Chapter 47 - Chapter 46: The Scary Roommate
[From Messerite's Perspective]
Wind Month, 2nd Week, Wind Day.
Messerite sat facing his desk in the dormitory room, glancing back over his shoulder.
Mika, the person sharing the room with him, held a bracelet on his left hand and was writing something on a piece of paper with his right hand.
Messerite quietly peered at Mika from behind.
The paper was covered with symbols, and some shapes were drawn here and there.
No matter how much fun it might be, every day after school ended, Mika would hold that bracelet and write something on paper, except when eating or bathing.
He had been doing this for a whole month now.
Previously, he had held a talisman that had been appraised as "cursed" every day and written on paper in the same way.
This bracelet he holds now is stored in the "top drawer of the chest," so it can be imagined that it is something dangerous, just like that talisman.
Honestly, Messerite couldn't help but think, "Is this guy crazy?" but usually, Mika is perfectly normal.
Since the manipulation of magic power learned at the academy relies heavily on sensation, it is difficult to explain to others what one feels, such as "this" or "that," or "this" or "that."
But when Messerite clumsily conveyed that fuzzy feeling, Mika listened earnestly and asked various questions.
As he answered those questions, parts he hadn't understood well became gradually clear, and regardless of whether it was the correct answer, he reached a satisfactory understanding within himself.
Basically, Mika is very smart.
By pointing out exactly what was unclear in Messerite's mind through verbal explanation alone and digging into that part, he could arrive at the answer himself.
To make this happen, he guided the conversation by narrowing down the points and throwing out questions.
Even Rimliche, who had been troubled by not being able to sense magic power, he pinpointed why she couldn't sense it and finally taught her magic sensing.
Even the teachers Dagny and Naporo had thrown up their hands in despair.
Yet, this Mika held a suspicious bracelet every day, wrote incomprehensible symbols, and then sat still again.
Messerite could not decide whether the person sharing the room was a "genius" or a "madman."
(...Well, he's not a bad guy.)
Shortly after entering the academy, there was trouble between Murt and Polnard.
Murt was large in body, and his rough personality was evident just by looking at his face.
It was foolish to get involved in trouble on your own.
Messerite thought so.
So he had no intention of trying to mediate; he planned to just watch from the sidelines.
This thought itself was quite normal. If you stick your head into trouble, you could get cut down.
Of course, it wouldn't come to that for a fight between children, but basically, everyone would think they don't want to get involved in trouble.
Sometimes, trying to help with good intentions leads to being held a grudge.
If so, it's better not to get involved from the start.
But Mika was different.
He stuck his head into that trouble himself.
(Oh my, this guy is dumber than I thought.)
Messerite thought that.
They had only just met shortly before the academy started, and he had thought this guy would think and act a bit more carefully.
As expected, Mika got punched by Murt.
(See? Just as I thought.)
Messerite laughed inwardly at Mika's foolishness.
I hope this will teach him a lesson, at least a little.
He hoped that this would be the opportunity for Mika not to be targeted by Murt.
Since they were roommates, if Mika was targeted, he might get dragged in too.
(I don't want to be caught in the crossfire.)
He was thinking such things.
But in the next moment, something happened that made Messerite doubt his eyes.
Murt, who should have grabbed Mika by the collar, was sent flying.
(...Huh?)
He had never seen a person fly several meters.
Mika had sent someone a head taller than himself flying.
As the heir to a trading company, Messerite had traveled to various towns with his father and seen many people.
He thought he had developed a decent eye for people, but that confidence was shattered into pieces.
He never imagined that Mika, who was far smaller than himself and looked almost like a girl, was on the side of "having violence."
Mika possessed a "power" that easily brushed aside Murt, whom Messerite thought he didn't want to get involved with and didn't want to target him.
After that, Mika often did things Messerite couldn't even imagine.
When he started pretending to be an adventurer, Messerite really wanted someone to swap rooms with him.
One day, Mika suddenly returned to the dormitory in tatters.
Even when Messerite asked what happened, it seemed Mika couldn't hear him; he glared at the floor with a gleaming eye and muttered something.
Sometimes he was locked away in the library at the school building reading documents, sometimes sitting on a chair thinking, and sometimes trembling and grinding his teeth.
Messerite was on edge, wondering when Mika would start going wild.
Honestly, he seriously thought it would be better to be roomed with Murt than to be with Mika in this state.
Although that state resolved and returned to normal after about a week, Messerite genuinely became scared of Mika, thinking, "Is this guy really okay?"
However, Mika was not a person who easily hurt others and didn't care about it.
Messerite understood that much.
Whether because of his intelligence or because he was a madman, Mika's way of thinking was so outlandish that Messerite couldn't keep up with him.
The most prominent example was that talisman from the other day, and this bracelet now.
He didn't know why he liked to get hold of suspicious things, but for now, he decided to say nothing while it was locked in the chest's drawer as promised.
Until there was actual damage...
■■■■■■
Mika was interfering with the bracelet on his left hand using magic power.
