4-3: The Magician Lacks Common Sense

TL: Krrizis

Editor: Shirani

QC: Lady Blue

First published on Ainushi

 

「So, why are you in my room? 」

 

In the evening, after I had completed my chores, I returned to my room to find Jill sleeping on the bed, and sitting quietly by her side was Milis.   

 

Laid out beside her, I perceived, was enough tea for two people. She has no intentions of letting me sleep, does she?

 

「Y-you said that you’ll hear me out!」

「Well, I did say that」

 

How excitable she must be! I didn’t think she would commit a suicide attack on the same day. Ah, alright, I’ll hear you out so you don’t have to make that sort of face, like you’re about to cry. How about I pen my diary first whilst I listen to her?

 

「So, what is it?」

「I wanted to talk again, but this is rather hard」

 

Milis brooded, as she wrapped her hands around the cup.

 

There was a slight flush on her cheeks, probably from thinking  of her loved one. A girl in love. How adorable.  

 

「Hmm, then do you mind if I ask you some questions? As you answer them, perhaps we might be able to settle on a topic to talk about」

「That’s a good idea. Oh! By the way, I’ve spread a soundproof barrier around Jill so we won’t disturb her」

「Much appreciated. It would be pitiful if we rouse her from her sleep」

 

Well, I expected that she would have put up a barrier of some sort since she did come by wanting to speak to me.

 

It would be embarrassing if others were to hear of it, and we wouldn’t be able to carry the conversation if it roused Jill from her sleep.

 

「Then, first off, could you tell me what exactly made you fall in love with Amdo-san?」

「What started it… Perhaps it’s because he saw me for who I am」

「What do you mean?」

 

When I tilted my head in confusion and inquired, Milis grabbed a bunch of her hair and a smiled slightly.

 

「I am a heresy. I am a water spirit, but I can also control ice. On top of that, I’ve always been strong. While there have been others before me, as you would expect, the other water spirits feared me and kept their distance」

 

As Milis muttered “but”, the sad smile she had the entire time changed into a soft, tender one.  

 

「Master wanted me. He gave me a home to return to and a reason for my existence. I’m really, really thankful to him for that. Even so, it still didn’t erase the feelings I had, my yearning to be born as an ordinary spirit」

「Just because you’re acknowledged, doesn’t mean that you’re understood. It’s not strange that those feelings didn’t disappear. So what happened next?」

 

When I urged her to continue her story whilst I moved my pen as it scratch the paper, Milis’ ears turned bright red and continued.

 

「Amdo then said to me that I was fine as I was. That the reason we met and are here now is because I am who I am」

 

He unconsciously proposed to her! As Milis-san holds Amdo-san dearly, she couldn’t have heard it as anything but a confession. More precisely, I really want to know if that remark was the root cause. If it was, how frightening! No matter what they do, everything’s defeated in the face of a natural.    

 

「H-he said that so I fell in love with him」

「So, that’s how it is~ That’s right! So you fancied him. Your eyes began to chase after him, your heart started to beat fast and any girl that got close to him, you took care of them before he could take an interest in them」

「H-H-How do you even know that!?」

 

Well, it’s a typical pattern with girls in love. Even if you’re able to put a stop to his girl friends, unfortunately he’s surrounded by a lot of guys. Alright! I’ve got the gist of it.    

 

「Lily, have you… ever been in love?」

「I have but that’s why I don’t fancy Amdo-san in the least.」

「But you’re such a great person…」

 

Oh, you don’t need to have such an insecure expression. I was just finished with writing the diary, so I suppose it doesn’t hurt to reminisce a little about the past.

 

I’ll leave off the bit about my previous life, but if it’s about my love, I can talk about that.

 

「The person I loved was like a helpful older brother」

 

An older cousin by six years, he was kind, honest, and always cared about my family. He was just about to graduate from university when I passed away. He had also secured a job and had laughed about how with this, he could finally make me happy.  

 

「Just being with him made me happy that there was nothing else I could have wished for. It felt like a given that we would remain together, but when he got a girlfriend, that was the moment I learnt such relationships easily fell apart. I felt alone and scared. When he noticed me crying like a child, he embraced me」

 

However, I rejected him as I wasn’t his lover back then. At that time, though I was just a middle school student, I was self-centred. Moreover, I brazenly said to him 「Congratulations. I wish you the best」. I thought I was doing my best for a middle school student.

