Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Reason for Distrust (4)
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'The magic vanished?'
The spell that had been on the verge of completion just moments ago had dissipated into nothing.
Even for Kalt, who had weathered countless battles, this was a bewildering phenomenon.
Could the Kobold Warrior's roar have somehow interfered with the magic?
Such an absurd notion crossed his mind, but Kalt dismissed it immediately.
If it had that kind of effect, his own body—currently enhanced by physical reinforcement—would have shown some change or at least felt something off.
Which left the most likely culprit: something wrong with Scarlet herself.
For mages, there were two main reasons a spell would fizzle out mid-cast.
One was running out of mana midway.
The other was panic rendering them unable to maintain the spell.
As far as Kalt could tell, Scarlet had been rattled by the roar, but not enough to fall into full-blown panic.
So.
'There must be something wrong with Scarlet's mental state itself.'
He had pinpointed a potential issue.
He could use it as an opening to probe later.
For now, though, he had to deal with the Kobold Warrior bellowing loudly and swinging its blade at him.
'Thanks to you, I figured it out quicker.'
It probably hadn't meant to help, but Kalt offered a small mental thanks to the Kobold Warrior for the unintended boon.
'So I'll end you in one go.'
Kalt drew his Mana Blade and cleaved through both of the Kobold Warrior's raised arms, along with its neck.
Thud, thud.
From its attack-ready stance, the creature's arms, head, and sword all dropped to the ground.
Before turning around, Kalt schooled his expression into one of urgent concern and dashed toward Scarlet.
"Scarlet! You okay?"
"Uh, huh? What?"
Kalt was suddenly fretting over her.
And with such visible urgency that Scarlet found herself flustered.
"Your spell just fizzled out. Did something happen to you?"
'Ah.'
"Is that why you're acting like this?"
"Of course! Are you hurt or something?"
Kalt's continued worry left Scarlet at a loss.
"I'm not hurt. I'm fine. Why are you making such a fuss?"
"A fuss? A spell canceling midway is serious—something like a status ailment has to be at play for that to happen."
Scarlet was speechless at Kalt's words.
He was right, of course.
Mages rarely had spells fizzle out mid-cast.
Unless they were in her unique situation.
But no one had ever reacted like Kalt before.
Not even when they'd seen her spells fail firsthand.
Usually, they'd puzzle over why it happened or belittle her, blaming her for something so minor.
They might have reacted that way because she seemed fine physically after a failure, but even so, no one had ever jumped straight to genuine concern like Kalt.
Which was why.
'Ah, damn. What do I even say?'
Scarlet hesitated over her response.
She could have brazenly brushed it off with a puzzled look if it had been mere curiosity.
But facing Kalt's valid worry with such shamelessness? Her skin wasn't that thick.
Still, spilling her secret right here and now? No way.
Maybe later, in a calm counseling session, but not in this sudden mess.
As Scarlet desperately racked her brain, Aria approached.
"Kalt, don't worry too much. Scarlet was just startled, that's all."
"Startled?"
"Ah, Aria!"
"Yeah. Scarlet's surprisingly timid. The roar must've spooked her and made the spell fizzle."
'Idiot! As if that excuse would work...!'
"Really? That's unexpected."
'It worked!?'
"Who'd have thought Scarlet had a weakness like that."
Kalt pretended to mull it over, then smiled at Scarlet.
"Well, if you got startled, can't be helped. Still, next time, focus up so even a roar doesn't faze you."
"Uh, sure."
She hadn't expected him to buy it so easily.
Irked as she was, she couldn't exactly call him out for believing it so readily.
"Yeah, got it."
For now, she played along with Aria's hasty excuse.
After finishing off the kobolds and cashing in at the guild.
Scarlet retreated straight to her room and buried her face in her pillow.
"Argh, seriously!"
Today had been the worst.
She'd shown Kalt—who was still on guard—a pathetic side of herself.
And because of her own issue, no less.
Her stubborn refusal to reveal it had even dragged Aria into making up some lame excuse.
Just because she's timid?
Ridiculous.
If it were that simple, she'd have overcome it ages ago.
