“Pleased to work with you. I am Khalil = Valiel (T/N: >> Kariru = Varieru <<). For the time being, I am Kukrika’s best magician. I’m proud of my own ability.” (Khalil)
A young woman with pinned up flaxen hair introduced herself.
She was wearing an emerald robe. The cloth was made from an unknown material that one could immediately tell was very soft on the touch. Her body was decorated with various gold and silver ornaments appearing as though they were dangling all over her.
Although it was called a robe, Renya couldn’t imagine it to be an ordinary one. It wasn’t an item covering her completely from tip to toe. Rather, at the neckline it had a big opening. Furthermore whenever she was changing her sitting position by crossing her legs, the part below her waist down to her thighs became exposed due to the deep slit the robe had.
If you were to describe the dress, you would hesitate to simply call it a robe as it simply had a far too different feel from the norm.
But even considering this, wherever you look, there is the color scheme of emerald with gold and silver. No, something like this, I have experienced such an odd view in the past as far as I can recall from deep within the corners of my mind. After a little while Renya suddenly clapped his hands together.
“It’s similar to a person dressing like a Christmas tree.” (Renya) (ED: Okay, I laughed.)
“What’s that?” (Shion)
Unable to comprehend, Shion, who was sitting next to him, asked in return. As one would expect, not eager to explain the expression, Renya simply shrugged his shoulders.
Even though there was a reasonable amount of Lost who had come into this world, apparently the Christmas tradition hadn’t propagated.
Either this particular holiday hasn’t been taught up to this degree seeing as the Lost hadn’t the leisure to do so, or it was lost with time as it wasn’t of any importance to unrelated people. It was difficult to pinpoint the cause.
Without saying a word, the woman calling herself Khalil looked at him with a quizzical expression while she was sitting on the opposite side of the same ebony table they were sitting at. Her long slender fingers were entwined, joining her hands together atop the table.
Various differently sized jewels were closely assembled on these fingers as well. She had densely put on many rings made out of different materials. They reflected the white light produced by magic which brightened the dim store interior. The twinkling and glittering appearance ended up reminding Renya of lace spangled with a golden thread.
After the discussion in the early morning, Renya’s arm was grabbed, even though he didn’t want to go along with Shion,he was still dragged here. The place he was guided to was this location which was close to the center of the commerce district.
The light source shining in the otherwise dim store interior was provided by one single tool using magic to produce white light resembling something like a lamp. Surrounding the ebony table in the center there were things like bookshelves, display cases, and many other varying items visible.
By the way, Rona had gone to the guild to officially report on the matter of Renya joining Shion’s and hers party. Because it was a mere formality, Shion and Renya acted separately from Rona.
Once again she is doing some strange secret maneuvering behind the scenes, Renya ended up concluding. But he had no means to verify it.
“You want me to teach you magic, but how did you end up reaching an age where you could become an adventurer without learning elementary magic?” (Khalil)
Returning Renya from his deep pondering, the woman before him called out.
More or less you could categorize her into the class of beautiful women. Though there was nothing you could complain about in regards to her looks, she applied quite a thick layer of make-up.
Considering the combination with the suffocating amount of accessories, she gave off a comprehensively gaudy impression.
It might be typical for her age. But because of this, one could easily end up viewing her as old although she could only be no more than 2 or 3 years older than Shion and Renya if you considered her properly.
If she were to aim for a slightly more natural look, she should end up looking quite cute too, Renya thought. Because those thoughts are related around my own tastes and preferences, I won’t thoughtlessly speak these thoughts aloud, though. Thus Renya remained silent.
“That’s because Renya is a Lost.” (Shion)
Instead of the silent Renya, Shion said so. Khalils gaze turned into something resembling that of someone examining a rare animal.
As it wasn’t a very comfortable feeling being watched like that, Renya’s own expression turned sour.
