Wide-eyed with surprise, Sylvia stared at the fairy.
[Yes, that’s right. So your soul was able to enter safely. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to enter at all.]
As she tried to comprehend the situation, Sylvia continued asking more questions.
“So, where did the original Sylvia’s soul go? Did she die? Or…”
Anticipating Sylvia’s words, Eringium replied with a nod.
[She died, that’s right. So her soul left the body first, and less than 0.1 seconds later, your soul entered this body.]
“Wow…”
Even in its current sleeping state, the dragon was amazing. How could all this happen in such a way?
As if acknowledging the greatness of a dragon, Sylvia nodded her head.
“Alright, can you let go of my hand now?”
Seeing the fairy maintaining its awkward pose with its elbow resting on her hand, Sylvia’s mischievous side surfaced, and she swiftly flicked the fairy away.
[Youuu!]
Like throwing a ball, she sent the fairy flying, and Eringium let out a cry, flapping her wings in surprise.
With a teasing smile, Sylvia raised both her hands and shook them. Leaving the excited Eringium behind, she took out borrowed books from her spatial bag.
“All the magic circle books are available at the library… Just as I expected, a kingdom of magic.”
With a contented smile, she laid out one magic circle book after another on the table.
From water magic circle to fire, wind, and plant magic circles, she borrowed a variety of books.
Singing a tune under her breath, she opened the magic circle books one by one. As the books spread out before her, Eringium swiftly flew over, grabbing her turquoise hair and making a grumbling sound.
[I almost crashed into the wall! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?]
“Ouch! You’re the one trying to fight me!”
While Sylvia retorted against the fairy, her gaze remained fixed on the book.
“Look at this! It’s the water magic circle. It’s completely different from the plant magic circle. It’s fascinating.”
Having finished battling with her hair, Eringium settled her chin down on Sylvia’s head in response to her amazed voice. Together, they lowered their heads to look at the book.
“Hey, you know what? I had another brilliant idea! Wanna hear it?”
[What is it?]
In contrast to her bouncy voice, the fairy’s voice was still gruff as it asked the question.
“So, do magic circles have to be engraved only on gems? You know, my original profession was a tattoo artist. Know what that is?”
[What’s a tattoo artist?]
“A person who tattoos pictures on the body. It can be a drawing, a letter, someone’s face that you miss, or even a part of the person you love.”
Sylvia’s voice became slightly agitated as she spoke.
“Even without that, I felt awkward when I took a bath. So, this time, I want to try engraving the magic circle directly on my body. What do you think?”
Trying to read Eringium’s thoughts, she lifted her eyes to look at the fairy. Understanding her intention, the fairy lowered her head and replied while looking at her eyes.
[Are you a fool? Do you think that’s even possible? People can only use one element to begin with!]
“Really?”
It was a shock to learn that people could only use one element. Her excited heart sank all at once.
“What’s the point of magic then?”
Seeing Sylvia deflate and sprawl out, Eringium, who had been at a loss for what to do, flew up in a hurry and said,
[Then you should be the first one to try it!]
With a disappointed heart, Sylvia lifted her head slightly in response to the fairy’s exclamation.
“What do you mean?”
[You should be the first one to try it!]
As Eringium blushed and squirmed, unable to hide her embarrassment, Sylvia watched her silently before standing up with a bright smile.
“Sure, why not? I’ll give it a try, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll just erase it, right? Isn’t that the case? You must really be a fairy, encouraging me with such courage!”
With renewed confidence, Sylvia stood up from the sofa. However, she immediately faced another obstacle.
“Oh, come to think of it… I don’t have needles or ink.”
Once again, she was confronted with the most fundamental problem. Sylvia slumped back down.
“Hmm…”
While reflecting on the knowledge she had accumulated through tattooing, Sylvia got up from her seat again and headed to her kitchen garden.
Eringium followed her closely from behind.
[What are you going to make now?]
Her curiosity was piqued since Sylvia always grew fruits and vegetables in the kitchen garden.
“If I don’t have tattoo ink, I can make some, right? I’ll use a method that has been used for a long time.”
Recalling a historical method from China, Sylvia laughed heartily.
“First, I need to make pine ink!”
Seeing her mentioning another unfamiliar term, Eringium let out a small sigh and lowered her head.
[Looks like you’ll spend the night in the kitchen garden again today.]
Ever since that day when she first used magic to grow plants, Sylvia had become obsessed with it. She manually picked all the tomatoes she had grown using magic and then repeated the process with other vegetables and fruits. Her fascination with magic had reached an extreme.
