Dark attribute magic

"Mashiro, wake up. We're here."

　I pecked Mashiro's cheek with my finger as he seemed to be sleeping comfortably.

　Chewy and squishy Tsuki Tsutsu Just beautiful cheeks.

"Hmm, hmm... five minutes left..."

"That's a line you say in the morning. It's already night outside."

"What!? I-I'm late!?"

　Misunderstood, Mashiro gets up with all his might and bangs his head on the ceiling as hard as he can.

　There was a dull thump, and the air became silent for a moment, then quickly filled with laughter.

"Hehe, Mashiro-san. There's no need to rush like that. There's no class."

"You slept so soundly that you forgot what happened this morning."

"Ah, what!? Why are you two in the same classroom... Oh, Ogre-kun? What do you mean...?"

"This is what it is, Sleeping Beauty."

　He takes Mashiro, who is half asleep and confused, by the hand and leads him out of the carriage.

"Eh, the mansion... ah, ah! That's right!"

　Seeing the scene that spread out before us, it seems that Mashiro also remembered what he was doing.

"It's been a while since I came to Ogre's house."

　Karen stares at the mansion in front of her with deep emotion.

　The vast white-colored buildings have a rich history dating back to the founding of this country.

　This place can be said to be the headquarters of the Verret family, who work behind the scenes in politics as the king's right-hand man. And it's also my home.

"It's so much more amazing than I imagined..."

"Come on, there's no point in standing still, so let's go inside."

"Uh, yeah, that's right..."

　When I say that, Alice quickly comes over and opens the door.

　Mashiro froze again when he saw what was waiting on the other side of the door.

　A glittering chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

　Portraits of successive heads of the Verret family hang on the wall.

　A large staircase spreads from the center to the left and right.

　A red carpet stretches from the entrance to the stairs.

　And the maids and butlers lined up on either side.

"Welcome back, Ogre boy. Lady Reina."

　No matter how many times I see them, it's amazing to see them greeting each other and bowing so perfectly.

　This is a feat that can only be done because everyone serves the Verret family with pride.

"It's a pain to meet you. It's been a long time."

"Hehe, thank you for welcoming me as a newcomer."

"..."

"Kukkuk...Mashiro. You won't be in trouble if you stay frozen forever."

"...Ha! Well, I'm sure you'll be surprised by something like this! I'm a commoner!"

"This will become the norm for a while. Seeing Mashiro look dumbfounded every time seems interesting in its own right."

"Mmm..."

　Mashiro pats his chest.

　Commoners attack nobles. Commoners do not use honorific language for nobles.

　If it had been someone working for another family, it might have caused a stir, but my people didn't seem to care at all.

　It's not that I'm looked down upon even though I have no aptitude for magic, but it's because I have a firm grasp of the direction of the Verret family.

　They like talented people and don't care about their status.

　Maids and butlers are normally the third son or younger of another family. Women who are past the marriageable age are selected and hired to make some connections.

　However, many of the Verret family members were from commoner backgrounds.

　Of course, there are some who were born into nobility, but there are no such trivial conflicts as factions.

"...Well, I can't hang out here forever."

　When I clap my hands, everyone looks up and turns their eyes towards me.

"Follow Alice and carry your luggage to your room. After that, have a few of you show them around the mansion."

"""I got it"""

　When given instructions, they quickly start moving.

　Among them, two maids came near me and waited.

"Reina and I will go to my father to say hello. You two should follow the girls and tour the mansion for a while."

"Huh? I-I'm not sure if I can use my manners properly, is that okay?"

"There's no problem in taking it easy and not being too nervous. And Karen is with me, so there's no need to worry."

"That's right, Mashiro-san. In fact, I might be more nervous."

　That's certainly true.

　If you ask someone who doesn't know the details, Karen is doing something unprecedented: unilaterally breaking off her engagement with me and then getting engaged again.

　However, the people who have been working there for a long time know Karen's personality, so they can probably guess it to a certain extent, and Molina, the head maid, should be following up closely on that.

