As the old woman instructed, I carefully brought my hand to the outer line of the magic circle.
As mana spread from my fingertips, the entire magic circle gave off a tingling vibration and began to emit a dark red light.
The light was far darker than before, and deeper.
Like blood boiling in the darkness.
“Huuup…”
The old woman drew in a short breath, then raised her staff.
As mana poured explosively from her fingertips, the center of the magic circle shook violently.
The intricate patterns twisted all at once, then realigned onto precise trajectories and returned to a refined form.
Following that flow, I slowly let mana trickle from my fingertips.
The surrounding air sank into a momentary stillness before the old woman spoke again.
“Don’t slow down. If the mana cuts off, the formation will collapse.”
“Yes!”
I bit my lip and focused.
Each time the old woman’s staff cut through the air, the magic circle gradually changed shape and expanded into a new structure.
Her mana was rough, but precise.
As though wielding a weapon long familiar to her hand, she drew complex trajectories without the slightest error.
“…There. The connecting section is complete. Now we need to open the lattice.”
“…The lattice?”
I asked back, wondering what she meant.
I had never heard of, nor seen, anything like the structure of a magic circle.
“At the center of a magic circle, there’s a lattice that controls the energy. To put it simply, it’s like the stopper of a bottle holding back poison. We have to open it carefully, and I have to suppress the energy trying to overflow from within. If I fail… this brat’s heart will burst first, and we’ll be hurt too.”
“…Seriously?”
“Would I be lying?!”
She snapped irritably, striking her staff hard against the floor.
“The moment I open the lattice, the mana trapped inside will burst out. Block that gap with your mana. Build a wall. If you can’t, the entire magic circle will explode. So shut your mouth and focus!”
Before I could even open my mouth, she seemed to have already finished preparing and raised her staff.
Unlike before, her eyes gleamed sharply, and the flow of mana I sensed over her shoulder had become even heavier and keener.
“Here we go.”
Thud.
The moment her staff struck the floor, the center of the magic circle began to tremble.
Within it, dark red energy surged and heaved as if boiling mud were trying to rise.
Suppressing my trembling fingertips, I concentrated my mana once more.
I couldn’t afford to make a mistake now.
A single moment of wavering could take Bill’s life.
As she had said, there was a distinct flow of mana inside the circular magic formation.
It was like a gigantic circular maze.
And the mana writhing within looked like people trapped inside that maze, searching for an exit.
I didn’t know the exact principles.
But one thing was clear: the moment that flow tried to escape beyond the maze, I had to block the gap.
Perhaps sensing that I was focused, she immediately began opening the “lattice.”
The flow of mana inside the magic circle suddenly started rushing in one direction.
Like the stopper had been pulled from a full tank, the mana surged violently, trying to escape.
Even without an explanation, I knew I had to block its end.
“Hup.”
I drew up my mana and spread it out, imagining that I was building an invisible wall.
There was no physical result, but the rules of this world seemed to allow mana to interfere with other mana.
The pouring flow of mana struck against my mana and stopped.
Like placing a stone atop a rattling pot, the flow quieted for a moment.
But that quiet was not peace without a price.
It felt as though I were blocking a burst dam with my entire body.
From the moment I erected that wall, I had to feel my mind and mana being rapidly consumed.
My breathing grew ragged, and my head spun.
Even though I had only blocked it for a short while, it felt as if the strength was draining from my entire body.
Amid that painful tug-of-war, she suddenly came into my field of vision.
For an instant, I wondered if she had simply dumped the hard work onto me and gotten off easy herself, but I soon shook my head.
“…”
Looking at her expression, it was clear she too was giving it everything she had.
She held her staff firmly toward the magic circle, her lips moving without pause.
Fast, sharp pronunciations.
At the very least, it was not any language I knew.
No, perhaps I had been a fool to expect it to be the same language in the first place.
With a look of intense concentration, she spat out the spell, breathing roughly.
Sweat streamed down her forehead, and tension reached all the way to her fingertips.
…I’m not fighting alone.
