Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 1 - Makia and Thor (Part 2)
Yer a wizard, Thor!
Now. The place Father and I arrived at was the port town Kartedt, which took three hours to reach by carriage.
Kartedt was outwardly a glamorous town, but when you entered the back alleys, you could find the black market that sold “bad” goods from all over the world. Father often came here to gather ingredients that were used for magic.
It wasn’t the type of place an eleven-year-old child would go to for her birthday, but it wasn’t all that scary.
“Well, well, Lord O’Drielle. I’ve obtained the item you were looking for. Come, this way.”
It seemed that Father was buying something from the shop he patronized.
The shopowner beckoned Father to the back. Father told me to look around the shop.
It was a shop that sold curios from around the world. There were a lot of items with shady histories, and old books that whispered “Open me, open me,” but…
“You’re so noisy. If I open you, I’ll just get dragged in.”
I knew. I must not open things like these.
And thus, I placed a heavy ornament on the book, then spotted a carriage through the window.
A boy dressed in ragged clothes was silently unloading cargo from the carriage.
“That kid...is using magic without a ring.”
I clung to the window in spite of myself. I wondered if he was a bit older than me…
It seemed like he stacked several wooden crates on top of each other and was lifting them up easily, but he was actually casting levitation magic on them. Just with his own intuition, no wands or incantations.
“Incredible. That’s too incredible. Even though levitation magic is so hard!”
Curious about that boy, I ran out of the shop.
Untidy and long black hair. A terribly thin body. And his eyes, which could be seen through his hair, was a striking “violet” color, and they held a mystical light.
It was an eye color that was considered to be of the highest rank in the world of magicians.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
When I tried talking to him, the boy only gave me a side glance, then dropped his gaze again and worked hard at his job. He answered like he was annoyed.
“You know what if you watch me. I’m unloading cargo, young miss.”
He sounded extremely sarcastic, but it didn’t seem like he misheard me.
“You were using magic to make the cargo float, right? I saw you do it earlier.”
“...”
The boy stopped his work and glared down at me.
His eyes, which could be seen through his long bangs, really were as beautiful as amethysts.
“I don’t look like one, but I’m a witch. So, I thought your magic was fascinating.”
“Interesting…?”
Disgust filled the boy’s eyes, and he snorted.
“As expected of a rich noble lady, finding watching slave work fascinating. You’re as wicked as you look.”
“Wha…”
I just thought I would sincerely praise him, though.
I felt miffed in spite of myself, and I crossed my arms and turned away.
“Then, I’ll correct myself. I wanted to say that it was incredible. You’re a genius for being able to use magic without wands or incantations or rings. Also, I’m not wicked, I just look like it.”
The boy resumed unloading the crates. I didn’t know if he was listening to me or not.
Jangle...jangle...
There were metallic sounds coming from the boy’s feet. His feet were restrained together with chains that were no longer than his stride.
“Hey, those chains at your feet…”
“Ah. That’s the mark of a slave.”
When I carved a deep crease between my brows, the boy laughed out loud. It was a light laugh.
“Ahahaha. Is this your first time seeing a slave in chains, miss? Why would such a naive young lady come to a black market, I wonder.”
He unloaded the last crate and sat on it, then looked into my face with an adult-like expression.
“Look here, miss. In this world, there are many kids who are sold as collateral for their parents’ debts, or kidnapped into slavery. I was born in the Frezier Empire in the west, and I was taken to this country after being sold by my parents. Well, I guess you don’t understand stuff like that, do you?”
...I do understand. Even I understand that’s awful.
I’ve heard that the slave trade was rampant in Kartedt, even though it was supposed to have been banned. I’ve heard that adults from this country sometimes bought children from other countries in particular.
“Your feet must hurt. They’re awfully swollen.”
“Well, you know. I haven’t taken them off in a long time. It’s only a matter of time before my feet rot away.”
“Then...I’ll break those chains for you.”
I knelt down on the spot and gripped the chains that bound the boy’s feet.
“Myr vis makia...May these iron chains melt and fall away.”
When I carefully recited the first and second incantations, my ring glowed faintly, and then the chain turned red-hot from the place I was gripping it and melted. This【Fire】attribute heat magic was my specialty, and its heat didn’t transfer to anywhere other than the chains specified in the spell.
Even the aloof slave boy was surprised by this. His eyes widened at how only the chains cleanly melted away, and how there were no burns at all on his feet.
I’ll sprinkle the O’Drielle family’s special ice salt over this melted iron.
“So? Magic’s incredible, right?”
Although I proudly looked up, the boy’s face was hard.
Even though he had such a smart attitude earlier, now it looked he was afraid of something.
“Boy! Are you done moving all the cargo?”
I heard an angry voice, and the boy stood in front of me as though to protect me.
The person who finally came here was a burly man with a turban wrapped around his head.
He had a very pirate-like look to him, and he seemed to be this boy’s master. He immediately noticed that the boy’s shackles were removed. “Aah!?” he shouted in a rough voice.
“What’s this!? Trying to escape, eh!”
The man punched the boy’s face with his big fist. The light boy slammed his body hard into the crate behind him and coughed violently.
“Wh-what are you doing! I’m the one who melted that kid’s chains!”
I was scared, but I leapt out in front of the man with my arms spread out and glared up at him.
“Ah? Who’s this squeaky annoying brat?”
However, because the difference between our sizes were too great, I was grabbed by my lapels and lifted up into the air.
“Aaaah, put me down, put me down!”
“Ho ho. Still a brat, but a pretty little thing. Don’t know where you’re from, but you’ll sell for a high price.”
“Boss, that girl is a noble! You must not lay a hand on her!”
“Shut up, don’t order me around! Like hell there’d be a noble girl in a place like this!”
This time, he kicked the boy who warned him and sent him flying.
