Chapter 24: The Art of Magic: Elin’s First Step into Inventory Magic

A few days after Elin’s curse was cured, a new morning arrived in the underground prison.

Though sunlight didn’t stream onto his eyelids, Luke woke up quite early.

The reason was…

“Snore…”

It was due to the presence clinging tightly to his body as always.

He glanced downward.

There was Elin, peacefully asleep, clutching his collar with one hand.

Sigh.

Of course, it wasn’t because Luke had a peculiar preference for sleeping with children in prison.

To understand the situation, one had to return to the day the curse was cured.

“Now then, let’s learn a simple spatial magic today.”

“Already?”

“Already? This is the only magic I can teach you.”

With a snap of his fingers, a subspace opened up.

“The magic I’m going to teach you is called Inventory Magic. Would you like to take a look?”

Elin stood on tiptoe and peeked into the subspace.

“Whoa, there’s so much stuff!”

“Indeed. Think of it as a magical backpack that you can maintain.”

“…Then, does that mean you’re using magic even when you sleep?”

“Yes. Otherwise, everything stored in the subspace would scatter across different dimensions.”

“Wow…” Elin’s mouth hung open in awe.

“Isn’t it hard?”

“It’s fine. You can do it too. Keeping a mana sphere active—is that difficult for you?”

Elin shook her head.

“Inventory magic is just like keeping a mana sphere active at all times. Now, let me help you connect.”

Snap!

With another flick of his fingers, a strand of mana extended from the subspace and connected to Elin’s mana sphere.

“Wow.”

“How is it? Do you get a sense of how the magic works?”

“Sort of.”

“Good. Then give it a try.”

“Wait, hold on! What kind of lesson just brushes over things like this? What do you mean by ‘sort of’?”

Dien interrupted the flow of the lesson.

“You expect her to copy it just by seeing it once?”

“She can do it. Didn’t you see earlier?”

“That’s different! Your inventory is unique magic—how could she replicate that in one go?”

“Hmm, I see this won’t do.”

Luke shook his head and moved behind Elin, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Let’s prove that pink loafer wrong. Show him what you can do.”

“What should I do?”

“Just imagine creating an inventory. I’ll assist you.”

Elin obediently closed her eyes and focused.

Whoosh.

The mana sphere rotating above her palm gradually expanded.

“Carefully. Expand it without letting it burst.”

Luke guided her mana, refining and shaping it as needed.

This was enough.

In the academy, magic lessons often involved complicated theories,
but Luke thought that was all unnecessary fluff.

“Picture it clearly: opening a space and forming a bag.”

As long as sufficient mana is maintained, magic becomes simple:
clear and detailed imagination.

In the nine playthroughs Luke had experienced, Elin always had the best imagination.

Whoosh.

“Well done.”

“No way, this worked?!”

Luke patted Elin’s head, and Dien jumped up from the bed in shock.

“Uh…”

Next to Elin floated a small, faint space.

“It’s so tiny I can’t imagine putting anything in there.”

“This is just the beginning. The fact that you managed to imitate the inventory magic in one go is already remarkable.”

“…I don’t even know what I’m seeing anymore.”

Dien trembled like someone encountering an unfathomable phenomenon.

“See? It’s no wonder the senior panicked.”

“I didn’t think he overreacted.”

“No matter how he’s a loafer hiding in a cabin now, he was once a renowned senior at the academy. You should take it as a compliment.”

“I never thought that way…”

Even though Luke teased Dien casually, the lack of a retort made it clear:
Dien was genuinely shocked.

“Is it harder than you expected to maintain the inventory?”

“Nope.”

“Good. That’s how we’ll proceed with lessons from now on.”

“Every day?”

“That’s the plan, though the schedule might change depending on the guards’ visits.”

Elin’s hair curled into a question mark.

“Can’t I just come to you instead?”

“Why would a noblewoman come to a prison?”

“Wouldn’t that make it less suspicious?”

True enough.

If a guard approached during a lesson, Elin could hide in the inventory.

If Dien could do it, surely Elin could as well.

“Besides, no one pays attention to me.”

“I want to stay with you.”

“As much as I appreciate hearing that…”

Though it was nice to see her open up completely,

bringing her to prison still felt… wrong.

“I’ll take care of her.”

Dien stepped forward.

“I’m going to be sleeping in your inventory for a while anyway, right? I’ll keep her company.”

A sly, mischievous grin followed.

“If I hug her to sleep, she’ll probably feel all soft and squishy.”

“How inappropriate.”

Was it okay to leave Elin with someone like this?

“Sleeping in the inventory? What does that mean?”

Elin grabbed Luke’s collar.

“It was part of the deal to get the curse cure potion.”

“Sleeping in the inventory?”

“Yes. He wanted an uninterrupted place to sleep.”

“…”

Elin’s hair bobbed like a clock’s second hand.

After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

“I want to sleep there too.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m all for it!”

Dien spread his short arms wide and hugged Elin.

“Me too! Your hair looks so fluffy—I want to sleep on it.”

“Sure, anytime!”

Though Dien couldn’t see Elin’s face from behind, Luke noticed:
a fleeting dimness in her eyes.

“Lady Elin?”

“Huh? What?”

Her gaze quickly regained focus. Had he imagined it?

It happened so fast that Luke doubted his own perception.

“Very well, you two can stay in the inventory for now. But won’t it need to be expanded for two people?”

“Hmm.”

Luke hesitated.

Both were so small that it wouldn’t require much effort, but should he mention that?

“Wait. I get it, so stop looking at me with those pitying eyes!”

“Good luck.”

“Don’t look at me like that!”

Ignoring Dien’s outburst, Luke turned to Elin.

“Then, Lady Elin, I’ll link your mana sphere to my inventory.”

“Link?”

“It’ll give you access to open and close it.”

“!?”

Elin’s hair perked up straight.

“If you fail to maintain your mana sphere, the access will be revoked immediately. It’s perfect for practice.”

Tap.

Luke poked Elin’s mana sphere with his finger.

“Try opening it.”

Elin closed her eyes and murmured.

“Picture opening a bag…”

With a low hum, the inventory opened.

“Well done.”

Her hair swayed happily as Luke patted her head.

“Now, both of you can enter the inventory. I need to return to the prison soon.”

That’s how Elin ended up being granted access to the inventory, leading to her nightly habit of sneaking out.