Wandering Mage Luke #4
Wandering Mage Luke #4
She wanted to pay an admission fee in exchange for a magic demonstration?
Kate stared intently at my face, and I felt a wave of bewilderment.
Showing off my Boiling magic wasn't hard at all.
But was it really worth charging money for?
It wasn't like I was putting on a street magic show. If I had collected one copper every time I cast a spell, I'd already be filthy rich by now.
"I can't stand it because it's so fascinating—! How on earth did you leave that mark on the ceiling?"
"Hmph."
As I stared at Kate, I suddenly recalled something Wendy had said.
She'd said it to me back at the training hall.
Didn't she say that watching a wandering magician train wasn't exactly a common opportunity?
On top of that, Kate was offering to pay me. I had no reason to refuse, anyway.
I'd make money while doing my magic training. A massive win.
Abruptly, I started seeing Kate as a golden piggy bank that spat out cash.
"I'll show you."
"Wow! A magic show!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! Kate clapped her hands feverishly from her seat.
Her ability to hype up the mood was amazing.
Thanks to that, I felt a surge of confidence about showing off my magic.
'Still, this is a paid gig now. If I just half-ass it, they might demand a refund if I disappoint them, right?'
A refund!
If anyone would demand her admission fee back, it'd be a blonde nun like her.
I had no choice but to come up with a way to satisfy Kate properly.
Two coppers were worth two whole strawberry pies.
I couldn't afford to treat this blonde piggy bank carelessly.
"Wait a moment."
"'Kay."
After racking my brain, I thought of a decent method. It wasn't going to be a flashy show, but it was at least a way for Kate to feel the water's rising temperature firsthand.
"Hey, could you cup your hands together and hold them out? I'm planning to pour water into your palms."
"My palms? Why?"
"That way you'll feel the water heating up immediately, won't you? My magic takes a bit of time. I just mastered this spell yesterday, so making water boil in an instant is tough."
"Aha."
Kate cupped her hands together and held them out toward me. She was still on her knees, and that posture stirred up some odd thoughts.
Right then, instead of magic water, I really wanted to spray a sticky white liquid into her palms.
Something about her being on her knees seemed to make her hips stand out more.
"Mongma-nim, what are you thinking about? Your eyes look weird."
"Uh, huh? Just thinking about splashing water."
I quickly snapped back to my senses and poured water onto Kate's cupped palms.
Naturally, it was magical water created by weaving a hand seal.
Kate's hands trembled briefly when the water touched her, likely because it was cold.
"C-Cold. It's cold."
"My water's always like that. Stay just like that. You can't let it spill on the floor."
"Don't spill it on the floor? What you're saying sounds a little..."
"A little?"
"Lewd."
What's so lewd about it.
Was this freeloader possessed by a perverted demon or something?
I formed a hand seal and then plunged my five fingers into the water resting on Kate's palms.
The cool, sloshing water soon touched my fingers too. The surface area of my skin touching the water was small, but that didn't matter. The amount of water Kate was holding was equally small, after all.
"Boiling—."
The moment I muttered the brief incantation.
The water in Kate's palms immediately started heating up. Since the water had been so cold before, the temperature rise was impossible not to feel on her skin. Kate stared down at the water cradled in her hands with a shocked expression.
"I-It really is getting warmer!"
"Amazing, right? I found it amazing too."
"What's amazing for you, Mongma-nim? You're a mage."
"Is there a rule that mages aren't allowed to be surprised? You're a nun who's obsessed with money. It's the same thing."
"Is it really the same? You're just pretending to make a comparison while actually insulting me, aren't you?"
"Are you paranoid or something?"
While we talked, the water in her palms had grown warm enough to feel hot against the skin.
How much time had passed? Three minutes? Exactly enough time to steep a cup of instant noodles.
For those three minutes, Kate just stared at the water with wide eyes.
She stayed so still I wondered if she even noticed her arms were getting tired from holding them out. The water's temperature rising in real time seemed to be genuinely fascinating her.
"Oh. It's getting pretty hot now."
