Chapter 27 A Gift from God

I made a mess in my independent training, and now I don’t know what I should do...

Can this mess be undone?

While I was busy thinking of various possibilities to solve the problem, suddenly there’s someone calling out to me.

“Lyra~ Are you sleeping?”

Clavis-nii’s voice!

Which means, Alt-nii is also coming home! He will definitely be able to help me make the ice disappear!!

After all, he is a [Void] user!!

“Clavis-nii, I’m at the second floor’s living room! Is Alt-nii with you?”

I can hear footsteps approaching the room I’m in.

“No, he had something he needed to do at school, and I didn’t want to accompany him anyway, so he asked me to go back first and to play with you!”

...what a bad timing, Alt-nii!!

Oh, right, both Alt-nii and Clavis-nii were finally admitted to special class!

(Actually, Alt-nii half-forced Clavis-nii to accompany him to study and such... Alt-nii is dead set on making Clavis his aide, eh?

Also... Clavis-nii seems to be quite smart that he can also get into the special class, through my brother’s enforcement—or that he received one hell of Alt-nii’s pestering and tutoring?)

...Let’s get back at the current situation. Clavis-nii’s footsteps are getting closer.

“Uh, uhm, Clavis-nii, wait a second, don’t come here—“

But my warning comes too late.

Clavis-nii finally climbed up all the stairs, and now he’s standing frozen in front of me, looking at the room in his confusion.

“Uh, uhm, this...”

I... feel awkward looking at his confused expression. He notices that I’m the source of this ice mess, and he looks at me, worried on what to do.

“Can... you help me... Clavis-nii?” I smiled awkwardly.

“...Uhhhhh... My attribute is [Neutral], so...”

“...”

“...”

We are both standing still, face-to-face, looking at each other’s face, with puzzled expression.

“L, let’s move the ice into the trash bin!” He suggested.

“But, what about the table, the glass, and other things that are covered in ice?”

“...”

We can definitely wait for it to melt by itself or melt until Altaire or Mom comes home, but the frozen big objects are the major contributor to the mess. Yup, definitely.

After the long silence...

“...I will bring in a wooden torch and we shall thaw them...?” He suggested, again.

“What if we start a fire and burn the whole house, instead?”

“...”

Uuuh, I appreciate his worries and his earnest thinking to help me, but... we are both stuck!

His tail is not wagging, it’s completely stiff. Both of his ears are also standing. If I’m not wrong, it’s the sign that he’s also nervous.

Our expressions clearly stated this: ‘What do we do?’

“Wait for them to naturally thaw....?” He asked.

“It... might take quite a while, as they won’t thaw quickly in room temperature. Not to mention, winter is approaching so the air is colder—and... if it thaws naturally, it might create a mess of water...?”

I gave him my thoughts about his suggestion—which I have thought before he even mentioned it.

“...”

Finally, the long silence dragged on and on...

***

Perhaps wondering what was going on with the silence, Niina decided to go upstairs to take a look.

“Clavis? You’re here? Why are you and Lyra-sama being so quiet? Huh-“

She stopped talking when she saw what a mess we’re in.

Then, as soon as she realized what’s going on, her expression turned to be a dreadful expression.

“Forgive my rudeness, but... Lyra-sama?! What on earth did you do...?!”

I smiled as wide as I can, as a response.

Normal maids or workers would risk their chances of being fired if they were to say the remarks that she said just now—if they were working in normal nobles’ house. Yes, my family’s noble house can’t be categorized as normal. Unlike the typically stiff attitude the maids and workers of other houses have—in order to prevent anything from going bad that would lead them to stop working or considered to insult the nobility—the workers in my current house are really, really friendly, just like part of my family.

So, of course my response would turn out to be as friendly, and I would obey her as she’s older than me. Okay, responding by honestly admitting your mistakes is not an easy feat to do.

“Uhm, I was just practicing my magic... independently... and... I forgot I haven’t learned how to thaw them myself... I... can’t control my own magic... yet?”

I ended my sentence with a question mark because I wasn’t very sure of what I thought of.

Now, there are one human and two beastmen standing still in silence, wondering what to do to get out of the mess.

