The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Hell yeah! Called it! My experience points are going up faster! And I just figured out another awesome thing!”

“What is it, sir?”

Pochi tilted her head.

“So this All Up spell that Tūs made — it’s a GREAT spell that combines the formulas and effects of Power Up, Speed Up, Hype Up, and even Title Up, all in one convenient cast. It makes all the other enhancement spells redundant, so to speak.”

“Ah, so that’s why you haven’t been using those other ones all that much.”

Right, because under normal circumstances, the four other spells would give no additional effect.

…Or so I thought.

“And here’s where it gets interesting — I found how to increase the experience points I gain even more. Casting the All Up spell doubles the amount gained, and casting the four other spells on top of it will increase that amount even more, though they’re by a lower percentage.”

“Ooh, that sounds amazing! But how much exactly do we get, sir?”

“After doubling it with All Up, each of the four spells increases the final amount by fifty percent… so if I cast all five, it’ll be 10.125 times.”

“TEN TIMES!?”

Pochi shouted, pushing both her cheeks with her front paws.

“And since we have the XP Boosters, which triple the amount already…”

“Then…!?”

“We get thirty times the experience points.”

“THIRTY!?”

“And God probably won’t restrict that bonus from us down the line… because it DOES make monsters stronger.”

“……Wow.”

Pochi trembled and muttered in disbelief. I haven’t seen her like this in a while.

This trick is quite simple — though I probably never would have thought of it on my own. Which reminds me, that monster-infested area that Lylia mentioned… if it’s still a thing, it could provide us with a huge advantage.

“But won’t that result in a lot more work on your part, Master? I mean, you have to cast five spells on each monster before being able to kill it, right?”

“Well, it’s not THAT bad. All of the enhancement spells aside from the initial All Up cast can be substituted with fixed-position type Spell Circles. I can just lay them down in a straight line and lure the monsters through it, then cast All Up on them manually.”

“Ooh! The future is looking bright, sir!”

I’d like to make a fixed-position type Spell Circle for the All Up spell as well, but it’s too information-heavy to be viable, so much so that even if I could make a Circle, it probably would activate its effect only once. All of the other support spells are relatively low-leveled, so I could keep their effects going as long as they’re regularly fed with arcane energy.

Anyway, for now…

“Let’s keep this a secret, Pochi.”

“…So that the enemies wouldn’t know about it, sir?”

Oh, now she’s suddenly thirty times more competent than usual, picking up on my intention like that.

“Yeah, that’s right — They’re probably able to rise over level 100, even without using the Limit Breakthrough magecraft that we have now.”

“Huh!? How come, sir!?”

“Just think about it. I know this doesn’t apply to you despite the Archetype Changer turning you into a Heavenly Beast, but the Violet Phoenix has always been over level 100 even without using the Limit Breakthrough. Same goes for the Devilkin. The Limit Breakthrough… well, it’s something only creatures under God’s protection need to use.”

“Why would God make things like that, though…?”

“It’s probably–“

…Some sort of safety measure.

Magecraft was brought to us by the Devilkin, but the Devilkin themselves don’t need the Limit Breakthrough magecraft. Then why or how does it exist? Well, it’s simple — the Limit Breakthrough is something that humanity has created. Nothing says that all magecraft has to originate from the Devilkin — hell, I’ve even invented some original magecraft myself.

Improvising and overcoming limitations — humanity is just good at those kinds of things, really. I swear, humanity’s greed might even surpass that of the Devilkin…

After all, those Devils in the War Demon Nation right now… they all used to be human.

Well, except Lloyd, who might or might not be Leon — they’re still keeping him human for some reason.

Humanity is very much capable of destroying itself if certain people become too powerful. That’s probably what God thought…

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

The next day, I went on some party quests with Haruhana, Tifa, and Tarawo again.

The three steadily gained more power as they fought against the monsters after I cast enhancement spells on them. The boosts those monsters received temporarily gave them a whole rank’s worth of additional strength, so it’s good practice for when the Devil King’s Fetal Stage starts, too.

Then at night, after Tifa returned to the Magic University, I proceeded to look for more quests to take, but then an express messenger ran up to me. 

