Chapter 14: Wizard(2)

Mages were greedy.
Greedy enough to drive themselves to the brink of ruin.
Some even crossed the line without hesitation, claiming that personal ruin for the sake of truth was only natural.
‘What in the world is going on?’

A phenomenon that defied common sense, seemingly devoid of any magic power.
There was no way a normal child could cause such an anomaly.

There had to be something more.
Something dangerous might happen if carelessly investigated.

Lucy, being just a fledgling mage, wasn’t ready to cross that line yet.
The monsters who had reached the top of the Magic Tower, or the eccentrics who had been expelled from it, would have used every means possible to secure Avalli the moment they witnessed that anomaly.

“…You’re Avalli, right?”
“Yes, Mage.”
“You can call me Lucy. Ah, only when we’re alone.”

Lucy said magnanimously, shrugging her shoulders.

Lucy didn’t have the courage to outright kidnap Avalli.
But she couldn’t simply ignore this incomprehensible phenomenon she had never seen before.
Those who lacked that level of curiosity usually didn’t pursue the path of a mage.

Lucy planned to build a connection with Avalli.
After returning to the Magic Tower, she would search the library for similar records, and then, using their friendship as an excuse, she would visit this village more often and slowly investigate Avalli.

“Okay, Lucy.”
“…You really call me by my first name right away. Well, fine. I said you could. Um… no. Could you at least add ‘unnie’? Envel is honestly old enough to be called ‘ajumma’, but there’s only a four-year age difference between us.” (TL Note: Unnie is an honorific used by younger females to address older females. Ajumma is a term for middle-aged women.)

A shiver ran down Avalli’s spine at Lucy’s words.
Just moments ago during dinner, Lucy and Envel had been exchanging compliments, and yet, as soon as they were alone, she was calling Envel an ajumma.

‘…Is this why women go to the restroom together?’

If Avalli had been born a woman, she would have played along with Lucy and gossiped.
But Avalli’s true self was a man in his mid-twenties, so she simply responded with an awkward smile.

“So, shall we continue our earlier conversation, Avalli?”
“We talked about it during dinner, Lucy unnie. I don’t remember anything—”
“Yes, I know. I’m not saying I’m going to force you to recall your lost memories. I just want to use a few spells on you.”

Use spells?
Avalli immediately shifted away on the bed they were sharing.
To ease Avalli’s wariness, Lucy added quickly.

“Ah, of course, it won’t be for free. I’ll pay you. To be honest, I’m a bit short on funds, but… um… I should be fine once I sell the magic stone.”

Lucy took out a gleaming gold coin from the dimensional pocket in her robe.

“I’ll give you this. It’s one silver.”
“…Silver?”
“What? Is this your first time seeing a silver coin?”

Avalli nodded.
She had never seen a silver coin in person, either in her original world or in this one.
Her original world was a place where even credit cards were being replaced by smartphone apps.

“…Sorry, my mistake.”

Lucy apologized cautiously, misinterpreting Avalli’s reaction.

‘She said she has no memories.’

Envel had pulled Lucy aside before dinner and told her that Avalli seemed to have lost her memories due to some traumatic event.
If she had no memories, she wouldn’t know the value of a silver coin.

“I’ll explain it from the beginning. Here, look.”

Lucy took out two more coins of different colors from her dimensional pocket.

“This dull copper-colored coin is a copper. It’s enough to buy a loaf of bread. Understand?”

Avalli nodded, feeling a bit strange.

‘She’s talking to me like I’m an elementary school student.’

Still, this was valuable knowledge she hadn’t heard from the village chief couple.
Within this pioneer village, which functioned as a single economic unit, bartering and labor exchange were more common than using currency.

“And when you have 100 of these, it becomes one silver. So, it’s a lot of money.”

Avalli started doing some quick calculations in her head.

‘…If a loaf of bread costs about 3,000 won, then one silver is about 300,000 won.’ (TL Note: Approximately $230 USD.)

It certainly was a lot of money.
If Hans were here, his eyes would have widened at the amount.

“And 20 silvers make one gold.”
“Wow…”

Six million won.
Even by modern standards, that was equivalent to two months’ salary. (TL Note: Approximately $4,600 USD.)

“Do you understand now? One silver for a few simple tests. It’s not a bad deal.”

It wasn’t a bad deal, but… it wasn’t a particularly tempting offer for Avalli either.

“There’s not much to spend money on in Asha Village.”
“You can go to the city. Arsene has an old carriage, you can get there in a day.”
“…I don’t really like going out.”

Lucy frowned at Avalli’s words.

“You can ask Arsene to buy you things.”
“He’ll probably say it’s too much money for a child and keep it until I’m older.”
“…That’s hard to argue with.”

