Ivan’s POV
After a while, that guy released me and proceeded to fix that hoodlum’s condition by feeding him some kind of shady looking liquid. Next, he woke Felix up by shaking his body, roughly. My condolences… not. Then, he snapped his fingers and chairs came out from nowhere. Was that magic?
“Cough~ Test, test,” The muscular figure took a seat, and said, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Charle Archard. In the future, you can just call me big sis Charle~”
He put his hand on his face and added a wink at the end of his sentence.
‘Gross!’
Apart from ghosts and bloody aliens, this might become my newest nightmare yet. His face that was fully decorated by rouge sent the creep outta me. Not to mention that weird attire he’s wearing...
I sighed internally. If only he wore normal men clothes and wiped that obnoxious makeup off his face, he might be in my strike zone. I mean, I could tell from the outline of his body that he is quite toned, and while all kinds of makeup are covering his face, it’s pretty obvious that he is fairly good-looking. I could feel my blood boiling just from imagining it.
What a waste, ah.
Cough, cough. Anyway, while I was lost in my own thoughts, Selena, who noticed our obvious discomfort, took over the helm.
“Um, long story short, Charle will become your magic teacher in the future.”
“Eh...!?” That idiot uttered a long sighing sound filled with displeasure. The faces other three aren’t so great either. Well, that includes me too.
“Ohohoho~ Even though I’m this beautiful, my skills are the real deal, you know~?” He said as he puffed out his face.
‘Oh please, no one is complimenting you. And please stop. That doesn’t look cute at all,’ I said. In my mind, of course. I don’t want to be sent flying from his slap after all.
Looking at our faces that were filled with mixed emotions, he grinned, “What? Are you doubting my skills?”
...Yeah, we do. Our expressions told him the truth. He coughed once and said,
“Actually~ You know~ What are you using to speak right now?”
“...? It’s our mouth of course!” That idiot interjected.
“No, no. I mean, the language~ What language are you using right now?” Charle asked again.
He answered, “Of course it’s--!!”
“...!!”
His voice got stuck in the middle. At the same time, we all just realized that…
“You’re not using your native language, yes?” Charle grinned.
That’s right. I didn’t even realize that we've been using a foreign language all this while.
“B-but, it feels so natural that I didn't feel any difference!” That useless girl cried out.
“...And you’re saying that this is your deed?” I asked.
“Ohohoho~” Charle laughed with a smug expression that seems to be saying ‘praise the great me!’.
Lyra raised her hand and asked, “What will happen when we go back home? Will we still be able to speak again normally? Or is this magic that you speak of permanent?”
He replied, “No, no, no~ At best, it can be said to fall under the category of semipermanent magic. Since you all obviously can’t speak our language, I’ve only used magic to translate the meaning of the words that you wanted to express. That’s why things like ‘teevee’ or ‘seegee’ that doesn’t exist in our world can’t be translated. Also, when you all return home, its effect will automatically disappear.”
Hmm, I must say, this is pretty amazing. Honestly, even though I feel irritated at their irrational kidnapping, I’m deeply intrigued by this magic thing. Perhaps, I might stay here indefinitely…?
“So, what’s amazing about that?” The idiot said that sentence like it was the most natural thing to do.
This is why idiots are idiots. I rolled my eyes at his words, the others also did the same. Fortunately, Lyra was nice enough to provide him an explanation.
“It is very amazing in so many ways. Felix, if you were to study another foreign language, how much time would it take for you to be able to talk fluently?”
“Uhh, probably a year?” The idiot said as he scratched his head.
“That is if you had a teacher and other dictionaries to learn from. Also, it’s only on the level of daily lives. Then, to be able to write, speak, and hear just like a native. How long do you think would it take?” She pointed a book as an example.
‘Introduction to Alchemy’, it wrote. Huh? So this meant that we could also read those weird characters? Hmm, hmm, this magic is even more high-tech than what I had imagined.
“Umm, probably a lifetime?”
“Not exactly a lifetime, but probably more than ten years. Now, somebody shortened that duration into just a moment that doesn’t even exceed a few minutes. Do you think that it’s not amazing?”
“Umm, yeah. It’s very amazing…” His voice kept getting smaller and smaller until it was no different than an incoherent mumbling.
Meanwhile, a certain giant was getting all fidgety out of bashfulness. He said, “Ohohoho~ you’re overpraising me~ In the first place, it only works in certain situations and all I did was improving the magic formation that my predecessors left~”
Lyra replied, “But, no matter what, you’re still amazing for performing this feat, Big sis Charle.”