Looking at her sparkling turquoise eyes, reminiscent of that day, Erin had a premonition.
[You should get some sleep and then work on it.]
Ignoring Eringium’s mumbling, Sylvia opened the door to her kitchen garden with vigor.
“Pine, oh pine. Bring me some ash.”
★★08. A regular in this house★★
After exiting the castle gate, Hubert soon spotted a mercenary group in the distance. Clutching his bulky bag of spatial magic, he walked energetically, wearing a cheerful smile on his face.
“Hmm, fruits and vegetables sold by a magician…”
Although not all magicians were combat-oriented, Hubert pondered as he recalled the woman he had met earlier.
“But what kind of elemental magic is she using? And why is she doing business like this?”
As a magician, she should have been well-received anywhere, making it rather peculiar for her to run a business.
“Well, these days, it’s hard to make money unless you’re a combat-oriented magician, they say.”
While Hubert might receive some hospitality, being a combat-oriented magician, he would never have said such things if he knew she was receiving a significantly lower wage.
“Hubert, have you finished your errand?”
A burly man, a swordsman, came running towards him and asked.
“Did you get the ingredients?”
The hungry-looking swordsman, Dennis, urgently asked once again. Hubert responded with a bright smile and a nod of affirmation. With an even brighter expression, Dennis continued.
“Now we can finally eat a decent meal, Hub.”
Although they might look like a mercenary group on the outside, anyone with a keen eye would recognize that the swords and armor they carried were of considerable value.
“Where is our leader now?”
Hubert looked around the area near the makeshift tent where the prince would usually stay during his sleepless nights, but he couldn’t spot him. Dennis pointed to a place a little further away.
“Our leader is over there… It’s a bit difficult to approach him.”
As Hubert walked towards the indicated spot, he noticed that something might have happened while he was away. Dennis shrugged his shoulders as if to convey the difficulties they faced. Hubert, however, didn’t forget to toss the bag containing meat and other delicacies to the knight before going.
“Guys, today we have proper meat!”
As if they had been eagerly awaiting Dennis’s words, the knights quickly started a fire and prepared their meal. Hubert took a quick look behind the large tree trunk and saw the black hair of their prince, who was sitting with his back against it, eyes closed. (T/N: Technically, Felix should have been the King and his stepmother the regent, so I’ll just use King in this case.)
His complexion was pale, always a cause for concern for Hubert. Ever since their prince ascended the throne, he had been unable to eat well. Despite Hubert’s inquiries and concern, the king always responded with indifference.
Compared to the lack of appetite, he had grown splendidly which made him shed tears of joy, but Hubert’s heart always ached when he saw his king. Oh, how wonderful it would have been if he were born as the child of a powerful noble family, capable of providing more support to his king. With his high magical abilities, he could have entered the royal palace and assisted the king in various ways.
The intermittent rays of sunshine illuminated his head as he sat against the pillar. His jet-black hair swayed gently in the breeze. The sharpness of his nose and the shadows cast by his sharp jawline were prominent features of his appearance.
[Felix! Hubert is back, wake up!]
With the food that Felix could eat in his hands, Poppy enthusiastically called out to him. Felix lifted his black eyelashes upon hearing the voice near his ears. Shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight, he squinted.
“My lord, please have a look at this.”
He never ate cooked food.
He would only eat the ingredients as they were, either washing and eating them himself or having Hubert wash them and hand them over to him.
Even if it meant Felix starving to death, that was a rule he would stick to.
He had easily escaped the hellish palace, which was like an ant prison. He was sent out, providing a plausible excuse.
“Show the exemplary prince’s ability to subdue monsters?”
With that plausible excuse, Felix was sent outside.
He glided away with disdain, pretending to be poisoned, and easily left the palace.
He had gifted the nobleman’s head, who had spoken recklessly about letting him experience the life of commoners, to his stepmother after gracefully beheading him. Then, he went into the underground, the Black Dragon’s Lair, a place that only true heirs could enter, and brought out all the jewels, royal secrets, treasures, and the king’s seal.
He left the Capitis Kingdom with only his loyal subjects and Hubert, who had protected him since his father’s time.
He had planned a superficial plan, but the queen had overlooked something.
Felix’s magical and swordsmanship skills were unmatched in the Capitis Kingdom. On top of that, Hubert was an exceptional water mage. They effortlessly erased their traces and entered the Corpora Empire as mercenaries, operating as a mercenary group.
