Return to Male (2)

The gold coins Yona had given were already poured into the magic basin.

The magic basin was filled with aqua regia, and because of that, most of the gold coins poured into it had melted and liquefied.

“Now for the next step…”

Escara glanced at Yona lying on the stone slab behind her.

She was certainly asleep due to the influence of the golden script engraved on the stone slab, but Escara approached Yona and waved her hand over her closed eyes a few times just in case.

“She’s asleep.”

Escara smiled with a satisfied expression.

Mages are inherently curious creatures.

They’re not particularly interested in wealth, which they can accumulate as much as they want if they desire, but when such a unique case arises, their intense thirst for knowledge immediately ignites.

Once ignited, it burns up instantly like dry firewood in midwinter.

To obtain an experimental subject who was originally a man so easily.

Moreover, she’s providing the gold coins to draw the magic circle with her own hands; Escara had no reason to refuse.

“It seems you’ve already started.”

The aqua regia in the magic basin was shimmering with a yellow golden light, fully saturated with gold.

As she was stirring this golden liquid with a white magnolia wand imbued with magic, the door opened and Alevian entered.

“Yes, I’ve already started. The gold liquid is already prepared.”

“You could have provided the gold coins yourself, Escara.”

Alevian seemed quite displeased about this.

Gold liquid is needed to draw the magic circle, and for a large magic circle like the one for Yona now, that many gold coins are required.

“That’s how treatments are. It’s natural for the person in need to provide the necessary materials, isn’t it?”

“Still, our pretty one worked so hard to save that money, it doesn’t sit right with me to use it like this.”

Alevian, who had entered the room, was wearing a white gown.

Alevian, wearing a white gown over her purple dress, approached Yona with her eyes still sparkling with that indecipherable look.

“Yona, Yona… Our pretty Yona. The time has finally come for you to fulfill your long-cherished wish.”

Alevian’s long white fingers caressed Yona’s cheek.

Usually, Yona would be disgusted if touched like this, but she might forgive being touched while asleep like now.

Alevian was stroking Yona’s cheek with eyes mixed with a bit of tenderness.

“Now I’m going to draw the circle. Alevian, I’d appreciate it if you could step out.”

At Escara’s excited voice, Alevian silently stood up from the stone slab where she had been sitting and stepped out of the magic circle.

After confirming that she had completely left the circle, Escara extended her finger and began to draw a star.

Wherever her finger touched, a hexagram was drawn.

As the lock on the magic basin was released, the gold liquid flew up into the air and began to coat the circular magic formation drawn around the stone slab with a sizzling sound.

The hexagram, which had been filled with dense black letters, was now gilded.

The high-purity gold liquid filled the outline of the black letters, emitting a brilliant light.

It didn’t take long for the hexagram drawn in a large circle around the stone slab where Yona lay to shine entirely in gold.

The golden letters, shining even more intensely under the light emitted by the luminous stones, floated up about a hand’s width as soon as they were completed and rotated in place.

It was a fascinating sight.

Even though all the luminous stones had somehow gone out, the room was not dark at all.

The golden radiance emitted its own light, filling the room, and the glow emitted from each letter became as bright as daylight, dyeing Yona’s face in the center with a golden hue.

Escara’s finger drew the magic circle again.

The magic circle was so large that she had to extend her arm to draw it, and as her finger stretched out, it created geometric shapes with a purple trajectory.

Each time Escara drew the circle, the letters floating in the air and rotating in place rose even higher, almost reaching the ceiling.

Alevian was quietly watching this scene.

Escara was drawing the magic circle with her eyes closed, chanting spells, and interrupting this would surely result in failure.

‘Ceres… according to your plan, I absolutely won’t let it happen like that.’

Alevian bit her lip as she watched this scene.

Her face was illuminated by a mixture of golden and purple light, creating mismatched shadows.

Finally, Escara, who had finished drawing the magic circle, took a deep breath.

Escara, who had somehow become drenched in sweat, opened her eyes, checked the drawn magic circle once more, and then deeply inserted her finger into the activation point in the center.

“…Now, for the final step.”

As if seeking confirmation from Alevian, Escara turned to look at her, and Alevian nodded.

For things to go according to her plan, Yona must return to being a man here and now.

That’s how it needs to be.

“Well then.”

After receiving confirmation from Alevian, Escara twisted her finger inserted in the activation point.

