Written by Yama (ヤマ)
Translated by Toffee (me)
Shun Tachibana, a math teacher and enthusiast, was someone who prided himself on being perfectly on the straight and narrow. Until one day, he awakened in a fantasy, otome game.
However, the heroine did...
Craig cupped Shun's cheek, rubbing his finger against is slowly. A similar tingle to last night crept up my spine. There was no one around. The morning air felt tense.
"Don't run away anymore."
His golden bangs brushed against Shun's black hair as he bent forward towards him. The corner of his mouth lifted teasingly at him, but his amber eyes pierced straight through Shun.
"Obviously, that's the first thing I avoided...!"
Shun raised his hands in protest, but Craig had already straddled his horse and run off. He couldn't tell him that he would run away if he encountered a wolf. He was so embarrassed and frustrated that he squatted down on the spot.
Once he had returned to his room, his maid, Aria, came to wake him up, and helped him change his clothes, appearing suspicious of his usual appearance.
As for the metal fittings that had been broken in the previous night, Aria took them to the laundry with an exemplary maid's expression that said that she both saw nothing and knew nothing. It would probably return in pristine condition.
The governor arrived at Shun's room ten minutes after Aria left.
"Then I'd like to see your current progress first."
After giving a fine speech to Shun about how excited he was to be Shun's governor, he smiled like a gentleman. Shun's mouth twitched. In other words, he was going to give him a performance test. After spending the night in bed with a wolf, he had a test. It was too much.
"Hm, you are really good at math. Your history and art aren't too bad. Imperialism, astrology, and the other subjects are just barely below average. The problem is your magic. You're at the level of a baby. It's unprecedented."
Shun was accurately cut down by Schweitzer, who looked over the several sheets of test papers, and he dropped down onto his desk.
Although he had expected it since he had never done anything like imperial studies, he hadn't expected his magic score to be so low. It was certainly a practical examination, and he had been told to make fire and was even given tips, but there wasn't even smoke.
When you're reincarnated, it's typical to be a cheat. Since that's the case, why is Shun the only one with such unfortunate settings? While he mumbled and complained unconvincingly, Schweitzer stood up, running his hand over his beard.
"...certainly has almost zero magical powers. I was told that you were at the level of a baby, but even my one-year-old grandchild could beat you in less than five seconds. It's rude to babies. Though, it's possible to do it."
"It's pretty rude to me too."
Shun was twenty-eight, and he was being compared to his toddler grandchild. Schweitzer looked up at his last sentence. Standing up, he guided Schweitzer over to the table that had been prepared with tea.
"You know, magic goes through a variety of processes before it becomes effective. There are two main categories of it. There are those who use their own magical powers, and those who use them with the help of natural spirits and sometimes to a high degree."
Schweitzer lifted the ceramic teapot and poured the tea, covering it with the palm of his hand as the steam rose up from it. He closed his eyes, chanting an archaic word, or spell, and then opened his eyes at once.
Shun's eyes widened. The tea that Aria had brewed was now frozen.
"This is magic using my magical powers."
As if nothing had happened, he handed Shun the frosty cup of tea. Shun turned it upside down, but it was completely frozen so not even a drop fell. Shun marveled at the cup while holding it.
"I think you'll feel a change this time."
It was difficult to explain, but strange words flowed out of the governor's mouth. Unlike before, he couldn't understand the meaning of them at all, but he felt a strange chill and shuddered. His breath turned white. It wasn't his imagination. The temperature in the room had fallen.
"Go ahead."
The tea that was returned to his hands was now in liquid form again, and it was steaming as if it had just been brewed. The temperature of the room had also returned to normal.
"Is this the way to get help from the natural spirits?"
Shun asked, savoring the taste of the delicious tea. Schweitzer nodded. He had never felt any changes around him when Craig and the other members used magic. In other words, they all used their own magic.
"I mean, I don't have any magical powers, but can I use magic in this way?"
"That is correct, Your Highness."
Schweitzer responded respectfully. Was it just my imagination that it sounded more than half sarcastic? At any rate, there was now a possibility that Shun could use magic. It was possible for him to help everyone with something other than numbers.
"Should I remember the spell that Karkarov was chanting earlier?"
His governor shook his head without hesitation.
"I'm just reading the letters that appear inside of me. Turning nature into magic — everyone who uses it has their own language. So I cannot teach you yours."
"Then, how do I use it?"
Wasn't it the work of a demon to lift an animal and then drop it? While Shun was despairing, Schweitzer handed him his graded papers. He looked at the old man's face and hands alternately. There were no corrections on the pages.
What was it that Schweitzer had said about this particular method of magic? Their own language. Rules and formulas in nature.
"Would it be possible to use mathematical formulas to use magic?"
"It's possible."
This time there was no deliberate reverence, and the old man nodded satisfactorily.
*********************** TL Note: Well. I am back! Caught up (kinda) on my classwork! Got A's on those assignments I stayed up super late to do, so hooray! I should probably try to avoid procrastinating too much this time XD
Word Count: 1,602
1. Princess Mononoke reference, for those who don't know it off-handedly:
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