“I am sorry if I caused you to feel discomfort.” (Khalil)
“No, although it isn’t something pleasant, I think it can’t be helped.” (Renya)
Actually the inhabitants of this world observing a Lost gives off the same feeling as the people from my former world watching a rare animal, Renya thought.
Although he understood it, but no matter how willingly they received him, this uncomfortable feeling was an entirely different matter.
“That means there was no magic in your world?” (Khalil)
“Yeah, in my world magic was nothing more than a sleight of hand.” (Renya)
As Renya replied in such way, Khalil visibly exhaled in comprehension.
“It is because Shion said something like her wanting me to teach someone in magic. I only thought it would be a younger boy coming but instead someone like you turned up here? It made me wonder whether there was some kind of mistake.” (Khalil)
“Although I somehow don’t understand the meaning of what you said, I comprehend the intention of your question. But is it really that unusual? Even though things may appear this way, for the time being I am only 18 years old.” (Renya)
“It is because those aiming to become adventurers enter the guild around the age of 14 to 15 years. As soon as they earn a little bit of money, they immediately come here to take lessons in elementary magic. If they decide to become magicians, they move on to search for another master in order to become their disciple for an extended period.” (Khalil)
With these words, Khalil leaned back atop the chair and took out one bundle of enveloped papers from within the shelves in the rear.
Among the things surprising Renya since coming to this world was the fact that paper existed.
Be it for some reason, but he arbitrarily conjectured that the culture level of this world was about the same as the medieval age of his former world. He thought that the technique of manufacturing paper did not yet exist. But the technique to boil plants in order to extract the fiber for making paper was wide spread in this world.
“I will teach you magic right away by using this list of spells. For the first page of the list it is 5 silver coins and from the second page onwards it is 50 silver coins per page.” (Khalil)
Although the amount of money abruptly sky-rocketed, Renya before long realized the meaning after looking over the list and thus avoided asking any pointless questions.
The spells described on the first page of the list were such things as 「Ignite Fire」 and「Desalination」. Those were the kind of spells that were generally used to ease every day life. On the second page there were spells written like 「Small Fire Ball」 and「Ice Stone」. Going by their names, it was obvious that those were used as offensive magic.
“Shall I check your aptitude before we discuss which kind of spells you should memorize?” (Khalil)
“Yes?” (Renya)
“It’s about your aptitude in magic and your magical attribute. Though we will abridge the process as it takes quite a long time if you perform it in detail. You have to find out how skilled and talented one is in using magic and also such things like from which system one should memorize the spells in order to fully utilize one’s skill. It is something like forming a guideline for the sake of training.” (Khalil)
Saying this, Khalil twisted her upper body and faced towards the back. From the same shelf she had retrieved the papers, she took out a large fist-sized, transparent crystal ball.
She heavily flopped it down atop the table and rolled it in the direction of Renya.
Receiving it, Renya placed it on his palm and inspected it very closely.
“It isn’t anything that unusual. In reality it is a cheap article that you can make as many as you wish, as long as you have the material and pay one gold coin in handling charges. But, oh well, this thing will be sufficient.” (Khalil)
“How do you use it?” (Renya)
Renya asked while lightly rolling it around on top of his palm.
Bending herself forward across the table, Khalil grasped the ball which was rolling around on top of Renya’s palm. As she was tightly holding it as it was, she lifted it in front of Renya’s face.
“That’s easy. As you focus your consciousness upon it and pray to it, this ball will shine. In any case, as the magical power flows into it, it will leave behind a trace of its strength and density. I guess as a Lost you won’t understand that, huh?” (Khalil)
“Look!” she presented the crystal ball. “You are right.” Renya nodded his head while receiving it once more.
Being watched attentively by Shion and Khalil, he took one long deep breath. After making sure his feelings had been calmed, Renya focused his consciousness on the crystal ball.
If there is no change whatsoever with this, it will somewhat turn into quite the ridiculous scene right away, won’t it? He thought by accident. Because he worried that having too many unnecessary thoughts would result in influencing the result badly, he completely drove away those obstructing thoughts. After a few seconds, in the center of the crystal ball, a small green light with the size of a pinky finger ignited.
