TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 134
“Huff…!”
“…”
“Huuuuff!”
“…”
As the end of winter approached.
The Young Lady and I were out in the yard practicing magic for the first time in a while.
The Young Lady, who couldn’t use magic, was lazily sipping cocoa, while the Inferior Student, who had recently taken an interest in the study of magic, was screaming strangely while holding out his right hand toward a snowman.
“Huff…!”
‘I can feel it.’
‘I can feel the flow of mana swirling inside my body gathering in my right hand.’
‘If I picture the shape of fire in my mind and firmly believe in success with my heart.’
“Huff.”
As the shape of magic slowly formed in my mind, I took a deep breath and slowly opened my eyes.
-Flash…
‘Here it comes.’
“Fireball.”
-Piyoong….
“…”
Awkward glances were exchanged.
The Young Lady, frozen mid-sip with her cocoa at her lips, and the Inferior Student, who had assumed a perfect stance but failed miserably, both awkwardly stared at the snowman left standing there.
-Paaaan.
“This is strange. It feels like the world is conspiring against me.”
“It’s because Ricardo is stupid.”
“Theoretically, it was perfect.”
“Ricardo is too stupid to understand theory.”
“For your information, I was once called a genius at the Academy.”
“Not a genius, but a fool.”
“That’s not true. I was called a genius of strategy and schemes.”
“That’s not a compliment.”
“…”
“Anyway, explain the theory you came up with, Ricardo. Then we’ll see if you’re a genius or not.”
“Hmm… Flash, then boom?”
The Young Lady looked at me with disdain. Her gaze clearly asked if that was truly the magic theory I had in mind.
Under the Young Lady’s affectionate yet critical gaze, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
“Looking at me like that makes me embarrassed.”
“…That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Was it not?”
“No.”
“Then, today’s snack will be dumplings with carrots in them.”
“Eek…!”
Ignoring the Young Lady’s terrified reaction, I placed my hand on my chin and fell deep into thought.
‘What went wrong?’
‘I thought it was perfect.’
There are five major factors that determine the success of magic.
First, understanding of the spell formula.
Second, the speed of magic calculation.
Third, unwavering focus and confidence.
Fourth, the imagination to manifest the magic.
The last was the total mana capacity.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see why the magic had failed. I wasn’t lacking in total mana capacity, and I perfectly understood the theory.
Then where did it go wrong?
By now, I should have figured it out, but I felt frustrated by the lack of progress.
‘Is it because my imagination is too excessive?’
Wiping the beads of sweat forming on my forehead, I looked at the Young Lady.
“Why isn’t it working?”
“Because you’re planning to serve dumplings with carrots.”
“That doesn’t seem to be the reason.”
“Eeeek! I hate carrots! Devil…! Ricardo, you’re a devil!”
“That’s not something I’d expect to hear from a Wizard who summons devils.”
The Young Lady held up her fingers in the shape of a cross. It seemed even villains turned to faith in desperate times.
Smiling faintly, I gave a brief assessment of my repeated failures.
“I guess I have no talent for magic.”
“You’re realizing it a bit late.”
“…”
“Sorry.”
No matter how I looked at it, I seemed to lack talent for magic. Even I found it ridiculous how much I was struggling with just one Fireball.
Swordsmanship had been so easy.
Hmm…
I thought I’d improve quickly once I started learning, but magic was harder than I expected. Without a trait like ‘Genius of Weaponry’ to aid me, my progress felt even slower.
Feeling disheartened by my stagnant skills, I looked at the Young Lady with a bitter smile.
“Should I go on a training journey?”
“Even if Ricardo does, I think it’ll be the same.”
“You never know. Maybe I’ll have an epiphany and instantly become an Archmage—what a magnificent vision that would be.”
“Ricardo, your dreams are too big.”
“…”
“Sometimes, avoiding futile dreams is better for your life.”
“Who taught you that?”
“You did, Ricardo.”
“…”
Perhaps because she was born a villainess, the Young Lady casually uttered words that could wound others. Of course, I was the one who had taught her those words.
Still, it was better than nothing.
If she had whispered false hope, I would’ve mistakenly thought I was doing well.
If there were no answers, I could just read Ruin’s Magic Book myself. There was no need to overthink it.
