Chapter 13: Feed Me, Give Me Snacks

Re‌a‍d ​o‌​n ​K‍a​tR‍​e‍​a‌di‍n​​gC​a​f‌e‍

When Sugar sneaked up to Tommy and peeked over his shoulder, she saw him writing Hangul on the floor.

His skills had improved so much that he had mastered all the letters and could even hold simple conversations. His learning speed was incredible.

During the month it took for her to fully recover—she had conservatively estimated it for safety—she had taught him the language out of boredom.

Originally, she hadn’t planned to teach him this much.

There was a certain romance in being the only one in this vast world who knew a secret script, but sharing a secret script with a friend also had its own kind of romance.

‘Hmph. I taught him.’

Maybe she just wanted to show off the intellectual superiority of being the one who taught someone else.

In any case, he was a hardworking friend. And he would continue to work hard. Sugar’s Princess Maker… no, Wizard Maker, had only just reached the first stage.

The only reward she could give to the child who would lead her forward was something like this.

-Scribble scribble.

Still, he seemed satisfied enough. It was understandable, seeing how passionately he was memorizing and staring intently at the letters he had written.

‘But what did he write to make him act like that?’

She moved closer to take a look.

[Rai-]

“Ahhh!”

“Yikes, you scared me!”

“I’m the one who got scared! Don’t just pop out like that!”

He quickly erased the letters with his foot.

“Why’d you erase that? What a waste.”

“None of your business!”

Tommy’s overreaction was partly due to Sugar’s breath brushing against his ear, but mostly because it was a word he didn’t want her to see. For some reason, he got annoyed and ended up erasing all the letters.

“Ugh, you’re so grumpy.”

“You’ll have to write them again anyway if you want to study, right?”

Then he started writing the letters again from the beginning. He deliberately moved far away from Sugar to do so.

From a quick glance, their eye levels seemed about the same.

‘Is my eyesight off…?’

She followed him and stood beside him. There was no doubt about it.

Their eye levels were the same. Originally, Sugar had to look down slightly at him, but now that wasn’t necessary.

Time flies, and children grow quickly.

This kid… grew taller.

“Damn it…”

‘Is it because my mind is that of an adult, so I’m not growing?’

As she muttered to herself, Tommy’s expression twisted. It annoyed him even more that she followed him around and muttered incomprehensible things.

This happened occasionally. He was already a hard kid to figure out, but sometimes he was so strange that it made you go, “Wow…”

The girl stared straight at Tommy.

“Tommy. I have a favor to ask.”

“No.”

“Why are you refusing before even hearing me out?”

“Because I know you’re going to talk nonsense.”

“If you judge people so rashly—”

“At best, it’s going to be ‘feed me’ or ‘give me snacks.’ Ever since you found out I can use magic, you’ve been…”

Sugar had been whispering things like, ‘Can’t you just use magic to sneak some food…?’ It was all driven by the idea that eating well would make her taller.

No matter how much you eat, if you’re naturally small, you can’t escape it, but she stubbornly refused to accept that.

What would Sugar, who had been seen through by a child, say?

“Sigh… No, Tommy. How could I ask you to do something like that? Of course, I was just joking when I said it a few times.”

She was serious.

It wasn’t a joke at all. She had been completely serious.

For weeks, she had clung to him, saying, ‘I can’t do it without you!’

Tommy, who clearly remembered this, was dumbfounded. To think she’d lie so blatantly just to protect her fragile pride.

“You’re really hopeless…”

It stung deeply. His piercing gaze was sharp. The pure condemnation of a child.

Still, Sugar, with a face as thick as iron, spoke up.

“How sad… To think my behavior has been so improper that you’d misunderstand me like that… I was just thinking it might be time to move on to the second stage, so I brought it up…”

It had been a month since she awakened the first stage, so it was true that she had been thinking about it. But was that really what she had intended to say at that moment?

If she made armor out of the iron she’d layered on her face, even the cult wouldn’t dare to take her.

“Huh? What do you think?”

She made a ‘V’ with her fingers to represent the number ‘2’—the second stage. She tried to look serious, but when her eyes met Tommy’s, she couldn’t help but smile awkwardly. She must have found it ridiculous herself.

“…”

Anyway, that smile was the problem. That smile.

Without a word, he headed to the attic.

“Stand comfortably. Spread your legs shoulder-width apart. Relax your shoulders. Stay in that position for 10 minutes. Focus on the flow of your magic.”

She did as she was told. While doing so, she couldn’t help but wonder about the origin of this training.

“Where did you learn this?”

“Self-taught. I just do what I think might work. It might work, or it might not.”

That just made her more curious.

“When did you learn to use magic?”

“…”

He was sparing with his words, so Sugar didn’t press further.

With her eyes closed and focused, the 10 minutes passed quickly.

“Now try to move your magic to the desired area. Remember the flow and gather it in your hands.”

“…”

“Don’t go against the flow. Let your body guide you. But don’t forget that you’re the one in control of the magic.”

“…”

“Visualize it. Imagine that you can move it. Picture the energy in your body gathering in your hands.”

“…”

No matter how he explained it, her expression remained blank and confused. Tommy covered his face with his hand.

The basic requirements for a mage, stage 3.

