Chapter 101
While Haru slept, Yuna and I decided to watch ‘Frozen 4’ together.
“Will Haru be okay...?”
Even while watching the movie, Yuna must have been worried about Haru after her treatment, because she pulled the blanket up to Haru’s neck and said,
“She’ll be fine. It seems she didn’t take as much of the medicine as we thought.”
“Was Haru really taking medicine that made her smarter?”
“Thought Acceleration isn’t necessarily magic that makes you smarter and better at studying.”
“Really?”
Thought Acceleration had been applied to the area around Haru’s occipital lobe.
Well, that would make it easier to grasp the structure of a magic circle, but it only meant she could see magic circles well; interpreting them was the domain of the frontal lobe.
Her brain had probably been overused to the point of affecting her optic nerves, ultimately causing her to become completely color-blind.
“But it seems Haru’s mother wanted her to do better in school.”
“That’s awful. That’s why Haru’s eyes got hurt...”
“I guess that wasn’t much of a concern to her.”
“It’s such a relief my mom is a good person. But are you going to tell Haru everything honestly?”
“That’s what I’m having trouble deciding.”
Above all, Haru was still young.
She still had a lot of affection for her mother, and when it came to academics, she was a child with a great deal of pride, much like Yuna.
If she realized that her mother had continually pressured her to take illegal drugs, and that this had damaged her eyes, what good would knowing that do her?
I still didn’t know.
“Why don’t you ask Haru’s older sister first?”
“She has a sister?”
“Yeah. But Haru will probably really hate it if you bring up her sister.”
Hmm...
If she had taken it to achieve high academic performance at the academy, there was no reason her older sister wouldn’t have taken it too.
It might be a good idea to contact her through Haru later.
“But you know, I kind of feel proud?”
“Why?”
Yuna grinned so broadly that the corners of her mouth nearly reached her ears.
“It means I’m muuuch smarter than Haru. I took my exams without taking a single one of those pills!”
“Yes, yes, you’re very impressive.”
“Aaaah, but it’s true...! Say it’s true!”
“Aren’t you going to watch the movie?”
“No, the movie’s not that interesting. I’d rather eat snacks and talk with you.”
Judging by the premise, it sounded more interesting than I’d expected. It was the story of Resa, the daughter of Queen Elsa, who had learned only ice magic since birth and happened to encounter fire magic.
The protagonist’s minor act of rebellion after her self-esteem fell from failing to meet her mother’s high standards, and the twist that the person who taught her fire magic turned out to be the prince of an enemy nation...
Even Yuna, who liked princesses, seemed to have her own preferences.
“You’re not sleepy yet, are you?”
“Nope. I’m still wide awake!”
“What am I supposed to do? I’m already tired.”
“No...! Name, you secretly fell asleep earlier, too. If you fall asleep now, I’ll be mad at you.”
“Yaaawn-”
“I really will be mad! I mean it!”
Even though I had used a wand to cast the magic, Alchemist was still a fifth-circle spell.
I wished she would understand that it had consumed a considerable amount of energy, but the spirited child showed no sign of tiring.
I couldn’t very well put her to sleep beside Haru, and with Yuna fiddling with my arms and legs, I decided it was time to set an example.
“Then should I tell you a scary story?”
“A-a scary story...? If I hear something scary, I really won’t be able to sleep!”
“Shh. You’ll wake Haru.”
“No! I’m absolutely not listening!”
“Then all the more reason I have to tell one.”
I immediately moved behind Yuna and sat her down on my lap.
Scary stories were supposed to be told from this close if you wanted them to feel real.
I wrapped my arms around Yuna’s waist and didn’t let go so she couldn’t escape halfway through.
Realizing I had no intention of giving up, Yuna said in a tiny, timid voice,
“Make it as unscary as possible...”
Yuna gripped the blanket tightly, as if she were about to pull it all the way over her head.
“This actually happened to me last week. Listen carefully.
Living in Seoul, it can get noisy even at night, right? I woke up to a car horn. When I looked at the clock, it was exactly 4:44 a.m. I went to the kitchen to get a drink of water, and there was one strange object there?”
“Why 4:44 a.m. of all times...! So what was it?”
“A pair of sneakers. The sneakers that should have been by the front door were on the dining table.
I thought it was strange and went to turn on the light, but suddenly someone covered my mouth from behind, like this!”
“Mmph! Mm-mmph!”
I pretended to cover Yuna’s mouth with my hand. Yuna flailed her arms in surprise. How cute.
“Hey, from now on, eat all the food in the refrigerator. A mysterious voice—I couldn’t tell whether it was a ghost or a robber—said this to me. When I opened the refrigerator, there were apples, pears, and even a radish. So I had no choice but to force myself to eat the fruit without even peeling it. Then, just as I was about to eat the radish, something suddenly started strangling me.”
“Mmmph!”
“My airway slowly closed up, and I couldn’t breathe. I asked why on earth it was doing that to me. Then it said this: Don’t eat the radish! It tastes bad! The radish heard that and felt hurt, wondering why I wouldn’t eat it.”
I took my hand away from Yuna’s mouth. A strand of some liquid—saliva, perhaps—stretched in an arc between my palm and her mouth before snapping.
“Ugh. Is that the end...? Is there more?”
Though trembling with fear, Yuna tilted her head at the oddly abrupt ending.
“Yeah. The radish was hurt. That’s why it’s a scary story.”
“......”
“It really was a scary story.”
“What was that supposed to be?! It wasn’t scary at all!”
“Heh.”
“Name’s gotten weird!”
Apparently it hadn’t been as good as I’d thought; Yuna’s reaction was decidedly lukewarm.
