Versatile Magic (1)
“Kyahaha!” Patrick finally came to his senses at the sound of the children’s giggling laughter. He awoke beneath the blazing sun, feeling as though every limb had been roasted to a crisp.
“You’re awake!”
“……You don’t even worry about me anymore?”
“It was obvious you collapsed after blasting magic everywhere again.”
“You said you’d be fine after some time!”
The children no longer looked particularly surprised to find their teacher passed out.
“Did you succeed, though?”
“Show us, just once!”
Before he could even feel slighted, the children’s sparkling eyes instantly puffed up Patrick’s ego.
“Learning a new spell in just one day is something only someone like me can pull off!”
“Whoa!”
“Behold, the power of a wizard! Dig!”
Whoosh— He flailed his arms about, attempting what he thought was a cool gesture, but the result was rather modest compared to his lengthy boasting. Ben stared at the half-fist-sized hole in the ground and looked up at his teacher with an expression that clearly said, “Is that really all?”
“It’s a spell specialized for pulling weeds.”
“Ah…… I see.”
Just as Ben was about to clap, Tommy spoke up. “But do you really need magic for that?”
“Shh!”
“Why would you say that and upset Teacher!”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
Patrick’s eyes narrowed into slits at Tommy’s innocent remark.
“These brats don’t know the superiority of magic!”
But Patrick wasn’t the sort to be discouraged by a few words from children. Instead, he squared his shoulders with even greater confidence and gestured for them to follow.
“Where are you going?”
“A true adult doesn’t turn a blind eye to neighbors in need.”
“Huh?”
“Weeds don’t grow only in my garden. We should help the villagers.”
Most of the able-bodied men on Dunbrook Island worked in fishing. However, nearly every household also tended a field or orchard, since fishing didn’t always reward hard work with equal pay. The problem was that tending those fields and orchards usually fell to the women and elderly, who were constantly short-handed. It was no wonder even ten-year-old children got drafted during busy farming seasons.
“What made you think of something so helpful?”
“Did you think I was training magic just so I could live well by myself? The village chief even brought me lime powder for research—I should at least earn my keep.”
“Ooh— But don’t you need to eat first? You’ve been lying there all this time; you must be hungry.”
“That’s right. Using a lot of magic makes you hungry, doesn’t it?”
“You’ve never heard of a snack break?”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“It’s a wonderful custom where they bring you drinks and food while you’re working the fields. Don’t tell me they don’t have that here?”
“Ah! Merienda!”
“You call that merienda?”
“Yes. The adults have a sandwich and a glass of wine, right?”
“……A sandwich? How are you supposed to get any strength from that?”
At the very least, they should fry up some pancakes or something.
***
“Goodness, you’re working hard!”
“Hohoho. Long time no see, wizard fella. How’s your body holding up these days?”
“He collapsed again this morning!”
“We went over and found him sprawled out in the field—we got such a fright!”
“Tsk tsk. What good is a young man with a body that weak?”
The house Patrick had come to belonged to the village’s most senior elder, commonly known as Halmae. She was a spiritual pillar of the community who offered advice on major village matters—so much so that she had come with the village chief to check on Patrick when he first arrived in exile.
‘Thanks to her teaching me how to farm and sharing seedlings, I was able to make my own field.’
That wasn’t all. Worried he might be going hungry, she often sent the children over with dried fish, greens, and salt. He was deeply grateful.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Ah! It’s not that. I was wondering if I could help with the field work.”
“Field work? Hohoho. A man who can barely take care of himself is worrying about someone else’s field? Since you’re here, have a meal before you go. My sons take turns helping me, so don’t worry about it.”
“Even so, this is the season when weeds sprout overnight, isn’t it, ma’am?”
“That’s right, Halmae! Our teacher learned a weed-pulling spell!”
“Eh? What kind of spell?”
“A weed-pulling spell!”
“My word, there’s a spell like that? Well, I’ve lived long enough to see everything.”
The same children who had dismissed Patrick’s magic earlier now eagerly explained its usefulness, as if they couldn’t stand seeing their teacher looked down on by others. Their efforts paid off—Halmae, who had been indifferent, began to show interest.
“So that magic of yours is actually useful?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying. I’ll take full responsibility and pull every last weed from your field.”
“Will you, now? Don’t push yourself too hard. Well then, shall I make some sandwiches?”
“Don’t you have anything warm instead of sandwiches?”
“Something warm? Hohoho. All right, it’s been a while since I made a pot of stew.”
“If you have any alcohol too……”
“So you didn’t come to help me after all—you came to mooch a meal? Hohoho.”
Yet Halmae smiled warmly, as if looking at a hungry grandchild, and headed for the kitchen. Patrick and the children made their way to her field.
