There Is No 100% in Magic
There is no 100% in magic.
Thwack—
Veronica snapped back to her senses and yanked her hand away in a hurry.
“…….”
She fidgeted with her own hand, casting a sidelong glance at me.
A brief silence.
It was the shopkeeper who broke it.
“Ah—!”
It was the loudest sound she had made yet.
“My shop—!”
Clutching her head as if she meant to tear her hair out, she wailed.
“It’s a complete wreck….”
She whipped her head this way and that in disbelief.
I was hardly in any position to comment after being the one who smashed the place up.
It had already been in a state that could give a pigsty a run for its money….
I brushed past Veronica, who was still standing there with a dazed look on her face, and headed for the counter.
“…I’ll cover the repair costs.”
As I spoke with a hand in my pocket, she raised a hand as if something had just occurred to her.
“No need for the repairs. Instead, just grant me one favor—”
She said it as if she had been waiting for exactly this.
“A favor?”
“Yeah— I’ve got a delivery. The Military Academy ordered some magic tools for some kind of festival? Go with Veronica, would you—”
Then she leaned in close and whispered right against my ear.
“If I send her alone, she’ll cause trouble. I was going to go with her myself, but if you go instead, I won’t have to close the shop. Nice, right?”
“Why do I have to do something like a delivery?”
At that she pulled back again and flashed a grin.
“You just showed me you could handle it, didn’t you?”
So she hadn’t needed someone who could make deliveries—she needed someone who could keep Veronica under control.
I hadn’t meant to put on a demonstration for the shopkeeper, but the timing had worked out rather well.
Hmm.
The Military Academy, was it….
I’d been curious about this year’s Dowon Festival prize anyway, so going to dig around a little wouldn’t be so bad.
“…Fine.”
Quest accepted.
“I’ll get the goods ready right away. The train tickets are already prepared—”
She pulled two tickets from the drawer under the counter.
I took them, then casually rested a hand on the counter and leaned forward.
This time it was my turn to whisper to her.
“Separate from all that, a warning. If you go around blabbing my name again….”
“Don’t worry— I won’t. Telling Veronica was unavoidable. You’ll thank me later, you know—?”
“Unavoidable, you say.”
“You can trust me on this. If I hadn’t, things would have gotten even more annoying for you—”
With that meaningful remark she casually wrapped up the conversation with a “have a good trip.”
“Tch, what a mess this is.”
Veronica grumbled from the seat beside me on the train.
It was the opposite of Ester, who had been buzzing with excitement the entire ride.
Veronica had changed out of her uniform into everyday clothes, and her casual wear looked rather shabby.
Seeing a heroine out of her school uniform was a strangely fresh experience.
“It’s not too late even now. I can go alone, you know?”
She muttered, casting a glance my way.
“It’d be better for both of us. Deliveries are bad enough, but with a thug of all people….”
“Quiet on the way.”
“…….”
She still used informal speech and hadn’t called me “Karma-nim,” but the way she shut her mouth right away suggested she had at least improved by one step.
The train set out, and about an hour had passed when someone flying past on a staff came into view outside the window.
A woman in mage-like attire; she was moving faster than the train, so that was all the description I could manage.
“…A courier.”
When I turned my head at that, Veronica’s expression went rigid.
“…You looked curious, so I said it. Fine. I’ll just stay quiet.”
Ohh.
Reading my cues now, were we?
Looking at it again, she hadn’t improved by just one step—it was two.
The alley-rat density in her might even be thinner than Laward’s.
“I know what a courier is. I only looked because if we’re making a delivery anyway, I figured we could just hire one.”
“To fly that fast, a letter is about the limit. Get too heavy and you can’t keep the speed.”
Veronica stared for a while at the place the courier had vanished.
“Doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem….”
“Of course not. We’re on a delivery ourselves.”
“That’s not what I mean. Couriers are dropouts from the Magic University. Most of them.”
“Dropouts?”
“They graduate from the Academy, go on to Magic University, then hit the limits of their talent and wash out midway.”
She let out a faint sigh.
“Magic University students take a first-year course called ‘Understanding Swiftness.’ Even if they’re not interested, they take it anyway. Enrollment fills up every year. If things go south, at least they can learn that and do deliveries. Couriers make pretty good money, apparently.”
“…….”
“After graduating the Academy and getting into Magic University, of all things… well, for you.”
“Me?”
“Talking to you about it won’t make you understand, but….”
You.
Apparently “-nim” was still beyond her; that seemed to be the compromise.
My silence seemed to bother her, because Veronica pulled her gaze away from the window.
“Why did you say it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem?”
I asked around then.
“Huh?”
“You said that earlier.”
“Well….”
Veronica didn’t continue for a while.
It was the face of someone debating whether to speak or not.
“I’m aiming for Magic University myself, for now. But watching the couriers… honestly, it leaves a bitter taste. Before they enrolled, every last one of them probably thought they’d land a job at the Magic Tower or somewhere, right? And in the end they’re just couriers.”
Wow.
The Magic University setting was gloomier than I’d expected.
Job shortages everywhere, was that it?
“You think you could end up the same way?”
“There’s a chance of anything, isn’t there? There’s no 100% in magic. Even less for a mage.”
The way she said it so casually suggested she wasn’t just some delinquent after all.
If she was worried about her future, she shouldn’t have gotten herself suspended.
“Just so you know, it’s not that I lack confidence in my talent. It’s the money. Just scraping together four years of tuition is the problem.”
“Working at the magic tool shop isn’t enough, I take it.”
“It’s not that. I’ve already saved up all the money.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
Veronica drew in a breath and let it out as she spoke.
