### Chapter 82
Nahun was contemplating future plans while walking with Citri in the front yard of the Demon King Castle.
‘I need to call Dein.’
There was no longer a need to monitor the 55th floor. After all, they would be forming an alliance. Given that they were already inclined to heed Nahun’s unreasonable demands, there was no doubt they desired an alliance.
Thus, Nahun planned to call Dein, who was monitoring the situation on the 55th floor, and send him back to the human realm. Together with Eri, they needed to create an incident in the human realm to attract the attention of the celestial beings.
‘That way, the Demon War will be delayed even a little….’
“What are you pondering so deeply about?”
At Citri’s question, Nahun snapped out of his thoughts. Citri pointed behind herself with her thumb.
“Isn’t this the place?”
“Yes, this is the spot.”
Nahun set aside his troubled thoughts and walked toward Citri. Startled by Nahun’s sudden approach, Citri involuntarily stepped back.
“…Where are you going?”
“Uh, no… you just came up to me suddenly.”
“What does that have to do with anything…?”
Citri rolled her eyes and spoke again.
“…Can I be honest?”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re a bit scary.”
“…….”
Nahun was taken aback. Was this something that once came from the lips of a high-ranking Demon King, ranked 12th no less? As Nahun’s expression changed to a complex one, Citri, perhaps to shake off her embarrassment, shouted.
“Isn’t it natural to be scary!? You’re hanging around with some weird monster whale, ridiculously strong, and have information that seems to come out of nowhere…!”
“…Haah, I understand. But isn’t that what you’d think when we weren’t on good terms?”
Citri blinked in confusion.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think I mean? We’re allies, so what’s there to be scared of?”
“Oh.”
Citri raised her hand to scratch her head and laughed awkwardly.
“I thought since you were trying to be serious, you liked me or something~.”
Citri said it half-jokingly, but upon hearing it, Nahun’s expression soured. With genuine disgust, Citri quickly corrected herself.
“Ah, I know! I won’t make that joke again, so lighten up!!”
“…I really wondered if I should listen to that.”
“I-I’m sorry….”
“Let’s get on with the magic lesson.”
Nahun said simply and drew out his magic power. The body of a high-ranking demon had an immensely vast number of circuits. Naturally, the available magic power was gigantic, which Citri had felt firsthand.
Citri called out in a panicked voice when she sensed the overwhelming magic power flowing from Nahun.
“Hey, hey! I can’t do that training this time…!”
However, this time Nahun’s magic didn’t exert pressure on Citri’s body. She blinked, and Nahun spoke as if it were obvious.
“Of course, I’ll make it not affect you.”
“Uh….”
“I’ll teach you simply.”
Nahun was about to teach a simple yet practical ancient magic when Citri interrupted him.
“Wait!!!”
“What is it now?”
“A simple one? That won’t do!”
“…Yes?”
Citri recalled the magic Seere had used while fighting Belial. This was a golden opportunity to learn ancient magic; she wanted something impressive, not just a simple spell.
“Teach me something amazing, like what Seere did!”
“…Your Majesty.”
“Hmm?”
“Right now, Your Majesty wouldn’t be able to use that even if you learned it.”
Upon hearing Nahun’s words, Citri stared at him blankly for a moment, then her face turned bright red.
“W-What do you mean!! Do you think I can’t understand better than Seere!?”
“It’s not that; it’s a matter of lacking magic power.”
“…What?”
“Seere has an extraordinarily high level of available magic power for her age. And as you know, the Debata clan can store external magic in their hair and use it.”
This was already a widely known fact through Seir, so Citri understood.
“Uh… that’s right.”
“However, as Citri, you have no ability to store external magic.”
“But my available magic….”
“While it has increased significantly through training with me, currently, you haven’t regained any of your sealed powers, so you fall short.”
Nahun summarized concisely.
“Even without external magic, Seere’s magical power is overwhelmingly higher.”
“Ugh…!”
Citri didn’t want to accept that she was even inferior to the still young Seere, but she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
“So, Your Majesty needs to learn magic suitable for your current level. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
“Then I want the strongest magic I can use at my level! I need something like a finishing move.”
“…Hmm.”
Nahun pondered slightly over which magic would be appropriate to teach. During that consideration, a voice that was neither Nahun’s nor Citri’s rang out.
“…T-Teacher?”
“!?”
When Seere’s voice sounded very subdued and a chilling tone accompanied it, Nahun was startled. Citri displayed a similar reaction.
Turning around, they saw Seere, tilting her head slightly for some reason.
“What are you two doing sneaking around here??”
“Uh, Seere. We were just….”
“Eh… I was teaching magic. And we weren’t exactly sneaking around…?”
“Magic.”
Seere glanced at Citri. The intensity of the gaze from this twelve-going-on-thirteen-year-old girl was enough to chill even Citri, who had once been a high-ranking Demon King.
