Colt’s Ties
After finishing their morning workout as usual and returning home, the two of them moved about with the unspoken ease of people who had already settled into their roles.
“I’m doing the laundry. Bring me all your clothes.”
“Okay.”
While Colt gathered his clothes and headed for the washing machine, James took food from the refrigerator. It was late lunch, but for the two of them, who had slept late, it was their first meal of the day.
James was still wiggling only his fingers. As he had done the day before, he was using mana to prepare the meal.
Whoosh. Swish.
Colt, coming back after starting the washer, looked at the ingredients floating through the air and complained again.
“…Jeez. Moving around normally is exercise too, you know?”
“Shut up. Just eat.”
Even simple cooking was possible through mana, so by the time they sat down, a steaming omelet was already on the table.
“Hmph. I really can’t keep up with this speed.”
By now he accepted James’s magic as a matter of course, but in truth, Colt had been just as shocked the first time he’d encountered it.
* * *
James had graduated from school but hadn’t gone on to college, so he had no immediate way to make a living.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
He did have the inheritance his parents had left him, but if someone as careless as James used it without thinking, he could end up flat on the street.
“I need to make money somehow...”
Sitting at his desk and idly spinning a ballpoint pen in the air, James suddenly glanced at the pen in his hand.
“…I’m a magician, aren’t I?”
According to the writings of Mercia Lynchberg, the self-proclaimed Great Archmage and Great Sage, he had now reached intermediate level as a magician.
“If a magician wants to make money...”
James turned his eyes to the advertisements in the local newspaper he’d brought home to look for work.
“Las Vegas...”
For a magician like him, Las Vegas was a land of opportunity.
“Then should I get a job as a fake magician?”
That day, James bought a deck of playing cards from a store and began training to become a fake magician.
He had his reasons for deciding to become a fake magician in Las Vegas, and one of them was the obvious need to keep himself fed. But the real reason was something else.
That way, my alibi will be airtight.
Once James had learned magic, he realized what he could do with it.
Andrew, the only reason you’re still breathing is because I allowed it for the time being.
James was planning a merciless revenge through magic.
Andrew. You’ve waited long enough, haven’t you? Big brother’s coming soon.
No one in this world could stop a magician’s revenge. But James didn’t even want to leave the slightest chance of failure, and that was how he ended up meeting Colt.
At the time, Colt was one of the interviewers holding auditions for magicians who wanted to debut on the Las Vegas stage.
“Colt. What did you think when you first saw my card magic?”
“Heh. It was clumsy.”
Colt had already been emceeing shows at hotels, and that was how he had become one of the interviewers.
“Clumsy? It was my first time, but I’m pretty sure I did well.”
Still, James knew magic was not common in this world, and so, without exposing himself as a real magician, he disguised it as stage magic and performed card tricks.
“Do you think I’ve only seen one or two magicians perform? Your sleight of hand and even the way you looked at the audience were all obvious to the judges.”
“Ah... right. My sleight of hand was nowhere near what it is now. And I wasn’t thinking about the audience at all...”
He was using magic to perform what looked like stage magic, so naturally his hands would fall short of those who specialized in cards, and since he had never performed in front of an audience before, his eye contact had probably been a mess too. Until now he hadn’t known why he kept failing auditions, but now he finally understood.
“So that’s why I got rejected.”
The other interviewers besides Colt hadn’t taken any interest in James’s card tricks. They cared less about whatever trick he used and more about his stage presence and appearance.
“But I really couldn’t figure out your trick.”
Colt, with all his years of stage experience, knew the tricks behind just about every card routine. Yet with James’s card magic, he simply couldn’t figure out how it worked.
“That’s why I called you separately after the audition.”
“You wanted to use me?”
“Partly.”
Colt understood his own limits well. He had top-notch looks, but Las Vegas had more than enough handsome emcees like him. He had relied on youth to get by until then, but he figured that from here on out he would need new connections and new abilities, not just youth.
“If I could get tied up with you, I figured I could keep making money for a long time too.”
“Looks like that plan worked.”
By moving together with James, Colt had made a name for himself in Las Vegas show venues. If any hotel in Las Vegas wanted James on their stage, they had to hire Colt as the emcee. Colt and James had become a package deal.
“And I really was curious about the trick you used.”
“Heh.”
James remembered the rest well enough.
* * *
“Hey. Friend.”
“…Yes?”
Back then, James had been badly disappointed at being rejected in the audition.
So this isn’t enough? But I can’t exactly show them other magic...
“The others said no, but I want to give you another chance.”
“A chance to perform on stage?”
Colt didn’t have the authority to put just anyone on a stage. He needed the approval of the director in charge of the show.
“…Something like that. I want to see your card magic again.”
“Hmm...”
“If you need time to prepare, we can do it later...”
“No. I can show you right now.”
James performed the card trick he had shown at the audition, right there on the spot.
The cards appeared in James’s hand, then flew through the air one by one before returning to him. The card in his left hand moved to his right, and the single card in his right hand multiplied as though it were breeding, dropping over and over to the floor.
No matter how I look at it, I still can’t figure it out...