“The magic I use costs a lot of money.”
We arrived at the Military Academy about five hours later.
Unlike the Academy, which looked like a small castle, this place was nothing but square buildings.
Somber-colored structures stood mottled with better ones that must have been recently built.
This was the venue for this year’s Dowon Festival.
Fortunately we had arrived just before the Military Academy gates closed, so we were able to stow the cargo from the train in the school warehouse.
The delivery items were fireworks for a display, apparently.
The ones used in the winner’s performance.
Nothing special, in the end.
“That was over surprisingly fast.”
Veronica stretched with both hands laced behind her waist.
“The job the boss gave us is done. If you’re heading back right away, go first. There won’t be any return tickets today. I’ll manage on my own. I’ve got a little business here.”
“Is that so? I happen to as well.”
“What business?”
“And you?”
“…….”
“…….”
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, neither of us offered an answer.
“When will you be done?”
“Who knows.”
“I’m planning to finish around tomorrow morning and head back. Can you match that?”
“No idea about that either.”
“Tch, what do you even know….”
When I met her eyes around then, Veronica casually looked away.
Watching her socialization progress so smoothly put me in a good mood for no reason.
“If you’re going back, go first.”
I handed her the delivery receipt.
“I was going to anyway.”
Thwack—
Veronica stuffed the receipt into her pocket and turned her back.
“Ohh, Miss Veronica. You really came.”
A Military Academy instructor greeted her warmly.
“Have you finished thinking it over? About our offer.”
The instructor and Veronica.
The two of them stood side by side in the middle of the training grounds.
“I’ll talk about that later. You’re going to check first anyway, right?”
When Veronica spoke while looking out over the grounds, the instructor slowly nodded.
“No need to rush… but yes, the check comes first. You know that well. Ready?”
The instructor fumbled money out of his pocket.
“Keep it. Just being called here is enough; I can’t take more favors.”
“You really won’t take it?”
“No. I’ve earned plenty myself.”
She slit open the belly of a frog-shaped coin purse and selected a single silver coin.
She even floated it out of the air without touching it.
Then she held the coin between her index finger and thumb, right in front of her eyes, and focused.
As if taking aim.
And then—
Shhhk—
The silver coin vanished from her hand.
“Mm.”
The moment the instructor made a thoughtful sound—
KWA-A-AANG!
A crimson explosion erupted in the center of the training grounds.
An explosion the size of a house engulfed the field.
“…Good.”
The instructor nodded with a thoroughly satisfied expression.
“Magnificent!”
His voice even rose as he spun toward Veronica.
“One silver coin for this much power…!”
He even clapped in admiration.
“If it were a gold coin or a more expensive gem….”
“Yes.”
Veronica confirmed at once, as if the prediction were correct.
“The Spirit of Abundance produces power equal to the value.”
“A human cannon… that’s what you are.”
“The upkeep is expensive, though.”
“About the money problem—I told you in the letter, didn’t I?”
Looking out over the training grounds where dust was spreading, the instructor turned his head slightly.
“If you transfer to the Military Academy and enlist, I’ll provide as much as you need.”
“Can you really keep that promise?”
“Of course. Even more so now.”
“Something’s different now?”
“Have you heard the reports of undead appearing all over?”
“Yes, roughly.”
“It means the war from a hundred years ago could repeat. The military has to prepare for that. The surest way to stop undead regeneration is explosion. Better to turn them to powder from the start.”
To Veronica’s thoughtful face he said, “Yes,” and this time the instructor was the one affirming.
“It means Miss Veronica’s value has risen even higher.”
“My value… is that.”
“What do you think? Miss Veronica’s ability will draw interest from the upper ranks as well. Gold, diamonds—if the need arises, they’ll supply them. It’s magic that produces more reliable results than spending that kind of money on weapons and training soldiers.”
“Yes, I suppose so. If I become a soldier.”
“Better to start fresh here than graduate from the Academy with a suspension and that kind of dishonor. And you know this well.”
The instructor lifted his gaze to the Magic Tower, visible as a faint blur in the distance.
“Making a name for yourself as a mage is truly difficult.”
At those words Veronica recalled the conversation she had shared with Daywin on the train.
There is no 100% in magic.
Even less for a mage.
“More than that, even if you go to the Magic Tower, if a wartime situation ever arises, the Tower will have no choice but to join the fight. It’s a real long shot, but if that happens, Miss Veronica ends up on a battlefield either way.”
“So better to become a soldier early, and as a Military Academy graduate at that.”
“You seem to understand well. No need to start from first year. As long as Miss Veronica decides, we’ll arrange for you to transfer straight into third year.”
“Why go so far for me?”
“For the nation. No other reason. So, what do you think?”
Veronica thought for a moment, then slipped the frog-shaped coin purse back into her pocket.
“Honestly, I already had my answer. I came to deliver it.”
“Oh… is that so.”
“I will graduate from the Academy.”
“…….”
“To be honest, I’m not a well-rounded person. I’m not good with people either. But there’s one person I take special care not to mess up with—the person who recognized me. So I came in person to show my respects.”
“Then there’s no reason to refuse, is there?”
“Before you, Instructor, there was someone who recognized me first. Someone who knows I’m suspended and that my grades are low, yet quietly sponsored me a large sum of money.”
Veronica smiled with a shy face.
“Thanks to that, I saved up my Magic University tuition. That person would want me to graduate from the Academy more than become a soldier. And they’d want me to do well at Magic University. I’m still not confident, but I have to pull it off.”
“…Is that so.”
“Yes. I can’t betray that person… I can’t betray Daywin.”