Her problem was.
Utterly hopeless.
Foolish and pathetic.
Aria's issue.
Nellis's issue.
Both had reasons that made some sense when you dug into them.
But not hers.
It was pathetic even by her own judgment.
Pathetic enough that she desperately wanted to fix it.
But no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't.
Could spilling it to Kalt—whose specialty was mental counseling—even yield the slightest clue to solving it?
"...Enough pointless worrying!"
Feeling her mind start to fray, Scarlet forcibly shifted her focus elsewhere.
Reviewing was best for times like this.
She pulled a magic book from her luggage.
It was the first book handed out to students at the academy.
A compilation of basic spells by Sage Marius.
The book she'd owned longest, the foundation of her magic.
And the one tied to her worst memory.
She flipped it open and reviewed the spells inside.
She already knew them all by heart.
But Scarlet had a habit of rereading the book to cram the knowledge back in and clear her cluttered mind.
As Scarlet immersed herself in the book.
Knock knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
'Who is it?'
"Scarlet, can I come in?"
It was Kalt at the door.
Scarlet closed the book, got up from the bed, and opened it.
"...What."
"Wanted to talk for a bit. Mind if I come in?"
"Don't you have counseling with Aria?"
"Already done. It's been an hour since we got back."
'Already that long?'
She hadn't noticed time passing while absorbed in the book.
"Scarlet, can we talk?"
No, whatever.
Normally, Scarlet would have refused, saying she couldn't lower her guard so easily.
But Kalt's urgently worried face from earlier flashed in her mind.
"Fine, whatever."
"Thanks."
As Kalt entered Scarlet's room, his eyes fell on the book atop the bed.
"Basics of Magic by Sage Marius?"
"You know it?"
"Of course. I've seen mages from other hero parties reading it. I even have a copy myself."
"What? You can use magic too?"
"Nah, can't."
Kalt wished he could use magic if he had the talent.
But he had zero aptitude for it.
He'd once rationalized it as his hypnotic ability making his body incompatible with magic.
"Bought it to show Ianna. She was mostly self-taught, so I figured something like this might help."
'Though she never bothered looking at it in the end.'
He'd hoped basic magic would make her daily tool-casting easier.
And basics had plenty of practical uses besides, which was why he'd recommended it.
-I'm telling you, I won't learn it, Kalt. Wasting time on trivial spells is less helpful to the party than perfecting the ones I can already use.
'Stubborn bitch...'
He'd been tempted to hypnotize her into shutting up and learning it.
But back then, Kalt had resolved to avoid hypnosis whenever possible and respect others' wills, so he hadn't forced it.
"Yeah, well, Basics of Magic is that good of a book."
The academy taught magic through it too, and it contained a hefty volume of spells.
So they only covered select ones, leaving the rest for students to learn based on preference.
Scarlet knew most of the spells in Basics of Magic.
"Yeah, it's a good book."
'Expensive as hell, too.'
Irritation toward Ianna bubbled up—she'd kicked away a gift meant to help her grow.
But Kalt exercised his patience and quashed it quickly.
He had more important things to focus on now.
Scarlet sat on the bed, arms crossed, eyeing Kalt.
"So? What do you want to talk about? And for the record, I'm not sick or anything."
"Yeah, not here about your health."
"Then what?"
"Scarlet."
Kalt sat beside her and looked straight into her red eyes.
"Don't you have some kind of mental issue when casting magic?"
"...Why do you think that?"
"I let it slide because of Aria back then. But it was still weird. I'm no mage, but I know this much: a spell canceling mid-cast happens when you run out of mana... or can't maintain focus, like in a confused state."
"..."
Kalt was spot on.
Which meant Scarlet couldn't brush it off lightly.
'So he really just let it go back then.'
"Scarlet, you still don't trust me, do you?"
"...Yeah. I still can't trust you."
She knew she couldn't just let it slide forever, though.
So Scarlet offered the condition that would at least let her convince herself.
The prerequisite for opening up her issue to Kalt.
"I don't know anything about you yet. Tell me about yourself, Kalt... and I'll tell you about me. Equivalent exchange."