Magecraft refers to the usage of magical power, or mana, to cause miracles. Magecraft specifically is a type of magic wherein one chants in order to weave a magical formula and channel one’s mana.

Races that excel at using mana, such as spirits, don’t need magical formulas or incantations. Humans, however, are unable to control mana without the aid of a chant. They can use a technique called quick-chanting to shorten it, but it will still take several seconds.

However, one girl genius had made the impossible possible.

Her name was Monica Everett, and despite her extremely shy nature, difficulty talking, and current status as a mountain hermit, she stood at the pinnacle of Ridill’s mage hierarchy. She was one of the Seven Sages—the Silent Witch.

Monica couldn’t use all the magical formulas currently in existence without chanting, but she could manage it for about 80 percent.

A mage’s greatest weakness was being defenseless while chanting. Obviously, on a battlefield, that time could mean the difference between life and death. While some high mages could double the speed of their incantations with quick-chanting, Monica was the only one in the world who required no time at all.

And that was why she’d been chosen as one of the Seven Sages two years prior, at the young age of fourteen.

The story of how this girl genius acquired such an impressive skill was very straightforward.

She suffered from extreme shyness and social anxiety, both of which prevented her from being able to speak clearly around others.

Her reaction to Annie was still relatively minor. With someone she’d never met or someone whose personality clashed with hers, she would become too paralyzed to say anything. At worst, she would throw up or even faint. This obviously presented an obstacle to chanting.

Several years before this, Monica had been attending an institution that fostered new mages. But unable to chant during her practical exams, she’d failed and nearly flunked out. That was when she’d started thinking. With the examiners nearby, she became too nervous to chant—so then, the solution had been to use her magecraft silently.

Normally, a person would have dedicated their efforts to overcoming their shyness or social anxiety. Monica’s idea went in an entirely unexpected direction—and most terrifying of all, her talents went on to blossom.

And that was how Monica, for an utterly unmoving reason, mastered the art of unchanted magecraft. From there, her road to the ranks of the Seven Sages had been swift.

Her ability was truly the unexpected gain of a novel, though wholehearted, effort.

* * *

Monica’s home in the mountains had only two chairs. One of them currently had a stack of documents on it. She barely ever used that one. Seeing how many papers were in the pile, she gave up on lifting them. Instead, she pointed her finger.

When she did, the mountain of papers suddenly flew and danced into the air as though each had a mind of its own, moving from the chair to the desk.

Producing wind using magecraft wasn’t overly difficult. But to direct each individual document to its respective place elsewhere took very delicate mana control. Seeing her do this as though it were a matter of course—and without a chant, at that—made one of Louis’s slender eyebrows twitch.

“Wasting your talents as usual, my fellow Sage?”

This man, who had called Monica a colleague, was another of the Seven Sages. He was Louis Miller, the Barrier Mage. He was turning twenty-seven this year, making him ten years older than Monica. They’d both become Sages at the same time, however, so he often referred to her as his “fellow.”

When he wasn’t talking, Louis appeared to be a beautiful, delicate man, but he was also a martial mage, boasting the second-highest solo-dragon-slaying count in history. He had served as the leader of the Magic Corps and was feared and respected by its members for his shrewdness, or something like that.

What could Mr. Louis want…? O-oh no, is he going to tell me to go slay dragons again?

In any case, he was scary when mad, so Monica gestured him toward the newly cleared-off seat, trembling all the while.

Louis sat down, then looked at the maid waiting behind him. “Ryn, a soundproof barrier, please.”

“Right away, sir.”

The maid he’d called Ryn gave a nod, and all noise from the surrounding area disappeared at once. The inside and outside of the house had been separated, blocking even the sounds of the wind and the cries of birds.

Ceasing his pretend nap on the shelf, Nero shuddered his whiskers uncomfortably, and his golden eyes stared at the woman in the maid uniform.

She was a tall, slender beauty. But though she had a pretty face, it was expressionless. It made her look somewhat like a doll.

The reason she’d been able to put up a barrier without chanting was that she wasn’t a human but a high spirit. Only about ten mages in the kingdom could claim a high spirit as their attendant.

“I’ll get right down to it. I’ve come today to ask a favor of you.”

“A…a favor…?” asked Monica without trying to hide her wariness.

Louis offered a graceful smile and rested his chin on his gloved hands. Even his little actions were picture-perfect. “Yes. Last month, I received sealed orders from His Majesty directing me to serve as the second prince’s bodyguard.”

“…Huh?” Monica’s eyes widened.

This kingdom had three princes, each born to a different mother: Prince Lionel, who would be twenty-seven this year; Prince Felix, who would be eighteen; and Prince Albert, who would be fourteen. Viewpoints were split among the kingdom’s nobles over which of them would inherit the throne.

Monica had no interest in these sorts of power struggles, so her only knowledge on the matter came from hearsay. Apparently, the first and second princes’ factions were about the same size, with the third prince’s being somewhat at a disadvantage.

These factions extended to the Seven Sages as well—Louis Miller, the Barrier Mage, was a representative of the first prince’s group.