Hic-
“Eek!”
A sudden sound of hiccupping came from beside us, and Yuna and I nearly fell over in surprise at almost the exact same time.
Only then did I notice that Haru, who had been sleeping soundly, was peeking toward us.
“When did you wake up?”
* * *
Haru told us she had woken up around the time I started the scary story.
“That was fun!”
“You thought that was fun? Lee Haru, have you lost your mind?”
“The radish was hurt. So it was a scary story. Heehee. Name, you’re a genius.”
Haru giggled. Seeing her expression look much brighter, I felt a little relieved.
“See, Yuna? She said it was fun.”
“What are we supposed to do if a scary story isn’t scary and is just fun?”
“But you were scared too, drooling all over yourself.”
“I... I was not!”
“Then is this on my hand water?”
“Tch...”
I decided that was enough teasing Yuna, and it was time to check on Haru now that she was awake.
“Can you see colors clearly now?”
“Yeah. I can even see the red light over there clearly.”
She pointed at a scene from the movie being projected by the projector.
Resa, the protagonist, had awakened and was finally setting fire to ice. It wasn’t even some gas hydrate; I couldn’t help applauding a superpower that ignored the laws of physics. Go ahead and take the title of strongest in the world.
“That’s a relief. Taking in so much Aura at once must have made you tired, so you can go back to sleep.”
I checked Haru’s condition with diagnostic magic, and there were no particular additional problems.
Our bodies have homeostasis that makes them return to an optimal state, so now that the artificial inscription formula had been broken, Haru’s body would return to normal as well.
Haru shook her head.
“Are my eyes really okay now?”
“Yeah. There wasn’t anything wrong with them to begin with.”
“Really... I thought I’d never be able to see again...”
Haru still looked around in wonder.
When she asked me how I had done it, I had no choice but to remain silent.
Instead, thinking I needed to warn Haru thoroughly about the medicine, I asked her a question in return.
“Haru, about the medicine your mother gave you. Is there any left?”
“No. That was all Mom had. Even what little there was is probably gone because my older sister threw it all away.”
“It’s medicine that’s really bad for your body, so if you ever find anything similar, you mustn’t take it. You’ll promise me, right?”
“Okay... But wasn’t it just a supplement?”
“Medicine can become poison depending on who takes it. I think your mother gave it to you without really knowing what it was.”
“I’m still so glad I got to see Mom... Thank you... And I’m sorry I shouted earlier...”
This time, Haru turned to Yuna and spoke in a timid voice.
“Seo Yuna.”
“What?”
“Your hair... Now that I look at it again, it’s pretty...”
She must have especially liked Yuna’s vividly colored hair, because she suddenly complimented it.
“Oh, right... Thanks.”
Naturally, Yuna looked flustered.
But judging by how she kept touching her hair, she didn’t seem to dislike it that much.
“Oh, right, Yuna. You said you wanted to try playing this, didn’t you?”
Yuna hadn’t called me from the bathroom earlier because Haru had woken up.
She had asked whether she could try playing the Otamatone I’d mentioned before.
We’d gotten sidetracked and I’d forgotten about it, but I remembered toward the end of the movie and told Yuna.
I took the Otamatone out of the bottom drawer of my desk.
“Wow! This is amazing! So cool!”
She came rushing at me, desperate to touch it herself at least once.
I had been planning to give it to her anyway, but seeing her act like that made me want to withhold it even more.
“Whoa, isn’t this an Otamatone? It was really popular on TikTok a while ago!”
Apparently Haru knew the instrument too. I was the only one who was out of the loop, huh?
“Name, then play us one song!”
“Wait a minute. Is it okay if I record this on video?”
Yuna urged me on, while Haru had already taken out her phone and was thrusting the camera in front of me.
How many camera lenses does that thing have? One, two... five? It wasn’t a fly’s eye, but it was creepy to look at.
“Sure.”
“Can I upload it to TikTok?”
“Then just make sure my face doesn’t show.”
“Heeey, wait a second. Okay, got it. When I say three, two, one, start. Okay, three, two, one.”
* * *
The song Name played for her friends was Paganini’s Caprice No. 24.
She usually preferred slow-tempo classical pieces, but she chose this because children generally liked fast pieces with lots of flashy technique.
Caprice No. 24, with its repeated rapid arpeggios spanning the low and high registers, had more than enough to excite even someone who knew little about music.
After Name finished her piece, Yuna boldly tried playing it too, but she was soon disappointed when it didn’t sound nearly as impressive as Name’s rendition.
Knock knock-
Just as the three girls’ pajama party was getting into full swing, Professor Cheon appeared at the door with a knock.
“Kids, are you having fun?”
““Yeees!””
The two girls sitting companionably on either side of Name answered brightly. With them clinging to her like burrs, it was impossible not to feel that they had grown closer than before.
“I’m really sorry to interrupt your fun, but the neighbors just called to say you’re being noisy. Since it’s nighttime, I’d appreciate it if you could play a little more quietly.”
“Yuna, you heard him, right? Let’s play quietly now.”
“Huh? Why me...? Name, you played just as loudly!”
“When did I? I don’t really remember that.”
Despite Yuna’s protest, Name shamelessly played innocent and cut off her protest.
“Really! Name started it first, I’m telling you!”
“I’ll take responsibility for my friends and make sure they stay quiet. Good night, Professor Cheon.”
“Mmph...!”
Seeing Name not only cover Yuna’s mouth but wrap her up tightly in the blanket, a smile bloomed on Professor Cheon’s lips.
At times like this, even Name was nothing more than an ordinary little child.