“Green color, huh? The aptitude is
“That’s true but… this is somewhat…” (Khalil)
Although Khalil wanted to agree with Shion’s identification, her expression seemed troubled.
Is there some kind of a problem? Renya wondered. Khalil snatched the crystal ball from Renya’s hand again, tossing it casually into the shelf in the back.
Causing a heavy sound, the crystal ball landed somewhere within the shelf. Will such irresponsible handling be fine? He became slightly worried.
“Going by the conclusion, your attribute is wind and in addition to that you have quite the affinity with it.” (Khalil)
Now that she mentions it, before coming to this world, I got a skill from that little girl. It must have been the skill to use magic from the Wind system, he recalled.
Most likely it had been that blessing, Renya judged. But he couldn’t recall the whole conversation any more.
“However, the amount of mana is hopelessly scarce. It doesn’t exceed half of the maximum amount of ordinary people.” (Khalil)
“With only that light, you are able to tell this much?” (Renya)
“There is nothing to criticize about the green color. Up to there it was an unusually clear variation of appearance, but … The size of the light was too small.” (Khalil)
Usually it was shining on the whole crystal ball albeit faintly.
In case of magicians, who possessed talent, it was shining radiantly. There were even records of the ball being broken in a flash of light when a hero used it.
If it was put like this, certainly there was no other way but to call the light from before tiny.
Shion, who was listening next to him, nodded her head in agreement with an *Un un*
“If I remember correctly the time I used it, it shone faintly across the whole ball.” (Shion)
“By the way, what colour was it?” (Renya)
Renya asked for reference. For some reason delighted, Shion replied,
“It was light green. I have the same aptitude as Renya, Wind.” (Shion)
“As for the maximum amount of mana, since you can increase it little by little through usage, I think you can improve it to a certain extent. But, considering your starting amount, you better not expect too much from magic.” (Khalil)
Although it was a slightly shocking announcement for Renya, he originally came from a world where such power didn’t exist to begin with. Thus he was able to agree with the outcome of having too little power with that maximum amount.
Rather, here I possess the greatest power, or at least that’s what you can call it in the end. Without doubt I have to ask myself what the hell I did during my life in my previous world if I properly think about it.
Even if you could call it hopeless, since it is possible to improve it, I am able to use it to some extent. As such, Renya asked Khalil about a crucial matter.
“In order to increase the maximum amount of mana, is there some efficient training regimen, I wonder?” (Renya)
Khalil held out her left palm in silence.
Instead of Renya, who became uncertain due to not understanding the meaning, Shion asked .
“How much?” (Shion)
“7 silver coins.” (Khalil)
In response to Khalil’s curt answer, Shion dropped 7 silver coins on top of Khalil’s palm.
Accepting those, Khalil this time beckoned Renya with her right hand.
Continuing to beckon him, she brought her face close to Renya’s forehead as she bent herself over the table. Khalil crammed her hand quickly into her chest and retrieved a single paper tag. ¹
“Bestowal, < Light >” (Khalil)
The paper tag all of a sudden dissolved in the atmosphere, similar to ice being thrown into seething hot water, and vanished.
< Information: Due to external interference, the non-attribute magic 「Light」 has been bestowed. In case of accepting it, it will be come available for usage. Do you accept? >
Without hesitation Renya accepted.
“Spell, according to my power, let there be Light.” (Renya)
“I have heard that you reached the point that you could use spells easily without thought by just receiving the authority of application. Seeing it happening I can only agree to it.” (Khalil)
Although Khalil displayed a startled expression, Renya didn’t notice it as he was immersed in his own thoughts.
Upon thinking about it now, for Renya such principles or theories, like being someone able to acquire skills or in contrast someone unable to acquire them, vanished. He simply used them as if they were some command.
