...Then, I'll give a brief explanation of the fire magic I'm about to demonstrate. Understood?"
"Yes, please."
I agreed eagerly to Rivett's words, and I saw him give a small wry smile. Then, I heard what sounded like a single incantation, and Rivett raised his right hand in front of his face, palm facing upward. The next moment, a small flame ignited in his palm.
It was as small as a match flame, and pure white.
"Oh, ohhh..."
"That's the king's elf fire..."
Exclamations of admiration rose from the Elder Council members and candidates alike.
Ignoring them, Rivett narrowed his eyes and gazed at the flame.
"...Fire changes color with temperature—dark red, red, bright red, yellow, blue, pale blue, white. Meanwhile, the larger the fire, the easier it is to raise its temperature. In other words, when competing in delicate magical technique, one measure of skill is how well you can achieve the contradictory feat of keeping the fire small while making its color white."
As he spoke, Rivett reached inside his robe. What he pulled out from around his waist was a knife with a palm-sized blade. He took the beautiful silver knife and gently brought it close to the small white flame.
Just before the knife touched the flame, the blade tip ignited naturally and began to change shape. The knife's blade melted as if it had turned into liquid.
No, in fact, the metal had transformed into liquid. The once-beautiful knife lost its form in a pitiful sight.
"Wh-what a flame!"
"Terrifyingly high temperature..."
"Magnificent."
The Elder Council members voiced their impressions one after another. Indeed, the temperature was fearsome. If it were iron, it would liquefy at over a thousand degrees, but I doubted that knife was even made of iron. If it were a metal with a higher melting point than iron, then that small flame must have reached well over a thousand degrees.
Whether Rivett heard the council members' impressions or not, he showed no particular reaction. He extinguished the elf fire and raised his head.
"...Well, that explanation ran long, but now comes the main event. As I said earlier, in fire magic, a whiter color means higher temperature, and a larger size makes it easier to raise the temperature further. So, what would happen if you didn't keep it small like just now, but raised the temperature as far as it could go?"
With that, Rivett curled the corner of his mouth.
"...You'd create an ultra-high-temperature fireball, I suppose."
When I answered, he nodded with satisfaction and began his incantation.
He raised one hand toward the sky, and a smooth incantation resonated. Rivett's voice, as clear as a song, echoed off the valley walls.
I counted six measures. But there was no sign of it ending.
"...Seven measures?"
I voiced my doubt. At the same time, the Elder Council members also began to panic.
"O-Our King... you don't mean..."
"This is the royal family's secret art..."
At the flustered council members' words, Rivett finally showed a reaction. His smile deepened, and he laughed aloud.
"Even if you master magic and learn the highest-level spells, you can't use them freely. How terribly constraining... Today, I'm looking forward to finally unleashing myself after so long. Now, behold the divine flame of the Elven King. Burn it into your eyes."
Laughing with a face full of childlike delight, Rivett spoke the name of the spell.
Immediately after, a fist-sized fireball appeared above Rivett's hand, raised toward the sky. The fireball then floated upward into the air.
But its size didn't change? No, that wasn't it. If it appeared to stay the same size despite the increasing distance, that meant it was actually growing in proportion to the distance.
Gradually, I noticed the fire growing visibly larger. The mass of flames had become enormous, like a new sun. There was a considerable distance between the mountains, yet it still felt dangerous—as if it would keep growing until it became a threat.
It must have been an extreme temperature. The fireball shone with a whiteness that didn't even seem like burning. So that's what happens when the temperature gets too high—it turns pure white.
Bearing that massive flame, which emitted light intense enough to damage one's eyes if stared at directly, Rivett looked at me.
"...This is the limit. If I make it any larger, maintaining it becomes difficult. I don't particularly want to destroy the elven kingdom just to use magic to my heart's content, after all."
Laughing, Rivett raised his head.
"Now then, human mage. What do you think of this flame? Can you defend against it?"
Receiving such a question, I wondered what to do and looked up at the flame. Because Rivett had asked, I could feel everyone's eyes turning toward me.