Boltoner soldiers and Filat soldiers were also present in the vicinity.
Although the lectures were focused on Catherine, anyone was allowed to attend.
“Laser, you say?”
“Yes, it’s a skill that can easily become your trump card.”
The special skill “Laser,” which consumes Magic Power to use, requires no incantations and is easy for humans who are not good at magic to learn. In other words, it is perfect for Catherine and the Boltoner people. The Boltoner people understood this and worked their minds and ears diligently.
“Of course, its power changes with the amount of Magic Power used.”
“With Barra’s skill, it can easily pierce armor made of Damascus steel, which is considered top-tier.”
“If Marius-sama used it, it might pierce castle walls easily.”
“Would it stop at that? The castle might collapse.”
The young girls laughed lightly, but the Filat people listening nearby broke out in a cold sweat, thinking, “That’s entirely possible.”
“You can visualize the flow of Magic Power, can’t you?”
“Yes, Marius-sama taught me.”
Catherine, being honest and diligent, incorporated reviewing what she had learned into her daily training, never missing a session.
“Then, let’s start with that.”
“Yes.”
Catherine closed her eyes and tried to sense her own Magic Power.
“Did you sense it? Once you sense it, try to imagine concentrating your Magic Power to a single point.”
“Um, which part is good…?”
“Any part that is easy to imagine is fine.”
Catherine tried to gather it at her fingertips. It gathered slowly, and although it became about two sizes larger than her own clenched fist, she couldn’t make it any smaller.
“Compressing it into a small form is the most difficult part, so don’t rush. Let’s start by practicing gathering it repeatedly.”
Just as she was about to get impatient, Barra spoke, and Catherine regained her composure.
“Y-Yes.”
Catherine let out a deep breath and stopped gathering her Magic Power. She repeated the process numerous times, but it didn’t go well.
“I’m no good.”
Catherine drooped her shoulders dejectedly. Barra smiled gently at the small princess.
“It’s alright. If you could do it right away, there would be no need for instructors. It took me months to master it.”
To Catherine’s surprise, she looked up.
“Eh? You couldn’t do it right away?”
“Yes. I even started to hate myself, thinking there was no one as slow to learn as me.”
Catherine blinked several times before finally speaking.
“Excuse me for saying so, but that’s surprising. Barra-sama, you are very strong.”
“No one is strong from the beginning, and it’s not something you can do instantly. The important thing is to not give up and to keep trying.”
Barra pointed her index finger and closed one eye, making Catherine chuckle. Her demeanor, more like an older sister than a teacher, was somehow very endearing.
“I’ll do my best. Boltoner people have guts, guts, and great guts!”
Barra calmly interjected as Catherine, with a cute flex, said that.
“Guts alone have their limits. Resting properly is also part of training.”
“Yes.”
Gently admonished, Catherine became subdued. She honestly reflected on practicing training relying solely on her guts. Then, she hesitantly asked, like a child afraid of being scolded after playing a prank.
“Um, is it bad to train without resting…?”
Barra couldn’t help but frown at the question.
“To a certain extent, it can lead to an increase in Magic Power. However, overdoing it can lower your life force.”
Upon hearing the warning, Catherine’s face lost all color. Seeing her pitiable state, Barra offered.
“Shall I check for you? I can perform a diagnosis with a certain degree of accuracy.”
“Eh? You can do that too? I thought that was a skill of the Healer class…”
To Catherine’s surprise, Barra explained.
“I also have the occupation of Bishop.”
“What?!”
Catherine exclaimed, her voice laced with shock. A Bishop ranks second only to an Archbishop among Healer-class occupations. She was reminded again of the exceptional abilities of the older princess before her.
(I’m nothing like her…)
As Catherine fell into self-loathing and bit her lip, Barra placed her hand on her and began the examination. She used “Examine,” a type of detection magic, to check for any abnormalities in the body. A warm light, like sunlight, enveloped Catherine’s small body. Physical information about Catherine flowed into Barra’s mind.
“Hmm? Hmmmmm?”
Initial confusion gradually turned into strong surprise. Despite Catherine’s self-reports of being severely overused, there were no abnormalities. In fact, she possessed considerable robustness for a twelve-year-old girl, and her Magic Power seemed to be increasing.
“It seems Catherine-sama’s physical potential is quite considerable.”
Barra commented with a hint of exasperation. As far as she could perceive, she seemed likely to become much stronger than Boris, the strongest in Ranleo, in the future. The fact that she didn’t suffer any damage despite the reckless training was astounding, or rather, it had entered the realm of the absurd. She even felt like she had glimpsed one of the reasons why Boltoner was a strong nation. If she hadn’t known the simple and easy-to-deal-with temperament of the Boltoner people, Barra might have hesitated to teach them.
At that moment, a Boltoner soldier spoke to Barra.
“Ah, basically, you can think of Boltoner royalty as being the most robust.”
Mere sturdiness couldn’t explain it. Barra narrowly suppressed the urge to retort harshly. She judged that although it was a simplistic conclusion that made Boltoner people seem like brutes, she had no obligation to point it out.
“Since we’re at it, how about the rest of you?”
However, Barra couldn’t stop teaching. When confronting Demon Lords and demons, strengthening humanity’s overall combat power was essential. Marius alone might be sufficient, but Barra wasn’t the type to leave things to others. Of course, her desire to be useful to the beloved Marius was also a significant factor.
“I’ll do it.”
Raymond was the first to raise his hand. He had many opportunities to interact with Marius and had always wished to become even a little closer to him, so he saw Barra’s teaching as a great opportunity. With that, the rest of them followed suit, one after another, volunteering to participate. It proved that the saying, “curiosity and ambition are essential for mages,” was not unfounded.
