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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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“…You awakened mana?”
“What? This is magic?”
After returning from the bathroom, I explained to Evangeline about the blue mist emanating from my hands. Hearing this, she put on a serious expression and raised her own hand.
Whoosh! A pink mist similar to what had come from my hands billowed from hers.
“This is mana. But how could you, when you’re not even a witch…”
“Um, Eva?”
“Yes?”
“Could there have been something in that fish I ate?”
“The fish from the river? Those are just ordinary fish. The villagers downstream even catch and eat them.”
Evangeline dismissed my theory – if the river fish had such effects, the villagers would have awakened mana long ago.
After my suggestion was shot down, I fell silent, thoughtless. Then an idea crossed my mind.
“If I’ve awakened mana – does that mean I can use magic?”
Evangeline pressed her lips together at my question. But this was more important than anything else. Magic! Real magic!
Isn’t it every man’s dream? Abracadabra, Wing Gardium Leviosa. Using magical spells like something out of movies and cartoons.
And there was one more reason I wanted to learn magic.
‘If I become a mage… couldn’t I break the curse?’
I wanted to see Evangeline’s face.
And magic would be the perfect excuse for that goal.
But Evangeline shook her head.
“…Honestly, I don’t know.”
“What? Why not?”
“A man using magic is completely unprecedented.”
“…Excuse me?”
Wait, what was this nonsense? It was like a bolt from the blue. Men can’t use magic? What is this, magical feminism?
While I was internally cursing this world’s political correctness, she seemed to make up her mind and called out to me with a nod.
“Johan.”
“Yes, Eva?”
“Let’s try it.”
“Try what?”
“Magic. You want to learn, right?”
She tilted her head as if asking if I’d already forgotten. Recalling what she’d just said, I repeated her words carefully.
“Didn’t you just say it wasn’t possible…?”
“Just because I haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. After all, you did awaken mana.”
“Ah.”
I felt foolish for giving up so quickly. I clenched my fist, excited at the prospect of learning magic.
Evangeline seemed to think this would benefit her too, as she smiled broadly. After all, someone who was more slave than assistant might finally become worthy of being called a witch’s apprentice if they could use magic.
Once everything was decided, she acted quickly, showing none of the languor you’d expect from an immortal witch.
“Well then… shall we go to my room?”
“Your room?”
“Yes. Oh – and since you’re formally learning magic now, ‘Eva’ seems too stiff. Call me Master.”
“Yes, understood, Master.”
I followed her up the stairs to the second floor.
Heading toward the witch’s workshop I’d never entered since coming here.
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Leading Johan into her room, Evangeline felt her heart inexplicably racing. A witch’s sensibilities differ greatly from humans’, and witches find showing their research more embarrassing than showing their naked body.
She was no different. The fact that Johan knew nothing about magic didn’t matter at this moment.
“Wow… amazing.”
“R-really? Don’t touch anything though…”
Johan exclaimed in wonder at the various spell books, magical crystals, and mysterious reagents filling the room. It was like a witch’s workshop straight out of a painting.
Now it finally felt real that she was a witch. Though he’d seen her use magic several times, appearances mattered more than one might think.
As Johan looked around the room, Evangeline handed him a book, which he quickly accepted.
“What’s this…?”
“Introduction to Magic Theory. It contains the basics of magic. You can read, right? You read that letter before.”
“Probably…”
I couldn’t be certain. After all, I knew this was another world now. They should use a completely different writing system – I still didn’t understand how I’d read that letter.
Fortunately, I could read the text in the book. Some kind of otherworld perk, maybe? I felt relieved as I started reading. However, being able to read didn’t necessarily mean being able to understand.
“Um, Master?”
“What is it?”
“Do I need to memorize all this?”
“Of course. Why? Is it difficult? It’s extremely basic…”
Evangeline looked at Johan with concern, as if doubting his ability to learn magic if he couldn’t even memorize these basics.
Seeing her expression, Johan carefully continued reading.
[Magic is the act of deceiving the world by stimulating the unconscious through a witch’s conscious activity…]
‘What the hell is this nonsense…’
Like reading an incomprehensible textbook, most of the content was beyond my grasp. I could somehow memorize it, but couldn’t understand why it connected the way it did.
Just as memorizing equations doesn’t mean being able to use them freely, Johan couldn’t use magic despite reading and roughly memorizing the introduction to magic theory.
