episode_0012

Having always eaten dry, crumbly bread or bland, watery soup with no seasoning, eating a hearty meal of greasy food filled me with a satisfying fullness, and a smile naturally spread across my face.

Feeling a satisfying fullness for the first time in a long while, I stepped out to the empty lot in front of my house and stood before the wooden stick I had set up as a target that morning.

“Huu…”

With a deep breath, I sharpened all my senses to feel the gentle magical power flowing within my body.

While focusing my senses on the subtly fluctuating movement of magical power that swayed with my breathing, I forcefully shook my left arm out to the side.

Feeling the magical power flowing through my body concentrate into my left hand due to the inertia of shaking my arm, I gathered the magical power flowing from my fingertips into a single mass.

“Magic Bullet!!”

I swung my arm with all my might and threw the bluish sphere of magic condensed at my fingertips towards the wooden stick I had targeted.

The fiercely launched magic sphere hit the target precisely, and with a small explosion, it caused the stick, which had been deeply embedded in the ground, to tilt slightly.

“Swinging your arm in the air like that. That’s a bad habit.”

“Ki… Killua-nim?!”

Had she been watching me practice from behind?

Because I had been focused on my magical power, I hadn’t sensed Killua’s presence, and at her voice from beside me, I turned to her with a startled expression.

Killua, who let out a small laugh at my reaction, pointed out my action of shaking my left arm out to the side.

“Magical power is not affected by physical forces. Shaking your arm forcefully won’t cause magical power to rapidly condense at your fingertips due to inertia.”

Regarding magic, especially the pure magic lineage that uses pure magical power itself, which she developed, there was no one on this continent superior to Killua, the White Mage.

Unable to deny her critique, I bowed my head and calmly accepted her point.

“I apologize. It’s become a habit…”

“It’s a common bad habit among beginners. While shaking your arm might be psychologically helpful, it creates unnecessary movements in real combat, so it’s better to fix that habit.”

Killua approached my side and raised her hand, as if to demonstrate.

However, only a very faint shimmer of magical power arose in her hand; there was no sign of a magic sphere forming.

“I thought something would happen on a night full of magical power…”

Frowning as if lamenting her inability to use any power, Killua clenched the hand she had been using to concentrate magical power.

Then, the magical power that had risen as a faint shimmer scattered into pieces, leaving only a tiny sparkle.

“How is Rai?”

As she once again realized her helpless situation and a small shadow began to fall across her face, I calmly changed the subject of our conversation.

“He said he had a lot to think about and went into his room first. It seems he was festering inside from hiding the truth from the villagers.”

“Festering inside, huh…”

At Killua’s words, I turned my head to look at Rai’s room. His room was still brightly lit, and I could see his silhouette sitting on the bed.

Was he really lost in deep thought?

His bowed silhouette, sitting on the bed, was frozen still, without the slightest movement, like a paused image.

“Murder. The act of killing defenseless people, at that, was the worst thing a human could do. Even with the excuse of saving the village, it must have been impossible to wash away the guilt from that act.”

Following my gaze, Killua also looked at Rai’s silhouette, which was as stiff as wax and showed no sign of moving.

And as if pitying him, she clucked her tongue and shook her head from side to side.

“Ultimately, to swallow that guilt, he wore the mask of being a cruel murderer. But even enduring like that had its limits, and he wished someone would stop him.”

“My thoughts are a little different, though?”

Killua’s deduction seemed almost accurate and rational.

However, as I listened to her explanation, I suddenly recalled what Rai had said to me.

Rai had praised Killua as a strong person, completely unlike the prejudice he held against nobles.

If she had been an arrogant and prejudiced noble, just like the prejudice Rai held, he would undoubtedly have acted completely differently now.

He would surely have plunged daggers into my and Killua’s necks without a moment’s hesitation and discarded our bodies in the slime-filled forest, just as he usually did.

“Hmm? Really? Then what are your thoughts?”

At my statement that my thoughts differed from hers, Killua didn’t seem offended; instead, her eyes sparkled with interest as she looked at me.

Facing her, I calmly conveyed what Rai had said to her.

“Rai praised Killua-nim as a strong person.”

“A strong person?”

Killua frowned slightly and tilted her head, as if she didn’t understand Rai’s words calling her a strong person.

“I think he thought your unwavering, steadfast demeanor, even after losing everything, was remarkable.”

“Ah… so that’s what he meant? I almost understood it to mean ‘healthy.’”

At my further explanation, Killua nodded as if she finally understood properly, and gently touched her injured shoulder.

“Besides that… was there anything else he said?”

Killua, who had been gently touching her shoulder for a moment, cautiously asked me a question.

At her question, I turned my head to look at her face.

The faint blush faintly visible on her cheeks in the subtle blue moonlight was clearly a sign that Rai was expecting a different evaluation of her.

