"..."
"..."
"..."
At a different time, on a different day—but in the same room—an awkward silence hung over us.
This time, we brought Nina with us, and everything went smoothly. She seemed to really like the flowers here, and she knew quite a bit about them. So, I had a feeling she and Lila would get along well. Even their names had a nice ring together.
Unfortunately, Nina was so quiet that it was hard for them to communicate. It didn't help that Lila was a bit of a recluse, either. Evan had to step in and do most of the talking for her.
And now we're stuck in this awkward situation, with no one quite knowing what to do.
"Lila, all of these flowers... are created with magic, right?"
Evan asked, finally breaking the silence.
I took another look around. The lush greenery was almost overwhelming. It only made sense that it was all created with magic.
"Hmm, I did use magic to support them, but they're not created by magic."
As she spoke, Lila gently caressed a cluster of strange white blossoms, their petals almost like porcelain.
"They grow naturally, but they thrive on mana, which makes them quite troublesome to cultivate."
A wand appeared in her hand out of nowhere. With a slight flick, glimmering dust drifted into the air. The plants stirred, stretching as their stems grew firmer.
Her garden was already breathtaking, and now even more so. It made sense why they were magical flowers. Evan looked even more dumbfounded than before, while Nina, especially, was completely engrossed in it.
"Aren't they beautiful? A sight like this wouldn't exist without magic. That's why I chose to learn it."
She approached Nina, who was still stunned by her magic.
"What about you, Nina? If you give it your all, magic can do almost anything. Is there something you want to achieve?"
"I-I..."
Nina swallowed her own words.
"I don't know..."
"That's fine. Learning magic is also a way of understanding yourself. In time, you'll come to know what your magic means."
Hearing that, Nina's eyes widened, her voice flustered.
"...Y-Yes, thank you so much! Miss Lila!"
"M-Miss Lila!? Ahem… there's no need to thank me. You'll be my apprentice from now on, so it's only natural I guide you in magic."
What a speech. Must have spent a while thinking about it, huh? Only now did I realize how socially awkward they are, both Lila and Nina.
It would be great if they could get along well as mentor and apprentice.
***
The stairs clanked and rattled with every step. I stood in front of the door and carefully opened it.
The interior was much brighter than usual, so she was probably studying. Better not bother her. It wasn't just intuition, but experience. Sometimes, you don't need words to know when someone wants you gone.
Still, I was curious—about magic. About her magic, to be exact. With nothing better to do, I ended up listening to Lila's lecture for the rest of the day. She covered a lot of the fundamentals, though I barely understood any of it.
I had seen her using magic before. A lot, in fact. And yet, I still don't know what she thinks about magic.
So I stood outside her study, peering in. No matter how many times I'd seen it, it was still as impressive as ever. Stacks of books and papers lined the walls. That in itself wasn't unusual, but the thought behind their placement was almost insane.
I didn't know the exact details, but I understood the basics. The books near the entrance were her personal notes and to-do lists. The rest were arranged by importance and relevance. Everything was sorted, even by date, so nothing ever went missing. She even had a handwritten guide to her system, in case she forgot. Though honestly, I was probably the only one who ever used it.
-Scritch, scritch, scritch…
The sharp scratch of pen on paper. It could go on for hours when she was focused.
"Sigh. It's not like she'd say anything anyway…"
"Say what?"
Her sudden call caught me off guard. I turned back cautiously.
The sharp scratch of her pen continued. Eirlys didn't even look up.
"Well, I was kind of curious about magic today, but you don't usually answer my questions, so…"
"That's because all of your questions were nonsense."
"...Fair, but couldn't you take them a bit less seriously?" I barely know anything about magic, after all."
"As a mage, I could never take anything related to magic lightly."
We fell into an awkward silence. Well, this was nothing new, really. But just as I was about to leave in resignation, Eirlys spoke up again.
"...Cain, why are you suddenly interested in magic?"
