Chapter 86: 86 – Child – Poison Pill Tactic

I stared at the magic circles written out on the paper in front of me and then let out a deep sigh. After that, I flicked my hand, sending them to join the rest of the failed diagrams in the corner of the room.

It was... probably noon, considering the sunlight.

Mom had stopped bothering me about her religion and today I managed to have time devoted to just me.

While it was nice teaching Norn and playing with Aisha, I needed some me time too. Sylphy understood that and had tactfully taken Eris off to play. And Master Roxy was out on patrol as usual.

Which meant I had time to gather my thoughts and focus on research.

I could feel it. And after seeing my mana shift into the Demon God's mana... at least, seemingly shift. I still wasn't *entirely* sure if it was Laplace's mana, but that seemed to fit considering what Orsted mentioned about me inheriting a lot of that person's traits.

But anyway, recent events were confirming hypotheses I had and coalescing into a cohesive theory.

The reason why mana spontaneously shifted into magic circles. Why emotions and tense situations amplified mana. How it was possible that multiple casting systems coexisted. And how different people had different color mana, as well as how that mana could have different traits based on the person's experiences.

Mana was an information carrier- No. Mana was the bridge between mind and matter. The link between thought, energy, and reality.

Probably.

I didn't have a good way to test that theory just quite yet. But it explained a lot of things.

The reason why Sylphy could control the elements and will events so easily was because she had a vivid imagination and belief that it would work. And I was fairly certain that it was more the 'belief' part of it that was making it work.

Master Roxy's <Magic Arrays> was essentially a constantly running magic program kept up with mana. Not only that, but it was one that could adapt and react to the surroundings without her thinking about it. Something that couldn't be possible if mana was just pure energy.

...Well, it would be harder at least.

Anyway, if mana was the bridge, then it explained why the different casting systems could coexist.

If mana stored information, then it was likely that the collective consciousness played a role in how magic worked. The reason why chants enacted certain phenomena and logic was because it had been repeated enough that it was impressed into the world's mana... which was basically like the internet.

Various bits of information, stored forever in the cloud... except, here it was mana instead of a web of cables or waves of electrical signals.

The reason why magic circles worked were explained by that theory too. If the originator of the circles thought it was an easier way to represent and think about spells, a logic could slowly build up over time and become cemented in the collective consciousness as another means of casting.

Mental shortcuts. Heuristics that had become accepted with constant use and refined over time so that people could easily utilize magic just by casting.

But those heuristics weren't necessary. They were useful, but in the end they were tools someone else developed. And while they represented the way mana worked properly... It was also missing things.

I had a feeling. Magic wasn't that complicated, but it also wasn't that simple. It should be possible to do whatever you wanted with mana and create whatever magic you could envision. But 'will' wasn't enough. It was possible by pumping enough mana, but the conversion rate wasn't good.

Kind of like solving a multiplication problem with repeated addition instead of just multiplying. If you had enough 'MP', you could pump it all to try and answer the question. Diverting valuable resources to brute force a solution, like those old super computers.

But some things couldn't be solved like that. At least, not within a feasible time period.

I was fairly sure that no amount of mana in the world could bring someone back to life, for example. Or turn back time-

Wait.

...But that was possible.

I placed my hand on my chin and leaned back in my chair to think.

I was sure of it. I definitely experienced a time leap of some sort after Dad knocked me out.

I hadn't thought about it for a while since it seemed to be a fever dream. But...

...Right. There had been an old man. He mentioned something about the multiverse... And that I had three more times?

I leaned my chair back, rocking it on its legs and hummed. "That didn't seem to be just a dream, but I haven't sensed anything off..."

My mana was completely restored, and I had spent a long time combing it over for anything wrong.

After all, Being W definitely did *something* to me during that fight with Dad. Well, mostly with Ghyslaine.

But I didn't sense anything. I didn't see anything off either.

There was the weird fact that my mana could change into Laplace's, but I was pretty sure that it was always like that.

...Maybe. Needed to note that down to make sure, but I had a feeling that guy wouldn't have purposefully made me able to tap into Laplace's mana since I felt even more motivated to take that guy out when I was using it. Not to mention the fact that I almost tore open a dimensional gateway to god knows where before Master Roxy snapped me out of it.

Also something to note.

I was... 99% sure that I wasn't the reincarnation of the Demon God since I was reincarnated from a different world. But considering that I seemed to have been a vengeful or at least earth-bound spirit before my soul got sucked away... Well, if that memory I had of the future/not future was accurate.

Time travel was weird. Especially if multiverse theory was involved.

