lucy merill (3)
Fallen leaves bounced with every step I took.
I was wandering around the mountain as if I was half-floating, and when I came to my senses, I was already halfway up the mountain.
I sat at the top of a vaguely visible coniferous tree and looked down at the mountain. The colors of the forest, which were once colorful, have gradually subsided.
The late fall leaves disappear one by one, and the mountains prepare to welcome the next season.
The girl looks blankly at the sky.
I sniffle and take a breath, and sticky moisture sticks to my lungs.
“Is it going to rain?”
I repeated it quietly. It feels much more youthful and pure than my original voice.
A girl with a quick turn of mind becomes aware as soon as she hears her own voice. Ah, this is a dream.
I lowered my head and looked at the outfit I was wearing now, and it wasn’t the academy uniform I usually wore, but an old blouse I wore when I was walking in the mountains a long time ago.
The scenery you see is also not Aken Island.
The Rameln Mountains in the northern part of the empire where I spent my childhood. An old cabin can also be seen between the spreading tree branches.
What is the reason why I dream about my childhood now?
I’m not a girl who thinks deeply enough to analyze such things. However, if it is a dream, I want to recall good memories.
What comes to mind is the owner of the cabin in that scene.
He has a bushy beard, fine wrinkles, and a stooped back, but he is at heart upright.
He calls himself an academic, but is also a top-notch magician. The only things I usually do on that subject are chopping firewood, reading a book while sitting in an armchair, or playing a musical instrument while staring blankly at the fireplace.
These are all trivial things.
When a girl was just born into the world, the archmage was already in the twilight of her life. What kind of life he has lived is completely unknown territory for the girl.
While I’m dreaming of old times, I’ll just look at that old man’s face. With that thought in mind, the girl lightly strengthens her legs and kicks the tree.
The sound of the wind cutting through the sky and the fluttering of clothes beats on my ears.
The girl quickly jumped up and reached the front of the hut, then naturally rolled up and landed.
The sight of that old cabin makes me feel like I’ve returned to my hometown.
When I look at the pretty window on one side, I see shadows fluttering around. It is not difficult to picture the back of the old man sitting in a rocking chair in front of the warm fireplace light, waiting for the girl.
The girl walks slowly and approaches the hut. For some reason, I feel excited, which is unusual for her.
– Fighting. Tuk. Tuk.
However, there is a fact that the girl overlooked. The humid air that had always made my chest feel damp. As if to recall the foreshadowing, rain soon begins to pour down.
“… ”
The rain suddenly became thicker and drenched the girl. Clothes stick to the skin because of the damp moisture. A few strands of hair stick to the cheek, showing off their presence.
The girl looked up at the pouring rain for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the cabin and swallowed her breath.
The lights are off in the cabin that seemed cozy just a moment ago. The light from the bonfire visible through the window disappears in just a few seconds.
The eaves are full of spider webs, and even the neat doorknobs are covered in dust.
This is a nightmare.
Even if you realize it, you can’t help but feel tired.
I quickly opened the door and looked inside the cabin… Someone is still sitting in the rocking chair.
Dark interior. The old man turns his head little by little through the humid air.
It is a skeleton without any flesh. He grits his teeth and looks at the girl.
As time passes, the bones have already crumbled, and centipedes crawl through the holes where the eyeballs should have been.
He continues gritting his teeth and then whispers to the girl. Why didn’t you save me? Why did you pretend not to know me when you had the chance?
There is no change in the girl’s expression. As always, I stare at the skeleton with blank eyes.
The skeleton curses the girl.
Don’t think that the things around you will last forever. One day, like me, you will crumble away in the ravages of time and you will be left alone, counting the days until you die. You know very well that loss comes without any warning.
After saying that, the sight of the teeth clinking together and stopping looks like a creepy smile.
The girl still doesn’t move. Little by little, the skull crumbles into powder and disappears.
The skeleton completely loses its shape, and only the clothes it was wearing remain, flopping down on the chair.
-Woe!
Lucy opened her eyes and raised her upper body.
“… ”
The location is room 203 in the closed building.
The bachelor’s department is making every effort to restore Ofilis Hall, but it looks like it won’t be possible to move back in until at least next semester.
Until then, the old abandoned building has been decorated and used as luxuriously as possible. Still, it couldn’t be as luxurious as the Ofilis building before Banpa.
Since the situation was unavoidable, most students had no choice but to accept it.
Still, the excellent workmanship of the Ofilis Hall maids was not lost, so the public opinion was that it was tolerable overall, except for the building being a bit bad.
Lucy wiped away the cold sweat, kicked off the blanket, and got up. After that, he immediately opened the window. The cool early morning air blows away the cold sweat.
The outer part of the living building and the entrance to the teaching building come into view.
The dormitory curfew has already passed. It was late at night, but Lucy quickly put her witch hat on and jumped out of her window without even taking off the frilly nightgown the maid had forced her into.
A huge amount of magical power is released throughout the body, and high-level spatial magic is manifested in an instant.
I don’t know why, but Lucy wanted to go to the northern forest right now. Lucy reached the northern forest in an instant and landed in front of an old cabin.
