MTLNOVEL Chapter 10
Chapter 10
"What is it, Miss Ellie!"
"Clarice, your face is too close. Also, you recover too quickly. You said 'without a staff,' but normally, is a staff necessary?"
"Yes, it is. There's said to be about a tenfold difference in power with or without a staff. Ordinary people can't use magic without one."
As she explained, Clarice wiped the dust from my thick legs with a towel and helped me into a new pair of pants.
"Then why can I use it?"
"Because you're a genius, Miss Ellie!"
"Indeed you are! Without a staff, and yet using lightning spell... uuuh..."
When Barry looked like he was about to cry again, I gave him a scolding and steered the conversation back.
"Can you cast a spell while mid-chant?"
"Yes. Once you're used to it, magic can be cast without chanting. Additionally, if I may add, it allows for various practical applications like adjusting power and range. If you can perform basic magic, you can develop and use derivative magic, but due to differences in magical aptitude among hexagram users and individual strengths and weaknesses, caution is necessary during training. Forcing yourself to use magic you're not suited for is inefficient and a waste of time and magical energy."
Recalling the sensation of firing Thunderbolt earlier, I visualized a small bolt of lightning and pointed my finger at the ground.
With a crashing bang, the ground was lightly gouged out.
Clarice and Barry knelt down again, so I made a scary face and pointed at them. They quickly jumped up in a panic. I really didn't want my pants pulled down again.
As I continued firing Thunderbolt to test how much I could adjust its power, I started to feel hungry.
At that perfect moment, Barry brought lunch on a cart. Seeing that, Clarice moved a round table for eating next to the book-piled desk, set up a parasol, and had everything ready in no time.
Barry laid out the dishes with a beaming smile.
Stop.
Hold up a second on this lunch.
"Um... may I ask something?"
"What is it, Miss Ellie?"
"Clarice, your face is too close. Do I usually eat this much?"
"Huh? Yes, that's right. You are a healthy young lady who eats well, Miss Ellie."
"Still, this is a bit much..."
Three plates loaded with meat, a mountain of something like potato salad, two plates of overly sweet-looking desserts, and a basket full of bread.
"Hey Barry. Do I really eat all of this every time?"
"Yes. You always eat it all so deliciously, Miss Ellie."
"I have a request for you."
"Anything for you, Miss Ellie."
Barry leaned in so close he might've stirred up a whirlwind. They say couples start to resemble each other, but having a wrinkled old maid and a scary-faced man with a scar on his cheek zoom into my face is not good for my heart.
"Barry, your face is too close. And you're scary. You don't look like a normal citizen. I'm going on a diet, so I want you to reduce my meals."
"Ah, a diet. Understood."
"What's with that face like you don't believe me?"
"Miss Ellie, this would be your three hundred fifty-eighth diet."
Ellie... how many times have you failed at dieting?
"This time it'll go well."
"I hope so."
"I awakened because of that incident, you know."
I laid the groundwork so Ellie's changed behavior wouldn't seem strange. If anything happened, I planned to blame it all on that thunderstorm. Though with these two, it might not be necessary.
"You can do it. Because you're a genius, Miss Ellie."
Clarice nodded and poured tea into a teacup.
"I want to build muscle, so increase the protein and reduce the carbs. Focus the meat on chicken. If it's fish, mackerel or salmon is good. Also, please think about vitamin balance and prepare a salad of raw vegetables and fruits with light dressing. I want to gradually slim down while building muscle, so I'll need a daily meal log. Clarice, could I ask you to do that?"
The two of them stared at me with their mouths agape.
Oh, right. I guess they don't have concepts like protein and carbohydrates in this world.
"Is chicken really okay? You love Piggoo meat more than anything, don't you, Miss Ellie?"
Barry said this while showing me a dish that looked like ginger pork.
Piggoo apparently tastes like pork. At this point, can't we just call it pork?
"It's fine, Barry. I want to lose weight."
"Fish are luxury goods, so I'll need the master's permission to procure them. Also, I've never heard of mackerel or salmon."
"Well... I read somewhere that they're supposed to be healthy."
"I see. I'll ask the town merchants about them later."
"Eh? You don't have to go that far."
"No, no, I now fully understand how serious you are, Miss Ellie. As the head chef of the Golden family, I will do everything I can to support you."
"Good. Thank you."
