"Ugh... guuh... mmh!"
"Now, now. It's not going to fall like that."
It was Lieselotte’s home. In the basement, Amelia had spent the entire three-day holiday staying over and throwing herself into her training.
The two of them sat at a long desk with a chess queen placed between them. The goal was simple: one would try to knock it over, while the other would try to restore it.
They were engaged in a struggle of mutual interference via causality.
Countless crimson butterflies fluttered and rose around them.
At a glance, it looked like a mundane exercise.
However, Amelia was so intensely focused that a trickle of blood had begun to run from her nose.
Interfering with causality was no small task. There was a constant risk of the Magic Area undergoing an Overheat. That was the price of messing with a concept as advanced as causality.
On the other hand, Lieselotte was keeping Amelia company as a side task while keeping a research paper close at hand. She activated her magic while perfectly distributing her concentration, working on her research even as she competed.
After a short while, the queen piece returned to its original upright position.
What Amelia was producing through her Butterfly Effect was the result: [The piece falls].
Conversely, what Lieselotte was activating was: [Destroying the causality that causes the piece to fall].
In terms of actual difficulty, Amelia’s Butterfly Effect was undoubtedly the more complex magic. However, higher difficulty didn't necessarily equate to superiority.
What she needed was proficiency and precision—qualities Amelia currently lacked.
"All right. Let's take a short break."
"……Yes."
As they paused, Lieselotte began silently leafing through her research materials again.
Amelia leaned back against her chair and wiped her nosebleed with a tissue. She stared blankly into space for a moment before gently closing her eyes.
Meditation.
She had made it a point to meditate during her breaks on Lieselotte’s advice.
Lieselotte claimed that meditation was the best way to calm the Magic Area. It was a conclusion she had reached through empirical experience and her own research.
She had mentioned something about bringing the "default mode network" in the brain to a standstill, but that part went over Amelia’s head.
Right now, she just wanted to rest.
With that thought, she let herself sink into a state of emptiness.
"……Phew."
The underground space was dim. No sunlight reached them; only artificial lights illuminated the room.
—I wonder if Ray and the others are working hard right now.
Even in the middle of her meditation, the thought crossed her mind. Today was the final day of the holiday. Tomorrow, she would rejoin her friends.
However, Amelia felt almost no sense of growth.
Not once had she been a match for Lieselotte’s Interference Force.
It was only natural for her to lose confidence. But Amelia was no longer the girl she used to be. She had met Ray, she had met her friends, and she had decided to move forward.
That was why she refused to give up.
"Now then, are you finished resting?"
"Yes."
They faced each other once more.
Amelia’s gaze wasn't on Lieselotte, but on the queen piece on the desk. She had stared at it so much over the last three days that she was sick of the sight of it, yet it remained standing as upright as ever.
Toppling it was her singular goal.
She was about to activate her magic again when Lieselotte suddenly spoke.
"Amelia. You are activating the Butterfly Effect based on the Aitia, aren't you?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"To be frank, that is your talent. My own Magic Area likely couldn't even withstand the Butterfly Effect."
"Eh... is that so?" Amelia let out a stunned voice, caught completely off guard.
"Yes. A Magic Area is not an acquired trait. It is almost entirely innate—a talent. Yours is likely at the top level even among sorcerers. It might even rival those of the Seven Grand Sorcerers."
"But……"
Amelia hesitated.
No matter how much of a Magic Area she possessed, it was meaningless if she couldn't use it effectively.
To put it bluntly, she felt like she was a waste of potential.
"Constitutive Qualia. Formal Qualia. Subjective Qualia. Final Qualia. Only by establishing all of those can the butterfly that governs causality be embodied in this world. After that, the actions of that butterfly become the cause, and the desired result is born. Since it follows Chaos Theory, it is likely one of the most sophisticated magics in existence. In my opinion, it's the third most unique magic in the world."
"The third? What are the top two?"
