Compensation θ ~ I might be late for reincarnation, but since I was born as the talented eldest son of a prestigious noble, I might be on the winning side.

A small flame flickered at my fingertips. Watching the tiny fire dance, my heart was filled with joy.

—This is fantasy. Magic, sorcery. An incredible supernatural phenomenon.

In my previous life, tools were a necessity, but now I could easily achieve this with just my body. It was worth enduring the modifications. To think I could create such a miracle.

Not too long ago, I completed the engraving of the [Reason], the first [Reason] to be exact. This modest flame was a manifestation of that achievement.

The first [Reason] is the easiest to engrave, and it consumes very little magical power for magic. As a result, it’s called minor magic.

Representative magic included in this category is illumination, ignition, electrification, and, slightly more challenging, condensation.

To be honest, when I saw these, I thought, “Is this all?” But you see, there’s actually a rather complicated procedure to manifest these minor magics.

Luckily, I don’t have to consciously deal with the intricacies of it.

However, I felt it would be beneficial to have some understanding of the theory behind it, so I took a magical theory lecture from Ai. It turned out to be quite intricate, and I had to ask her to explain it multiple times.

Teach me again, Professor Ai! Start from the beginning, and really simplify it.

《To sublimate magic elements into a phenomenon, you need to excite the magic elements with processed magical energy, then pour them into the mold of [Reason] and push them out. 》

Can you explain the ‘excite’ part more?

《In this case, ‘excite’ means providing energy from an external source to elevate the magic elements to a higher energy state. 》

How do you process magical energy?

《You optimize your own magical power to fit the mold of [Reason] and the handled attribute, and apply modifications for enhanced reaction. The catalytic role in this process is played by the magic foundation.》

So, that’s what the magic foundation is for. I remember the process of digging it up, it was really painful.

《With a variety of combinations of [Reason] and attributes, the more types of magic you wish to perform, the more magic foundations you’ll need.》

That explains why you dug up so many.

《The entire process, from initiating magic to processing magical energy, exciting the magic elements, embedding them into [Reason], and manifestation, is connected through incantations and magic formulas.》

How is all of that managed in my case?

《The magic foundations are connected, and they are collectively controlled by the magical core. Therefore, incantations and magic formulas are unnecessary.》

So, it’s what they call “chantless casting”. It’s nice how fast my magic can be cast.

《Once you’ve engraved the fourth [Reason], which is required for advanced magic, you’ll need to add accessing the Quintessence Layer and the transformation of quintessence into magic elements to the process.》

I don’t need to do any of that, right?

《That’s correct. As an【Emperor of Reason】, you can perform these tasks as naturally as breathing.》

Accessing the Quintessence Layer and transformation are apparently quite challenging. Many mages in this world are limited to intermediate-level magic because they lack these abilities.

In short, I can use magic just by thinking, without needing to perform complex operations and calculations.

In fact, lighting a fire was surprisingly easy. It was so effortless that it caught me off guard. I’m tempted to try various things with it.

It’s late at night.

In a dark room where the sun has long set, a young child plays with fire. If he were caught, it would surely cause a huge commotion. So, he quietly got up.

He moved to a place without any rugs or flammable materials, sat down, and opened his hands.

One, two, three… he lit small flames on all his fingers. It was like a birthday cake, but with small hands, his whole hand shone brightly like autumn leaves.

‘Wow. Even after doing this much, it doesn’t feel hot. Maybe because I made it myself?’

Knowing that there’s no risk of getting burned, he relaxed completely. Then, he suddenly remembered a scene from a hot spring resort he had been to with his family in his previous life.

Claw-like fire streaks cutting through the darkness. When he strikes, sparks scatter and dance through the air.

‘The beautiful flames and light. It may not be anything like that fire show, but it feels like I’m on a stage.’

He moved his arms as if swimming and struck a triumphant pose.

TA TA TA TA TA! Ora ora ora ora ora ora! Strike! Strike! Strike!

It feels like various things are mixed in, but oh well.

The magic theory lesson from Professor Ai was delivered in a simplified way. The first version sounded like an incredibly difficult physics lecture, and I had no idea what she was talking about.

Ha!

Even though I worked hard to study in my previous life, what I learned seems to be completely useless. Who was it that said, “Even if it feels pointless now, there will surely come a time when what you’ve learned will be useful in the future, so let’s study hard?”

–Oh! It’s over! It ended rather quickly.

It was fun. Even with just this, I’m panting. I’ll stop here for today. But I’ll do it again. Not because it’s a good way to blow off steam, no. It’s magical training.

With improved health, I no longer cling to the bed during my watch at night. Nevertheless, there are people on night duty in the adjacent room and corridor. So, I quietly and secretly use my internal voice to restrain myself and do it within a reasonable range.

Next, I’ll start engraving the second [Reason] into my soul.

The second level is considered basic magic, or materialization magic.

For example, you can create things like light orbs, fireballs, gas orbs, and fire shields at a distance. If you try hard enough, you can even produce a drinkable water orb.

The next level, the third [Reason] is intermediate magic, and it has more destructive power than the previous level.  It’s also called manipulation magic and includes things like light bullets, flame bullets, and wind blades. It involves coordinate displacement of the magic.

Up until the third level, many people can achieve mastery with diligent practice if they specialize in the field of magic. However, the difficulty level sharply rises beyond this point.

Advanced magic, super-advanced magic, composite magic, and there’s even something called disaster-erasing magic.

I don’t know how far I can go, but I want to become strong enough to live up to the name 【Empreror of Reason】. That’s my current goal.