Chapter 16: You Can See It

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Every day, I hang from the tree I climb.

The straight branches of the tree. I tie my legs to them and dangle upside down, swaying back and forth.

If I do this, maybe the flow of magical power will change compared to usual, and I’ll be able to better grasp the knack of movement? It’s a ridiculous hypothesis, but that’s why I’m doing this.

It seems more like the blood will rush to my head and make me dizzy. But anyway, Sugar went ahead with it.

‘Louveci… Louveci… I think that name was mentioned somewhere.’

While I’m at it, I’m replaying the day I met the person from the Shadow Sect in my mind.

I’m reminiscing about the day I vowed to train even harder.

But in a game filled with fantastical names, it’s hard to remember every single character’s name one by one.

Especially the name of someone who hasn’t appeared but was only mentioned.

‘Unless they’re a saint-level figure…’

In reality, only saints who spread magic and drove away numerous evil gods are remembered. How cold, how cold—I criticize myself for not remembering.

While Sugar is doing this, there’s a girl below reading a newspaper. Her short bangs make her eyes clearly visible as she intently scans the text.

After watching her for a moment, Sugar shifts her gaze back to the center and continues her thoughts.

‘Louveci… Louveci… Apostle Louveci… Huh?’

I think I saw a familiar word earlier. Quickly, I turn my attention back to the newspaper.

[Is it really just a problem of the Sky Island? A discourse on apostasy]

[Once part of the Sky Island, but now fallen as heretical mages. Various factors contribute to the death of such faith……-We interviewed someone who returned after repentance……-]

[ When I was in the Sky Island, among the names I knew were Nartel, Louveci… Ah, Louveci. This guy was really strange, um, I misspoke. Apostates aren’t friends or anything…-’]

“Ha.”

These heretics are really running wild. I never imagined they were once mages of the Sky Island.

Riley, too, hides a forbidden magical book that would get him branded as a heretic if discovered, yet he wanders around magic schools and the Sky Island. The followers of the sect are even more obvious.

‘Riley doesn’t even seem to believe in any god.’

How dare a god control me?—That’s his style, so he probably wanders around without a care.

“…Huh? Sugar. What’s wrong?”

As I clicked my tongue, Praline looked up and reacted.

“Nothing. Just. But, Praline. You’ve started reading the newspaper lately. Is something going on?”

“Ah… well… there’s something I’m looking for…”

“Really? What is it?”

“Can I… tell you later…?”

“Well… suit yourself.”

What could it be? It makes me even more curious, but I don’t press her if she’s reluctant to say.

She’ll tell me when the time comes.

I sway my body and focus back on my thoughts. I’ve gotten so bored that I can’t keep my body still.

Suddenly, I see a familiar boy walking from afar.

Now things will be a little less boring.

I express my joy with my body and welcome him, but the boy suddenly stops, startled, and looks around. Wondering what’s going on, I watch as he starts running towards me at full speed.

“Tommy. What’s wrong? This isn’t like you.”

“You, you, you… get down right now…”

“Why?”

“Just, don’t ask and come down quickly…!”

“…”

The more someone tells me not to do something, the more I want to do it. Some childish switch flipped, and I just swayed my body, letting it flutter in the wind. I’m short but thin, so my straight body is left as it is.

Tommy’s face gradually turned red.

Sugar’s lips curled up.

What could it be? What on earth is making him make that face? I’m so happy I can’t stop smiling.

“Quickly…! This isn’t a joke!”

Even as he gets angry, he keeps looking around. It seems like there’s something he doesn’t want others to see.

“Tommy… instead of just getting angry, try persuading me differently. Like, there’s a snake coming from above, or something…”

“Do you think she’d scream and run away if I said there’s a snake? She wouldn’t even blink!”

“That’s true… but maybe she’d come down just for the effort of lying…”

Praline, who had been calmly watching from below, offered some advice. It was a sharp judgment that really understood Sugar.

If you act tough, she’ll try to break you.

If you act gently, there’s nothing to break, so she’ll act gently too.

That’s Sugar.

The thrill of breaking someone. She’s addicted to that—a truly messed-up person.

How many times has Tommy fallen for it?

“…Fine. Hey… there’s a snake above you. If you don’t want to get bitten, come down quickly…”

“That’s not sincere. Praline already said that.”

“Argh—!”

The two of them continue their battle, making anyone watching sigh. Sensing something strange, Praline gets up and scurries over to Tommy.

Her eyes immediately widen.

“Uh… Sugar… it might be better if you come down…”

Tommy, standing next to her, just bites his lip and looks down.

“You too? What’s going on?”

All the kids are making strange faces and telling me to come down. By now, I’m curious.

“It’s… it’s…”

Praline hesitates, trying not to embarrass me, but someone else cuts her off.

Unable to hold back any longer, someone’s shout echoes through the backyard.

“You can see it!”

Long sleeves and loose shorts. Even though it’s autumn, the heat is still intense for a kid who runs hot. That’s why I’m dressed like this.

If I hang upside down like this, what happens?

Even if my top is tucked into my pants, the pants are loose, so the inside is visible.

In other words, my underwear is showing.

“…”

Finally realizing this, Sugar, unlike the others, doesn’t react much.

Without any change in expression, she gracefully lands and strides over to them.

“What, what is it…”

What nonsense is she going to spout now? Tommy, tense and stiff, steps back, but Sugar quickly follows, bringing her face close to his ear.

Her breath is filled with a sweet scent.

A tense moment.

“…”

“…”

Time passes, but it’s still quiet.

Curious, Tommy glances at Sugar and sees her lips curled into a sly smile.

‘What is it…’

What is she trying to say? Beyond being tense, Tommy is now curious and focuses on his hearing.

