When I came up with the idea of a last ditch effort, "Let's escape by flying! It was Kazui who raised an objection, or rather, shouted an objection.


What?　Don't be ridiculous. Flying?

That's right. Get out the nearest window and climb down. Use magic.


　That's right, since we can't escape through the passageway, that's the only way we can escape now.
　I didn't expect to have to use my best magic here, but I'm glad I've been studying it seriously.


　Everyone dreams of flying magic.
　The fact that it wasn't flying on a broom left me a little unsettled, though.


　But for some reason, both Noah and Kazui didn't react well.
　Kazuie looks ashen, and Noah's expression is harder than usual.


　I'm not sure what's going on here.


(......?　(What?)


　While I was wondering about their reactions, I thought of something.
　In all my years of studying magic, I've never heard of flying magic.


　Not really.


　To fly freely is one of the universal dreams of human beings.
　Everyone in the world yearns to see birds flying freely in the sky, and even in the world of men, various people have been making tools for flying for a long time to express their longing for the sky.
　But when I think back, I have never heard of anyone doing anything to fly in this world.
　This is despite the fact that we live in a world where magic is an uncommon power.
　One would normally think that people would want to use magic to fly.


　When I was wondering, Kazi let out a breath of air as if he was dumbfounded.


The magic of flight is something that mages have been studying for a long time and have never been able to do.

"Is that so?

"Master Arx. It is said that magical flight is impossible at this time. I've heard that several have been built, but they all ended in crashes.

"What?　No, that's because the spell is poorly constructed, isn't it?

There is no structure. There's no such thing as a badly constructed spell.

Even in the imagination, there are many references to the movements of actual flying creatures. It is said that the reason why man cannot fly is because the spirits do not allow him to do so.


　Noah then added, "With the sole exception of the emperor of the empire, ......," but that's not relevant here, so that part was left out.


...... is a strange story.

It's not strange, it's common knowledge.

I'm not sure if you've heard of it or not.　I'm not sure what you mean by that.

"No, no, that's just a simplified version of holding and moving things, isn't it?

What?　No?　Is that what everyone thinks?　Even Noah?

Yes.

Yeah. ......


　It was an unexpected revelation.
　I had imagined telekinesis in the man's world.
　I had imagined telekinesis in the man's world, but other people had imagined telekinesis with their hands.


　By the way, I remembered that I could move it quickly and freely, but when other people used it, there were some restrictions on their movements.
　Was there a difference between the limitation when it was carried by human power and when it was not?


　But first of all.
　If you think that there is a difference in imagery, it is not the quality of the spell or the imagination, but the quality of the way you imagine.
　The difference is not in the quality of the spell or imagination, but in the quality of the way you imagine it.


　...... My view of falling objects is based on the physical laws of man's world.
　Universal gravitation.
　Gravity.
　The law of inertia.
　I create my spells and images with them in mind.


　If the starting line was in a different place, or--


"...... First of all, you two. What do you see as the reason why things fall down?


　That's the focus of this conversation.
　My knowledge of the man's world was so obvious that I never asked it again.
　How do people in this world perceive the phenomenon of falling?
　Then, Noah opened his mouth.


"First of all, Master Arx. Falling and rising is something you learn in your fifth year at the Academy of Magic.


　Falling and rising.


"......?　Falling and rising?

Yes. Falling and rising.


　Noah's story, as I had heard it, contained words that were not appropriate for this conversation.
　Then, as if to add an explanation, Kazui said.


The reason why things go up and down on their own is because of the effect of their attributes.

Huh?　What?　Attribute action?



The man is right. The reason why objects fall or float on the ground is because they are trying to get closer to the mother of attributes, which has the same attributes.

The reason why objects fall or float on the ground is because they are trying to get closer to the mother of all attributes. That's why we fall towards the ground, right?

So the spell goes like this.



"Release the wedge and chain to escape from the Mother Earth. The blessings of the earth are gone for now. Aeolian bird, blessed by the sky. Lose your moorings. No need for peace. The nine heavens are blue. The narrowing birthplace is black. Let the sun be your guide and bring the freedom of the swallow to my back.


　As Noah chanted the spell, spun magical glyphs popped at his feet.
　Unleash the wedge and chain - or in other words, break the chains that bind him to the ground.
　Eventually, Noah's body emerges slightly, but only for a moment.
　Soon he lands on the floor.


　The distance and time between the jumps are as short as a jump.
　It seems that Noah can't keep the time to float.


　In the first place.


"Longer ......

The longer the spell, the more extensive it is.

"I don't know how you can pull off such a long spell in one shot. It usually bites.


