Magic

Magic

I thought about sending a correction message to Perseus.

But Somteol keeps pushing its head in, asking to be petted, making it difficult to type a message.

I reluctantly decide to call later to explain the mistake and am petting Somteol when.

I notice an incoming call from Perseus with a buzzing sound.

‘That’s fast.’

I thought he would check it later since it’s evening, but it’s surprising that he contacted me in less than a few seconds.

Happy evening. I’m sorry for contacting you suddenly, so I pressed the call button to apologize right away.

I see Perseus with disheveled hair asking me how I am in an urgent voice.

[Are you alright?]

I blink my eyes and nod in response to such a question.

Perseus sighs in relief and sits down in a chair, then asks me a question with his usual face.

[What’s the matter? Of course, don’t misunderstand, you can contact me even if nothing’s wrong.]

I’ve never misunderstood, but I nod anyway and then get to the point.

“I want to learn magic.”

[Magic? Ah.]

Perseus nods as if remembering what he promised before, then smiles and says to me.

[Tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow? When is good for you?]

“Tomorrow is fine!”

[Then prepare and come straight to the association.]

It’s a bit strange that the conversation is progressing more easily than I thought.

I’m bowing with apology and gratitude when.

Perseus looks at me and makes one suggestion.

[Then can I ask for a flower pose tomorrow?]

“…?”

Why do adults like flower poses so much? I don’t really understand…

No, I’m an adult too… Thinking as an adult, if Chae-a or Yuna did a flower pose for me, it would be cute and nice.

I nod while thinking that’s what it feels like, and the call ends with a “sleep well” message.

I stared at the phone screen showing the call had ended.

Looking at the babies lying around lazily nearby, I made up my mind to work hard.

*

The next day, Perseus came to see me with a large box.

I was surprised that he brought so many items, when Perseus casually put down the box and said to me.

“It’s a gift.”

I was a bit flustered by those words and shook my head quickly.

Seemingly not intending to listen to me at all, he muttered while taking out items from the box.

“These are things you need when studying magic. Without these, it would be difficult to learn magic.”

Although he mumbled it almost to himself, even a fool could tell those words were meant for me.

I was about to refuse these things, but then decided to accept them and bowed deeply to express my gratitude.

“Thank you…!”

Perseus frowned at my behavior as if something displeased him, then slowly reached out his hand to me while gesturing something.

I tilted my head wondering why he was doing that.

Perseus looked at me and said in a small voice.

“Flower cup.”

Ah. So that’s what he wanted me to do.

I was about to do it unconsciously after hearing those words.

But then I realized it was an embarrassing act and stopped myself from bringing my face closer.

‘……’

My face got hot and my ears burned.

I thought this wasn’t right and tried to pull my face away and apologize.

Perseus quickly cups my face as I try to pull back, and says with satisfaction:

“Then let’s start the magic lesson.”

“… Yes.”

Although it’s embarrassing, I try to calm myself down since it’s already over.

Chae-a and Yuna, who were next to me, approach and tilt their heads as they look at me.

It seems they noticed my embarrassed expression, so I shake my head to indicate it’s nothing.

“If it hurts, you have to tell us, okay!?”

Chae-a pats my head and clings to me.

As I look at Chae-a, I feel a bit calmer and smile brightly.

Perseus watches us and hands out small magic books to each of us.

“Chae-a and Yuna, I brought yours too, so take one each.”

“Wow! Chae-a loves books. But Chae-a can’t read… What should Chae-a do!?”

“… Thank you.”

Yuna still seems wary of Perseus and sticks close to me.

As I look at Yuna, I pat her reassuringly and tell her it’s okay.

Perseus observes Yuna for a moment, seemingly contemplating, then decides to leave her be and starts pretending not to notice.

“Now then, let’s start by explaining what mana is.”

I sparkle with excitement, thinking I’m finally going to have the magic lesson I’ve been waiting for.

*

I poke the cheek of Chae-a, who’s drooling in her sleep next to me, then turn my attention back with a giggle.

Sadly, it seems Perseus lacks the talent for teaching magic to others.

Ha-eun managed to perform a miracle by putting both Yuna and Chae-a to sleep simultaneously less than 10 minutes into the class.

While I was laughing, thinking how funny this incredible achievement was.

Perseus asked me a question in confusion.

“Is it that boring?”

As I was seriously contemplating whether to answer honestly or tell a white lie.

Someone entered the lair and exclaimed in admiration.

“Oh, Perseus is here?”

Hearing the voice, I recognized it as Han A-rin’s.

I was so happy to hear her that I wagged my tail vigorously to welcome her, and as Han A-rin smiled at me.

“Huh? What’s this?”