“Me, Chloe, and Vince... all of us naturally couldn’t thaw the magical ice... we had to resort to the traditional way of thawing ice, I guess? We have no choice but to clean up the mess afterwards,” Niina finally decided the course of action we’d take, rather than waiting and let more time to waste.

“S, sorry, Niina...,” I can’t do anything but to apologize for troubling her.

“It’s alright... Maybe next time you can practice outside, Lyra-sama...?” She smiled to me, trying to give her suggestion which sounds good, to be honest.

I nodded.

Yes, that’s definitely a nice idea.

“I will go down and prepare the wooden torch.” Niina then went downstairs.

But, shortly after that...

“I am finally homeeee~ Lyra, Clavis, let’s play~!”

Oh my, big brotherrrrrr!!

Big brotherrrr, thou art the most wondrous brother ever! Thanks for coming to my rescue!

“Alt-niiiiiiiiiiii---!” I quickly ran downstairs to welcome my big brother with open arms.

***

“Ahahahaa, ahahahaha! That’s so funny, Lyraaa!!” Alt-nii couldn’t stop laughing at my miscalculation after he helped to dispell all my ice magic to the void.

“Uuuuhh, I didn’t think that we could feel so disconnected to our magical creation like that! I thought I could just cancel the magic just fine!” I pouted.

“Haha, guess you should ask Mom to teach you that, so you can do independent studies at ease~,” he patted my head.

“I will still do the independent training outside from now on, though!”

Yes, no more indoor independent training until I am good enough at controlling magic!

In the end, Alt-nii and Niina told the whole story to Mom and Dad, who just laughed at what happened.

After that, I told them the full details of my findings regarding my affinities. Nobody is uttering anything, I wonder why?

Their bodies just went stiff, as if somebody paralyzed them. Altaire’s jaws slightly opened, and his eyes are widening. Mom and Dad’s eyes are now vacant—they seem to be looking far away in the distance, but I wonder what are they looking at?

Without waiting, I proceeded to ask them the important question.

“Why won’t everyone try the other magic elements one by one to find out their full affinity before the age of 6, if we can already use all of them just fine?”

At my question, finally, Mom snapped out of it and responded.

“That’s because not everyone can really control the other magic just fine, Lyra... Some may exert too much energy to try the other affinity that they are not strong with, and trying such uncertainties may cause serious damage to them... And that’s why, Lyra, I never give you any encouragement to try them one by one, and told you to focus on training your strong magic as we have practiced.”

Geh—so that can happen?!

I shuddered, thinking about what might happen if I failed in my attempt...

So, the reason everyone else was completely silent while I elaborated the details of my findings was because... they are having the cold sweat on my experiment?!

Mom sighed and shook her head lightly. Her glance now shows a hint of nostalgia, as if remembering something she’d experienced from her past.

“I won’t scold you for that, all that matters is that you’re safe. ...oh well, I did the same thing as you did when I was a child, so that’s why I can’t be angry at you. But please, don’t do it next time...,” Mom explained.

“T, thanks, Mom, and I will consult you every time I want to do something new... but I think you should have warned me...”

“The book I gave you already had a warning written about it, and I told you to read the book carefully... Ah, you are just like me, aren’t you? You skipped on the boring first page of training precautions, right? The first few points only detailed unimportant thing such as ‘don’t try any damaging magic to other people’, ‘don’t try burning your house’, ‘pray for safety’, and such, right?”

...Mom, you know me so well.

Yes, yes, I skipped the page after reading those tedious details!

“...like mother, like daughter,” Dad says, in his amazement.

“...Perhaps I should try writing a better magic guide book for children like you and me...,” Mom started to consider on writing a magic guide book on her own.

Yes, I fully support your decision, Mom!

“Ah, but Lyra, she didn’t experience any kind of difficulty in experimenting with her magic like that... could it be...?” Dad said.

“Hmm?”

What is it, Dad?

“Ooh, you’re right, Cyan!” Mom agreed.

Wait, wait, what are you talking about?

“That means, your mana capacity is high enough, Lyra!” Alt-nii answered my question.

“I, is that so?!” I was surprised at the sudden revelation.

