Chapter 24 : Adventure Level 15 (2)

December 21st, at a café, I sat with Yu Mina enjoying snacks.

“You know, he was a guy I’d barely spoken to a few times.”
“It wasn’t even real conversation, you know.”
“Just greetings? The polite kind, you know.”
“But one day, he just showed up on my way home from school.”

Yu Mina cut her slice of cake into small, bite-sized pieces.

“I was talking with a friend at the time.”
“He was loitering nearby, sneaking glances, making it super obvious he was suspicious.”
“I noticed right away.”
“Ah! This is it! That thing!”
“That thing, indeed.”

I nodded and took a sip of my cappuccino.
I don’t really know coffee flavors, but this one seemed less sour.

“Exactly! Of course, I sent my friend off and went somewhere less crowded.”
“I naturally took out my phone and pretended to look at it.”
“My gaze was fixed on the phone, but all my other senses were on high alert.”
“After a little while, maybe he’d gathered his courage, he approached me.”

Yu Mina took a bite of cake.

“His first words were this.”
“‘Um, you’re Mina, right?’ Right! Right! Of course, I’m Mina—who else would I be!”
“Did you answer like that?”
“Nooo, that’s not it—that’s what I thought inside.”
“I calmly said yes, of course.”
“Couldn’t shatter his illusions right from the start, you know.”
“Anyway, after I confirmed, he blushed, hesitated, and then shouted.”
“‘I’m going to confess to Cha Haneul—please help me!’”

Yu Mina held the fork in her mouth and leaned back deeply into the sofa.

“Just as expected.”
“Tell me about it. There must be a rumor going around school or something.”
“Like, ‘It’s better to go through Yu Mina before confessing to Cha Haneul.’”
“But there hasn’t been a single successful case even after going through you.”
“Not that I’d accept anyway, but wouldn’t going through you actually lower the chances of success?”
“That’s right. The success rate actually drops.”
“It was the same for the boy I just mentioned.”
“He asked for help confessing, so I arranged to meet him to talk seriously.”
“Just the two of us.”
“A date?”
“He probably came without knowing, but of course, it was a date.”
“We broke the ice talking about our dear young lady at the café, and then we even went shopping, saying we should create a style matching Cha Haneul’s taste. It was totally a date.”
“My taste? What taste?”
“Since our young lady’s taste is peculiar, I dressed him according to my taste.”

Oh dear.
I shook my head and ate my cheesecake.

“After dressing him up, wow! Totally my type!”
“Well, yeah, since you dressed him in your style.”
“So, while we were at it, I suggested watching a movie too.”
“By that point, maybe he sensed something was off because he hesitated, but what do I care?”
“We watched the movie.”

Yu Mina pushed her cocoa and cake aside.

“After watching a movie, the day gets dark, and you get mentally tired.”
“Perfectly vulnerable to the atmosphere.”
“Thinking the time was right, I went somewhere secluded.”
“I gently held both his hands, with the sunset behind me, and said one thing.”

Yu Mina leaned forward, closed the distance, and took my hand.
It felt warm.

“‘Instead of Cha Haneul, how about me?’”

I smelled cocoa.
Her breath smells.

“So, you succeeded?”
Yu Mina smiled and leaned back on the sofa.
“Yep.”
“You sure work fast.”

We ate our snacks in silence for a moment.
Around the time I finished my cake—

“But, my dear young lady, what brings you to call me out today? Did something happen?”
“Anyone hearing you would think I only stay at home.”
“Even if it sounds like that, it’s true.”
“What do you mean true? It’s not even vacation yet—I still go to school.”
“So, you called me today with no particular reason?”
“…No.”

I subtly avoided her gaze.

“Hmm. What is it?”
“Next week is Christmas, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m wondering what gift to get Do Yugeon.”
“Huh? A gift? You’re giving a gift because it’s Christmas?”

Yu Mina looked puzzled.
Right, Mina became my friend after middle school started, so she wouldn’t know about this.

“Yeah.”
“What about your parents?”
“I spend Christmas Eve with my parents, and I’ll give the gift on Christmas evening.”
“Hmm. Depending on the situation, I might give it the next day.”
Usually, my parents go out on a date, but if they don’t, I might not have time in the evening.

“You’ve done this every year?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what about me?”
“Huh?”
“Surely you weren’t thinking of giving gifts to everyone except me, right?”
“Uh…”
I hadn’t thought about it.

“Looks like I was right. Oh dear, how sad. It seems I don’t exist in our young lady’s heart.”
“That’s not it.”
“Hmph, it seems I’m right.”

Yu Mina stood up from her seat.
“Let’s go shopping. If you haven’t decided on Do Yugeon’s gift yet, we need to buy it quickly.”

We moved to the department store.
Stopping by a suitable brand store, Yu Mina picked up a scarf.
“Since it’s winter, how about a muffler?”
“I gave him a scarf last year.”
“You did? I don’t remember seeing Do Yugeon wear it.”

I briefly retraced my memories.
“You’re right. I don’t remember either. Why doesn’t he wear it? Is it uncomfortable?”
I like it because it’s warm, but maybe it’s not the same for Do Yugeon.
“Then you’ll have to buy another one. He clearly didn’t like it.”
“You think so?”
“Probably?”

We wandered through several stores, looking at scarves.
One pink scarf caught my eye.
I picked it up and rubbed it with my hand.
It’s soft.

“Pink…? It definitely won’t suit him.”
“Well, probably.”
“It really, really won’t suit him.”
“It won’t be that bad.”

I rubbed it against my cheek.
The texture felt nice.

“Only according to our young lady’s strange taste, perhaps.”
“What’s wrong with my taste? Feel it.”