“… .”
I took a deep breath and glanced inside the window. In front of the flickering fireplace light. I saw Ed Rosstaylor sleeping in a shabby bed, covered with a shabby blanket.
Lucy let out an inexplicable sigh of relief and sat down, leaning against the outer wall of the cabin.
As you stay there, you can see the entire camp view at a glance. Since Lucy has experience lying down and napping in quite a few places, she can immediately notice the camp losing its vitality little by little.
The amount of firewood saved does not increase further. The same goes for food. One of the feet of the workbench is broken, but it is not repaired. The smoker hasn’t been working for a while. All traps that should be installed in the middle of the forest are on display at the camp.
The owner of this camp is now… They are preparing to say goodbye to the camp.
Strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with Lucy. Still, Lucy felt empty, so she sat alone with her legs wrapped around him and looked up at the sky.
The tracking sky also looks down on Lucy.
“Is it going to rain?”
There was no one in particular who could respond to those calm words.
* [Magic ability details]
Grade: Skilled Magician Specialty: Elemental Common Magic: Fast Casting Lv 9 Mana Detection Lv 9 Fire Elemental Magic: Combustion Lv 15 Wind Elemental Magic: Wind Blade Lv 14 Intermediate magic is now available for acquisition!
Spirit world magic: Spirit sensitivity Lv 13 Spirit understanding Lv 13 Spirit manifestation Lv 3 Sensory sharing Lv 3 Spirit slot: Lower fire spirit mug Sensitivity level: 3 Elemental food efficiency: Good Unique skill granted: Protection of Fire (Temporary fire immunity explosion) Explosion ( Lesser Explosion Magic)
Increase fire magic ability Spirit Slot: Empty New Spirit Slot! : empty
“I think I will soon be able to make a contract with a lieutenant spirit, Ed. Merylda said she wants to sign a contract with Ed quickly, but if things continue like this, it might really be possible.”
The day has become much colder.
The evaluation at the end of the second semester is also starting soon. I had already applied for the undergraduate scholarship program, but I still wanted to get a merit scholarship, so I wanted to devote some time to my studies.
However, since training in other areas should not be lax, the importance of time management eventually surfaced again. The good news is that there are good teachers in the field of elemental science.
“Ed’s growth is really amazing. “My spirit sensitivity is already higher than that of a typical beginner spiritist, and my basic mana sensitivity has also risen considerably.”
It was a car used to practice spirit magic while sitting on a tree stump in front of a crackling bonfire.
Under Yenika’s coaching, I repeatedly mastered the manifestation of spirits, and also learned to share senses with Mug until I became proficient at it.
It is said that an experienced spiritist can share all five senses with a spirit, but there is actually no need to go that far… It is said that it is effective to train people to share only the most important perspectives.
Sensory Sharing is not very efficient in mana, and its effectiveness decreases rapidly when it goes beyond a certain distance, so even Yenika is not used often unless it is needed… It doesn’t feel a little bit like a villain, but it does exist.
Still, you should learn everything you can.
[It’s rewarding to gain experience by consistently giving spirit consciousness to various objects. Master Ed. ]
Mug sat on Yenika’s shoulder and jumped around. But she doesn’t look all that happy. Rather, it looks like he’s squirming as if he’s worried about something.
“that… . Lucy… I did something wrong… ?”
Yenika is somehow smiling, but… No matter what, I can’t help but be concerned.
I don’t know why she’s doing that, but since morning, Lucy has been clinging to me and staring at everyone who approaches me with wide open eyes.
Normally, Lucy wouldn’t move unless the sun was high in the sky or she was hungry. But today, somehow, I came to the corner of the camp early in the morning and sat down on a bed.
Usually, the maids at Ofilis Building grit their teeth and maintain a neat appearance, but today, they must have escaped the dormitory in the wee hours of the morning, wearing only a light frilly dress that looks like pajamas. There are definitely days in life when you feel diligent for no reason. I guess even that sweet Lucy has one or two days like that a year.
I was just thinking about it and going about my business, but suddenly he grabbed my collar and started following me around.
– ‘… What?’
– ‘… ‘
If you look at them and ask if they have something to say, they just keep silent with blank faces. However, he doesn’t let go of his collar.
I spent the morning in such a strange state that I couldn’t even grit my teeth and shake it off.
As it was a long-awaited weekend, I decided to train early in the morning.
Now that I had a solid foundation for learning intermediate magic, I spent the morning perusing reference books on intermediate magic and wielding my magic here and there.
Meanwhile, Lucy lay down on her stomach on my lap, shaking her feet as if in protest and refusing to fall.
When he eats an early lunch, he clings to the bench, and after that, when he starts teaching himself spirit magic, he sits with his back to the tree stump where I am sitting and stares blankly at the sky.
Weekends are already busy.
Compared to weekdays, which are busy with the academic schedule, you have more free time, so it is a day to catch up on all the work you put off during the weekdays.
When I had free time after school or during recess before going to bed, I didn’t even poop my nose… When there are a lot of things to do and time is running out, I wonder if my persistent obsession is playing a trick on me.
