Tou no Madoushi - Chapter 49

(This chapter has been edited and translated again. If you find any errors you can point that out in the comments.)

Episode 49 - Atreya’s Magic

 

“With magic... a game?”

Lynn was confused by Atreya’s proposal.

“Yes, that’s right. What should I do?”

Atreya ponders with her index finger on her mouth.

“How about playing tag?”

“Play tag?”

“Yes. If you can touch me anywhere on my body, you win. If I can escape to the doorway of the tower, I win, and if I don’t make it to the clock tower by 3pm, you win.”

“...”

“You want to see it, don’t you? The magic of a high ranking mage.”

　Lynn took a look at Atreya’s delicate legs.

　It’s hard to beat her when it comes to magic knowledge, but when it comes to speed, he feels like he has a chance.

　Now it just depends on what kind of magic Atreya uses.......

 

“All right. I’m in.”

“That’s the way it should be.”

 

To be honest, Lynn wasn’t in the mood to play games, but he knew he couldn’t make himself feel better about this lackluster feeling.

 

Maybe seeing Atreya’s magic would change his mind a little.

Regardless, he wanted to distract himself from his problems.

“Go ahead. You can start whenever you want.”

　Atreya spread her hands hawkishly.

 

　Lynn wondered at Atreya’s generosity, and reached out to touch Atreya’s shoulder.

Then, just as he was about to touch her, Atreya suddenly disappeared.

 

“!?”

(Gone? Where?)

 

“Over here.”

 

　He looked towards the voice and saw Atreya waving towards him, with only the upper half of her body growing out of the window glass of the building.

　The lower half of her body seemed to be inside the glass.

(It’s in the glass!?)

　Lynn hurriedly ran towards Atreya and reached out to her, but she disappeared again just as he was about to touch her.

 

“Here, here.”

　Now the body is growing out of the puddle of rain that has just fallen.

(You can even go in the water?!)

 

“Isn’t it amazing? I can get into anything that reflects light and shows my reflection.”

　She moves to the window of another building.

 

　Lynn had to turn his head all around to find Atreya, who was moving at a dizzying pace.

“It takes a lot of skill. You have to accurately capture the reflections of light falling on the water and mirrored surfaces.” she said.

 

While she was saying that, Atreya moved on to another window.

　Then she moved on to the clock tower.

 

“Damn it!”

　Lynn ran towards her.

 

“Oni-san, over here. To the sound of the bell.”

Atreya rides from window to window, surface to surface, while whispering.

 

Lynn struggled to keep track of Atreya as she passed from one to the other in rapid succession.

 

　It seemed as if he would lose sight of her with just a blink of an eye.

(How do I catch this type of person? ....... damn, if only Theo were here, I could borrow his advice.)

 

　--Never leave things to others. You can’t learn anything if you don’t think for yourself.--

　Atreya said, as if she could read Lynn’s thoughts.

　Her voice, coming through the glass, echoed in Lynn’s head like a distant echo.

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this. But I don’t know how to fight this kind of magic.......”

　It was all Lynn could do to react to and follow the shadowy black afterimage as it moved from window to window, puddle to puddle.

 

--Okay, let me give you a hint. I can move from window to window, but I can’t move everywhere indefinitely. I can only follow the path of light. I can’t move unless there is a light exchanged between mirror surfaces. Which means that ......--

 

(Okay. If I can get ahead of you and block the space between the windows, I can ......)

 

　Lynn looked in the direction of the clock tower, the goal, and predicted the next glass or water surface Atreya would move to, and tried to intercept her.

　Then Atreya began to move more quickly than before.

　The black afterimage moved between the glass and the water like an agile beast.

(Huh. So quick!)

 

Lynn was pulled away from her in a flash.

　The speed at which she was moving was much faster than Lynn’s all-out sprint.

　Out of breath, Lynn struggled to keep up with her. If he slowed down even a little, he was sure to lose track of her.

 

--Hang in there. Basic magic should be enough to counter it. This magic is just the tip of the iceberg. If you can defeat it, I can show you something more interesting, a better glimpse of the upper levels of the tower. --

 

“The top of the tower. What’s the use of trying to get to the top of a tower......?

 

-- I used to be just like you. I used to be satisfied with just being a magician, carrying heavy things and making rings glow, but that wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted to be able to use magic in a more advanced way, more freely. That’s why I wanted to go to the top of the tower. Isn’t that enough of a reason? –

 

“That’s it? But why do you have to risk your life? Why do you have to go that far?”

 

　--What has been going on for a long time has a certain weight to it. The mages fighting for the residence of the tower is a history and tradition that has continued for many years. The mages who train in this tower have all fought. They fight to reach the height of the tower to the limit of their ability and talent, and leave the magic they have created in the form of a book in the tower. And then they die. That’s the life of a tower mage. –

 

It started to rain again.

　Naturally, the rain made puddles.

(Damn it. This is going to give Atreya more of an advantage.)

　Lynn complained in his mind. The clock tower was only a few blocks away.

 

--Although I don’t know why this person you speak of was aiming for the upper levels of the tower. If he was aiming for a higher level and ended up rotting away, even if it was only halfway up the path, he should have been happy as a mage. You came here to become a mage, didn’t you?　What is it that you are dissatisfied with and why are you dwelling on it like that? –

 

“I’m worried!”

Lynn shouted.

 

“For us...... there are no guarantees about our future. We don’t even know what tomorrow holds. We are just blindfolded in the dark, wandering aimlessly through the maze. And yet, why are you......”

 

--You’ve become imbued with the values of the academy, haven’t you? --

 

Lynn got his foot caught in a puddle and slipped. He took a splashy fall on the rain-soaked ground.

 

“Tehe”

　As I try to get up, I see someone’s legs in front of me. I looked up and there was Atreya.

“Are you okay?”

Atreya asks in concern.

 

Lynn looked around and before he knew it, they were under the clock tower. It was still raining.

 

“Looks like I won.”

Atreya looked cool as usual.

 

After all that magic, she didn’t look a bit tired.

　The rain was falling only around her, not on her. She seemed to be holding up an invisible umbrella with the power of magic.

　Lynn realized once again that she was far above the rest as a mage.

 

“Haha. No match for you.”

Lynn let out a dry laugh. However, since he had been running and shouting, he felt a little better and refreshed.

“How can I possibly catch you?”

 

“If you can go to a higher level than you are at now and learn more advanced magic, then maybe you’ll be able to catch me.”

The sound of a bell rang out in the background, a sign that it was 15:00.

“It’s time. I should get going.”

　Atreya said regretfully as she walked away.

“I’ll see you later. Lynn. I hope we can meet in the tower next time.”

“I can always meet in Renril and Alfredo.”

Lynn called out to Atreya’s back as she walked away.

But she never stopped.

 

“I can’t go to Renril and Alfredo. My master forbids me to go there. There is nothing of value for me in those two cities anymore.”

 

Next time: Episode 50 “Invitation to the Royal Tea Ceremony”

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