None of the sleight of hand that ordinary card magicians used was visible. It was nothing more than the rough, unpolished movement of a beginner magician.
“…Who taught you? There had to be someone who showed you this, right?”
“No. I taught myself.”
“You did?”
That only made it stranger. The clumsy hand movements made sense if he had taught himself, but the result was too perfect to fit that explanation.
Colt picked up one of the cards that had fallen to the floor and mimicked James as he asked, “How did you get the card to move from here to here?”
“Well, that’s...”
Back then, James still had a bit of youthful pride in him.
“What card are you holding now?”
“Jack of Hearts.”
“Would you put it safely in your pocket?”
“...Sure.”
After Colt tucked the card away, James held out his hand and showed him a card.
Swish.
“Now then, what card am I holding?”
Colt answered with a bored look.
“Jack of Hearts.”
If there were multiple decks, he could easily have pulled out the same card and shown it.
“Check the pocket where you put the card.”
“Ha. There’s no way the card in my pocket would just disappear...”
As Colt searched his pocket, he suddenly froze at the sensation of empty cloth.
Huh? It’s gone?
His eyes quickly measured the distance between himself and James.
At least three meters. And the magician never even touched me. Besides, I put the card in my pocket with my own hand...
They had been far apart, yet his card had ended up in the other man’s hand.
“Would you like to try again with different cards?”
“…Fine.”
Colt picked up three different cards.
“Ten of Clubs, Seven of Diamonds, Queen of Spades.”
“You picked a lot.”
“Is that too many?”
“No. Just put them safely in your pocket.”
Colt shoved the cards into his pocket and pressed a hand hard over it, determined not to let them be taken.
This time it won’t work.
But James was already showing the three cards he had chosen.
“Ta-da!”
“!”
“…No way.”
Colt quickly reached into his pocket and, sure enough, felt only the emptiness there. There was nothing but dust.
“…A magic trick that steals cards from other people’s pockets?”
“What do you think? Pretty good trick, right?”
“A trick? No... this can’t even be called a trick.”
“...”
Only then did James begin to grasp what he had done.
Did I show him too much?
He had meant to show magic without revealing that he was a real magician, but in his eagerness to land the gig, he had shown too much.
“Ahaha. It was just a simple trick...”
“You’re lying. This isn’t a trick.”
“...”
To escape the crisis, James turned the question back on him.
“If it’s not a trick, then how would you explain it?”
“You’d know better than I would.”
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“I guess I’m not cut out to be a magician after all. I don’t even know what trick I’m using myself.”
James thought getting out of there was the only way to stay alive, so he quickly turned away. But Colt’s voice followed behind him.
“…I won’t tell anyone.”
That brief sentence moved something in James’s heart.
“When you live in Las Vegas long enough, you end up meeting all kinds of people. I can understand anything.”
“...”
Seeing that James still wasn’t convinced, Colt drove the point home.
“There probably isn’t anyone in Las Vegas with a wider network than me. And if you’ve got a special ability ordinary people don’t have, then you’re going to need a partner to help keep it hidden. I’m more reliable than you think.”
Only then did James turn fully back and face Colt.
“If I become your partner, what can you do for me?”
“...I can get you the job you want.”
He meant he could help James get onto the magic stage.
“Hm.”
“If your ability is real, then I’ll help you become a real magician. For now, you still need polishing.”
James was studying Colt closely.
His color...
After awakening to mana, James had learned that every person’s color was different. And those colors revealed their tendencies exactly as they were. No matter how much they wanted to hide it, their unique color would not disappear. At first he could not understand why he alone could see such colors, but magic had always been a mystery beyond what modern humans could comprehend.
His trust rating is pretty high.
As he said, Colt was someone he could trust. That was clear from the fact that the mana around him was not heavily mixed with black.
But not completely.
Some gray had shown through as he spoke.
“No. You definitely lied.”
“…You can tell that too?”
“Yes. There was a lie in what you said to me. Your heart and your eyes are telling me so.”
“Phew.”
“Where does the lie begin, and where does the truth begin?”
“...”
After thinking it over, Colt came clean.
“…Saying I can get you a job was a bit of an exaggeration.”
He was a man who had to worry about his own job first.
“So you weren’t all that powerful after all?”
“But I can show you the path to becoming a real magician. I’m not a magician myself, but I do have a sharp eye for this. And my network is real too.”
That part’s true.
“I know a guy who’s really good at card magic. Learn from him and your skills will improve fast.”
Even without James giving a clear answer, Colt was already speaking as if he had agreed.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t you need a job?”
“I’m not starving to death yet.”
“...Then at least show me a little of the trick.”
“You know what it means to teach a magician a trick, don’t you?”
“Tch.”
“But I can’t exactly hide it from a partner.”
“!”
James reached toward the cards on the floor, and every one of them began to rise into the air.
“I’m not a magician...”
The floating cards began to whirl around James.
“I should be called a mage.”
“Whoa...”
At James’s gesture, the cards all turned toward one place.
“Ghk!”
They hovered there as if they were about to fly straight in and bury themselves in Colt’s body. It was a magician’s reveal, delivered with threats attached.
“Please take care of me from now on, partner...”