While lost in thoughts about three years ago, Clover’s pitiful voice reached his ears.
[When will Erin come back?]
It had been three years since Erin flew into the space that appeared in the air and disappeared. The fairies, who could share their emotions, reminisced about Erin along with Felix, who was lost in the past. Despite being a mischievous and annoying fellow, Erin was their friend.
Ignoring the worried fairies around him, Felix reached out his hand to Hubert, who had been waiting for permission. As soon as he saw Felix’s move, Hubert quickly handed him the bananas from the spatial bag.
“My lord, these are bananas, a fruit you can eat without washing it. You just need to peel it easily and eat. And this is an orange, which I’ll wash and peel for you. But before that, try this tomato first…”
As Hubert chattered on, he magically cleaned the tomatoes and oranges. Felix had to swallow poison for a long time, which almost dulled his taste and sense of smell. He could feel texture, but he could hardly taste anything. He had to chew a large quantity just to get a hint of taste.
Nevertheless, he could still sense the freshness, so Felix mainly stuck to consuming fruits. Curiously, he observed the banana, a fruit he had never seen before.
[Wow, it smells amazing! Felix, try it, try it now!]
Calmia twirled around the banana with her cute little Calmia flower tied together with her hair and fluttered her pink wings in excitement.
[Fascinating! It’s the first time I’ve seen this fruit. It looks delicious!]
Clover also circled around Felix, expressing her interest.
Despite the fairies’ chatter, Felix remained unresponsive. He was fixated on the banana, a fruit he had never seen before.
“My lord, please try it. It tastes wonderful.”
Hubert had no idea about Felix’s trauma related to poison. Felix had kept that fact well hidden. It was not just about his pride; he was also afraid of people’s reactions if they found out that he could survive poison.
Wouldn’t they label him as a monster?
If that happened, wouldn’t it make it easier for his stepmother to get rid of him?
Or maybe his stepmother was already secretly afraid of him.
Lost in his thoughts again, Hubert carefully peeled the orange and offered it to Felix.
“This one is tangy and sweet. It’s juicy too… My lord, I believe this is the first time you’ve had such a fruit.”
Finally, Felix slowly parted his lips after hearing Hubert’s words. His bright red tongue briefly appeared and touched the slightly yellowish-white banana.
Wide-eyed with surprise, Sylvia stared at the fairy.
[Yes, that’s right. So your soul was able to enter safely. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to enter at all.]
As she tried to comprehend the situation, Sylvia continued asking more questions.
“So, where did the original Sylvia’s soul go? Did she die? Or…”
Anticipating Sylvia’s words, Eringium replied with a nod.
[She died, that’s right. So her soul left the body first, and less than 0.1 seconds later, your soul entered this body.]
“Wow…”
Even in its current sleeping state, the dragon was amazing. How could all this happen in such a way?
As if acknowledging the greatness of a dragon, Sylvia nodded her head.
“Alright, can you let go of my hand now?”
Seeing the fairy maintaining its awkward pose with its elbow resting on her hand, Sylvia’s mischievous side surfaced, and she swiftly flicked the fairy away.
[Youuu!]
Like throwing a ball, she sent the fairy flying, and Eringium let out a cry, flapping her wings in surprise.
With a teasing smile, Sylvia raised both her hands and shook them. Leaving the excited Eringium behind, she took out borrowed books from her spatial bag.
“All the magic circle books are available at the library… Just as I expected, a kingdom of magic.”
With a contented smile, she laid out one magic circle book after another on the table.
From water magic circle to fire, wind, and plant magic circles, she borrowed a variety of books.
Singing a tune under her breath, she opened the magic circle books one by one. As the books spread out before her, Eringium swiftly flew over, grabbing her turquoise hair and making a grumbling sound.
[I almost crashed into the wall! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?]
“Ouch! You’re the one trying to fight me!”
While Sylvia retorted against the fairy, her gaze remained fixed on the book.
“Look at this! It’s the water magic circle. It’s completely different from the plant magic circle. It’s fascinating.”
Having finished battling with her hair, Eringium settled her chin down on Sylvia’s head in response to her amazed voice. Together, they lowered their heads to look at the book.
“Hey, you know what? I had another brilliant idea! Wanna hear it?”
[What is it?]
In contrast to her bouncy voice, the fairy’s voice was still gruff as it asked the question.
“So, do magic circles have to be engraved only on gems? You know, my original profession was a tattoo artist. Know what that is?”
[What’s a tattoo artist?]
