Chapter 48: The Second Piece (6)

[48] 7. The Second Piece (6)

What are the conditions for a miracle?

Devout priests say:

It is diligent will and faith in God.

Meanwhile, Tough adventurers would shout:

An ungodly amount of bad luck and balls of steel.

However, wise mages reply:

It is ample time and budget, and an exceptionally brilliant mind.

“Phew…”

I take a deep breath and put on my ‘masterpiece’ on my head. With trembling hands, I press the activation button on the side.

*Whirrr-*

The low humming of a magic stone vibrates in my ears. I close my eyes, swallowing down the tension.

Five months of effort,

372 experiments,

and 37.4 liters of Melania Solution used while hiding from Rem’s eyes…

The culmination of it all is finally before me.

Placing my hand on my pounding heart, I take another deep breath. Slowly, I open my eyes.

And…

“HYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

***

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

The dormitory supervisor bursts through the door, her face pale. She must have thought an accident had happened.

But I couldn’t answer. To be precise, it was *impossible*.

“Pa-Parsley?!”

Because by the time she opened the door, I had already run out into the hallway.

I ran down the hallway, where snow was clinging to the windows, pushing my legs to their limits.

I could feel the cold air filling my lungs. Winter’s sharp teeth pierced through my thin pajamas.

But I couldn’t stop running. Nor could I wipe the smile off my face.

I succeeded!

Perfectly at that!

No, ‘perfectly’ isn’t even enough to describe it!

It’s proof of my genius!

It’s the start of my revenge!

The apex of my intellect!

I’ve achieved something even those who wronged me could never even *dream* of!

And that’s only natural!

A genius like me, dedicating five months, day and night, to a single task! I had devoted my entire mind and body to its completion!

How could the result of it all be anything less than extraordinary?!

I could already see Rem kneeling before me, sobbing and praising me.

No, no.

Don’t rejoice too hastily.

The final stage still remained.

“Haah… Haah…”

The central plaza of the Magic Tower. The very place where all the mages and students gather.

I stopped at the entrance to catch my breath. I felt eyes on me, but I didn’t care.

My eyes darted around, searching for a single boy- a boy I was sure to find here.

And soon, I did.

And as if by some strange coincidence, he found me at the same moment.

Bewilderment washed over his face. Then he hurried toward me as if he were about to run.

He immediately pulled off his coat with telekinesis and wrapped it around me, his expression worried.

“You crazy bitch! Do you have any idea how much snow is outside? Running around in such thin clothes!”

“Never mind that.”

I gave him the most confident smile I could muster and then, looking at his dumbfounded face, declared,

“Five p.m. today. At my room.”

“What?”

“Don’t you dare be late.”

And with that, I turned my back on him. As I strutted back to the hallway with a wide smile, I thought to myself:

*Perfect.*

Truly the embodiment of a graceful and intelligent mage.

Right now, Rem must be staring after me with a stupid expression, his jaw on the floor, the heat rising to his cheeks as he tries to process everything!

How could he *not*?!

Seeing such a cool and beautiful girl…

The sound of footsteps,

a wave of magic power approaching my cheek…

I reflexively turned my head to look back.

And my vision flashed white.

“Ow, ow, ow!! Mmmph! My cheeks! My cheeks!! Mmmph!!”

“I was worried because you were running around in pajamas in this cold, so I even took my coat off to give it to you! Where did you learn your manners? Just stating your business and leaving?!”

“My cheeks! Stop it!! Mmmph!!”

“Don’t you think you should at least hand back my coat before leaving?! Have you grown mold in that head of yours, after staying locked up in your room for five months?! Huh?! Huuuh?!”

“Mercy!! Stop it!! Alright, alright, my cheeks!! Not my cheeks!!”

***

A moment later, in my room…

“Barbarian.”

Rubbing my cheek that still stung, I glared at him. But Rem stood tall, unfazed by my gaze.

“Don’t you think the real barbarian is the one running around in pajamas in the middle of winter?”

“…Be honest, you’re not actually blind, are you? Just how did you know I was wearing pajamas?”

“How could I *not* know when the kids next to me were whispering about how the top student was running around in pajamas? Are you an idiot?”

My annoyance reached its peak, making my cheeks puff out in frustration. But I forcefully swallowed my irritation.

“Anyway, just come back to my room at 5 p.m. There’s something I’m going to show you.”

“Why wait until 5 p.m.? Just show me now.”

Without asking, he plopped himself down in the chair by my desk. Then he turned to face me and said shamelessly,

“Didn’t you finish working on it? The thing you’ve been cooped up in your room for five months to make?”

…Rem’s perception is sometimes eerily sharp, makes my skin crawl. I felt my body shiver.

“W-Well, I did, but it’s not completely ready…”

“Well, the magic stone’s in it, so it’s working, isn’t it? Hmm, but that’s a weird shape. It looks like a pair of goggles…”

“Waaaaaagh!”

Knowing it was a futile attempt, I let out a scream and stood in front of my ‘masterpiece.’

“Y-You can’t look at it yet!!”

“Well, technically, I can’t…”

“Not even with telekinesis! Not even by reading the flow of magic!”

Rem frowned.

“Why are you being so secretive? You’re going to show it to me anyway…”

“Su… Sur…”

Feeling my face burn up, I lowered my head.

