Chapter 54………………………………..
“…….”
“Since I came here, I always felt like I was floating alone. I wondered if I really belonged in this world. But……”
A gentle, lullaby-like voice filled the bedroom.
“After giving birth to CC, that anxiety disappeared, I guess? I finally feel like I’ve truly settled into this world.”
“Yuria.”
“Now I feel like I’m a person of this place. I’m the mother of this child. That’s all I can think about.”
“That’s a bit of a hurtful remark, isn’t it?”
This time, Kyle’s dad spoke in a playful tone.
“Was I not enough for you? How many ♩♬ things have we done just to keep you here?”
“Oh, of course I know. I could endure this place because you were here.”
Mom immediately replied with good humor.
“But… I think… CC was my last piece.”
“…….”
“No, our last piece.”
Mom carefully pushed my hair back as she spoke.
“I feel like I can do anything for this child.”
“…….”
“I love you, our daughter.”
Soon, I felt a soft touch on my forehead, and the slightly tilted mattress of the bed leveled out.
It seemed like Mom had gotten up from the bed.
“Let’s go to sleep too.”
“Ah, I really hope we go home soon. This bed is way too soft, I don’t like it.”
“If you hate it that much, why don’t you just sleep on the street?”
“Agreed.”
“Yeah, you can flatten it and sleep. The hardness will be just perfect.”
Soon, the trivial chatter of Mom and Dad began to fade away.
I, again, slowly sinking beneath consciousness, thought belatedly:
‘Me too, Mom.’
For Mom and Dad, I feel like I can do anything.
I’ll stay strong, so watch over me.
The next morning.
“Waaah!”
I suddenly opened my eyes wide and jumped out of bed.
I’d overslept!
What if something happened while I was asleep?
“Whoa, what the—?”
Just as I reflexively reached for my scroll, a familiar voice sounded beside me.
I startled again and looked to the side.
“Dad Kyle?”
“Are you always this intense when you wake up…?”
Kyle’s dad asked, shrugging his shoulders.
Wait, but why does Dad look like this?
“Dad, did you stay up all night?”
“Of course. There’s something I have to make for you by today.”
“Didn’t you just come to my room yesterday and then go to sleep?”
“Were you awake then? That was just a quick visit. I was worried your mom would get suspicious if she didn’t see my face.”
Ah, I see.
I nodded slowly.
In the meantime, Dad came closer and handed me something.
“Here, this.”
I took it and examined it.
It looks almost identical to the listening device I saw yesterday.
‘Feels like it’s a bit lighter too.’
Anyway, from just looking at it, I couldn’t tell what had changed.
“What is this?”
“What do you mean, it’s what I mentioned yesterday.”
“Mm, of course I know that.”
But I asked because I didn’t know exactly what had changed…
I sighed deeply and spoke again.
“But from just looking at it, I can’t tell what’s different from yesterday!”
“You can’t see the obvious difference?”
Dad’s eyes went wide, astonished by my words.
As if saying, How can you not notice this?
‘But no matter how I look, I really can’t tell.’
Even if I brought Derek’s dad to ask, he’d probably say the same.
I don’t know.
“Look closely.”
Finally, Dad ran a hand through his hair and began to explain.
“First, it can eavesdrop. In real-time.”
“Wow……”
“Plus, it has a function to automatically hover around the target, so you don’t have to attach it manually like before.”
“Waaah.”
“And a location-tracking feature… so you can know where the target is, also in real-time.”
“Waaaah!”
This is amazing, the best!
I gave Dad a thumbs-up.
He shrugged and continued, his voice more excited than before, clearly pleased with my praise.
“And you can also see who they meet.”
“You can see that?”
What kind of monster invention did he make overnight?
“Well, not exactly know precisely.”
Dad raised his eyebrow and added, twitching slightly.
I tilted my head. You can see who they meet, but not exactly?
Like a low-quality CCTV?
“Look, CC.”
As if reading my thoughts, Kyle’s dad knelt on one knee, met my gaze, and spoke.
“Even people with no talent for magic, or those who can’t use magic at all, basically accumulate mana in their bodies.”
Suddenly talking about this?
“That’s what we call ‘innate magic’.”
“Mm.”
I nodded absentmindedly.
Of course, I knew that.
‘It’s a setting that’s already been covered in the novel.’
In this world, mana—the source of magic—seeps everywhere.
Mana affects everything in the world, so humans are naturally affected as well.
‘Mana humans can use is called magic, and mana they cannot use is called magi.’
Magi acts like a deadly poison in the human body. If it accumulates, it can cause collapse or death, like the empress.
Strictly speaking, Mom had the ability to convert magi into usable magic.
Source: Harzen Walker.
Anyway!
“And this innate magic is like a fingerprint—no two people under the sky have the same mana signature.”
As he spoke, Dad kept holding up his thumb toward me.
I stopped thinking and nodded reflexively.
“Mm-hmm.”
Kyle’s dad mumbled as if not caring whether I was listening or not.
“Of course, detecting and classifying unmanifested innate magic is impossible, even for the greatest of wizards. Harzen ♪♬ can’t do it either.”
“But how can you know?”
Since he suddenly brought this up, it seems like this device has a function to determine that.
“Heh-heh.”
Kyle’s dad let out a villain-like laugh at my question.
“This place has all kinds of bizarre treasures. Maybe after hundreds of years, that’s how it is.”
Gasp—Mom would probably scold me to watch my words if she heard that.
“So I dislike this place, but this time, they cooperated pretty well, so it was possible. Of course, your name was used… temporarily.”
I rolled my eyes.
So basically, they used something akin to an imperial treasure to make this device.
‘Really sorry, Mr. Aide.’
And thank you for giving it to me, Grandpa…
I’ll use the treasure you generously gave to help prevent the world from ending.
“Anyway.”
While mentally sending thanks to two people somewhere, Dad changed the subject.
“With this, the innate magic of anyone who interacts with that person is automatically recorded. If they talk, exchange something, or otherwise interact—anyone.”
Then Dad, as if to demonstrate, stroked my head and pulled out something slightly bigger than what he gave me before—a round object.
“This information is transmitted right here.”
“Here?”
