Chapter 10: Special Training: Shijutsu

Unlike  Kaijutsu,  Shijutsu didn’t go well at all.

All I had to do was to get the magic out of my body. I couldn’t do it.

So I spent a month of my life, sleeping and waking up with my magic in my hands, and my mother got mad at me.

“Hey, Itsuki. It’s fine to practice magic, but it’s dangerous if you don’t look ahead.”

“I’m sorry….”

“If you understand, go to the dojo. Be careful.”

“Alright!”

Today, my father is not here.

It’s his job as an exorcist.

No matter how much I’m a target of monsters for being a seventh rank, he can’t stay with me forever.

He has to work as the head of the family to earn money.

In place of my father, the head of the Shimotsuki family came to see me today.

If I had to describe him in one word, I would say that he is a tall, handsome man.

He’s even taller than my father, who is 185 centimeters tall, and he’s so young with his messy black hair and youthful face that he could pass for a college student.

Except that he has a cut on his face.

Yes, he has a single vertical cut on his face.

Due to the fact that he’s an exorcist, It can’t be helped. But it’s just plain scary. If someone who doesn’t know much about him were to see it, he could be mistaken for someone in that line of work.

The name of the head of the Shimotsuki family is said to be Renji-san.

I wonder how the kanji character is written?

“Soichiro told me you’re already practicing shijutsu.”

“Yes, I am! But I can’t do it at all…..”

“It’s natural that a three-year-old can’t do it, since it is a skill that is learned from a five-year-old.”

Renji-san smiles with his eyes narrowed, but combined with his cuts, he looks uncommonly scary. If I wasn’t used to scary faces because of my father, I would have cried.

“Aya should follow your example and practice magic.”

“Hmmm……”

Renji-san wasn’t the only one who came to our house today.

Aya-chan, the daughter of the Shimotsuki family, is also here

“Then, both of you. Sit there.”

“Yes.”

“…….”

I sat down in front of Renji-san and Ay-chan sat down beside me.

I glanced at her and she turned in the opposite direction with all her might.

…… mmmm. Does she hate me?

“Let’s start with Kaijutsu first. Spread the magic power all over your body.”

I do as I’m told and move my magic.

This is what is called preparatory exercise. When manipulating magic power, if you do something sudden and unfamiliar, you will make mistakes, so this is a way to acclimate your body.

“I see you can really use it…….”

“Yes!”

Renji-san, who was watching the scene, muttered in a somewhat surprised manner.

I nodded vigorously at that and he looked at Aya, who was sitting next to me.

“What about you, Aya?”

“I can’t…”

Aya looked a little strained… but her expression didn’t seem to indicate that she was doing well.

“Aya as always, the first thing you need to do is to feel the magic power. Itsuki, let’s move on to the practice of  shijutsu.

Renji-san said that and stepped in front of me.

Hmmm. In the way Renji-san put it, Aya is not yet able to feel the magic. Is that normal for a 3 year old?

“I want to see how well you can do it at this point, so try using shijutsu.”

As I was told, I turned my hand palm up and gathered magic power.

Renji-san touched my hand, and when he sensed the heat in it, he made a reluctant face.

“I don’t believe you’re three years old when it comes to manipulating magic. But you’re still unable to let it out.”

“….. Yes. I can’t do it no matter how I try.”

No, this is a lie.

In fact, I have succeeded only once in a month.

But it didn’t come out of my hand.

My first string of magic came out of my buttocks.

I knew that Shijutsu is a technique for manipulating magic power after it has been released outside the body, so I tried to release the magic power out of my body by using the excretion training.

I twisted it into a thin line, and voila!

For the first time in my life, I had succeeded in “shijutsu”.

But could I tell this to my parents?

How could I tell my parents?

Even if my father and mother were geniuses, how could I tell them that my first shijutsu had come out of my buttocks?

So I still haven’t succeeded in doing it, and I don’t want to call it a success.

So I’m just going to say that I can’t do it. 

“I’ve often heard that it’s impossible to control the magic that’s gone out, but I’ve never heard of it not going out in the first place.”

“Eh?”

