The magic system in the otome game "Lovely Happenings" is quite simple and straightforward.

The types of magic elements here can be divided into rankings based on their rarity.

The common magic elements include Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. They are the four basic elements that most mages possess.

The rare magic elements include Lightning, Ice, Telekinesis, and Shadow. When a mage possesses even one of these elements, they could already be considered as a one in ten thousand talent.

One level above it would be the mythical magic elements. As its name suggests, they are magical elements that existed mostly in myths. Most of the current populace would only perceive this type of magic as mere fantasy, an ancient, wondrous form of magic used to spice up a folklore or fairy tale. These mythical elements include Light, Dark, Nature, Space, and Time.

However, they indeed exist in this world. The heroine of "Lovely Happenings" was the sole proof of the existence of these mythical elements. She possesses the Light mythical element, in addition to three other common elements, fire, earth, and wind, making her a heaven-sent being; a chosen existence. Having affinity to two elements could already be considered a genius, and three a prodigious talent. Four is simply unprecedented.

The sole fact that she possesses this mythical element, in addition to having affinity to four elements, allowed her to be wedded to the crown prince and main capture target of "Lovely Happenings", and became queen despite her background as a commoner.

It was a truly fantastical story of a regular being who turned out to be a chosen existence.

It is wondrous, when you look at it at first. But... It's simply not that realistic.

I could understand why Lily, or previous Hana, and other otome game fans would like it. The capture targets, especially Alexus, the main capture target, are extremely handsome and unique, after all. But, I don't really like it solely due to the fact that the main heroine was only able to gain their love due to her "gift". She was just super-duper ultra lucky, and, in my opinion, that's just lazy on the part of the writer.

Well, can't say much about it since I am also born with an innate massive mana pool and tremendous affinity to ice and water. Not to mention, the fact that I was able to meet Fubuki. Though not to the level of miracle as the Heroine's Light magic, it's still plenty amazing.

Hah... Forget about it. I've ranted and digressed enough.

The common, rare, and mythical magic elements, however, are not the only types of magic there are in the world.

There is a fourth type of magic. This one, however, isn't an element and it is not something you are born with. It is a type of blessing that one can receive from a Spirit.

Spirits are celestial creatures that exist everywhere around us. There are river spirits, tree spirits, fire spirits, wind spirits; anything and everything has spirits dwelling in them. But, they rarely, almost never, appear before anyone. They'll simply live quietly and peacefully without attracting any attention from humans.

However, on the extremely rare chance you receive a spirit's favor and make a contract with it, you will be able to receive their blessings and use spirit magic.

Spirit magic, however, doesn't have a fixed form. It will depend on how powerful the spirit that gave you their blessings is and the level of blessings they gave. The only certainty would be that it is far more powerful than regular magic of the same element, even if it is from a weak spirit.

They are the most powerful form of magic. Sometimes also referred to as True Magic. But it is also the rarest, even beyond the mythical. After all, spirits almost never show themselves before anyone. Even if someone manages to meet a spirit, they must also gain the spirit's favor, establish a contract, and receive their blessing. But, this is still not everything.

Even if they receive the spirit's blessings, they will not be able to display the true potential of the spirit's blessings if they don't have the affinity for it. Without having affinity to the spirit's blessings, their magic would only be slightly stronger than normal.

There is only one person in history who has achieved the true potential of the spirit's blessings. Her name is "Celestine", the only human in history who had ever made a contract with an extremely powerful spirit and possesses high affinity to her spirit's blessings.

She is an extremely powerful spirit magic user with unparalleled power, earning her the title of "Queen of Spirits".

Her life before becoming the "Queen of Spirits" was unknown. There were numerous mysteries surrounding her. What spirit did she make a contract with? When did she make a contract with it? Who is she?

But one of the, if not, most mysterious aspect of her story was how she simply disappeared from the face of the world.

Without a warning. Without leaving any verbal or written farewells. Before anyone realized, she vanished without no one knowing the reason behind her disappearance. She could be dead, or even still be alive until now. After all, her appearance never changed in the hundred years she was known. Some even speculated she became a spirit herself and achieved immortality.

"Up until now, no one knew what happened to her, and her legend sunk into the depths of history, known only through ancient texts and books."

Valerie-chan and I stared at Lawliela-sama in daze, listening to her silently as she proceeded with teaching us the theories and history behind Spirit magic.

W-Wow... I never knew about this...

Why isn't this fully explained in the game?!?! I think this would be a far more compelling story than the heroine's back story!!!

No wait... Guess that won't work. "Celestine" is more of the protagonist than the heroine.

Her story alone would definitely eclipse the heroine's backstory. Compared to the "Queen of Spirits", her story would become a side-character's story.

Moreover, the heroine doesn't have Spirit's magic. It makes sense why they don't concentrate on it.

The existence of Spirit magic seems to be considered a potential material for a DLC or a sequel to "Lovely Happenings". That is why they only teased it in the game and didn't elaborate further.

At least, that is what many speculated. I never thought about it that deeply, but still...

I never expected it'd actually be something this grand.

Lawliela-sama then looked at me.

"The reason why I am telling you this is to let you know that having an affinity to spirit magic is rarer than meeting a spirit itself. Most humans now have poor affinity to spirit magic since spirits now rarely show themselves to us. So, even if you have poor affinity to spirit magic, the fact that you can use it is already praiseworthy."

She smiled.

"All you need to do is just do your best and use it to support your primary elements, ice and water. Fortunately for you, wind is a great support for ice and water. You will be able to use powerful spells such as <> and <>."

Oh~! That sounds cool!!

She's right. Even if I don't have great affinity to spirit magic, I can still treat Fubuki's blessing as a tertiary element I can use to strengthen my primary and secondary elements.

