Chapter 15 : Abilities

The digital clock I brought from home read 3:30.

“I don’t know how.”

“That’s why I told you not to do it like that.”

After school, I took Jangmi to the island to personally verify whether she could actually use magic.

Initially, I considered hiding in her bag after school and asking her to take me to her house. However, the girl herself asked me to teach her how to use magic.

It was a good opportunity. If she used magic skillfully, it would mean she infiltrated us with deceptive intentions. On the other hand, if she pretended not to be able to use it, I would know immediately.

After about 30 minutes of testing, it turned out this girl couldn’t use any magic other than transformation.

She said she had a duel with Harin in the evening… At this rate, wouldn’t she be disqualified?

There are two ways an ordinary human who has contracted with a fairy uses magic. One is to extract magic from the fairy’s magic stone. The other is to directly use the magic power generated in the body through the contract.

Jangmi hadn’t made a contract, but she did have a magic stone, so all she had to do was use it.

However, she couldn’t use it at all.

“Do you understand? You have a magic stone in your body, so you have to react the magic power from it.”

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

“How did you transform then if you can’t even do that?”

“Well, I imagined myself transforming…”

“Then imagine using magic in the same way.”

We’ve been going back and forth like this. It’s frustrating.

It seems like she’s trying to feel the magic by placing her hand on the magic stone, but strangely, there’s no reaction. It only reacted when she transformed and untransformed.

I’m starting to wonder if this girl is nothing more than a replica of Dahye’s magic color.

“Ugh… Ugh.”

She’s struggling, moving this way and that.

Ah, could that be why she can’t use it?

I opened a small door, just big enough for my hand to fit through, and reached inside. After rummaging around, I picked up a candy, just a regular grape-flavored candy. I bought it a long time ago to replenish sugar, and even though I didn’t open it, I could feel it melting and becoming sticky inside. I handed it to her. I wasn’t planning on giving her anything good.

“Eat.”

“Wow, candy!”

Jangmi unwrapped the candy with a natural air. The string stretched out with a *쭈욱* and fell to the ground with a *툭*.

“Ah…”

The candy was now dirty from falling on the dirt floor. It was fine to throw it away, she could have asked for a new one, but the girl just stared at it. Then, she picked it up with her thumb and index finger.

“You gave it to me as a gift, so…”

“Why would you eat something like that?!”

I quickly swatted her hand away. A sticky string of sugar connected our hands. Of course, the candy fell off the cliff, and I don’t know where it went.

“I’m sorry. But… I was told not to throw away gifts from others…”

“Even so… Wait here.”

“Ah!”

Just as I was about to return to the house, the girl grabbed my hind leg. Her face looked like she was about to cry.

Even though the smell of the old candy clinging to my fur made me irritated, she said something that made me wonder what she was really thinking.

“Don’t leave me…”

“What? I need to get wet wipes.”

“Ah, ah! That’s right! Hehe…”

…Did she think I was going to abandon her? Maybe she has severe trauma due to past experiences…

I’d like to do that, but… I’ve already made the official announcement. Who knows what you’ll do if I do. And I know exactly what Dahye would say to me. I can’t do that.

Well, if I leave her alone like this, others will see her and get curious.

“We’ll try again after washing our hands, okay?”

“Okay.”

She answers well.

We each did our own thing in the bathroom. Jangmi brought a wooden chair from the dining table and sat down to wash her hands since the sink was too high, and I used the shower to rinse the sugar down the drain.

The grape scent won’t go away. It’s not something I can wash off with water. It’s not a bad smell, but it’s not my favorite either.

“Are you done yet?”

The girl held out her clean hands towards me, seemingly pleased. Perhaps because she used soap, my grape scent wasn’t on her hands. They smelled of ordinary soap.

This all happened because of me… Didn’t it? If I’d just given her a proper candy from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened.

What am I supposed to do? I’ll never be friendly with demons like Dahye or Wisp. They’re the weird ones.