The situation wasn’t urgent enough to require a hasty decision. For now, I’d do my best, and if I hit a dead end, I could think about it again then.
So.
“Uhhhhuuuu!!”
I’ll just try again.
*
-Crackle.
*
Under the dark alley.
Yuria, who had been studying late at the Library, was walking alone under the street lamp.
The time was 1 a.m.
Perhaps because it was the dead of night, there wasn’t a single soul on the Academy streets.
Yuria, who hadn’t even run into a patrolling guard, shivered from the eerie feeling and quickened her footsteps.
“Did I study too late?”
Perhaps because it was vacation, the Library had been empty, so she left early, but Yuria now felt she had made the wrong decision.
Regretting that she hadn’t just stayed in the Dormitory to study, Yuria kept walking.
The Academy grounds were vast.
With facilities such as the Library, Dormitory, Practice Room, Lecture Room, and more all gathered in one place, the Academy was the size of a small city.
The distance from the Library to the Girls’ Dormitory was about a 15-minute walk.
Yuria tightly shut her eyes as she looked at the pitch-dark street.
“Uh… Right! Let’s sing a song.”
Since singing a song could help a little when scared, Yuria began to hum a tune to shake off the eerie feeling.
“Cuckoo, cuckoo, the cuckoo bird cries in the woods….”
“Honking, honking… the… goose….”
-Meow~
“Eek!”
Yuria flinched and her shoulders trembled at the sudden appearance of a Cat who seemed displeased with her singing.
“Haa… Why would you suddenly appear like that? You scared me.”
-Meow?
“Sorry… sorry… I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.”
Yuria blushed in embarrassment as she looked at the Cat tilting its head.
“How embarrassing….”
Shaking her burning face side to side, Yuria brushed off the eerie feeling. After all, the darkness was scary.
The creepy cry of the Cat was unsettling.
The empty street was unsettling.
Standing alone on this street was scary for Yuria.
At times like this, she thought it would be nice to have a dependable person by her side…
There used to be someone.
Holding her Reference Book tightly, Yuria reminisced about the past.
It was around this time back then, too.
-Why do my friends hate me….
She remembered walking back to the Dormitory alone after studying late at the Library, her head hung low.
-I just want to study together with them.
Back then, she was also scared, just like now.
It was spring, and the faint chirping of crickets could be heard. Yuria thought that perhaps it had been scarier back then than it was now.
And she had been under mental pressure.
A time when she would take lightly what she could usually brush off and deeply dwell on words she would normally dismiss as insignificant.
The street that day had felt scarier and heavier than it did now.
-Plod. Plod.
That day, she was startled by the Sound of Footsteps she made as she walked.
-Are you heading home now?
Ricardo had been standing there.
On the street she feared the most for its lack of Street Lamps, Ricardo had been waiting, checking his Clock.
-Oh my gosh…!
-Why are you startled?
-You’re standing here all of a sudden… No, more importantly, why are you here? It’s so late.
-Hmm… I read about it in a book.
-What?
-There’s something like that.
1st Year, First Semester.
That time had been spring for Yuria.
Whenever she was scared to walk alone, Ricardo would be there as if by a Lie, even when she came out later than usual.
Sometimes, she wondered if Ricardo might be a Stalker, but the sight of Ricardo, who showed no emotions, made her foolish heart race. To Yuria, those moments felt warm and tender, like a spring day.
-Why do you keep waiting for me?
-Because I thought you might be scared?
-…What?
-Just kidding. I was out for a walk, and our paths happened to cross.
-…Really?
-No.
For some reason, today, memories of that day kept coming to mind.
Even though it hadn’t even been a year, the memories of her time with Ricardo always lingered strongly in her heart.
So, every time she walked this street, Yuria felt trapped in the past and simultaneously overwhelmed by bittersweet memories.
‘Why did Ricardo torment me?’ she thought foolishly.
Though she had told herself to forget the pain and start anew, whenever a shadow of negative Emotions surfaced, it would tangle her thoughts in turmoil.
“Haa…”
Today as well, Yuria walked down the unlit street with her head hung low.
And behind her.
“Found you.”
A dark shadow began to creep closer.
***
[A Quest has been triggered.]
-Protect Yuria.
Reward: Information of Vitality/???/???