Kays Translations

Chapter 12: The Meaning of Magic Words, I Got It (Tehepero)

The meaning of magic words might become clear…

For anyone who has dabbled in magic in Ethersia, an astonishing fact that would undoubtedly shock everyone is revealed.

Anne-Marie screamed in shock, her voice echoing throughout the mansion. In response to her cries, everyone rushed to Isamu’s room. Anne-Marie herself, due to her shock, remained frozen in place when people arrived, prompting those present to speculate with cold glances whether it was a scandal.

With the cause being what it was, Isamu had no choice but to stand there, unable to explain himself and feeling bewildered. He sincerely hoped for Anne-Marie to reboot as soon as possible. Though he didn’t put it into words, his silence spoke volumes, expressing something like, “What have I done?”

After about three minutes had passed, Anne-Marie finally started to move.

“A-Anne-sama?”

In this unusual situation, a veteran maid timidly addressed her.

“Isamu-sama!!!”

“Hiiii!!!”

In response to Anne-Marie’s sudden call, Isamu was taken aback and let out a startled cry.

“Isamu-sama! This is turning into something unbelievable… Rudolf! Quickly summon Mother to Father’s bedroom! Isamu-sama and I will head there immediately. And make sure to keep people away from us! Isamu-sama, are you coming!?”

Ignoring the maid’s call, she rapidly issued instructions to Rudolf, all the while pulling Isamu along, as if half-dragging him, down the corridor. They knocked, but without waiting for a response, they stormed into Selfers’s bedroom.

“What’s going on…”

Surprised by Anne-Marie’s sudden entrance without waiting for a response, Selfers was further startled when he saw Isamu being dragged in. He directed a suspicious look at Isamu, who frantically waved his hands and shook his head as if to say, “I didn’t do anything!”

With a small sigh, Selfers turned to Anne-Marie.

“Why are you so flustered? Anne.”

“I will explain when mother arrives, but the magic of this country, no, the magic of this world, might be changing.”

“Magic changing? What do you mean…”

Perplexed by Anne-Marie’s vague response, Selfers tilted his head. Just then, the sound of footsteps running down the corridor was heard, and Nicolette burst into the room.

Appearing to have hurriedly arrived, she was slightly out of breath.

“Anne, what on earth is this urgent matter? And you even sent people away…Oh, Isamu-san is with you, too.”

“Well, Anne, could you explain what’s going on?”

“Sorry, Mother and Father. I was so surprised that I lost my composure. However, given the situation, I couldn’t stay calm.”

Perhaps having regained some composure after some time had passed, Anne-Marie began with an apology. However, her words still carried a hint of excitement.

Taking a deep breath, she continued.

“It seems Isamu-sama can understand the meaning of magic words.”

“Oh, the meaning of magic words… Huh? He understood the meaning of magic words? Did she just say that?”

Anne-Marie’s straightforward explanation left Selfers momentarily stupefied, but then he understood and hurriedly asked for confirmation.

“Wait, Anne. Is that true?”

Nicolette, equally astonished, also asked for confirmation.

“Yes, it’s true. Isn’t it, Isamu-sama?”

Seeing that she could regain her composure when looking at someone more flustered than herself, Anne-Marie finally regained her calm and turned to Isamu for an answer.

“Yes, though I’ve only seen a few pages, I can understand the meaning of the magic words in the spellbook. For example, this spell is for a Water Ball, and here it says, ‘Water, gather in my hands from the void.’ It seems quite fitting for a Water Ball, don’t you think? Then there’s this one, perhaps it’s called Water Cutter? Over here, it says, ‘Rushing water, become a blade that slices through all things when bound together.’ I don’t know what kind of magic it is, but based on what I’ve seen, it appears to be magic that compresses water to cut through objects. So, it’s something like that. Uhm…?!”

Isamu casually explained the meanings of the magic words, leaving the Lord and Lady of the house frozen in place.

