Chapter 3-15 : Do You Want To Learn Magic?

 

「By the way, Store Owner-san, do you think I can learn that spell too?」(Kate)

「Eh? You want to learn it too?」(Sarasa)

Kate-san, who was listening to the conversation between me and Lorea-chan, suddenly asked me with a serious face.

「Kate-san, are you going to abandon Iris-san?」(Lorea)

「Lorea-chan, what do you mean?」(Kate)

「Ah, I thought you wanted to be a magician specializing in cultivating lands and quit your job as a Collector. You said that kind of job will make a lot of money, so…」(Lorea)

「Is that so, Kate!?」(Iris)

「No, no! I’m not gonna abandon you nor quit my job! How many years do you think we have been together?」(Kate)

「Phew… I knew you would never abandon mー」(Iris)

「ーAt least for now. There are so many things I want to complain about you, you know?」(Kate)

「Eh!? Then please tell me! If there’s something you don’t like about me, then I’ll do my best to fix it!」(Iris)

「Really~?」(Kate)

After grinning at Iris-san, Kate-san began to rapid fire spit out her complaints to her.

Most of them were about Iris-san’s lifestyle in her everyday life and Iris-san’s behavior when they were working together.

Kate-san looked like a wife who was complaining to her husband somehow…

「Kate-san, don’t you have complaints about your debt to Sarasa-san too? If it wasn’t for Iris-san, you wouldn’t be in debt.」(Lorea)

When Lorea-chan asked curiously, Kate-san immediately shook her head.

「No, I don’t have any complaints about that at all. I was the one who asked Store Owner-san to save Iris after all. Now that her life has been saved, I will gladly bear this debt with her.」(Kate)

「Kate…」(Iris)

Iris-san looked so down after hearing all the complaints from Kate-san, but then she looked as if she was touched by Kate-san’s words.

Is this what people call “using the carrot and the stick”?

「Besides, it’s normal to get injured when you are working as a Collector. Well, I’d never thought Iris’ injury would be that bad though.」(Kate)

「Hahh… When I left home, I didn’t expect I would nearly die either because I was confident in my abilities.」(Iris)

「You see, our job is very risky and given that this job requires a lot of physical strength, I don’t think we can continue doing this job forever. That’s why I think we better learn magic so that we can earn money somehow when we retire someday.」(Kate)

「I see… Yeah, you’re right.」(Iris)

「By the way, Kate-san, how is your aptitude for magic?」(Sarasa)

「I think I will be able to use magic better than Iris and Lorea-chan. I’m half black elf after all.」(Kate)

I was a bit surprised when she said that. I had a feeling but I never asked her because I thought it would be rude if I asked about her race.

「I knew it…」(Sarasa)

「Ah, so you have noticed it, huh?」(Kate)

「Yeah, from your brown skin and your slightly long ears.」(Sarasa)

There are quite many people of different races in the royal capital, so people there don’t have a particular prejudice against different races, but people in the countryside do sometimes.

However, Kate-san doesn’t seem to care about it.

「Whoaa! Really!? Kate-san is an elf!? That’s amazing!」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan looked so excited. She looked at Kate-san with sparkling eyes. It seems like she doesn’t have a prejudice against other races at all.

「Not entirely. I’m half human, half black elf, okay? Look. My ears aren’t as long as an average elf’s ears.」(Kate)

Saying that, Kate-san lifted her long hair and showed Lorea-chan her right ear.

Certainly, it looks like a human ear. It’s just a bit long. Her skin is not as dark as the skin of black elves either.

「Kate’s father is a human, and her mother is a black elf. Her appearance is mostly inherited from her father, so she looks more like a human than a black elf. By the way, her father is a handsome man, and her mother is a beauty, that’s why she looks quite pretty.」(Iris)

「S-Stop it…! You’re embarrassing me…」(Kate)

For some reason, Iris-san said that proudly as if they were her own parents.

「Half black elf, huh… Is that the reason why you’re so good at archery?」(Sarasa)

In general, elves are good at archery and magic. In that term, there’s no difference between black elves and white elves.

By the way, it seems that black elves were called “dark elves” a long time ago.

In this kingdom, “dark” has a negative meaning, that’s why people changed the way they call dark elves. However, in other countries, some people still call them dark elves.

「Probably. But my mother is quite good at magic. Unlike her, I’ve never learned it properly.」(Kate)

「It’s because you always practice archery.」(Iris)

When Iris-san said that, Kate-san smiled bitterly at her.

「Yeah, right. Actually, my mother once taught me magic, but I ended up learning nothing because she is bad at teaching people…」(Kate)

「Ahh… Your mother probably learns things with feeling, not with theory. That’s why the way she teaches people is kinda confusing.」(Iris)

「You’re probably right. You can learn how to swing a sword or shoot an arrow from someone else by imitating them, but learning how to use magic from someone else is totally different, especially if you have an instructor like my mother… When she taught me magic, she always said, “Feel it! Feel the magical power!” but I don’t know how to feel it…」(Kate)

「Ahh, I see… Indeed you have to be able to feel your magical power in order to use magic but it’s not that simple.」(Sarasa)

Well, being able to do something doesn’t mean that you can teach other people how to do it, especially in terms of using magic.

When I learned magic in the alchemy school, my teachers taught me very systematically and theoretically unlike Kate-san’s mother. Well, they are teachers after all. Their job is to teach people so it’s only natural that they are good at it.

「Anyway, if you guys really want to learn magic, I’ll teach you in my spare time. However, I cannot guarantee that you will be able to use magic. It all depends on your hard work, so do your best.」(Sarasa)

「Of course! I’m so excited thinking that Sarasa-san will be my magic instructor!」(Lorea)

「Thank you, Store Owner-san, but… How much should I pay you?」(Kate)

「Eh? No, no. You don’t need to pay. In exchange, I want you to learn seriously.」(Sarasa)

「Understood!」(Kate)

Originally, their income would not be enough to hire an alchemist to teach them magic, but they’re my family. There’s no way I can take their money. Well, except when we’re doing business, of course.

Besides, teaching magic is not alchemists’ main job. Master will definitely scold me if I make money from it.

 

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4 Comments

    1. She’s good at archery and magic because she is half-black….. elf. I don’t know you, guys, but that sounded kind of unintentionally racist.

      1. this is a translated novel, not an English novel to begin with,,,, that the translation from ブラックエルフ (BLACK elf). I’m not American, so I don’t feel like “Black” word is racist at all

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