NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51 - Episode 51: After the End of Frim's Otherworldly Water Magic and the Party.
Episode 51: After the End of Frim’s Otherworldly Water Magic and the Party.
What I made wasn’t a Western dragon, but an Eastern dragon.
With a long body, large head, big eyes, small limbs, and splendid scales… a design of water with a pearl in its mouth.
As it circled around me, it gradually grew larger, forming a shape.
Following my practice, once I made it big enough, I floated it in the air and walked through the gaps of astonished people.
There’s a reason for this. It’s to show that I’m not being assisted by other mages from behind.
I hadn’t planned to summon ice… but I decided to do it this time, also as a signal to the humans in our group that I’ll do my best. The dragon illuminated by flames looked three-dimensional and must have appeared fantastical.
The mechanism is simple. I can’t create ice itself, but I can change the temperature of water to some extent… supercooled water. Water that’s been cooled too much sometimes doesn’t freeze if it has few impurities. However, just a slight impact can cause it to freeze. It takes quite a bit of magic power, but by pouring supercooled water into vertically arranged containers set up in the venue, ice pillars were created.
——I hadn’t planned to go this far.
I had been practicing several spells, but I hadn’t intended to do something this flashy. However, even though nobles from other factions were saying “Congratulations,” “It’s wonderful,” “We support you”… their expressions and whispers were saying otherwise.
“Not that big of a deal.”
“Just a commoner.”
“Jormungand will soon…”
“That little girl has no future, right?”
Whispers deliberately spoken loud enough to be heard, coming from nobles who were supposed to be saying cheerful words. I might look like a little girl, but I get it, you know? A new faction, a dubious faction seemingly formed only by bloodline, maybe even the bloodline itself is dubious. Most of the people here haven’t even seen my magic. But as they say, seeing is believing. Not everyone has seen the traces of destruction Frim left against the assassins.
“Please move slightly back from the center.”
However, I can’t move the water more than five meters away. Once water is generated, if it moves beyond a certain distance, I can’t control it anymore. So, within that range, I made it as large as possible, and yet gracefully floated it.
While being mindful of the distance, I sent ripples of water around me, lightly circling the venue…
“”
From the pearl in its mouth, I made the dragon in front of the raised torch breathe fire.
“Ohhhh!?!”
“Is this Jormungand?!!”
“Aaaahhhh?!”
“What… is this…?”
It’s easy to produce hydrogen and oxygen just like producing water. However, the farther they are from water, the harder they are to control, and once hydrogen and oxygen are created, they can hardly be manipulated. So, I made the inside of the dragon a hollow structure and filled it with oxygen, hydrogen, and air. By manipulating the water, the air inside the dragon’s body is pressurized and blown out from the tip of its tail. Of course, since the tail shrinks from the tip, it doesn’t look good, so I have to increase the amount of water from the tip of the tail while manipulating it. It was incredibly difficult to manipulate the operation, water generation, and adjustment of the flame at the same time. I struggled with trial and error many times. It shouldn’t burn out instantly and explode, and if the firepower of the breath becomes too strong, the dragon’s head will distort. It was tough practice. It was difficult to determine which burns more easily, oxygen or hydrogen, from the ratio of normal air and oxygen and hydrogen. I almost set the mansion on fire.
Just this, it’s a magic show for festivals… like a kind of performance or acrobatics.
The range of water magic is limited to about 3 meters, but my 5-meter range is quite wide. The difficulty of generating water or manipulating magic decreases the closer it is to oneself, and if it goes beyond a certain distance, the water just falls to the ground. So if you want to do something farther away, using a water spear that releases compressed water or shooting water balls wrapped in oxygen, for example, would be more efficient choices.
This isn’t usable in combat. Fire mages can manipulate magic over a much wider range. If this magic were to collide with fire magic… it would be like having a bomb nearby for Frim, and even if it’s not fire, if enough impact is applied to the surface or if there’s a source of fire nearby—Frim would end up completely charred.
However, surely my perception will change by showcasing it at the party. By manipulating water to a decent distance, it may be seen as wind attribute magic, and summoning a dragon out of nowhere to breathe fire might be seen as fire attribute. Considering the dragon itself is made of water, it might even be seen as three attributes. Add ice to the mix, and maybe it’s four attributes. So, did I manage to fulfill the theme of “looking strong” a bit?
—
“Isn’t that too much.”
“Sorry.”
