The Birthday Celebration of the Duke of Fritillaria 10
There was only one thing I could say at that moment.
…No, we’re going to die.
Lakash was standing in a position to protect Celia; my brother was next to him, and I was the only one standing out from the three of us.
Against us – the demons divided into two groups and approached us cautiously from both sides.
I looked to my right and saw the single-headed green Siamese Serpent, twisting its body and flicking its tongue.
Looking to my left, I saw the nother single-headed green Siamese Serpent, coiling its tail around a thick tree branch and snapping it in half along with its movement.
Each of them seemed to be doing whatever they wanted, but the two of them, though at a slow pace, were definitely pinning me down from both sides.
I didn’t feel like I could defeat two such horrible demons, so I looked back at my brother behind me as if I were clinging to him.
“B-Brother Saffia! Can’t, I can’t…”
I whined and my brother whispered with a despicable look on his face.
“Then say, ‘Big brother, please help me.’”
“Huh?”
“You see, when you need help, you need a spell. That’s what this is.”
“Oh, Mister, can you help me?”
“Yah, it’s subtly and exquisitely different, but oh, well. You’ve been a bit pouty and unattractive lately. It’s shock therapy from this brother. Now, Luciana. You still have some magic left in you. Can you summon a magic circle?”
At this question, I looked at my brother with a start.
My brother said it nonchalantly, but as soon as he mentioned it, I realized that was the main point.
―――The moment a mage uses magic, he is connected to the world.
Magic was a matter of clarified principles, and if you followed the procedure, it would always work.
And those principles were tied to the world.
It was for this reason that the same person couldn’t draw a magic circle in succession because the act of drawing a magic circle, however slight, would distort the world into the shape of the mage.
Creating magic circles in succession has too much impact on the world and would cause rebounds to the mage, so it was forbidden.
Hence, under such circumstances, they could use the magic circle of someone close to them.
Basically, only the magic circle that you drew could boost your own magic, but if it was a blood relative or a close one, they could benefit from it to some extent.
Even if it was sprinkling―――Even that sprinkling was necessary in this situation.
Nonetheless, I must say that my brother’s attitude, without the slightest hint of it, was amazing.
…Reminds me of the poorly done fire magic that I had just cast.
It was an excuse, but searching through Luciana’s memory, it has been a long time since she has produced such poorly crafted magic.
Although Luciana could only use one magic, she was familiar with the “Fireball” technique and had a high success rate.
Chewing over the reason for my failure, I thought it was because my body was tense in face of the vicious demons, but now, all I could feel was a hint of tension, and the extra strength was gone.
―――I guess this is thanks to my brother for having a normal conversation with me and eased my tension.
I also understood, belatedly, why my brother had pushed me out.
Standing one step away from everyone else, I was in the right place to draw a magic circle.
―――I guess there’s no such thing as a coincidence.
My brother, Saffia, might be really amazing in many ways.
I spread my hands toward the ground, thinking that my brother might be a higher spec than I imagined, though I have no idea of the bottom of his story because he was always joking around.
“Magic Circle Reveal!”
Drawing a magic circle required delicate and meticulous magic.
It would have been difficult to draw a magic circle with my tension just now.
With that thought in mind, a purple magic circle appeared at my feet, very simple compared to those of my brother and Lakash.
However, it was the best I could do at the moment. There was no other way.
“Well, not bad if you think of it as a spell.”
As I spoke, my brother climbed onto the magic circle I had created. Then, he positioned himself to stand in front of me.
“A spell. It’s better than nothing, I guess.”
Lakash commented as he stood beside my brother.
Wait, this was wrong.
Lakash wasn’t even related to me by blood, so he shouldn’t be able to benefit even a millimeter from the magic circle I drew.
Therefore…I guess this was just an excuse to stand in front of me.
What could I say?
Lakash was proud as a mountain, but she realized that he was forcing himself to live a life that was proud enough to have that pride.
It must be exhausting, I thought.
But there was nothing I could do about that, because that was probably Lakash’s nature.
In other words, he couldn’t help but protect those weaker than him, regardless of his feelings of liking or ill will.
Ohhhh, how about this? Not only are you handsome on the outside but also handsome in the heart.
If I were an ordinary villainess, I’d be all over you!
With that in mind, I stood at the very edge of the magic circle, out of the way of the two of them.
Then, I looked back at Celia.
“Celia-sama, you must immediately find a way to escape!”
Celia had been cowering, but as soon as she heard my words, she stood up as if she had just come to her senses.
She then slapped her cheeks with both hands, as if to renew her spirit.
When she looked up and made eye contact with me again, I could sense that Celia had more life in her than when she was huddled there.
Seeing Celia’s regained energy, I continued to speak.
“If I move from here, the magic circle will disappear, so I will stay here until the last minute. Since these two seem to give ultimate priority to women, they won’t move from this place even if they die unless you and I escape. So if you want to save your brother, you’ll have to make your escape first.”
Celia looked me squarely in the face and nodded solemnly.
Before I knew it, my brother and Lakash were standing with their backs to each other, which was something they shouldn’t have planned.
They were both gazing intently at the serpent demon that faced them.
Peek-Aboo 
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