[Stage 1: You can feel the flow of magic.]

[Stage 2: You can use magic in a basic way.]

[Stage 3: You can convert magic into spells, actions, and other processes through specific procedures.]

Up to Stage 1, you can somehow manage to awaken with the help of others, but from Stage 2 onward, it’s purely a matter of talent.

Those who are truly skilled can cut stones with tree branches or leap up and down buildings like superhumans, but those who aren’t talented will never be able to do it, no matter how hard they try.

It’s like how some people can easily move muscles they don’t usually use, while others can’t no matter what. If you have the knack, you can do it. If you don’t, you can’t.

“Wait… I’ll give you some stimulation. Try to follow it closely.”

The only thing Tommy could do was offer a little help.

First, he rolled up Sugar’s left sleeve to her shoulder. Then, he infused his index finger with magic and began poking her shoulder down to her palm.

“That tickles.”

“Don’t laugh. Focus.”

He repeated the process. His finger poked at her soft, pale skin, which turned slightly red from the magical stimulation.

“…So you can feel external stimulation, huh?”

“Your body might be strong against internal magic, but externally, it’s probably the same as anyone else’s.”

“I’m talking to myself. Just focus.”

“Hmph.”

She closed her eyes again and concentrated on the stimulation.

‘Follow the stimulation… visualize… follow the stimulation… visualize… follow the stimulation…’

.

.

.

An hour passed.

Nothing had changed.

It didn’t seem like she had moved her magic even a millimeter. She was supposed to move her magic, but instead, she kept moving her body, twisting and turning like she was playing a racing game.

Naturally, her energy drained, and she muttered with a despondent expression.

“Why isn’t it working? Why…? Is it because of my magical nature?”

“I don’t know. Even if it’s not you, there are plenty of people who can’t reach Stage 2.”

“Tommy, how was it for you? Were you good from the start?”

“Yeah.”

Oh no.

When the saints descended to this land, they spread magic to be used for good.

She had risked her life to surpass Stage 1, only to be met with the wall of talent at Stage 2.

Sugar plopped down on the ground. She was disappointed, but more than that, she was hungry.

She had only trained for an hour, so of course, the results weren’t great. She accepted that. If she practiced a little every day, she’d eventually get there but she was hungry. The pitiful orphanage in the slums. It felt like no matter how little she did, she was always hungry.

If things kept going like this, it would be hard to practice every day. The mental exhaustion was extreme, and she needed food to replenish her energy, but she couldn’t get it.

‘In the future, I hope I can go somewhere where I can eat proper food…’

Suddenly, she missed her past life. The days of relative abundance. Thinking of that time made her head spin.

“Ah… my blood sugar’s dropping…”

-Twitch.

As she clutched her head and muttered, Tommy unintentionally reacted.

It seemed the sweetness from that day had resurfaced in his mind.

-Your blood Sugar’s low. Eat while you work.

“…”

He sat far away, tearing up a newspaper and stuffing it into his mouth.

“I’m hungry…”

-Chew, chew…

One was lost in nostalgia, lamenting her hunger, while the other was chewing on paper to forget the dizzying sweet and bitter taste.

What a pitiful pair.

“This won’t do. It’s time to finally execute the stealing plan… Tommy! Why are you eating that?!”

Unaware that Tommy was muttering, ‘It’s because of you…’, Sugar just hit his back, yelling, “Spit it out! Stop it!”

What happened next was another story—she went out to steal something but got caught by the director’s younger sister and ended up running errands instead.

-Tap, tap.

The dull sound of a cane hitting the ground. A woman walked, tapping the ground with her walking stick.

Her closed eyes suggested she was blind.

The dark-colored dress she wore from the neck down was of fine quality. The long dress and gloves covered every inch of her skin, and her jet-black hair flowed behind her.

It was a rare sight to see such a woman walking through this rundown slum.

There are many blind people in the world, and many beautiful women, but the combination of the two is rare.

Even excluding her external appearance, she was a figure of importance.

She should have been preparing for “retirement,” but a discovery during her last mission had captivated her, prompting her to make this journey willingly.

As she walked, she suddenly stopped and looked around, fixing her gaze in one direction.

As if she had heard something, she quietly tilted her ear.

“It’s because of you that I had to go out…!”

“But you got to eat the berries, didn’t you? These are rare, only found on one tree in the orphanage.”

“Do I look like I care?”

The voices of a girl and a boy bickering.

The woman, with a gentle smile, immediately headed toward them.

“Hello. Do you have a moment?”

Her clear enunciation and resonant voice had a charm that could stop anyone in their tracks.

Even if it weren’t for that, a well-dressed blind woman approaching would usually warrant at least a moment of attention.

However.

“No. We’re busy.”

“…”

Sugar, pulling Tommy along, brushed past her as if ignoring a cult recruiter.

She couldn’t afford to deal with every person who approached her. Even in her past life, she always ignored people who tried to talk to her on the street. Whether they were asking for directions or trying to lure her somewhere strange, she didn’t want to get involved.

The woman, who had clearly been treated as one of those types, smiled even more deeply. She believed that children should be bold.

The Apostle of the Shadow Cult, Louveci, slowly followed the two.

Tap- tap- The sound of her cane hitting the ground grew lighter.