　I massaged Karen's tense shoulders to relieve her tension.

"As for everyone who works for the Verret family, you can rest assured that there is nothing they think about. They will not do anything that would tarnish their pride."

　When I said that and looked at the waiting maids, they bowed.

　Mashiro and Karen also breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed like their nervousness had subsided a little.

"Today, there's nothing to do other than eat and take a bath, so please relax in your room after I've finished showing you around."

"O.K. I understand!"

"Ogre and Reina-san, please don't pay too much attention to us and come talk to us."

"Thank you. See you later."

　We parted ways with the two of us and headed to the office where our father would be.

"...Reina, are you really okay? If you don't want to remember that much, you can leave your seat."

　She has been continuously questioned since the incident.

　This is an act that digs up Reina's traumatic memories with Flone.

　She's good at wearing masks, so I thought she wasn't overdoing it...

"Thank you, Ogre-kun. But I'm fine. Right now, I just want to be of some help. So that there won't be more victims like me."

　It seems like his resolve is quite strong.

　Those eyes are no longer the lifeless ones they used to be, and you can clearly sense her own intentions.

　In that case, it would be foolish of me to ask any further.

"Besides... if something happens, Ogre-kun will be by your side to protect you, right?"

"Of course. I wanted Reina so badly that I got it. Are you going to give it to anyone?"

"...I will be next to Ogre-kun forever..."

　Reina gently wrapped her arms around him and pulled her body closer to him.

　The warmth that is transmitted to each other is comforting and nice.

　...It's fine like this, it's like this!　

　At that time, the effort was worth it.

　Reina is also happy to be away from Flone. I'm also happy to be pampered by a cute girl.

　It's a perfect win-win relationship.

　I walk down the path to the office, feeling Reina's warmth next to me.

　After knocking on the door a few times, I heard a voice giving permission to enter, so I went inside.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Father. Ogre Verret. Reina Verret has just returned from the magic academy."

"It must have been a lot of work for both of you. Hmm...you're getting along quite well, aren't you?"

"Yes. We are an important family, so father-in-law."

"Hahaha. Reina is definitely a member of the Verret family, isn't it? You must be tired from the long journey. You should sit down."

　At my father's urging, we sit down next to each other on the guest sofa.

　He took out a bottle of cold fruit juice from the refrigerator powered by magic and poured it into a cup.

　There are many things in Verret territory that utilize knowledge from previous lives.

　The same goes for the refrigerator, and I made the fruit juice by consulting directly with my father.

　Fruit juice in particular is often enjoyed by both aristocrats and commoners, and has now become a specialty of the Veret territory.

　When I was first reincarnated, there weren't many types of sweets... Nowadays, as the menu has spread, you can see it all over the place.

"thank you"

　I thanked him and drank it all in one breath.

　A faint sweetness permeates my slightly dry mouth.

"I heard that Mashiro-kun and Karen-kun were also coming. I wanted to see them one more time if possible, but..."

"Do you have any plans?"

"Oh, I have to leave again soon. So, I'll finish everything I need to talk about here."

"Really? That's a shame."

"...I guess I'll just cancel now."

"Father. Please don't abandon your important job of protecting the country."

　I stopped my father, who was about to make an idiot out of it, and immediately broached the subject.

"So... did you manage to find out the whereabouts of [Lightning Furone]?"

"No, it wasn't good. All of the candidate locations that Reina told me about were empty shells. I'm sorry, Reina. I wasted all that information."

"No, father-in-law. It was something that could have been predicted to some extent when I went to Ogre-kun."

"In that case, what about the nobles who supported Flone?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about. As Reyna said... most of the nobles who had dealings with Fronne had lost their memories of Fronne."

"I guess that's the case…"

　A large number of people forget about a particular person at the same time.

　Such a thing was impossible even in this world where magic could be used.

　No matter what literature I read, there was no magic that could interfere with people's spiritual realms.

　...But that's within the attributes that we know about.