As her finger turned, so did the magic circle.

As her finger had almost completed a full turn, the magic circle also pointed completely in the opposite direction from its original position.

Fwoosh…

The stars floating on the ceiling all flew towards Yona at once.

The stars seeped into Yona’s entire sleeping body, and once all the stars had been absorbed into Yona, light began to emit from her entire body.

And that light spread from Yona’s head, gradually moving down towards her entire body.

The white hair shortened, and black hair slowly began to emerge.

Yona, who had been quite tall, began to grow even taller.

And her breasts, which had boasted a considerable size, flattened to the point where it was hard to find a trace of them.

Then, at the moment the light touched Yona’s arms—

Bang!

An explosive light burst out with a thunderous sound.

Waking up due to tremendous cold was never a pleasant experience.

Even when sleeping outdoors, it was never this cold because she always slept covered in a sleeping bag, making it even worse.

Yona unconsciously cursed inwardly at the fact that the first thing she felt upon blinking her eyes open was the cold.

And as soon as her vision focused, she almost cursed again at the fact that the first thing she saw was Alevian’s face.

“Our pretty one, are you awake?”

“…Wh-what happened… oh.”

The same thin voice as always.

And this state with the center of gravity strangely balanced towards the front.

“…What happened?”

Only then did Yona look around.

Clearly, when she entered this treatment room, it was a room without even windows, completely enclosed on all sides, but now there was something too large to be called a window—

“The wall… is gone…?”

It looked as if one side of the wall had completely disappeared.

The unnaturally gaping hole on one side of the wall that anyone could see.

The source of the cold air must have been that hole— or rather, that thing too large to be called a hole.

“Pretty one.”

“Seeing that you’re still calling me ‘pretty one’… it failed?”

“…It seems so.”

Alevian had an unusually awkward expression.

It was the first time Yona had seen such an expression on Alevian, who always wore a sly smile, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Why?”

Yona’s voice trembled a bit without her realizing.

She had clearly believed that when she woke up, she would be back to being a man.

She had believed in those words that it was possible, or rather, she had some doubts, but still, because they said it was possible, because Escara, a mage, said it was possible.

So she had believed, but it had failed.

“The magic itself was successful.”

Alevian said with certainty.

Hadn’t she clearly seen it?

Yona, who had absorbed the starlight, was returning to a male form in terms of hair, body shape, and height.

But then—

“…However, that thing on your arms. There was a too violent rejection reaction from that tattoo. It was as if… it was rejecting your return to being a male.”

Only then did Yona look down at herself.

The white shirt and pants she had been wearing had disappeared without a trace, and even her underwear had vanished, leaving her naked.

It was the same appearance of Yona that she had seen to the point of being sick of it since coming to this world three years ago.

And on both of her arms, vivid black tattoos were in place.

Without any change.

“Because of the tattoo.”

“Yes. Because of the tattoo. Instead, next time I’ll provide the gold coins—”

Yona silently glared at Alevian who was saying this.

*

News of an explosion in the Mage’s Tower wasn’t uncommon.

The higher up in the tower, the more frequent small and large explosions were, occurring every few days, and it wasn’t particularly interesting news for eccentric mages to blow up their own room while experimenting with magic, as it was an everyday occurrence.

Even if the wall exploded, the debris didn’t fall to the ground.

Such magical processing was in place, so witnessing the scene of the explosion while walking outside was considered quite a spectacle in itself.

Alec was sipping beer in the restaurant hall when he heard the conversation around him.

“They say there was another explosion?”

“That’s what I heard. They say this one was quite strong.”

“I wonder what kind of experiments those mage folks are doing so violently.”

Alec, who was surprisingly quick-witted, noticed that explosions in the Mage’s Tower weren’t such a rare occurrence.

If explosion accidents were being discussed as casual conversation in a restaurant like this, it must be a common story, and Alec didn’t need to pay much attention to it.

“It’s exploding every other day, only the dwarf construction workers are benefiting from this.”

“Still, they say moving materials is their job.”

“Which floor exploded this time?”

“I heard it was the 13th floor?”

Clank.

Alec’s glass was placed on the table.

And as a few copper coins rolled on the table, about to fall—

Alec was already gone from that spot.

By the time the inn’s entrance door stopped clanging loudly, Alec was already sprinting at full speed towards the path leading to the Mage’s Tower.