“I w-wanted to… s-surprise you…”

Rem’s words stopped, and a silence fell.

Then came the sound of him scratching his head, followed by his voice.

“Sorry.”

I snuck a peek and saw his face, a guilty look painted upon it. Avoiding my gaze, he continued,

“I was just… curious, really. For five months you didn’t tell us anything about what you were doing, always holed up in your room, barely even hanging out with us. So, that’s…”

He trailed off, ruffling his hair as if frustrated. He stood up and immediately headed for the door.

“It’s fine, I can just come back at 5 pm, right? I’ll…”

“W-Wait!”

Rem stopped, he looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“S-Sit down, I’ll just show it to you now.”

Rem, Despite his confusion, obediently sat back down.

Taking a deep breath, I collected myself.

Right, I’ve dragged this out for too long.

…And he was right. Everything’s ready anyway.

Originally, I’d planned a grand reveal. But I guess it wouldn’t be right to keep him waiting for so long.

I swallowed nervously and spoke,

“Close your eyes first.”

“…You do know I’m blind, right?”

“Just close them.”

Rem, puzzled, closed his eyes.

“And stop using your visual support magic and telekinesis as well. No reading the flow of magic either.”

“That would make me completely blind.”

“I need you to do it.”

“…”

After frowning for a moment, he did as I asked. I could no longer sense any magic emanating from him.

I picked up my ‘masterpiece’ from the desk and slowly walked toward him, my heart pounding.

And then, the moment I lifted my ‘masterpiece’, I felt…

…An overwhelming anxiety.

*What you consider the best for you might not be the best for others.* I learned this from my Mother.

Even one’s utmost efforts can be as meaningless as a roadside flower to someone else.

Maybe he won’t even like this gift. He might even get mad at me, asking me why I made this for him.

If that happens, what should I do?

“…!”

I shook my head to force those thoughts away.

My name is Parsley.

I’m a genius of the century.

My best is simply the best. Perfect.

…Besides, I worked really, really hard on this.

I mustered all my courage and placed the ‘masterpiece’ over his head. I pressed the button on its side.

*Whirrr-*

A humming sound as the ‘masterpiece’ began to glow, and the hundreds of magic circles I had worked on for five months appeared on its surface.

I said, my voice trembling,

“You… you can open your eyes now. N-No magic, though. Just your eyes.”

Dissatisfaction flickered across Rem’s face as he was about to use his magic. But soon, he let the magic subside.

And the ‘eyelids’ of the ‘masterpiece’ began to open.

Gears clicked as they rotated in response to his facial muscles, and the aperture connected to the gears slowly opened…

Revealing a pair of emerald green lenses behind it.

“…Huh?”

A dumbfounded sound escaped his lips.

Suppressing my anxiety, I asked,

“How is it? Can you see?”

Rem didn’t answer.

He just sat there, looking at me with his mouth slightly open.

At that moment, I was overwhelmed by anxiety.

Don’t tell me… He really doesn’t like it?

Was I too hasty to show this to him?

Should I have worked on it a bit more?

I started to blurt out excuses.

“I-I used emerald for the lenses, s-so they have this greenish t-tint, you know? I can replace them with diamond when I get my hands on some. A-And if your vision is still a bit blurry, it’s because the speed of the calculation magic isn’t fast enough yet… Rem?”

I watched, confused, as Rem suddenly stood up. He walked toward the window slowly, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep,

He looked up at the window, at the snow gently falling outside.

He looked mesmerized.

Unease crept into my heart at the sight of him being so different from his usual self.

“…Rem? Are you alright…?”

At my worried voice, Rem’s shoulders finally trembled, as if waking from a dream.

He turned to look at me with a grin.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

He hopped onto the window sill and took the goggles off. He tapped the goggles playfully and said,

“To think that I’d be able to see again. Thanks to a pair of goggles.”

His playful tone and that annoyingly smug grin.

He was completely back to his usual self. Shaking his head, he shrugged.

“I’ll give you credit this time, Parsley. You really surprised me.”

But I couldn’t smile back at him,

because I was having a sense of deja vu.

The moment when a mask falls off is inevitable.

“I never dreamed that the day would come when I could see the sky again…”

He trailed off.

His expression froze.

But he forced himself to smile again.

“I never dreamed…”

But the lump that had formed in his heart choked his words.

His arms slowly began to tremble,

and soon, that trembling affected his voice.

“Even… in my… dreams…”

His mask finally crumbled,

and so did his body.

Like a white snowflake, he slowly sank to the floor, curled into a ball.

And then, from his trembling back, a sound resembling that of a beast escaped. It was closer to a howl than a cry.

It was the first time I had seen Rem cry.

…I already knew exactly what I was going to do next.

I’d look down at him, wearing a triumphant smile, a smile worthy of a victor. With my head held high, I’d await his praise.

I had decided that back when I started making this ‘masterpiece’ for him.

…At least that was the plan.

But when I saw Rem crying,

It was more pitiful than I had imagined,

It looked sadder than I had imagined,

…It looked more painful than I had imagined.

When I came to my senses, I was already hugging him in my arms.

Letting my body absorb his cries, I stroked his black hair, resting my chin on his back. I whispered,

“Shhh… it’s okay… Everything’s okay now…”

Just as my mother had onced whispered to me after I woke up from a nightmare a long time ago.