　Cazi pretends to bite his tongue.


"Noah graduated first in his class at the Academy of Magic.

Oh, he's your junior. That makes sense.

Oh, you're a senior. Speaking of which, your name sounds familiar. ......?


　...... Anyway, the spell failed.
　But it cancels out the attributes attributed to it and makes them appear.
　Didn't I once see a sentence (or story) similar to this?


　Not in this life, of course, but in a man's life.
　It was, I think--


"Oh, ......!

"What?

"Aristotle. ......

Yes?


　Yes, it's the idea spoken of in the four elements proposed by Aristotle, the ancient master of man's world.
　Based on this idea, not only does an object fall, but it also rises.
　Matter wants to return to the center of the source to which it belongs, the ground in the case of stone, or the sky in the case of fire, and this causes the phenomena of falling and rising.


　And the closer it gets to home, the more joyful it becomes, and the faster it goes, and so on, referring to acceleration.
　To people in the age of man, when the ideas of gravity and universal gravitation are already common, this is a strange story.


　But it is precisely because such ideas have taken root that this failure has occurred.
　If only the laws of physics in this world were exactly the same as those in the world of men.


That idea is probably wrong. People fall because of a different kind of force called gai'a.

"Gai'a?

Yeah. The earth we are standing on is the force that pulls us. It's not that our bodies want to go back to where they belong, it's that we're falling into the distortions of space created by the planet.


　As I began to explain, I noticed that Noah and Kazi's faces were contorted as if they couldn't understand.
　No, I don't blame them either. There were too many concepts that they needed to know beforehand, and some of the words were probably incomprehensible to them.


　However, if they don't understand this theory even a little, there is a risk that they won't have a solid image of magic. I can't make use of the [Ancient Arts Language (Gai'a)], which corresponds to the [Gravity] of the man's world.


　Then, what to do?
　Suddenly, I saw the cloth that Kazui was holding.


Kazui, please unfold that cloth.

"Oh?　Is that it?

Yes. Noah took the end of it and pulled it taut.


　Then, looking around the room.


"When an object is present, it distorts the ...... space somewhat. This cloth is to visualize the distortion of the space. And.


　And then I put a handy object on top of it.


The thing I put on top of the cloth is the earth we are standing on, and the dent in the cloth created by placing the earth is the distortion of space. The earth is a huge entity that is creating a huge distortion in the space, and we are always being pulled into this hollow.

"Oh, oh, .......


　Cazi replied in an indistinct voice.
　It is natural that this is not enough to understand.
　But to go into more detail than this, we would have to talk about celestial bodies, planets, and the universe.
　That would require a lot of time, which we have very little of right now.


In short, it's not that we unconsciously want to go to where the earth is, but that we are pulled by the distortions that the earth has created.


　I explained, but Noah objected, probably because he was a tightwad.


"But, Master Arx. That's not a very clear explanation. Are you sure you're right?



If you ask me that, I'll have to say I don't know.

Oh, come on, that's what you're so confident about. ......

"We don't know anything about gravity. That's why there are so many theories about this phenomenon of falling. Aristotle's ideas, Galileo's dynamics, Newton's universal gravitation, Buridan's impetus theory, Einstein's general relativity, the equilibrium force of subatomic particles, as Noah explained earlier, the list goes on and on.


　If you pursue the truth, there is no end to it.
　It will be impossible to get there.


　But


But there is no doubt that the existing way of thinking in this world is not correct. Currently, we're making spells to break the yoke of attributes first, but in reality, it's not the case, so we can't fly as we are now.

But, you know, ......

I don't want to make the assumption that I'm going to create it. You've already created the magic of flight.

Hey, .......

Are you sure?


　What's the point of lying here?


Okay, here's the spell.



"He who crawls on the earth. You who go. Defy the pull of the abyss and escape the tyranny of the air. Resist gravity. One of the many arms of the puller. Then thou shalt gain wings and fly down to the sky.


　I recite the spell.
　Then, sparse magic letters appeared around me, and my own body appeared as well.


What do you think?　It's not free, but it doesn't fall. I mean, that's how close you really are to the idea.


　I turned to Noah and Kazi, both of whom had their mouths hanging open in disbelief.
　Even if you roll your body over and make a swimming motion, you will not fall to the floor.


　It may not be the right theory, because he feels a little weight on his body.


It's not the right theory because you can feel the weight on your body.


　With existing magic, it will either fall immediately or lose its balance and crash without maintaining its posture.
　But with this magic, it doesn't.
　In other words, it is proof that the theory is approaching its true potential.


　Suddenly, you hear a sneer.


