The Mage and the Crow
The Mage and the Crow
I told Rebecca how Brown had asked me to put on a magic show in the back courtyard.
When she heard the inn might go under, she understood why I'd agreed to perform in front of the townsfolk.
"Living here, I've gotten a little attached. It'd be kind of sad if it shut down. The facilities are garbage and the food's crap, but the room's cheap."
"You get what you pay for, can't really complain. Oh, and during the show, this crow flew in and started helping me out."
"A crow? What do you mean?"
"What happened was...."
I told Rebecca the story about the crow.
When I mentioned a crow that suddenly appeared, helped me, and then vanished, Rebecca looked utterly amazed.
"A crow that understands human speech? And it acted cute in front of everyone watching the show? That's a full-on spirit creature."
"Its intelligence might even be higher than yours."
"You little—."
I tossed out a little joke, but she didn't take it well, so I quickly changed the subject.
"I should've grabbed that crow and held onto it—what a waste. I was cleaning up afterward, and it just flew off on its own. Might never see it again."
"Hey, don't change the subject. What was that about my intelligence?"
"You're a genius. A genius. I'm honored to be dating the genius Lady Rebecca."
"...Hoo. Fine, as long as you know. Anyway, the crow you saw today might come back. It might want to see your magic show again. Crows usually like shiny, flashy things."
"Oh, that's a plausible guess."
The fact that crows like shiny things was no different in this otherworld.
It might even come back tomorrow to see my flashy magic show.
If I meet it again, I'll feed it bread, tame it, and keep exploiting it for free labor.
"So the restaurant gave us meat because you promoted the inn? Thanks to my boyfriend, I get to grease my stomach a bit. I'll eat well."
"Dig in."
Rebecca and I sat facing each other in a corner of the inn's restaurant and wolfed down the smoked meat.
After we finished eating, I asked Rebecca about what she'd been up to today.
"Rebecca. How's your training going? Think you can handle mana yet?"
Of course, I wasn't just asking to hear about her day.
As the leader of a fixed party, I had to periodically check my party members' specs.
Three months had passed since we met, but Rebecca's specs hadn't changed much yet.
A swordswoman who can't handle mana.
Strictly speaking, by martial artist rankings, Rebecca wasn't even third-rate yet.
Only by learning to handle mana can martial artists finally exhibit superhuman strength.
Martial artists below that level don't even get the third-rate label attached and aren't much different from ordinary people.
Rebecca was simply overcoming her physical limits using the martial arts techniques she'd learned back in her homeland.
'It's been three months since we met. Isn't it about time she became a third-rate martial artist?'
The number of times we'd done mana charging through sex had already passed double digits.
That meant enough mana had accumulated inside Rebecca's body.
I didn't know how high the wall to becoming third-rate was, but I rated Rebecca's talent highly.
Back in her homeland, the Zakarta Kingdom, Rebecca had been personally accepted as a disciple by a Sword Master-class martial artist.
There's no way absolute powerhouses at the pinnacle of martial arts take on disciples carelessly.
Rebecca must possess the potential to grow rapidly as a martial artist.
"......."
"Why no answer? Is the training not going well?"
But at my question, Rebecca only hung her head low, her expression gloomy.
"Don't feel pressured, just tell me what the problem is. As a mage, I might be able to solve it for you."
Soon, Rebecca let out a sigh and opened her mouth.
"Actually, the training to break through the third-rate martial artist's wall is almost done. The amount of mana I've stored in my body is enough, and I already learned how to convert mana into body energy back home."
"Body energy? Is that different from mana?"
"Mages like you usually convert mana and use it for spells. Unlike that, martial artists convert mana into body energy to strengthen themselves. Like temporarily boosting muscle strength or toughening skin, that sort of thing."
I understood what she meant.
Body energy was probably to martial artists what spells were to mages. The method of using mana was different, but the point of being able to exhibit superhuman abilities was the same.