Of course, I led the press conference, and I told Dahye to take her as a successor. In the end, it’s all my doing, isn’t it?

“I’ll take a shower, so wait a bit.”

“How long do I have to wait?”

“10 minutes. No, 15 minutes.”

I handed her a towel and locked the bathroom door. The water pressure from the showerhead might be okay for humans, but it was quite stinging for me, so I had to reduce it.

Only after soaking my entire body and washing with body wash did the unpleasant sweet smell disappear. Instead, a faint scent of soap lingered.

I shook the water off my body, dried myself with the towel, and pulled the doorknob.

“What? Why are you here?”

“You told me to wait, Amber.”

“There are plenty of places to sit, why are you waiting right here?”

“I guess so.”

An absentminded reply. It’s so different from the muddy conversation I had with Wisp just an hour ago. Huh, her answer is like a cotton ball that will fly away if I blow on it. I feel deflated.

I gave her a cheap, 300 won lollipop. It’s completely different from when Wisp gave the demons glucose candy. This is purely an experiment. Maybe her magic stone wasn’t working because she was low on sugar.

…Contrary to my intentions, the girl is giving me a look happier than when she eats chicken in the evening. Why are you looking at me like that?

“What time did Harin say to meet? 8 PM?”

“H-How did you know?”

“Because Peng always goes to the tavern around that time—”

“Oh, I see. She told me today. She said she doesn’t have time except for after academy and studying at home. And she has to go to bed by 10 PM no matter what.”

“You went to bed at 10 PM yesterday, too. Same here.”

“Oh, you’re right!”

I completely dried myself while making small talk that I wasn’t interested in. I’m still damp because I didn’t use a hairdryer, but it doesn’t matter since I’ll be back to wash up again.

It’s time to check if feeding Jangmi sugar had any effect.

* * *

Is she some kind of special case? Why can’t she do anything but transform? I could understand if she wasn’t even trying… Is the method itself completely different? This is driving me crazy.

“Um, Amber…”

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I’m supposed to be your successor, but I can’t use any magic.”

Well, on the surface that’s all it is. It’s actually a relief that she can’t cause any harm to us. Should I even care about this?

There’s definitely magic power inside her.

Come to think of it, how did Dahye learn to use magic? Was there a separate method before training on the island? I remember she shot a so-called magical beam right after making the contract.

“No, it’s okay. Dahye learned on her own, so maybe my way was wrong.”

“Then… Kyaa!!”

At least I showed her everything. How to shoot a beam, how to fly, how to feel magic power. She learned all the basics, so the reason she can’t use them must be due to lack of practical experience.

If you can’t do this before you plunge into the ocean from above, well… Frankly, it’ll be a shame. Oh, wait. Would the media or the association come after me and Dahye?

Oh, I did it because I was so frustrated, what should I do? Is she really going to die? I’ll have to save her, right?

Thump—

Ah, there’s a reaction. Jangmi used her magic power. But why isn’t her speed decreasing? Where did she use her magic power… Huh?

The girl, who was falling from the sky, disappeared in an instant. As I approached the spot where she vanished to find Jangmi, I saw something very familiar. A dimensional door, similar to the one I use. How did she use that?

Before the shimmering door disappeared, I jumped in.

“Where is this?”

It’s my house. The bed and sofa were smashed, but it’s definitely my house.

But, how? I only showed her, I didn’t teach her. To begin with, this isn’t something you can learn even if you’re taught. Since I don’t even know the exact principle, and it’s a stolen ability…

“Waaaaah!”

“A-Are you okay?”

“I hate you, Amber!”

Soon after, the front door opened, and Dahye entered. I had to explain to her. I told her that Jangmi didn’t know how to use magic power with ordinary methods, so I gave her an extreme prescription.

She didn’t just say, “Oh, I see,” and leave it at that. She didn’t say, “Good job,” either.

In a voice loud enough to shatter the barrier I had put up,

“You crazy bastard!!”

she yelled.