"I met a mage named Lila yesterday, and I learnt a bit about magic from her."
"I see. And what did she tell you?"
"Uhh... she told me about the meaning of mage's stars, and how magical plants grow?"
"So she told you nothing about magic, basically."
"Um..."
Not really, I couldn't understand much of what Lila said, even though Nina could follow just fine. But I guess that's the difference between having gone through Enlightenment and not.
"Cain, do you know exactly what mana is?"
"As far as I know, it exists naturally everywhere, right?"
"To be precise, it is in the air. You breathe it in every day."
"Wait? Really?"
So I've been breathing in mana this whole time? Has my body been changing without me noticing?
"Cain, having mana is meaningless if you are not a mage."
"Makes sense... Wait, how do you know what I was thinking?"
"You're more predictable than you think."
"...I guess."
"Then, what do you think mana is to a mage?"
"...A resource to cast magic?"
"That's overly simplistic."
How would I know? Everything I know about mages comes from random RPGs I've played.
"Cain, think about it. What is the difference between mages and ordinary people?"
Only mages can use mana… right? But why? Mana is everywhere, and yet, Eirlys clearly cannot freely cast spells as many times as she wants. Why is that?
"Just like we need lungs to breathe, what organ do you think absorbs mana?"
I looked up at Eirlys. She had stopped writing at some point and was now staring straight at me. My body tensed up involuntarily.
A mage's most important body part...
"...Is it the brain?"
I made a wild guess. One I thought made the most sense.
"Correct. And?"
"…Are mages' brains that different from normal people's?"
"Biologically speaking, no. You know of Enlightenment, right?"
"Yeah, someone I know just went through it."
"Can you see the difference then?"
"Ah... I think I get it now."
Evan said Nina had been interested in magic and studied it for quite a while, but only recently did she go through Enlightenment.
I guess that's the difference. You learn about the world around you, and eventually… you can use magic. I guess that's basically it.
So that's why Eirlys studies so much. She's been training as a mage all along. And here I thought she was just overly studious.
"Why would you think otherwise? Is it because you are from another world? I wonder what they taught you over there."
…No matter how many times she did it, I still felt uncomfortable being read like a book.
"So you get headaches if you cast too many spells? Is that what you are saying?"
"Much worse."
I see… so it's not a mana problem. Mages do use mana to cast spells, but they're really limited by their mind, not the mana itself.
"Then what about magic? You always seem to chant something when casting them. How does that work?"
"Cain, I'm not planning to teach you magic."
"It's fine. I don't think I could learn magic anyway. Honestly, I didn't even expect to learn this much from you today..."
"...Think of it as a favour from me. You have helped me much."
Oh, right. While we worked as a party to take down demonbeasts, everything went to Eirlys. The silvers, materials, and such. It was my decision not to take anything at all.
Eirlys initially couldn't believe me, always asking if I wanted anything. But lately, she had started to accept it. From her perspective, I must be utterly baffling.
But I'm just trying to repay a huge debt, one I owed a lifetime ago.
-Scritch, scritch, scritch…
Eirlys focused on her work again. Being a mage must be hard, always honing her mind like that.
For a moment, I looked at her, then admired her library again. Really, no matter how many times I saw this—Eirlys in her study—I couldn't help but feel a quiet admiration.
...But then, a question came to my mind. One I heard just earlier today.
"Eirlys, mind if I ask another question?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you learn magic?"
"..."
The sharp scratch of her pen stopped abruptly. Eirlys didn't even look up.
"..."
"..."
I think I hit a sore spot. Again.
I just stood there and looked at her for a long while, unsure if I should even look away.
"...Sorry, I'll go now—"
"I don't know."
Huh?
"..?"
"Cain, I'm not sure why I learned magic in the first place."
Then, there was nothing. She didn't elaborate. She was deep in thought.
When I finally left, it was already about midnight. Angela was somehow still awake, saying she was worried.
I did not have a good dream that night.