The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

------------------------

Author Notes:

  The latter half is an explanation of mystical arts.

------------------------

After leaving the Adventurers' Guild, we entered a café near the Schreine mansion, which was our meeting place with Roze.

Due to the ongoing reconstruction in the town, there were few customers, but we were grateful that they were open even during such a busy time.

We had planned to have an early lunch, but the little girls who had eaten their fill in the morning didn't seem very hungry, so we chatted for a while over tea.

As soon as Roze showed up, we left the shop and headed to Viscount Schreine's house.

As promised, I handed over a considerable amount of gold coins, including three years' worth of tribute and a bit extra as an apology for last night. The Viscount seemed quite humbled, but he accepted it properly, perhaps because Saaya was smiling happily as she reported becoming an adventurer.

Afterwards, we gathered clothes and personal items in Saaya's room and stored them in the item box.

When the Viscount asked if she would of course take her favorite doll, Saaya shook her head.

"I'll leave that here with you, Father."

"Are you sure? Isn't it important to you?"

"It's very important... but now I have the real thing."

Saying that, Saaya clung to my arm.

By the way, I got kicked by Elen. How unreasonable.

And so, Saaya officially left home. However, we'll be staying in this town for a while, so we gave them the location of our inn in case anything happens.

The Viscount and his wives looked quite lonely, but they didn't let their smiles falter.

"Now then, it's shopping time!"

After that, it was Roze's time to have fun.

Clothing stores and equipment shops were operating as usual, with equipment shops even bustling due to the effect of the demon attack.

We first went to a clothing store, where as expected, Saaya was dressed up like a dress-up doll in various outfits to Roze's liking.

Unlike with Elen, Saaya herself was quite enthusiastic about it.

"Hey, look Ruruk! How about this? What do you think of this one? Isn't this a bit too sexy? T-this is obviously cosplay...! Ah, this one feels nice to wear! Isn't this skirt too short, can you see my pants? Hmm, this one's not quite right..."

And so on, she asked for opinions with each change of clothes.

Because she was so responsive, Roze was enjoying it more and more, trying on clothes so many times that I thought she might have worn everything that fit Saaya's size.

In the end, Roze chose two combinations.

One was a collared shirt similar to Elen's lady school style with a skirt above the knees, combined with a red robe.

The other was a three-quarter sleeve shirt with frills that looked easy to move in, a short fluttery skirt with white underpants, and a red cloak.

I suppose each combination was designed with rear and front lines in mind, but they were still cute-focused outfits that didn't seem to consider defense much. It doesn't look like she intends to put armor over them.

We bought two of each in slightly larger sizes.

Of course, all the initial equipment came out of Roze's pocket money.

It wasn't a significant amount, so I tried to pay, but it seems her pride as a master wouldn't allow it. Roze showing this kind of commitment sometimes makes her seem somewhat like a sports club member.

Next, we headed to the equipment shop.

Without hesitation, we bought a small iron sword suitable for a child adventurer, a small shield, a wallet, and an item pouch.

Although the item box means there won't be storage problems, having an item pouch is for camouflage, as it would cause various troubles if it was discovered that a novice adventurer had an item box.

And as expected, we didn't buy any armor.

Finally, we went to the shoe store.

Although she'll probably need to replace them soon as she's still growing, it's no exaggeration to say that shoes are an adventurer's lifeline. If we can't increase defense with clothes, we at least need to make sure we don't lose mobility.

Setting aside Roze, who was scowling because there were no cute shoes, I recommended leather boots focusing on functionality.

Saaya also looked at them with dissatisfaction.

"They're so clunky and not cute at all."

"The thick soles will protect you when you step on dangerous things, and the leather will protect your ankles from grass and tree branches. If you cut your Achilles tendon, you won't be able to move, and you'll be walking in places with poisonous insects and mud. Shoes get dirty quickly anyway, so please prioritize defense at least for your feet. Even Elen wears sturdy shoes."

Shoes are not just for fighting, but also a lifeline for travel and adventure.

In the end, Saaya chose leather shoes with a reluctant face, partly due to my insistence. However, just because I chose them, she seemed quite pleased, her cheeks relaxing.

After completing all the coordination, our group decided to return to the inn for now.

