10. Sweet Scent
Sugar had once been the kind of character who appeared out of nowhere in the original story whenever the protagonist hit a wall or needed a breather. She would hand over mysterious quests through hints in items or cryptic words, then vanish just as suddenly.
She never really learned much about her own magic power. She couldn’t tag along with the other main characters, form parties, or hunt monsters together—that was simply impossible. When her true identity was finally revealed later on, the only thing mentioned was that she possessed pure magic power, far more than anyone else.
So she had no idea how other people’s magic would react to hers. But through today’s experience and conversation, she had roughly figured it out.
She had come to a conclusion.
If there was no reaction to magic power, she would simply inject it until there was one.
Even if Sugar’s magic power had a special way of accepting other magic, her body still had limits. Overinflating a balloon until it bursts was the perfect analogy—if you poured in more magic power than the body could hold, the vessel would shatter.
What she had endured from the Dark God hadn’t been an injection; it had simply been her adapting and enduring the influence. The idea had come to her now, at the exact point where the limit applied to ordinary people as well.
What if she overloaded the magic power until the limit was reached, then waited to feel the body’s abnormality?
Wouldn’t that let her sense the magic conduits?
“…You really hit your head?”
Tomi’s reaction made it painfully obvious how ridiculous the plan was. He wasn’t wearing his usual cheeky grin. Instead, he looked faintly sad, as if he were asking the question with genuine concern.
“There’s no other way anyway. Maybe there is?”
“…No.”
“Then I have no choice. I think I’m fine. Just stop before it gets dangerous. Okay?”
-I can’t feel heat, but if I throw myself into fire, can I feel it? I can escape before my body burns completely~
The way he spoke made Tomi’s eyes glaze over, unable to decide where to start pointing out the flaws.
“First reason it won’t work… First, you don’t know your magic power limit. If the timing is even a little off, it’ll overflow. Your constitution looks special too, so it’ll be even harder to tell. The moment you feel something wrong in your body, it might be over.”
“I understand that.”
“Second. Let’s say it’s because of excessive magic power. No one to fix it. You need a skilled magician who knows the countermeasure, but where would one even be in this place? Would the adults here bring one for you, spending money? You’d just die.”
He delivered the last line with emotion. Tomi himself didn’t know what feeling it was. If it went wrong, it would just become the Grimoire’s sacrifice anyway, right? But why did the corner of his heart feel so tightly blocked and unpleasant?
To soothe that feeling, Sugar asked in a breezy voice like a breath of wind.
“You?”
“What?”
“A skilled magician who knows the countermeasure. If it’s you, you might know it, right?”
“I know the theory, but…”
“Then it’s settled. Let’s do it.”
“But I only know the theory—I’ve never tried it! Besides… I’m not even a skilled magician…”
No proper staff, no teacher. It was embarrassing to call himself a magician at all.
Thinking about it again made his stomach twist with misery.
Someone was probably learning magic in a wealthy home, surrounded by their parents’ love and expectations. Someone else was under the wing of a famous magician, absorbing and honing techniques over long years.
Those people were the real magicians.
He was just a failed attempt, relying on power he could never show to the world. So he needed to quickly finish interpreting the Grimoire and hide its existence before stepping out into the light.
But what was he doing right now?
The method that should have worked in theory had failed, and he was being laughed at by the girl who had become his sacrifice.
It was like suggesting suicide, yet he wanted to stop it. What was that feeling?
He was trying alone, but he couldn’t introduce himself as a magician to anyone.
He didn’t know his own heart, and he had no idea how to change the situation. It was just frustrating. It was exactly the same as that time when he could do nothing.
I… what kind of magician am I…
Sugar stared at Tomi for a long moment, then stepped closer and patted his back.
She realized too late that asking someone to do something that might kill them was going too far.
She had seen him as her only lifeline and grabbed him desperately. But she had forgotten that she was pretending to be an adult while he was still just a child.
It’s not good to rely on each other too much.
“I know. I know. Sorry, Tomi. Let’s pretend this never happened.”
Tomi’s mood had been hurt not because she had given him a heavy task, but from the inferiority complex that had been building for a long time.
Sugar, who didn’t know that, could only apologize and hug him.