"…That means, after all."

　My father can't believe it all of a sudden, but he nods slowly.

"Flone Milfonti uses dark attribute magic. That means he also has multiple magic aptitudes."

　Dark attribute magic was considered taboo and its existence was erased from the world.

　It is said that it is the only attribute that has been prohibited from being passed down throughout the world because it touches the realm of the soul, which is considered to be the core of humanity, and threatens the dignity of people.

　I still only know this much information that my father told me.

　Even I, who had been reading literature about magic day and night ever since I was a child.

"We wouldn't have known about this without Reina's information. Even if we tried to subjugate it, we might have been destroyed without being able to do anything. We sincerely thank you for providing the information."

　This was a fact that was discovered because Reina had seen Florne brainwashing people using magic she had never seen before.

　Reyna's testimony. An incomprehensible mystery that is happening in reality.

　Based on these, the country determined that Fronne was using dark attribute magic.

"But now it makes sense that Fronne was targeting Mashiro."

　He had been looking for it all along.

　It can withstand its own magical power. and a young man with multiple magical aptitudes.body Utsuwaof.

　However, this also raises new questions.

　Why didn't he summon Mashiro, who had just entered the school, and use dark attribute magic?

　If I were in Fronne's position, I'm confident that I would use more and more dark attribute magic to create the world's strongest harem kingdom.

　But that didn't happen. There may be some conditions for its use.

　...Tch, that's frustrating. There is too little information at hand.

"...Father. Isn't it possible to somehow learn about dark attribute magic?"

"Hmph, I thought that would be my son."

　Father smiled nihilistically and placed a piece of paper on the table.

　There it is written about granting viewing privileges to the Underground Magic Forbidden Library.

　Furthermore, below that were my and Reina's names.

"Underground Magic Forbidden Library…?"

"I don't remember hearing that either."

"Hahaha. That's true. Only a handful of people trusted by the king know about this existence. Even if they are the four great dukes. Do you know why?"

"...Is it because they also store data on dark attribute magic?"

　Father nods with satisfaction at my answer.

"...Well, wait! Granting viewing privileges means..."

"That's right, Ogre. The king has expectations of you. Ogre Verret will be the one to defeat [Lightning Furone] and become the [Saint] who will save the world."

　--I absolutely hate it! !

　How much easier it would have been if I could have shouted...

　I was panicking, reacting as if I was surprised by the sudden situation.

　How can that happen! ?

　Who could have imagined that the king was trying to create a me vs. Flowne situation?

　In the first place, I'm still a student, and my skills aren't even close to Alice's, right?

　There's no way Alice could take on Flone, who she couldn't defeat...!

　What exactly is a [saint]? ?

　If you start calling me by that title, you won't be able to do all the silly things easily!

　When a problem arises in the country, you have to immediately try to solve it, and you are tied down and have very little free time.

　What am I using magic for? I think I have honed my military skills!

　All to live a comfortable life as a lord, doing whatever you want.

　The ideals he had envisioned are falling apart.

"I can't believe that the king has so much trust in me... As expected of you, Ogre-kun. You're a family member that I'm proud of."

"Kukkuk...don't praise me like that, Reina."

　While being patted on the head by Reina, I at least corrected my attitude for the time being.

　Calm down, calm down, Ogre Veret.

　Now is the time to put your genius brain to use.

　A pinch is an opportunity. It's at times like these that you have to think backwards.

　...That's it. The king is probably trying to make me learn about dark attribute magic in order to fight Fronne.

　If so, you should take advantage of the situation.

　After learning dark attribute magic thoroughly, I will now be the one using dark attribute magic.

　If you do that, you can brainwash many humans and increase your harem as much as you like...! Isn't it possible to use the labor force as much as you want?

　It's true that I have no aptitude for magic.

　However, this is an attribute magic whose existence is not known.

　I can't give up until I try it, betting on a billion chance.

　Kook kook... it's starting to be fun, isn't it?

　...It's not an escape from reality. It's not an escape...! !