 

「As he had a girlfriend, I refused to continue the relationship that we used to have. After all, Milis, if you have a lover, even if you’ve heard about how much the other was like a sister to him, there’s no way you would allow your lover to hold hands with another woman, and go out shopping together alone. You’ll hate it, won’t you?」

「I think I’m fine if it’s someone like Jill, but if it was you, I’ll be a bit heartbroken…」

「Right? But he was shocked by this. In the end, because he was so worried about me, their relationship fell apart and they broke up」

 

Right now, I know. Compared to how I was then, it must have been very, very frightening for that person by his side that she parted ways with him. I mean, a young girl coiling around a brother like figure was cute and pleasing to watch from afar. But wouldn’t you out him if the guy was following a young girl about? He’ll have been accused as a lolicon.  

 

「At that time, we hadn’t yet shared similar feelings of love for one another. We just couldn’t stand being apart from each other」

「So when did your feelings change?」

「… It was a year later. I think it was just after someone else confessed to me?」

 

I was suddenly confessed to when I was walking home together with a boy from class. He had seen the whole thing when it happened.

 

「W-What did he say?」

「He said, “I’ve been with you all this time, but is it alright if I’m the one that stays by you for the rest of our lives?”」

 

It was drizzling and cold that day when he said it, but the heat of his words melted that feeling away. More than like, more than love, those words resounded straight in my heart.  

 

「I couldn’t imagine it. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else other than him or feeling at ease with someone other than him. I just felt that I have to be with him」

 

I want to be your lover, so we can be together forever.

 

Saying that, I remembered the warmth of his embrace when he hugged me closely after I had agreed, the joy in his voice and his joyful smile. I remember all of it clearly.

 

Even though I’d memorized it…

 

「But then, I was separated from him. It was an inescapable reason, but because of me, we can no longer meet again」

「Lily…」

「The person at fault was me. So, I don’t want to betray his feelings at least. Even if he has a change of heart one day, I won’t. That’s what I’ve decided to do」

 

Hearing him call my name repeatedly, I can’t forget him. I couldn’t forget. I don’t want to forget.

 

「… Make sure you don’t end up with a love like mine, Milis. Don’t end up with a love so sorrowful, so painful that you can’t see what’s ahead of you. For that sake, I’ll do whatever I can to help you」

「I’ll repeat the same words back to you, Lily」

 

Milis stood up quickly and gently gave me a hug.

「If one day you decide to fall in love again, I’ll be sure to help you with all my strength. No matter what」

「Okay…」

 

Her gentle embrace and words were warm made tears well up in my eyes .

 

「If」I do, I’m probably only thinking of such things because I’m so comfortably happy in this place where Leonard-sama is.

 

*******

 

「I’ll have to leave the house for a while」

 

The next day, after dinner in the living room, Leonard-sama relayed those words with great reluctance to me. With his chin resting on his hand, his face visibly displeased as I blinked my eyes at his words.

 

「A meeting has been called because of what Willem did yesterday」

「Oh my… Your job… isn’t over yet?」

「No matter what, I have to go in. I don’t want to though」

 

Nevertheless, mustn’t it be of significant importance if they’re calling him out? Rather, I wonder what Leonard-sama does at work everyday?

 

I know he wields an immense amount of mana, but I don’t really know what he does specifically.

 

Although when he comes home, he’s never injured and there isn’t a smell of blood in the air so it doesn’t seem to be a dangerous job.

 

「Are you worried?」

「Eh?」

「About my job」

「Yeah, I’m worried. You’ve never really talked about your work before. I was just wondering if the job involves something dangerous and unpleasant that you must do」

 

When I was upfront with how I felt, he smiled with delight.  

 

I mean, I shouldn’t be prying into anything beyond my position as a maid. It’s an inviolable rule that no matter how interested one is, one shouldn’t be asking about.

 

「My job is basically paperwork and creating and improving magic. Also, sometimes I subjugate monsters」

 

I get the paperwork and subjugating monsters but…

 

「Creating new … magic?」

「Mm. By nature, I can expand several magic simultaneously」

「Several magic?」

「Yup. Normally, you just add an effect to an ongoing magic but in my case, the spell develops completely differently」

 

In saying that, Leonard-sama lit a small flame on the palm of his hand.

 

「Strengthening and enlarging this energy is normal magic」

 

I saw the flame on the palm of his hand moving exactly as he said, when it suddenly split into two and spun around.

 

「This is my magic. I can overwrite the splitting part of the spell on this magical flame I brought forth, and further apply a spell to order it to spin around. Usually you have to cast it from the start to do that, same with the splitting or it wouldn’t work」

「In other words, Leonard-sama, you created a flame with magic and maintained it, and then you added two spells, the spell to make it split and spin?」

「Yes. Normally when you maintain a spell, you can’t cast other magic. The flow of the mana will be mixed up and it’ll be a huge burden on the practitioner」

「Is your body alright?」

「My mana is abnormal」

 

No, that wasn’t what I was going to ask. Certainly though, if you’re going to keep using the spell then the amount of mana would be a big problem too.

