The Witch's Black Mana
Black mana poured out from Edel, spreading through the surroundings. Her face soon paled as she realized what it was.
"Uh… uhh…."
"Edel?"
The more she looked around, the clearer the source of the black mana became. Edel finally collapsed to the ground, her body trembling.
"Th-this is… this is…."
"Edel, it's okay. Calm down."
"N-no!"
"It's just mana, Edel."
The more she trembled in fear, the more mana she emitted, gradually filling one side of the garden. It was harmless mana that wasn't even activated, but emitting this much at once could damage Edel's untrained mana circuits.
To calm her, I kept speaking to her.
"Edel. Edel! Look at me and breathe in slowly. It's okay. There's no problem."
"Ahh…."
But her condition only worsened, and I couldn't just wait for her to control it herself anymore.
"……."
I began spreading my own mana around us. It gradually enveloped not just Edel's mana but the entire garden. The sunlight that had been shining on the flowers vanished, and a stillness without even a breath of wind filled the space.
"Just hold on a little longer."
I whispered softly to her, then chanted the spell.
"Erosion"
⟨ Erosion ⟩
Then.
Zzzzt—
A sharp sound tore through the air. Plop. Plip. The wings of birds and butterflies flying nearby stopped, and they fell limply to the ground. The mana had begun interfering with everything around us.
Edel was no exception.
"Ugh…."
She groaned in pain. But at the same time, the mana that had been surging wildly began to subside.
When it finally stopped completely.
Whoosh—
The surrounding mana vanished in an instant. Dazzling sunlight poured down again, and the sound of birds flapping their wings returned.
Edel lay still there, as if she had lost consciousness.
"Sorry for making it hurt."
I picked her up in my arms.
Why had this happened? And what had frightened her so much?
Pondering these questions, I headed back to the castle.
Not long after I moved her to her room, Abela came rushing in.
"What on earth happened?"
I explained to her what had occurred in the garden.
"No way…."
"Does something come to mind?"
After thinking for a moment at my question, she replied.
"I think I know what Edel-nim's symptoms were today."
"What is it?"
"It's mana rampage, a symptom that appears in young demons who can't control their mana yet. I've never heard of it happening in humans, though."
Mana rampage? Why would a symptom unique to demons appear in Edel?
But more importantly, why had she been so terrified?
There was one thing that bothered me.
Black mana.
Humans and demons each have their own unique mana colors. And black was the color most demons possessed.
If this wasn't the first time Edel had emitted black mana, and if other humans had seen it….
'Witch.'
I didn't voice the word. During the time Edel lived in the city, the label "witch" had always followed her. She was probably always stationed at the bookstore for that reason.
I quietly looked down at her.
And said to Abela,
"I'll stay by her side, so don't worry."
"Yes…."
And so, I kept watch by Edel's side until she woke up.
…
Edel opened her eyes. Still groggy, she sat up and looked around.
When her eyes met mine, her face drained of color as if remembering what had happened, and she hid under the blankets.
Then she started mumbling to herself.
"Sorry… don't hate me…."
I sat on the edge of the bed and soothed her.
"Edel. It's okay."
"I didn't do anything. Really…."
"Edel, I won't hate you. And I don't think you did anything wrong. It's okay."
But Edel just kept mumbling under the blankets.
"Edel, no matter what you become, no matter what others say, I won't hate you."
"Hic… h-hic…."
I waited by her side as she sobbed until she calmed down. Her crying went on for quite a while before stopping.
"Feeling better now?"
No answer came. I stopped talking and waited for her to feel like speaking.
Silence flowed between us.
Finally, she opened her mouth.
"People call me a witch."
"……."
"They tell me to disappear every day."
"……."
"…Demon King-nim hates me too?"
"No. Never."
To the silent Edel, I said,
"Edel. Even if your mana is black, even if people call you a witch, I'll always be on your side."
"……."
Still no response. I made one request of her.