So, that’s the parameter?

“Yes, Lyra. We can be sure that your mana capacity will be superior than the majority... So, that’s a good thing,” Mom smiled.

Is that so?

That’s great~!

“...wait a second, you said that you suspected yourself of being capable to use all magic within normal to strong range, with the exception of [Void]?!” Mom just realized that part of my explanation.

“Uhhh, I am not sure, but it doesn’t take me so long to chant them and I’m not too tired... It’s stated that using weak affinity magic would surely cause anyone to get tired more, right? So...”

“Really? Wow, I can’t wait to find out the results of your second test~!”

Mom clapped her hands—her expression shows that of an excitement and nervousness at the same time. Dad shook his head lightly.

“That’s absurd, nobody could have--...”

Dad seemed to murmur something, but I couldn’t really hear what he’s saying clearly. He must be talking to himself. Mom looks very happy and excited to hear my answer, and Dad’s exasperated expression hasn’t left his face just yet. I hope my family members won’t develop any muscle spasm on their faces... I think they had quite the same expression on their faces during when I developed my fluent reading skills at the age of 3, and how fluent my speaking got after that point.

Anyway... does that mean that being able to use all magic (except Void) without any weak affinity is really a rare thing to have?

I mean, I didn’t pay any attention to magic and magic users in the past, I was way too consumed on swordmanships, so...

But when I think back on how my parents described their affinities and how they were considered great for their multiple affinities—I think I can safely deduct that what I found about my magical abilities is quite awesome?

Oooh, finally, is this the cheat God granted to me? I didn’t ask for it, but...

If it is, then, it is a nice gift to be born with!

...only if I don’t end up being too overpowered, though. Being overpowered equals to having lots of troubles!

But wait a second. I think I forgot to ask something else. Something... oh, right!

“Mom, I didn’t chant the spell in Spraec, but I managed to cast my magic just fine. Can we actually do that?”

“Wait, you, what?” Mom is suddenly taken aback.

Her excitement seems to be increasing at a higher rate, but Mom... your face... you don’t have any muscle spasm, right? I’m worried that she would wrinkle quickly because of me, that’s such a waste for a beauty like Mom. Her doll-like features would disappear if she were to contract chronic muscle spasm—or wait, would she catch a nerve disease because of the spasms?

“Huh, but how...?” Dad is also surprised.

“Eh, Lyra can do it already, all on her own?” Alt-nii also looked at me in awe.

“...Yes?”

...I need some explanation, please.

What exactly happened? How is it possible? Has nobody else managed to accomplish such a feat?

Mom inhaled a deep, deep breath and exhaled it slowly. She then opened her mouth. Yup, your daughter is ready for the explanation!

“I have told you about voiced incantation and voiceless incantation—basically chanted magic and chantless one, right?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“There are another two variations whose levels are in the middle of them. One is half incantation, in which someone can cast their magic with only reciting the shortened version of the incantation. The second variation is [Nonspraec Incantation]—that you just managed to do.”

...Wait, I have ever heard of half incantation before in my previous life, I think.

I am not sure, as I only knew people who were capable of chanted magic back then. Nah, I didn’t even pay any attention to whatever they chanted as I had no knowledge about it at all.

[Nonspraec Incantation]... such thing exists?

“It’s great for people who can’t remember Spraec language!” I said in excitement.

“Yes, but it still costs more mana. Therefore, I want you to try that after we have practiced a bit more, or after your second test’s done...,” Mom explained.

From her eyes, I can sense that she’s thinking, ‘I can’t believe you tried it out without even knowing it.’ Seems like I would be trained to do either Nonspraec Incantation or Half Incantation—or both in the future.

“Yes, Lyra~ The secret of [Nonspraec Incantation] is to imagine the effect of the magic plus the magic circle~ The more vivid they are, the better~,” Alt-nii chimed in.

...Magic circle? It’s still my habit to recall the image of them whenever I practiced. Though the version that I remembered may not be the detailed version of the circle itself. Still, ...I fulfilled the requirements without even knowing.

“Altaire’s [Void] element is rare and there are not a lot of spells known, so he’s mastered the use of Nonspraec Incantation,” Mom explained.