“A person who tattoos pictures on the body. It can be a drawing, a letter, someone’s face that you miss, or even a part of the person you love.”
Sylvia’s voice became slightly agitated as she spoke.
“Even without that, I felt awkward when I took a bath. So, this time, I want to try engraving the magic circle directly on my body. What do you think?”
Trying to read Eringium’s thoughts, she lifted her eyes to look at the fairy. Understanding her intention, the fairy lowered her head and replied while looking at her eyes.
[Are you a fool? Do you think that’s even possible? People can only use one element to begin with!]
“Really?”
It was a shock to learn that people could only use one element. Her excited heart sank all at once.
“What’s the point of magic then?”
Seeing Sylvia deflate and sprawl out, Eringium, who had been at a loss for what to do, flew up in a hurry and said,
[Then you should be the first one to try it!]
With a disappointed heart, Sylvia lifted her head slightly in response to the fairy’s exclamation.
“What do you mean?”
[You should be the first one to try it!]
As Eringium blushed and squirmed, unable to hide her embarrassment, Sylvia watched her silently before standing up with a bright smile.
“Sure, why not? I’ll give it a try, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll just erase it, right? Isn’t that the case? You must really be a fairy, encouraging me with such courage!”
With renewed confidence, Sylvia stood up from the sofa. However, she immediately faced another obstacle.
“Oh, come to think of it… I don’t have needles or ink.”
Once again, she was confronted with the most fundamental problem. Sylvia slumped back down.
“Hmm…”
While reflecting on the knowledge she had accumulated through tattooing, Sylvia got up from her seat again and headed to her kitchen garden.
Eringium followed her closely from behind.
[What are you going to make now?]
Her curiosity was piqued since Sylvia always grew fruits and vegetables in the kitchen garden.
“If I don’t have tattoo ink, I can make some, right? I’ll use a method that has been used for a long time.”
Recalling a historical method from China, Sylvia laughed heartily.
“First, I need to make pine ink!”
Seeing her mentioning another unfamiliar term, Eringium let out a small sigh and lowered her head.
[Looks like you’ll spend the night in the kitchen garden again today.]
Ever since that day when she first used magic to grow plants, Sylvia had become obsessed with it. She manually picked all the tomatoes she had grown using magic and then repeated the process with other vegetables and fruits. Her fascination with magic had reached an extreme.
Looking at her sparkling turquoise eyes, reminiscent of that day, Erin had a premonition.
[You should get some sleep and then work on it.]
Ignoring Eringium’s mumbling, Sylvia opened the door to her kitchen garden with vigor.
“Pine, oh pine. Bring me some ash.”
★★08. A regular in this house★★
After exiting the castle gate, Hubert soon spotted a mercenary group in the distance. Clutching his bulky bag of spatial magic, he walked energetically, wearing a cheerful smile on his face.
“Hmm, fruits and vegetables sold by a magician…”
Although not all magicians were combat-oriented, Hubert pondered as he recalled the woman he had met earlier.
“But what kind of elemental magic is she using? And why is she doing business like this?”
As a magician, she should have been well-received anywhere, making it rather peculiar for her to run a business.
“Well, these days, it’s hard to make money unless you’re a combat-oriented magician, they say.”
While Hubert might receive some hospitality, being a combat-oriented magician, he would never have said such things if he knew she was receiving a significantly lower wage.
“Hubert, have you finished your errand?”
A burly man, a swordsman, came running towards him and asked.
“Did you get the ingredients?”
The hungry-looking swordsman, Dennis, urgently asked once again. Hubert responded with a bright smile and a nod of affirmation. With an even brighter expression, Dennis continued.
“Now we can finally eat a decent meal, Hub.”
Although they might look like a mercenary group on the outside, anyone with a keen eye would recognize that the swords and armor they carried were of considerable value.
“Where is our leader now?”
Hubert looked around the area near the makeshift tent where the prince would usually stay during his sleepless nights, but he couldn’t spot him. Dennis pointed to a place a little further away.
“Our leader is over there… It’s a bit difficult to approach him.”
As Hubert walked towards the indicated spot, he noticed that something might have happened while he was away. Dennis shrugged his shoulders as if to convey the difficulties they faced. Hubert, however, didn’t forget to toss the bag containing meat and other delicacies to the knight before going.
“Guys, today we have proper meat!”
As if they had been eagerly awaiting Dennis’s words, the knights quickly started a fire and prepared their meal. Hubert took a quick look behind the large tree trunk and saw the black hair of their prince, who was sitting with his back against it, eyes closed. (T/N: Technically, Felix should have been the King and his stepmother the regent, so I’ll just use King in this case.)
