After finishing the story, I took out eight books—the ancient magic books and the derived magic books. Then I distributed them according to each person's magic attributes, explaining as I handed them out.
"Each of you gets two magic books. Study them. For ancient magic, don't worry about pronunciation for now—focus on understanding the meaning of the magics. I'll teach you the pronunciation later."
Ethefelis received ancient fire magic and metal magic.
Jacob received ancient water magic and biology magic.
Grace received ancient wind magic and thunder magic.
Alice received ancient light and dark magic.
"Karen, do I need these too?"
Jacob asked, holding the books with a puzzled look. As a merchant—the one being protected—he naturally didn't need to learn combat magic. However, among the magics Henry/Allen had created, there were quite a few that were useful for daily life, so learning them wouldn't hurt.
"Not all of them are offensive magics . Learn them as a precaution. And the most important thing—keep everything confidential. No sharing."
"Why is that?"
Grace, who had finally recovered from the shock of the truth, raised the question.
"Because the power of ancient magic works like this: one year equals ten years. Grace, if you go all out, that's the equivalent of 180 years of power. Scary, right?"
"That is scary. Then what about derived magic?"
"Because derived magic would change society. Metal magic can turn stone into gold. Biology magic would put doctors and breeders out of work. Thunder magic is too dangerous. And plant magic would put farmers out of work. So it absolutely cannot be made public—society would fall into chaos."
Metal magic could give people unlimited gold or silver, but once that happened, metals would lose their value entirely.
Next, healing spells from biological magic would make doctors unnecessary—doctors might end up going back to farming.
Then biological magic and plant magic would drastically increase the efficiency of livestock and crop production. Eventually, supply would far exceed demand, leading to waste instead.
As for thunder magic, while it wouldn't disrupt society directly, it was even more dangerous than the four basic elements. If people held hands and one person got struck, it wouldn't be impossible to electrocute a whole group instantly.
"Uh… I don't really get it. Isn't turning stone into gold a good thing?"
Grace asked, pressing a hand to her forehead. Maybe I hadn't explained it clearly enough. I decided to answer with questions instead.
"Why do you think gold is valuable?"
"Because it's rare."
"Jacob, if gold were unlimited, would that be a good thing?"
"No. It would depreciate and become worthless."
When it came to economics, Jacob understood immediately. As for Ethefelis, I couldn't tell whether she understood or not—she didn't seem very interested.
Grace was half-understanding, half-confused, but still better than Alice. Grace tried to think things through, while Alice had already given up thinking entirely.
"Ah… my head hurts… Mr. Karen, so basically we just need to keep it secret, right?"
"Exactly. Now that that's settled, does anyone have questions?"
"Karen, how do you know the pronunciation of ancient magic?"
I had already anticipated this question, so I answered naturally.
"The power of the Brave."
"Karen, does everyone in your village know this kind of magic?"
That was a hard question to answer. If I simply said no, it would feel strange. So I decided to tell another story instead.
But first—what time was it? How long would the story take? Would it delay everyone's sleep? As I thought about that, I took out my pocket watch and asked them.
"Wait—what time do you usually go to bed?"
Jacob said eleven. Grace, Ethefelis, and Alice said ten. There was still enough time.
"It's 9:15 now. We still have some time, so I'll share my past with you—and that includes Lina."
The moment Lina was mentioned, Grace's inner fan immediately went wild.
"Mr. Karen, please hurry! I can't wait!"
"I get to learn about Mr. Karen's past—how exciting!"
Alice's reaction was exactly as expected. Then, without adding unnecessary personal details, I finished telling my past.
"Waaah… that's so sad! Mr. Karen, you've had such a hard life! My heart aches for you!"
Alice was way too dramatic. Tears streamed down her face nonstop—was she just overly emotional? So noisy. Still, my life hadn't really been that hard, because Lina had always been with me.
Grace also seemed to realize something and spoke to me in a flattering tone.
"So you and Lina grew up together—you're childhood friends. That means you know everything about Lina, right?"
"Of course. But I'm not telling you."
"So stingy! What's wrong with sharing a little?!"
"If you want to know, go get to know Lina yourself."
"But who knows when we'll even be able to return to the capital…"
"We'll go to the eastern countries' dungeon first. After that, we'll return to the Aimebisalon for a break."
"Really?! How many countries are there in the east again?"
Grace responded excitedly and immediately started counting the eastern countries. A duke's daughter wanting to meet Lina—that was just proof of Lina's charm. I was genuinely happy for her.
Then Alice, who seemed to have finished crying, fiddled with her fingers and called out to me shyly, asking in a timid voice.
"K-Karen… you and Lina are just childhood friends, right? You're not lovers… right?"
She didn't try to hide her emotions or intentions at all. Only an idiot wouldn't notice that Alice liked me—liked me because I was the Brave.
But I couldn't reject Alice directly. To be honest, her existence wasn't that important to me. I was only interested in seeing dark-elemental magic. So I answered tactfully.
"That's right. We're not lovers yet."
After hearing that, Alice turned her back to me. Feeling curious, I quietly leaned closer and listened in.
"Phew… thank goodness."
She let out a relieved sigh, apparently grateful for my relationship with Lina. She clearly hadn't picked up on the nuance of my words. I shook my head and leaned back.
Just then, Jacob called out to me with a strange expression.
"Karen, what time is it now?"
I had been holding my pocket watch the whole time, so I raised my hand and checked.
"9:52."
"Then it's almost ten. The girls should start getting ready for bed."
Jacob's behavior was suspicious. Why was he only telling the girls to go to sleep? It felt like he was deliberately urging them to leave.
Ethefelis stood up and left first, followed by Grace and Alice.