All of Saaya's clothes are ready-made, so we'll apply the necessary magic and mystical arts to add some defense. Although fashion-focused clothes don't conduct magical power well, so the effect won't be great, even a slight difference can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

There's nothing in Saaya's status that needs to be particularly hidden. Her name is properly registered to show she's a noble, so perception interference wasn't necessary.

Roze layered impact resistance, heat resistance, and blade resistance magic on the clothes and outerwear.

Saaya, lying on the bed, asked questions about things she was curious about.

"Hey Roze-san, what attribute is defense magic? Can I do it too?"

"Impact resistance is earth, heat resistance is fire, and blade resistance is wind. They're all intermediate level, so you'll be able to do them eventually."

"Oh~ They're all different. Is Ruruk's clothes enchanted too?"

"Ruruk has no magical power, so any magical corrections are meaningless. It's a waste to cast on him."

"Eh, so he's defenseless?"

"No, no, I use mystical arts as a substitute."

I do properly allocate resources for defense.

Actually, my status is quite lacking in defense, so I'd get injured quickly if I didn't rely on equipment. Well, I heal instantly even if I do get injured.

"Can mystical arts do that too? You're not cheating and doing something like 'Invincible Summoning!', are you?"

"No, it's not like that. I use perception interference on the clothes to make them look like normal materials, and then use 'Refinement' to strengthen the material bonding to make them harder to tear."

"'Refinement'? What kind of technique is that?"

"It's a technique that can freely change the composition and state of matter. It's an advanced technique of substitution method."

"Heh. To use that even on clothes... you're really versatile, aren't you?"

"I just have unnecessarily high proficiency. Well, for the cloak, I combine 'Threshold Compilation,' 'Refinement,' and 'Transcription' to set it up to form multiple barriers in response to strong impacts, so it's actually almost invincible against magic due to the original material's performance..."

Well, all of this is also thanks to the abnormally durable unicorn hide.

Thank you, super rare monster unicorn. I'm living protected by you now...

"How much magic can it withstand?"

"Hmm... it was barely okay against Elen's 'Explosion'."

"How powerful is that?"

"It can blow away an entire town."

"That's practically invincible, isn't it?"

Who knows?

There might be attack magic stronger than 'Explosion' somewhere, and it doesn't have that level of performance against mystical arts. Besides, even if it can block heat and shock waves, it can't block radiation.

"Then, what kind of attack could destroy that cloak?"

"I think it could be destroyed if someone used a coordinate destruction technique, which is my specialty, reinforced more than the existence strength I've applied to the cloak, and struck accurately."

"Ruruk, what's your mystical arts proficiency?"

"A little over 7000."

"Are you stupid? There's no one like that."

No, no, what are you saying, Saaya?

"There is."

"Where?"

"Right there."

Ruruk points at Roze.

Saaya's face showed a moment of realization before she let out a big sigh.

"Well, of course it wouldn't work against a 'Royal Existence,' but... aren't the only ones alive now the Dragon King in Bargia and Roze-san?"

"You never know. There might be others somewhere that we just haven't heard about. The possibilities are infinite."

"The probability of meeting them is astronomical, though."

As we were having this pointless conversation, Roze seemed to have finished her work.

After handing all the clothes to Saaya, she interjected.

"By the way, Saaya, even I can't destroy Ruruk's cloak."

"Even you, Roze-san? No way?"

"Reinforcing existence strength requires a unique sense. It's different from hardening or perception reinforcement. Sure, I use it a bit for transfer, but I've never heard of a sorcerer who can apply such solid existence strength to anything other than themselves, to the point of elevating it to a weapon like Ruruk does. Actually, let me ask you, Ruruk, what kind of image do you use to strengthen the information of matter?"

"Huh? Well, I just use spirit elements to fix the material information normally..."

Come to think of it, it's not something I've been consciously doing.

I thought Roze could use it too.

"Even though I'm a royal existence in mystical arts, it doesn't mean I can use all techniques better than anyone else. Ruruk probably has many more skills than me. You know, a king isn't necessarily someone who can do everything, right? It doesn't mean they're the strongest either. It's just that they have a big influence on the whole, but specialists are much better at individual techniques."

"So Ruruk's cloak isn't invincible after all."

"Maybe not. But there's no need to touch the cloak to kill Ruruk. That's the significance of mystical arts."

