CH 24

MK 24 – More Royal Mage’s Test That I Shouldn’t Have Taken

While other mages are laughing and screaming as they play around the soft-bouncy water ball, those who have finished their turns, Rondimond and the others, are now in contemplation.

[—It will serve well as a cushion.] (Rondimond)

[—True. It could serve as a safety break to catch someone falling from a certain height.]

[—That might be true. But it would definitely feel good as a bed.]

[—I agree. I mean, look. Someone’s already sleeping over there]

[—Oh, I personally use it to sleep sometimes as well. I even adjust the temperature to make it cozier.] (Kunon)

Kunon joins in the conversation of the renowned royal mages and… they didn’t mind. It’s as if there’s a tacit understanding that Kunon can speak freely even amongst the best mages in the kingdom.

As such, the conversation progressed further and they also discussed the extent that the characteristics of water can be modified.

There’s other things as well such as –

[Hey, what do you think will happen if we set that fluffy ball on fire?]

[Eh, how long do you think the form could last?]

[Wouldn’t it be easier to sleep if it’s more bouncy?]

[I think that’s soft enough and I love it.]

—Different opinions were shared between the mages regarding the ball and heated debates are starting to appear here and there.

[…Oh, yeah. We still have the exam.] (R)

That is until Rondimond suddenly remembered that he still has work to do.

‘There’s still a lot of things I’d like to try but let’s put it up for later.’ (R)

[What do you think will happen if the bounciness increases? It would rather make people jump, you know. It would be like *Pewww*, and you’ll suddenly find yourself as high as the castle’s second floor.] (K)

[R-really!!? …*E-ehem*… Let’s stop for now, Kunon-kun. If you’d stir our curiosity any further, I won’t be able to guarantee that you’d be able to go home. There are actually some people in here who’d already bent on not letting you go.]

‘And that’s something I don’t have any problem with.’

Or so Rondimond had subtly said but that didn’t reach Kunon’s ears.

That’s because Kunon got distracted and remembered his promise with Milika.

‘Even though I came pretty early, time flew by as we discussed just the soft-bouncy water ball and it’s about to get to noon.’

Even for Kunon, the time they spent in discussing further experimentation regarding his water ball had been really enjoyable. However, his dinner with Milika still triumphs in terms of his priorities over magic discussion albeit a little.

After all, the soft-bouncy water ball is just one of the spells Kunon can do.

If just one spell would take this much time, their discussions won’t end even when the night comes if he let them contemplate in every magic he use.

As for the test? It’s just mere formality at this point.

[I still have something up my sleeves, you know.]

*Poof*

A black cat then appears from the outstretched hands of Kunon.

*Blink, blink*

And then it starts to stand up from his hand.

‘I hope Rondimond won’t say anything else about the exam anymore.’

To ensure that they won’t have much time and leisure to discuss further, Kunon decided to show them a lot more.

But to be honest, Kunon wants to listen and talk with the royal mages about magic who clearly have more ideas and experiences than him.

‘I want to show them all that I have. It’s not like I already made a magic that’s worth hiding from anyone.’

[Oho, is this the animal magic that we’ve been hearing about?] (R)

[Yes.] (K)

As Kunon extends his arm where the cat lies, someone immediately grabs it over.

[—oh… how warm… it feels like a real cat! Wow!]

[It isn’t an actual cat though.] (K)

Kunon can create a lot of animals.

Due to his intensive reading of encyclopedias and similar books regarding animals, he’s now capable of replicating their appearance.

However, the only animal that Kunon can perfectly reproduce is a cat.

As to why, it’s because it’s the only animal that Kunon had ever touched.

He adjusted the texture of his water cat based on how the real one actually feels over and over until he finally completes it.

It is the most challenging arrangement Kunon had ever done to his water ball. It took so much of his time.

He actually thought once or twice that perhaps it’s just a complete waste of his time.

But since everyone’s reaction about it had been pretty nice, Kunon then changed his mind that perhaps the large amount of time he invested in perfecting it isn’t that bad.

[It can’t move though. It could only stand, sit, and curl. So there’s just three patterns. Perhaps I would have been able to do a lot more stuff if I could actually see a cat move.] (K)

As Kunon lacks vision, he can’t visualize how a cat naturally moves and the explanations he got from the books are not really enough to cater to his imagination. The best he could picture is how a cat blinks its eyes though.

[—Movement, huh. So you created this using water ball.] (R)

[—I can create what looks like living creatures. Water can change in any shape. It can also change its colors. Hahaa, it feels like it’s kind of unique with the element of water.] (K)

[—Hey, hand the cat over.]

[—You wish. I’d be the one who’ll raise this child.]

‘Not that you could raise it since it’s not actually a living animal.’ (K)

[In other words, as long as you have a basic understanding of how it looks and can visualize how it moves, then you’d be able to create anything with water.]

[I believe so. I think I can do that. In fact—]

*Poof*

‘I might as well show it to them.’

And there goes an immediate replica of his handmaiden, Iko.

Since Kunon personally knows how Iko moves, he can use his own movements as a person and memories as a reference.