Only then did I find, even if just a little, the strength to endure.
After holding on for a long while, the magic circle seemed to change, and dark red smoke began to pour out.
Bill’s body, lying at its center, twitched.
“Ugh… hng…”
As if in pain, Bill opened his mouth and let out shallow breaths.
A sound that could have been a groan or a scream slipped from his throat, and beads of cold sweat gathered on his forehead.
A strange presence rippled, as if something deep inside his body were trying to escape.
At the center of the magic circle, where even a chill seemed to linger, she finished the incantation in a low, deep voice.
“…Sigrel mana aeternum, et occulm ordo.”
The magic circle rippled irregularly.
The shapes carved into the floor trembled, and an ominous energy began to rise.
Dark red light slowly spread, and within it, I sensed something boiling.
“Vefanir Style · Suppression Formula.”
For a moment, all sound vanished.
In the silence, her eyes flashed.
[Static Flow]
And then, as if making a declaration, she spat out the final words.
Bang!
Her staff struck the floor hard.
In that instant, the magic circle began to pulse and ripple as if it had gained a heart.
Green and dark red waves flashed in alternation, and the surrounding air vibrated in time with those pulses.
The scattered wooden crates rattled and groaned, and my hair stirred as if brushed by a momentary static charge.
Wung, wung, wung, wung.
Within it, the raging torrent of magical power swirled and began stretching outward in the form of a seal.
As if resisting fiercely, the mana thrashed madly, but its movements were pinned within the lattice like an insect specimen.
Ziiiiing—
The lines of the lattice slowly narrowed, beginning to constrict the flow of mana.
Along with a vibration like a howl, a thick, sticky energy spread through the air.
Blegh.
“Keheok! Kkeok!”
Bill coughed up blood and jerked.
As the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth fell onto the magic circle, the pattern flickered dark red for an instant.
“Bill!”
Baldik’s cry, like a suppressed groan, came from behind me.
But I couldn’t turn my head.
Even at this very moment, the magic circle was swelling irregularly like a deflating balloon,
and the only thing stopping its outer edge from expanding perilously just before it burst was…
“Krgh—”
…the mana I was pouring into it.
My fatigue plummeted.
It felt as if my mind, not my mana, would be worn away and vanish first.
My consciousness blurred, and I felt my breathing grow rough.
A sensation of mana slowly drying up from deep inside my body.
My limit was already right before my eyes.
Wuuung…
Then, the rampaging mana slowly lost its light, changed color, and all at once came to a stop.
As if someone had covered it with their hand.
Complete stillness.
“…Hoo. It’s over.”
A low sigh came from beside me.
That was right.
We had succeeded.
Only then did I take my hand off the magic circle and collapse backward onto the floor.
My whole body felt so heavy that the coldness of the floor against my face was almost welcome.
When I looked to the side, she too was leaning on her staff, catching her breath.
She spoke less now, but the sharpness in her eyes remained very much alive.
Just then, I heard Baldik approaching.
He, too, seemed unable to relax as he looked around at us and opened his mouth.
“Is it over?”
“…Yes.”
A single word barely slipped out.
Even my voice had split dryly.
As if he understood everything from that one word, Baldik nodded, then carefully watched the old woman out of the corner of his eye as if keeping her in check before approaching Bill.
“Bill! Are you all right?”
“Suu… suu…”
Bill still had not opened his eyes, but his condition was clearly better than before.
His chest rose and fell evenly, and color had returned to his skin.
Without a doubt, the magic had succeeded.
In any case.
This was the first time I had seen real magic operate from this close.
The complex, precarious flows unfolding right before my eyes.
A genuine mage really was different.
I still didn’t have the faintest idea how magic worked or what its principles were,
but at least one thing was clear.
It was by no means easy.
And this old woman, who had pulled it off, was no easy opponent either.
If someone like her had to expend this much effort just to suppress a single damned demon stone…
I was once again made keenly aware of just how dangerous that object was.
At that moment, the old woman leaning on her staff glanced sidelong at me and said,
“Huh. I thought you were nothing but an idiot, but you do have some persistence, at least.”