It was a "curse" far stronger than the first talisman he had obtained.
The magic power required to interfere was so large that his magic power would run out immediately unless he kept using "Absorb."
Due to the influence of the "curse," just holding it made his hand tremble.
At first, Mika struggled even to interfere with the "curse" of this bracelet.
But if you do something, you gradually get used to it.
The trembling of his hand could be suppressed by using his own magic power to suppress the waves coming from the "curse."
The waves would grind away Mika's magic power, but he would ignore it, pour in magic power, concentrate, and forcibly suppress it.
By doing this, finally, the trembling of his hand stopped, and he was ready to interfere.
It had taken a whole week to reach this point.
Furthermore, the "curse" itself was very powerful and solid.
Just searching for a place to interfere drained his magic power, and to interfere properly, he had to use magic power like creating a "stone bullet."
He had used the magic power gathered by "Absorb" like water and finally managed to challenge this "puzzle."
Mika let out a big sigh, "Phew...", and finally wrote down the spot he had found on the paper.
The paper was already covered with various symbols.
RT, R45?, PL, PS, and so on.
Mika used alphabets and Arabic numerals to write procedures like Rotate (RT), Right (R) 45 degrees?, Pull (PL), Push (PS), etc., on the paper, but there was no way anyone who didn't know his original world would understand.
Since Mika didn't want anyone to know what he was doing as much as possible, he used symbols that wouldn't be understood so that anyone could see them.
Mika thought about how to "loosen" the spot he finally found, but for now, he would just try everything.
Pushing, pulling, twisting, and coordinating with other interferable spots, there was a lot to do.
But for now, he had been able to "loosen" it this way, so he would just continue interfering in the same way.
Except for requiring a large amount of magic power for each interference, there was no particular problem.
What he was doing itself wasn't much different from when he handled the talisman.
When Mika tried pushing with magic power and it didn't budge, he manipulated his magic power to try pulling instead.
Then, that spot "loosened" very easily, and the magic power dispersed into mist.
Mika tried to write "PL" as the procedure, but his hand stopped.
"...Hmm?"
Mika looked at the bracelet.
It looked like just a bracelet.
It was the same even in the "cursed" state.
But the feeling of resistance against the magic power used to suppress Mika's waves was gone.
Could it be...? Mika released the magic power he was concentrating.
His hand didn't tremble.
He didn't feel any waves.
That intense feeling that had been transmitted was gone.
(...Could it be... it's broken...?)
Mika held the bracelet with both hands.
But that didn't tell him anything.
"Umm..."
Mika placed the bracelet on the desk and closed his eyes to think.
The old woman appraiser had said, "A curse cannot be broken."
But this bracelet's state didn't seem like a "cursed" state anymore.
Even if he searched with magic power, he didn't feel like there was "something" at all.
He thought it was empty.
If he showed this bracelet, the old woman would probably appraise it the same way.
But he couldn't show it to the old woman.
"How did you do this! The curse is gone!"
That was bound to be said.
Mika had no intention of telling anyone that the "curse" was broken.
At least, not yet.
He wanted objective proof that the "curse" was broken.
Should he take it to an appraiser other than the old woman?
If they didn't say anything about the "curse," could he consider the curse broken?
(...No, that won't do.)
It was the most reliable and quickest method.
Still, Mika didn't want to take this method.
(This bracelet wasn't obtained legitimately. It's like a side deal. Originally, the old woman should have brought it to the church, but I obtained it illegally. I don't want to take the item the old woman reluctantly gave me outside.)
This was the bare minimum of etiquette for Mika, or rather, a matter of his most fundamental way of thinking.
It wasn't logic.
The old woman knew it was "bad," but still, after Mika begged and pleaded, she gave it to him.
Taking this outside and showing it to other appraisers felt like trampling on the old woman's feelings.
If so, he should honestly show it to the old woman.
He could hear objective opinions, and he should proudly say, "I was able to do this thanks to the old woman's cooperation."
Mika leaned back against the chair's backrest, letting out a sigh, "Phew..."
There, he noticed Messerite peering at him from behind.
"............What are you doing?"
"No... I was wondering what I'm doing."
A strange atmosphere flowed.
For a moment, he thought, "Should I put this bracelet on him?" but that couldn't be dismissed as a joke.
"...Alright."
Mika reached out to the bracelet and tried putting it on his left wrist.
"Is it okay to wear that...?"
"Why? It's just a bracelet, right?"
"Then why did you say 'Alright'?"
"............"
Ignoring Messerite's retort, Mika silently tried putting on the bracelet.
The clasp was tight, a bit difficult, and he struggled.
If what he thought was "broken" was a mistake, he would be the one cursed.
Paying the price for his own foolish actions himself was, well, unavoidable. He would have to give up.
He would break his promise with the old woman, but if the curse was broken, it shouldn't be a problem.
(...This is the part where I'd get told, 'If you know that, don't break it!')
Remembering the words Kifrod had said to him endlessly, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
A loud click sounded, and the bracelet's clasp clicked into place.
