Nao’s melancholy

Meanwhile, here's a story from around that time.



　――Take care
　Hearing those words, Nanase Nao could only stare at Akira's back as he bowed his head and walked away.

"……Haa."

　I finally became strong enough to help you, Ichijou.
　With those true feelings about to spill out of her mouth, Nao let a sigh escape instead.


"……Well. What Ichijou said makes sense."


　Nao muttered, rubbing her right arm.
　Thanks to 『Auto Regen』, the bones in Nao's right arm were slowly healing over time.
　Although it was slow, she could move again, and although she felt pain, the intense pain that had pierced her entire body just after defeating the werewolf was no longer there.
　However, Akira was right. She felt that with her current abilities, she would not be able to fight while protecting someone else.

　Last night, she was protected by Akira.

　While the power of the enhanced magic had become so great that it could be called a one-hit kill, there was a limit to the number of times she could activate it.
　If she repeatedly used magic in a single battle, her body would become so exhausted that she would be unable to move.
　If that happened, it would certainly be a hindrance to those fighting alongside her.
Even though she had raised her 『Physical Strengthening』 level, Nao did not have the strength to aggressively fight her way forward. By raising her physical strengthening level, she had finally become capable of minimal self-defense without relying on anyone else.
　That's why, with her right arm out of commission, it was impossible for Nanase Nao to protect someone and fight at the same time.


(Can't be helped, I guess.)


　Nao sighed again, muttering to herself.
　Then, slowly closing the door, she sat down on the bed and decided to resume the magic training she had been doing until Akira came to visit her.

"Torchlight."

　Nao muttered, pointing her fingertips.
　Then, the light at the tip of her finger gradually grew larger, floated around Nao, and eventually stopped in midair, away from her fingertips.

"…………"

　Nao stared intently at the sphere of light and concentrated, pushing her strength deep into her abdomen.
　Then, the light sphere that had been floating gently began to slowly circle around Nao.
　The speed was incomparably slower than the movement produced when Torchlight was activated, but it was definitely the same movement that Nao had imagined.


　――――Perhaps it is possible to control magic that you cast yourself.


　Nao had just thought of that a moment ago, when she remembered that she had been unable to stop her own magic when she activated “Create Water” yesterday.

　As Akira said, if magic is activated by flowing magical power through one's own “Magic Circuit,” then in theory, it should be possible to stop magic from being activated by controlling the flow of magical power.
　With that in mind, Nao immediately began training to control her magic power.
　Having said that, it was not possible to actually activate Create Water and practice. If the water couldn't be controlled, it would continue to overflow, and in no time the room would be flooded. That said, she couldn't try it with Shock Arrow either. If she tried using Shock Arrow, it would end up making a big hole in the wall of the room.

　Therefore, the only magic left to practice controlling her magic powers was Torchlight.


　The results showed that it was possible to control the magical power.


　Until now, Torchlight was just magic that made balls of light float in the air, but Nao realized that by focusing her consciousness on them, she could make the balls move, albeit slowly.
　Nao intuitively sensed that this was happening because she was controlling her own magical powers, although she did not understand the principle behind it.
　So, in order to get used to controlling magical power, her first goal was to be able to manipulate the Torchlight's spheres of light at will.


"…………Haaaー……"


　Eventually, when the sphere of light had circled Nao's body once, she exhaled deeply, as if she had exhausted all her strength.
　The ball of light stopped in midair again, as if in sync with Nao.
　Nao stared resentfully at the light sphere floating in the air, then collapsed onto the bed.


(Well, it's not that easy after all. It seems to be moving a little better than before, but…… I guess this is something you can do in no time once you acquire the 『magical power manipulation』 skill.)


　Nao said, complaining in her mind.
　When she earned a large number of points thanks to Akira's “Return from Hell” scenario, she looked through the list of skills she could acquire.
　What surprised her was that as the number of points required to acquire a skill increased, the number of skills available decreased.
　While there were more than fifty skills available for acquisition by consuming five points, the number gradually decreased to around forty for seven points and around thirty for ten points. Once the number of points required exceeded thirty, the number of skills available for acquisition was in the single digits.

　Among them, Nao's eyes were drawn to magic-related skills such as 『Magical Power Perception』, 『Magical Power Manipulation』, 『Activation Delay』, and 『Magic Range Increase』.

　Although only seven points were required to acquire magical power perception and manipulation, the other skills required a considerable amount of points, with 30 or more needed.
　She had earned 100 points from the scenario, but she felt uncertain about acquiring those skills.
　Furthermore, even if she acquired those skills, it was unclear how useful they would be in combat.
　As a result, after much deliberation, Nao decided to improve her existing skills and enhance her current fighting power. In other words, it was about acquiring the skills to fight right now.
　By increasing her magical power, the Shock Arrow's power was increased, making it a weapon capable of killing with a single strike.
　However, the fact that there was a limit to the number of times it could be activated was an oversight on Nao's part, but that was something she couldn't have known at the time.


(For now, let's just raise the level of 『Magic Circuit』…… The next skill I want to learn is 『Magical Power Manipulation』. Well, let's think about that later.)


　Nao sighed softly to herself.
　Then, Nao got up again with renewed determination and began training to control her magical powers, staring at the light sphere that was still floating in the air.




　――Since then, how much time has passed?

　Nao, who was lying in bed, woke up to the sound of knocking in the room.

(……I fell asleep without realizing it.)

　Looking out the window, she saw the setting sun painting the western sky red. Apparently, she had been asleep for a few hours.

(I slept quite a lot.)

　Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes.
　At that moment, she noticed that her right arm didn't hurt, which made her eyes widen slightly.

(――――It doesn't hurt. Which means......)

　She moved her right arm gently. ……There was no pain.
　Even if she applied force, there was no problem. Apparently, all the damage had been healed by 『Auto Regen』.
　At that, Nao smiled faintly, just as the sound of knocking echoed through the room once more.


"Oh, right. Who is it? Could it be Karube-san?　――――Come in? "


　Nao quickly combed her hair with her fingers and exclaimed.
　However, the knocking continued.
　The sound, which rang out regularly and intermittently, continued to echo with a certain sense of rhythm, as if waiting for Nao to appear.
　Hearing this, Nao frowned in confusion and raised her voice again.


"Come on in!　It's open."


　At the sound of her voice, the knocking stopped.
　However, once again. There was a knock on the door.


"…………What is this? "


　Something felt off.
　Perhaps you could call it a premonition.
　The reason being that no one here would ever engage in such mischievous behavior.
　Karube would have called out and opened the door, and Akira would have done the same. Who on earth would do something so strange as to keep knocking until someone comes out?

"…………"

　Slowly, Nao got up from the bed.
　Just in case, she kept the iron sword Akira had given her in her hand.
　Then, she paused for a moment in front of the door.
　She grabbed the door handle and opened it with all her strength.


"――――Hey, good day. Actually, good evening, I guess?　……Hmm. Does it really matter at this point? Anyway, it's been a while since yesterday. Do you remember me?　Young lady? "


　A person stood in front of the door.
　It was the man they were supposed to have parted ways with at that apartment building――Arthur Noah Hyde. 

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