“He said you have beautiful eyes.”

I let out a small smile at Killua’s refreshing sight, seeing her transparently like an ordinary girl rather than the absolute White Mage she used to be, and told her what she wanted to hear.

“Beautiful eyes? My eyes?”

Killua, hearing my words, was startled and touched the area around her eyes with her hand.

Having never had the chance to examine her own eyes closely, Killua seemed to find it difficult to fully grasp the words that her eyes were beautiful, and she fell into deep thought with a slight frown.

She seemed to be trying to figure out how to properly look at her own eyes.

“And calm and wise, and…”

I recited Killua’s evaluations that Rai had mentioned, checking her reaction.

At the evaluations of her being calm and wise, she nodded monotonously.

To her, who had countless praises and compliments for her abilities as the White Mage, such evaluations seemed unlikely to spark much interest.

“He said you’re a very charming person.”

Her monotonous reaction sparked a bit of playfulness in me, so I added something Rai hadn’t said and told it to her.

“Ehek?!”

Killua, who had been reacting monotonously to typical compliments, suddenly blurted out a strange gasp unconsciously as the word “charming” came out, having been focused on my voice.

“Wh-What nonsense!!”

Splat!

Was it embarrassment over her own strange gasp that had burst out unconsciously?

Or was it simply joy at the fact that Rai found her charming?

Killua suddenly shouted and forcefully slapped my shoulder.

However, Killua’s palm, now that she was an ordinary girl rather than the White Witch of the past, was more fittingly described as adorable rather than painful.

“Ahem… That’s a very embarrassing flattery coming from you, unlike yourself. I like it.”

However, perhaps not disliking my words that Rai found her charming, Killua smiled brightly, her face tinged with a slight blush.

Her appearance, like a pure girl rather than the White Mage, was a bit unfamiliar, but… her charm was beyond imagination, and a smile unconsciously spread across my lips.

“Here. As a reward.”

Killua, who had vigorously patted my waist a couple of times as if praising me, stood on her tiptoes slightly and placed her hand on my shoulder.

Then, a faint but warm energy of hers seeped through the shoulder she touched with her hand.

The faint energy, barely noticeable unless I concentrated, slowly guided the magical power circulating within my body.

“Slowly… circulate the magical power in a circle around your solar plexus.”

“Ah… Understood.”

As Killua’s energy, so faint it seemed I would miss it if I didn’t focus all my senses, guided me, I began to circulate the magical power within my body in a circle around my solar plexus.

The act of circulating magical power within my body was unfamiliar, as I was only used to squeezing it out through my fingertips or palms, but… thanks to the guidance of Killua’s energy, I was able to circulate the magical power within my body, however awkwardly.

“The more the circulation repeats… the more the flow of magical power accelerates. Do you feel it?”

One rotation. Two rotations. Each time the magical power spun precariously around my solar plexus, it gradually sped up, just as Killua had advised.

The movement of magical power, which had always moved as slowly as a turtle, requiring me to squeeze it out with all my might, began to accelerate at an astonishing rate.

“Ki-Killua-nim?! This is…”

But the joy of the magical power flowing quickly was only momentary.

Five rotations, six rotations.

As the number of rotations increased, the speed of the magical power began to accelerate exponentially, unlike at first.

It had already become too fast for me to even dare to control, but the swirling flow of magical power was not stopping there; it was surging as if it would accelerate even further.

“Calmly… push the flow of magical power into your right arm as if opening a floodgate.”

Even amidst the furiously surging flow of magical power, Killua’s faint energy, which felt distinctly warm, guided the tumultuous magical power into my right arm.

Then, the magical power, circulating in a circle, flowed along my right arm with that same momentum and began to concentrate in my right hand.

“Ugh… Uwaaaaah!!”

An unexpectedly immense amount of magical power began to concentrate in my right hand in an instant.

I let out a yell that was almost a scream, focusing all my senses to condense the flow of magical power trying to burst from my right hand into a single sphere.

“Huu… Haa…”

The magical power that had been rotating and fiercely surging within my body instantly gathered in my right hand, condensing into a watermelon-sized sphere of magical power.

It was a magic bullet with five times more condensed magical power than the usual ones I threw.

“Well done.”

With Killua’s simple compliment, I, having squeezed out about half of my total magical power into a single sphere in an instant, collapsed weakly to the ground.

The condensed mass of magical power, which I hadn’t been able to throw, simply scattered into pieces as my control, exhausted, vanished, calmly dotting the empty lot with blue light like tiny fireflies.

“Oh my goodness…”

A quantity of magical power equivalent to about five uses of a magic bullet was drawn out in an instant.

As tremendous fatigue pressed down on my entire body as an aftereffect of consuming a large amount of magical power, I couldn’t help but groan.

