“If the world was full of magicians like that... our job would be a lot easier...”
It was like a flower blooming in a bloodied battlefield. If that flower sowed a lot of seeds, their futures might become brighter. That's how Nana felt.
“But Nana-chan, don't we need to report this?”
Regardless of reason, it didn't change the fact that the man had made private use of magic. Nana had an obligation to report to her organization and formally eliminate him.
“There's no need for that”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes... fortunately, he used magic of a different style than ours. Since he wasn't abusing it, it's not in our jurisdiction”
There was more than one style of magic. Magic theories have been created in different times and places, and there was also a difference in how spells were cast.
And Nana's duty was to keep people from casting magic for private use. More precisely, her duty was to keep people from her own country from casting magic for private use. It was also her duty to stop anyone who would use magic to hurt others, regardless of style.
Because of that, the people who weren't abusing magic, but instead were using it for private use in a different style fell into a grey zone. And if Nana didn't sense any danger, she didn't have any obligation to report them.
“Hmm, isn't that great, Nana-chan”
“Eh?”
That might be true. I probably wish for a world where magic and people can coexist like that....
Nana wouldn't forget what she had experienced today. This experience would without a doubt be of great help to her in her future fights.
“That's true. I think I'm happy. But I can't get carried away. Our investigation has gone back to square one after all”
Nana said as she erased her smile and showed a serious expression.
She was currently trying to resolve an incident involving magic that had occurred nearby. She was happy having met the mysterious magician, but her investigation having been sent back to square one wasn't good. And if they couldn't resolve it quickly, it might have a bad effect on the magician she had just met. Nana wanted to solve this case as fast as possible.
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“I hope Soutarou-san and that child are alright...”
At the same time as Nana's expression changed, Kanae looked towards the city at the base of the mountain. Far away in the direction she was looking was a large estate. In it was her husband and daughter. Kanae's worried look was aimed at the two of them.
Kanae's husband and daughter were actually victims in the case that Nana was investigating. More accurately speaking, her daughter was a victim, and her husband was using his own body to keep her alive. That's why Kanae was cooperating with Nana and urgently trying to solve the case.
Kanae's husband, Soutarou, was the heir to an old shrine. Kanae herself had been taking archery lessons in a grounds annexed to the shrine. It was there that she met her husband, and they eventually got married. Their daughter was born with a very high spiritual energy thanks to the husband’s lineage.
With the age of science, even the oldest shrines had forgotten about the methods to control spiritual energy. That's why the girl was completely normal, regardless of her dense spiritual energy. But to people who abused magic, people who had a lot of spiritual energy were quite useful. They could be used as catalysts for spells or as sacrifices for evil demons.
Kanae's daughter had been kidnapped by the evil magician and used in a magical ritual. Fortunately, Nana had quickly saved her, but because of the ritual she was losing a large amount of spiritual energy even now, and her life was in danger if left alone. So Nana used magic to connect the daughter and the husband. Since Kanae's husband had a lot of spiritual energy himself, it allowed him to protect his daughter for the time being. Having bought some time, Kanae teamed up with Nana and the two of them chased after the magician. Their goal was of course to defeat the magician and end the ritual, and save Kanae's daughter and husband.
“Let's hurry. Kanae-san, put away the bow. We're moving out”
“Okay. Where to next?”
“To the river up ahead. It's slight, but the nature’s magic is distorted over there”
“Then let's go back to the car, it'll be faster that way”
“Yes”
The two of them nodded and vanished in the darkness.