A few minutes later... - Klaus' Royal Bedroom

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"Soooo... Would you mind explaining what this is to me? Potentially, right now?" Vivian stared at me, then at the knocked out, basically brain dead retard that the guards put on a chair in the corner and left. 

I just kind of shrugged at her. "Is there a reason to do so? He rebelled against my rule and was put down. This is only a temporary arrangement."

She calmly sipped her tea. "I see. And here I thought you had a thing for filling your room with corpses."

Blinking at her, I sighed. "Even if that was the case, I an fully straight and not into men, Vivian."

She sheepishly looked away and mused out loud. "So you're saying that you enjoy having me here, even as I am~.

With a smirk of my own, I decidedly hummed while ignoring her. "So did you manage to decipher the crown?"

Vivian nodded and sighed before answering. "As far as I can tell, it's the standard enchantment placed on an initiate clerical amulet. It's meant to supposedly, bring you closer to the heavens and allow you to come into contact with a god whose traits and characteristics you most closely resonate with. A faithfinder, so to speak."

A faithfinder? I couldn't help but blink in confusion. "For what reason would they possibly want me to find a god that I am alinged with?"

Vivian chuckled but nodded nonetheless. "Well, this isn't common knowledge but the Church of Rhothmir is one of the Great Seven."

"Great Seven?" I quirked an eyebrow at her, to which she smiled in response. "The top religious orders of the world, worshipping the most popular god's. Most commonly known as the Forces Of Order."

Sighing loudly, I replied. "That still does not explain why this specific enchantment was put on the crown."

"Isn't it obvious? They hope to endear you to the gods and to their church in the process." She explained, still calmly drinking tea.

I see.

A few uncomfortable murmurs escaped me as I took a moment to eat some of the presented food. "By the way, did any of the servants give you trouble?"

She shook her head and then laughed. "No. Apart from a few shocked maids, there's been no such excitement..." She trailed off as I sighed.

"You must be extremely bored, huh?" With a sigh of her own she nodded. "Well, it's not like there's much for me to do other than just survive while being stuck inside of your room. The most fun I've had after dealing with the backlog of paperwork is taking baths that lasted for hours."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You bathed inside of my bedroom?"

She coughed into her fist. "W-well, yes. I figured me walking around would cause complications for you so I ordered a tub to be brought inside."

Humming for a bit, I nodded towards her. "That was a good call, but I'll have the servants organize a late night bath with the proper accomodations for you later."

Her expression visibly brightened at that. "Wonderful! Thank you, Klaus."

Then I blinked as I remembered the information brought by Percival. "By the way Vivian, I've received news that your father is in good health and sent an invitation to him. He should be paying you a visit soon."

She seemed to be stuck between joy and intense trepidation. "Ah, right. I did ask you to do that." She sighed somewhat exasperatedly.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to see him." Vivian nodded sternly as she placed a hand over her chest. "This is true but..." She presented herself as she stood up with a sad expression. 

"I am no longer sure that I want him to see me in this state but since you already called for him..." She trailed off as she sat back down with a sigh.

"Then how about you write him a letter explaining the situation instead?" Vivian smiled but shook her head. 

"If he receives a letter that was written by my hand, he would definitely come to the Castle even if I asked him not to." Well, I can see that happening.

With a nod, I walked over to Vivian and raised a hand over her. "I've recently developed a spell that makes one younger over time. I am fairly certain that it won't work on you because most of your body is dead but it couldn't hurt to try, right?"

Vivian stared me incredulously and with her mouth completely agape. "... I -what? Excuse me? You did what?"

Chuckling at her antics, I explained. "With knowledge from my other life, I've crafted a spell that increases ones basic physical immunities and health overral, effectively causing age regression." I smiled and pointed towards my face. "I was completely pale a few days ago, no? I should be looking much healthier now."

"Well yes, you do. I actually wanted to ask if you were sick before..." She then nodded fiercely and I weaved my spell onto her own enchantments.

It worked but due to her current state, it would take months for any real progress to be made. I smiled to myself as I rubbed my chin in thought. "Well, it seems to have worked well enough, but I'll need to recast the magic every so often if we want to see any worthwhile results."

Vivian was stuck with a shocked expression etched on her frame. "What is this magic?.. this spell you just cast on me.. what does it do?"

I laughed and sat back down. "To put it in simple words, the human body is made up of many millions of small cells working in unison. From the beginning of their life to the end, these cells divide and split themselves in order to allow for growth, the healing of wounds and the like. However, everytime they do this, they lose some of their power, which is why people become withered as they age. My spell restores their power back to a specific point."

