Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Magic of the Mortal Realm (3)
I slowly stroked the girl's back.
Her anxiously trembling breaths gradually calmed.
Her slightly swollen lips were still tightly pressed together,
but the redness around her eyes was slowly subsiding.
‘…I must have said something unnecessary.’
It was a mistake.
Because the scene in my memory was so vivid, my words got a little ahead of me.
That memory
might not even be this girl's future.
‘I still have a long way to go.’
As time itself,
I shouldn't arbitrarily decide someone's possibilities.
What I saw was just one of countless branches.
The moment I dismissed it as this girl's fate, I crossed the line.
Not for the girl's sake,
but arrogance tailored to my own convenience.
Instead of dwelling on uncertain possibilities,
I should have focused entirely on this girl right now.
‘Yes. There's no way this girl would do that.’
Her expressions,
her actions,
her atmosphere.
She was definitely the girl I knew.
And yet, she absolutely wasn't the girl I knew.
Most were
memories from other timelines.
Or times when everything changed completely due to some trigger.
Personality,
values,
even disposition.
But—
this girl right now has no reason to be like that.
She's so gentle,
has such a kind heart,
and doesn't even want to eat my tail.
‘Even if she changes like in the memory, I can just teach her again by her side.’
I gently stroked the girl's head.
“Sorry.”
“……”
Seeming a bit more relaxed,
the girl's hand gripped my tail even tighter.
Yes.
This girl's time
belongs entirely to her, no matter what I see.
My time isn't some prophecy that's destined to happen.
I have no right to judge rashly
just because I picked her up
or saw it first.
‘Don't forget.’
What I need to do
is stay quietly by her side so she can live her own time.
And
give everything I can for her without holding back.
I turned my gaze to the mountaintop.
The mountaintop
I had blown away just moments ago.
It was restored to normal now that I'd turned back time,
but I hadn't expected a spell meant to fell a single tree to obliterate the entire peak.
‘Amplifying mana produces this much power.’
Earlier, when I'd cast the spell,
I thought I'd finely adjusted it so only a tiny bit of mana flowed.
Like flicking a small flame from my fingertip to light a campfire.
Exactly that much mana.
‘This is tricky.’
Most of the spells I used were large-scale, destructive, and lacked any delicacy.
Which made them mostly impractical for everyday use.
The one I'd somewhat refined was igniting a small flame.
Over months,
I'd painstakingly practiced and adjusted to reach that minimal level of mana control.
‘And combining it with mortal realm magic yields this.’
Even when I tried to hold back,
the result was still excessive, with no fine-tuning.
It seemed to be a problem stemming from having too much mana.
Like a giant trying to use the delicate tools of a small race.
“...This is hard.”
“……?”
“Hm? Oh, the spell I just tried.”
“……”
The girl slowly nodded.
I wonder if she understood me.
Her gaze shifted to the mountaintop, then back up to me.
And then,
with a serious expression, she nodded repeatedly.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
“I'll have to work on it.”
“……”
“This is the kind of magic I need right now.”
I might not yet be delicate enough to master this magic.
In that case, there were two options.
Suppress and reduce my mana until I could use spells freely,
or reinterpret and adapt mortal realm magic to suit me.
“I'll have to do both.”
“?”
“...Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought. Just talking to myself.”
There was hardly any time left until the festival.
Even for me,
it was tough to modify unfamiliar magic in such a short time
and adjust my mana output to match.
No helping it, unfortunately.
“I think Hubert and Loren's festival gifts will have to stick to the fire-starting spell. I can already use that one reliably.”
“……”
The girl's expression turned gloomy.
She pursed her lips and looked up at me closely.
She seemed worried about me.
I smiled softly and stroked her head.
“It's fine. I can give them what I originally planned later.”
“……?”
“Gifts don't have to be only on the festival day.”
“……”
Only then did the girl's expression soften.
Slipping out of my arms,
she raised both arms, wiggled her little fingers, and made “whoosh, whoosh” sounds.
Her movements were busy,
and her sparkling eyes made it clear she had something to convey.