“Whew—”
Even to Patrick, who knew less about farming than the children, Halmae’s field looked different.
“What’s with these crops? They’re so big!”
The eggplants and tomatoes were enormous. In a world without chemical fertilizers, nothing beat experience, it seemed.
‘Of course, that was before magic came into the picture.’
Time to show them the might of a human tractor.
“Dig, Dig, Dig!”
Patrick stood at one corner of the field, striking a pose, and began blasting magic.
“Whoa, he’s so fast!”
“Insane……!”
The children’s eyes widened, and they soon erupted in cheers. This performance was on a completely different level from what he had shown in his own garden! A single use hadn’t seemed like much, but when cast repeatedly at full power, weeds were ripped out by the roots in an instant, as if a plow had passed through.
‘Every time I collapse and get back up, magic feels a little easier.’
Though the entire village looked at him with pity for how often he collapsed, this confirmed it. Each time he fainted and recovered, the mana flowing through his body moved a little faster, and its purity grew clearer.
‘I’ll have to look into this later.’
It felt like the list of things he needed to study kept growing.
“Teacher, could you use Waterball over here?”
“Just a moment—Waterball!”
The children were now treating their teacher like a walking water pump without a second thought. Once the wooden barrel was full, Patrick scooped water with a small bowl and sprinkled it over the overturned soil. Ben summoned a spirit to spray mist-like water as well, and in no time the weeding and watering were complete.
“Hohoho. So you really are a wizard—you do use magic.”
Seeing the field tidied up in less than an hour, Halmae nodded and went back inside. She returned with both hands full of food.
“I thought you’d just come to eat and laze about, but thanks to you, several days’ work is done in a flash.”
“Let’s eat!”
Pop! After farm work, rice wine was best, but potato stew with wine wasn’t bad either.
“Wizard fella.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Could you take a look at some other houses too?”
“Other houses?”
“If you have time, I’ll introduce you. There seem to be quite a few households that could use a wizard’s abilities.”
Halmae took a hearty swig of wine and continued.
“Lately, so many families are busy meeting delivery quotas for the merchant caravan that they can’t tend their fields on time.”
“Ah— Of course, I’ll help.”
“Tsk tsk. Help, my foot. With a body that soft, how will you manage?”
Halmae poured herself another full glass of wine, downed it in one shot, and held up a rounded fist.
“If you work, you should get paid properly, shouldn’t you?”
This Halmae seemed like someone he could actually talk to.
***
“Oh my, Teacher! Thank you so much! Thanks to you, I can finally breathe easy. I was so worried about when I’d ever finish pulling all these onions.”
After blasting magic from dawn until sunset, a fairly large onion field was finally finished. Thick, healthy onions proudly displayed themselves across the soil.
“And with your health not being the best…… I don’t know how to thank you enough, Teacher!”
The village woman, relieved of her burden, slipped a small pouch into his hand.
Clink! Hearing the metallic sound inside, Patrick forgot all his fatigue. Harvesting onions had been far harder than pulling weeds. He had to cut down the yellowed, fallen stalks one by one with a sickle, then carefully flip the soil with magic so the bulbs wouldn’t be damaged. Thanks to his growing experience with field work, however, the results were impressive enough to seem impossible for one person alone.
“I was so worried about what to do with them before the rainy season.”
“We all help each other out. We’re neighbors, after all. Haha!”
“I’ll be sure to ask you again next time, Teacher!”
The woman, who had entrusted the job with some doubt, was overjoyed.
“I’ll spread the word too.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Word of mouth was everything in village business, wasn’t it?
‘Customer satisfaction is excellent! At this rate, won’t I become rich?’
Ben would have clicked his tongue and said he was getting ahead of himself, but Patrick couldn’t stop his imagination from running wild now that he had money he could spend freely.
‘During the rainy season, I’ll need to learn a spell for cutting things.’
He planned to earn as much as possible doing odd jobs before the rains, then master more efficient, higher-paying magic once work slowed down.
“Hohoho. Finished already?”
“Ma’am!”
“They say the potato field over there needs help digging potatoes tomorrow.”
“Of course I’ll go!”
“Will you be all right? After working so hard today, I’m not sure you’ll have the strength tomorrow.”
“I’m sturdier than I look.”
He flexed his arm with exaggerated bravado, only to receive a thoroughly unconvinced stare, but Patrick decided to ignore it.
“If you say so…… Then come straight to the field after breakfast tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am! Thank you for the introduction.”
“Hohoho. Before you go home, stop by my place and take a bowl of stew. You look like you won’t even have the strength to lift a finger tonight, let alone cook.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Patrick warmed up the stew filled with Halmae’s cooking and ate it, then fell asleep without even properly washing up. The next day, he never made it to the potato field.