"................................................"
"What's wrong?"
Messerite asked.
"No... nothing happened."
"Something was supposed to happen?"
Messerite looked at Mika with a sharp gaze.
"Eww, that's not going to happen."
Mika answered brightly on purpose and took off the bracelet's clasp.
—or so he thought, but it was too tight and didn't come off well.
(It's not because the curse won't let me take it off! It's just a bit tight!)
Mika hooked the clasp with his fingernail, but it was really tight.
"What's that scribble over there?"
Messerite pointed to the paper on the desk.
It was the "procedure manual" Mika had recorded to cancel the bracelet's curse.
That procedure manual, lined with incomprehensible symbols, seemed like scribbles to Messerite.
Well, if Mika hadn't written it himself, he would probably call it scribbles too.
"What? It's just scribbles."
Saying that, Mika crumpled the paper and threw it into the trash can.
After the bracelet's "curse" was cancelled, this was just scribbles to Mika too.
"Oh, I see."
Messerite looked at the trash can with a face that didn't seem convinced.
Mika extended his left hand to such Messerite.
"............What?"
"It's too tight to take off. Take it off."
The bracelet's clasp was too tight to come off with one hand.
"Don't put on things you can't take off yourself!"
"I didn't think it would be this tight!"
Sighing, "Haa...", Messerite took off the bracelet.
Messerite easily took off the bracelet and handed it to Mika.
Mika took the bracelet, moved the chair, and moved in front of the chest.
He climbed onto the chair and put the bracelet in the top drawer.
Inside this drawer were the talisman Mika had first "broken" the curse on, the bracelet, and—
"What's that necklace?"
Last week, he had been given a "cursed necklace" by the old woman.
While Mika was breaking the "curse" of the bracelet, another "cursed thing" had been brought in.
Naturally, Mika had begged and pleaded to get it.
Mika would never forget the old woman's expression at that time, which was either exasperated or resigned.
He was truly, deeply exasperated.
However, although he worked hard to obtain this necklace, the "curse" wasn't as strong as the bracelet's.
He could feel some kind of wave just by holding it, but his hand didn't tremble.
Mika got down from the chair holding the necklace.
"...Do you... really... want... to... know...?"
Saying that, Mika smiled brightly.
■■■■■■
Wind Month, 4th Week, Fire Day.
The temperature has dropped quite a bit, and these days I'm starting to want gloves and a scarf.
Mika was running energetically.
"Ushaaaaaaah! I won! Aaaaaaah!!!"
On the athletic course in a corner of the ground, Mika had finally beaten Murt.
He shouted loudly, lay flat on his back, and adjusted his wildly disturbed breathing, his chest rising and falling greatly.
Everyone in the class had gotten quite used to the athletic course, but Mika and Murt's speed was outstanding.
Of course, Murt, who had a fairly well-endowed physique for his age, was expected to be fast, but Mika, who could counter him, could be called a bit abnormal.
Mika's height was still the smallest in the class.
But his body was much tighter compared to when he first entered.
The reason was that originally, Mika's nutritional condition wasn't very good.
This was mainly due to the financial situation of the Noisheim family, but it improved instantly upon entering the dormitory.
They acted as if to say, "Just eat. Just eat. Eating is also work," forcing him to eat mountain-sized meals.
Dormitory food didn't have much meat, but it had many dishes using beans.
Every day during afternoon classes, he was made to exercise until he collapsed, and in the dormitory, he ate beans morning, noon, and night.
It has been almost 8 months since he entered the academy.
It would be strange if a body in the growth period didn't grow with this.
His height didn't grow much, but that was because his height was the one that was strange.
It must be so.
"Zee... Zee... Zee..."
Murt was also lying flat on his back, but he wasn't provoking Mika like usual.
It seemed he didn't even have the energy to provoke.
"...Haa... Haa... Really, haa... haa... I won..."
Messerite, who finished third, looked at Mika with a surprised face.
The difference in physique was obvious.
No matter how much Mika grew, Murt would grow the same way.
Messerite, who always thought it would be a close match but ultimately Murt would win, couldn't believe that Mika had won.
"...Zee... Next time... zee... zee... I absolutely, won't lose..."
Murt glared at Mika.
"Haa... Haa... Go ahead, go ahead, haa... I won't go serious anymore."
"...Hah? ...Zee... What's that? ...Zee... Don't mess with me, you bastard."
"...I... even if I lose 100 times... as long as I win in the end... haa... that's my principle. ...Haa... In a serious match, I win, ...Haa... and it's over."
"...Zee... Zee... Y-you..."
Murt seemed to be genuinely angry.
The veins in his temples were throbbing.
Well, of course, it was a joke.
He was always being provoked and challenged.
This kind of retaliation should be allowed, yeah.
After that, even after the academy ended and he returned to the dormitory, whenever Murt met Mika at the cafeteria or elsewhere, he persistently said, "Let's settle this!"
Mika continued to dodge it with, "What a pain."
Maybe I've become a bit of a bad person?
That's not true, right?