“…Wait! What are you doing?!”
“Hugging.”
“Who doesn’t know that? Why are you suddenly hugging someone?!”
“Because… you look like you’re deflated. I said something unnecessary and made you feel burdened. Sorry.”
Even for her own survival, she couldn’t push children around. With that in mind, Sugar gave a sincere apology.
When she was being playful and laughing, she showed this side. She couldn’t figure it out at all.
She must be doing this to tease me later.
Tomi was still struggling, insisting he wouldn’t be fooled again. But at some point, he grew docile.
A calm voice in his ear. Gentle pats on his back.
Distrust and anxiety melted away, leaving only a sense of security.
Had anyone ever hugged her like this since she was born? Thinking about it, the first praise she had ever heard had come from Sugar.
It was a strange feeling.
The warmth and melancholy from the past, and the calm that followed, had come from an action her parents had never done.
“…”
She took a deep breath.
Within the small embrace, there was a sweet scent.
“Hoo hoo…”
The laughter tickling her ear made her roll her eyes upward.
There was a girl with an endlessly soft smile. Her eyes sparkled like gems under the magic light as she looked down at Tomi.
“Ticklish.”
Hearing the soft whisper, she snapped back to herself.
What am I doing right now?
She was being hugged in the arms of a peer girl.
In the arms of a mischievous girl who always teased her, feeling the comfort of a child being held by parents, inhaling the scent of skin—
“—Aaaah!!”
The first thing she realized was to bolt.
She ran to the attic window and clung there. At least she hadn’t gone down the stairs, so maybe she had grown up. …Probably.
“A-are you okay?”
Even at that age, I hated being hugged because I was embarrassed, but is it that bad normally?
Sugar approached, worried that Tomi’s stress might have made him unwell.
“O-o-o-d-don’t come. Stay there. You don’t have to come. It’s okay.”
Because if she got close, the skin scent would make her think of it. Tomi extended his arms with a face flushed bright red.
“…It’s okay, right?”
“Y-yeah. It’s okay.”
“I said it again—forget what I said earlier…”
“…That doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not.”
“Eh?”
“Whether you die or not is none of my business.”
Cheeky.
“Originally, if I thought you were deflated because of that, it was a misunderstanding. Just a moment ago… I was thinking too much. It’s not because of you, so don’t misunderstand.”
Cheeky again.
“Anyway, since there’s no other way… If you really want, I have no choice. Even if it goes wrong, don’t blame me. I clearly warned you.”
Frowning brows. Axe eyes. Tomi’s expression that always looked annoyed. A tasty little snack that reacted when poked.
This was it. This was it. Sugar nodded with satisfaction.
“Really okay? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“The moment you feel something wrong in your body, it might already be over. Before you say ‘Stop!’, parts of your body might break and you won’t be able to live a normal life anymore—”
“Ah. It’s okay. How many times is this? You said whether I die or not doesn’t matter.”
“T-the corpse disposal is the problem. 100% it started with your will, but anyway, since I killed you, in the direction that maximizes not dying—”
“Won’t die.”
Sugar’s face, turned slightly away, carried a smile.
Tomi’s expression twisted, unable to understand why she was declaring it so boldly.
“Don’t plead if it goes wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong, and there’s nothing to plead.”
“What grounds do you have to be so bold?”
“You. Even if I go wrong, you will somehow fix it.”
“…Don’t believe it.”
The arrogant tone was clearly meant to provoke embarrassment, but there was indeed such a belief. A smart, quick-witted kid—something would work out.
“And I don’t want to die either. I won’t die at all.”
There was an inexplicable confidence in herself.
There must be meaning in being reborn in this world with this body. I can’t just die suddenly from here.
Moreover, I can’t put such a heavy burden on little Tomi. No matter what happens, I’ll survive.
“Ah. Still, if something goes wrong, bury me in a sunny place.”
“I’ll throw you in the sewer.”
Sunny place? When suffocating, it would immediately become the Grimoire’s food.
Tomi thought that way, but…
“…I’ll try hard.”
He wanted to see success and magical results. Muttering softly, he closed his eyes.
Magic power began to swirl in his hand.