“…”
…Even though the work was over, her foul way of speaking remained the same.
“It’s really over, right?”
“Tch. Yes, it’s barely wrapped up. Normally, I would’ve had to draw several more layers of magic circles… but thanks to you lot barging in, things got a bit easier.”
Then shouldn’t you be happy?
Why are you only acting annoyed?
Of course, considering what I had seen of her attitude so far, it wasn’t particularly strange.
This person… no, this old woman was not someone common sense applied to in the first place.
“But why did you bring him here of all places? If you were trying to treat him, you could have just… told the kid’s father and brought him along.”
Her temper was filthy, but judging by what she had done earlier, she did not seem like an evil person.
Then why had she gone about things in such a suspicious way?
She glanced at me, then snorted as if I had said something absurd.
“Hm? Why would I do that?”
“…Pardon?”
“Why should I need anyone’s permission? I simply did what was ‘necessary.’ Whether that man knew or not, whether he allowed it or not, none of that concerns me.”
…As expected. She isn’t normal.
I hadn’t expected much in the first place, but I still felt oddly dazed.
Maybe this was what being truly mage-like meant.
After a brief silence, I carefully opened my mouth.
“May I ask your name?”
Even if the other party was acting rough, I decided to use polite speech for now.
From her appearance alone, she was an old woman who stirred my Confucian instincts, and her magical skill was definitely above mine.
If I needlessly provoked her, she might whack me on the crown of my head with that staff.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“…Any ordinary person would be curious, of course.”
The old woman clicked her tongue in displeasure.
“Tch. What a bother.”
Then she opened her mouth as if speaking reluctantly.
“Malay Vefanir. That’s my name.”
Malay Vefanir.
When she activated the magic earlier, the word she had spoken had definitely been “Vefanir” too.
Then… was that not a name, but the name of a school?
Or perhaps magic passed down through a family, something like that?
Whatever it was, this person was clearly an uncommon sort who used her own unique magic.
…Interesting.
I asked cautiously.
“Um… you’re a mage, right?”
Malay furrowed her brows deeply and spat out,
“A mage? How terribly refined. Don’t slap some cheap title those Magic Tower bastards would like onto me.”
She stirred the air with a finger and snorted mockingly.
“Magic is the kind of thing ruined by fools who love giving names to things. Empty-headed idiots like you are exactly that sort.”
…I had only asked one question, but the response came in like a bombardment.
At this rate, if I asked her age, she might insult my ancestors too.
“Then what are you?”
Since she kept acting like that, a blunt tone slipped out of me before I knew it.
But she didn’t so much as blink at that reaction.
Rather, as if she had been waiting for it, she answered firmly.
“A warlock.”
…A warlock?
The warlock I knew was something like the male version of a witch.
Did it mean something different here?
No matter how I looked at the person in front of me, she did not seem to be a “man.”
“…Are you, by any chance, a man?”
At that moment, Malay’s eyebrows shot up.
As if she were genuinely dumbfounded, she even took a step closer, tilted her head, and asked back,
“…What kind of bullshit is that?”
Until now, she had only shown expressions mixed with irritation, cynicism, and mockery, but this time was different.
There was not even anger in her eyes, only deep disappointment.
A look that seemed to say, “Why is someone like this still breathing in this world?”
…Even if a foul-tempered human made that kind of face at me, it didn’t particularly hurt my feelings.
I was simply a little baffled.
“No, the word warlock, as I know it, refers to a man…”
When I cautiously explained, she stared at me for a moment, then let out a faint laugh.
“…You’re not wrong. Yes, that is indeed what the word means.”
Then she lowered her gaze slightly and muttered,
“But I am a warlock. That fact does not change…”
The end of her words sank slightly.
A strangely subtle emotion passed through the corners of her eyes.
Beneath that stubborn and eccentric personality, her expression made it seem as if there was some buried story being held down.
…What is this?
I thought she was just a lunatic, but maybe she’s a lunatic who’s lived a more complicated life than I expected.