https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/73/
Secret
“I can’t use magic.”
Nerine was wholly confused as she answered Lily’s stare.
“Yes. You told us. However, there is one other thing you have been hiding from us right?”
“Oi oi…. seriously?”
“What do you….”
Nerine blatantly avoided our gazes. Seeing that reaction basically confirmed what Lily was saying, and Ran and Peony groaned. Despite our time finally coming together, another crack was naturally formed.
“There’s no way I can talk about that….”
“I am sure. But if you will not say it yourself, I will tell them for you.”
“Wai-! Just a minute! I’ll tell them myself! If someone else were to bring it up, I’d be so embarrassed I’d die!”
Nerine hurriedly covered Lily’s mouth. Judging by the way the two of them were talking, it doesn’t sound like it’s anything serious at least. That’s a little relieving. But Nerine wasn’t going to win this fight. She’s trying to cover Lily’s mouth, but with the height difference, she keeps having to jump up in order to reach.
“You see, Nerine is….”
“I make adult toys!”
Nerine shouted out loud rather than letting Lily expose her. But none of us had any idea what she was talking about. Even Lily, who looked like she was enjoying teasing Nerine over the secret, was staring at her dumbfounded.
“Um…. no, you are making tools that can cast spells right? I wanted to ask if you can make a tool to cast ice magic…. adult toys?”
“Ah…. no, um….”
Apparently Nerine had made a premature jump. The adult toys are what had made Nerine so desperate, and she just revealed a secret that not even Lily had known.
But considering our current predicament, I doubt Lily would’ve cared about anything besides these magic tools even if she had known.
“So, what’s an adult toy?”
Leave it to Ran to ask the question we’re all thinking.
“I-It’s nothing! More importantly, what did you want to know about the ice magic?”
Nerine forcibly diverted the conversation away from her slip up. Priority-wise, our anti-dragon plans are more important than some adult toys, so none of us decided to press her on it.
“Ah…. yes. Dragons seem to prefer warmer areas like near volcanoes. By that line, we can assume they are most likely weak to the cold. Thus I want us to try using ice magic to restrict its movements.”
“I see!”
Nerine and Lily ran off into their own world, talking about magic and tools and a bunch of other stuff I had no idea about.
“Hey, just hold on. Can you tell us what you know Lily-san? Nerine can’t use magic, can’t she?”
“Oh…. of course. My apologies. Think of the showers in the dorms as an example, but anything we use that allows anyone to use magic themselves is considered a magic tool. They are usually quite expensive and not generally available. Nerine might not be able to cast any spells, but I know for a fact she is able to create magic tools.”
“I can build it up, so all we’ll need is someone who can cast magic to charge the tool before we use it!”
Nerine chimed in to Lily’s explanation.
So our current plan is to have Nerine make some kind of weapon that can cast ice magic, and wielding that weapon will be her role in the battle. That put Nerine on corralling duty for the dragon, me on support, Peony on healing, and Lily and Ran doing the offense.
“Then we better put double time on that order. The sooner we have that, the more time we’ll have to coordinate before the second screening.”
Ran seemed optimistic about the fight now and was wearing a huge grin.
“Not so fast. I still can’t trust you. Why would you hide something this important? How do I know you aren’t going to betray us again? I’m not going to end up as dragon food just because something ends up going wrong at the last minute.”
It only makes sense that Peony would be concerned. It hasn’t been a full day yet since the kidnapping incident, so the sudden introduction of magic tools looks out of place. I can’t help but feel like I’m part of this though and couldn’t stop myself from injecting my own thoughts.
“Don’t be too hard on Nerine, Peony. Yesterday, was a lot, so it can’t be helped that she didn’t mention anything about this. Right Nerine?”
“No! I’m just an idiot, so the thought of using magic tools never came to me!”
Nerine’s smile was shining, completely unaffected by the accusations Peony was throwing at her. How to say, I’m happy that the usual Nerine is back with us, but I don’t think any of us know how to answer her like this.
“Hmph! Well at least you have a job now Liffy! I’ll be waiting for the rest of you over there, so call me when the magic tool is done!”
Upset, Peony’s cheeks puffed out as she stomped on over to some of the shade underneath one of the garden’s trees.
“What’s with her….”
“I do not think it can be helped. It is hard for a healer to showcase their talents, and with Liffy and Nerine both receiving their own active parts in the hunt, she must be afraid she will be the only one to not stand out. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have the dragon chew on Ran for a little bit.”