“Yeah? Haven’t you heard from Soichiro? Normal children can bring out the magic power, but cannot make it into “conductive thread silvate” well. So, in Itsuki-kun’s case, how should I teach you ……?”

…… Eh?　Wait a minute.

“Renji-san! Does magic come out of your hand?”

“It does. If it doesn’t come out, I can’t make ‘conductive thread silvate’ in any way, can I?”

With that said, Renji-san showed me the magic power coming out of his hand.

“Look. Do you understand now? It’s out right?”

“…..That’s true.”

Eh? Why?

Why is there magic power coming out of your body when there is no hole in it?

How is he doing that?

“Itsuki-kun, do you think that the magic power is inside your body and cannot come out?”

“Uh-huh.”

No, I know it comes out from the buttocks.

“Magic power is so small that it comes out from inside the body. You see, sweat is also water coming out of your body, right?”

“……?”

I don’t know whether I understand or not.

With this half-formed thought in my mind, I had an image of the magic power slowly gathering in my palm and flooding out of my hand like a mist.

At that moment, my magic power, which hadn’t moved in a month, finally went out!

If you do it, it will come out!

“I did it! It came out!”

“What!?”

All I have to do now is turn that magic into string.

And I’ve already done that with the one I pulled out of my butt.

“Renji-san! It’s done! Here!”

My magic quickly took the form of a string.

How’s that! Now I can use my “silk threads”!

As I said this, Renji-san stretched out his “Sylvate” and covered his own eyes.

Then he looked at my thread and gasped.

“It’s true. Really, you’re using the “guiding thread Sylvate.”

“I did it! I made it!”

“…… Hey, hey. What am I supposed to do with this?”

Renji-san sat back, amazed.

Then, with a bewildered, stunned look on his face and his mouth hanging open, Aya, who was standing next to me, unseated herself and lay down on the ground.

“Iya!(No!)”

“Aya. What’s wrong?”

“No! I don’t want to practice!”

Aya was flailing about like that.

I thought she was shy, but she was surprisingly bold.

“I don’t understand anything! It’s no fun! I want to read picture books!”

“Hey Aya, if you don’t learn magic, you can’t become a princess.”

Renji-san chided Aya for her outburst.

No, that’s right, three-year-olds are usually like this…

“Aya-chan!”

“….”

When I called out her name, she stopped her rampage and looked at me.

I owe Renji-san a debt of gratitude for making my shijutsu training a success.

Now is the time to return the favor!

I spoke to Aya, based on a hypothesis.

“Give me your hand.”

“…… Nn.”

I put my hand in her hand and gathered magic power there.

“Oh, it’s hot!”

“It’ll stop being hot.”

I said and withdrew the heat.

“Huh? Itsuki, that’s great!”

“Isn’t that great?”

“Do it again!”

As I looked at Aya’s delighted face, I thought to myself, “I knew it”.

“Aya-chan, Do you have the same hot spot on the bottom of your belly?”

“Huh? Hmm. Wow! There is!”

Maybe, but the exorcists think that magic power is natural.

Because they think so, when they teach their children, they don’t directly teach them the sensation of magic power.

I think it’s the same as ordinary parents not teaching their children how to walk or stand.

I think that for an exorcist, magic power is something that they understand naturally….. I think that’s how they perceive it.

That’s what I think when I look at my father and Renji-san.

It’s true that magic is like riding a bicycle or doing an upside-down maneuver; once you become aware of it, you never forget it.

But to first realize it, you need some kind of help.

So, I could touch it and teach it to her.　

That’s what I thought, but it seems my hypothesis was right…. Aya perceived magic power.

“Look, that’s all there is to that!”

“Dad, look! It’s magic!”

Looking at Aya-chan, who was smiling, a complete change from earlier, Renji-san had a look on his face that said, ‘I didn’t know there was a way to do that”.

I was a little snippy because my method had been so successful.

“Itsuki-kun, you have a talent for teaching.”

I was embarrassed to be praised by someone other than my parents.

“Itsuki! Do that again!”

Aya-chan said and pushed me down.

I thought you were shy.

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