“It’s a special move, so remember that sensation well.”

“A special move… Ahahahaha…”

The expression “special move” was perfectly fitting.

Either the opponent would die from an attack using the large amount of magical power drawn out in an instant, or I, exhausted from excessive magical power consumption, would be killed by the opponent.

It was, quite literally, a special move where one of the two would inevitably die.

“Haa…”

Utterly lacking the energy to stand up due to the languid fatigue, I lay down in the empty lot and watched the remnants of magical power slowly vanish in the air.

Numerous particles, emitting a subtle blue light, sparkled in the air like stars in the night sky.

“The night air is a bit cold, isn’t it?”

Killua stretched out her hand towards the particles of my magical power, which were scattering in shattered pieces, unable to be used.

As her hand passed through the numerous sparkling remnants of magical power, the bluish magical particles began to transform into a brilliant golden light.

Soon after, the light particles, transformed into a brilliant golden light, began to scatter warm heat into the surroundings.

“How…”

I looked at Killua incredulously, watching the magical particles that had turned golden and were scattering warmth.

Then, Killua triumphantly shrugged her shoulders and offered an answer to my question.

“I told you. I just don’t have magical power.”

Without magical power, she couldn’t exert overwhelming power as she once did.

However, it meant that if she had even a small amount of magical power to use, she could still produce even a tiny fraction of her past power through all sorts of extraordinary methods.

Just like turning the remnants of my magical power, which were merely emitting a faint blue light and disappearing, into these warm, light-emitting particles.

It meant that only the power she could use had disappeared. Her knowledge, experience, knack, and techniques for using that power were still intact.

“You’re amazing.”

“Yeah. Aren’t I?”

At my admiration, Killua simply replied in a weak voice, wearing a wry smile.

Magic grows stronger in proportion to the amount of magical power an individual can use.

Just as the strongest engine on earth is nothing more than worthless scrap metal without fuel, something even less significant than a snail.

Her outstanding skills, talent, and knowledge were all show and no substance without the powerful magical power to back them up.

“Killua-nim. How about settling down in this village?”

“Huh?”

At the suggestion I made while watching the light particles emitting warm heat and disappearing, Killua looked at me as if asking what I was talking about.

“If Killua-nim solves the local specialty problem too, everyone in this village will revere Killua-nim like a savior, you know? And…”

I turned my head and looked at Rai’s room window. He was still sitting motionless, as stiff as wax, lost in deep thought.

“There’s also a good man here who has feelings for Killua-nim.”

“……”

Killua, who had been looking at Rai’s room with me, slowly turned her head to look at the light particles emitting warmth and disappearing.

As the light particles vanished one by one and the chill of the cold night air filled their place, her face gradually began to darken.

She slowly turned her darkened face to look at her injured shoulder. Then, after exhaling a small sigh, she spoke to me.

“What about you?”

Killua didn’t answer my question about settling down; instead, she asked about my intentions. At her question, I replied with a natural smile.

“I’ll settle down here too.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t accompany me?”

At my words about settling down together, Killua seemed to recall what I had said earlier, and she pouted, challenging me.

“That was because Killua-nim requested a dangerous companionship. A peaceful companionship like this is always welcome.”

To antagonize the Demon King and the King with her, the White Mage who had lost all her power…

Unless I was a legendary hero who could single-handedly defeat dragons and sever the Demon King’s neck with one stroke, I absolutely had to decline such a terrible companionship.

“……”

Killua seemed to have a lot to think about; she closed her mouth and simply gazed at the last flicker of the light particles that were almost completely gone now.

Eventually, as the remnants of magical power, which had emitted warm heat and fully expended their energy, completely vanished.

Killua extended her hand to me, who was lying down, as if she had no intention of answering my question.

“Get up. It’s getting colder.”

“Thank you.”

I clasped the hand she offered and, with her help, raised my exhausted body.

My arms and legs were still trembling, but after seeing me stand on my own two feet, Killua began walking towards the house first.

“White Mage-nim.”

I looked at Killua’s retreating back and called her by her moniker.

Then, Killua’s steps, which had been unceremoniously heading back home, suddenly halted.

“Even without the power sealed in the pendant, Witch-nim is still an amazing person.”

Her obsession with her lost power. If only that were gone, Killua could live a new and peaceful life using the knowledge and wisdom she possessed.

On top of that, astonishingly keen observation skills, deductive reasoning, and even boldness. Even without her lost power, she would be able to live a sufficiently happy life.

“That’s very kind of you. But you know that’s just the kind of flattery I often hear, right?”

I had given her sincere advice, but unfortunately, Killua seemed to think it was just one of the countless flattering words she had always been praised with, and she replied in a calm voice without much emotion, simply resuming her halted steps.