"Yes. Thank you very much, Lawliela-sama."

"Mm."

Lawliela-sama then looked at Valerie who was reading a book about the types of spirits that have been recorded.

"Valerie, you should learn about spirits as well. That way, you will have the advantage if you go against a spirit magic user. In magic, knowledge is as much of a power as mana and magic power."

"Yes, mommy~!"

Valerie replied energetically as Lawliela patted her head. She then returned to her reading.

"You should read these books as well. They will help you better understand your connection with your spirit familiar and the blessings it gave you."

Lawliela-sama picked up several books from the pile and handed them to me.

"I understand. Thank you very much, Lawliela-sama."

After that, we spent quite a while in the study.

I read a lot of stuff about Spirits, explanations about their origin, the contract, blessings, and spirit magic.

Then, I also read about Celestial foxes in one of the books Lawliela-sama handed to me. There were only about 2 pages about Celestial foxes, compared to other spirits that usually had 3 or more pages about them.

It seems Celestial foxes are considered one of the rarest types of Spirit as well as one of the more powerful ones.

The more common ones would be like fairies and sprites. They're the most abundant type of spirits that live in nature. The rarer ones were animal spirits such as cats, dogs, and birds. While they're rare, they're friendly towards humans, just like fairies and sprites, so they're easier to make contact with.

Above that will be the special types of animal spirits with greater magic power or a special trait that makes them more powerful than regular animal spirits. There are several of them in the book. Shadow cat, flame hound, basically just put the name of an element and a normal animal after it, and it will mostly be considered as this special type.

While Fubuki, a Celestial Fox, is one level above that. In the book, they're categorized as "heavenly beasts" due to their tremendous magic power and intelligence.

They're extremely rare, only seen a handful of times in total, and no one other than the Queen of Spirits had ever managed to make a contract with its kind.

Wow... Should I rename Fubuki as Heavenly Fubuki?

No no, I feel like she'll hit my head if I even suggest it to her when she's staying on top of me.

There is one more level above the heavenly beasts. They're called the "Rulers of Spirits", but there's almost no information about them written in the book. There is only one entry for this category, which is "Celestine". Even then, it doesn't explain what the "Rulers of Spirits" are capable of or anything about them.

It simply stated that "Celestine" has achieved the peak of spirit magic and became the "Queen of Spirits". This category is used for the unknown spirits that are even more powerful than the heavenly beasts that she's contracted with.

Aside from this, there is no other information about this last category.

After reading that book, I moved on to another book about spirit magic and immerse myself in learning about them.

Without me noticing, several hours passed

"Alright, that will be enough for today."

Lawliela-sama's voice brought me out of my daze.

"Eh?"

I looked at her surprised. But, I still haven't read everything about spirit magic though...

"Don't worry. This is enough for now. Truthfully, you've exceeded my expectations for reading this many books without losing concentration. I never thought I would find another young girl like my daughter, in that regard."

"Hm?"

I looked to the side and saw Valerie still concentrating on reading her book.

Ah~ Her serious expression is also so cute~ I just want to pinch those cheeks~!!!

"She's always like this. Even though she's usually very energetic, when she's studying, she'll become very quiet and immerse herself in her book. I feel happy, but also a bit worried. I'd always wonder if she's pushing herself."

A small smile adorned her beautiful countenance as Lawliela-sama looked at her daughter with a warm gaze. I could see how proud and happy she was, but also worried for her cute little daughter.

I agree. Seeing the usually energetic and cheerful bundle of joy Valerie was, become this quiet and immersed in her book would make anyone feel a bit worried for her.

"Please take care of her. As her friend, rival, and sister. She has become very attached to you, and I'm sure she will listen to whatever you say. So please watch her so she doesn't go too far with her studies."

Lawliela-sama turned to me and smiled.

"I can not be with her all the time, so I am asking this of you."

"I would be happy to, Lawliela-sama. I already consider Valerie-chan as a very close friend of mine and my little sister. I will continue to watch over her and help her in her time of need."

I won't let her be hurt by Wilhelm and the heroine like how she would in "Lovely Happenings". I need to properly understand in whose route the heroine is when the plot begins so I can prepare countermeasures.

Especially if she's in Alex's route...

Hah... Can't that girl just go for a man without a fiancee...

Come to think of it, she's literally the definition of a homewrecker... Having the rare light element isn't enough to justify her behavior.

"Thank you. I will be counting on you."

Lawliela smiled at me and then tried to bring Valerie back to reality.

"Ah! What's wrong, mommy?"

"It's time for us to end the lesson. Let's return now."

"Oh, really? Okay~ Alterisa-chan, let's go~"

"Mm."

Ah~ She returned to being a bundle of happiness and cheerfulness~! As expected, I love this Valerie the most!

We cleaned up after ourselves a bit, tidying up the books, and left the study.

When we went past the librarian from before, Valerie-chan and I thanked her before leaving the royal library. Lawliela-sama seemed to also tell her to leave those books in that study and reserve it for her until she returns here again next week.

Seems like studying about spirit magic and spirits in general will be our main focus for next week as well.

Right after leaving the library with Valerie-chan clinging onto my arm, I suddenly heard a loud voice yelling my name in a tone of anger.

"There you are, Alterisa von Lorya! How dare you steal my future fiance away from me! I'll challenge you to a magic duel and teach you your place!!!"

I turned to my right and saw a green-haired boy dressed in a cloak pointing his finger at me.

Uhm... What the hell?







AN:

"What the hell is wrong with this broccoli?"

I don't know... I thought he was just the standard nerdy character but... It seems he's the pain-in-the-ass character instead...

"U-Uuuhh... So are you're going to change him now? Make him more bearable?"

Nope~ He's your problem now~

"Wha-! Wait! Don't you dare run away!!!! <>!!!!"