~Chapter 24~
“I’m doing it right, aren’t I? I can use magic now, right?”
Shiz bounced up and down excitedly, completely unaware of what she’d just accomplished.
“To succeed in manifesting this quickly… impressive sense,” Aska muttered from beside her.
“She really is your daughter.”
“Uh, yeah…”
I mumbled a vague reply, trying to stay calm on the outside—but I was freaking out inside.
Did she just manage to use mana already?
After the Duke of Willovis agreed to sponsor me, I was assigned a magic tutor.
I started learning magic officially at age seven, and I first succeeded in handling mana when I was eight.
Even then, that was considered early for my age group.
But Shiz, who’s only six, just did it?
And at the same pace as Aska, no less!
Aska also started using mana when he was around six. While I was still crying in the orphanage yard, he already knew how to use magic.
Jealousy flared up inside me.
Even his teaching is top-notch?
What the heck did he do to get that wild little rascal to this level so fast? Damn it—if Shiz had learned even faster, maybe Aska would’ve…
Wait a second.
Shiz is me. The younger, clueless version of me from the past.
What would happen if that version of me learned magic from the Master of the Dawn Tower and then went back to her original timeline? What if this annoying genius passed down all his techniques?
Magic heavily relies on talent—especially on sensing things.
Aska can see mana flow with his magic eye. That means he could teach Shiz more precisely than anyone else.
My brain was calculating fast.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. A chance to change my entire life. If I keep pretending Shiz is my daughter…
Then maybe Shiz—my past self—could absorb all of Aska’s magical knowledge and someday surpass him.
Just that thought alone tipped the scale of my judgment completely.
I suddenly grabbed the sleeve of Aska’s robe.
“Are you going to keep doing these lessons?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, will you keep teaching Shiz?”
“I was thinking of dropping by whenever I have time. Why? You don’t want me to come?”
I shook my head desperately.
“No! I mean—I really want you to come!”
Aska blinked in surprise. He clearly found my sudden change in attitude strange.
“Just look at her. She’s so happy.”
I quickly added that part in case he got suspicious.
Sure enough, little Shiz was beaming at the glowing mana in her hands like it was the best thing in the world.
“She…”
For a moment, a nostalgic feeling washed over me.
I remembered when just the fact that I could touch mana made me breathless with joy.
“Shiz has always really wanted to learn magic. If you could teach her, it’d be perfect.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I mean it.”
I looked at Aska and gave an awkward smile.
“You told me I should ask you to care. So I’m doing that. And if you want, I’ll pay you too…”
“…”
“Please, take good care of my kid, okay?”
***
Even though I asked him to keep teaching, Aska was the Master of the Dawn Tower.
He might seem carefree, but when work came up at the tower, he couldn’t visit Shiz.
[So I probably won’t be able to come for a while. I’ll contact you again when I have time. Let Shiz know, too.]
His voice came through the earring-shaped communicator. There was a strange hint of regret in his tone.
“Oh, alright. I’ll let her know you can’t come.”
[Should I bring dessert next time? She seemed to really like sweets.]
“What? Dessert? She’ll get cavities.”
[This coming from the person who bought her five whole bags of candy?]
“Hey, that was… there were reasons for that!”
[If there’s anything you want, let me know too.]
“I’m good! You’re busy, so just hang up already!”
I heard the faint sound of him chuckling from the other end of the mana channel. I immediately ended the connection before he could say anything else.
“Seriously, what’s his deal… Since when were we so friendly?”
Muttering complaints about Aska, I suddenly froze as a terrifying realization hit me.
“…Wait. How did I end up chatting with him like this?”
Because I got swept up in the idea of him teaching Shiz magic!
‘Rel, give me your channel code. It’s a problem if you show up at times like today when no one’s around.’
‘Oh—okay, just a sec.’
Aska’s cheerful face when he took the channel code suddenly popped into my head.
‘Was I tricked? Did he trick me?’
Back then, I handed it over without thinking. But looking back, Aska already knew I’d be attending that presentation that day.
He had waited in front of my house on purpose—just to get a reason to ask for my channel code!
Ugh! Aska, that sly jerk!
Shiz tilted her head in confusion as I yelled at the air.
“Do you hate Ash that much, sis?”
“Yeah, I do! I hate him so, so, sooo much!”
“Pfft, liar.”
Shiz turned away with an amused look on her face.
This cheeky little rascal had recently gotten into decorating dolls.
Even though all she did was stick on some eyes and ribbons, it seemed like a fun enough activity for her.
Her tiny fingers were moving all over the place.
‘Well, she did have to share toys with the other kids at the orphanage.’
This was probably her first time playing freely without anyone taking things away or making her share.
After fiddling by herself for a while, Shiz suddenly ran over to me with a bright smile.
“Look!”
She held out two dolls with her little arms.
One was a beige bunny with green bead eyes, and the other was a white puppy with purple buttons for eyes.
“This one’s Ash, and this one’s you!”
Why was she holding him and me side by side?
I almost frowned but managed to keep my face calm. They were just dolls. No need to get mad.
“Nice job. They’re cute.”
“Right? I did good, didn’t I?”
“Do all the dolls have partners?”
“Yep!”
“Then who’s that one?”
I pointed at a doll she had left behind.
It was a fox doll with golden fur, but strangely, its eyes were two different colors—one light sky blue and the other dark blue.
‘Wait a second…’
Looking at it reminded me of someone…
“That one’s the fairy lady! A really pretty fairy sister!”
Since she called it a “fairy lady,” I figured she must be mistaken and dropped my suspicion.
“Okay then, go play with the fairy lady.”
“Heehee.”
As I ruffled her excited little head, the doorbell suddenly rang. Shiz and I turned toward the door at the same time.
“Special delivery!”
A delivery man’s voice called out as a letter slid through the mail slot.
I picked it up and saw the royal seal of Edelheim stamped on it.
“What is it? What’s it say?”
“Hang on a sec.”
I held Shiz’s head down as she stood on tiptoe, trying to peek, and opened the envelope.
The letter contained something unexpected.
“Another presentation?”
To sum it up, the mixed-type airship project proposal had been approved, and I was now required to present it again in front of stakeholders.
‘They want me to do that again?’
Just thinking about standing in front of a crowd made my head throb.
Meanwhile, Shiz kept peeking at the letter until she finally read it and her eyes lit up.
“Whoa! You’re going to the palace again, sis? Take me! I wanna go too!”
“What? No way! You already went last time!”
“If you leave me behind…”
Shiz glanced at the list of forbidden behaviors still stuck to the wall and spread her ten fingers in front of me.
She was blackmailing me—with an innocent face!
I didn’t feel safe leaving her home alone, and I couldn’t ask the busy Aska to watch her either.
“Fine, but you have to be quiet while we’re there.”
“Okay!”
The first time was always the hardest. Now, I’ve gotten a bit bolder myself.
And so, the talking bag would be tagging along to the palace again.
***
The host of this extra presentation turned out to be—unexpectedly—Reyester.
It wasn’t that he suddenly acknowledged Relshiz Baltine.
He had a hidden agenda behind setting up this stage.
