“What? What are you saying, no!”
Bella Meyer was startled by Roxanna Elrim’s explosive statement and started trying to dissuade her. Not just Bella, but even Debra Bennett, who was directly involved, looked quite surprised.
“Wait… Did you say Roxanna Elrim?”
“Yes, Deputy Commander Debra Bennett.”
“I heard that you’re talking about someone with the Mana Tank Syndrome. What do you plan to do?”
The facility manager was in an awkward position as well.
Although he asked as a matter of formality, there were too many problems with treating a patient like a Mana Tank, no matter how you looked at it.
Who would be responsible if something went wrong? Moreover, she has the Mana Tank Syndrome. It’s not like I have a weak constitution; she is truly an incurable patient.
“The release of mana can be controlled like turning off a faucet. Even though I can’t handle it, I can certainly adjust the mana core…”
“You’re enthusiastic, which is good, but…”
The deputy commander scratched his cheek in difficulty. The majority of the responses were not very positive, and eventually, Roxanna came to me.
“Captain, I heard that there’s a high probability of your transfer due to promotion in June this year.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“In that case, there are only about three months left. And except for the platoon evaluation, most of the training schedule is concentrated in the latter half of the year… This platoon evaluation will be the first and last training with Captain.”
Roxanna said this while grabbing my hand. Despite her frail-looking hand that couldn’t completely cover mine, a strong will could be felt.
“I also want to show Captain a proper performance.”
In the end, the conclusion was that she wanted permission to use magic barriers during this evaluation. Roxanna, with her emerald-like sparkling eyes, was actively appealing.
Just as I was trying to avoid her gaze and say something.
“Deputy Roxanna. As I said before, I cannot give permission…”
“How about giving it a try once?”
Sergeant Claude, who had been quietly listening to Roxanna’s statement, spoke up.
“Sir.”
“Even if she has the Mana Tank Syndrome, Roxanna is still a member of our platoon and a soldier of Okhraine. If we were just going to lock her up in a room, we wouldn’t have treated her as a platoon member in the first place.”
In fact, that statement was true.
I know how miserable it feels when you genuinely want to do something but your body doesn’t cooperate and you’re forced to be excluded.
During the thousand-mile march after joining the unit, my knee was dislocated, and even though they forced me to continue the training, my seniors practically dragged me out, resulting in my discharge.
How unjust that felt back then.
Even now, just thinking about that situation makes my body tremble.
“…Captain, do you really intend to give permission?”
Lumina, standing next to me, asked with a worried look.
I had to seriously consider it. As Sergeant Claude said, Roxanna Elrim is undoubtedly a maid of magic in Okhraine.
Even if I leave the battalion, I would have to continue military life with the new captain who will take over.
She can’t be locked up in a room forever, no matter how much she wants it.
Anyway, in the event of war, she would be deployed as a 1st-class mage.
Wouldn’t it be better to give her a chance, even if it’s slightly risky, rather than having her fail to perform properly on the battlefield and be abandoned as a Mana Tank patient?
“Deputy Roxanna.”
“Deputy Roxanna Elrim!!”
“There is a condition. While I will entrust you with deploying the magic barrier, you cannot do it alone.”
“Wha…?”
“Captain, what do you mean by that? You can’t deploy the magic barrier alone.”
I answered the platoon members who didn’t understand the meaning.
“The magic barrier for the platoon evaluation will be constructed together by Captain and Roxanna.”
*
A few days after Debra Bennett demonstrated her own dispel-defense magic.
“Then… Excuse me.”
“Hmm!”
“It’s ready!”
Roxanna’s arm wrapped around my neck. I grabbed her legs tightly and secured her firmly to my body.
Even so, it’s a bit embarrassing to have her piggyback, and every time my hand touches her skin, I feel a shiver.
“Are you not heavy!?”
“Not at all. I don’t even feel like I’m being carried.”
Like when Bella Meyer fainted in the city of Kayef, the weight of our platoon members seems to be surprisingly light.
Even Bella felt that way, but Roxanna’s weight seems to be less than half of Bella’s.
“Roxanna needs to supplement more nutrition. She doesn’t have any muscle…”
“Oh no, Captain! That statement is dangerous!!”
