episode_0066

News that Acel was on the brink of death naturally reached Evelyn. However, it wasn’t immediately after. While it would have been right to inform her straight away, Acel requested that the news be delivered only after the situation was completely over, which is why the letter arrived only now.

Evelyn had weathered all sorts of hardships together with Acel. Naturally, there were many times they were sick enough to die, and they knew what feelings each other had felt each time.

That’s why he made that choice. Instead of spending each day in anxious suspense wondering if he was dead or alive, it was certainly better to deliver the news after everything was over.

Even now, he didn’t regret that choice. But Evelyn seemed to think a little differently.

[Why do you do things that could kill you! I sent you to the academy, so why aren’t you studying like you’re supposed to, but fighting instead!]

It was an unintentional battle. From the start, he had merely been unilaterally attacked. The semester had just begun, so there was nothing much to study or anything.

[If you die. I’ll die too and follow you all the way to the underworld. I’ll pluck out all your hair there, so look forward to it!]

“…I’m not planning to die though.”

Acel mumbled that and continued reading the letter. Most of it consisted of sentences filled with worry and comfort. After speaking harshly at the beginning, there were occasional signs of smudged letters, as if she had shed tears in between. It was a scene that showed a glimpse of her delicate nature.

As he read the letter like that, he eventually reached the last paragraph. Reading her crooked handwriting, he let out a soft laugh.

[I heard you’ve fully recovered now, but just in case, I sent you some medicine, okay? So eat that and cheer up! Make sure to come down during vacation! There’s a gift too, so look forward to it!]

Was adding exclamation marks at the end of every sentence for emphasis, or just a habit? Either way, it was just cute, so it didn’t bother him much.

[Chirp!]

When he lifted his head and met the sparrow’s gaze, the sparrow opened its abdomen and poured out various forms of medicinal pills from inside. Every single one was a high-quality item. They were probably manufactured by a famous pharmacist in Weihame. He saw a few familiar items as well.

“Thank you.”

Acel stroked the sparrow’s stiff head and said that. The sparrow, seeming pleased, tilted its head, adjusting the angle to make it easier for him to stroke. That meant its sense of self had formed quite well. He had wondered if there might be something wrong due to its unusual form, but it seemed there were no issues.

‘It’s… probably not a new prototype. Then, could it be something my sister made herself?’

He already knew that Evelyn was learning magic engineering. However, since she hadn’t properly started long ago, he thought she couldn’t make complex objects, but perhaps she had already grown enough to create a messenger bird?

With a hopeful heart, Acel asked the sparrow about it, and the sparrow affirmed by vigorously nodding its head.

Thereupon, Acel burst into laughter aloud.

Both siblings had extraordinary talent. What kind of people were the parents who tried to sacrifice children like these? Could it be that they knew their talent was exceptional and tried to sacrifice them?

‘That wouldn’t be the case.’

Acel recalled his parents, who remained faintly in his memory, and shook his head. They were a man and a woman with not a single piece of knowledge regarding magic or engineering. There’s no way they would have recognized their talent. They were just sons of bitches.

“Did you finish reading the letter?”

Seeing Acel neatly fold the letter, Ena asked. Acel put one of the medicinal pills the sparrow had poured out, one that had an awakening effect, into his mouth and nodded.

“Yes. I’ll just send a reply right away.”

“Okay. Take your time.”

Ena answered while tying her hair back tightly. Acel turned his back to her, took out a suitable piece of stationery, and quickly wrote on the spot.

The letter was completed shortly after. Acel folded it twice and put it into the sparrow’s abdomen. Despite its small size, the capacity it could hold was quite large, so the letter went right in, 쏙, into the storage compartment. He tapped the sparrow’s small head, replenishing the consumed magic power, and smiled gently.

“I’m counting on you.”

[Chirp chirp!!]

The sparrow answered loudly and flew straight towards the sky. A trajectory was etched following the sparrow that disappeared at a subsonic speed. Acel found himself looking down at the empty training ground and closed the window. Ena approached him.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s start right away.”

There was no need to ask what they were going to start.

Acel nodded once, then tightly closed his eyes and slowly opened them again. Thereupon, his pupils were tinged with a color similar to the sky.

His pupils were a color quite reversed from his original black eyes. Inside them, magic power swirled in a spiral.

An intense flow, visible clearly even from the outside. It was a common characteristic of Magic Eyes that had successfully awakened.

Filtering out dozens, hundreds of Magic Eyes holding possibilities, the final result chosen was this.

Mana Ability Eyes.

Magic Eyes with a crazy ability to ignore all incoming spell damage from the outside the moment they are activated and instead use it as their own power source. With this, Acel could gain a unilateral advantage in battles against spellcasters.

It’s a Magic Eye with such excellent performance that it could even be considered an unassignable ability. From the moment it’s activated, it’s possible to nullify not only magic but also curses, blood magic, and even supernatural abilities.

Of course, there was a cost. Not only a short time limit of 5 minutes, and persistent headaches, but also if the opponent was a high-level spellcaster who had awakened their inner world, the Magic Eye would be extinguished just by being hit by a single magic spell.

Even when they tested it with Ena right away, the Magic Eye was forcefully deactivated just by a single low-level magic spell she cast containing her inner world.

But even so, the fact that it was a crazy ability remained unchanged. Nullifying a Grand Mage’s attack once without any cost was bound to return as a significant advantage in battle.

Although there was a time limit, if he used it beyond this, there was nothing he could do as his eyeballs, brain, and even the mana core would get cooked.

So, in order to somehow increase this time, they had been conducting continuous research with Ena for the past few days.

“How much mana did you reduce?”

“…I reduced it by about half.”