That’s when it happens.

—Huu……

A breath comes.

Warm, moist air brushes against his ear, raising the temperature. Since he was already focusing on his ear, the sensation is even more vivid.

His tense, sensitive body relaxes.

“Ugh…”

A strange sound escapes his mouth. A ticklish sensation runs down his spine, making him feel strange.

He snaps out of it when he hears the laughter near his ear.

“Heehee… pervert.”

“…!”

Her lips are so close to his ear, whispering. He can even hear the sound of her lips rubbing together.

A wet, squelching sound.

“Looking at a girl’s underwear… pervert.”

Every time her breath touches his ear, his body shudders.

Just as he starts to think her voice is sweet and pleasant to listen to—

‘…What?’

Pleasant to listen to?

Realizing what he just thought, Tommy is flooded with either anger or embarrassment.

It feels like his insides are boiling.

The result is, as always, the same.

“You’re the pervert—!!”

Praline, standing to the side, covers her face with her hands and watches the two.

In the dark attic.

Sugar, the girl who ruins moods, rubs her messy hair and lowers her head.

Tommy, unable to hold back, finally punched her.

“You! Need! To control yourself!”

“…Mean?”

“Argh!”

At this rate, Tommy, who’s about to explode, is likely to give up on magic altogether, so Sugar quickly tries to calm him down.

“Sorry, sorry. Calm down, Tommy.”

As she pats him, Tommy vaguely thinks,

‘I must be crazy!’

Trying to help someone like this!

What follows is a memory from a few days ago.

When I think back to that time, it’s clear that what I did was far from rational, no matter how I look at it.

I tried to pull out a forbidden magical book when the heretics appeared, tried to protect it, and even held hands with her—her, her, her! And I was the one who initiated it!

In the end, when that heretic woman tried to cast a strange spell on Sugar, I even deflected it.

‘Why—did—I—do—that—!?’

At that moment, it felt like the obvious thing to do. But when I calmly reflect on it, it was an incredibly stupid and foolish decision.

Why should I care if she gets taken away by the heretics or not?!

‘…I was swept up in the moment.’

Clearly, I was caught up in the tense atmosphere. My guard was up, and I was just trying to protect myself. Sugar just happened to be within that range of protection.

That heretic woman also annoyed me.

I hadn’t even started researching Sugar yet. I wanted to achieve the feat of turning someone powerless into a mage with my own hands, and she was trying to take that away? Ridiculous.

Thinking about it now makes me even angrier. The feeling of defeat, knowing I only got through it because she let me.

Then, a lesson from the past rose like smoke.

In this world, you need power. Without power, you’re just living to be trampled on.

Whether Sugar gets taken away or not doesn’t matter, but she’s the subject I discovered first, my research material. So, I do have a tiny bit—a speck—of desire to protect her. Holding her hand first was also about not letting her slip away. My pride won’t allow her to be taken.

To not lose her, I need power.

Then, how do I gain power?

‘…’

“Huh? Tommy. Cheer up.”

She doesn’t even understand people’s feelings. If you trace the root of all this trouble…

Tommy glared at Sugar with a sharp look.

“Now you notice? Are you in a better mood? Ready to talk?”

“…Fix your posture.”

A deep sigh escaped.

As I was guiding Sugar through the second stage of her training, I noticed her focusing.

She’s improved a lot compared to before, finally grasping the sensation of moving magical power. The problem is that her progress is as slow as a snail’s pace, but it’s still much better than when she couldn’t move even 1mm.

“Hmm… ugh…”

Leaving the girl lost in her own world, I sat down in a corner and closed my eyes. Lately, my mind has been in turmoil. So, to clear the flow of my magical power, I also focused.

“…Tommy.”

“…What? Keep doing what you were doing.”

“No, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Sugar. Our eyes met.

“Do you plan to go to a magic school?”

“What? Where?”

“Stile. The magic school Stile.”

It’s the most prestigious of the prestigious.

In the past, it was the Sky Island, raised by the disciples of the saints. Located beneath it is the magic training institution.

“…You want to go there?”

“Just thinking about it. But if you’re going too, I might lean more towards it.”

“What does me going have to do with you…”

“It’s nice to go with a close friend. Tommy, I want you to succeed there too.”

“Why would you…”

She always says such embarrassing things out of nowhere.

About to say something, Tommy clenched his mouth and instead said something different from what he originally thought.

“Do you think anyone can go there? The exams are incredibly difficult. You haven’t even fully mastered the second stage yet.”

“Why? With effort, it’s possible.”

“Why do you even want to go there so badly?”

“If I’m already entangled in this, I might as well dive in.”

What is she entangled in?

That heretic woman from before? Or just magic in general?

“If I say I’ll go, will you come with me?”

Instead of answering the question, she just keeps inviting me. Tommy didn’t feel the need to ask further, so it didn’t matter.

Just watching her speak so casually made me feel a bit rebellious.

“No. If I go, you’re following me.”

“What… I brought it up first. That’s unfair.”

She says it’s unfair, but she doesn’t look upset at all. Her usual tone. She’s just making it seem like she’s accommodating me. That made me even angrier, and I wanted to win somehow.

“Think about the difference in our abilities. You can’t even use magic yet. I’ll get there before you.”

“You’ll get in before me?”

“Yeah. I’ll go first.”

So she smirks.

As if she’d been waiting for this situation.

“So, it’s decided then?”

Before I knew it, the conversation had shifted to a positive direction.

She’s really cunning. That’s why young boys always get swept up in her schemes.

“…I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

I gave an ambiguous final answer, but it seemed like the other side had already taken it as a done deal, as she chuckled slyly.

It’s really annoying, you know.