“Ohohohoho~ You’re such a nice kid~”
Then, the pleasantries continued for a while.
---------
“Alright, since you all are going to learn magic, let me hear your impressions on it,” the princess said.
Having recovered, the idiot naturally answered first, “Magic is magic! A supernatural thing that looks cool!”
His friends smiled wryly at his answer. I rolled my eyes. But, even though it seemed childish, our answers did not differ much from his.
“...Is that so,” The princess glanced at Charle, “Your answers are not wrong, but it doesn’t touch the topic at all.”
“Cough, cough. Let me explain.” Charle put on a serious expression on his face. Seeing that, we picked up our ears to hear what he’ll say next.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Actually, magic is nothing hard~ You just use your mana to do what you want and bam! Magic it is~!” He said with a wink.
“...”
...What? Is this person really a teacher? Look! Even the princess next to you is facepalming, exasperated at your conduct! Your awesome image from earlier was shattered instantly, you know!?
“...Then I’ll explain it. Let us first start with the history of magic, shall we?” The princess dejectedly explained, “Thousands of years ago, the world wasn’t as peaceful as it is now. Giant dragons roamed the continents, lawless demihumans created chaos at every corner of the world, monsters wildly feasted upon humans, and many such atrocities occurred every day. The human race was a race of slaves, suppressed at the bottom of the food chain. Such was the fate of the race that had no other advantages except for the fact that they had extraordinary reproductive power.”
“Eh, but aren’t humans capable of using magic?” The idiot asked.
“They can now~ But at that time, they couldn’t~” Charle replied.
“...?”
The princess said, “It is just like what he said. At the time, magic was something that humans feared greatly. It didn’t even occur to them that they are capable of using magic. Then, suddenly, a group of mysterious humans capable of magic appeared out of nowhere. From then on, magic became widely spread and we were able to fight back the races that previously oppressed us. But, before long, the group disappeared without a trace just like how they came.”
“Where did they come from?” Lyra asked.
“We are also unsure about the details,” The princess shook her head, “However, the fact that we can use magic is true.”
“Yes, yes~ There are many rumors surrounding the group. Some said that they came from another world, passing by coincidentally and took pity on us. Others said that they sacrificed their souls to the devils to obtain the power of magic and taught it to other humans.”
To be honest, there are many too many holes in the explanation and it sounds more like a fairytale than an authentic historical moment. But, since there are no other sources, I’ll just believe in it first.
“Well then, enough of the history lesson. Before I teach you magic~ let’s take a simple test first, yes~?” Charle clapped his hands and the chairs took us flying to the depths of the laboratory.
“Wow…” I leaked out a sigh of admiration. Even though I’ve ridden an airplane before, the sensation of flying with a chair experience is a new one for me. Magic is pretty convenient, huh?
Before long, we arrived in a spacious hall where there is nothing except a pillar in the middle. The pillar spanned 3 meters tall and its width was probably 1.5 meters wide. I’m quite surprised that something like this could exist inside the castle.
“Alright~ We’ve arrived~!” Charle grinned and sent out a wink, “That pillar over there is called, the Soul Testing Pillar~! Just like its name, the purpose of this pillar is to measure up your soul power! Easy to remember right~”
“Umm, why does it need to be measured?” The timid Sophie asked.
The princess replied, “Because, the results will determine if you have the talent for magic along with your aptitudes.”
“Results..? Aptitude? Eh... Does that mean that not all humans can use magic?” This time, it was Lyra’s turn to be surprised.
“Ohohoho~ of course not,” Charle said rather mockingly, “If everybody could use magic, then not to mention the threat of monsters, the human race would probably fall down from the inside first.”
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
“...Let me explain the mechanism,” The princess broke the ice, “The moment you touch the pillar, it will shine in a certain color. Here, we follow the color order of rainbows; red being the worst, and violet being the best. In short, the deeper the color is, the better.”
“Well then, who will be first?” The princess looked at us, and then added another sentence, “Even if your results are unsatisfactory, don’t worry. The kingdom will still take care of you. It’s not like we couldn’t afford to provide for one or two.”
...Was that supposed to be a taunt? I guess not. No matter how nice she is, it seems that the arrogance of royalty is deeply etched into the bones, huh?
“I’ll go,” Brian said with a deep voice.
“Wish you luck, baby~”
“...Don’t need it.”
“Oh my~ How cold~”
Well, enough of it. He stepped forward and then touched the pillar. Moments later, the pillar shined brightly in blue.
