Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 179: I Have an Idea
“You both know Light magic, right?”
“Light magic? I know it, but nobody uses that spell,” Ijidol said.
“That’s right. Using a lamp magic tool is more convenient than using magic like that,” Axel added.
Both of them tilted their heads. Yes, everything they were saying was correct. Rather than using Light, whose brightness was unstable, people generally preferred reliable, proven lamp magic tools. And lamp tools didn’t consume the user’s mana while they were lit.
“The training method I came up with uses Light magic.”
The two of them still didn’t quite understand, but they remained quiet and listened.
“Light magic isn’t stable in brightness. Do you know why? It’s because the brightness reacts very sensitively to the amount of mana you pour into maintaining the spell. Watch carefully.”
A demonstration was better than a theory lecture. I lit a small light at the tip of my index finger.
Both of them let out startled cries.
What was with that reaction? It was only Light magic.
“Julius, you just used magic without saying anything.”
“Whoa. You can do that?”
Oh, shoot!
Because Light was such an easy beginner spell, I’d unconsciously cast it without an incantation. This wasn’t good. I glanced at the servant and saw his eyes wide open while his hand flew furiously across his notebook.
He was surprisingly dexterous, wasn’t he?
“Ah, well… if you master Light magic, both of you should be able to do it too.”
Probably.
My words made their eyes light up. But what I really wanted to discuss came next.
I regained my composure and made the light on my fingertip alternately brighter and dimmer.
“Is the light changing because you’re changing the amount of mana?” Ijidol asked.
“Yes, that’s right. And the amount of mana needed can be reduced to almost nothing. I’ve never tested it, but I think you can also keep increasing the brightness as far as your mana allows.”
“I see.”
They both nodded. It seemed they understood up to this point.
Now came the real point.
“If the spell can be used with even a tiny amount of mana, that means anyone can use it as long as they possess some mana.”
“So you’re saying that if I really have… mana, I can use magic!”
“Shh. You’re too loud.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Axel lowered his voice, blushing. I understood how he felt, but I wanted this kept between us. I should have warned them first.
“I’m sure you understand, but this conversation is a secret between the three of us. I’m only sharing this idea because you’re my friends.”
The two of them nodded with solemn expressions.
The truth was, I simply didn’t want the story spreading and turning into a big incident again.
I didn’t tell them that part.
“Axel, try using Light magic.”
“How? I don’t know the Light incantation. Ijidol?”
“I’ll teach you.”
The two of them whispered together. I was relieved they didn’t ask me. Instructor Carnell had taught me the incantation when I was little, but I’d completely forgotten it.
Was this one of the problems that came from getting used to skipping incantations? I’d have to review the basics as soon as I got home.
“All right, then. Here goes. Light that shines in the darkest night—Light.”
Remembering my warning, Axel chanted quietly.
A faint glow appeared at his fingertip.
“Oh…!”
Ijidol hurriedly clapped both hands over his mouth. Then he looked at me with enormous eyes and nodded frantically, as though to say, I’m being quiet! His face was bright red and his eyes looked ready to pop out.
Was he all right?
Axel, meanwhile, didn’t move at all, as though time itself had stopped.
Was he all right?
“I can’t believe it. I really can use magic…”
The moment he finished saying it, Axel collapsed like a sticky slime.
It seemed he’d exhausted all his mana. I hurriedly stuffed a biscuit into his mouth.
“Mmgh—cough! Are you trying to kill me?”
Axel complained while chewing the expensive biscuit. High-quality sweets did restore a little mana, although they were hardly a complete solution after total depletion.
“Looks like you understand how awful running out of mana feels now, Axel,” Ijidol said with a grin.
Mana depletion was a different sort of fatigue from physical exhaustion. When your mana ran completely dry, it felt as though a thread inside you had suddenly snapped and your body simply stopped moving. Total mana depletion was something you should avoid whenever possible.
“Yeah, I get it now,” Axel said. “So it wasn’t only because you’re a glutton.”
“I’m not a glutton!”
Ijidol immediately rushed to deny it. His robe hid the outline of his body, but maybe he was a slightly chubby type? When I stared at him, he turned his face aside in embarrassment.
What a maiden-like reaction.
“This proves you have mana, Axel. From now on, use Light magic every night before going to bed, right up to the point just before you run dry. Just like physical stamina, your mana should increase the more you use and recover it.”
Axel nodded with an expressionless face like a Noh mask.
Ah. He probably thought I was being a demon again.
But for my friend’s sake, I’d become an ogre or a demon if I had to.
Next was Ijidol.
“I want you to use Light before bed too, Ijidol. But don’t just keep it lit. Repeatedly turn it on and off while controlling the brightness. I want you to reach the point where you can use Light unconsciously, just like I did a moment ago.”
“So that’s how you learned to use magic without chanting?”
“That’s right.”
If they never found out, it wasn’t a lie.
Still, let me apologise in my heart to Ijidol, who was looking at me with such respect.
Sorry for lying. I never trained like that myself.
Convinced, Ijidol began repeatedly switching the light at his fingertip on and off. He kept its brightness firmly suppressed, probably because he had excellent mana control.
Apparently, he really did have talent for magic.
Still, watching his fingertip blink on and off over and over was a very strange sight.
“Ijidol, practise under your blankets before you go to sleep. If you do it anywhere else, somebody will notice.”
Ijidol immediately extinguished the light and checked both sides of the room. Apparently, like me, he wasn’t very good at standing out.
I was glad to have company.
While we continued talking, Axel gradually came back to life.
Because his total mana was so small, the expensive sweets had been enough to restore him to the point where he could move again. He wasn’t going to take this as proof that eating sweets was a proper way to recover mana, was he?
I’d better warn him before he turned into a chubby Axel.
“Axel, only exceptionally high-quality sweets restore this much mana. Ordinary sweets will hardly restore any at all.”
“What!? Really?”
“Ijidol, don’t tell me you thought otherwise.”
Axel looked at Ijidol in disappointment.
I might have been looking at him with exactly the same eyes.