Albeit parents can increase the number of children endlessly, children can’t make children or grandchildren without becoming parents themselves.²
At any rate, although it was no more than simply using it, he didn’t comprehend the reason why he could use it just like that.
“… I heard the rumours, but Lost are really outside the norm.” (Khalil)
Khalil told him in admiration as she sensed that Renya had comprehended something.
It looks like the common folks aren’t aware of this truth and the magicians don’t convey this truth to anyone but other magicians either, he thought.
It will probably be a convenient skill for a magician to earn some coins.
However there is no idiot that would leak this information to the outside just to earn some income.
As Shion didn’t understand what those two were talking about, she watched the exchange between those two with a somewhat blank expression.
“So, what kind of relation does this have with the training regimen?” (Renya)
“Didn’t I tell you before? It will improve by keeping on using magic. In other words, it is fine to use any kind of magic as long as you are determined to keep using it. That’s the training to extend your maximum amount of mana. Usually, at the time this training is done, you use this Light spell in order to practice your magic.” (Khalil)
Other spells from the elementary magic were nothing but spells to make something or to influence the surroundings by causing some effect. However, producing illumination by light was no problem whatsoever, be it during daytime, although totally pointless due to the sun shining, or be it during night time as simple substitute for a lamp.
“At first I thought I was tricked looking at this method of training but after doing it for a while I will come back .” (Renya)
“Khalil… that is, how did you transfer this spell?” (Shion)
With feeling of nervousness Shion inquired about it. Khalil leaned back on the chair while turning her head left and right.
“It is futile. Although it will be okay to teach you as well, you won’t be able to use it well enough, will you?” (Khalil)
“Muu …” (Shion)
“Shion, for now I was taught the training method. After improving a bit, let’s have Khalil teach me another spell again. As it is now, no matter how many spells I am taught, there won’t be any point as I won’t be able to practice those spells due to my lacking power.” (Renya)
Shion, who had been dissatisfied for some reason or another, consented for the time being as she was soothed by Renya’s words.
“I see. Well then, Khalil, we will be back, please take care of us at that time.” (Shion)
“Yeah, yeah, you can entrust it to me… Putting that aside, Shion, didn’t your mental attitude change somehow?” (Khalil)
Since their business was finished, Renya stood up.
To Shion, who left her seat and chased after him, Khalil called out.
“You took a man as your companion. Haven’t you become more like a normal adventurer?” (Khalil)
“I was a normal adventurer to begin with!” (Shion)
“Fun, he~, ho~” (Khalil)
Khalil didn’t believe in Shion’s words at all, or rather she acted as if she hadn’t really heard them. With a slightly huffy expression, Shion continued.
“In the first place, didn’t you decline my invitation to join us?” (Shion)
For a party a magician was necessary. Although Shion had invited Khalil on Rona’s recommendation, she was quite easily refused.
At that time the reason for Khalil’s rejection was that it was a lot more comfortable to earn income by care-freely teaching elementary magic in the city or something along those lines.
“Who would enter such a dangerous party consisting of only 3 women?” (Khalil)
“That is… certainly you could say that. Because I thought about that too, I asked Renya to become our companion.” (Shion)
“I see. …Ma, good luck in earning money before coming here again. I am looking forward to it.” (Khalil)
“Ah, I will be back. Well then, see you.” (Shion)
Lightly waving her hand as she was watching Shion leaving the room, Khalil joined her hands behind her head. As if she had seen something amusing, she was broadly grinning and smiling.
“I wonder what that almost emotionless Rona with her half-baked skill in smiling will do about this.” (Khalil)
Well then, although I haven’t done anything else but teaching him the training method, I wonder how far he will grow before coming here the next time, Khalil thought while being reminded of her blonde haired friend’s face as she muttered those words.
Translation Notes
¹ The ones you can often see in anime being used as ward by omnyoujis.
² I think this should mean … he can use spells given to him by others but he can’t pass on or develop new spells from those.