"They belong to other members of the Seven Grand Sorcerers. The Sorcerer of Dual Wings. Have you heard of them?"
One of the Seven Grand Sorcerers—the Sorcerer of Dual Wings. Many knew the name, but like Lieselotte, they rarely appeared in public.
Amelia had never met them. All she knew was the title.
"Only the name."
"Well, she rarely shows herself on the public stage. It's no wonder you don't know."
Lieselotte removed her glasses and began cleaning them with a cloth. She didn't usually wear them, but she made a habit of putting them on during her research.
She claimed it put her in the right mood, as they weren't actually for correcting her vision.
"But Dual Wings is only number two. Number one is the Ice Sword."
"Ray?"
"Indeed. If I had to name one sorcerer who could rule the world, he would be my first choice. He is a singular ultimate. To be honest, it's almost presumptuous to group us in the same category as him. Before him, all other sorcerers are rendered powerless."
Lieselotte’s voice was unusually charged with emotion.
Amelia couldn't help but wonder just how much Lieselotte knew about Ray.
Even as the Sorcerer of Fiction, Lieselotte was terrifyingly powerful, as Amelia had felt firsthand. Yet even she claimed to be helpless before Ray—that he was in an entirely different league.
Who in the world was he, really?
It was a question that naturally dominated her thoughts.
"Ray is... who is he, exactly?"
She tried asking again. But Lieselotte didn't have the answer Amelia was looking for.
"Who he is... I don't know that either. To begin with, our own self-recognition is a fickle thing. Magic is the same. We name the processes of activating magic and act as if we understand them, but no one has truly explained these mysterious phenomena in their entirety. This world is full of the incomprehensible. If you ask who anyone is... none of us likely have the answer."
"That’s a bit deep... But wait, is magic really that poorly understood?"
"Indeed. There is still much about magic that remains a mystery."
Lieselotte tapped the desk.
"That sound just now. Did you hear it?"
"Yes. I did."
"But that is already the past."
"The past...?"
"Human perception has a time lag. There is a slight delay between the moment a sound is made and when it reaches you. The same applies to our other five senses. We think what we see and feel in the moment is everything, but humans are creatures that unavoidably live in the past. That is simply our nature. Magic is no different. There is a time lag even in perceiving an overwritten phenomenon. You could say that we sorcerers are essentially overwriting the world's past."
"……The past."
Amelia didn't fully grasp everything Lieselotte was saying. Yet, for some reason, the explanation felt strangely right.
Perhaps it was a form of resonance.
As sorcerers who both interfered with causality, they shared a common perspective... or so Amelia felt.
"A sorcerer is a general term for those who interfere with the world. This is just a theory, but I believe that while we are connected to the Akasha, we are temporarily severed from time."
"Severed from time?"
"Yes. And we use that to manifest mysterious phenomena and substances in this world. To high-ranking sorcerers, time might be nothing more than a triviality. This causality interference is a perfect example, isn't it? At a glance, it looks as if time is winding back. I suspect a sorcerer capable of interfering with time itself will appear one day. In short, magic is an omnipotent power—provided one truly masters it."
"And you think Ray is that person?"
It had been a long walk to get there, but Amelia realized that was exactly what Lieselotte meant.
"Yes. But my knowledge is limited to what I've studied. How far this world actually extends is another matter. In the end, our own limits define the limits of our world. Does the Akasha even exist? It's all conjecture. We simply choose to believe it does."
"……I see."
"Enough talk. Let's continue."
"Yes!"
Amelia answered energetically.
In the end, she hadn't gained a clear understanding of the mechanics.
Nevertheless, there was no doubt that for Amelia, this time spent with Lieselotte would prove to be an irreplaceable asset for her future.
★ The Seven Grand Sorcerers Summary
Ice Sword (Ray White)
Scorching (Abby Garnet)
Illusion (Carol Caroline)
Absolute Blade (Lucas Forst)
Fiction (Lieselotte Eden)
Dual Wings (Currently unknown)
Currently unknown