Purely expressing my thoughts, Lumina waved her hands in shock.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I didn’t say it with any malicious intent.”
Originally, it was Lumina Blue who suggested the piggyback. She said that because the mana cores are closest to each other, she can respond quickly in an emergency.
Although hugging from the front would be the best, it’s not a posture that an adult man and woman can easily adopt.
As a makeshift solution for that, the piggyback was proposed, so it’s natural that unavoidable physical contact would occur.
However, her skin was indeed overly soft. It felt exactly like the slime I used to play with when I was in elementary school.
I had an urge to touch and manipulate it, but I suppressed it with my mental strength and waved to Debra Bennett.
“Let’s start.”
“Okay! Just give the signal, and I’ll launch!”
When I turned my head slightly to look at Roxanna, she raised both hands to the sky silently.
“Deployment.”
Thump, thump, I could clearly hear her heart beating violently. With every exhalation, dense mana fragrance was scattered into the air.
A green light filled my vision, and a magic circle formed that covered my entire body.
Intermediate defense magic ‘Wind Protection.’
Unlike protection magic, which is non-elemental, this is a magic barrier that fully utilizes the skills of a 1st-class green mage like Roxanna.
That’s why, despite her worry, Roxanna was handling mana quite stably.
“Gah…!”
“Good job, Roxanna.”
Roxanna deployed the barrier in an instant. As expected, since she poured an enormous amount of mana, the Wind Protection she deployed was thick enough to easily block at least upper-level magic.
But the main purpose of this evaluation wasn’t the ‘slope magic barrier.’
The key was to complete the early version of the dispel-defense magic established by Debra Bennett.
“Now… intercepting spell…”
She wiggled her fingers to adjust the mana in the barrier. Another magic circle was layered on top of the relatively thin upper slope.
This is the essence of this platoon evaluation.
Click. A bead of sweat rolled down Roxanna’s cheek and fell onto her head. She was incredibly focused. To avoid disrupting her concentration, I reduced my breathing to a minimum and watched the dispel-defense magic being implemented in front of me.
“It’s done!”
Finally, Roxanna, who completed the perfect deployment, patted her shoulders twice. I signaled to Debra Bennett, who was standing on the opposite side.
“Captain! Over here!”
Considering the possibility that the barrier might be penetrated by Deputy Bennett’s attack, I quickly moved to the back of Lumina, who had already deployed the magic barrier.
Kyaaah-! Hooaaaak!
As soon as I safely escaped the range, a warm heat rose from the tip of Deputy Bennett’s hand.
“Shall we go!”
A huge flame shot up and then transformed into the shape of a beautiful bird. An advanced red magic, Phoenix Strike. A spell with excellent penetration and firepower.
‘You said take it easy… Is this really taking it easy!’
The flames that swallowed everything in front of them. Even though we had distanced ourselves, the intense heat was still felt.
Despite its overwhelming power, Roxanna did not step back. Instead, she calmly observed the rushing firebird and carefully timed it.
“Now!”
“Now!”
Almost simultaneously, Roxanna’s magic circle burst forth with a flash.
It was a magic that was difficult to call a missile. Missile? Maybe it would be closer to an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Just as the phoenix was about to collide with the magic circle, a magic missile condensed to its limit collided precisely with Phoenix Strike.
Bam-!!!
It was louder and stronger than any explosion I had ever heard. Not only did it temporarily deafen me, but tinnitus painfully scratched my eardrums.
Phoenix Strike is not a trivial magic. It’s not something that can be easily blocked even with an advanced defense magic.
Even if Roxanna projected more mana than usual to make it thicker, and even if the destructive power of the magic missile was surprisingly strong, it was still a combination of a basic interception magic and an intermediate magic barrier.
There’s no reason to be disappointed just because it couldn’t withstand the impact and was destroyed. After all, it was Deputy Bennett who made the mistake by throwing Phoenix Strike after saying “take it easy.”
In a state of some resignation, I looked beyond the dust cloud that obscured my vision.
However,
“Ahh…”
Contrary to my expectations, Roxanna’s barrier stood firm even through the explosion.
“!!!”
Lumina was startled and covered her mouth in surprise at the unexpected result.
After finally succeeding in deploying the magic at the end of the long special training, Roxanna shouted in joy.
“I did it! I did it!!”