After briefly looking at Citri, Seere’s gaze moved back to Nahun.
“Why are you suddenly teaching Citri?”
“I haven’t visited in a long time, and she said she didn’t want to do the usual training, so instead….”
“Hm.”
Seere deemed their statements to be true. Nahun had been drawing out his magic power intensely. Seere felt relieved inwardly.
‘It wasn’t the situation I was worried about after all.’
Neither Nahun nor Citri knew Seere was thinking this. With her expression softening, Seere made a suggestion to Nahun.
“Then I’d like to listen too.”
“Hmm?”
“If you teach us a spell that I don’t know and Citri can use, that would be perfect, right?”
Seere proposed this while looking at Citri.
“What do you think, Citri?”
“Me? Ah… I, I’m fine with that!”
“That’s what she says, Teacher.”
“Um… okay.”
Nahun accepted. It would definitely be beneficial to follow Seere’s suggestion. However, there was one issue….
‘…Isn’t it work hours right now?’
It was Seere’s work hours. Nahun hesitated over this but decided against bringing it up, unsure how Seere would react.
Thinking it would be better to teach quickly and send her back, Nahun clapped his hands to focus both of them.
“Alright, then I will demonstrate quickly.”
Magic poured into Nahun’s palms. Then the runes of ancient magic emerged as the spell was inscribed.
“Target designation.”
『 Objéctum Dēsignátĭo 』
“Binding.”
『 Sérvĭtus 』
The two spells manifested. Nahun then clasped the activated spells and recited a simple incantation again.
“Target binding.”
『 Objéctum Sérvĭtus 』
One spell was formed by combining the two ancient spells. Instantly, invisible chains bound Seere and Citri.
“Ah.”
“What, what is this!?”
“This is a spell that binds what you designate as the target. Invisible, odorless, and transparent magic chains bind the target. The captured person cannot free themselves.”
Upon hearing Nahun’s explanation, Citri exclaimed in surprise.
“What? Then if you have this, it’s pretty much game over, right?”
“Game over? It has its drawbacks, of course. Firstly, it can be broken if the opponent has more magic than the amount invested in the spell.”
Nahun asked Seere.
“Seere, do you understand the magic so far?”
“Umm… I think I can give it a try.”
“Then try casting it on me.”
As Nahun snapped his fingers to free Seere from her binding, she mimicked exactly what he had done.
“Target designation.”
『 Objéctum Dēsignátĭo 』
“Binding.”
『 Sérvĭtus 』
Citri’s hesitant incantation yielded impressive results; she nearly understood everything after just one viewing. With both hands clasped, she recited the incantation.
“Target binding.”
『 Objéctum Sérvĭtus 』
Then the intangible chains bound Nahun. Sensing this, Nahun let out his magic power. As he had said, the chains immediately broke apart.
“See?”
“Ah, yeah….”
“So this magic is best used against a definitely weaker opponent.”
“That makes sense.”
“And the number of targets you can designate is at most two or three, so it actually consumes quite a bit of magic power, which is also a drawback.”
Despite these drawbacks, Citri firmly believed she learned a good spell. She sought to review it again by asking Nahun.
“Then please show me one more time.”
“Remember what you saw and try it yourself.”
“…What? Wait a minute!”
“Didn’t Seere do it? Citri can do it too.”
“Please, just one more time!”
As Citri persisted in pleading with Nahun to show her once more, Seere watched as Nahun quickly released his own chains.
‘Still far behind….’
But there was potential. Nahun had explicitly stated that if the amount of magic power invested was lower than that of the user’s, it could be broken. In that case, when the opposite occurred, it meant it wouldn’t break no matter what.
Seere looked at Nahun, smiling brightly.
“Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for consistently teaching me such good magic.”
Nahun smiled warmly at Seere’s words of gratitude.
“Well, your thanks make me grateful too.”
“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll head back. So….”
Seere looked at Citri.
“Don’t you think you should take your leave too, Citri?”
“Ah, um….”
Citri glanced between Nahun and Seere a couple of times before eventually nodding.
“…I’ll do that.”
#
Back in her office, Seere slightly furrowed her brow. She then fully spread her magic before drawing it back again. Several strands of her white hair turned red.
“Cecili.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Is the teacher an attractive man?”
Cecili was momentarily taken aback by the sudden question. She couldn’t grasp whether it was just a casual inquiry or if Seere was testing her. As if reading Cecili’s thoughts, Seere jumped in first.
“I’m not testing you. Objectively, what do you think?”
“…If you’re asking if he’s attractive, then of course he is. Nahun is very capable. Everything else about him is great, but his appearance and personality are exceptionally admirable.”
“Yeah, that’s true…”
Seere muttered.
“Then it’s true about Citri, that girl too….”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind.”
Seere squinted her eyes. She felt the need to observe Citri’s behavior closely moving forward, and she reminded herself of one important fact.
The teacher is my teacher alone.
