Ruger was quite interested in serving as his teacher's assistant. He even felt a trace of the excitement he had experienced when first encountering spells as an apprentice.
Rattle!
As though sensing its fate, the Otherworld Invader, which had lain still for a long time, struggled a little again. But it could not stop the three of them from heading toward the Experiment Corner.
Since it had weakened, Ruger had stopped spending his savings to reinforce its restraints. That was also why it could now manage a little resistance.
His teacher stood in the most spacious part of the Experiment Corner, looked around, and raised his right hand naturally to his shoulder.
Under Ruger's astonished gaze, the hand perched on his teacher's shoulder opened the mouth in its palm and spat out an alchemical instrument: an antique-looking pen used to inscribe magic arrays. One glance was enough to tell that it was a high-end piece.
Ruger had long suspected that the mouth in that palm connected to some storage space belonging to its owner.
His teacher began carefully modifying the experimental bench, while Ruger quietly stood to one side, keeping the Boneless Person suppressed.
"This is a magic array I modified specifically to experiment on a strange demon whose blood vaporized," his teacher said.
Ruger watched quietly, comparing the changes in the magic array against his own understanding. Ever since he had become capable of a subtle, pitifully limited exchange with the world through spells, he had begun to gain a deeper, more natural understanding of some of the principles behind magic arrays, rather than relying entirely on rote learning. Gradually, his mind settled, and he devoted more attention to his teacher's practiced, precise inscription techniques. Even the order in which the array was inscribed reflected careful thought.
Throughout the