“Yup~!” Alt-nii smiled happily.

Ah, understandable. With many of its spells remain unknown, Altaire would have more benefits if he were to produce his magic without the needs to know the spells.

“Then... Lyra’s mana... can we safely assume that it’s more than 600, already?” Dad asked.

Huh?

How did it come to that?

“Yes,” Mom answered.

How did you come up with an exact number?!

“Eh, how do you know?” I asked, unable to wait for them anymore. Well, they have a habit of hanging me in the dark for the things that they might be familiar with, and would explain later on, after realizing that I have no clue about it.

“Well, only those with more than 600 mana capacity are capable of using half incantation and Nonspraec incantation, Lyra,” Mom said.

“Heee, there is such a parameter based on mana capacity?!”

That is... cool!

“Yes. And only those with more than 800 mana capacity are capable of voiceless incantation,” Mom explained further.

Which means, Mom is definitely capable of voiceless incantation. No wonder, as expected as the Head of Magician. However...

I stared at Alt-nii.

Alt-nii, then, he can easily...?

The moment our eyes met, somehow, Alt-nii seemed to understand what I was thinking about. Could it be that I am too easy to read? I would like to consider myself not easy to read, though...

“Ah, voiceless incantation is extremely tiring and hard to use, you know? I’m still in practice,” Alt-nii puffed his cheek.

“Haha, yes. Being able to use it doesn’t mean that they will be able to easily do so, Lyra. Practice is still needed, even more so to accomplish difficult things,” Mom patted Alt-nii’s head.

“But still, Lyra’s discovered a lot of things in just a day. That’s awesome,” Dad lifted my body and put me on his lap. He then hugged me from behind and patted my head.

It’s... warm.

“What to do, our children are both so talented...,” Dad questioned it.

“We are very lucky, indeed. I think we need to thank the God more, haha,” Mom answered.

“Ah yeah, then... let’s close our eyes for a little while, clap our hands, and thanks Aion-sama for this amazing discovery,” Dad said.

...Yes, such a custom is normal. We can’t claim ourselves as religious people, but we still believe in our God, after all. We have routinely prayed and gone to churches at times, but that’s all part of the routine we have. It’s not something special.

Aion-sama is the name of the god that most humans would worship. It is said that Aion-sama is the creator of all life, the beginning of everything—the Alpha—and is often portrayed with the image of a pure, innocent child.

Alt-nii closed his eyes in an instant and clapped his hands.

“Aion-sama, thank you for your blessings!”

“Aion-sama, thanks for the blessings!”

Everyone recited it together.

In my past life, I was raised to put my faith in Aion-sama, too.

...The god that I have met doesn’t seem to be Aion-sama, yes, I can’t picture that little light as a being as divine and as gentle as Aion-sama is portrayed to be.

Aion-sama—our God’s gender is unspecified—some may address Aion-sama with ‘he’, while some may address Aion-sama with ‘she’.

Aion-sama can predict the future or see the possibilities of the future the world would have, and thus, Aion-sama will always pick the best route for the greater good, of the whole nature and all living beings. Aion-sama never made any mistake. Sometimes, we call His plan as [Fate].

...yup, that light—the one claiming itself to be god—is definitely not Aion-sama. It can be a different deity all along, or part of Aion-sama’s governance...?

Did that meeting with the light-sama shake my faith to Aion-sama? ...I believe that Aion-sama is out there, probably scolding the little light that I met—yup, that god I met, he is probably Aion-sama’s subordinate or what... As he meddled with someone’s life and death—which should fall under Aion-sama’s jurisdiction.

But anyway, I should also thank the god that forced me to reincarnate, since I believe it might be the little gift I received from the tiny spectre of light that I can still remember up until now.

I thought I didn’t ask for anything, though.

Thanks for the present, God who is in the form of the tiny spectre of light!

Unbeknownst to them, a spectre of light is flying outside the window, then landed on the nearest tree’s branch.

Before long, the light disappeared and a transparant figure of a mischievous child could be seen in the place where the light was formerly at, smiling while observing the family who are giving their utmost gratitude towards their god.

“You’re all very welcome.”