Lucy was about to say, ‘Then I’ll buy you what you need—’ but stopped herself.
That was too much of a hassle.
How many times would she have to visit this village just to bring back one silver’s worth of goods, things that would appeal to a child?

Lucy scratched her red hair and put the coin back into her dimensional pocket.

‘…That’s pretty fantasy-like.’

It was like a game inventory.
Noticing Avalli’s curious gaze, Lucy shook her head and tucked the pouch back into her robe.

“This won’t work. The cheapest one is two gold coins.”
“…I didn’t say anything.”
“I can tell by your eyes.”

Since she had indeed thought, ‘It would be nice to have one of those,’ Avalli didn’t deny it and kept quiet.

“So, Avalli. What will i have to do for you in exchange for letting me touch your body?”
“…That sounds incredibly creepy, Lucy unnie.”
“Huh? What—”

Lucy, who was about to say ‘—do you mean?’ blushed as she realized the implication of Avalli’s words.

“What are you talking about!”
“You said you wanted to touch my body.”
“O…Of course, I just meant examining you with magic! You little pervert! W…Where do you learn these things!”

Lucy stammered and yelled, seemingly having no immunity to sexual jokes.
Avalli hadn’t expected such an overreaction…

‘This is fun.’

Teasing this arrogant brat was quite entertaining.

‘Well, she actually is a mage. So, it’s not arrogance, but genuine confidence…?’

Anyway, Avalli felt like the red-haired girl would get really angry if she continued teasing her, so she stated her original purpose.

“Teach me magic.”
“Magic?”
“You’re a mage, Lucy unnie.”

Avalli put on her most innocent expression.
A face like a child fascinated by mages in fairy tales.
If Hans saw this, he would have freaked out, saying ‘What weird things are you thinking again?’, but…

“Hmm, magic, huh?”

It seemed to work quite well on Lucy, whom she had just met today.

“Well, I can teach you, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to use it even if I do. After all, magic is 90% talent.”

Lucy started chattering, her tone suddenly condescending.
Avalli listened with one ear and let it out the other, giving appropriate responses.

“I’m fine, of course, since I’m a genius who earned her own research lab at the Magic Tower.”
“Your own research lab? Amazing!”
“Well, it wasn’t that difficult. Anyway, whether Avalli can do it or not—”

Seemingly pleased with the insincere flattery, Lucy continued talking happily.
After chattering for a while, Lucy finally said the words Avalli had been waiting for.

“So, what magic do you want to learn? Magic is certainly amazing and powerful, but… it’s not omnipotent. The magic you desire might not even exist in this world.”

“Well, I can’t read.”
“Read?”

Avalli nodded and got down from the bed.
She picked up an old book placed on the wooden desk Arsene had made.

“Is there magic that lets me read?”

Lucy crossed her arms and began to ponder Avalli’s question.
If the question was whether it existed or not, then yes, it existed.
To be precise, it wasn’t about being able to read completely unknown characters, but rather drastically enhancing one’s comprehension ability.
It was a spell essential for mages specializing in archaeology.

“You can’t read at all?”
“I can read a little.”
“How much is ‘a little’? Give me the book.”

Lucy snatched the book from Avalli’s hand and randomly opened it to a page.

“Here, can you read this?”
“…Um… Evening… Um… Ah! The sunset in the evening is um…”
“Yeah, I got it. I see your level.”

Lucy closed the book after hearing Avalli’s struggling voice.

“I can teach you the spell, but whether you succeed or fail is up to you.”
“Okay!”

Looking at Avalli’s sparkling eyes, Lucy smiled wryly inwardly.

If Avalli had even an ordinary person’s level of magic power… depending on her effort, she might be able to use the spell she was about to teach her.
It was a simple spell that just slightly activated brain function.

‘It won’t work.’

But Avalli had no magic power.
Not a small amount, not a trace, but absolutely none.
There was no way someone without magic power could use magic.

“Now repeat after me. Put your will into it, that’s enough for basic magic.”
“Okay.”

So, Lucy was deceiving Avalli.
She was trying to achieve her goal by teaching her magic that couldn’t possibly work.

‘…Should I buy her some snacks next time?’

She decided to pay for satisfying her curiosity on her next visit.

“Oh spring of wisdom, grant me a drop of your mercy.”
“Oh spring of wisdom, grant me a drop of your mercy.”

Avalli closed her eyes, concentrating, and repeated the words Lucy taught her.
When Avalli slowly opened her eyes, Lucy, hiding her complicated feelings, spoke again.

“How is it? Can you see now?”

The answer was predetermined.
Lucy would comfort the dejected Avalli for failing the spell, and then proceed with the various tests she had originally intended—

“Yes!”
“Oh, you got it on your first try? You’re already a magic——— Huh?”

“I understand perfectly!”

Contrary to Avalli’s bright, smiling face, Lucy’s expression shifted strangely.