Looking very pleased with a wide smile, Charle announced, “Alright~ Blue, High grade~ The next one please step forward~”
...What? We were at a loss for words. Just like that…?
“Hey, you haven’t told me my result yet!” Brian yelled from the pillar, probably out of anxiety.
“What, didn’t I just announce it?” Charle looks confused. Then, the princess whispered something to him before he nods in understanding.
“*Cough*, sorry sorry~ I forgot to explain~ Red and Orange are the color of normal people’s soul. They are only able to use a bit of magic, meaning that they might as well give up on becoming magicians. Yellow and Green are the promising ones. With some effort and luck, they have chances of becoming magicians. Blue and Indigo, given enough time, will definitely mature into high-level magicians. Meanwhile, Violet is very rare, to the point that only one will appear in a century. I don’t need to elaborate further, yes~? They are existences that can’t be measured using common sense. Oh, by the way, the intensity of the light will determine the ‘purity’ of your color.”
...so, this means that he’s got a pretty rare talent huh?
“Oh, I’m pretty good then,” The hoodlum let out a breath of relief.
“I’ll go,” Lyra said. She walked on to the pillar and touched it lightly. The shined in blue, but unlike that hoodlum, it was dimmer.
“Blue, Low grade~ Next!”
“Phew~” She heaved a sigh of relief.
This time, it’s that annoying girl’s turn. She resolutely said, “Wish me luck!”
That idiot shouted, “Go, Sophie! You can do it!”
She took a deep breath and touched the pillar. Just like before, it shined brightly, the difference is just the color. Shockingly, it was Indigo!
This time, Charle and the princess showed up a pleasantly surprised expression.
“Indigo, High grade! Wow~ You got some real talent there, girl~”
“Hehe, thank you,” She muttered bashfully.
When she got back, the idiot smiled, “You’re awesome!!”
She only smiled in response, the red color on her face deepened.
Then, that idiot turned around and asked me, “Do you want to go first, or--”
I replied, “You go first.”
“Alright! Don’t you cry if you can’t surpass me later! Hahaha!” He said confidently. I rolled my eyes at his words. Why is he even treating this as a competition? That said, I’m quite curious as to what color he’s going to get.
He walked on to the pillar and just like everybody else, touched it. The next moment, it shined brightly in blue. Once again, these two outsiders seemed surprised. Just as Charle was about to announce the result, the color on the pillar changed to dim Violet.
This time, all of us were stunned. The most intense changes occurred on the princess and Charle. Their emotions are all over the place.
Judging from ‘that’ around her, she seemed to be genuinely happy. But, as for Charle… what is that? Vigilance and hostility...?
Probably noticing me looking at him, he turned his head to me and with a smile that didn’t reach one’s eyes, he asked, “What is it, baby~?”
“Uhh, you haven’t announced the results yet.”
He slapped his forehead, with an expression that seemed to say ‘I forgot!’ and then said, “Violet, low grade! You’re really wild, baby~”
“Umm, thanks?” The idiot scurried away quickly. When he returned back, he was congratulated by his party as usual. Then, he turned to me and said, “You’re the last! Quickly! I bet you can’t surpass me!”
I rolled my eyes again. Wait, how many times did I roll my eyes this day? Oh well. I walked calmly to the pillar and took a deep breath. ‘I hope it won’t be disappointing,’ I thought. Then, I outstretched my hand and touched the pillar.
It didn’t take a second for the pillar to change color. All I could see was a blinding light in front of me. I closed my eyes and when the light subsided, I turned my body to face them. What I saw was a scene where everyone was left with hanging jaws. ...What?
I asked, “The result?”
In a shaky voice, Charle said, “V-violet, High grade!”
...What? Again, what?
Expressionless, I asked, “Didn’t you just say that only one Violet will appear in a century…?”
Charle’s and the princess’ mouths twitched.
...Bro, do you think we know!? Since when did a violet even appear as a buy one get one free!?
---------
???
In the dark void hidden somewhere, an old man suddenly opened his eyes. The gaze that contained ancientness seemed to pierce through space as he shook his head continuously, “Finally… after waiting all these years… he appeared…”
Seemingly speaking to someone, he commanded, “The one whose arrival I had awaited… Bring him… to me!”
When his sentence ended, several blurry figures seemed to be quickly dispersing from that place, following the order of that old man. Then, the surrounding space trembled as his laughter echoed in the vast expanse of darkness, “Haha...hahaha...AHAHAHAHA…”
“...Soon…” As he said so, he slowly closed his eyes and fell into a slumber once again.