Chapter 100 (Yay~): If I become a Magus, maybe I'll meet her, right?

Chapter 100 (Yay~): If I become a Magus, maybe I'll meet her, right?

Late at night, in room number 016.

Ophelia was sitting on her bed, her face full of worry as she waited.

If there was one thing in life she deeply regretted, it was definitely coming into contact with Ian.

This guy had no intention of letting her go.

Moreover, his actions were incredibly peculiar.

Ophelia didn't know what else might happen if this continued.

But there was one thing she could confirm at this moment.

That was, she had truly fallen into a state similar to an "isolated island."

She couldn't leave, and even if she wanted to call for help, she didn't know how to do it.

What would happen next…?

To be honest,

Ophelia, who was caught up in this situation, felt a little scared — this was the first time she had felt this way since leaving the Clock Tower.

Right at this moment.

The phone on her bedside lit up.

Ophelia shakily picked it up and then saw the name she most did not want to see.

Ian Pendragon.

He had sent her a message.

"I'm here, please open the door."

"..."

Ophelia didn't dare refuse.

Because she knew that the other party was not acting normally right now.

She reached out and touched the door handle.

Click.

The door opened.

Ian stood right at the doorway.

"Can I come in?" he asked, a redundant question.

"Y-yes, of course," Ophelia said, stepping aside to let Ian in.

Click.

The door closed once again.

"This looks much more comfortable now," Ian said as he looked around the room.

"Ophelia, how do you feel?"

"...I don't know."

Ophelia turned her face away.

"What do you want, just say it."

"..."

Ian turned his head and looked straight at Ophelia.

"Are you afraid of me?"

The words struck right at the heart.

Ophelia's eyes widened slightly.

But she wasn't sure whether admitting it would make him angry — the best thing was still to hide it.

"I... I'm not afraid of you."

"Really?"

Ian moved closer to Ophelia, making her continuously step back until her back was pressed against the wall, with no way to retreat.

The man placed both hands on the wall, right beside Ophelia's ears.

"Answer me."

"Are you afraid of me?"

His voice was incredibly pleasant, carrying an indescribable gentleness.

If it weren't for the fact that she knew this was his way of threatening her, Ophelia might have liked his voice.

But right now, she couldn't endure it any longer.

Her throat felt like there was something crawling inside, and eventually, the emotions swelled up and burst out in words that she couldn't hold back.

"Yes!"

"I'm afraid of you, so what?!"

"You've been tormenting me all day, don't I have the right to be scared?!"

"Ian, you're crazy!"

Ophelia vented all her thoughts.

Both her physical strength and magecraft were suppressed, and even her mystic eye couldn't be used. Ophelia knew that after saying these words, the consequences would definitely not be small.

But she couldn't bear it anymore — the mental pressure was just too much.

However, the result turned out to be beyond Ophelia's expectations.

Ian just remained silent for a while, then gently hugged her.

"Sorry."

"I was a bit too much."

"But I just wanted to make sure you can help me."

"You..."

Ian's attitude made Ophelia somewhat confused.

But she wasn't the type to let her mind be disturbed just because of a hug.

The person in front of her was still someone incredibly dangerous.

"Then let me go, I want to go change!"

"Okay." Ian didn't stop her.

.....

In the Bathroom.

Ophelia stared at the mirror, breathing heavily.

She had once thought that she understood Ian.

But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.

It appeared that—

She would have to be a little tougher later.

Ophelia touched the small, well-maintained garden and made up her mind.

After changing into her pajamas, she stepped out of the bathroom. Just as she was about to act on what she had planned in her mind, she was met with an unexpected sight.

Ian was holding a book, his face focused as he read — it was a book on magecraft from the shelf, filled with obscure and hard-to-understand content.

His furrowed brow was proof of his effort.

"What are you doing?" Ophelia asked, confused.

"Oh… you're out," Ian said, closing the book in his hands and looking up at Ophelia.

"I'm just trying to see how much I can understand."

"…"

"So how's it going?" Ophelia asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Basically, I don't understand. I don't even know what those symbols mean."

"Pff…"

Ophelia couldn't help but laugh.

But she quickly suppressed her smile.

"Not understanding is normal. You're not from a magi family. If you could teach yourself, you should form a new magi organization and lead them."

"However—"

Ophelia glanced at the book Ian was holding.

"What are you looking at this stuff for?"

"I want to become a Magus."

"Huh?"

Ophelia lightly pinched her cheek to make sure she wasn't hearing things, then spoke.

"Are you joking?"

"I'm not joking."

"If what you said is true, that simulated fighting can't materialize my ideas..."

Ian stared directly at the astonished magus in front of him.

"Then, if I become a magus, will I be able to meet her?"

Ophelia was about to say, "What the hell are you dreaming about?" but then she caught Ian's serious gaze.

He wasn't joking.

He was really serious about this.

Realizing this, Ophelia could only momentarily set aside her doubts.

"Are you serious?"

"Don't you remember that you have no magic circuits?" she asked.

Magic circuits were the foundation of a magus.

The quantity, quality, and complexity of these circuits determined a magus's strength.

Without any magic circuits, Ophelia couldn't imagine what price Ian would have to pay to "become" a magus.

"I know."

Ian's voice was unwavering.

"But I've still decided to do it."

"Ophelia, you're the only one who can help me."

"You…"

Ophelia took a few steps back.

"Based on what do you think I'll help you?"

"Do you think you and I are friends?"

"Of course not," Ian replied with a bitter smile.

"So this is a deal."

