Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

129 –  Worry. Worry. Cashew Greets Me. I Smile.

On my way to pick up Cashew, I ponder about if there were any leads in these past two weeks up till now.

What I think back on now is the conversation I had with the Demon of Love Sitri.

The cat-like girl who takes the form of a Dream Demon, but is actually a leopard Demi-Beast.

One of the Demon King Castle’s Big Four, and a friend.

『Drain? That doesn’t suck Magical Energy, silly. Dream Demons suck in life energy. I thought you knew that, Lem?』

『I do, but I was wondering about what is different about it specifically.』

『Hmm? I don’t mind, but wouldn’t it be better to ask Milly?』

『Milla?』

『Blood-sucking is the same, right? They call it absorbing vitality, but it’s easier to understand because they suck blood, right?』

According to Sitri’s explanation, the reason it is so difficult to absorb Magical Energy is that Magical Energy itself is very hard to grasp. 

Magical Energy is the source of everything.

Magic, life energy, vitality. All made of Magical Energy.

『It’s difficult to meddle with Magical Energy itself. It’s almost impossible. The Magical Energy of living things is generated by the Magical Energy organ, right? Have you heard talk about how you can consciously manipulate the process?』

『…I have.』

The atmosphere is comprised of Magical Energy, yet we can’t command it to turn into magic.

Why? Your own Magical Energy becomes the magic you imagined when accompanied by your own technique.

Therefore, it is theorized that natural Magical Energy is different from the Magical Energy produced by the Magical Energy organ.

This is probably the case. Magical Energy is the source of everything. If one does not have the technique to manipulate it, even unconsciously, one cannot live. All living things are equipped with the function to create Magical Energy and process it in order to live.

Living things that use magic have evolved to consciously use this function.

『Life energy and vitality are both life force. If a living person is in front of me, and I can touch them, it isn’t hard to imagine robbing their energy. The same goes for sucking blood to rob them of their energy. It’s easy to understand.』

I thought that explanation was a little vague, but Sitri continued.

『Look, if you were splashed with Water Magic, you’d get wet, right? You can drink that water, and you can even wring it out of your wet clothes. Magical Energy was turned into water, something that anyone can touch, and is easy to understand.』

『Are you saying that perception is important in the activation of unique techniques and magic…?』

『Probably. I can turn into many different living things, but if I can’t imagine it properly, I can’t reproduce it properly, either. I don’t really understand Majin’s horns either.』

『Is that true?』

『Yeah. Blood-sucking and Drain are like eating a meal. It replenishes your energy. That’s normal, right? But the horns store Magical Energy within them, you can’t really replace that with something normal. I mean, something you eat is digested, right? Can you imagine what it feels like to store it in your body?』

That is exactly how I imagine it…

Well, I suppose that image is something that some people get and some just don’t.

『What if you think of it as what you ate turning into fats that are stored in your body…?』

『Fats doesn’t sound cute at all, so I will not imagine that, but that doesn’t work either. Cause horns don’t get fatter when they store a lot of Magical Energy, right?』

…I see. It has to be a complete, one-to-one, analogy.

Sitri’s conversation is very interesting. But…

『Is it impossible to absorb Magical Energy itself?』

By the way, Drain and blood-sucking originally absorbed life force, but in this age of Avatar battles, they absorb Magical Energy instead since Avatars are made of Magical Energy.

But this is just a technicality, they are still used with the image of sucking blood or life energy.

Sitri tilted her head with a curious expression on her face at my question.

『I haven’t thought about it. Cause that’s…weird, right? Why go out of your way to find raw meat when you can enjoy the taste of grilled meat? …Hmm, that’s probably hard to understand.』

『No, it’s fine. I understand.』

When you want to eat something right away, you can eat a delicious meal.

Despite having that ability, you don’t think about intentionally absorbing Magical Energy, which I suppose in this case can be likened to raw ingredients.

While that may be true, Majin’s are equipped with the ability to store Magical Energy in their horns.

『So, if Lem can easily imagine Magical Energy, that can’t be seen but still exists, entering your body, you should be able to absorb it just like that.』

I was very grateful for the advice.

However, no matter how much I rack my brain, I just can’t do it.

I wasn’t just worrying about it for the past two weeks.

Magic, for example.

I don’t normally use it because it is inefficient and ineffective, but if I were a Wizard Job, I could use Elemental Magic.

Even if I tried casting Water Magic to wet the exposed horn or Fire Magic, which is as short-lived as a match, it doesn’t absorb it in the slightest. Of course, I can sense the Magical Energy, but I can’t pour it into the horn.

Maybe if it were my own…

The stratum where the Dungeon Core is located is the best training environment.

Originally, Magical Energy is difficult to sense. If you were on the receiving end of Fenix’s Magical Energy, even a regular person would be able to sense it, but people can’t sense the Magical Energy in the air. It’s too faint.

On that point, Magical Energy released from the Core is thick and plenty.

Even so, I intentionally put myself in an environment with very little Magical Energy.

I did this because I thought that if I was in a place where I strongly sensed no Magical Energy, I would sense Magical Energy better in places that do have it.

This turned out to be true, but still no results.

Sitri’s advice is based solely on her own experiences.

I have nothing but gratitude in my heart, but I shouldn’t get too caught up with it. I have to find my own answer.

I know I do, but…

Thinking about this and that, I arrive at Cashew’s house. A two-story apartment building. Each floor has five apartments, her’s was the one right in the middle of the first floor.

I rub my face with both my hands, cutting out my thoughts.

I mustn’t make Cashew worry.

I form my hand into a fist to knock on the door, but it looks like I won’t be doing that today either.

Because someone always notices that I’m here and opens the door before I can knock.

It’s usually Cashew, but sometimes it’s her sister, Maca, like last time, or perhaps their mother, and sometimes her little brother and sister.

Is it my footsteps? Do they sense my presence? I wonder how they know it’s me.

I have asked Cashew about it before, but she looked down shyly.

For a moment, her nose twitched…no way, is it my scent? Do I smell?

「Good morning Lem!」

Looking at Cashew’s blooming smile, my worries vanished.

I was thinking too much and doing nothing but worrying.

「Morning, Cashew.」

「Come in. I helped make breakfast today.」

「I’m looking forward to that. Pardon the intrusion.」

I have breakfast twice a day. Once in my dorm room. Another at Cashew’s house.

Little did I know that I would find the key to solving my worries during my second breakfast.