You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
In short, Ryoji finally had his marching orders.
The only thing he had to do... was absolutely nothing for now.
All he needed to do was wait for Aoko and Alice to track down Touko, then he could step in to fight. There was no need for him to lift a finger during the reconnaissance phase.
Well, that suited him just fine. Less work, less stress.
Alice then produced a sheet of specially prepared parchment and meticulously wrote down a treaty, an agreement stating that until Aozaki Touko was dealt with, neither side was to attack or interfere with the other. Finally, both parties signed their names.
Thus, the self-enforcing magical contract was complete.
In essence, it was a type of Magecraft, a binding spell that wrapped around both participants' bodies in the form of a Geass. It possessed an extremely high degree of restraint, though it only worked on magi. Breaking it would trigger a powerful curse that could even affect one's descendants. No magus in their right mind would dare risk that.
Ryoji considered his situation for a moment.
No doubt about it, he was technically a magus now, by this world's definition.
So that meant... the alliance was officially, magically formed.
"According to Aoko, you've never studied any Magecraft?"
Once the contract was finalized, the underlying tension in the air dissipated completely. Alice took a slow sip of her tea and asked the question casually.
From her perspective, it wasn't as if she had the wrong kind of interest in Ryoji.
What truly intrigued her was his body. Or rather, why his body was so absurdly strong. A normal human couldn't possibly leap five hundred meters into the air and kill the Moon Oil head-on.
His physical abnormality deeply piqued Alice's curiosity.
So, she didn't believe for a second that Ryoji truly knew no Magecraft.
"I genuinely don't," Ryoji replied honestly, since he was technically relying on their help, he saw no point in lying.
"..."
Alice closed her eyes slightly, her expression unreadable, neither full belief nor outright disbelief was visible on her face.
"But your Magic Circuits should already be active, yes? Then let's try something basic, 'Analysis' and 'Reinforcement.'"
She rose gracefully from the sofa and fetched a plain ceramic plate from the cupboard in the next room.
"Inject your magic power into this plate," she instructed simply.
It was a straightforward task, and Ryoji complied without hesitation. He took the plate in hand and poured a portion of his limited internal magic power into it.
Back in the Rakudai Kishi world, he'd had about a D-rank level of magic power, enough to maintain a full-body protective field for roughly ten seconds. By comparison, he was relatively well-off now. Injecting a bit into a simple plate would easily last for a few minutes.
"Do you feel anything?"
Alice watched him calmly. Her black eyes appeared tranquil, yet her gaze carried a quiet, probing intensity.
"…It feels like I can understand its structure somehow," Ryoji murmured, frowning slightly as he continued channeling magic into the plate.
His expression was a mix of puzzlement and dawning realization.
Did all magi have this kind of ability? If so, wouldn't they all make excellent engineers?
Still, in the Rakudai world, magic power had absolutely no such function.
Magic there was purely for offense or defense, immensely powerful, yes, but completely incapable of analysis or reinforcement.
"So my magic power has somehow adapted to the rules of this world?" Ryoji thought silently.
If that was the case, it was great news.
After all, the multiverse was vast, not every world used "magic power" as a form of energy. If his could automatically adjust and transform, that would be incredibly convenient.
Though, he wasn't sure whether that was a trait from his crossing over, or something tied to his avatar's innate nature.
Tap, tap.
Alice lightly knocked on the plate and gave a small, approving nod.
"Analyzing and reinforcing the material of an object, those are the most fundamental uses of magic power in this system. It seems you've succeeded."
Judging from his reaction, his grasp of magic manipulation was remarkably quick, but it was clear that this was his first real exposure to Magecraft concepts.
He truly didn't know any at all, huh?
Alice felt a pang of disappointment.
But along with that disappointment came an even stronger curiosity.
If it wasn't Magecraft that made him so powerful... then what was it?
That question tugged at her, refusing to let go.
Most magi were the kind of people who couldn't resist investigating the unknown, following their curiosity wherever it led them. And if necessary, they wouldn't hesitate to get their hands on any "research material"... by any means necessary.
Alice was relatively humane. Her witch mother had died shortly after giving birth to her, and her ordinary human father hadn't been able to stay by her side for long. So she grew up alone, largely untouched by the colder, more ruthless worldview of typical magi, though she still tended to be somewhat cold toward others.
"Next, let's construct some simple spell formulas."
Alice extended her pale, elegant hand.
From her fingertips, she channeled her magic power, slowly forming an extremely fine, shimmering magic array in the air.
By memorizing the array and then using magic power to precisely reconstruct it, one could execute the most basic form of Magecraft.
However, this method of casting was incredibly tedious. Any distraction during the construction could lead to a catastrophic failure, which is why few magi bothered to build spells on the spot. Most modern magi preferred to use Magecraft Seals.
A seal was essentially a solidified, stored spell, it turned the originally ephemeral Magecraft into a physical form. Then, by simply injecting magic power into the seal, one could instantly activate the corresponding spell.
"Did you memorize it?" Alice asked, breaking the silence.
"No problem," Ryoji replied, his eyes having flicked back and forth to capture the formula.
He tried to reconstruct the entire framework of the magic array in his mind. Comparing it step by step against his memory, he found no mistakes, and finally nodded, satisfied.
He took a deep breath, feeling a twinge of hope, then extended his hand and began to mimic the steps.
Alice and Aoko both turned their gaze toward him, clearly very attentive.
It was his first attempt.
Magic power spilled into the air, and just as he tried to form the delicate array, it collapsed entirely, scattering into dust.
Second attempt, same result.
A minute passed.
Alice and Aoko exchanged glances, silently sharing their confusion. Even if he failed, there should have been some trace of the correct structure, shouldn't there?
Three minutes later, Aoko, already losing patience, went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of strong tea.
Five minutes later, Alice's slender brows knitted tightly in frustration.
Ten minutes later, "Enough! Are you mocking me?"
A sharp edge of genuine anger was now etched onto Alice's face.
"I really am not!"
Ryoji shook his head firmly, wiping the sweat from his brow.
There was no pretense in his expression, the sheer exhaustion of trying to control the magic power with such minute precision was completely genuine. This only made Alice more utterly puzzled.
"Then why can't you even draw a simple circle in ten minutes?"
Not just a circle, he hadn't been able to trace a single, simple curve of the pattern.
Although he could control the magic power spilling out of his body, the moment he tried to make it form a structured pattern, it scattered immediately like a disobedient child.
He had learned to manipulate the power quite quickly only moments ago, so this inability to structure it was utterly illogical.
"…So it really can't be done?"
Ryoji slumped onto the sofa, completely dejected.
"Why don't you teach me some Magecraft that doesn't require a magic array?"
"Are you giving up?"
"…I give up," he admitted, defeated.
"Fine, as you wish." Alice shook her head, saying no more.
"Aoko, it's your turn."
With that, she turned and left the living room without a backward glance, her curiosity now replaced by obvious annoyance. The powerful combatant was proving to be a complete bust when it came to the foundational arts of their world.
(End of Chapter)