Why would Louis have been ordered to guard the second prince? Monica frowned at the disconnect. “U-um, Mr. Louis… You’re, um, with the first prince’s faction, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I have my thoughts as to why His Majesty would order me to guard the second prince, but it would be disrespectful of me to speculate on his thoughts. What’s important is that he ordered me to carry out my mission without the second prince noticing.”

“…Without, um, the second prince…noticing?”

It went without saying that it was incredibly difficult to guard someone without alerting them. And why would the king order Louis, who supported the first prince, to guard the second? Why did it have to be kept secret from him?

As Monica sank into confusion, Louis continued to explain, his tone detached. “As I said, His Royal Highness Felix is currently attending an elite boarding school called Serendia Academy. If I’m to guard him without attracting his notice… Well, the most appropriate move would be to infiltrate the academy.”

Louis, infiltrating a school? In all honesty, Monica couldn’t wrap her head around that one. The Barrier Mage—including his appearance—was too well-known. Not to mention his handsome looks would stand out in a crowd. In short, he was particularly ill-suited to infiltration.

Louis seemed to realize this himself. “I could never do it, though,” he said plainly. “The academy is under the direct patronage of Duke Clockford, the leader of the second prince’s faction. I wouldn’t be able to infiltrate it.”

As the second prince’s maternal grandfather, Duke Clockford had some of the greatest authority in the kingdom. And frankly speaking, he and Louis were like oil and water. It was unlikely that the duke would cooperate with Louis on this secret bodyguard assignment.

“I-if you can’t enter the academy…then, um, how are you going to guard him…?”

“That’s why I created this magical item.”

Louis removed a small, wrapped object from his inside pocket and placed it on the desk. Inside the wrapping was a broken broach. A large crack ran through a sizeable ruby inlaid in the center, and the fine metal clasps had been ruined.

He removed the ruby so Monica could see it. The cracked ruby and exposed setting were each engraved with magical formulas. One look was all Monica needed to understand its basic function.

“…A…a compound barrier? Threat detection, a short-range physical-magical barrier, and a tracking-and-reporting function…?”

“All that from a single glance—but I expected no less. Yes. I took great pains to create this magical item in order to guard the prince.”

Magical items were tools using specially tailored jewels and the like imbued with mana to contain a magical formula. They were very convenient, as they granted their benefits even to those who were unable to use magecraft. However, they were still extravagant luxuries owned only by a handful of the most powerful nobles.

And if one of the Seven Sages, the greatest mages in the kingdom, had created this one, it must be priceless. It would probably fetch two or three houses in the royal capital, at least.

Louis brought the cracked ruby up to the light filtering in through the window.

“This is one of a pair of broaches, one ruby and one sapphire. Whoever possesses the ruby will know the location of whoever possesses the sapphire. If the sapphire holder comes under some sort of attack, it will trigger a defensive barrier. When that happens, the ruby will shine in response.”

Monica took another look at the magical formula embedded within. She remained silent for a few moments. Then, nervously, she asked Louis, “U-um, so does that mean…it’s more for keeping watch on the second prince…than protecting him?”

Louis smiled easily, as if to indicate he had no cause for guilt. “It’s only natural a bodyguard would need to know what the person was doing, right?”

“B-but wouldn’t he be mad if he found out…?”

“You seem to be somewhat too earnest, my fellow Sage… And for that, I offer this old adage.” Louis put a hand to his breast, then spoke clearly, like a clergyman citing scripture. “Anything goes as long as nobody knows.”

“…”

Is it really that simple? Monica couldn’t help wondering. Still, it would be difficult to read and understand a formula embedded in a magical item—especially an extremely complicated one made by Louis. Even high-ranking mages wouldn’t be able to figure it out so easily.

“I had His Majesty pass the broach to Prince Felix. He was to keep secret the fact that it was a magical item I had created and pretend it was a simple gift from father to son.”

As long as the second prince kept the broach on his person, then Louis would be able to constantly track his movements and respond to any emergencies. And besides, Duke Clockford was very strict in his administration of Serendia Academy. Any villains aiming for the prince’s life would have a hard time infiltrating it, so there was little chance of anything happening to begin with… Or so Louis had thought.

“Unfortunately, despite working on these broaches for a week without rest, it seems the one His Majesty gave to Prince Felix broke the very next day. A full week with no breaks, and it only took one day… When I saw the ruby crack, it was hilarious. I simply couldn’t restrain my laughter. Ha-ha-ha.”

Louis’s laugh was frighteningly monotone, and his eyes weren’t smiling in the least. This was no laughing matter. If Louis’s ruby had cracked, that would mean some kind of danger had befallen the second prince.

“S-so…was the second prince…a-all right?”

“Well, when the item broke, I dragged my sleep-deprived body out of bed and ran to the academy right away. And what do you think he said to me?” Louis’s eye gave a strange glow from behind his monocle. “His Royal Highness told me that nothing had happened. He told me that he’d broken the broach entirely by accident.”

The ruby in Louis’s hand made hard, cracking noises. Its shards tumbled out from between his gloved fingers.

“Something I made would not have broken that easily. In fact, I had imbued the broach with several self-protection formulas. Clearly, the blow it took was heavy enough to break them all… Prince Felix, however, isn’t talking.”

This whole conversation was starting to sound fishy. Monica had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.