“!”
“Hmm...”
The problem was,
I had no idea what she was trying to express.
“...No clue.”
“……?!”
And so, our occasional game of charades began.
The girl's movements grew even busier.
Her gestures got bigger,
and the sounds from her mouth became more varied.
I watched as intently as I could.
Her gestures became more exaggerated and frantic.
She'd make a “fwoosh!” sound while spreading her hands wide,
then knead her little hands, wriggle her fingers, and stretch both arms straight up to the sky.
It seemed like she was depicting something bursting out,
or maybe something gushing forth.
“Hmm... What is it. Wind?”
“……”
“A storm?”
“……”
“Ah, not wind?”
“!”
The girl nodded vigorously.
Her eyes darted around busily,
then she pointed excitedly at the trees I'd restored by rewinding time.
And repeated her earlier gestures.
“...No way, fire?”
“!!!”
The girl's eyes sparkled.
Correct.
“Yeah. It was fire.”
“!”
“...But why fire all of a sudden?”
Another mystery began.
The girl stared blankly at me, then pointed at herself with her index finger.
“Uh... Are you asking if I'm giving you a fire-starting magic tool too?”
“!!!”
“That's it.”
The girl nodded rapidly, her eyes sparkling.
I shook my head with a smile.
Disappointment flashed across the girl's face.
I gently caressed her cheek to soothe her.
“Sorry. Fire's too dangerous.”
“……”
“But if you really want it...”
I tilted my head slightly and peered into her eyes.
“Let's try it together when you're with me. How's that? Sound good?”
“……!”
The girl's eyes widened round.
Then she hugged my nearby tail tightly.
“But you have to be really careful, and keep it very small. Got it?”
“!”
“Ah, and if you were bummed about not getting a festival gift, no need. I already prepared yours.”
“?!?!!”
She clearly had no idea.
Her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open.
She stared blankly at me for a while with her mouth agape, then
covered it with her tiny hands and made an excited face.
Joy.
Surprise.
And a hint of ecstatic disbelief.
By then, she'd crawled right up to me and
grabbed not my tail, but the hem of my clothes tightly.
I looked down at her small, trembling frame and smiled with narrowed eyes.
“Yeah. For real. I prepared it.”
“……”
The girl's eyes sparkled brightly.
Her whole body fidgeted busily, dying to know more,
but she hesitated, unsure how to express it.
“Curious what the gift is?”
“!!!”
The girl nodded vigorously.
Watching her, I leisurely tilted my head to the side.
“Secret.”
“……?!”
“A few days ago, Loren said we should keep festival gifts a secret, remember?”
The girl's face fell in an instant.
Her mouth corners drooped, and her eyebrows sagged downward.
“The festival's soon. Just hold out a little longer till then, okay?”
“……”
The girl puffed out her cheeks fully and turned away in a huff.
Yet she kept peeking at me,
and poking at my nearby tail. It was utterly adorable.
“So cute.”
“……?!”
I gently stroked her back, which visibly bristled.
Her puffed cheeks slowly deflated.
Fortunately, she got over it quickly.
“And... I have no intention of giving up the original planned gift. I'll give it this festival.”
“???”
“I thought I'd have to wait till after the festival... but it came sooner than expected.”
My words must have sounded like a riddle.
The girl tilted her head repeatedly as she looked up at me.
And,
her question was quickly answered.
A familiar voice came from behind.
“What did you do to wreck the mountain, Row?”
“Ah, you're here?”
“?!”
The girl's eyes widened.
Her gaze shifted toward the voice.
The figure emerging from behind the trees was someone I'd never seen before.
But familiar.
He was an old friend of mine, after all.
“You got here fast, Rakiss.”
“……?!”
“Yeah. You seemed urgent.”
The girl's pupils dilated round.
She seemed startled by Rakiss's changed appearance.
I patted the girl with a smile.
“It's okay. Rakiss changes forms often.”
“I must have startled the child. Sorry. Manifesting in my true form is tiring.”
“……”
Only then did the girl's expression relax as she slowly nodded.