Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
09 – Orphanage consolation services available (2)
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"Once upon a time, in a certain country long ago. A hard-working young couple with no children lived at the foot of a mountain. Every day they prayed to the goddess, 'Please let us have a beautiful child.'"
The space softly blurred and an image was projected as if it were on a screen: a small village sat at the foot of a scenic mountain range with lush greenery. Quiet and peaceful music played while a young man and a maiden were seen in a small hut in the corner of the beautiful village where flowers bloomed resplendant. The two always prayed to the stars every night.
"The goddess listened to their fervent prayers. One night, the beautiful goddess appeared before them and said, 'Eat the fruit of Persicca at the top of the mountain and I will give you my blessing.' "
Against the backdrop of solemn music and a beautiful moonlit night, a vision of a divine goddess appeared. The goddess had skin like white porcelain, pale blonde hair that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight, and a slender figure wreathed in a mysterious, iridescent silk the color of peach blossoms. She reached out to the children.
Sighs and cheers came from the girls especially, since beautiful goddesses and gorgeous princesses were their dreams come true.
"Just like the goddess had told them, they climbed to the top of the mountain, and there they found the Persicca tree, illuminated by moonlight. The tree had only one large Persicca fruit growing on it. They plucked it from the tree and ate it together. Sometime later, a plump, lovely boy was born from their union."
The scenery changed to the inside of a humble hut in the village. A baby with fluffy, strawberry blonde hair and amethyst eyes was being held by a young couple.
"Cute!"
The girls cheered again and Shiori breathed out in relief. Even though Jens had told her that she didn't have to think too much about it, she was still worried about what impression she would give telling a story about a child being loved by their parents to the children of an orphanage. These were her thoughts, but the children seemed to be enthralled by the story.
"The boy, born with the blessing of the goddess, was named Perelik. Perelik grew up quickly and eventually became a strong and gallant knight."
The illusion projected a youthful, handsome knight with calm eyes and tight lips dressed in a ceremonial white uniform with delicate gold trim, carrying a sword with an elaborately designed handle. The knight was kneeling before a throne.
This time the boys cried out in excitement. The dignified knight was the target of the boys' admiration. Even Toby's gaze sparkled and he stared at the projection as if devouring it with his eyes.
"One day, the princess of the country was kidnapped by the fearsome demon king. 'I'm going to rescue the princess,' Perelik decided."
The scene switched to project a man in a terrifying black robe and a silver-haired girl in a pale pink dress, trapped in his arms and reaching out asking for help.
The girls held each other and screamed while the boys stared at the image of the demon king, lips pressed tight in grim lines, as if they were knights themselves. They're completely part of the story now, Shiori thought with a smile.
"His father gave Perelik, who was departing, a necklace made of Persicca branches and his mother gave him fruit wine made from Persicca berries. 'Persicca, blessed by the Goddess, will surely protect you. Perelik, be sure to come back safely.' "
A young knight departed on a journey, sent off by the king and his parents. The moment passed in sorrow, yet the undertone of heroic music played and slowly swelled. Eventually, three young men appeared in front of the brave knight. A swordsman with sand-colored hair, an iridescent-haired mage, and a brown-haired martial artist.
"On his journey, Perelik met three brave heroes. Hund the swordsman, Vogel the wizard, and Arpa the martial artist. The four of them drank Persicca's fruit wine together and swore an oath to defeat the Demon King together."
With three companions, the young knight continued his journey, defeating demons along the way until they arrived at the Demon King's castle under dark, cloudy skies. In the midst of frightening music, the four of them confronted the demon king. Instantly, the music switched to a profound and heroic up-tempo song.
Shiori didn't dare to add narrative here. It was the climax of the show with only the magic-projected images and music. A mage unleashed great magic, a martial artist performed great feats, and a swordsman and knight battled it out with a demon king.
The children cheered enthusiastically for the heroes and, for some reason, even Jens clenched his fists and stared at the illusionary images in front of him, which inadvertently made Shiori almost laugh.
The demon king's strength was gradually diminished by the onslaught of the heroes, and he was retreating. Eventually, the knight holding his beloved sword before him swung at the Demon King one last time. The Demon King was defeated with a decisive roar. The brave men raised a battle cry and the knight and princess embraced each other.
The heroes and the princess made a triumphant return, parading down a boulevard in the middle of confetti and dancing flower petals. The three heroes became knights to defend their country, and as for the young man, who was already a knight, he married the princess and was given the throne. The beautiful young king and his wife, now the queen, embraced each other.
"And so, Perelik and his companions defeated the Demon King and rescued the princess safely. After returning to his country, Perelik married the princess and lived happily ever after. The end."
The story concluded with a happy ending. Shiori finished telling the story and quietly released the illusion spell. All that was left was the lingering atmosphere. The girls were fascinated and their eyes were moistened with tears. The boys sported blushing cheeks, still riled by the brave tale of heroism. Soon, the bold snapping of rapid applause echoed through the auditorium.
"Awesomeeeeeee! Cooool!"
"So nice! The royal princess is beautiful!"
The impressed children bounced in their excitement. Rurie was jumping up and down together with the children. The live-narrated film using illusionary magic was a great success once again. Telling that old story with visual and auditory magic at the same time was very draining for Shiori's body with its abysmally low magic capacity. However, when she saw the children's glittering smiles, all her fatigue disappeared.
"Thank you, Miss Shiori. It was wonderful this time as well. I couldn't help but get excited too," Jens spoke by her side.
"I'm glad you were pleased. It was worth the effort."
The smiling expression of Jens became a little concerned. He whispered next, "… Drink this as soon as you leave the gate. You must have pushed yourself a little too hard. Your complexion doesn't look good."
A palm-sized, tinted bottle was handed over to Shiori. It was a potion to recover magical power.