Ena asked while gazing directly into Acel’s eyes, and Acel answered, slightly furrowing his brow.

The distance was so close that their lips would touch if one of them mistakenly leaned forward, but both of them were in a state where their curiosity as mages burned more brightly than any private emotions, so there was no shame in their actions.

Thump thump thump thump!!

For some reason, Ena’s heart seemed to be beating like crazy, but Acel had no room to realize it.

It was already past 5 minutes and 2 minutes since the Magic Eye was activated. The research to increase the duration by drastically reducing the performance in exchange for lowering the amount of mana consumed for Magic Eye activation had yielded some results.

When they first tried reducing it by about 10 or 20 percent, it only increased by a few seconds at most, but by reducing it further, the time increased by minutes.

Ena tried her best not to be conscious of her pounding heart and asked Acel.

“Shall I go?”

“Yes.”

As soon as she heard Acel’s answer, she manifested a shock magic spell above her finger. A simple low-level magic spell, devoid of inner world and uniqueness. The moment it touched Acel’s body, it disappeared as if combusting, and Acel’s mana increased. Acel nodded while exhaling a long breath.

“This time it’s mid-level magic. You must tell me right away if it’s difficult.”

Ena created a white flash with her fingertips. And then, she carefully tapped Acel’s chest. Thereupon, the magic spell disappeared just the same this time, and Acel’s mana quantity increased. But at that moment, Acel tightly closed his eyes and placed his hand on the side of Ena, who was sitting on his lap.

“Hiccup!”

At the sudden touch, Ena let out a hiccup, and Acel said, enduring the burning pain, as if spitting it out.

“It seems I shouldn’t use it for more than 8 minutes. Otherwise, my eyes will melt.”

“Ah, okay. Just a moment.”

Ena quickly regained her composure and placed her hand over Acel’s eyes. Thereupon, the mana that had been raging like an unbridled wild horse instantly calmed down, and the burning pain gradually subsided. Acel slowly opened his eyes while exhaling a long breath.

His eyes, which had been tinged blue, had now returned to their usual black color. Ena couldn’t meet his gaze and said, unnecessarily turning her head.

“Even if the mana consumption is reduced by half, it can block up to mid-level magic. High-level magic probably…”

“It will be difficult. I don’t know if the rank increases, but for now, this seems to be the best.”

Acel smiled with a quite satisfied expression and let go of the hand that was holding Ena. A sound of regret flowed from Ena’s lips, and he thought while stroking his lips with his hand.

‘If I put in full power, I can defend against all attacks except those containing the inner world for 5 minutes. If I reduce mana consumption by half, I can defend only up to the level of mid-level magic, but the duration increases by 3 minutes.’

It was a regrettable result if one were to feel regret, but Acel was reasonably satisfied. There was still plenty of room to delve into the details, and since the Magic Eye itself had the characteristic of growing according to the user’s realm, he hadn’t reached the peak yet.

Yet, this was its performance.

Excluding Grand Mages, Acel would be invincible against spellcasters for the next 5 minutes.

There was no doubt that it was an ability belonging to the highest class among Magic Eyes. Smiling gently, he whispered towards Ena, who had helped him with his research.

“Thank you, Master. I received a lot of help thanks to you.”

“Uh, yes. That’s good.”

Ena answered like that, then stumbled down from Acel’s lap and straightened her crumpled shirt.

Acel’s shirt, which now felt like everyday clothes. In his clothing, which originally would have been filled only with Acel’s scent, Ena’s scent had started to mix in at some point.

The shirt Acel was currently wearing was also one that Ena had been wearing a few days ago.

She used to clean the clothes she had worn herself with magic, but she didn’t erase her own body odor on the clothes, so currently, on Acel’s body, his scent and Ena’s scent were clearly melting together in a half-and-half mix.

Ena felt a small sense of perversion and satisfaction from that fact.

What could be the reason? Where on earth did the origin of this feeling come from?

It was a question she could now grasp quite well. A feeling Ena had never experienced in her entire life. She had been realizing fragments of it at some point. She just wasn’t showing it.

‘…What should I do, really.’

There’s no way she could keep denying her feelings forever. It might be better to face her inner self and gain complete realization. Then dealing with Acel would also be much more comfortable than before. Irina’s comment about considering her age was somehow lingering in her mind… but honestly, she didn’t care about such things.

‘Right, for the next week, let’s focus on my inner self rather than magic. I also heard the teacher say to manage my feelings well.’

Ena thought that, and then, as if resolving, she pursed her lips and nodded. The moment Acel tilted his head at her cute appearance. Something flew in through the window and landed.

“……?”

It was a messenger bird. Unlike the sparrow that came before, this messenger bird had the form of a falcon. It pecked at the glass with its beak, as if asking for the window to be opened. Acel glanced at Ena who was acting foolishly on the spot, then got up himself and brought the messenger bird into the room.

[…….]

The falcon, without any cry, simply calmly took out a piece of paper from its chest and placed it on the floor. And then, as if it had no regrets, it flew vigorously out through the open window.

Considering that messenger birds usually wait until the recipient finishes reading the letter, this was an absurd case. Acel let out a hollow laugh, looked at the falcon flying in the sky, and then picked up the letter that had fallen on the floor.

On the luxurious envelope. Someone’s name was clearly written in distinct letters.

[To Ena Lenatus]

It was a letter that came for Ena. Acel immediately took the letter and handed it to Ena.

“Master. A letter has arrived from Weihame.”

“…From Weihame?”

Ena, who had been making a silly face, instantly stiffened upon hearing the word Weihame. She clicked her tongue, then tore open the envelope Acel had handed her, and read the contents inside.

“……Ha.”

The corner of her mouth twisted upwards crookedly.