Since When Did You Have The Illusion That You Don’t Have Magical Powers?! - CH 22

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Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Just hanging the wand in a holder attached to the belt of my uniform makes me feel good. I suppose this feeling is similar to that of a knight hanging his sword.

In the corner of the well-kept courtyard of the academy, I pull out my wand and wave it towards the sky, being conscious of the cool-looking movement, and my magical power appears as a golden trail. It’s said that you normally can’t see magic like this, so one can tell that I’m different.

But still……

“Mmm, brilliant!”

This laurel wand is not bad. It feels good in my hand and the weight is just right. But I need another good wand. Preferably a wand made of some unusual material. A fully fledged magician would probably have several wands.

Come to think of it, there’s Palo Santo in Fortis’ hometown. It is also called a sacred tree, and it is customary to keep a piece of wood in the corner of a room as an amulet. Palo Santo would be the perfect material for a wand.

Why don’t I go and get some Palo Santo and have them make me a wand? I was so enthusiastic that I thought it was a good idea, but it takes about a week by horse-drawn carriage from the capital to my hometown, Saltus. Surely, I can’t take a break from the academy just to buy some Palo Santo.

I can go there and back in no time if I use transfer……

I’ve been wondering if I can do something about transfer magic, which is convenient but not easy to use.

Transfer magic allows you to jump anywhere within visible range or a place you have been to once, regardless of the distance. In other words, if you have never been there, you cannot jump, no matter how close you are.

If we were to compare transfer magic to something simple, it would be target shooting.

If you throw magical power connected to you at the target, your body will be pulled by the magical power and fly away. Incidentally, magical power thrown without a target will dissipate.

That is why, as an adventurer, I used to go to different parts of the world and put a lot of effort into placing targets. That way, when I received a request, I could shorten my travel time, and I could also quickly rush to the aid of my companions in a crisis.

But even if there was a target, if the thrower was not good enough, the magic would miss the target and jump to an unexpected place.

For example, it is not uncommon for a person to transfer to the entrance of a friend’s house, only to find himself in his friend’s sister’s room while she is changing clothes, or to be transferred to the private room of His Majesty the King in the royal castle while trying to go to a magic shop in the neighbouring kingdom. The former would only have you slandered as a dishonourable man, but the latter would surely result in your head flying. Terrifying.

In short, if the magic cannot be manipulated accurately, even if the direction is correct, the person will be shifted to a place that is off the target point. Advanced teleporters are the ones who can manipulate this accurately.

If you want to jump around freely, you need to have the ability to manipulate high levels of magical power and be light enough to move around the world.

However, it is rare for a magician to be able to throw magic at a target in the first place.

It was by chance that I came to be able to use transfer magic. It was when I was chased by the living dead at the forgotten ruins where I went on a mission.

At the temple we stopped at before we left, a priest advised us not to go there because the ruins were very dangerous, but we didn’t listen to him, saying that we would be fine.

Not long before that, Evan had saved me when I was lost in the Sea of Trees, but I had forgotten all about that and was in a good mood. I’m the kind of guy that forgets once it’s pass the throat1 .

But the ruins were really dangerous.

The dead, who had risen from the dead because we had inadvertently broken the seal, would rise up and chase us, no matter whether we defeated them or not. The next moment, while I was running around the maze-like ruins, arguing with Byron about who received the request and who was the one who broke the seal, I regretted from the bottom of my heart for not listening to that priest. Byron and I were standing in front of the temple where the priest was.

If you can use transference, use it earlier! Byron shouted at me, but that was the first time I knew that I could use transference too.

It was a stupid, nostalgic memory.

In any case, the targets I placed in various places in my previous life were not Sapphiras’, so they were of no use to me. I was an adventurer, but now I have a limited range of activities.

Looking up at the blue sky, white clouds drifted leisurely.

“I wish I could……ride that cloud……”

Even if you have never transferred, you can jump wherever you can see. If you look at the ground from a high place, you can see a wide range. If you do it repeatedly, you can go far in a very short time.

“Let’s give it a try.”

I transferred into the cloud I was just looking up at. However, I couldn’t ride the cloud and in no time at all I was falling towards the ground.

“Uwahhhh!”

While enduring the sensation of my stomach being turned upside down, I quickly transferred to the forest that I could see beyond the horizon. As soon as my toes touched the tip of a tall tree, I immediately shifted my gaze to the ground and landed safely.

“Haa……that was close.”

My back is wet with moisture. This may be the first time I’ve had such a cold sweat, including my previous life.

“……I see, you can’t ride the clouds. If I go up, I have to quickly determine where I’m going to transfer to, or I will fall and die.”

After deciding the destination from the sky and jumping, immediately secure a stable foothold. For buildings, place your feet firmly on the ground, and for forests, make sure the ground is flat. In any case, it is necessary to quickly identify a transfer destination where you can secure a stable foothold.

“But I think I can get there this way.”

My hometown was a quiet countryside. I wonder what it’s like now, 150 years later. Once there, the return journey is instantaneous. I might as well go there to practise my transference.