Even then, when someone appears, he suddenly changes his expression and stands erect.
When Ziggs, who was jogging, passes by, he suddenly makes a strange sound and stops me from approaching…
When Belle Maia, carrying neat clothes and accessories, hurries over to him and tries to change him, he surprisingly accepts Belle’s touch with gentleness.
I was wondering if he had eaten something wrong, so I put my hand on his forehead and measured his temperature. Instead of being hot, it was cold.
“I-I apologize if I did anything wrong…” huh… ?”
In that strange state, lunch passed, and by the time Yenika came to help her with elemental arts mastery training, Lucy had become even more alert.
It feels like something is especially hostile towards Yenika… She actually has an expression that seems closer to fear than hostility.
He jumps up in a cold sweat and keeps blocking Yenika’s access… If you ask him to explain why, he just shakes his head.
At the same time, I can’t tell which beat they’re asking me to play because Yenika is looking at me with the intention of biting me as soon as I get close to within a few meters.
Yenika, who had been receiving hostility from Lucy for several days already, was just feeling unfair.
There’s something about being treated in that manner that makes her angry, but because Jenica’s nature is kind to begin with, and because there’s something about Lucy that gives off an unusual sense of discomfort, she just doesn’t know what to do.
“I guess I really ate something wrong. “He’s a temperamental kid by nature, so even if things continue like this, he’ll quickly get angry.”
I had no choice but to say that.
In the end, Lucy clung to my back like a cicada and was glaring at Yenika.
The way he wraps his arms and legs and stares at him as if telling him to go away, looks like a kid trying to stop someone from taking his things.
Yenika tilted her head a few times with an anxious face, then sighed and left the camp.
*
Lieutenant fire magic ‘one point explosion’
It is a magic that evolved from the ignition spell, and is a mid-level magic that causes a small explosion by concentrating magical power on the point of view and holding it tightly.
Firepower and scale are ultimately proportional to the amount of magical power, so depending on the user, there were cases where it ended up causing burns, and in some cases, archmages even destroyed buildings.
It’s a spell that seems very trivial compared to the ignition spell, but it’s not a mid-level magic for nothing. The advantage of the one-point explosion comes from its overwhelming versatility.
Ignition magic, which has a long casting time and clearly shows flames spreading, is easy to deal with.
However, the impact of the ‘one-point explosion’, in which flames bloom instantly from the targeted point, is overwhelming, and if you do not quickly catch the flow of magic power, you will be struck in an instant without any time to react.
“Can’t you learn the basics even if you spend all day…?” “I can definitely feel that the difficulty level of learning increases significantly starting from middle-level magic.”
Since it has almost no magical talent, it takes quite a while to learn mid-level magic. Is it still like this even though I did some preliminary study during the elemental science lecture?
Even though I’ve been training all day using the most efficient training method, my name doesn’t appear in the skill window, so I’m exhausted at this point.
The sun was already setting, but I felt empty because I didn’t seem to have achieved anything.
“Ugh… “Let’s eat something.”
I closed the book on elemental science and threw it around.
And then he lifted the lump of luggage on his knees.
Lucy couldn’t bear to leave, so she sat on my lap all day while I read a book on elemental science and studied magic flow.
“… Haha… !”
Lucy stretched out her tiny body, and then spoke again with a blank expression on her face.
“… “I’m hungry.”
“Go eat something. Meal time for the Ofilis Hall students will soon end.”
“huh.”
Surprisingly, Lucy stood up without much resistance and tried to leap in the direction of Ophelis Hall, but suddenly adjusted her posture.
He looks at me while standing straight on the tree stump and then asks.
“Hey.”
“why.”
“What are you going to do when I go?”
I really think it’s a big deal that Lucy would ask such a question.
While I was gathering firewood for the bonfire to eat, Lucy looked at me intently.
“I have something to do after eating.”
“to do?”
I quickly turned my head and looked towards the simple wooden table. Above it is the key to the secret safe that Professor Glast handed over.
Gradually, the bachelor’s investigation was completed, and the entrance to the secret laboratory that Professor Glast had created without permission was also closed.
I was thinking of entering the library through the hole Lucy had drilled.
Once you enter, what is the condition of the library? I had to check what was inside the safe.
It’s too late to put it off any longer, so we’re planning to move tonight.
“Before that, I should check the bonfire and fireplace. “The temperature may drop below freezing at night, so if you do something wrong, you could literally freeze to death.”
It’s time for winter vacation.
Even though I put on a lot of clothes, my breath starts to seep out after the sun goes down. For the time being, I plan to maintain double heating using the flame in the mug. Since there would be no place to use a large amount of magical power right away, it was wiser to save firewood.
If you join DEX, you won’t have to worry about this.
Do you want to join Dex Hall or live in a cabin? The two arms of the scale swing back and forth like reeds. It would be good to set a course of action for the future by at least deciding clearly before the vacation starts.
Lucy seemed to be examining my expression, perhaps aware of my concerns or not…
“Come with me.”
It was such an incomprehensible sound.