Most people would give up their dreams of magic after hitting this wall, but Johan had Evangeline – a great witch who’d volunteered to be his teacher.
“Having trouble?”
“…Yeah. First off, I don’t even understand how to move mana.”
“Since you’ve already awakened it, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Hold on.”
Evangeline said this while moving behind Johan. She embraced him from behind and grabbed both his arms.
He felt two soft breasts pressing against his back, their tips rubbing against him haphazardly. Johan froze at the heavenly softness.
“Now- try releasing mana like you did before.”
“Y-yes…”
Carefully extending his hands forward as if hiding his swollen lower abdomen, blue mist rose from his hands.
While Evangeline exclaimed in amazement at his quick success, she continued kneading his arms.
“You should feel something like a thin flow inside your arms.”
“A-a thin flow…”
“Yes, concentrate. You can do it, Johan.”
Gulp- As her whispered voice tickled his ear, Johan swallowed hard and tried to focus on the thin flow she mentioned, while her fallen hair tickled his neck.
Unable to concentrate in this situation, Johan simply remained silent. Though most people would have grown impatient by now, Evangeline waited patiently for him to succeed.
Perhaps their long wait wasn’t in vain – Johan finally managed to sense his mana. He also realized that once grasped, it flowed from his heart throughout his entire body.
“…I felt it.”
“Really!? Amazing. I honestly didn’t think you’d manage so quickly.”
“What?”
“This usually takes witches years. Maybe it’s because you first awakened power as an adult?”
Hearing Evangeline’s words, Johan carefully looked down at his hands. Watching the blue mist blazing there, he thought:
‘Am I actually a genius? Maybe I have some SSS-rank magic talent or something?’
His heart started racing at the thought of receiving a cheat ability called “talent” after falling into another world – next would be gathering a harem of women…
But that thought was interrupted as he felt her gaze and looked up.
“Um… Master?”
“−You were just thinking something strange, weren’t you?”
“W-what? No, nothing at all…”
“Hmm~ Really? It didn’t seem like nothing…”
Looking up, Johan finally remembered his original reason for wanting to learn magic. Right, he didn’t need a harem. Wasn’t he learning magic to see her face?
Having succeeded in sensing mana, Johan looked at Evangeline with anticipation about learning actual magic.
“So now we learn real magic?”
“Yes. Now- Johan, use magic.”
“…How do I do that?”
“Hmm?”
Hearing Johan’s question, Evangeline tilted her head as if it was obvious and explained:
“Try using mana like whoosh- boom! fwoosh- pshhh!”
“…What?”
“You know, like pichong! paak! That kind of feeling?”
Listening to her explanation, Johan realized one crucial problem.
While witches are beings who use magic, it’s innate to them.
Just as a bird can’t teach a human how to fly, a witch can’t teach a human how to use magic.
Realizing this, Johan fell into deep despair.
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In the end, I couldn’t learn magic.
“…I’m sorry, I’ve failed as a teacher.”
“No, it’s not your fault, Master. I just lack talent…”
“No, it’s because I’ve never done anything like this before…”
Even for a witch who manipulates magic, not everything was possible. Magic might be versatile, but it wasn’t omnipotent.
However, listening to her words, I noticed something strange and looked at her.
“Master.”
“Yes? What?”
“Then how do witches learn magic?”
“Oh- that’s simple. They suddenly can do it at some point.”
“…They suddenly can do it?”
How is that magic? Isn’t magic supposed to be learned in ivory towers or magic academies, hunched over parchment drawing magical circles?
Having believed in standardized magic like in RPG games, her words were shocking.
“…Then what kind of magic can you use, Master?”
“This is a secret… but actually, witches can only use one type of magic.”
“…One type?”
I tilted my head. One type? Hadn’t she already used several different kinds?
The fluffy bedding was magic, the seasoning that made food delicious was magic, and there was magic that brought fresh air into the cabin.
Yet she only knew one type?
“What exactly is your magic, Master?”
“Want me to show you?”
Evangeline raised her finger. Suddenly, objects around her started floating.
Pointing at the furniture hovering in the air, she smiled lightly and spoke.
“My magic is ‘the magic of controlling love.'”
“…Love?”
“Yes. Right now, I made gravity hate the furniture.”
She snapped her fingers. Gravity returned and everything crashed back to the floor.
However, I just kept mulling over what she’d just said.
‘Making gravity hate something so it floats…’
This was the kind of nonsense that would have Newton spinning in his grave.
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Magic is more complicated then I thought.