The boy’s face twisted in pain, and blood flowed from his head and the corner of his mouth.
At that moment, a crow swooped down from the sky with a “Caw, caw” and pecked at the man’s head with its beak.
The man cried out and shook me to try to get rid of the crow. I’m going to get sick…
“Makia, are you outside? ...Oh?”
Hearing the caws of the crow here, Father came out of the shop.
The crow perched on Father’s shoulder. He was Father’s familiar, Freddy.
Father saw me being lifted up by the man, and his face immediately turned scary.
“T-T-The head of the O’Drielle house!?”
The man turned completely pale. He seemed to know Father.
I smiled gently, slowly stretched out my hand, and pinched the man’s arm with all my strength.
“Ow! What the hell is this shitty brat do...H-H-Hot!”
I was blessed by【Fire】with a heat constitution. If I pinched something, it would get a burn without exception, and that burn would be quite hard to heal.
The man swung his arm that smelled slightly burnt and hurriedly let go of me. I nearly fell on my backside on the ground, but my body floated slightly right before that, and I was gently let down.
It was that slave boy’s levitation magic. I knew because he was holding his hand up to me with a desperate look on his face.
——Mmm. I’ve decided.
“Father! I want this kid!”
“Eh?”
“I want this child no matter what, Father!”
I ran up to Father and gave him a strong look of appeal. I was pointing at the slave boy.
As expected, even Father was surprised by this. Of course, the slave boy and the man who was his master were also surprised.
“Hmm. A slave, eh...Hmmm.”
When Father finally began to worry, the turban man shook his head while pressing his arm.
“You can’t take him, my lord, you can’t! No matter how much you request him, he is the only one who I cannot let go! His eye color seems to be rare, so he already has a buyer.”
However, Father ignored the man, swept up the slave boy’s bangs, and peered into his eyes.
“Violet-colored eyes, huh. A mystical color that indicates that the holder is likely to possess the most magic.”
The slave boy said nothing.
Even when Father gripped his chin and drew his face to him, he stared back at him with no fear.
“Father. This kid was using magic just now. Without a wand or ring or even a first incantation. I’m sure he wasn’t taught by anyone and doing it unconsciously. His talent is amazing!”
“I see. Makia’s judgement might be correct. He’s the possessor of exceptional magic.”
“Please, Father. I’ll be working as a royal magician one day, so I’ll pay you back. So, please buy this kid for my birthday!”
“A ten year old intends to take out a loan from her parents? Ahahahahahahaha!”
Father was holding his stomach as he burst into laughter. “I’ll be eleven years old starting today,” I corrected.
“Then, I’ll ask you one thing. What exactly are you going to use this child for, Makia?”
“It’s terrible to say ‘use’. We’ll have this kid use us.”
I was just desperate. If I couldn’t have him as a birthday present, I was going to beg him in every way possible, saying this and that.
“First, we should take him in as a pupil. Producing a strong magician will lead to the restoration of the O’Drielle family...Isn’t that right, Father?”
The O’Drielle family was a noble family of magic with a lineage that stretched back five hundred years, but I knew that we were in a decline. If you leave the heathlands and go into the royal capital, they would say that we were ruined nobles or a clan of wicked witches, and despise us.
There were many reasons for the decline, but the lack of successors was more serious than anything else. For the restoration of our clan, we had to produce many outstanding magicians from our family.
“Hmm,” Father stroked his beard. He seemed to be considering my opinion from various angles.
“I see. I yield, Makia. Well then, slaver, I wish to buy this child.”
“I told you, sir, I cannot sell him! He already has a buyer!”
“We’re buying him anyways. I want this kid.”
I looked up at him firmly, and the turban man clicked his tongue, like this was bothersome.
However, little by little, the man’s eyes became drowsy, and his expression became vacant.
“So, how much?”
Father backed me up.
The sea-blue eyes of us father and daughter might have been tinged with a little bit of magic.
“I know who you are. You’re the magicians of the O’Drielle family. I heard you guys skin people raw, drain their blood, and use their eyeballs and bones as magical ingredients. Are you gonna use me for some kind of magic too?”
Father and I looked at each other.
Unable to hold it in, Father burst into laughter, slapping his knee. He doesn’t look like it, but he laughed easily.
“Ahahaha! You’re a very cautious child! Although, contrary people have a promising future in this world.”
Father took his jewelled walking stick and quickly thrusted it at the former slave boy.
“Indeed, we are O’Drielle magicians. That is precisely why my daughter Makia noticed that you are a possessor of exceptionally strong magic. You’ve used that mysterious power several times before, haven’t you?”
“...That’s…”
The boy shifted his eyes away. “Because it was convenient.”
“That is unmistakably ‘magic.’ You have a talent. Therefore, we want to nurture it.”
“...Nurture? Me, a slave?”
“You’re not a slave anymore. You’ll be learning magic with me. I’ve always wanted a magician friend who’s the same age as me.”
“Friend?”
The boy looked like he still didn’t understand.
Speaking of which, I still haven’t asked this boy something very important.
“What’s your name?”
“I don’t have one. When I was sold by my parents, I threw it away at the same time.”
It wasn’t like he had forgotten it, but it seemed that he didn’t plan on telling us the name he had thrown away once.
“Well, let’s see...hmm…”
At that moment, even as I crossed my arms and twisted my body back and forth, I unconsciously used one of the【Ancient Magics】of this world.
“Then, I’ll give you a new name. Your name shall be ‘Thor.’ I think it’s perfect!”
“...”
That name came to me like a divine revelation.
The boy had a befuddled look on his face, but I thought his strong gaze was staring at me unwaveringly through his bangs.
!! <3
ReplyDeleteour boy!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAh... Rereading this scene feels so nostalgic.
ReplyDelete