"'Being able to convert mana into body energy.' That's the condition for being recognized as a third-rate martial artist in the martial world. But for the conversion process to work in my body, I have to break through one important wall."
"What's that wall?"
"The Baekhoe-hyeol at the crown of my head. I have to make it so mana can pass through there. The organ that converts mana into body energy is the Baekhoe-hyeol."
Rebecca bowed her head and thrust the top of her head toward me.
She parted her glossy red hair with her fingers and precisely pointed at the spot where the Baekhoe-hyeol was located.
"You have a pretty skull. Makes me want to lick it, Rebecca."
I threw out a joke, but the mood was serious, so Rebecca didn't react.
"I know my skull is pretty, okay? But mana won't pass through here, so I can't become a third-rate martial artist. I tried to break through it on my own, but it's not working."
"How do you break through it?"
"You have to give it a really big shock. The fastest way is for a high-level martial artist to shoot mana into the Baekhoe-hyeol to shock it. I can also draw up mana myself and shock my crown, but that takes a long time."
The time it would take to break through the Baekhoe-hyeol by herself.
When Rebecca told me how long it would take, I was a bit taken aback.
"Starting now, it'll take at least half a year. If I try to break through on my own, half a year."
"If you're talented in martial arts, couldn't you break through faster?"
"I set this timeframe because I have talent. Kids without talent can't open their gi-hyeol even after ten years of effort."
Half a year.
It meant my lover had to live as an ordinary girl for at least half a year.
Honestly, I was a little uneasy.
As long as we were doing adventurer work, we never knew what monster we'd face, so it was best to get all party members to the superhuman level.
Kate, being in the rear position, was somewhat safe, but Rebecca was a swordswoman.
She had to engage in close combat with enemies, so she faced life-threatening crises far more often than one might imagine.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Actually, about that.... I have a favor to ask."
Rebecca abruptly asked me for this favor.
With her head bowed and the crown of her head thrust toward me to an almost burdensome degree.
"Luke. Just give me one good head flick!"
"What did you say?"
"A head flick! Hit me with your fist so it stings!"
Did my girlfriend have a masochistic side?
I seriously pondered whether I needed to use handcuffs, rope, and a ball gag in bed tonight, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
"There are cases where a physical shock opens the gi-hyeol. Back in my homeland, there was someone who became a third-rate martial artist after getting hit in the head by a ball."
Became a martial artist after getting hit in the head by a ball?
What kind of ridiculous awakening scene was that.
"I'll draw up mana to put pressure on the Baekhoe-hyeol, and you flick me on the crown to stimulate it. We'll shock it from inside and outside the body to forcibly open the Baekhoe-hyeol."
"So we're using a pincer operation."
It was a little absurd, but after hearing her out, it sounded like a decent method.
If we shocked it from inside and outside simultaneously, the speed at which Rebecca broke through the third-rate wall would be much faster.
"Want to try it right now on the rooftop? Just come ready to flick me."
"So you're saying I just need to bring my body."
But even after learning how to help, I couldn't help but hesitate like hell.
Flicking my girlfriend on the crown of her head—was that something a boyfriend was supposed to do?
As someone who didn't even want to hit a girlfriend with a flower, I was reluctant.
For reference, I could hit her with my dick.
"Do I have to flick hard?"
"Yeah. Hard enough to leave a bump on my head."
"Uh, that's a little problematic. I hit men and women equally, but I'm a pacifist only when it comes to my woman."
In front of my girlfriend, I was no different from Mahatma Gandhi.
But Rebecca grabbed me with a desperate look as I tried to back out, hesitant to hit her.
"Luke. You're the only person I can ask for such a weird favor."
"......."
"Wait, no! There is one other person I can ask besides you. I can ask Kate."
In that moment, the image of Kate flicking Rebecca on the crown of her head flashed through my mind.
'This is dangerous.'
If it was Kate, who subtly kept Rebecca in check, she'd definitely flick her mercilessly, without any regard.
Flickflickflickflickflick!
