Chapter 52 - Running Wolf is Entangled Again

The day after Emily had submitted to Shinji.

On his days off, Alvin continued to receive regular training from Emily. It varied from day to day, but usually took from half a day to a full day of training.

On most of Alvin's training days, Shinji, Milis, and Renka would get together and have sex at Shinji's house. However, as part of their response to being tangled up with a , they all decided to accompany Alvin on his training.

The five of them went out to the outskirts of .

Shinji has sent Freri to monitor the inn where Minato and the others are staying. If there is any movement, they will know immediately. It's also a way to keep an eye out for any unforeseen events like the one that happened to Emily the other day.

"I'm going to go! Alvin!"

"Yes! Master!"

Alvin and Emily began to engage in a face-to-face battle with their imitation swords. The sound of swords clashing against swords, and the sight of the two of them kicking the earth and moving at a tremendous speed while striking each other is too fast for the average person to follow.

"Emily's technique has become quite familiar, hasn't it?"

"Yes. Al-kun became very fast!

Shinji and Milis are sitting on the ground, facing each other, watching Alvin and the others stand there. Of course, they were not merely watching.

Shinji and Milis are releasing magic power from their bodies, colliding in the middle of the two of them and pushing each other. The rules of the game are that the amount of magic released is about the same, and the winner is the one who hits the other's body first, while pushing against each other with some stronger and some weaker magic.

It is said that the more magic power is used, the more it is trained.

This training method is popular among adventurers because it allows them to use their magic while also training their control.

After a while, Shinji's magic power passed through Milis' magic power and lightly hit her head.

"Nn, Shinji-san, you're too strong..."

"Hahaha, I'm not going to lose in terms of control. But I can never beat you in terms of the amount of magic you release."

Controllability is related to the precise control of magic and the efficiency of magic power.

The more magic is released, the more power is added to it. A large amount of magic requires a large amount of release, and Shinji, who has an average amount of release, cannot use it alone.

Milis has a large amount of magic, and is able to use all existing light magic. Of course, this is only if she has the funds to learn all of them.

"That's what contract spirits are for, right?"

"I'm next" Renka said, switching places with Shinji.

The two of them released their magic power and began to push each other.

"That's true, but... I can only use my own magic power when we are separated like today"

If someone has a contracted spirit by their side, they can use their magic by adding the amount of the spirit's magic to their own. In general, spirits are superior in terms of the amount of magic they can release, so if the contracted spirit has an attribute that the contracted spirit is good at, they can use all kinds of magic.

Shinji can also use large scale magic if Freri is by his side. But it's only Freri's power, not his own. That's why Shinji has said publicly that he is not good at large-scale magic.

Once again, Milis was defeated.

"Ugh, Renka-chan, you're getting stronger."

" is all about control, isn't it?"

One more time! One more time! Milis and Renka released their magic power again. Then Shinji is informed by Freri's thoughts.

(They left the inn. Lila is using . If we run, we'll be pursued. Then there's no point in running away.)

"Everyone! is coming. It's impossible to escape since they're using . Why don't we stop training and go back to the city?"

"Seriously, he's totally stalking us..."

"It's a good point. Oh, man. Let's get out of here!"

Alvin is disheartened and Emily angrily starts packing up her things.

After everyone has packed up their belongings, they start walking towards the city.

They took the shortest route possible, and when they could see the gate to the city from a distance, they ran into a group of .

"What do you want today... we're going back to the city..."

Alvin is not going to deal with it properly from the beginning. Minato snickered at Alvin.

"I'm not here for you guys today. I'm going to take Emily on a date..."

"Eh? No, I don't like it. I'm devoted to Shinji... ♡"

The other day, Minato thought he had made her fall in love with him because their eyes met for a moment, but Emily immediately cut him off. Emily is hiding from Minato by clinging to Shinji's back.

"...It's you again...!"

"Well, what's the matter?"

Minato, who thought Shinji had done something to prevent her from being charmed the first time and Freri from falling in love with him, glared at Shinji with bloodshot eyes.

Shinji just cowered his shoulders and didn't say anything. This further provoked Minato's anger.

"I want a duel! You second-rate wizard! Don't underestimate me!"

Minato pulls out his staff and points it at Shinji. Both party members tensed up and got into a fighting stance.

"Are you crazy, this close to the city?"

"Hmm, I think you're just scared! Look, if you can stop the magic I'm about to unleash, try to stop it!"

"No, I didn't say I would take it..."

Minato raised his staff to the sky.

The elves seem to be planning to become a wall to prevent them from interfering with Minato's chanting.

"Shinji! You've got to stop them...!"

"Don't worry, I'll prevent it. Look, over there"

Alvin and Emily are about to charge at Minato to stop his chanting. Shinji pointed towards the city so that the four of them, including Milis and Renka, would understand what was going on.

The guards at the gate seem to have noticed the commotion and are moving around. By this time, Minato's magic power was extremely high.

"If I prevent it from happening, I can easily make the excuse to the guard that I was unilaterally involved"

Shinji took a step forward while smiling at Alvin and the others. He holds up his cane and looks at Minato.

"Take it! This is the affinity magic of Flare and me... !!"

