Chapter 15: Happiness and Realization

Right now, I stood before Emilia with my arms crossed. It was after sword-fighting practice, and my classmates were heading back to the dorms one by one. The only odd thing was their actions before they left. Most, if not all, of them bowed to me before they departed.

At first, I thought this was a new form of harassment. But Emilia told me that it was just their way of showing respect to me. I accepted her explanation and was a bit happy because the results of my efforts were finally showing. Though I was still lonely since I hadn’t made any friends in my classroom, being respected wasn’t that bad.

Anyway, back to my epic standoff against Emilia.

“Emilia, do you know why we’re not going back to the dorms?” I used an arrogant tone when I spoke to her this time because there were still some students walking around us.

“No,” she replied.

“Before I tell you why, enumerate the things that happened when we were still third-grade students.”

“Yes.” Emilia sighed before she began listing the events.

“First, you met with your former magic teacher on the first day. Next, we both went to our respective classes. After that, we went to the canteen and ate lunch there. Then we had our first class in sword fighting. In the days that followed, our routine repeated, and you didn’t meet with your magic teacher again after that first day.”

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I scowled the moment I heard the word ‘repeat.’

“Then do you know what’s missing?” I asked.

“The activities we should’ve been able to participate in once we reached third grade,” she answered.

“Do you know why we couldn’t participate?”

“It’s because all of us general students can’t use magic beyond basic spells.”

I manipulated the wind around us, making our hair and clothes sway. It made the atmosphere feel really epic.

“We’re fourth-grade students now, right? How long has it been since we advanced a grade?” I asked.

“Around two months,” she replied.

“I see. Then, I’ll ask you again, Emilia, do you know why we aren’t returning to the dorms?”

“…No.”

A smile floated onto my face. I quickly manipulated the air around me and created a fireball, a water ball, a wind ball, a ball of light, and a lump of floating rock.

“Let me tell you then. As you know, these are the five basic elements of magic, correct?”

“Yes.”

“What if I told you that I’m planning on creating a sixth element? And this element will be available to us, the general students.”

Her eyes widened at my declaration. It was understandable; my idea was essentially an impossible feat. However, since I had all the time in the world at this school, I had nothing better to do.

“T-that’s—” she stammered.

“Impossible? Of course I know. But what else can we do? Study? Practice our sword-fighting skills? We’ve been doing those for four years already! I’ve reached the limit of my patience! I want to do something different for a change!” I screamed at the top of my lungs at Emilia.

“Since we have the time, why don’t we do impossible research to kill our time?”

“…”

“Of course, I have a lead on how to do this. I got this plausible idea before I went to bed last night.”

Though I called it an idea, what I was actually doing was recreating something. Last night, after my usual routine, I suddenly remembered a show I watched in my previous life. I tried recalling the title, but all I could remember was "Lyrical" something. However, the title wasn’t important. What mattered was the skill the protagonist used.

She gathered mana from the air and unleashed it on her enemy. I think she called it "breaker" something. Well, anyway, in this world, all things have mana. If everything has mana, then it’s plausible to do what she did.

“An idea? Would it be alright if you told me?” Emilia asked.

“Mmm… It’s kinda hard to explain without showing it to you.”

“Have you done it before?”

“Nope, this will be my first time.”

Emilia looked amazed and seemed like she wanted to say something but decided against it.

I extended my hand in front of me, palm facing the sky. I heightened my concentration and senses without closing my eyes. Almost immediately, I felt a very dense mist around me.

(This must be the so-called ‘mana.’)

I imagined a force that sucked in the mana surrounding me. The mana began congregating above my palm and formed a floating ball that emitted a pale blue light. Although it felt a bit anticlimactic considering how easily this 'impossible' feat was achieved, I was still quite satisfied with successfully creating this phenomenon.

“There! Do you see it?” I asked excitedly.

“…? See what?”

Emilia tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“That’s strange… Right now, I’m seeing a floating ball above my hand…”

“Eh? … Wait a minute.”

She walked closer to me and closed her eyes.

“Hmmm… I can feel that there’s a lot of mana above your hand… Is that what you’re seeing?”

“Yes! But it’s kinda strange. Why can’t you see it?”

“I don’t know.”

I diffused the ball of mana from my palm and crossed my arms, thinking.

“Why don’t you try copying what I did?”

“What you did?”

“Nn!”

“Even if you say that… I didn’t even understand what you just did. Besides, I can’t even do chantless magic.”

An idea popped into my mind. I placed my hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“Do you remember the first time you were taught magic?”

“… Yes.”

“Then try doing that. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you.”

“Okay.”

We walked to a nearby tree and sat down. Emilia then closed her eyes and extended her arm.

“Keep calm… Take a deep breath, then exhale… Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.”

(It feels like I’m teaching her how to give birth… weird.)

“Heighten your senses and concentrate… Do you feel anything?”

“…”

No answer. I was tempted to pester her, but when I saw a blue aura covering her body, I quieted down. A few moments later, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“Grant the power to me!”

(Is that the incantation? Why does it sound like she’s ordering someone?)

After she finished speaking, the mana around her was suddenly sucked into her body. She relaxed her outstretched hand. Soon after, three balls emitting a blue light floated around her.

“You did it! You did it!” I couldn’t contain my joy, so I jumped on her, breaking her concentration and dispersing the balls of mana.

“… ouch~”

“You did it! You did it! This proves that anyone can do this!”

“Ahhh… yes.”

Since she was a little taller than me, I aimed for her breast and rubbed my cheek against it. It felt very soft.

"Huh!?"

I quickly raised my head and placed my palms on her breast.

"W-wait! Where are you touching it?"

I could feel a soft feeling on my hand. I rubbed it, squeezed it, and felt it. The feeling I was feeling right now was nothing but breast!

"No way!"

"H-stop that~"

"We're still ten years old and why do you already have breasts!"

"Y... you... ask me why? Ahh!"

I was really jealous of the feeling on my palms. Since I was a girl in this world, I wanted to have those things "somehow" too. But since I was still ten years old, I waited patiently for the time when they would start to bud.

"That's really unfair! What did you do to speed up the growth? Did you drink anything?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"You could become really popular with the boy -"

At that moment, I suddenly realized what I was doing and why I was jealous. I felt her breast again to confirm the feelings that were welling up inside me. I didn't feel horny, but rather defeated.

“…”

I stood up and looked towards the sky with empty eyes.

(That’s right… I’m a girl in this world. So it isn’t strange that I wasn’t turned on by that… But why did I even wish to become popular with the boys? I understand that I’ll have to marry someone someday, to fulfill the expectations of my parents and continue the Chis Chem bloodline. But I still felt safe for now because that was something far in the future.)

A tear fell from my eye and rolled down my cheek.

(Does that mean I wanted to have a boyfriend at this age, even though I was a guy in my previous world?)

(…)

I felt a sense of hopelessness as I stared at the setting sun.

“I really have become a young girl, huh…”