━I made unni Rebecca hurt!
━I can dominate unni's crown!
━Fwahahahahaha!!
Flickflickflickflickflick!
Imagining Kate bursting into mad laughter while delivering infinite head flicks made my skin crawl.
It seemed like I ought to handle this myself before calling Kate in for no good reason.
"Fine, I'll do it. Let's rest a bit and then head up to the rooftop."
"Huh? I was thinking of going to the church tomorrow."
"No. Absolutely don't go to get flicked. You might end up a vegetable, so just leave it to me."
"A-A vegetable?"
"I'll try to control my strength well, so just leave it to me."
We'd just finished dinner anyway.
Rebecca and I washed up lightly and then met again on the inn's rooftop.
"You brought the flick, right?"
"Yeah. I even put on gloves."
Rebecca spread out a mat she'd brought from the room on the rooftop floor, then sat down on it in a lotus position, planting her butt down.
To prevent finger injury, I put on thick winter gloves and finished preparing to deliver the flick.
"Then I'll start Un-gi Josik. Watch me, and when you feel a specific reaction from my body, flick me right away."
"Un-gi Josik?"
"It's a breathing technique martial artists use to circulate mana within their bodies. When you do Un-gi Josik, the mana puts pressure on the blocked Baekhoe-hyeol. The reason you see me sitting cross-legged and just breathing whenever I get a spare moment is because of that."
After her explanation, Rebecca closed her eyes and immediately began Un-gi Josik.
She hadn't told me the exact timing for the flick, so I paused for a moment—but I figured I'd know it by instinct.
A soft, subtle murmur.
Rebecca's bright red hair rose into the air as if she were in zero gravity.
From Rebecca's body, seated in the lotus position, I suddenly felt an intense aura of mana that was familiar to me.
If there was any specific reaction, it had to be this.
'Shall we begin?'
I curled my middle finger, approached Rebecca, and aimed at the crown of her head.
I might not look it, but back in high school, I'd made quite a name for myself among my classmates with just a single flick.
"Hup."
I held my breath and launched the first flick toward Rebecca's cute crown.
THWACK!
A sharp, ringing impact echoed.
Rebecca, who had been doing Un-gi Josik, let out a groan as if it hurt a bit.
"Hk!"
"What? Does it hurt too much? Want me to go softer?"
"No! Harder! You have to flick harder!"
If she was asking for it, I had no choice.
I put my heart into it and started flicking my girlfriend on the crown of her head.
THWAAACK!
"Hyaang."
THWAAAAAACK!
"Kyat."
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
"Kyaak."
With her red hair streaming in the air, tears welled up in Rebecca's eyes.
"Sniff. Your flicks are seriously brutal."
"S-Sorry."
"No. That's a compliment. Just hit me one last time, really hard. Any more and I think I'll get a bump on my head."
Hit her one last time.
Receiving that request, I threw myself into preparing the final flick.
This time, thinking it might help, I even drew up mana into my finger.
Of course, I was a mage, so drawing up mana didn't make me particularly stronger.
I just drew up mana out of a desire to try anything.
"Here I go."
THWAAAAAACK─!!
That was the moment I flicked Rebecca on the crown for the last time.
Right at that moment, an unbelievable phenomenon occurred.
"......."
Even after taking a full-on flick, Rebecca was somehow quiet.
The short groans she'd been making had stopped entirely.
Fwoooosh!!
Instead, the red hair that had been floating in the air began to thrash wildly.
"Wh-What the hell?"
As I watched with a bewildered expression, Rebecca suddenly opened her closed eyes wide.
A radiant light burst from her eyes, and I instinctively felt fear and stepped back.
At the same time, Rebecca let out a spirited yell, her voice loud enough to shake the inn.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuun-!"
Un!
The very 'Un' from Un-gi Josik!
"Giiiiiiiiiiiiii-!"
Gi!
Together, they form Un-gi!
"Un-giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii─!!"