Chapter 3: Magic Tutor

A few days have passed since the ceremony to make me a magician. I thought that once it was over, I would be able to use magic immediately. But it turns out that’s not the case.

To use magic properly, I need a teacher. This person will teach me the magic language and everything I need to know to cast spells. My mother had some of the servants search for a suitable teacher, and within a few days, one was found.

It seems the teacher will arrive in a few weeks. So, during that time, I, as usual, spent most of my time with my mother. Unlike most children, because I have memories from my previous life, the way we spent our time was quite different. Our days were mostly like this:

In the morning, after waking up, I would spend around 30 minutes preparing myself for the day. It was during this time that I discovered how troublesome it was to be a girl. Once I was ready, I would head to the dining room for breakfast with my mother.

After breakfast, my mother and I would go to my father’s study to read books. One reason I read so much was that the only way to pass the time without resorting to childish toys was to make reading a habit. When I was still very young, I pretended not to know how to read and would ask my mother to teach me. This continued until now, though I now ask her fewer questions.

Though there were some books I was forbidden to read, the amount I had access to was already enough. I wasn’t tempted to read the forbidden ones because, even if I wanted to, my small stature made it impossible to reach them without help. Additionally, since I hadn’t spent much time reading books in my previous life, my reading speed was quite slow. A book of over 300 pages would take at least a week to finish.

At noon, a servant would enter the study and deliver some food. We would then have a quick lunch before returning to our books. In the afternoon, my mother would tell me it was time for snacks. We would go to the veranda of our home to enjoy our snacks, which usually consisted of cookies, cakes, or bread. My favorite was Mont Blanc; I really loved it because it was small and sweet.

The weeks passed like this, and thanks to our routine, I became quite knowledgeable about this world, for a 5-year-old, at least.

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One day, while my mother and I were spending time reading in the study, a servant entered with an unfamiliar face. The person who was going to be my teacher was a young girl, about 10 centimeters taller than me, if I was correct. I am around 125 centimeters tall, so that would make her 135 centimeters. Quite small for an adult, if you ask me.

She had light brown hair that hung loose down her back. She wore a dark-colored witch’s hat and a dark cape that covered her body. Her face was expressionless, as if she had lost interest in the world. She also carried a slightly large backpack on her back and a medium-sized green suitcase in her right hand.

“My name is Eclara. I have no surname, which means I serve no master. Right now, I am traveling around the nation to find a suitable master.”

The girl made a small bow as she introduced herself. According to my mother, people without surnames are veterans who have lost the person they swore to serve until death. I’m not sure why they would travel to find a new master, so I just shrugged it off as part of their culture.

The name Eclara seemed familiar, but I couldn’t recall where I had heard it before. I decided to let it go; pursuing it might only make me uneasy.

I shook my head slightly to clear those thoughts and introduced myself with a smile.

“My name is Lumina Chis Chem, the only daughter of this household. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Though it’s customary to bow when introducing yourself, my mother had said there was no need to bow to someone of a lower stature.

“Since we have nothing else planned, how about you and Lumina go to the garden and start the lesson right away?”

My mother took the words right out of my mouth. It seems she was also feeling impatient.

“Understood.”

Eclara nodded slightly and followed us to the backyard. When we arrived, she took a crystal ball from her suitcase and presented it to me. I tilted my head in puzzlement at its purpose.

“That crystal ball is for me to determine your elemental affinity. Do you know what that is?”

It seemed she wanted to check if I knew what she was talking about. I puffed out my chest proudly and said, “Of course, there are five basic elements in magic: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Light.”

My mother, who stood beside me, also looked proud of my answer. Since our visit to the Vatican-like place to become a magician, all the books I had read were about magic. Though they were mostly basic and didn’t teach me how to cast spells, I had learned a lot about the elements.

“That’s good. Then please pour your mana into the crystal ball.”

“Pour mana?”

I knitted my brows as I repeated her instruction.

“You don’t know how to pour mana? That’s odd; I thought you already knew, given how naturally you spoke about elemental affinities.”

“Well, it’s because I’ve spent most of my time reading books.”

Eclara nodded in understanding and approached me, placing her hand on top of mine.

“Close your eyes and imagine you’re holding a pitcher of water with the hand I’m holding.”

I followed her instructions and imagined a pitcher filled with water, though the image I saw was one with only about three glasses of water inside it.

“Then imagine tilting the pitcher and pouring it onto the ball.”

When I did this, the crystal ball shone red, then blue, then yellow, then green, and finally white. When Eclara saw the ball displaying all five colors, her eyes widened in surprise.

“This is quite uncommon… Normally, a magician of your age would have only one element. For you to have all five… you’re quite gifted. It’s a shame that with your mana pool, you can only cast basic spells.”

Hearing that I was gifted made both my mother and me smile. The servants nearby also looked at me with admiration. Even though my mana pool was known to be small, we were not disappointed. Eclara, seeing our smiles, relaxed her expression and put the crystal ball back into her suitcase.

“Then, shall we start, milady?”

“Yes!”

I answered with enthusiasm. My mother returned to the house, wishing me good luck, while the servants went back to their work.