Chapter 13: Wizard(1)

“There’s no way! Do you think I, a member of the Eastern Magic Tower, would fail such a basic spell?”

Lucy yelled.
Avalli flinched slightly at her outburst, but… her mouth continued to do its job.
Once she had chosen a course of action, she had to stick with it.

“Alright. I understand you might not want to admit your mistake.”
“You… What did you just say…!”

Lucy’s brow furrowed menacingly.
Just as she was contemplating what spell to use to punish this impudent brat—

“Avalli, you idiot!”

Hans, a boy significantly taller than the other children, stepped between them.
He grabbed the back of Avalli’s head and pushed it down, forcing her to bow.

“I apologize, Mage. She doesn’t know any better.”

Seeing Hans repeatedly bowing and fidgeting nervously, Lucy’s anger subsided instantly.

‘That’s right.’
Mages were special beings, and therefore, deserved respect from ordinary people.
Hans’s apology instantly satisfied Lucy’s desire for recognition, and she spoke again in a much softer tone.

“Just because she doesn’t know any better, do you think I should tolerate that insult?”
“I apologize. I’ll discipline her properly. Avalli, apologize quickly.”
“Uh, I apologize.”

Avalli silently apologized to Lucy as Hans instructed.

‘Mages must have a really high status here.’

She had guessed as much from Bern’s words, but she hadn’t expected him to lower his head to this extent.
She had thought Lucy was somewhat approachable after seeing her playing with the children, but it seemed she was mistaken.

“Call me ‘Mage’.”
“Yes, Mage.”

Avalli didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble, especially since she was living under Arsene’s roof.
If things could be resolved by simply complying with Lucy’s demands, there was no need for her to be stubborn.

Mage.
Hearing that title, the corners of Lucy’s lips curled upwards.
Mages were a dime a dozen in the Magic Tower, but out here in the world, she was special.

“I’ll forgive you this time.”
“Thank you, Mage!”

Avalli smiled brightly.
Just moments ago, she had wanted to flick this impudent brat on the forehead, but seeing her comply so readily, Lucy found her rather cute.

“Alright, everyone, you can go now. It’s time for me to return to the Magic Tower.”

Lucy said so and dispelled the magic circle on the ground.
The children let out disappointed groans.

“Aw, Lucy unnie is leaving already?”
“Lucy noona, play with us a little longer.”
“I told you to call me Mage!”

Lucy yelled, but this time, she didn’t look angry.
The proud mage had grown fond of the children of Asha Village.

“Anyway, that’s all for today. I’ll play with you next time.”
“Okay!”
“Got it!”
“Will you play ‘Up High’ again next time?”
“Yes. Everyone be good. Don’t get hurt.”

Saying this, Lucy adjusted the pointed hat on her head.
The children waved to Lucy and then followed Hans somewhere.

‘By the way, what was that about?’

Now that she had calmed down, the question resurfaced in Lucy’s mind.
Why hadn’t Levitation worked on that Avalli girl?

Had the spell really failed?

No, that was impossible.
A magic circle was a circuit for manipulating magic power.
Even without a proper understanding of magic, it was designed to work as long as magic power was channeled through it.

The Fixation spell she had cast on the magic circle at the beginning was also working properly.
Since the magic circle’s circuit was intact, it was impossible for a spell that had been working perfectly fine until just moments ago to suddenly fail.

‘…Just in case.’

Lucy held her staff with both hands and quietly chanted a spell.

“May the flow of all things be revealed before my eyes.”

Detect, a spell to detect magic power.
With magically enhanced vision, Lucy looked at the children playing and laughing in the distance—

“—Huh?”

She let out a dumbfounded gasp.
A phenomenon she couldn’t comprehend was unfolding before her eyes.

All beings in the world possessed ‘mana’.
Even inanimate objects had a faint trace of it.

Lucy’s vision, enhanced by Detect, wasn’t much different from usual.
Faintly shimmering, multicolored magic power was simply overlaid onto her normal sight.
On the shabby houses of Asha Village, on the crude fences, on the towering trees of the distant forest, on the bodies of the smiling children.

This was a familiar sight.
But among them, a colorless anomaly was mixed in.

“…What is that?”

