After Story: Elle Village’s Grand Sorceress Mayor Wants to Wreak Havoc in Gaea
THE teacup that fell on the floor and broke floats in the air and returns to its original shape, and the spilled tea flows back and up into the repaired glass. Then the tea-filled cup lands on the table with a clink.
The sweet, floral fragrance of steaming hot black tea fills the room as if nothing had happened.
Laurent is as impressive as ever. He just used a time reversal spell.
I’m honestly stunned by how smoothly he pulled off an advanced spell, but Julius shakes his head after watching the miracle.
“Not good enough. Take a closer look. There are holes in your magic circle,” Julius says, pointing to the warped line in the magic circle Laurent drew in the air.
I guess there is a slight bend in the line?
“Ugh,” Laurent groans and scrunches up his face. “But it gets the same result. I don’t see a problem with leaving it like this.”
“Laurent, you have too good of an eye for magic particles. Therefore even if your magic circle is distorted, you can still cast spells by subconsciously manipulating the particles. However, that won’t work when you use multiple complex circles at the same time.”
“Does that mean I am failing to cast spells with just a magic circle?”
“Exactly. You are talented, which is why you can do what normally can’t be done. But relying on talent alone to get you through will only get you so far. Especially when it comes to the spell we want to pull off.”
Julius’s strict advice causes Laurent to heavily hang his head.
“I just can’t get the hang of configuring circles…”
“Don’t let it get you down. You might struggle, but you have mastered a lot already. You won’t have any trouble if you focus on what you are drawing,” Julius says, giving a master-like smile.
Laurent glares angrily at both of us. “How do you expect me to focus…?”
“Why can’t you?” Julius inclines his head at the bitterness in Laurent’s voice.
“There’s no way I can in this situation…!” Laurent howls, unable to bear it a moment longer.
Oh dear. What in the world has him upset?
“What’s wrong, Laurent? Want to relax over a cup of tea?” I suggest, holding up the teapot from my perch on top of Julius’s lap.
“You are just as guilty, Lady Elle! Please think of how I feel watching you two flirt in front of me!” Laurent complains with tears in his eyes.
Apparently, he isn’t happy with me gracefully enjoying a cup of tea on Julius’s lap.
“Why don’t we take a break? I want to drink the sublime tea you brewed.”
Julius’s honey-sweet voice resounds directly over my head. I tilt my head back to see him smiling with an expression just as sweet.
Aw, shucks! Julius is pouring too much love on me! I’m blushing! But it’s all good. After all, we’re a married couple.
“That’s why I keep saying you guys are too clingy! There’s no man alive who could concentrate with you putting on a show like this!” Laurent shouts.
Oh dear, I wonder if he’s reached his rebellious phase.
“Lady Elle, please quit looking at me like you’re wondering if I’m in my rebellious phase!”
“What?! Did you finally master mind reading, Laurent?!”
“As if! …Ugh, I’m too tired for this.”
“Elle, give him space. He’s at that age.”
“True. That age can be tough.”
“No, it has nothing to do with my age! Besides, you’re practically the same age as me, Lady Elle!” Laurent bemoans, nearly on the verge of tears.
Feeling bad for him, I hop off Julius’s lap.
“We’re just teasing, Laurent. Julius suggested we should flirt in front of you to help train your ability to concentrate. Apparently, this is a good way to improve your mental endurance,” I explain.
Laurent turns an even more vengeful look on Julius and growls, “Master…”
The master in question shrugs and says, “It’s a part of your training,” with an innocent smile.
But Laurent is more depressed than I thought he’d be. Maybe we took our teasing too far.
“Sorry, Laurent. Don’t cry. Come here and have some tea with me, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Oh, I know. Why don’t I ask Meide to make your favorite meal today? What do you want to eat?” I ask in hopes of cheering him up.
“Elle, don’t be so nice to him. You’ll give him a big head,” Julius objects. I can practically hear the pout in his voice.
“He deserves to have a big head. He’s that amazing of a sorcerer. He is one of Elle Village’s Four Grand Magi for a reason,” I say in Laurent’s defense.
“Lady Elle…!” Laurent cries, smiling brighter than the sun.
It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m fully aware of how amazing Laurent is. After all, in the manga, he’s the powerful sorcerer who wipes out Elle. On the other hand, if he wasn’t amazing, manga Elle would have no excuse for losing. So let’s just leave it at Laurent being amazing.
“You can say kind things about him because you don’t know impudent this little brat is. He’s watching like a hawk for an opportunity to replace me.”
“What? Replace you how? Like as Elle Village’s strongest Grand Magi? What’s wrong with that? Better for him to be ambitious than not to be,” I say, drawing an even sunnier smile out of Laurent, who has completely recovered from his bout of depression.
“Lady Elle, thank you! But I’m not aiming to replace Julius in particular. Of course, I would love to become your number one, but I’m okay with number two,” Laurent openly shares.
“…I won’t allow a number two,” Julius curses under his breath.
“What are you boys fighting over? Elle Village has a second, third, and fourth, too. We are the Four Grand Magi, after all.”
“That’s not what we are talking about,” Julius sighs as if he’s been drained of life. Meanwhile, Laurent is in great spirits.
Sometimes these two have weird mood swings that are the complete opposite of each other, which I have a hard time understanding. There are also times when they converse about things in secret, and it seems like they are doing some sort of special spell research on the side.
I’m sipping my tea while thinking about their relationship when Julius’s eyebrow suddenly shoots up.
“Have you noticed yet?” Julius asks in a grim voice.
Laurent nods. “Yes. Someone has approached the village. This presence can only be…” He trails off, his brows snapping together.
It seems an unwanted visitor has come to Elle Village.