Aibo of Light

"R-Really gone!? Such a huge house! It vanished just like that!?"

Elfman watched helplessly as his family's little house vanished from before his eyes with a whoosh, leaving behind nothing but a flat, empty patch of ground. His jaw nearly dropped from shock.

"Haha, magic is amazing, isn't it?"

Aibo reached out and smilingly patted the boy's head, feeling inexplicably satisfied. It really was better to be a little older; pretending to be a child every day was exhausting.

"Big Brother Aibo is incredible! I want to become a man like you someday too!"

Elfman looked at Aibo with utter admiration. Beside him, Cana and Levy clung to each other, their shoulders trembling nonstop—they were struggling so hard not to laugh.

Mirajane glanced at the two trying not to laugh in confusion, but did not think much of it. Instead, she felt excited, as if she had seen a whole new world.

"Are all mages outside as amazing as you, Boss Aibo?"

The two who had been holding back their laughter finally could not take it anymore and burst out laughing.

Mirajane:?

"Ahem, every mage has their own specialty. I just happen to be good at Space Magic. My personal storage space is quite large, so storing a house is nothing to me."

"Big Brother Aibo, what should we do with the villagers inside this ball of light?"

Lisanna tugged on Aibo's clothes and pointed at the enormous light dome in front of their home.

"What do you think? You were the ones who were hurt, after all. It would not be right for me to decide for you."

"What will happen if we leave them alone?"

"If we do nothing, then after we leave, this giant ball of light will naturally dissipate in two days. Starving them for two days should not kill anyone."

Mirajane hesitated before asking,

"Can I see what is happening inside?"

"That is easy."

Aibo snapped his fingers, and the "walls" of the light house turned transparent, revealing a hazy view of the scene within.

"Don't worry. These light walls can only be seen through from one side. The people inside cannot see us."

When Aibo had been studying Light Magic, he discovered that aside from using it as a light source, the mages of this world only knew how to fire concentrated beams of light like cannonballs.

Mages used light-element magic in an extremely crude manner. Even powerful Light Magic spells merely expanded the area of attack or increased their power. They did not even know how to make light bend.

But Aibo's understanding of light differed from that of the people in this world. Deep down, he accepted that light possessed wave-particle duality.

Since light could be particles, it naturally did not exist solely to be fired outward. Thus, [Light Make Magic] was born with astonishing simplicity.

Mold Magic was one of the most mainstream types of magic in the Fiore Kingdom. There were Mold Mages of every element, but as for a light-element Mold Mage, Aibo might truly have been the first.

Most mages believed that light elements could not be shaped, and light had no "hardness." Even if it could be shaped successfully, its destructive power would probably be lower than water-element shaping magic. It was simply too useless.

But Aibo did not see it that way. Ordinary light shaping, like the light walls he had made to trap the villagers, truly could not block powerful attacks, but under normal circumstances, it was more than enough.

Once he figured out true Laser Magic, the Mold Mages of this world would learn what it felt like to be kicked by light.

Furthermore, Mold Magic was widely acknowledged as convenient, practical, and quite powerful. Its only flaw was that creating objects with magic power consumed a great deal of magic power. However, with support from the environment, Mold Magic's strength increased dramatically.

That was why Earth Shaping Magic had always been the T0 of Mold Magic in the past, followed by ice, wood, fire, and the like.

But Aibo felt that ranking needed to change now. With sunlight bolstering him during the day, his Light Make Magic was the most enduring and powerful Mold Magic of all.

And light shaping did not necessarily have to "shine." Aibo believed that every color humans saw was a form of light. As long as he was willing to put thought into it, light shaping could become any "color," which led to Illusion Magic that could alter light and shadow.

This "Light Prison" Aibo had created was entirely made of light elements. The transmission of light, shadow, and color was all under his control, so creating a "one-way mirror" was effortless.

Through the light wall, they saw the chaos inside the prison—some were arguing, some were furious, some were wailing, some collapsed in fear, and others knelt on the ground begging and praying.

"Are you the Demon!? Is it you!? It must be you!"

"You're the Demon! Your whole family is Demons! Go die!"

"This person's skin has turned so dark! He must be the Demon! Let's hand him over!"

"I'm not a Demon! Help! I'm not! Aah—!"

"..."

Aibo even let the sounds from inside come through. It was truly a parade of ugliness.

"This is the tragedy of the ignorant. People without knowledge cannot understand the world. They cannot distinguish right from wrong and can only act on subjective assumptions, living their entire lives steeped in prejudice. They are hateful, yet pitiable."

Aibo watched coldly, then turned to Mirajane, whose expression was complicated.

"If you and your younger brother and sister continue living here, then when you grow up, you may not be much different from them. Humans cannot grow without learning. These villagers may not have targeted you deliberately. They just... understand nothing."

Mira listened blankly. The confusion, resentment, and anger that had built up in her heart seemed to vanish completely at that moment.

She let it go.

"Let's... go. Let's leave this village."

"Okay! Sister." x2

After taking only a few steps, Mirajane stopped again. She hesitated before speaking to Aibo.

"Big Brother Aibo... how about lifting this magic after we leave? If they are trapped for two days, I'm afraid they might do something foolish..."

Aibo raised his brows and smiled.

"What? You are letting them off that easily? They did not show you much mercy when they bullied you."

"After all, they are from the same village. They used to take care of us too. Before, they only wanted to drive me away. I already... do not care anymore."

"Ha, you really are softhearted. Fine. This light wall will dissipate tonight. A day is enough time for them to reflect."

"Thank you, Big Brother Aibo."

"..."

These three little white-haired kids have called me oni-chan so many times already. They won't kill me when I lift the magic, right?

Aibo felt incredibly guilty, while the other two who had been trying to suppress their laughter were already laughing like fools. The two sisters both wondered whether something was wrong with them.

Aibo led everyone out of the village and climbed into the carriage to leave.

When the three siblings finally withdrew their complicated gazes from the receding village, they saw a strange sight—

Cana and Levy each tightly held one of Aibo's arms, trapping him between them. Both wore unnaturally exaggerated smiles.

"Um, let us tell you a secret. Aibo is actually a huge liar~"

"Huh!?" x3

The siblings turned toward them in shock. They panicked for a moment, but their expressions quickly turned doubtful, because Aibo and the others were acting far too strangely, as if they were merely playing around.

So why had these two girls been secretly laughing this whole time?

"You... lied to us? What did you lie about?"

"It would be better if the person himself explained it, wouldn't it? Right, Big~ Brother~ Aibo~?"

"..."

Aibo found himself surrounded by girls and unable to move. Cold sweat began to pour down his back.

"Um... how about I go back to the guild by myself first..."

"No running away! Be an honest child, little Aibo~"