His complexion was pale, always a cause for concern for Hubert. Ever since their prince ascended the throne, he had been unable to eat well. Despite Hubert’s inquiries and concern, the king always responded with indifference.
Compared to the lack of appetite, he had grown splendidly which made him shed tears of joy, but Hubert’s heart always ached when he saw his king. Oh, how wonderful it would have been if he were born as the child of a powerful noble family, capable of providing more support to his king. With his high magical abilities, he could have entered the royal palace and assisted the king in various ways.
The intermittent rays of sunshine illuminated his head as he sat against the pillar. His jet-black hair swayed gently in the breeze. The sharpness of his nose and the shadows cast by his sharp jawline were prominent features of his appearance.
[Felix! Hubert is back, wake up!]
With the food that Felix could eat in his hands, Poppy enthusiastically called out to him. Felix lifted his black eyelashes upon hearing the voice near his ears. Shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight, he squinted.
“My lord, please have a look at this.”
He never ate cooked food.
He would only eat the ingredients as they were, either washing and eating them himself or having Hubert wash them and hand them over to him.
Even if it meant Felix starving to death, that was a rule he would stick to.
He had easily escaped the hellish palace, which was like an ant prison. He was sent out, providing a plausible excuse.
“Show the exemplary prince’s ability to subdue monsters?”
With that plausible excuse, Felix was sent outside.
He glided away with disdain, pretending to be poisoned, and easily left the palace.
He had gifted the nobleman’s head, who had spoken recklessly about letting him experience the life of commoners, to his stepmother after gracefully beheading him. Then, he went into the underground, the Black Dragon’s Lair, a place that only true heirs could enter, and brought out all the jewels, royal secrets, treasures, and the king’s seal.
He left the Capitis Kingdom with only his loyal subjects and Hubert, who had protected him since his father’s time.
He had planned a superficial plan, but the queen had overlooked something.
Felix’s magical and swordsmanship skills were unmatched in the Capitis Kingdom. On top of that, Hubert was an exceptional water mage. They effortlessly erased their traces and entered the Corpora Empire as mercenaries, operating as a mercenary group.
While lost in thoughts about three years ago, Clover’s pitiful voice reached his ears.
[When will Erin come back?]
It had been three years since Erin flew into the space that appeared in the air and disappeared. The fairies, who could share their emotions, reminisced about Erin along with Felix, who was lost in the past. Despite being a mischievous and annoying fellow, Erin was their friend.
Ignoring the worried fairies around him, Felix reached out his hand to Hubert, who had been waiting for permission. As soon as he saw Felix’s move, Hubert quickly handed him the bananas from the spatial bag.
“My lord, these are bananas, a fruit you can eat without washing it. You just need to peel it easily and eat. And this is an orange, which I’ll wash and peel for you. But before that, try this tomato first…”
As Hubert chattered on, he magically cleaned the tomatoes and oranges. Felix had to swallow poison for a long time, which almost dulled his taste and sense of smell. He could feel texture, but he could hardly taste anything. He had to chew a large quantity just to get a hint of taste.
Nevertheless, he could still sense the freshness, so Felix mainly stuck to consuming fruits. Curiously, he observed the banana, a fruit he had never seen before.
[Wow, it smells amazing! Felix, try it, try it now!]
Calmia twirled around the banana with her cute little Calmia flower tied together with her hair and fluttered her pink wings in excitement.
[Fascinating! It’s the first time I’ve seen this fruit. It looks delicious!]
Clover also circled around Felix, expressing her interest.
Despite the fairies’ chatter, Felix remained unresponsive. He was fixated on the banana, a fruit he had never seen before.
“My lord, please try it. It tastes wonderful.”
Hubert had no idea about Felix’s trauma related to poison. Felix had kept that fact well hidden. It was not just about his pride; he was also afraid of people’s reactions if they found out that he could survive poison.
Wouldn’t they label him as a monster?
If that happened, wouldn’t it make it easier for his stepmother to get rid of him?
Or maybe his stepmother was already secretly afraid of him.
Lost in his thoughts again, Hubert carefully peeled the orange and offered it to Felix.
“This one is tangy and sweet. It’s juicy too… My lord, I believe this is the first time you’ve had such a fruit.”
Finally, Felix slowly parted his lips after hearing Hubert’s words. His bright red tongue briefly appeared and touched the slightly yellowish-white banana.