With a cough and smirk, I finished. "Like they were back during your twenties, for instance."

By this point, Vivian's mouth was agape with disbelief and she had to blink several times before slowly nodding. "So can your spell restore me completely with time?"

Shaking my head in negative made her sigh. "No. Sadly, while it should make you look a bit prettier, unless we restore your stomach's functions at least, there's nothing the spell can do." Vivian blinked again in confusion. "My stomach?... why would a spell need such a thing to function? Magic simply accomplishes what it is made for without caring for physical influence. If you cast a spell on a dead man that causes his arm to move, that arm would move, even if the body was rotting."

Now it was my think to be surprised. "So you're saying that I could restore you completely if I tried?..."

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Vivian laughed out loud, causing me to adopt a flabbergasted expression. "Oh dear me, no! If you had the mana required to accomplish such a thing, I would have already done it myself a thousand times." Ah, so its a matter of one being capable of anything so long as they fulfill the energy requirements.

Well, that makes sense. If it wasn't like this, everyone would be immortal. "I see." Humming in thought, I took a bite out of a nearby steak which was surprisingly delicious, despite the cooks here working with medieval tools and spices. It had a kind of frosty feeling and was dipped in a strangely fitting sauce of peppers and snowberries, which was a combination that I never thought would suit my palate.

Just goes to show that you never know until you try. "Hey, Vivian? Would it be possible for you to teach me that magic sight of yours?" She tilted her head and nodded. "Well, I suppose its only fair since you've given me, a woman, the secret to eternal youth~." Musing lightly and chuckling, she continued with a smile on her frame. "Just get me an empty spellbook and I'll weave my understanding of the spell into it."

"A spellbook?" I blinked in confusion as she nodded. "Right, you don't know about those." With a sigh, she continued. "Its basically an empty book made out of magic parchment with a runic system etched onto it that can remember insights. Veteran mages often sell them to aspirants of the field for easy cash, but they aren't as popular as you might think."

"And why would that be?" She smirked at my question. "Because it makes you see things through the eyes of another and even if you hear their theories, that alone does not mean you will completely understand them."

"So even if I learned how to cast a fireball from one of those books, that does not mean it'll have the same power as the original casters due to my own understanding of fire being lesser or greater." She nodded with a smile. "That is correct. However, even if you use a spellbook to learn a spell, if you have absolutely no connection to the magics required to cast it, it'll just be a waste. Most magic requires a specific point of view or even a specific personality in order to be used, though there are ways to bypass this."

She created a small flame at the top of her right hands pointer finger as an example. "For instance, I am a very calm person and it takes a great deal to legitimately anger me, so fire does not come to me very easily. I can light a candle at best and maybe give someone a burn if they willingly stood still for a minute." With a chuckle and a grin, she continued. "That said, I am very skilled when it comes to mental manipulation and illusions, so I can cast a spell on myself to increase my anger and impulsivity."

Vivian manifested a strange red mana in her other hand, before blasting herself in the face with it, causing the small flame on her other hands finger to burst with power, becoming a small fireball. "See?"

"So you tricked yourself into believing something and the magic grew more powerful because of it?" She nodded and seemingly disenchanted herself from the illusion, withering the fireball instantly. "Pretty much. However, a trick is still just a trick and will never provide you with the same amount of power as truthful emotions."

Emotions?

So the key to magic comes from feelings?

... well, I mean, I guess that makes sense, what with it being the power of wishes. You need to desire something first before you can make any sort of wish but... Why would you ever need magic in order to lie to yourself?

I suppose having a concrete reason for why the lie would work makes it easier to implement. "Hey, can I ask how you created that flame just now?"

She blinked a couple times, then shrugged. "Well, I just channeled some of my mana outside of my body while wishing for it to become fire." Which caused me to offer her a confused look. "What? So you didn't use mana to accelerate the particles in the air till-" I shook my head with a sigh. "You know what, never mind. It just occured to me that you could never understand what I was about to say."

Vivian looked mildly annoyed but accepted it with a twitch of her eyes. "Otherwordly knowledge, eh? Well, at least you're honest about it."

"I wouldn't really call it otherwordly considering it applies to this world as well. Its just something you guys will find out in a couple hundred years time, I guess?" Vivian tilted her head in confusion. "A couple hundred years? But why? Aren't you here now? Can't you teach it to others?"

