Act 3: Threats to Elle Village
Chapter 6: The Seigneur’s Messenger
A busy yet peaceful six months have passed since I brought Laurent and the others home with me. Every day has been filled with harvesting the thriving crops, selling the excess to other towns, preserving foods, and figuring out what to plant next. Much has changed, but the most mind-boggling is—
“Lady Elle, please look at this! I was able to harvest such a big daikon radish! See how fresh and succulent it looks?” a teen a whole fist taller than me calls to my attention.
The boy with the baseball bat–sized daikon has sun-kissed skin, shoulder-length burnt-chocolate hair, yellowish-brown eyes, and an endearing smile.
This teenager, who’s a little on the small side but significantly bigger than when I found him, is Laurent.
In these past few months, he shot right up like the seedlings we planted, as Marie said he would. He was so much smaller than me at first, too!
Weren’t you supposed to be the manga’s legit shota?! Aren’t you supposed to counterbalance me being a legit loli?! I thought we were going to look smaller than our ages together!
What kinda mechanics are at play here? Magic?! Is magic at fault?! Does becoming a genius sorcerer equate changing your height and appearance however you please?! I want that cheat! Bah!
Lately, Laurent has been getting on my nerves because he outgrew me. Hoping he won’t catch on to my inner peevishness, I school my features and face him.
“I see. Looks like a tasty…radish.”
“It sure does! It’s an amazing find! Oh? What are you making right now?”
“…Furniture and stuff.”
“I’ll help you! You’re making it with magic, right? Leave everything to me, Lady Elle!” he exclaims and starts drawing a magic circle in the dirt. His lines are prettier and more accurate than mine.
Yes, Laurent can already use magic. I haven’t taught him how. I haven’t taught him a single thing. Not this teenager with the hidden talent capable of killing me. I swore to take his potential to become the genius sorcerer Laurent to the grave with me in order to stay alive.
But the annoying brat learned magic on his own. The shock I felt when I found out is still fresh in my mind.
At the time, I was making more farming tools for our new residents while Laurent attentively watched. “I think I can do that, too,” he said afterward and attempted to pull off the spell by imitating what he saw me do.
I should’ve stopped him then and there, but I underestimated him, thinking even a genius sorcerer couldn’t pull off a spell just by watching without any training…only for him to succeed in every aspect.
I was so overcome with shock I thought my jaw might fall off with how far it dropped.
In Analia, I was the youngest Grand Magi ever and often called things like “Prodigy! The epitome of godly talent! The kind of magic savant who only comes around once every hundred years!” But even with all that talent, I don’t have the ability to re-create a spell after seeing it only once.
Even Julius was surprised.
Magic is the brainchild of knowledge and skill—it shouldn’t be usable without basic knowledge of how it works! What in the world is the deal with Laurent’s body?!
Despicable. I despise Laurent’s talent!
“Lady Elle? Is something wrong? Magic particles are seeping out of you,” Laurent points out with an innocent grin.
Magic particles were born out of my jealousy of you! Annoying genius!
For that matter, I never knew Laurent had a cheat ability to see magic particles, and I reread the manga hundreds of times! You heard that right. Laurent can apparently see the normally invisible magic particles as a black aura. He developed the nifty trick of reproducing someone else’s spell by sight alone through watching how that black aura fluctuates.
Copycat sorcerer!
“Listen here, Laurent! You must never think you are a better sorcerer just because you have a slightly better knack for magic than me! I’ll never forgive you if you think I’m weak and try to take me out, attempt to take my life, and bury me! Burn it into your head that I’ll roast you, toast you, ghost you, then post you!” I declare with authoritative pomp.
Fact is, Laurent and I have entirely different magic supply levels to work with. Granted, Julius said it comes down to more than just the amount of magic I have access to. But anyway, Laurent won’t be able to fire any wide-area spells like me even if he wants to because he’ll run out of magic.
Hmph! How do you like them apples?! Laurent is a jack of all trades but a master of none, after all.
“I know. You often tell me not to take you out or try to kill you, but why would I ever do something like that? You are my—my village’s savior…and also…um…someone who is very…spe—”
I shoot Laurent a sharp look as he bashfully fidgets.
I mean, manga Laurent killed manga Elle! Granted, this Laurent won’t try to kill me…or so I’d like to think. He’s actually attached to me like a puppy to their owner.
Plus, his personality is different from the manga.
Manga Laurent was a character with a hint of darkness just below the surface. Maybe it had something to do with his entire village being wiped out in the manga. That said, I don’t know when Laurent, with his hidden potential to outclass me as a sorcerer, will turn on me!
I’m a woman who never lets down her guard. That’s me, Elle!
“That’s right. I’m your savior. And don’t you ever forget it! Never try to take me out! It’s a promise! You’ll have to swallow a thousand needles if you break it!” I emphasize for emphasis’s sake, when chills suddenly scrape down my spine.
Uh-oh, I know this feeling…
I nervously glance over my shoulder. There, the Prince of Glacial Beauty’s frigid gaze is drilling into me.
“Elle…did you not understand my warning?” Julius utters in an icy voice I swear brought down the air temperature.
“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha-What warning was that?!” I stutter and hide behind Laurent. Julius is scary.
“Don’t play dumb with me. I warned you to refrain from conspicuous activities.”
“N-No worries. I d-didn’t do anything overly conspicuous. I just snatched up a handful of villagers from a frontier villager! Nothing outta the ordinary!” I say, frantically trying to vindicate myself while behind Laurent’s back.
The ice only hardens in his glacial eyes.
Scary.
Julius has become a fussbudget ever since he brought up that puzzling theory about me being a magic generator or whatever. His anger goes through the roof whenever I impulsively kidnap unfortunate village people. It seems like he just wants me to stop being so obvious, but it bothers me to leave those folks like that…
And on that note, Elle Village has become a fabulous village with over a hundred residents!
“Laurent,” Julius says, turning his frosty glare on Laurent, “I told you not to take your eyes off Elle. And did I not also tell you to prevent her from drawing attention to herself?”
Dreadful freezing air waves spill off him.
“Er, I’m sorry, Master Julius. I was saved by Lady Elle’s kindness, so, umm, it’s not easy for me to stop her from saving another…”
Aw, Laurent’s shoulders have drooped. He has entered into a sorcerer apprenticeship under Julius. They usually get along like brothers, but…
“Julius, don’t blame Laurent. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s just going along with my selfish requests,” I intervene. Julius’s already cold eyes narrow to slits.
Wh-What’s got him all upset?!
“…I don’t like you defending Laurent, either.”
“O-Oh hush. Laurent is innocent here,” I counter.
“Enough wasting time on what has already come to pass,” he says with a sigh, giving up on arguing the point. “But, Elle, if you keep this up for long…” Julius trails off as he lifts his head and scowls into the distance.
What’s wrong? A frown has taken over his handsome face.
“Someone has finally sniffed out this village.”
“What do you mean?” I look in the same direction. The sky is a beautiful blue, but slight vibrations are coursing through Julius’s barrier.
“It appears someone is heading straight here,” he curses.