Kunon really can’t craft Iko’s face to perfection so it’s a little bit rough if you take a look at it closer. From a distance, anyone would assume they’re looking at an actual maid when in fact it’s just a mannequin made of water.

When Kunon showed this to Iko, however, she said that the doll’s movements are quite strange.

[How’s it’s movement strange?] (K)

[I think there’s something different about how an actual person walks compared to the water doll but… maybe that’s just my imagination…] (Iko)

As his handmaiden wasn’t able to pinpoint what was the problem, Kunon was lost about how to improve it further.

And since he has other things that he had to do, and his handmaiden exclaimed as well that watching a doll made out of her isn’t really pleasant for her, he stopped tinkering in perfecting the Iko water doll.

[As my handmaiden didn’t particularly like it, I stopped any further research related to that project. That being the case, I’m not really confident in showing this one…] (K)

Or so Kunon had said but he might be overlooking something. Right now, the royal mages surrounding him, are also researches who had done nothing almost everyday but magic.

[—Wouldn’t it be faster if he shows us what’s the problem, general?]

[That’s right. How about you try moving it for us, Kunon-kun?] (R)

Whether it’s good or bad, is something to be judge by the observer.

If the problem lies about Kunon’s lack of visualization, then they’d help him supplement his imagination.

[I understand. Well then.] (K)

As such, Kunon responded to them without thinking too much.

—Unbeknownst to them, this is something that they will definitely regret later.

There’s a reason why the handmaiden hates this magic of Kunon.

So perhaps Kunon should have thought why is that so.

Much more of Rondimond.

And the other mages too.

Before a water doll is created, it is originally formed from the spell water ball.

And the spell <A – Ori> (Water Ball) lets the mage create and manipulate water.

As such, the water doll that’s originally a variation of water ball retains some of its characteristics such as, well… floating.

That’s the part that made the handmaiden particularly uncomfortable about the water doll.

Because it is something that looks like a human, moves like a human, but not the same way as humans.

It sometimes walks on the ground, sometimes floats a little bit above, and when it bumps to an obstacle, since it’s made of water, it would explode and produce a splash.

If you look at it from a distance, it sure does look like a human. But after you watch it move for a while, it’s something that looks more spiritual.

Like… a figure of wandering maid that floats, vanishes through the walls, and disappearing right before your eyes.

It won’t be an exaggeration if someone thought of it as a ghost at first sight.

Perhaps it’s just a coincidence.

Or maybe it’s something that’s bound to happen as they wouldn’t stop on this experiment until this coincidence.

A maid who’s currently cleaning from the third floor of the castle takes a look at the window.

When suddenly…

*Swooshh*

A person suddenly passes by from the other side of the castle walls.

Upside down with its head first towards the ground, the maid saw the figure fall.

[K-ki-kyyyyaaaa!!!!!!!!!]

‘W-what just happened!?’

The maid was dumbstruck as she didn’t understand what she saw with her eyes.

It took her a moment before the dots connected inside her head and thus she wasn’t able to stop herself from screaming after realizing what just passed by.

‘A person fell!’

‘Someone, up higher than the third floor of the castle, had fell from the windows!’

And based on the momentary glimpse she had over the figure, she could tell from the color of her clothes that the person is probably someone she knew – a fellow maid in the castle.

Knights and soldiers who heard the scream immediately rush to the scene.

Without wasting a second, the maid who’s being eaten by her fears quickly tells them what did she just see.

A commotion then starts to occur.

The maids that have gathered to hear about what happened then turn pale as they thought of the same thing that one of their colleagues had fallen from the upper floors so they check with each other if they’re all okay and if someone’s missing amongst them.

One of the knights then opens the window to look at the ground below.

But there’s no one there.

There’s not even a trace of someone who just fell.

‘Perhaps it was just the maid’s imagination?’

‘But she definitely looks scared. She must have seen something for sure.’

[…..]

There’s no one else outside.

‘The only thing I can see here are the royal mages who are for some reason hanging outside the black tower…’

[—Oh, that must be it.]

The knight saw something else aside from the royal mages, however. It’s a figure of a maid dancing in the skies above them as they’re under a heated discussion.

‘So it’s you lot who’s behind this.’

—

The incident ended with the director general and the rest of the royal mages getting a one month pay cut and a very strict warning to Kunon Gurion.

Kunon’s warning, or perhaps scolding, had been really really hard for the boy though.

Translator’s Notes:

Hi! Hi! We’re now currently in the latest chapter of the manga, yey!Perhaps it’s now obvious, but the web novel is greatly similar to the light novel (source of manga). In fact, some details are excluded in the light novel which have resulted in me losing my motivation translating that one. Anyway, this one’s a bit late because I had trouble editing it T.THere are images from the manga related to the scenes—

a. Kunon summoning the cat and the reaction of the corps. (It’s the girl who will raise the cat)

b. Kunon summoning the Iko doll (Please don’t get any strange ideas! T.T)

c. Iko’s reaction about the doll

d. The innocent maid being pranked (unintended)

e. Kunon’s second scolding for the day — with the royal mages as a whole this time\n