 

「I mean that since you’re using multiple spells, don’t you need to create various… um… equations in your head? Wouldn’t that take a toll on you?」

「Mm … It’s fine」

 

Leonard-sama displayed a gentle tender smile after I gave him a surprised look.

 

「In my case, I can see the equations」

 

… Yup. As expected, I don’t quite follow. Um~~ What does he mean by he ‘sees’ it?

 

「Shall I explain? Or do you want me to stop?」

「I’d like to hear about it, but it might be hard to follow」

「Then, how about I show it to you in practice?」

 

With a slight amused expression, Leonard-sama lightly ran his finger in the air and some sort of characters that formed an enumeration appeared. Could this be… a magic equation?

 

「This is an incantation for a spell. The longer it is, the more effects it’ll have but it also takes up more time. However, as long as someone with mana recites it, it’ll have some effect」

 

With a wave of his finger, the enumeration rolled itself into a circle. Oh, this looks just like the carvings on a magic stone.  

 

「This is a magic equation. Turning an incantation into a diagram lets you cast it faster. If you don’t understand its structure, it won’t work」

「Heh~…」

 

Mesmerized, I gazed at the equation. Certainly, compared to the enumeration earlier, it looks like there are fewer characters. Could a section of it had been abbreviated?

 

「Is this the same as what’s engraved into magic stones?」

「Mm. If you carve the characters and pattern of the incantation into an item, it becomes a magic circle」

「I see. I’m accustomed to seeing magic circles, but apparently magic equations can also be seen」

 

When I said that, Leonard-sama smiled as if he had seen something amusing.

 

「They can’t be seen」

「Eh?」

「You normally don’t see that. It’s either carved into something or in your head」

 

But I can see it so clearly right now… Oh!

 

In other words, though it’s something normally constructed in the mind’ therefore it can’t be seen, Leonard-sama can see the magic equations in other people’s heads? Uwah! Isn’t that just like an esper?

 

「Leonard-sama, you mean you see them like this?」

「Yes, this is the reason why I’m in charge of making and improving magic」

 

I see. He really is an amazing magician… And as I was admiring him――

 

「Otou-san, okaa-san, look~!」

 

Suddenly we heard a voice call out to us. When we both spun around, Sid-san was quietly eating a cake and in front of Jill, floated a small circle of enumeration filled with characters. … Isn’t that a magic equation?  

 

「I did it~」

「Eh? Ah! Leonard-sama, is it alright for her to do that?」

「It’s not, but it’s fine」

 

Is it or is it not?! I retorted reflexively in my heart. At my reproachful stare that I laid upon him, Leonard-sama stepped forward towards Jill, placed his large hand over her head and roughly brushed it.  

 

「Did you do it from watching it just now?」

「Yup!」

「Well done. But you can’t do that yet」

 

As soon as Leonard-sama snapped his fingers. Jill’s magic equation disappeared. He held her in his arms when she raised her disappointment and rested his forehead against hers.  

 

「If you don’t do it sequentially, it’ll explode. First, you chant. Before you do, you should write the letters though」

「I can write! Okaa-san taught me」

「No, with the magic language…You can write already?」

「Yeah!」

 

“Look~”, said Jill and just as Leonard-sama had done, she drew characters in the air. What she wrote was her name. Yes, her spelling’s coming along just fine.

 

「… Even though you’ve only just started teaching her, she’s already able to do this much?」

 

After he mentioned it, the written characters Jill composed unlike what Leonard-sama’s, vanished on their own.

 

「Jill, you can’t use magic simply as you please. Wait until I teach you, okay?」

「Oka~y! I’ll wait. Otou-san, you just said it’s dangerous after all」

「Mm. You got it. Good girl!」

 

Having her head stroked by Leonard-sama, Jill let out a sweet laugh with delight, clinging onto him like a spoiled child.  

 

Leonard-sama returned her hug lovingly before looking at me with a gentle smile.

 

「That’s right, Lily. This」

 

Presented to me was a pendant fitted with a lovely violet gem.

 

Leonard-sama revealed a satisfied look when he saw me promptly wearing it on my neck.

 

「It’s tomorrow so I had to make this in a hurry. I’ll have someone guard you but I’m worried」

「…You mean, there’s a chance I may be targeted if I go out?」

 

I received it with thanks. There was nothing that I had that could be used as a means to resist. Though, it would be best if such an unlikely event would never occur.

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