"Can you come out for a moment and look at me?"
No answer again, but soon the blankets rustled, and she peeked out just her head to look at me.
I reached out my hand to her puffy eyes and said,
"Edel, don't be startled. Look closely."
Then I concentrated mana in my hand. Black mana gathered in my palm, taking various shapes, and as I moved it around, Edel began to show interest.
"Actually, I have black mana too."
She looked at my face. I met her eyes and continued.
"I'm glad that Edel and I have the same mana color. What about you?"
After a moment of silence, Edel replied.
"…I'm glad too."
"Really? That's a relief."
"But…."
But she hid under the blankets again.
"I don't like being hated."
"……."
I couldn't do anything about humans antagonizing Edel.
But there was one thing I could do.
No matter how much comfort these words would give her, it was better than nothing.
"Edel. For every person who sees your mana and hates it, I'll love your mana's color that much more."
"……."
Edel, who had been listening quietly, sat up and revealed herself.
Then, without a word, she threw herself into my arms.
"Hiiing…."
A bit surprised by her sudden reaction, I gently stroked her head.
After a long while like that, fortunately, she regained her energy.
And our normal daily life resumed.
Two weeks passed since the incident.
'Time to get started.'
I headed straight to Edel's room.
"Edel, can I come in?"
"Yes."
I entered and said to her,
"You were reading a book. Is today okay for you?"
Edel looked at me and nodded.
"Good, thanks. I came because we're going to start doing something together from today."
"What?"
"Well…."
I paused for a moment before continuing.
"Magic practice."
We went out to the front yard and took our positions.
"Okay, concentrate like you're holding a ball in your hand…."
Black mana surged from my hand. Edel watched it rise high with her mouth agape.
"Wow…."
"How about it? Want to try?"
She nodded and awkwardly assumed a stance, glaring at her own hand.
But after a long time, nothing happened.
"Ugh…."
"It's okay. Everyone says it's hard at first."
According to Abela, it takes anywhere from a week to a month to get the feel for emitting mana. Even demons with some talent for magic, who experience mana rampage, need a long time just to emit mana.
I hadn't known because I could handle it right after being reincarnated.
"Try again with the feeling of pushing something out?"
"Yes."
Edel's brow furrowed as she concentrated again. Predictably, failure.
After several more misses, her lips pouted.
"It won't work."
"Let's rest a bit and try again. It might work this time."
There were two reasons I wanted to teach her magic.
One was to prevent mana rampages. Once she could control her mana, they wouldn't happen.
The black mana surging out against her will was triggering her trauma, but the physical symptoms were a problem too. Abela said this was a very mild case, so I couldn't help but feel urgent.
"Hup!"
The second reason was to give her a way to protect herself. So she could fend off the forest's magic beasts and hostile humans when she eventually became independent.
They say the earlier you learn magic, the better, so since things had come to this, I planned to teach her thoroughly.
'Huh?'
While lost in thought for a moment, mana began to rise from Edel's hand as she practiced on her own.
But.
"Eek!"
She clutched her hand to her chest and curled up.
"Edel, you okay?"
"……."
She seemed startled by her own mana. To soothe her, I said,
"No need to be scared of the mana. I told you last time, right?"
She nodded quietly, and I continued.
"Let's calm down first. If it's hard, we can stop for today."
"…I'm okay."
Edel hesitated a bit, then extended her hand and focused again.
But perhaps because of the previous shock, her hand grasped only empty air without mana.
Even after days passed, I didn't see Edel's mana again. Considering she had succeeded once, something was clearly hindering her.
It was probably trauma from the black mana.
I had no idea how to help her overcome it. How do you heal a wound already etched in the heart?
I wondered if I should give up so as not to hurt her more.
'Ah!'
I headed straight to a certain room somewhere in the castle.
A pitch-black secret chamber where I couldn't see an inch ahead.
There, I smiled quietly.
'Edel. Look forward to it.'