"Mr. Jens," Shiori replied, hesitating.
"It was among the donated items, but we won't need it here. Please, don't worry about it, just use it."
"… I understand."
Jens's concerned face relaxed as she took the potion honestly. He would have liked to encourage her to take a break before she left, but he knew that she would refuse in front of the children. That was why, at the very least, he had to give her a recovery potion.
"Come on, Miss Shiori is leaving. You should all say good-bye," he announced to the children.
"What, already?"
"I want to hear more!"
The children raised complaints, but they obeyed, chided by Jens.
"Thank you so much, Miss Shiori," one of them said, voice tinged with childish affection.
"Come again to tell us another story soon."
"I'll listen to your stories, if they're heroic enough." The less than honest line was Toby's. When he would eventually come of age and leave the orphanage, he wanted to make a living as an adventurer. He would surely choose the swordsman's path.
"I'll ask an esteemed swordsman to come next time." When Shiori said that, Toby's face broke out in happiness.
I might have pushed myself.
It had only been a very small amount of time. Still, even for a few minutes, the simultaneous activation of illusion and auditory magic was extremely difficult. I had been so happy with the elated faces of the children that I couldn't help but exceed the limit of my magical power.
The gatekeeper was a knight of the cathedral who, upon seeing me, became worried and recommended that I rest in the guardroom, but I politely declined. I walked out of the gate and, when I was out of sight of the children and hidden behind some trees, I took out the medicine bottle I had been given as a gift. I downed it in a single gulp and the lost magic flowed back.
"… Huh?"
It was the cheapest of all the restorative medicines, made by concentrating the magic power in the atmosphere and dissolving it in herbal water. Even so, it should have been enough for someone like me who had low magic capacity.
"Has the amount of magic power increased a bit again?"
There was a very slight discomfort, but I tilted my head at the fact that the recovery potion wasn't enough this time. I had been told that there was probably not much room to grow, but I was still glad to see some increase in my magic power. There were many things I wanted to try with magic.
Rurie patted my feet.
"… It's okay. I won't push myself too hard. I just overdid it today, that's all. They were so enthralled with it, I couldn't help myself."
When I told Rurie that, she flattened out on the spot. It almost looked to me like she was offering to carry me.
"No… I appreciate it, but it's a little too much to do it in town…."
The last time I was given a ride by Rurie was when I was barely conscious. Once, she had been invited to do it around town, and a bunch of amused kids had dogpiled onto Rurie. I was so sorry about the whole ordeal that I hadn't dared to ride her since then.
"It's no problem. Thanks," I repeated.
Even if I recovered my magic power, I would inevitably still feel tired because I had overdone it. Still, it wasn't enough to make me unable to walk. To prove to Rurie that it wasn't a problem, I used water magic to create water for her, and she drank it down, delighted. Rurie quivered once with a plop and then leaned forward in a vaguely nodding manner. It seemed she approved.
I involuntarily smiled at the slime's rich expression of emotion, and then stared at my palm, where the magical power had returned.
(A little bit….)
The desire that arose every time I used illusionary magic. It was something I couldn't control anymore, so just for a little bit, I decided, because I wanted to see it.
I created a palm-sized illusion.
Rectangular buildings lined up neatly against each other, hiding the sky and the ground. Paved roads ran between them and the noise of people hustling and bustling about interspersed with the sounds of cars passing by. The air and sky were slightly murky from pollution, so different from Toris.
My hometown that could be seen only in my memories and illusions. It was not always good, but there were certainly memories of growing up and people laughing with each other. It was unmistakably a home.
It had only been four years. But in those four years of struggling to survive, I had grown accustomed to this world and this place. New memories were being created over and over again, overwriting my previous memories which were gradually fading away. Every time this illusion was projected, the contours of the landscape became fainter and fainter, blurring at the edges.
But still.
The reason why I couldn't stop remembering was because that place was certainly my hometown.
My dreams were still there, and my hometown was unforgettable.
A hometown that I could never leave behind, its presence held fast in my heart and mind.
Creak. The door opened and the sound of the hinges echoed through the room. Thinking that he had to grease that door for good, Zack looked up, keeping his hand resting on the ledger. It seemed that Shiori and Rurie had returned after finishing their request. With her mage's hat covering her face up to her eyes, Shiori handed out the request slip.
"Good job," he commented. Zack checked the familiar handwriting and signature on the completed request section and handed her the bag with the reward. "You don't need to do anything else today, go home and get some rest. We'll do the magic investigation
"Eh, but it's barely past noon."
As Shiori was about to protest further, Zack reached out and gently brushed off a teardrop on her eyelashes with his fingertip.
"Bah. I can't let you meet with the client looking like that. I know that you're always doing your best, so no one will complain if you went up home early once in a while, right?" Zack caressed her cheek as he would a young child, then gently urged her on. "Get some rest and come back tomorrow."
"…Yeah. Thank you, Zack." Shiori didn't refer to him formally, as she did with others. By now, she felt as if Zack was an older brother to her.
She went home quietly.
"… With a smile drawn on her mouth, but with wet tears hiding under that hat that covers her eyes, huh," Zack muttered to himself. (I'm still the only one who can see her tears.)
This was an older brother's privilege and he wasn't going to pass it off as a gift to another man. However, if one day he could find a man to entrust Shiori to…. Zack let that train of thought fade away. (Do it if you can, Alexei.)
The strong look of his younger brother's striking, mauve eyes passed through Zack's mind.
[1] Author's Note: experience value check to see if her power grew.
Author Note: Hund is Dog, Vogel is Bird and, Arpa is Monkey. Please guess the original story (´∀ ｀;)
TL Note: The story is Momotaro. A very popular Japanese Short Story. Did you guess correctly?