The message they delivered, as expected, concerned my meeting with Kaoru and Jun’ko. No one would have expected the meeting to take place this late; even the messenger looks surprised.

Looking forward to seeing the Shamanesses again after so long, Pochi and I headed to the temple, which must have been renovated and rebuilt again and again over the past millennia.

Going through the temple’s many sliding doors, I saw… only Kaoru sitting there.

“Hello.”

“…Hey. Long time no see, Asley.”

“Hahaha… Now that I think about it, you’re technically older than me now, aren’t you?”

She and her sister are probably the oldest people I know in the current era.

When I met them in the past, they were already over 2,000 years old — which means they should be over 7,000 now.

“Gah, I was hoping you wouldn’t bring that up.”

“Kaoru! Helloooooo!”

“Mm-hm. Looking healthy as always, Pochi.”

“Yes, of course! I’ve been draining all the energy off of my Master all day, every day!”

Has she been sneakily drinking it off my neck at night like a bat or what?

“Um, what about Jun–“

“–She’s sleeping in the back room.”

She replied quickly as if she had already known that I would ask.

Did her Evil Eyes see that coming? Nah, can’t be — she wouldn’t use it for something as minor as this, seeing that it supposedly causes considerable mental strain on the user.

“Too bad, really. She’s been looking forward to seeing you, you know, but she’s too overworked to even stand up by herself.”

I knew it.

“I swear, she’s been using her Evil Eyes too much. She’s even managed to hide that fact away from me, her little sister… Which is totally in character for her, I guess.”

As Kaoru said that, her face looked… dark, despite the room being illuminated by candle light.

Pochi, sitting next to me, also loos sad.

“Well, talking about depressing stuff won’t make the world a more peaceful place. So getting to the point — what are you here for today? It’s not about that magic classroom you’ll be opening, is it?”

Hmm, so she doesn’t know why I’m here. She might have heard about the classroom from the Resistance, and surely she knows that I’m here just to say hello.

Which means, as I thought, she could not rely on her sister’s Evil Eyes during this time.

I proceeded to ask Kaoru how to gain permission to enter Kamiyama.

“An area past Kamiyama with a monster infestation… That’s what Lylia told you?”

“Yes. Do you happen to know anything about it?”

“That probably refers to the Scarlet Devil Wetlands.”

“That sounds… nice. Have you heard of it before, Master?”

“Nope, never have.”

I don’t think there’s been a single mention of that place in the books I’ve read in the past, at least. It might be a place that T’oued has kept a secret from the public.

Kaoru, looking up at the ceiling as if she was recalling something, began explaining,

“It’s an extremely cold region, devoid of the warmth of the sun. It’s said that the monsters there have evolved in their own unique manners.”

“Evolved…?”

“All of the monsters there are… well, scarlet.”

Region-specific coloration, huh? Could it be that…

“They adapted to the extreme cold by boosting their body heat generation? So that’s why it’s called the Scarlet Devil Wetlands…?”

“You catch on quick. But hey, you and Lylia have killed the Devil King once — the Shogun will most likely let you through.”

The Kamiyama, the mountain that even the locals have difficulties gaining access to, stands between the city and the Scarlet Devil Wetlands, the region filled with dangerous monsters… Hey, hol’ up a minute!

“W-wait, so that mountain is called Kamiyama because…!”

“Yeah, it’s just for show. What’s actually dangerous if the place beyond it — too dangerous, really. I’ll inform the Shogun, and the mountain’s guards as well.”

“Master, Master! What’s a Shogun?”

“The top leader of T’oued.”

“Huh, that’s an… interesting-sounding title, sir.”

Hearing Pochi’s comment, Kaoru smiled.

Looks like she’s doing all right for herself, but I’m still worried about Jun’ko.

“By the way, do you have any idea when Jun’ko will be up…?”

“I’ll just shoot you a Telepathic Call when she gets better. When I do… well, just hurry and come.”

Pochi and I let out a dry chuckle at Kaoru’s frankness.

Well, we have only one answer for her, though.

“”Yes, we’ll hurry!””

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