Steel and Mana

Chapter 54 – Ally or Enemy?

When I woke up, sandwiched between two girls, I felt like being run over by a truck wasn't that bad after all. If I ever meet that idiot of a soul who shot himself in the head, I will thank him for pushing me off the road of reincarnation. This was the best thing that could have happened to me.

"Mhm...!" With a pleasant stretch, I sat up, quietly slipping out from between them, pulling the sheets back over their bodies. After a quick wash and dressing up, I left the room and was surprised that Oleg was waiting for me in the main hall.

"My Lord!"

"What happened?" I sighed, seeing the trouble on his face.

"We lost sight of the Priestess."

"What? How?"

"I... I don't know... I will punish the soldier on watch accordingly, but we are searching the city right as we speak!"

"Hmm... She may have some ability we are not privy to, huh? She did slip away from my mother, too... For now, there is no reason to panic. We will see what happens. Tell me how it transpired!" I shrugged, heading to my study while listening to Oleg recounting it.

"She was housed, as issued, in the guest wing and under constant surveillance. When it was the night guard's time to be switched up, they looked into the room, and it was... empty."

I was about to say something while opening the door to my study, but all the words were stuck in my throat, as inside, there she was. She stood before one of my bookshelves, browsing while the room was filled with the scent of vanilla and a thin cloud of golden mist.

"Mikan?" I asked, and she turned around, greeting me with a big smile.

"Ah! Good morning! Your library is marvelous. I have never seen so many magic tomes in one place! You wrote all of these? How?"

"This is my study and not a library... and yes, that is my handwriting. Can I speak with Elyzien?"

"Hm? I don't know... she doesn't answer me..." She whispered, getting red in the face, realizing she probably shouldn't be in here.

"Try using magic. That will rouse her." I advised, and when she nodded, trying to access her ancestor's mana, it rippled through the mist, resulting in an annoyed echo.

"What?"

"That is my question." I declared, raising my voice, making sure she listened, "What are you doing here? How did you disappear from your room without my guards noticing?"

"Huh?" Mikan flinched, her body shivering after hearing my tone, "I asked the guard if I could leave and look around!" She began explaining hastily, which made me raise an eyebrow and look at Oleg.

"We will do a thorough investigation." He answered, eyes as cold as a sharpened blade, incensed that one of his subordinates would fail him so severely.

"Don't need to." Elyzien grunted, taking shape in the end, looking tired. "It was me. Whenever Mikan wants to do something, her thoughts become erratic, disturbing my meditation. So, I usually let her have what she wants so I can return to peace. Manipulating a magicless person's perception is easy."

"You... you did what?" Mikan asked, horrified, looking at me in a panicked state, wanting to say something, but she couldn't find the words.

"Now that makes sense..." I murmured, crossing my arms and looking directly at Elyzien. "Are you trying to make me not trust you? You are speedrunning it, just for further reference."

"...?" I knew she wasn't getting the meaning behind that word, but she wasn't too bothered by it, "You don't need to worry about me. My ultimate goal is to get my revenge on the ruling family. I am not here to sabotage you."

"Let me rephrase it then, so you get it." I continued with a smile, "We started from a zero, as comrades, that is. Now we are on minus ten. The farther you go into the negatives, the less I will share with you, and the more I will marginalize your presence."

"After I saved you?"

"Yes." I answered without hesitation, "That is that this is this. If you think you can hold that over my head, I will have to disappoint you. I am now entertaining some new thoughts... you see, now I am beginning to doubt if Mikan's appearance on the walls when I 'died' was an accident and not something you orchestrated."

"Presomptious!" Elyzien harrumphed, getting angry, which showed on the golden mist as it began churring. "I have given you-"

"I am not a prostitute that you can buy, Elyzien Morningstar. Want my help in your revenge? Build up the trust. I am done here! Oleg, escort Miss Mikan to her room and arrange for two guards to accompany her everywhere from now on, even to the toilet. Then, place four others further away, out of reach of her magic. If Miss Mikan acts suspicious, you have my permission to kill."