She exclaimed in amazement, looking at the numerous magical items piled up nearby.

“Where did you get all of this? The Lercier magical items, known to be the most expensive among the limited editions made by the three great craftsmen, and the masterpiece created by the Feltina Guild, which is also known for its high price…”

Top-tier hunters tend to have a slightly skewed sense of money.

They earn large sums at once and receive countless financial supports, so their sense of monetary value tends to differ from ordinary people.

When a top-tier hunter describes something as ‘expensive’.

It’s likely to be an item so expensive that it’s hard to even imagine, so I was quite startled.

Perseus looked at my expression, chuckled, and said softly.

“The Elder Dragons and I each put in a gift. It’s nothing special, so don’t worry.”

“You call this nothing special? Then all things in the world… Oh.”

Han A-rin, who had been listening to this conversation, noticed me beside her and blinked her eyes with a very embarrassed expression.

Ha-eun cleared her throat and continued speaking.

“Come to think of it, it’s not a big deal. I can certainly afford to give this much.”

“That’s right.”

The two nodded as if they had rehearsed it, smiling brightly.

They pointed at the magical items in front of them and said.

“Ha-eun, sister thought about it carefully, and these seem like items you can accept without burden. So I think it’s okay to take them.”

“As Han A-rin said, these are just light gifts. You don’t need to worry.”

“……”

Listening to this conversation, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

If they had talked privately without me knowing, it would have been one thing.

But to have this conversation right in front of me and then say ‘Actually, these are inexpensive items you can take without burden’ was a bit surprising.

So I was about to open my mouth to say something about this, but.

“It’s so pretty. It suits Ha-eun well.”

“Chae-a wants this! You know? But Chae-a has no money. I’ll give you flower petals.”

Seeing that Yuna and Chae-a really liked these items, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

‘… If it were just me, it would be different. But I can’t refuse because I’m responsible for the kids too.’

While I was blushing with embarrassment at just receiving all of this.

Suddenly, Han A-rin clapped her hands and said to us.

“Ah, this isn’t the important part. Yuna, can you come here?”

At Han A-rin’s words, Yuna blinked.

Then she shook her head vigorously with a surprised expression.

It seemed she still had some resistance to adults’ words, so I nodded to indicate it was okay.

“… I understand.”

Yuna, seemingly encouraged, moved forward with her tail and ears trembling slightly.

As I was carefully watching Yuna with support,

Han A-rin handed her a pajama set wrapped in a plastic bag and said,

“This is a dinosaur pajama made especially for Yuna. There’s even a special space for your tail. Would you like to try it on?”

At those words, Yuna hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Then, hugging it as if it were a precious treasure, she bowed slightly.

“Thank you…”

“No need to thank me. After all, I’m doing this because I want to.”

As I was sending infinite gratitude to Han A-rin for saying she was doing this because she wanted to, in order to ease the burden,

Perseus, who was standing nearby, seemed to feel a sense of competition(?) and started taking out other items from the box while speaking to us.

“Ahem, let’s resume the magic lesson now. Where did we leave off? Ah yes, we finished chapter 3 of mana theory. So, to continue, mana is part of nature and everything has a fixed value…”

Han A-rin, who had been listening to Perseus continue speaking, looked at him in disbelief,

Then, letting out a long sigh, she briefly said,

“That’s why the kids are dozing off. Kids? How about coming over here? I’ll teach you about magic.”

Then, taking out a magic tool from the box, she said,

“It’s true that learning theory is important, but usually it’s better to start with practical lessons. Children tend to have much less concentration than adults.”

Then, putting mana into the magic tool and making it sparkle, she smiled slightly and said,

“So, let’s start by practicing how to use mana. Ha-eun, would you like to try putting mana into this?”

That statement left me with no choice but to be flustered.

I didn’t even know what mana was exactly, let alone how to infuse it.

So I blinked in confusion and then placed my hand on the crystal ball.

‘What should I do next?’

I glanced at Han A-rin, hoping for a hint.

But Han A-rin just smiled at me, so I had no choice but to close my eyes and apply pressure with my hand.

“……”

Naturally, it wasn’t going to work.

As I was wracking my brain for another method, suddenly an idea came to me.

‘Maybe I should do it like when I used my healing ability.’

It’s hard to explain precisely, but I should try to send out that tingling feeling.

With that thought, I tried to infuse it.

The surroundings became a mix of teal and blue light, so bright it was hard to even open my eyes.

Then various flowers bloomed everywhere and a strong wind blew.

Wondering if what I was experiencing was a hallucination or real, I absentmindedly reached out my hand.

Everything around me shattered like a glass window and disappeared.

Surprised by this result, I looked at Han A-rin and Perseus.

They were both looking at me with very shocked expressions.