Although Professor Ael praised me as expected, it seems it was too much from the king’s perspective. The prime minister also looked troubled. The sun was setting, and it was time to disperse, but the king decided to stay overnight. There were others who had eaten too much and wanted to stay, but due to security reasons, only the king and his party were allowed to stay.
The king seemed full and went straight to bed. Then, he called me over for a little lecture. He was wondering what would happen if such obviously spirit-assisted magic went out of control, or if the knight order would target Frim in anticipation of such a situation, or if someone would get close enough to reach with a knife, or if Frim would respond to the summons of the Riaum faction’s lackeys… Oh, and that the tart was too delicious. I almost blurted out, “Your handsomeness is being ruined,” or “If you feel sick, I’ll bring a bucket,” but I held back, knowing he wasn’t saying it out of anger but for my own good.
“Goodness.”
“Could it be that Your Majesty was helping me?”
I asked as his anger subsided. Perhaps there was a reason he had been called repeatedly to help with cutting the tart.
“Well, yeah, but more importantly, Frim. Seems like you have trouble remembering noble names.”
“Huh? Yes.”
The king chuckled a bit, indicating a change of topic and that he had been helping in some way. But… huh? I thought I greeted everyone today without any mistakes? Sure, I’m not good at remembering names, especially foreign ones, but…
“The king’s, I mean, say my name.”
“…Is it Shaltor Vainoa Rina Baylros?”
“It’s Chaltoru Vainoa Ria Ruuna Obeiros! Obelos is the name of a country, so how can you get it wrong?! I admit it’s long!”
“Yeeheeheehee!”
My cheeks were pulled on both sides. …The lecture continued until Professor Ael entered the room.
—
My slightly reddened cheeks were cooled with ice… Professor Ael seemed exasperated. Well, the king’s name is long. I was told to just call him Charles if I can’t remember. Anyway, I need to encourage our people and the knights who will be pulling all-nighters. Some couldn’t even eat the tart they wanted.
“Thank you for today. Please enjoy your favorites.”
“Thank you!”
I loaded the carts with food and distributed them to each knight in the mansion. The knights guarding the king were of noble descent, and even though Frim-chan was called a count, she was still a nouveau noble. They might have more power than me. My boss in my past life always gave gifts like this and was promoted. Although in modern Japan, gift-giving culture like Ochugen felt a bit like bribery, it was normal in this world. It’s okay to give money when our lives are at stake. We discussed with Boss how much money to give, but Professor Ael vetoed it. It’s like I’m going to poison Charles in the future? No.
(Note: “Ochugen” (お中元) is a traditional Japanese custom of giving gifts, typically in midsummer, as an expression of gratitude or goodwill. These gifts are often given to show appreciation to family members, friends, or colleagues)
Since it might be bad for security reasons to eat the same thing, if they refused, I distributed water on the spot to everyone. I’m full from tasting for poison.
I’m grateful to the knights for their help today, but… maybe among them were acquaintances or friends of my parents. I can feel their kind eyes too.
Even though the party was over, our kitchen was still a battlefield.
“Oh, um, is Prime Minister still eating? Is he okay?”
“Oh, that person, he’s a special case.”
“A special case?”
“He received divine protection a long time ago, so he can eat as much as he wants, and if it suits his body, it’s good for his health. Sometimes he doesn’t seem to have much sense, though.”
Even though it’s already late at night, Professor Ael is still accompanying me without showing signs of fatigue.
She’s already telling me to rest, but I’ll hold on a little longer.
“How old is he?”
“He’s said to be over 400.”
Is he human?
With all white hair, he looks old… Lord Regeria, the Prime Minister, eats without caring about his luxurious attire getting dirty. He’s already eaten about 50 of the small tarts, according to reports.
“I’ll refill your water.”
“Hmm, this tart is wonderful.”
“Feel free to eat whatever you like with the ingredients available.”
I filled the pitcher and water bottle with plenty of water.
Ingredients and recipes are prepared, and even with all the staff, it should last for five days.
The mansion staff are putting all their effort into entertaining the guests. I want to stay until the end, but if I keep going like this, an all-nighter is inevitable, and it’s painful, but with my young girl body, I feel like I’ll fall asleep standing up.
――――――Today, I really worked hard.
When I woke up at noon, the king and his party were already gone. I couldn’t see them off.
“We’ll keep these documents.”
“What are these?”
“They’re documents about the Levias family.”
Although I couldn’t make it in time for the debut… it’s a revenge match!