"You...!"

"Exactly." I sneered at Elyzien, "Me. And ME alone. This is my territory. Not yours. Now, get out of my sight!" After my angry roar, she dissolved, and I saw the mist return to Mikan's body, almost sealing itself away from view, making the deathly white priestess sway in place.

"I am sorry..." She whimpered before leaving with Oleg, looking heartbroken.

"Miss Mikan." I stopped them at the door, making her look back towards me, but she was unable to meet my eyes. "You and Elyzien are two different entities. She is living inside your body; it is you who are in control. Please try and exercise it."

"My deepest apologies." She murmured, bowing, making me nod approvingly.

After they left, I sat down at my desk, picked out a piece of paper, and began drawing immediately. The presence of Elyzien was a double-edged sword. The apparent disregard she showed towards me or to the idea of my authority was enough of a warning sign. She may think of herself as my ally, but she still looks at herself as a top-tier mage of the Empire, someone in control of others. So, in turn, we are not allies... I am just a tool in her plans.

"It is time to wake her up to the present reality."

I wanted to build something different with the CC Yuri brought back, but it seems I need to deal with this problem first. My mind was racing, and I quickly recalled the relevant paragraphs on how to capture and naturalize enemy witches. I wasn't surprised there were already devices developed that worked to nullify a mage's powers as they were rare and valuable. It was a win-win for both parties if one could be captured and made to work for the other side. Naturally, I didn't have much proof of how frequent it was or if it ever worked in reality, but that didn't matter. What I needed now was simply a device to ensure Elyzien was kept under control.

I drew a complex magic formation, tracing the lines before my mind's eye before I began translating it. It wasn't hard, not with the new knowledge, thanks to Elyzien herself. With the 'rune translation' she gave me, I could finally give names and proper attributes to all the ones within Merlin's natural formation. It was like my own Rosetta Stone for translating the hieroglyphs. Just as I was reorganizing it in my mind, I watched as Luna came in, wearing her maid outfit, walking without any issues, and bringing a tray over with breakfast on it.

"Good morning!" She beamed at me happily, making me smile.

"Likewise. I am surprised to see you up; I thought you would take the day off, lazing around. I wouldn't have been mad."

"Hauh..." She blushed, pouring out coffee before presenting me with some eggs, cheese, and a slice of bacon. "I still know my duties, Master! Don't tease me..."

"I know you like being teased." I whispered, leaning forward and patting her bottom, which made her flinch, "Still hurting?"

"No... it's fine... hauh..."

"I see. Good to hear! What about Sasha?" I asked, beginning to eat as I totally forgot that I was this hungry, thanks to the sudden morning problem I was greeted with.

"She is still sleeping..." Going by her tone, I knew she was a bit jealous. Nevertheless, she took her position as a maid as something essential; no wonder she climbed out of bed after noticing I was gone. Luna was trained since she was young to serve a purpose; I could see that it was ingrained into her being on a fundamental level.

"You can go back to her after we finished here. You don't need to serve me like this anymore after the previous night."

"But I like serving you!" She hurriedly answered, blurting out it too loudly before going as red as a tomato.

"Noted." I grinned while eating, making her blink her mismatched eyes, trying to look anywhere but at me.

"What's that?" She pointed at the formation I drew up, hoping to divert the conversation.

"It is a restraining spell. In essence, when a mage uses its mana, this formation redirects it and sends it into an infinite loop that cancels it out. Think of it as an anti-magic spell or a kind of magic cuff. Or restrain."

"Restraining a mage... would this make them unable to use their spells?"

"Yes. The problem is they are not omnipotent. Give it enough force, and it can be overcome and destroyed. Think of it as filling a bottle with water. Go past its limit, and it will burst."

"Why are you making it? It isn't for Sasha, is it?"