I'm glad the diet meal problem, which I was most worried about, was solved thanks to Barry. Also, the Golden family being rich helps a lot. If I had reincarnated into a poor family, a healthy diet would've been difficult. Good food costs money.
With all that settled, I felt bad for Barry, but I left about three-quarters of the food and resumed training.
I kept practicing adjusting the power when firing Thunderbolt.
With this Thunderbolt, I wanted to get a feel for how magic worked. The energy circulating in my body must be something like mana. If I could fully control it, it should allow for all sorts of applications, just like Clarice said.
When the sun started to set, I finished the magic training and did laps around the training ground. To be precise, I was too heavy to run, so it was more like power walking.
After working up a good sweat, I ended my training as the sunset dyed the training ground orange.
"Still, your magical power is bottomless, Miss Ellie."
After I took a shower, Clarice helped me change into casual clothes in the training ground's changing room, looking deeply moved.
"You think so?"
"Absolutely. After all, you can cast mixed magic of white magic and sky magic multiple times."
"Clarice, can you use any magic?"
"I haven't really used it in front of you much, but I can use wind magic."
Saying that, Clarice pulled a pencil-sized wand from her pocket, muttered "Wind," and waved it.
A gentle breeze passed through my tired body.
"So your affinity is with wind, Clarice."
"Yes. It's handy for drying laundry."
"Huh. Anything else?"
"It's also convenient for drying dishes."
"Ohh. And?"
"It's useful for blowing off snobby nobles' wigs."
"Yup yup. Can you do anything else?"
"Let me see..."
"Can't you use any other magic?"
"......"
"Come on, there's gotta be something. Like creating a tornado or something."
"......"
"Um—Clarice?"
Clarice lifted her apron and chomped down with a "mukii" expression.
"Miss Ellie! Please share some of your magical talent with me!"
If I tease her any more, Clarice might start crying.
"Sorry. So, Clarice, you can't use any other hexagram magic?"
"Unfortunately, I'm a single."
"Single?"
"It means I can only use one type of magic."
"Ah, come to think of it..."
I remember Ellie wrote in her diary about how she was mocked for being a single and how frustrated she was. Wait. That means she originally could only use Light, her suitable magic type, right?
That's not good. If I suddenly can use lightning spell, people might start questioning how I learned it, where I got it from, and why a single like me can now use it—there's a high chance I'll be suspected.
"Lightning spell has to be kept absolutely secret, Clarice."
"Eeeeh?!"
"Don't 'Eeeeh' me!"
"Shouldn't we at least tell the master and mistress?"
"Nope. Not allowed. Don't say a word."
"Understood......"
Having finished changing, I left the room.
I never realized how nice it is to have someone help you get dressed.
So easy, so easy.
Since Clarice opened the door, I went to leave the room.
Right then, I happened to glance at the full-length mirror by the entrance and was left speechless.
————！！！！！！！！！！？
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
No way... This is absolutely impossible.
Seriously.
SE-RI-OUS-LY impossible!!!
"Clarice! What is this outfit?!"
"What do you mean? It's the usual casual wear of the young lady..."
What the hell...
"This is... me......?"
I was so confused, I even started using the wrong pronoun.
Is there anyone who wouldn't be thrown into chaos after seeing this outfit?
A fabric of white base with a hint of pink mixed in had been fashioned into a one-piece dress. First of all, it was already a mistake for a fat person to pick white and pink—colors that make you look bigger. Then there were the frills at the hem and around the arms—what kind of joke is this? And what's with the bright red ribbon on the back? This is... what the hell......?
"What the hell is thisss!"
Overcome with rage, I tore off the frills on the hem of the skirt with brute force, ripped the ribbon off my back, yanked off the senselessly yellow headband that had no color coordination, kicked off the chunky leather shoes that lacked any unity in style, threw it all into the training ground, and obliterated them with Thunderbolt.
PISSSHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!
DOZUGWAAAAAAAN!!!!!!
GYAA GYAA BASA BASA BASA
BUHIHIIN
GARAGARAGARAGASHAAAN
HEE-HO HEE-HO
BUSHWAAAAA
A thunderclap loud enough to tear the ears echoed, and the most powerful Thunderbolt of the day scorched the dress frills black as it blew a massive hole in the ground, sending nearby birds flying, startling horses into a sudden run, knocking over a carriage, causing the cowardly Hee-Ho birds to go into respiratory distress from the shock, and for some reason, a hot spring erupted from the training ground.
——Crap. I went too far.