Kays Translations

Chapter 30: Treasure Hunt for Memories

The inside of the warding dome had become completely warm.

　Now that the ground is dry, everyone is lying down or sitting down. Henry and I sat down as well.

“It’s not magic, but why don’t you offer the victims a hot beverage?　I’m sure they would appreciate it. It would be better to see what’s happening on the ground, so you’ll know what kind of magic they need.”

“I agree. We can offer them food as well, since drinks alone won’t fill them up.”

“That would be quite expensive… but it wasn’t.”

“Yeah”

　Morning came and the rain finally stopped. My clothes were completely dry and my shoes were no longer damp. It was time to turn off the wards and the typhoon. I turned off the wards as the morning sun rose. The air is instantly filled with cold.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

“The barrier has disappeared.”

　Then everyone started heading home in groups of two or three. I decided to go home and sleep too. I was exhausted from the all-nighter.

“Will the people whose homes were damaged have a place to rest?”

“In these cases, everyone is in the same boat, so neighbors who survived rent out their rooms for a few days. For those whose houses are damaged, the government will take care of them for a limited period of three months.”

“Oh, yes. It’s an amazingly well-structured system.”

“This system of mutual assistance is a beautiful custom of this country. The state and its people join forces. As a civil servant, I am proud of this aspect of our country.”

Mr. Henry smiled at me. He has been smiling more often lately.

“I was happy that you stayed with me all night for the evacuation and that you came to see me because you were worried about me. Thank you so much. It was very reassuring.”

　As I said that, I shook Henry’s right hand with both hands, his face turned bright red. You’re such a beauty, but you look like an innocent boy.

He walked me to the front of the store and I parted from Mr. Henry. When we parted, Mr. Henry hesitated for a bit before talking to me.

“I thought that except for my birth mother and adoptive parents, anyone who found out who I really was would leave me. But you were different, Mai-san. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, and I can’t express it well enough, but I’m grateful.”

“ I’m a foreigner in this world, living secretly and blending in, but it’s surprisingly enjoyable. I am glad to have met you, Henry. If you ever feel down, I’ll give you some of my energy.”

Mr. Henry simply said, “Thank you,” and left.

　The store was slightly flooded above the floor level. It probably wasn’t a big deal compared to the area around Sophia’s house, but it was a first for me and left me stunned. There was a thin layer of mud, the floorboards had absorbed water, and the inside of the store had a foul smell, like a swamp with floating blue-green algae.

“Now is time for the magic to happen.”

　I piled up tables and chairs outside the door and kept the water out toward the floor. I adjusted the water pressure to push the mud and muddy water off the floor and dried it with warm air. Since all the surrounding houses were also cleaning up, no one even bothered to look at my store. I wiped up the chairs and tables and finished cleaning.

“I wonder what the limit of my magical power is.”

　I can produce as much water and warm air as I want with magic. I don’t know what the normal amount of magical power is, but I think I have quite a lot of magical power.

It was late in the evening when the store was restored to normal. Satisfied that I had protected those who had taken shelter on higher ground from the cold, I went to bed as soon as it got dark that night.

　The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful blue sky.

I plan to open only for lunch today and head to the soup kitchen in the afternoon. I will bring warm food that will soothe tired bodies and give them energy to work.

The menu will consist of cream stew with sausage and lots of root vegetables, fried chicken, and cookies. Just to be on the safe side, I made some potions myself. I made 40 test tube-like containers to distribute the potions, and refilled them from wine bottles. The test tubes were transformed from cups.

Mr. Henry, who usually arrives at two o’clock in the afternoon, did not show up. He must be busy with his work. I continue preparing the vegetables.

As soon as the stew was done, I removed it from the fire. “The stew soaks up a lot of flavor while it’s cooling down, If you repeat that, it will taste as if you made it the day before,” my grandmother used to say.

While the stew was cooling down, I finished frying a large quantity of fried chicken.

Illustration (By Mitemin)

“Whew. Let’s take a break.”