"Of course not! It is for the Morningstar duo." I explained, telling her everything, "I need to keep that old witch under locks."

"She does sound dangerous, Master. You should handcuff her to the bed! And tie her up!"

"Tying her up, huh?" Looking at her from the side, I smiled, but she was already lost in her sudden imagination, "Well, I am looking to modify this formation, and I will need Merlin's help to sample it. His abilities have a reinforcing effect, so I will test what changes to make it stronger. If you want, you can come and accompany me."

"Let's wait for Sasha to wake up first!"

"Let's." I hummed, returning to my breakfast before my indecent thoughts diverted me from the problem at hand.

...
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In the late afternoon, we met with Merlin inside the school, which was now empty of students. While he was studying the magic circle I drew, I was studying him.

"What is it?" Sasha asked, noticing my eyebrows doing the wave as I was reorganizing my thoughts.

"Merlin, how old are you now?"

"I will be 10 soon! Next summer! Why?"

"Nothing... it's just that you barely look older than when we first met. Nah, don't worry about it; I just had my thoughts go rampant for a minute." I waved my ideas away as there were always boys who were the wet dreams of certain girls. "What do you think of it?"

"It is fascinating... So, I should activate it and tell you how it feels? Or what it does, yes?"

"Yep, but please be careful of it, okay?"

"Are we sure to do it here? In the city?" Sasha asked worriedly, making Luna concerned, especially after hearing my answer.

"It isn't an offensive spell. So it shouldn't blow us up." I hummed, scratching my chin, and Merlin was just as confident.

"What?!" Luna yelled, but we ignored her.

"I have been training since Lord Leon gave me that compiled textbook! I am much better at controlling my mana!"

"Show me." I smiled, and he didn't hesitate, activating his powers.

"Waaaait! No!" Luna wanted to interject, but it was already too late. The paper lit up in a blueish light. At first, nothing happened, but it did make Merlin shudder, and I swear I saw some kind of portal open up. A moment later, multiple thin tentacles stretched out, wiggling in the air, looking for prey.

"Weird!" Merlin grunted, his fingers twitching, dropping it, but that didn't stop the spell as the tentacles latched onto the thing they were pointed at... which was poor Luna.

"Nyauh?! What is this?! Help!"

"Huh... how interesting!" I watched on with a curious gaze as the slimy, purple, and blue tentacles wrapped themselves around her body like some kind of weird BDSM cosplay.

"It isn't! This feels weird, nyauh! Get it off me, please!" She wiggled on the ground, but those things held her tight, wrapping themselves around her waist, arms, and legs, tightening around her body. "It's groping me in weird places!"

"Let me try again!" Merlin said, finally picking up the piece of paper and cutting off the spell after focusing once again. When it happened, the tentacles disappeared, and Luna managed to stand back up, grimacing as slimy mucus was glittering all over her body.

"How was it?" I asked and got two identical answers but with different connotations from the two.

"Nasty!"

"Yet you look flushed." I retorted, glancing at Luna with a smirk, who said nothing more and just pouted, letting Sasha get out a handkerchief and begin wiping her down. "Merlin?"

"Holding it is filthy." He explained, scratching his chin the same way I did, even mimicking my posture. Well... they say that copying is the biggest flattery one could get. And it did feel good. "It interfered with my mana flow, but I could adapt. After I did, it probably changed as instead of restraining my powers it, well... transformed into this."

"Hmmm... Well, I now know that amplifying it can turn it into something completely different. How weird! I have another version, which has been a bit fiddled with as I replaced a few runes with different ones. Think of it as an alternate version. Come, Luna, you should hold it while Merlin activates it!"

"Why me?!" She shrieked but still stepped forward when I 'ordered' her.

"It should be safe; you are magicless, it won't hurt you, and that way, Merlin won't drop it and lose control over it."

"Then you do it!" She retorted, yet kept holding the new paper in her hands.

"I can't." I replied with a shrug and a smile, stroking her head, "Because bondage looks best on girls."