Yoo-Boze, do you have a minute?

　In the garden in the late afternoon, as I was watching with mixed feelings the two figures of Eliza and her companion Angier, the mirror spoke to me, unusually alone.

　The face has become more and more wrinkled, but behind the wrinkles the eyes are sharp and still looking like a hunchbacked old man.
　You smile back at the mirror.

Of course. What do you want?
There's a guy I want to introduce to Bowes.
"Introduce me?
Yes, a man in my domain, but I don't know what he's talking about. He talks more like a bowler than me.
"I see.
All the things in the world are not for bowling, though.

　Miller then opened his mouth wide and laughed.
　I'll be back again soon, I thought to myself.

　Once again, I see that Miller is part of your father and his merry band.

Hey, I'll be right there.

　Oh, I've already brought him in.
　Miller said and then walked away.

What are you talking about?
"Eliza, and Angel.

　We were chatting away when these two men came in.

Miller said he had someone he wanted to introduce to me.
It's unusual for a man to do such a decent thing.
What kind of person are you, Mr. Alec?
I haven't heard that either. They're bringing him in now, so I guess we'll see.
"Can we stay too?
"...... of course

　I agreed, and Eliza and Angel were a few meters behind me, far enough away that I could hear their conversation.
　All the while, or even before that, they were holding hands.
　Angier calls her "big sister," and they look like real sisters, not brothers or sisters-in-law.

　Hopefully they will stay close for a long time - when the mirror brings a man with her.

　He's probably in his thirties.
　He's wearing glasses, but they're kind of twisted.
　His clothes are also shabby, and he has a skinny and somewhat unreliable appearance.

You'll be able to see your father.
Okay, I don't want you to do that. This is not a public place, it's my house, my private space.

　He stopped the man who was about to kneel down and bow in manners.

Ha, ha, ha!　Thank you for your generosity of spirit, yes.
"Or better yet, why don't you tell me your name?

　Miller, who had brought the man to me, urged.

Oh, excuse me. My name is Cloud Shiro. I am the sorcerer.
The magician. What can I do for you?
I'm here to ask your father for help, yes.
"Assistance?
This guy is doing some interesting research.
"Huh.

　Turning his attention to the interesting, Cloud began to explain.

"Do you know about this magic stock, Your Highness?
I've heard of it. You can literally take the magic out of a person, store it, and use it when you want to.

　It is also closely related to the Mpapato formula.
　In my sphere of activity, it is mainly used by the magic schools.

　As the emperor's emergency refuge, it's just as important as weapons and food, and contains magic power.

Yes, yes. So I thought that I could extract and store the same bio-energy as magic, the human life force.
"Hmm.
The human body has different vitality when it is healthy and when it is not. But even when weakened, life can be sustained. The inference from this is that when we are healthy, we are wasting our life force, or in other words, we are using it inefficiently.

　Nodding, I began to find it interesting.
　This man, Cloud, who at first seemed unreliable and wavering, began to speak clearly as soon as he began to explain.

There's also talk of sitting still and conserving your strength when you're lost. That means you can control the amount of life force you use to some extent. Then it can be taken out just like magic. I'm studying it. If you can stock up on physical strength on a regular basis, it will work better than any potion, for example, in a major illness where magic doesn't work and you're fighting a war of physical exhaustion.
I don't know, but he wants me to be his patron. I don't know, but he has asked me, his lord, to be his patron.
Okay, so you want me to do it for you.
"Don't do it, okay?　I don't know if it's worth the money, but you know Bowles.
Yeah, you know what I mean.

　I said and held out my hand upward.
　A moment later, a glowing ball emerged from my palm.

　It's different from anything I've ever done, my first time.



"Alec, what is it?

　Eliza asked from behind me.

"My life energy, or stock of physical strength,
"Nah!

　Cloud was astonished.

That's what you're trying to do.
How did you know that ...... was already a reality?

　Realization, or maybe it was a lost cause.
　From what I learned from the wise men's sword, just like the magic stock, this was a technique that was once established hundreds of years ago.

　But for various reasons, only the magic stock technique remained.

Such as ......

　When I recreated it, Cloud nodded in disappointment.

I thought it was an innovative idea, but ...... I didn't know His Royal Highness was already ahead of me. ......

　Cloud's shoulders slumped pitifully.

Now, how much money do you need for research?
「「「「「 Eh? 」」」」

　Cloud, as well as Eliza, Angel, and Miller.
　Everyone in the room was surprised to hear the same thing.

"You're paying for this, Boz.
"Yes.
"But already Bowles can do it, why the money?
Beyond this technology, you know, the stock of life, that's the theory behind it.
"Stock of life?
Yes, this ball - it's actually a technique beyond this one, but if you keep it in stock, if you get hurt or die or something, it will take over for you because it's your life. It's my life, you know.
"Can you do that?
Theoretically, you know. Cloud, what do you think of what you just said?
"I think you can go to ............. I'd say it's difficult.
"Yeah, I guess so. Would you be willing to try that?
"--I do!

　The cloud has bitten.

"Hmm, I don't know much about technicalities, but the point is

　Miller picked his chin and craned his neck to ask, "Bowles was one step ahead of you, wasn't he?

Bowles was one step ahead of you and two steps ahead of you, I suppose.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
"Wow, that's great, Mr. Alec!