“Call me Col, Col, Colt.”
Colt was thoroughly terrified by the playing cards spinning before his eyes.
That was also when James began to start playing with his name.
“Oh. Col-Col, Colt!”
“I said Colt!”
“Hehe.”
* * *
Colt recalled those days and said, “I never imagined your card magic was magic, not a trick.”
He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he’d been scared stiff at the time.
“Thanks to that, I got a job too, so it worked out.”
It had also been a good thing that he’d gained a new place to live in Las Vegas and thus established an alibi.
Thanks to Colt, I was able to go after him.
After moving to Las Vegas and staying with Colt, the first thing James did was visit the prison where Andrew was being held and ask for a meeting. He needed to imprint his mana upon the bastard before any of the rest of his plans could work, so their first encounter was extremely important.
* * *
“…Andrew.”
“I didn’t think you’d come to visit me, bastard. Heh.”
Even after seeing James, the bastard never apologized. It was as if he had no conscience and no sense of morality at all. But James was pleased with Andrew’s attitude.
Good. If you’re going to act that way, it gives me justification for what I’m about to do.
“Why did you do it? Why did you kill my dad and mom?”
“Ha! You think there was some big reason? I was high as hell and my eyes were gone. I don’t even remember who I shot. Ah!”
From behind a thick transparent acrylic partition, he pointed at James and sneered.
“I do remember shooting you, you yellow monkey. I thought I finished you off for sure then... what a shame.”
“...”
At that moment, James was making a bizarre series of meaningless hand motions.
O memory of mana that cannot be erased. I shall brand your trace upon him... Trace of mana. Action.
“...Asshole. What are you doing now? Did you somehow get brain damage in there?”
James’s hand movements looked, to Andrew, like the twitching of a disabled man with a nervous disorder.
“Thanks to you, I did end up a little twisted in the head. Your bullet hit here and here.”
Having finished the imprinting spell, James lifted his clothes and showed him the gunshot scars that bastard had left on his body.
“...”
Andrew was irritated by James casually showing him the wounds. It was clear that James wasn’t afraid of him at all.
“I should’ve finished you off then...”
“Yeah, you should’ve sent me off with my parents. I’m pretty disappointed too.”
James’s mind had grown far firmer than it had been in childhood. The little boy who could be hurt by a few words was long gone.
“...”
“I doubt we’ll have much reason to see each other again, but take care of yourself. I hope you survive in there until the end. Better yet, get out through parole.”
Andrew had been sentenced to life imprisonment, but with time he could become eligible for parole and be released.
“Heh. You’d better stay alive too. I won’t make the same mistake next time.”
“Same to you, Andrew. I’m different from the past now too.”
As James finished the visit and left, he made those strange hand motions again, searching for the mana trace he had just left behind.
Check mana trace.
And then a new spell was activated.
...Beauty Charming. Action.
* * *
On the way back from the visit, Andrew could feel the eyes of the other inmates on him.
...What the hell is wrong with them.
During his meeting with James, he had kept his shoulders squared and tried to project strength, but in the prison he’d been transferred to as an adult, he was nothing more than the youngest runt. Andrew was big and knew how to throw a punch, but inside a prison crawling with gangs, he was always on edge.
Then he heard a small voice.
“Why do you look so pretty today? Come see me in the shower room later.”
“...”
Even in prison, inmates formed cliques and wielded influence. The man who had just spoken was one of them, a top figure in his gang.
Damn it... him too?
Sexual assaults in prison were common. Young, healthy inmates were especially likely to become targets. Even before James cast his charm spell, Andrew had already been receiving plenty of love(?). But James’s magic made far more possible.
“Hey, bro. When you’re done, send him my way.”
Another gang leader, the sort who normally wouldn’t even bother looking at him, had come over to speak because he wanted Andrew that badly.
“Heh heh. Fine. But I go first.”
“Of course.”
“...”
From that day on, Andrew was able to receive a great deal of love from many inmates.
“…Ugh.”
The problem was that everything so far had only been the beginning.
“Hey, pretty boy.”
Even the bastard who usually had no interest in men was sending hearts Andrew’s way.
I’m losing my mind. Why is everybody acting like this today!!
* * *
After that, James went to the Texas prison whenever he had time. Some days he tormented Andrew with a tickling curse that made his whole body itch; other days he knocked him unconscious with a spell that brought unbearable pain. Every curse spell James had learned was used on him.
Years passed that way, and from the reactions coming back through the mana trace he had left on Andrew, James was able to tell when something had happened.
...There’s no life response?
Andrew had died. James contacted the prison and confirmed that the bastard had killed himself.
I’m still alive and you die before me? Who the hell do you think you are!
“.........”
James had thought he could torment the man for the rest of his life, but Andrew hadn’t been able to endure it and had ended his own life instead.
...So you did have the courage to kill yourself.
That let James think back on the years he had spent living as a magician in Las Vegas. His purpose had been all but achieved. He had earned enough money to live, and with Andrew dead, his second goal had been fulfilled as well.
So what am I supposed to do now?
The magician who had been living as a magician had lost the very purpose that had sustained him.
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