“Since we’re at it, could you demonstrate?”
With that one remark, Barra decided to show them an example. She concentrated her Magic Power in her right index finger and shot it towards the sky. Everyone perceived a thin line of Magic Power being emitted. Barra then demonstrated emitting it from her head and toes.
“As you can see, by training like this, you can emit it from various parts of your body.”
Barra explained as clearly as possible to the Filat personnel and the Boltoner soldiers. It was an extremely rare sight in human society for people from multiple countries to learn harmoniously from a single person. Some attributed it to Marius, others argued it was due to Barra’s personality, and some believed it was simply what the era demanded. In any case, this day marked the first step in the widespread dissemination of what is commonly known as the “Barra Theory.” The “Barra Theory” was deemed most excellent because it was understandable to people of all nationalities. Previous theories, while varying in degree, were all difficult for people from other countries to grasp. Given the constant risk of war escalating from minor incidents, these differences had not been addressed until now. The “Barra Theory” emerged and spread, negating these previous issues. The dawn of a changing era was already beginning to show in these developments. However, this was only apparent in retrospect; those living at the time did not have the luxury to think about it so deeply. They were barely managing to devise countermeasures against Demon Lords and demons. The heartbreaking reality was that only a handful were genuinely sweating over dealing with Demon Lords and demons, and a large part of the cause of this was Marius, a fact no one could deny. At the very least, it was this man’s fault that the human race lacked tension.
Marius, the root cause of humanity’s lack of tension, consulted with Sail about future matters after completing all his inspections.
“For starters, I was thinking of diverting a portion of my income and expenses to tax reductions…”
To Marius’s astonishment and subsequent disbelief, Filat permitted him to receive both his remuneration as a Royal Court Magician and his income as a nobleman. However, this was merely a difference in perspective. It was a system designed to provide preferential treatment to those who were highly capable and could handle multiple jobs, or those who could manage their territories while also being artists or merchants. In a way, it was similar to polygamy, a system to keep highly capable individuals tied to the country. If individuals received the same reward regardless of how much work they did, talented people would lose motivation or move to countries where they could receive better treatment. Therefore, all countries had systems in place to reward their skilled individuals handsomely. This was no exception even in countries like Ranleo, where the pride of lineage was strong. It was akin to treason for talented individuals to escape to other countries. Marius, who wasn’t short on money but rather had too much money and no idea how to spend it, found this treatment excessive. Thus, he attempted to give back, but Sail’s reaction was lukewarm.
“That’s fine, but which taxes would you like to reduce? Or perhaps undertake some public works?”
“Hmm.”
Marius found himself struggling to answer. He was aware of his lack of knowledge in politics and economics.
“Can’t I implement tax reductions and public works at the same time?”
“No. With this fiscal year’s budget, it’s not possible to do everything.”
Sail also warned him that tax reductions should be moderate, considering the balance with other territories. Lowering taxes would naturally attract people, but there was a risk of other regions becoming depopulated and causing imbalances. No one might be able to fault Marius, but that didn’t mean he could do whatever he pleased.
“I see. So, tax reductions that would make citizens happy, but wouldn’t give merchants passing through other regions any particular reason to come here specifically?”
As Marius posed a seemingly reasonable suggestion as a compromise, Sail replied calmly.
“It’s possible, but then the budget would remain unspent.”
He was indirectly told to think of something else, which perplexed Marius.
“Can’t the leftover amount be carried over to next year?”
Sail’s previously calm expression turned to astonishment.
“I-If you permit me, it would be possible, but…”
“I permit it.”
Sail immediately began to move in a flurry. Seeing this, Marius decided that seeing him off was unnecessary and ordered the carriage to depart. The carriage had been a gift from the Count who governed the adjacent territory. He was subjected to a torrent of sycophantic remarks like “Regarding the Princess and Marquis Tuban…” which he found tiresome, but it was a suitable carriage to transport Lovisa without issue. While Lovisa herself was not the type to complain about a simple lifestyle, treating a princess disrespectfully was a major problem, especially if they weren’t officially married. Marius asked Emma and Lovisa about something he found questionable.
“Why did Sail react so frantically just by allowing the surplus budget to be carried over to next year?”
Lovisa replied, “It’s common practice to reduce the budget that cannot be spent and allocate it to entertainment expenses. It’s generally understood for even distinguished lords to allocate the budget to other areas.” Therefore, it was common sense to spend the allocated budget no matter what. The reason Marius had heard somewhere before made him feel almost dizzy, but he continued his questions.
“I would like ideas for tax reductions and public works, but how can I make it easier for them to come up with good ideas?”
Emma answered this.
“The most reliable way is to order them to come up with good ideas.”
In other words, they would only do as they were commanded. From another perspective, this indicated the strong authority of the nobility. Although this was a country that advocated meritocracy and permitted advancement to nobility, it was precisely for that reason that the authority of the nobility was recognized.
“The stronger the position of the nobility, the more it serves as motivation for capable individuals to strive… although it’s not always for the better.”
The most prominent negative aspect was probably people like Bernard and Ashton. Although not explicitly stated, Marius was able to infer this.
“Running a country or territory is also difficult, isn’t it?”
Perhaps only Marius thought it was more difficult than defeating demons. As a lord, he needed to study how to be a lord. Was it favoritism to think they deliberately didn’t teach him so he would learn this?
“It is difficult. I bear the future of all the people of Filat.”
Lovisa smiled cheerfully, contrary to her words. This left a strong impression on Marius.