“Regarding the water spell, it’s currently a recent trend in research to say that these characters represent ‘water.’ The translation Isamu-sama provided fits this part perfectly. Although it’s only one example, I believe Isamu-sama can be confirmed to understand magic words. Further investigation may be needed, but I think it’s safe to say that Lord Isamu can read magic words.”

Anne-Marie stated firmly while looking directly into her parents’ eyes.

Having regained his composure after a brief moment of daze, Selfers nodded.

“Indeed, considering that we only just began explaining magic to Isamu-dono, Anne’s assumption may be correct. Rudolf, please bring a couple more spellbooks, ones that aren’t about water.”

“Understood. I’ll get them right away.”

Rudolf left the room to retrieve the requested spellbooks, and Selfers continued the discussion.

“We’re fine with the verification process. It’s probably not even necessary. After all, there’s no reason for Isamu-sama to lie. So, the question is, what should we do if this is true?”

“That’s right. Considering the content, leaking this information could lead to a serious problem. Anne’s decision to send people away was a wise one.”

“Thank you. I haven’t thought about the specifics yet, but I do understand that this could be a very important matter.”

Lord Selfers and his daughter, deep in discussion, wore serious expressions.

However, for the main person involved, Isamu, things weren’t quite clicking.

“Uh, I mean… is it really such a big deal to understand the meaning of magic words?”

“Hmm. Now that I think about it, Isamu-dono came from a place without magic. Have you heard about the ‘Millennium of the void’ in Ethersian history and civilization?”

“Yes, I have. It’s a period with no recorded history, and many aspects of history and civilization were cut off during that time.”

“That’s right. It’s said that the most significant impact of that discontinuity was on magic. We divide the magic of the time before the Millennium of the void into ‘ancient magic’ and the magic that came after into ‘modern magic.’ Do you know why we make such a distinction?”

“By asking that, I assume it’s not just for the sake of marking a period or division, right?”

“Exactly. It’s because the content of magic is significantly different. We call ancient magic ‘inner magic’ and modern magic ‘surface magic.’ The modern magic we use is just an attempt to mimic the form of ancient magic and use it forcibly. That’s why it’s less powerful, less efficient, lacks versatility, and is quite unwieldy. According to stories from the time of ancient magic, individuals were more free to manipulate magic themselves. The main reason for this is the magic words.”

“The reason?”

“Ah. Magic is created by combining an image with the spell used to manifest it, you know?”

“Yes, I’ve heard about that.”

“So, which do you think is more powerful in manifesting the image: knowing the meaning of the spell used for manifestation or merely mimicking the sounds without understanding their meaning?”

“Oh! I see… That makes sense.”

“Exactly. Naturally, understanding the meaning of the spell will allow it to manifest more powerfully. This is still just a hypothesis, but I think we’ll soon find it to be a fact if we conduct experiments later. That’s why research is ongoing worldwide to recreate ancient magic. It makes sense because if we could do that, we’d have more convenient and powerful magic.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Isamu nodded along, feeling somewhat down as he could see where this was heading.

“Hehe, it looks like you’ve realized it. If we recklessly spread the news that Isamu-dono can read magic words, it might lead to wars worldwide as everyone competes for you. Of course, our country would want to keep that secret, probably under the pretext of ‘treating you well,’which would effectively be a form of confinement.”

Even if other nobles can be managed, they wouldn’t be able to refuse the royal family’s orders. So, other countries would naturally demand disclosure. If we monopolize ancient magic, we’d be unbeatable in any war. Many people will probably emerge trying to monopolize it personally. In the end, monopolizing new technology tends to lead to tragedy and chaos, no matter which world you’re in.

It might end up causing more trouble for the Klaufeldt family this way.

“What should we do…?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure… For now, keeping it a secret is a done deal.”

With Isamu’s tentative question and Selfers’s troubled expression, the situation didn’t seem easy to resolve.

“Hey, that’s not a big deal at all!”

Clearing the heavy atmosphere, Anne-Marie’s cheerful voice rang out.

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