“Why me!?”
Lily joked around to stop me from thinking negatively about Peony, but it’s not like I don’t understand her feelings on this. You’re useless. A burden. As long as you look at a situation objectively, anyone can tell whether those words apply to you even without anyone saying it.
For now, we decided to kill some time until Nerine finished making her magic tool, so Ran, Lily, and I began testing to see how far my dance’s effect could reach.
Standing on one edge of the garden, I began performing the Step Dance while Ran and Lily ran to the opposite side.
They looked like they were practically flying over the bright green lawn, but just as they reached the other side, I saw both of them trip over and fall into the dirt.
It didn’t take them long to get back to me after that. There was dirt smeared all over their faces, so that fall must’ve been a nose-first dive into the ground.
“Are you two okay?”
“Y-Yes. It was just a small fall. The range appears to be about the same as the diameter of my garden. It is wider than I thought it would be.”
I’d guess it’s about a hundred meters. At the very least, I should be able to stay away from most of the fighting while still buffing my allies.
“It’s way more amazing than I ever heard. Why does it lose so badly to mages?”
There are a lot of old souls who’d love to hear you say that. Personally, mages had already replaced dancers by the time I was old enough to know any better.
“It is impressive, but you cannot move while you are dancing right? Let alone anything else. Dancers would also make good targets on the battlefield. The exaggerated movements would be sure to draw a monster’s attention, and a dancer would be openly showing themselves as targets for archers in a battle against humans. I would assume those would be the reasons.”
Lily answered Ran’s question with a serious answer. We don’t need to seriously consider each of her ideas, but they all sound right on their face at least. The decline of dancers began way back during my Grandma’s time, and it’s only gotten worse as time’s gone by.
“Besides that…. nobody is going to have the energy to dance for hours on end. You can also only perform one dance at a time, so a dancer can only give one buff at a time. Mages are definitely better.”
It’s sad saying this myself, but that’s just the way is going. A mage’s dominance is overwhelming. But it’s exactly because we’re a team without any mages that I am able to sell myself. This is probably a great example of what it means to turn a pinch into an opportunity.
“Mages sure have it nice. I’m jealous”
“It takes two or more people to do what a mage can do on their own….”
Ran stared off towards parts unknown as we kept talking about what a mage can do. There are plenty of jobs out there that are going to give preference to mage candidates versus ones who can’t do any magic. Lily seemed to find her inability to use magic frustrating for her part as well, and she ended up agreeing with Ran.
“Wait. Who are we going to get to pour magic into Nerine’s magic tool when she finishes it?”
“One of my maids can do it for us. Or perhaps we should ask one of the two idiots soliciting in front of my gate? Well, I doubt they will be much help.”
I thought it was weird how direct Lily was being with her insult, but when I looked to see where she was talking about, I did actually find two idiots outside her gate. Koha and Sawa. For some reason they are just standing there with a roaring bonfire between them.
I guess Lily did ask them to show up at the mansion last night, so good on them for dutifully showing up?
“You two, there’s no reason why you need to boil tea in a place like this. We spoke together last night, so I am willing to treat you as guests.”
“No need. I can make my own fire. Want to have a drink with us?”
Koha brushed off Lily’s words with a laugh. Sawa meanwhile was bullied by the other servants when she worked here, so she probably doesn’t want to go in there for other reasons.
“Sure, I’ll take some.”
The three of us gathered around and took a seat next to Sawa and Koha. The cups they gave us weren’t very pretty, but it’s nothing I’d mind.
“Even so, this is a pretty large blaze for so little fuel.”
Lily stared into the flaming bonfire in front of us.
“It’s just some simple magic. Anyone can use spells as easy as….”
Koha’s smile was beaming, and he clearly didn’t mean anything bad by his words. But before he could finish his sentence, Lily and Ran’s sharpened gazes shut him up. Any kind of fun, teatime air became exceedingly heavy.
Koha understood he had stepped on a landmine, and he tried escaping by hiding his face behind his cup.
So Koha can apparently use magic, and he takes that ability for granted. I can understand why Lily and Ran would feel like he was making fun of them.
The problem was that the bloodlust Lily and Ran were throwing towards Koha had to pass through me to get to him.
“A careless gaffe on your part I’m sure. Nothing to worry about I suppose. But we do have need of your ‘mundane’ abilities just the same. A job.”
Lily drew back her bloodlust, but her smile remained emotionless as she drew the siblings in.
Experimental Translations 