"As long as you help me, after this, we'll have no further connections."

"..."

Ophelia hesitated for a moment, then replied:

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Finally hearing the opportunity to escape her nightmare, Ophelia didn't think twice.

"Okay."

"You're the one saying this!"

In the quiet of the night, the two reached a secret agreement.

This was the beginning of the journey to learn magecraft from scratch.

To quickly escape from Ian, Ophelia didn't hold back any knowledge she had learned, passing it all on to him.

She had originally thought this would be an incredibly difficult process—after all, the other party had no magic circuits.

Trying to learn magecraft in this condition?

It would be like telling a newborn to participate in a triathlon.

But in reality, Ian's performance was much better than expected.

At least, he didn't seem like someone who lacked mana entirely.

"You said that sword, was it created by using memory to recreate it?" Ophelia summarized.

"Is this ability called projection?" Ian asked in return.

"Kind of. It might have another name, but generally, it's called projection."

"Then is there a way to make them last forever?"

"Of course not."

Ophelia looked at Ian in front of her.

"Projection is a type of magecraft that uses mana to recreate objects you've interacted with."

"When the mana runs out, they naturally disappear."

"Moreover, with your condition, the more you use it, the more distorted the things you recreate will become, like vague memories, and in the end, only the same name will remain."

"I see…"

Ian seemed to be thinking about something.

Ophelia couldn't help but ask another question.

"You're not planning to recreate something strange, are you?"

"That's right, I was planning to recreate a person, but now it seems that's not possible."

"Wasn't that obvious?!"

....

In the following month, Ophelia witnessed another side of Ian.

It was the unyielding will of this man.

"It's already so late, are you planning to keep reading?" Ophelia asked, looking at Ian sitting beside her, engrossed in a book.

"Umu." Ian nodded.

"Then why don't you read in your own room?" she asked.

"I feel like the atmosphere here is better."

"..."

"Well, it's up to you."

By this point, it was very late.

In half an hour, he would definitely fall asleep, she thought.

However—

When Ophelia woke up, she found Ian still reading the same incomprehensible book as when she had fallen asleep.

She was shocked and exclaimed:

"You stayed up all night reading?!"

"Oh… is it already morning?" Ian rubbed his eyes.

"I need to go find Mashu today."

This wasn't the first time.

For over a month, Ian had done this almost every day.

Finally, one day, Ophelia couldn't take it anymore.

As he was about to leave, she pulled him back.

"You need to stay here and sleep today!" she insisted.

"I don't want anyone to collapse in my workshop!"

So,

Ophelia met Mashu with a worried expression.

"Umm, Ophelia-san…"

"Senpai hasn't responded to my messages today. Do you know where he went?"

In this matter, Ophelia could only vaguely reply to Mashu.

"Maybe he's sleeping in his room."

"He'll respond to you later, don't worry."

"Really? That's great!"

As things became more routine, time passed quickly during this process.

A month swiftly passed.

Ophelia had assessed Ian's progress.

He truly had no magic circuits, the essential foundation for a magus.

But contrary to that understanding, his body could produce mana equal to or even surpassing the mana flow of a magic circuit.

This was akin to a product of the Age of Gods.

After learning the basic theory, Ian had become quite proficient in controlling it.

Now, when releasing "memory projections," he no longer disturbed the environment around him like he did before.

The number of projected objects had also increased.

To be fair,

If Ian had come from a normal magi family, Ophelia believed he would certainly deserve the best crests.

But sadly, he was still just a madman with nothing but the name Pendragon.

"So, have I become a magus now?" Ian asked, looking at the Excalibur Galatine projection in his hand.

"..."

Ophelia sighed.

"You're really in a hurry."

"This is just the beginning. There's still so much more you have to do to truly become a magus."

"But—"

"But what?" Ian pressed.

"But if you want to try summoning a 'Servant,' I think you could give it a shot," Ophelia said.

Her words immediately caught Ian's attention.

"But isn't the Holy Grail War not yet here?"

"Can I still summon a 'Servant' now?"

"Who told you that you can only summon a Servant during the Holy Grail War?"

Ophelia looked around the room.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Chaldea organization has already summoned Heroic Spirits before."

"You mean…" Ian looked at Ophelia before him.

"Does this mean I can finally try my original idea?"

"That, I can't say for sure."

Ophelia's eyes sparkled mischievously, her clear blue gaze not hiding the playfulness within.

"Don't you wonder what kind of Servant you'll summon in this situation?"

Without needing to say more,

Once that thought crossed her mind, it was destined to never fade.

Ophelia knew that unless Ian tried it himself, he would never give up.

So, even though she knew the chances of successfully summoning a "Servant" were very low, she decided to let him try once.

After all, if nothing was summoned, he would have to accept that there was no point in dreaming any longer.

And seeing him fail once didn't seem like the worst thing.

Using the knowledge she had learned at Clock Tower, Ophelia began to prepare the summoning circle.

This was a quick summoning method used in adverse conditions, less effective than the usual summoning.

Given the current situation, it was very reasonable to use it.

There were no relics to act as catalysts.

So, Ian's blood was used as the catalyst for the summoning.

The words of the incantation flowed from his lips, echoing through the room.

One second;

Two seconds;

Three seconds;

A long time passed.

The result seemed like it was destined to fail.

But just as Ophelia was about to offer words of comfort, a mysterious light flew out from the simulated battlefield area and landed right in front of them.

And then,

The female magus stared at the figure before her.

She froze in place.

Wasn't that Mordred from the simulated battle?!

How did Ian summon her?