Anyway, nothing... seemed to be wrong with my mana. But Being W-

"Knock knock." A cheerful and mature female voice echoed. "Am I interrupting anything private?"

I looked over to see Miss Rostelina walk in the room.

She was dressed like she usually did. A grey robe that hugged her body. Something modest that covered her body... and something a bit lewd with how closely it covered her body.

Pretty sure that Dad would be eyeing her up if he was around. The guy tried, but he was very much a creature of instincts.

"Like how you're a creature of thoughts?"

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I fell out of my chair and rolled on the ground before staring at Rostelina. Then I stared harder, trying to see if there was a spell being cast or something. But there wasn't. So how the hell-

Rostelina laughed and shook her head. She walked over and picked up the chair before ruffling my hair. "My cute granddaughter was right. You really do wear your thoughts on your face."

I frowned.

She bopped my nose with her index finger and smiled. "Don't worry about it too much, Rudy. I'm sure there's only one other person in the world who can read your thoughts as well as me."

I rolled my eyes and then leaned against the wall, crossing my arm. "What are you doing here, Miss Rostelina? Shouldn't you be helping my mom with something?"

"I am!" She nodded and said, "I'm taking care of you."

"Me?" I tilted my head. "...Did I miss a meal again?"

Rostelina's smile faded and she frowned. After that, she stared at me, muttering, "Taking after him, too? Or is he taking after him?"

I sighed and said, "I hope Dad's taking after me more than I'm taking after my dad."

After all, he could do with a bit more responsibility and insight... and I could do with a lot less of dropping the ball.

Rostelina laughed and said, "Yes. Paul could take after his smart and mature son a bit more. But you could learn a bit from your father's playfulness, you know?" She looked around the room, eyeing the pile of magic circle diagrams in the corner. "All work and no play isn't good for a cute kid like you, Rudy."

I walked over to clean up the stack of papers and said, "I'll play when there's time for it. Right now, there's too many things to do."

Especially with Being W in the picture.

I didn't know what could happen. How he might manipulate things.

What if he arranged things so Sylphy died?

What if Dad got killed because of a plot Being W did?

What if Norn hated me because Being W made me not get along with Dad?

What if-?

"Rudy?"

I broke out of my train of thoughts and looked at Rostelina. "Yes?"

She stared at me, humming. Tapping her finger on her chin, she said, "Master wouldn't want me to spill his secrets, but it's not good to leave you like this either..."

I blinked. "Master? You have a Master too, Miss Rostelina?"

Rostelina laughed. "Of course. It's nothing like you and Miss Roxy though. After all." She winked and said, "My Master and I are completely loveydovey, you know?"

I felt my face heat up and looked away.

Rostelina laughed again. But after that, she looked at me thoughtfully and said, "But anyway... Hm. Since it's making everyone worry, I guess I can point you towards it. And it's probably better to make sure you don't go crazy like that one guy Master mentioned."

"Wait." I frowned and said, "*Is* there something wrong with me? But Master Roxy and Mom didn't see anything..."

And I didn't either.

Rostelina nodded. "Right. Because it's not something you can see from the outside unless you know what you're looking for. Plus you have to be familiar with how mana flows and collects in the body... Or at least that's what Master said."

Something felt off. Something about the situation wasn't right.

...But there was nothing wrong?

I felt a headache start, along with a small pulse in my heart. A familiar sensation, like another heartbeat beneath my own.

"Yep. Looks like it's that." Rostelina nodded, but her face started to blur.

-She's dangerous. She knows too much.

My left hand moved. At the same time, I felt a chilling and biting sensation in my heart, just like when I got mad at Ghyslaine-

Wait.

My eyes widened and I grabbed my left arm with my right hand, yanking it away. At the same time, I felt my mana roil, wildly fluctuating.

My heart ached, feeling like it was getting shredding in my chest. At the same time, I felt a headache like my head was being split in half.

And then it calmed down.

A soft finger, tapping the middle of my forehead. With that, the turmoil stopped. And at the same time, I felt a wave of drowsiness hit me.

Miss Rostelina smiled at me and said, "Sleep for a bit, okay Rudy? When you wake up, those nightmares clinging to you will be all gone."

"Night...mares?" I blinked, suddenly feeling drained. "Wait... How...?"

I blinked again, darkness slowly creeping around the edges of my vision.

In my fading vision, Miss Rostelina waved and said, "Remember. Those are all nightmares, okay? They haven't happened and won't happen. So when you wake up, Rudy, remember who you really are."

Easier said than-