"Eek. Mongma-nim? It's still getting hotter."
"M-M-Mongma-nim! At this rate I'm going to get burned—!"
The moment Kate started making a fuss, I pulled my fingers away from her palms.
I thought it was just the perfect temperature for a nice bath, but were people from this world sensitive to heat?
Kate hurriedly shook the water off into the basin and blew onto her palms.
"Hoo—! Hoo—!"
"Ah, sorry. Did I let it get too hot?"
"...I-It was a little hot! But it wasn't bad. Since I'm paying to watch this, a fiercer display of magic is better. I'd hoped to see the water boiling wildly if possible, though."
"Want me to show you that too?"
"Yes!"
I filled a small basin with water and gave her a demonstration. Once some time passed and the water inside the basin started boiling enough to emit steam, Kate finally wore a satisfied expression. Then she pulled her wallet from her robes and handed me the coins.
A total of twenty-two coppers!
Payment for filling ten Holy Water bottles with water and putting on a small show with my Boiling magic. I tucked the twenty-two coppers into my pocket. Fortunately, she wasn't looking at her money anymore, so she didn't seem inclined to demand a refund.
Thanks, golden piggy bank—.
All your money will be converted directly into strawberry pie.
While I was thinking about snacks, Kate suddenly spoke up.
"You're amazing, Mongma-nim."
"What's so amazing?"
"This Boiling magic. You said you only just mastered it yesterday, right? But you barely made a single mistake. You're definitely different from other wandering magicians."
"The temperature rises just from holding your hand there. No reason to make a mistake with magic like that."
"Is that so? Is it an easier spell than it looks? But most wandering magicians screw up badly even on easy spells, you know? I once saw a mage set his own clothes on fire with a magic flame."
"That figures. Most Bronze-tier wandering magicians seem to have genuinely pathetic skills."
By now, I could empathize with Kate's words to some degree. I'd confirmed the caliber of Bronze wandering magicians with my own eyes back at the training hall yesterday. Even at a glance, my level probably far exceeded the Bronze average.
"Well, I haven't formally studied magic myself. I can't gauge exactly how good your magic is, Mongma-nim. But I think a spell that heats water could be quite useful."
Kate closed her mouth and wore an expression of deep thought. At some point, she'd released her kneeling posture and stretched her legs straight out. Thanks to that, I was able to leisurely admire her sleek legs wrapped in jet-black stockings.
'Everything's done already, so why isn't she heading back to the church?'
I'd filled the water and shown my magic.
Yet Kate still didn't seem to have any intention of returning to the church. I could've hinted for her to leave and shooed her out, but I didn't.
Because her legs in those stockings turned me the fuck on.
The moment my sneaky glances slid further up her thighs.
Kate's voice rang out right next to my ear.
"Mong—ma—nim—."
"Hyeok."
Shit, had she caught my lewd gaze?
I scrambled to straighten my posture where I was perched on the bed.
Thankfully, Kate didn't seem to have noticed where my eyes had been.
"I just remembered! A place that needs your water magic, Mongma-nim."
"...A place that needs my magic? Where's that?"
Pretending to be calm, I asked, and Kate answered.
"The church—. Our Luminous Church needs your magic, Mongma-nim."
The church?
Obviously even a church needed water, but I couldn't figure out what she planned to use it for. The range of uses for water was so wide it was hard to guess.
"There's an important event at the church tonight, you see—."
"An event that needs water?"
"The foot-washing ceremony! An event where the church clergy wash the feet of the faithful. Not ordinary faithful, of course, but VIPs who've made large donations to the church."
A foot-washing ceremony, huh.
A familiar term had popped out of Kate's mouth. A common event in the churches back on Earth, too. Wasn't it a ceremony where congregants washed each other's feet?
Kate smiled and continued speaking.
"We can't wash the feet of VIPs who've donated huge sums with cold water, can we? So on days like today, we have to keep boiling water from the afternoon onward. So we can prepare warm water suitable for washing feet."
"Then you must be busy today. So why are you hanging around here?"