Roze says something chilling.

Saaya, who had been looking optimistic, stiffens her face.

Roze's lecture begins.

"Listen well, Saaya. If you're using it to transmit force from matter to matter, physical arts are the most effective. They work only with direct interference power, so their influence is large. If we use the direction of force to reach a destination as an example, physical arts are a straight line.

But when there are obstacles, magic is good at avoiding or destroying them to reach the destination. The direction of force is a curve. The force decreases in the process of converting magic elements into magical power and magical power into attribute information, so the influence becomes smaller, but it's the best for just delivering force to the destination. That's magic.

And when you're in a maze-like situation, mystical arts are the most effective. In terms of force direction, it's like teleportation. If you can complete the technique, you can reach the destination at once. On the other hand, the weakness of mystical arts is that it's quite difficult to construct the technique. It's also a drawback that the influence of the technique becomes zero if the destination is off by just one step. That's the characteristic of mystical arts.

So when the goal is to kill Ruruk, for a mystical arts user, the performance of the cloak doesn't matter much. Equipment and external defenses are mainly for countering magic and physical arts. To counter mystical arts, there's no other way but to increase the person's own defense."

"Heh~ I see... That's amazing. It's super easy to understand."

"I have a skill called 'Educator.' It makes it easier for true meaning to be conveyed."

Saaya was impressed.

While Roze is practical when it comes to actual techniques, this kind of theoretical content is really easy to remember and helpful.

I don't often envy other people's skills, but I'd really like to have that educator skill, and if anything, I wish all of humanity had it.

"Oh, then Roze-san, I have a question! It's something I've been wondering about, regarding event modification in summoning method. Summoning method is a technique that acts on things that aren't at hand, right? I haven't actually summoned anything yet, but what replaces the thing that was summoned in its original place?"

"Good question, Saaya. Unlike transfer in substitution method, summoning method doesn't treat matter as a spatiotemporal event in the first place. Do you understand what the characteristics of spirit elements are?"

[TL notes: spatiotemporal - belonging to both space and time or to space–time.]

"Um, they're born from the world tree, a kind of force field that constitutes the world?"

"That's right. More accurately, it should be interpreted as 'dimensional information memory of differential space.' If this world were a large puddle, elements would be the accumulated water itself, magic elements would be ripples, and spirit elements would be the reflected scenery. Magic elements and spirit elements are not matter in the first place. That's why they don't affect reality unless you construct a technique. You can sense them with training though."

"I see. So spirit elements are virtual images?"

"Yes. Mystical arts bring those virtual images into reality. Summoning method is a technique that accesses dimensional information, makes it as if the summoning target was never in its original place, and brings it to hand. The space where it's made as if it never existed is arranged as if what should be there was originally there. I call this dimensional repair."

"So, it doesn't mean air flows in because something disappeared?"

"That's right. There's no effect on reality in the place where something was summoned from. That's summoning method. Substitution method overwrites spatial information, so there is an effect."

That's right.

Summoning method is a technique that uses matter and spirit elements simultaneously to affect dimensional information.

Substitution method is a technique that uses spirit elements towards matter to affect matter.

If you can correctly understand this difference, you'll naturally understand what kind of technique you should construct for your purpose.

"Then, then! About transcription in substitution method—"

Saaya, with her innate intelligence and love for studying, keeps asking Roze more and more questions.

Come to think of it, Elen used to ask a lot of questions about magic too. Of course, I was also in a "why" phase at first. Roze, who patiently answers questions, is a good master in that sense... if only we didn't have to go into actual combat...

Thinking about such things, I accompanied them in the study session that continued until dinner.

------------------------

Author Notes:

  ~Afterword Tips~

○ Recap of Mystical Arts

The spirit veins connected to the world tree. The technique of arranging various colored spirit elements generated from there to build up as techniques. Since the spirit elements aren't actually colored, Ruruk recognizes them as something like numbers.

Techniques, like mathematical formulas, are established and activated when the correct order and combination are made.

・Summoning method

・Substitution method

・Thought method

Mystical arts are broadly divided into these three types of application methods. Details are explained in the main text.

However, thought method requires considerable proficiency and concentration because it directly manipulates not only the spirit elements in the atmosphere but also the spirit veins.

------------------------