Avalli.
Only Avalli remained as she was before Lucy used Detect.
Like a single black-and-white flower in a vibrant landscape painting.

A chill ran down Lucy’s spine.
The existence of this girl, Avalli, completely contradicted the laws of this world that Lucy had always believed in.

“What are you, really?”

She couldn’t sense any magic power from Avalli.

Evening.

Avalli, dipping bread into venison stew, glanced up at the person across the table.
Red eyes were still fixed intently on her.
It was Lucy Ignis, the mage who had had a childish argument with her a few hours earlier.

‘She holds a grudge!’

That little red-haired mage had clearly said she forgave her.
So, Avalli had been playing carefree with the children in the forest, but when she returned home in the evening, Lucy was there.

It was a perfectly reasonable explanation that she wanted to stay the night since it was getting late.
But judging by the serious expression on her face and the way she kept staring at Avalli, it was clear she had other intentions.

“Please eat a lot, Lucy.”

Envel, oblivious to the subtle tension between the two, took her seat at the table.

“Thanks for the meal. As always, Envel’s cooking is delicious.”
“You can enjoy it every day if you become the village mage.”
“I’ll pass. I have a lot of work to do at the Magic Tower.”

Only after Envel spoke to Lucy did the sharp gaze directed at Avalli cease.
Avalli, who had felt like she might throw up, felt relieved…

‘…But I’m still uneasy.’

She couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of unease.

“You seem a bit taller, Lucy.”
“You noticed? Envel has a keen eye, as always.”

Envel and Lucy were close.

Lucy always tried to return to the Magic Tower on the same day whenever she visited the village, but the sun always set quickly in the Great Forest.
Even if Lucy was a mage, it was impossible for her to travel through the Great Forest alone at night.
So, she inevitably stayed overnight at Arsene’s house, and naturally, she and Envel became quite close.

“…You were found in the Great Forest? Is that true?”
“Yes.”

Avalli nodded awkwardly.

“How?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have any memories from before that.”
“Oh.”

Lucy looked at Avalli with pity.
Despite everything, she was soft-hearted towards younger children.

“…It’s a good thing you were found by kind people.”
“Yes, I was lucky.”
“Truly. If you were found in our city, you would have been sent straight to the s*ave market… Never mind. That’s a bit heavy for a child to hear.”

Lucy shook her head.

“Arsene said he’s coming back tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. He probably won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”
“I should see him. There are things I want to ask and things I need to take care of.”

Specifically, she wanted to hear about the circumstances surrounding Avalli’s discovery.

“Avalli, why don’t you sleep with unnie tonight?”
“With Envel?”
“We have a guest. We should let her sleep comfortably.”

There were only two rooms in Arsene’s house.
The room Avalli currently used was originally for guests, the room Lucy always stayed in.
Even when Kyle stayed, they offered to let Avalli have her room back, but—

‘…I wish to pray.’

Kyle had refused to enter Avalli’s room, saying those words.

“Okay. I’ll just grab my book and go—.”
“No, it’s alright.”

Lucy interrupted Avalli.

“We can sleep together. It would be uncomfortable for Envel.”

Of course, it would be more comfortable for Lucy to sleep alone, but… she couldn’t miss the opportunity to observe this unprecedented phenomenon up close.

“I’m fine, Lucy.”
“If Envel’s uncomfortable, I’m uncomfortable. Do you intend to make our guest feel uncomfortable?”
“Well… if you put it that way…”

Envel, glancing at Lucy, nodded and turned to Avalli.

“Don’t bother Lucy too much, Avalli.”
“Understood!”

She replied innocently to reassure Envel, but inwardly, Avalli wasn’t at ease.

‘…She definitely has something up her sleeve.’

She must still be holding a grudge about what happened earlier.
Who knew what kind of nasty magic she might cast while Avalli was asleep?

Of course, with Lucy’s level of skill, no magic would have any real effect on Avalli.
But since Lucy was the first mage she had ever met, Avalli was overestimating her.

“Then good night, Lucy. Sleep well, Avalli.”

After finishing dinner and chatting for a bit, Envel said good night and went into her room.

“Good night, Envel.”
“Good night, Envel unnie.”

After saying good night to Envel, the two returned to their room and closed the door.

“…….”
“……”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.