"Because I don't have the seniority to be tasked with boiling water. Anyway, the point is we need your magic, Mongma-nim. The junior nuns struggle so hard boiling water over the brazier. Please help my adorable juniors—."
Obviously, Kate wasn't asking me for a favor for free. She stuck her hand into her wallet and jingled the coins around noisily. It was a magical sound of money that lifted my mood just by hearing it.
"How about twenty coppers for a day's wage?"
"Twenty coppers, huh."
The words "twenty coppers" made me waver, but I couldn't immediately accept Kate's proposal. I still remembered the horrific commotion that broke out last time I visited the church.
The church people didn't seem able to withstand my overwhelming presence as a Dream Demon.
Kind of like I was radiating Conqueror's Haki around myself?
"But what if the church people see me? Won't they chase me out for being a demon?"
"It's fine! Because we can sneak in and out through the dog hole in the fence wall. The Luminous Church in Yoen-su is in the palm of my hand—."
"What if we run into the church people?"
"Then we just step back out, why are you so worried about it? There are only simple, innocent people there because of the doctrine anyway. Besides, I have lots of juniors who obey what I say."
Kate's tone said there wasn't anything to worry about. Recalling my last visit to the church, she really did seem to exert a certain amount of influence inside.
Like a seasoned senior soldier near discharge who's eaten his share of hardship?
The way she ghosted through quests with uncanny stealth was also like the cloaking of a senior soldier.
'Seems trustworthy somehow? As long as it's about the church....'
Heating the water used for the foot-washing ceremony.
It was a chance to earn money while training my magic.
Without much deliberation, I accepted Kate's proposal.
"Fine, let's go to the church. You lead the way."
"Yes, sir—!"
When the afternoon arrived, I set out for the church with Kate leading the way. This would be my second visit to a church as an incubus. It wasn't that I couldn't trust Kate, but I couldn't help feeling a little tense.
* * *
Thirty minutes after we left the inn.
Kate, who had been walking ahead, suddenly spoke up. The confident, vigorous attitude she'd had when we departed had vanished like a lie.
Kate stared at me with a wavering gaze.
"M-Mongma-nim. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I think we should walk a little farther apart."
"I see."
I was absolutely not hurt by Kate's request to separate. Honestly, I empathized with her fiercely. The way the citizens on the street were staring at me and Kate was no joke, after all.
"An incubus is following a nun."
"He's staring daggers at the sister's ass."
"That dream demon bastard's eyes are no good. Is he planning to jump the sister from behind?"
The citizens muttered among themselves while staring at me.
The combination of a blonde nun and a Gold-Tanned Incubus drew aggro on an epic scale. Especially because of Kate's beauty, men had no choice but to lock onto me. Did they have the mindset that if things went wrong, they'd take me out and then hit on Kate?
"Haah."
I let out a sigh and put some distance between me and Kate. It was a bizarre situation, but we had no choice but to pretend we weren't together even though we were heading to the same church. From far away, Kate ducked her head and made a gesture to me that looked apologetic.
It wasn't really something Kate needed to apologize for.
It was just that the framing of an incubus tailing a nun was that powerful.
It wouldn't be strange to see it used as a staple trope on adult manga sites.
So, while maintaining that awkward distance from Kate, I was walking toward the church.
That's when a familiar voice reached me from somewhere.
"Luke—! Where are you going?"
Someone called my name from behind.
I turned around and realized that it was Rebecca standing there.
Rebecca was staring at me blankly while holding a thick paper bag in her hands.
"The church."
"The church? What are you going there for?"
The moment I started to explain the situation.
"Mongma-nim—! What are you doing lagging behind!"
From a distance, Kate looked toward me and shouted.
"Huh?"
Right at that instant, Rebecca stared at Kate, who had called out to me. At the same time, Kate's eyes also went wide and she stared at Rebecca. The two women's gazes silently collided in midair.
In that instant, I had no choice but to feel flustered.
Because I heard both of them call my name at the exact same time.
"Lu—ke?"
"M-Mongma-nim."