Yu Mina took the scarf and looked it over.
“This brand always makes good products. This one is no exception.”
I took it back.
“Really? Then should I buy this one?”
“I told you the color doesn’t suit him.”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t suit Do Yugeon.”

I wrapped the scarf around Yu Mina’s neck.
It looked good.
“It’s your Christmas present.”

Yu Mina’s expression was something between bewildered and displeased.
I didn’t know why she looked displeased, but this reaction was quite cute.

I hadn’t touched the Grimoire much because it felt unpleasant due to its history of being possessed by the ghost called Schrödinger, but my interest hadn’t disappeared.
I had an attachment to it as a research notebook, and although I didn’t use it much these days, it could serve as a mana tank in emergencies, and above all, its appearance as a Grimoire suited my taste.
Carrying it around let me fully enjoy the feeling of being a mage.

But the reason I sat at my desk today wasn’t just because of those things.
It was something that had sparked my interest and led me to attempt something like research when pondering a fundamental approach after the fantasy phenomenon began.
Magic circles.

Nowadays, the existence of magic circles isn’t as rare as when I first obtained the Grimoire.
With things like the magic circle Schrödinger used to turn into a cat or items like the B-grade staff that use magic circles, they aren’t easy to see, but not impossible either.
I could see them again anytime just by using the Magic Record skill.
However, those magic circles are too complex and difficult for me to replicate currently.
In that sense, the simple magic circle in the Grimoire could be considered an excellent teaching material.

Though calling it simple might be laughable, considering I’ve looked at it since the early days of the fantasy phenomenon but still don’t know how to use it, even if its structure is simple.
Even copying the shape of the magic circle with mana doesn’t make it a magic circle, and I have no idea why.

But this time, I think I found a breakthrough.
Blood.
Blood.
When Schrödinger used a magic circle to become a cat, it definitely created the magic circle with blood.
It wouldn’t tell me when asked, so I couldn’t be certain it was blood, but since the party involved didn’t deny it, the possibility is high.
Besides, it’s the same method as the previous way of trying to form the shape with mana, just with a different material, making it easy to attempt.

It’s a truly interesting discovery.
Except for one reason.

I pressed firmly around the finger pricked by the needle.
A hot, stinging pain came, and drops of blood fell into the cup.
The falling drops gently rippled the blood water.

Ugh… bad for mental health.
No, more than that, my finger hurts.
Is this even safe?
I currently weigh 41kg, so I can’t even donate blood; is it okay to draw this much blood?
Might I collapse from this?
If I end up in the hospital for reasons like excessive magic research, Mom would laugh.
No, wait. Would scolding come first?
Ugh, I hate either option.

Blood drops continued to fall, filling the cup.
For a moment, I felt dizzy.
More accurately, it was a feeling where I couldn’t distinguish whether I actually felt it or just imagined feeling it.
I couldn’t properly judge how to interpret this feeling, but I knew one thing.
I should stop drawing blood.
It’s bad for mental health.

I used healing magic.
The bleeding stopped.
I should wash my hands and have a cup of coffee.

I washed my hands, sat back in the chair, and drank my cappuccino.
I saw the cup filled with blood.
After all that effort, I couldn’t even fill a small cup.
Hmm.
It feels pointlessly disappointing.

I finished the coffee and straightened my posture.
With the blood prepared, it was time to try creating the magic circle.
I took out a plain notebook that looked similar to the Grimoire.
I gathered my thoughts and lifted the blood with mana.
I began to form the shape on the notebook, copying the Grimoire’s magic circle entirely.
Continuously copying the System’s healing magic had made me capable of this level of mana control.

The blood gradually formed into the shape of the magic circle.
Finally, when it perfectly imitated the magic circle’s shape, a change occurred.
The blood transformed into mana, creating a complete magic circle.

Then, I felt dizziness and nausea, followed by fatigue and a sense of unreality.
My vision wavered for a moment.
When I came to, I was slumped over the desk.
What?

I pushed myself up and looked around.
The notebook, which had been just a plain notebook, had become a grimoire with a magic circle on it.
So the method for making the magic circle was correct.

The remaining blood in the cup had spilled, likely when I slumped over the desk along with it.
There were no signs of drying, suggesting it hadn’t been spilled long ago.
Whether I fainted or something else, it must have been brief.

I should probably give up on making magic circles with blood.
The unsettling feeling doesn’t sit right with me.
It feels like Schrödinger.
Besides, the B-grade staff created a magic circle just fine without blood. Copying Schrödinger’s method despite seeing that seems to have been a mistake.
Though the B-grade staff’s method was too complex and seemed to involve unknown elements, so I can’t replicate it right now.

I wiped the blood and tidied the desk.
Feeling a bit tired, I was lying on the bed when a knock sounded.
I opened the door with magic.

“My daughter, are you sleeping?”
It was Mom.

“Not sleeping. I’ll sleep after welcoming Christmas.”
A yawn escaped.
The blanket feels nice and warm.

“You say that every year, but you always fall asleep before then. I was so disappointed when you slept through the feast I prepared.”
“Lies. Dad spilled the beans long ago that it was always just one cake, nothing like that. Today is just one cake too, isn’t it? If I focus, I can sense everything with mana, Mom.”
“Magic, really. Does this mean I can’t tease Haneul during Christmas anymore? One of life’s joys has disappeared.”
“Mom, that’s mean.”
“Still, since my daughter says she won’t sleep, I’ll believe you. Fighting!”
“Yeah. Fighting.”

I sent Mom away.
And then, I blinked my eyes open, and the sun was rising. It was 5 AM.
This must definitely be a side effect of using the magic circle.