"Really, he's just good for nothing"

Shinji was disgusted by Minato's confidence.

Affinity magic.

It is a joint magic of the contractor and the spirit, which can be used by maximizing the power of the contracted spirit. It is a magic that can only be used if the contractor and the spirit have a certain level of trust and skill. Since the cooperation of the spirit itself is essential, a is a prerequisite.

A huge, complex magic circle unfolded above Minato's head.

Looking at it, Shinji realized something.

"Ah... this magic. Have you ever used this magic in the presence of other wizards?"

Unintentionally, Shinji asked Minato.

"No! Did you think it would be easy to show me my secret technique?"

"Well, that's true..."

Seeing Minato's magic circle, Shinji figured out something and smiled. Thankfully, he made use of it in his future actions, and now raised his staff to prevent magic.

Shinji deployed a triple magic circle, much smaller than Minato's but with a more complex pattern. Compared to Minato's magic power, Shinji's magic power was small. Alvin and the others look at Shinji with concern.

Emily was the only one who didn't worry, and called out cheerfully to Alvin and the others.

"Don't worry. Shinji's affinity magic is amazing!"

"That's the extent of it... I'll stop the magic if it gets past your defenses! Take that!"

It seems that Minato thinks that killing is a bad idea.

His's magic circle shines, then converges and disappears. A beautiful, brown-skinned woman in a red dress, Flare, the fire spirit, appears in the converged place.

"I'm not going to kill you. It's a pain in the ass ~ "

She looked down at Shinji from the sky and lowered her hand.

A huge ball of fire shot from the palm of Flare's hand and fell towards Shinji. It was as if the sun had fallen to the earth.

"Freri "

"...!!"

Freri, who had been summoned with her eyes closed, put her hands on the ground.

A thick stem sprouted from her hand and grew rapidly. The flower opens as it passes Shinji's back. A pale-yellow barrier was stretched toward the sky, colliding head-on with the .

The fireball made a buzzing sound as it tried to push its way through the barrier. Each time the barrier suffered a minor crack, the petals of the blooming sunflower withered one by one, repairing the crack.

"More than this is not good"

is a magic that uses the power of the flower to absorb the magic of the earth and put up a barrier. If too much magic is used to repair the cracks, the land will wither. Shinji wanted to avoid continuing to suck up the magic of the land until it was completely blocked, especially in this location near the city.

Shinji put his hand on the stem of the blooming sunflower. Then he bent the flower to the right.

As the flower moves, the barrier moves to the right, deflecting the path of while still receiving the .

By the time the barrier has moved, the completely deflected has landed next to Shinji. A huge pillar of fire rises toward the sky. The aftermath of the fire was all taken care of by the barriers that were still in place.

"I was trying my best to deflect it, so let's call it a draw, shall we?"

"You...! How dare you treat me like this...!"

"Impressive, my Lord. It's brilliant."

When the pillar of fire had subsided, Shinji spoke to Minato.

Minato is trembling with anger, but Flare is laughing with amusement.

"It's not fair to deflect!"

"Minato-sama is the winner!"

The twin elves were yelling and screaming, but Shinji ignored them and stared at Flare. After all, Shinji could not feel the anger of being prevented from magic.

"You guys!!! What are you doing!!! You will be coming with us!!!"

The guard at the gate shouted and ran. They seemed to have called for backup, and quite a few of them were coming towards them.

Shinji looks at Alvin. Alvin nodded, and the members of and Emily quietly followed the soldiers' lead.

"I'm going home. Then..." (*Note: I -> Mekake (妾) -> Warawa (わらわ) usually used by samurai's wife)

Flare made a troublesome face, and then disappeared.

"Damn it! I will remember it!"

It seems that there is no way to defy the soldiers, and is also taken away. Most of the soldiers were staring at Minato with a vigilant look because they were on the rampage side.

Shinji did not react to Minato's words, and quietly followed the soldiers to the city.

As a result.

Thanks to the testimony of the gatekeepers who had been watching everything from the beginning, the members of the were quickly released.

spent the night in jail and were given a warning and a fine by the guild.

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An information about magic settings.

It takes a minimum of 50 magic power to activate a certain spell.

If someone releases 60, the power increases. If the manipulation is excellent, it is possible to achieve the same power as 60 with 50 magic energy, which is a very efficient image.

As the scale and power of the magic increases, this minimum value increases.

The amount of magic power is the amount of magic power you have. If it is trained, it will increase. So called MP.

The amount of magic power that can be released at one time. The maximum amount of magic power that can be released is determined when the user is born. So-called magical qualities.

Controllability is the skill to move magic power precisely. It can be trained. So-called proficiency.

When a person makes a contract with a spirit.

They can use the amount of magic power of the spirit (treated as shared MP).

If the contractor is close by, the contractor can use magic with the amount of magic power released by the contractor + the amount of magic power released by the spirit (the maximum amount of magic power released will increase).

However, unlike humans, the amount of magic released by spirits differs depending on their attributes (humans have all attributes + 0 (the number differs for each individual). Freri is Earth so +50 Water +50 Fire - 100 Others ± 0; Flare is Fire so +100 Water - 100 Others ± 0)

* The numbers are just for reference.

* Non-attribute magic is a separate category.