A massive sigh escaped me as I shook my head. "Vivian. My world created weapons, without magic, that were capable of obliterating entire capital cities with ease while also making the very land blighted and unlivable. These weapons were mass produced during a war that spanned the entire planet and resulted in a situation where more than a dozen nations possessed the ability to drown the world in flames at the push of a button."

She calmly listened to my story, her expression struck between fear and disbelief. "So yes, I could teach you the secrets I know and inevitably speed up the creation of one such weapon on this world as well. Considering you guys have magic and we didn't, I can only imagine how much more devastation it would bring and, as such, I will never do this. Even my world reached this dreadful understanding far too early for society to be properly capable of administering it, which is why it was used, not once, but twice, resulting in the deaths of millions at once each time and flaying those left alive with what might as well be comparable to invisible flame, mutating the survivors and their children alike for years to come."

Vivian swallowed harshly as she finally found her voice. "A-and.. if you wished it.. could you build one of these weapons?"

"Well, I know the theory behind its construction and the materials that are required to build it." I shrugged and nodded. "It would take me a while to find their equavilents in this world, but with the help of magic and human greed, yes. Yes, I could build one."

Looking away from me, she asked. "You speak of these weapons as if you are personally tied to them. Were... were you there when they were used?"

Shaking my head in negative and chuckling at her antics, I answered. "No, but I was part of the world right after the bombs fell." She seemed to quirk an eyebrow at me when I mentioned the word bombs.

"W-were you m-mutated?" With a sigh, I replied. "Again, no. However, I lived very close to a place that exploded with the same energies that the weapons contained. Seeing the mutated wildlife and the infernal scarring on still-living people was more than enough to teach me their lesson."

She nodded and relented dejectedly. "I understand, though I do have my sincere doubts about your claim to being able to build such a weapon, Klaus."

I smirked and snorted. "But you don't doubt that people would be able to create and use it at all."

Vivian sighed and shook her head. "No, I do not. There is a great deal that people are willing to ignore so long as it does not happen someplace they can be confronted by it every day."

A smile etched itself on my frame as I closed my eyes in contentment and stood up. "Well, I've made my court wait long enough. It was a pleasure talking to you, Vivian. I'll see about having a servant deliver you a spellbook soon enough."

"Tell them to bring a dozen, if you can. I'd like to learn your spell of eternal youth with your insight. Plus, I'm quite sure this won't be the last time we exchange magics." I blinked as I stared at her in confusion. "You mean, you can already cast it yourself?"

With a sly smile, she nodded. "With my special sight, I could see the patterns of the mana you used when you weaved the spell. So long as I copy that pattern and know the wish behind the spell, I can cast it, even if it will take me five times as much mana as it did you because I don't actually understand how it works or what it does, just the theory."

"So understanding how a spell does what it does lessens its mana requirements?" She chuckled at my confusion and replied. "That is correct. There's a reason why they say that a wizard is only as good as the amount of books he's read, you know?"

Well, I guess that makes sense.

Anyways, I shrugged at Vivian and gave her a wave of my hand, closing the door to my room with a satisfied expression before turning towards a nearby butler. "Bring her about twenty spellbooks." The mans eyes widened in shock. "A-as you w-wish, sire. However, spellbooks can only be procured through merchant caravans and it will take time to gather such a large amount."

"How long?" I asked with a sigh. Nothing could ever be that easy, eh?

The butler seemed to contemplate the question for a few moments. "A couple days, sire. Perhaps, even a week. If thy majesty did not create those trade laws last week, it may have taken months."

Months?... wait a minute. "Are spellbooks expensive?"

He struggled not to laugh as his eye twitched, eventually forcing himself to bow as well as nod in an effort to not appear rude. "Your majesty, as far as I have seen, a single one, even completely empty spellbook, costs about ten gold pieces each."

And twenty of them is double than the entire kingdom makes in a month, the understanding of which caused me to give out a massive sigh. "On second thought, just get me a couple. Perhaps, four would be a more reasonable demand?" With that, the butler straightened himself and nodded. "As you wish, your majesty. Just to confirm, I am to deliver them directly to the Lady Osterhart, yes?"

I blinked as the question caught me by surprise. "Actually, on second thought, bring them to me instead." She might use them up without my approval, after all.

With that last question asked, the butler left and I finally made my way back to the court, having spent a couple minutes more than the hour that I promised them. Oh well, nobody should make a scene because of it, right? I really don't want to kill someone again just because I'm annoyed. The courtiers that are left in court seem to be the most capable of the bunch, after all!