I thought about it, but it was the day of departure. I headed for my old hometown.

I’ve learned first-hand that clouds are a bit dangerous, so I don’t choose them as a destination unless there’s nothing in the way. Church roofs, clock towers. Then the top of a mountain. I looked for places with as much solid footing as possible.

Despite the dangers, I somehow got the hang of it after a few transfers.

“That’s not so bad, is it? Okay, let’s call this transfer the stepping stone transfer!”

The journey to my hometown was smooth, and I arrived in a few hours, taking breaks along the way.

The moment I stood at the entrance to the town, it hit me like a revelation.

“…Ah, aah~, that’s right, that’s right……I’ve just realised that.”

I came all the way here in cold sweat, but shouldn’t I have just got on Unisus and repeated the transfer in the sky? That’s really what I’ve come to realise now. I wish I had realised this earlier.

But I think the stepping stone transfer was also a good experience. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the edge of my seat like that before. If you think you’ve enjoyed a very exciting journey, it’s not so disappointing…….it’s not

The landscape of my hometown after 150 years hadn’t changed that much, but the roads into town, which were once terrible, had been cleaned up and had gone from very rural to a bit rural. Carriages are coming and going, so perhaps the number of people is increasing.

As I stepped into my hometown, I looked up at the statue standing proudly in the centre of the square. The statue is of a powerful-looking magician with his dressing gowns fluttering, looking over-the-top and casting some kind of magic.

“……Hm? Who is this?”

On the pedestal is carved the name Fortis Sinistra, the Great Chantless Magician.

……A magician I don’t know……

I pretended I didn’t see it and swept my gaze over the townscape.

”It’s changed more than I thought……”

The town is much busier than it used to be, and the houses that stand in a row are magnificent. Speaking of shops, there is only a small shop which was my family’s and a grocery store that sells small amounts of meat, and the small rural town, which only had a few agricultural produce and migrant workers as its main source of income, was now a bustling place as the birthplace of a great magician.

There are several inns which did not exist in the past, and the town’s biggest street is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.

What surprised me the most was that my parents’ house had been turned into a big shop. My parents must have used me well. In my previous life, I was able to live as I pleased and I couldn’t fulfil my filial piety towards my parents, so I’m happy that the town and my parents’ house have become rich and prosperous.

“Ah, there’s a magic tool shop.”

I thought I could just buy Palo Santo and go home, but if there is a magic tool shop, they should sell wands. In the past, there were no magic shops in this town. In the first place, only people who had nothing to do with magic tools lived here. But now, as the birthplace of a great magician, it must have a magic shop.

I immediately went into the shop, where I found many different kinds of Palo Santo wands. They vary in thickness and decoration. I was allowed to hold a variety of wands, bought the one that felt best in my hand, and inserted it into the holder on my waist. The owner gave me a box for my laurel wand, so I took it home with me. From now on, I’ll use it according to my mood.

“Alright, I’ve achieved my goal!”

Now that I’ve got what I wanted, I can take my time touring the city. The return journey is instantaneous, so there’s no need to rush.

“Oh! That uniform, you’re a student of the Creare Academy, aren’t you? Are you on a pilgrimage trip to the holy land? Since you’ve come all the way to the great magician’s hometown, why don’t you try the town’s famous potato dumplings?”

I was approached by a tanned uncle. The dumplings baked at the uncle’s stall were made by mixing mashed potatoes with flour and rolling them up. It was my favourite snack as a kid. Naturally, I haven’t eaten them since I became Sapphiras.

“I’ll take one”

“Coming right up!”

I bought one, feeling nostalgic. The owner said it was a bonus and gave me a generous smear of sauce. The hot potato dumplings tasted nostalgic, but they were much tastier than I remembered. But still, a pilgrimage to a holy land? He can tell by my uniform that I’m a student at Creare, so there must be a lot of students from the academy coming.

While I was eating the potato dumplings and peeking at the souvenir shops, my eyes were glued to one particular souvenir.

“Uwah, uncanny!”

It was a mysterious doll made of some kind of nuts and wood. It fits in the palm and looks like a dried-up Kobold2. It’s really uncanny, but I can’t help but be curious about the doll.

“Oh, nii-chan3. What do you think? It’s a doll that wards off evil.”

“Amulet?”

“Yeah, the doll is made of Palo Santo, which repels evil spirits. It also repels insects.”

“Then, can I have three of those dolls?”

“Yes, thank you for your patronage!”

I received the mysterious Kobold dolls from the shopkeeper and immediately attached one of them to the wand I had just bought. The dangling, swaying appearance is eerie and unbearable.

Somehow, I made a very good purchase. I can come back to this town any time next time.

I returned to the academy courtyard, having enjoyed a fulfilling excursion.

an idiom/proverb, it refers to how when you eat something spicy, once you’ve swallowed it, you forget how spicy it is. Figuratively, it means even painful experiences are forgotten once they’ve passed.

mythical sprite, aka goblin or hobgoblin.

brothe