"...... Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. As expected of Arx, ...... you never cease to amaze me.

"It would be great if we could move freely with this. It would be great if it could move freely. It still needs some improvements to fly freely. We still have a lot of work to do, reviewing theories, composing spells.


　Noah let out a sly smile and flicked me, and I was getting very excited.
　Anyway...


"Look. The key to this is what I was talking about earlier, 'gai'a'. It's not that we unconsciously want to return to the ground, but that the ground is pulling us. Then we can fly.


　But on the other hand, Kazui showed a hint of impatience.


Wait a minute!　I know you're right about the idea and the spell, but you can't just suddenly use a spell that you just learned!


　Yes, in order to use a spell that you have learned, you need to train yourself to remember the amount of magic power that goes into each word.
　That's the current conventional wisdom.


　But here's an insane idea that will change that: .......


Noah, do you have that with you?

"Yes. Here.

All right, that's great!


　It's amazing what a butler can do.
　Noah immediately took out a magic meter from his pocket.
　Kazui sees it and wrinkles his brow.


What's that?

It's an instrument that measures the amount of magic power.

What's ......?


　I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.
　Eventually, he seemed to regress from surprise.


"Oh, come on, you're kidding, right?

"It's not a lie or a joke. It's not a lie or a joke. You see, when you exert magic power, the material inside ...... reacts and expands like this.


　Kazi rolls his eyes at the sight of the magic silver expanding and the scale on the wooden frame.


When did this thing get developed? ......

"This was made by Master Arx.

"This?　He did?　Come on, you've got to be kidding me. ...... You little brat.


　While Kazi was speechless, he took a piece of paper and a pen from Noah and wrote down the spell.


The total amount of magic power required for words and phrases is 427. 30 for words, 25 for phrases, and 170 for words between "thou" and "take off." There's a little detail about "gravity is what you resist," but it works best when used by 62. The rest--


　The amount of magic power is also given, with an explanation.


　As for Noah, it's been two years since he started using the magic meter, so he knows how to use it.


I'll go first.


　Noah said, and cast a spell of flight.
　After a while, the same phenomenon happened to him, and Noah's body floated up into the air.


"Hey," said ........ Hmm, this.


　Even though the magic was successful, Noah groaned with a difficult look on his face.


"...... How fun it would be to be able to move around with this.

You can improvise, but that would be at least twice as long as the spell Noah just cast. It's also difficult to control.

That's not very practical considering the amount of magic that can be put into .......


　The longer the spell, the more magic power you have to put into it.


I think you need more than just words and phrases, you need rules that strengthen the spell and things like that. Give it up for now.

I'll get to it.

You'll help me with my research, won't you?

Yeah, I'd love to.


　While talking with Noah, I go out the window first.
　The wind is stronger than on the ground, probably because of the altitude.
　Even though I won't be blown away, I can't deny that it's a bit uncomfortable.
　Since I still have some difficulty in attitude control, I grab the window frame to get into position.
　This situation is similar to that of the astronauts I saw on TV in the man's world.
　In a space station under zero gravity, they control their attitude by grabbing the interior.


　Kazi, on the other hand, peeked under the window and swallowed his spit.
　He's trying to use the magic of flight.
　It's no wonder. This place is high. If I lose my buoyancy on the way down, like with existing magic, I'll never make it.


　That's why I can't help but think about that 'what if'.
　The wind blowing below me is crying out in distress.
　After all, it would be difficult to make a last-ditch attempt in such a place.


　That's what I thought.


"Oh, my God, I'm desperate!


　Kazi said, and began to hum the incantation written on the note.
　He had learned the spell and its meaning several times, and now it was time for the magic meter.
　He seems to be an expert in controlling magic, and he quickly gets a sense of the amount of magic power he has, and then he goes on.



"You who crawl on the ground. You who go. Defy the tug of the abyss and escape the tyranny of the air. Resist gravity. One of the many arms of the puller. Then thou shalt gain wings and fly down to the sky. --Float!


One step toward flight (fly approach)


　The sparsely emerged glyph arts created a green wind that formed a soft vortex.
　Kazi's body was safely lifted into the air.
　However, he rolled his eyes, as if he had doubts about the effect of the spell.


And it flew. ......

See?

Hey!　Are you sure this is safe?　It's not going to lose its effect in the middle of the flight!

It'll be fine.


　He soothed the excited Kazui, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the window.
　Then, after he got used to the feeling of floating.


Then, after he gets used to the sensation of floating, he says, "When you go down, say 'down' and you will go down slowly. If you say it too many times, the momentum will get too strong, so just chant along with me.


　Skydiving without a parachute began.