On a shelf in the kitchen, along with jars of tea leaves and dried herbs, there is a stuffed cat and a rabbit. Looking at them, I almost remembered something from the past. What was it? An incident involving a doll.  It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t remember it and it made me feel uneasy.

“ Knowing how to cook is important, but if grandma could do magic, I wish she’d taught me that too. Ah!”

I remember now. When I was a child, I doted on my Mimi-chan doll. One day, Mimi-chan’s younger sister, Lala-chan, went on sale, but she was so popular that there was a shortage of stock and no one could buy her, no matter how long I waited.

“Mai, what are you going to ask Santa for as a Christmas present?”

When my mother asked me that, I immediately answered, “Lala-chan!” My mother’s face clouded over. It must have been even more difficult to obtain during the Christmas season. Thinking back on it now, I feel bad about what I did.

Still, on Christmas morning, Lala was on my bedside. For some reason, it was not in a box, but I was still overjoyed.

One day, when I was playing dolls with my friend Tomo-chan, she told me, “That’s a fake.” At the time, I had vaguely realized that Santa was my parents, so I felt like she had insulted my parents and I got angry.

“It’s not a fake. Why would you say that?”

“Because, look, there’s no mark here.”

　My friend’s Lala had a small mark on the nape of her neck where her long hair was lifted up. I quickly checked and found that my Lala-chan had no imprint.

“You see? Mai’s doll is a fake. Someone got caught selling a lot of fakes. My father said that people who buy fakes  are also at fault.”

　Children are cruel, so I was pushed to the point where I couldn’t say a word. That night, during dinner with my parents and grandparents, I protested to my mother.

“Mom, is this Lala  a fake?　Tomo-chan told me it’s a fake because it doesn’t have a mark here?”

I protested to my mother, who was playing Santa Claus, as if to say, “I know who you are.” I’m really sorry about everything.

I don’t remember what my mother replied at the time, but I do remember that she looked at my grandmother with a panicked look on her face as if she was asking for help, and then my grandmother looked at my mother with a look of genuine apologetic regret.

It is a scene that I remembered many times in the past wondering, (why was my grandmother making that face).

　My parents and grandparents were the epitome of honesty, and they were not the kind of people who would buy a fake if they knew it was a fake. Perhaps that Lala-chan was created by my grandmother using transformation magic. Maybe the real thing was in short supply, so she used a fake Lala-chan somewhere as a model?

If so, that means my mother knew that my grandmother was a wizard. Maybe this means there are more magical memories hidden in my memory. I don’t have many memories of my parents, but I have lots of memories of my grandma.

“Grandma, it would be fun to remember something else. I’ll go on a memory treasure hunt.”

I talked to my grandma. I fondly remembered her smile.

　As I was wrapping two large stockpots filled with stew around with rope, Mr. Henry came in.

“Oh, welcome. What about work?”

“I’m here on my break. I can help you if you want to bring in some food.”

“I’ll make the carts with magic and then we’ll go out.”

“May I watch you make the cart?”

“Sure. Since you’re here, why don’t you taste the cream stew while you watch?”

Henry’s face lit up. “You came here without having lunch, didn’t you?”　I quickly served it on a deep plate and used wind magic to cool it down before serving.

In front of Mr. Henry’s eyes, I cast a transformation spell on the tables and chairs in the store. The table and chairs disappeared and a small cart appeared.

“It looks something like this.”

　When I looked at Henry, he was scooping up stew with a spoon, his eyes and mouth wide.

　

“Why are you so surprised when you live in a magical land?”

“I could see that the showers and warm air were an application of water magic and fire magic, but I’ve never seen magic like this before.”

“Oh, is that so?　Now, let’s load up this with pots, plates and spoons and go. There are plenty of cookies and enough potions for about forty people.”

“Potions too?　That would be very helpful. Then we’ll pretend it’s a gift from a philanthropist, and we’ll mix it in with the other potions at the site.”

　I didn’t know where potions were usually sold. So I had been thinking about how to explain about them on the spot. My worries were instantly solved

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