WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 4: Innate Magic (1)

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The entrance to the village, reached by carriage after a long, winding mountain road.

I had been humming to myself inside the carriage without a care in the world when the coachman called for me, and I stepped outside.

“Hero... Um, we’ve arrived, but... are you sure this is the right place?”

The view through the window had unmistakably been the road home.

“Yes! It is.”

The coachman looked at me awkwardly. Wondering what the problem was, I turned toward the village entrance.

The village had... been erased from the Ibellis Empire.

More precisely, only the site remained. There was no sign of a living person anywhere.

Fragments of houses burned by fire, and lumps that were likely corpses.

I couldn’t hold back the nausea rising in my throat.

Turning my back on the coachman as he said something to me, I trudged deeper into the village.

Seeing places filled with childhood memories shattered to pieces, leaving behind nothing but ruins, was like a nightmare.

Mom... Dad... Yuwol...!

After wandering around in a daze, I ran toward my house on the edge of the village.

Three years of training had made me far faster than I used to be.

Even so, I didn’t think I had ever run this fast, not even during training.

I arrived at my house.

Perhaps it had suffered less damage than the houses farther inside the village. It was covered in scorch marks, but its shape remained intact.

It would have been better if it had turned to ash and scattered in the wind.

Despite being burned and damaged all over, things that hadn’t been there before hung clearly on the inner walls.

Human skulls. I knew exactly who those skulls, separated from their bodies, had belonged to.

Mom. Dad.

I collapsed to the ground.

Tears streamed down my face. I wanted to scream, but no sound came from my mouth.

Then a thought struck me. Yuwol...! Don’t tell me Yuwol too...?

Anxiety swept over me.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the only two bodies found inside the house appeared to be my parents’.

I asked the coachman to help me bury the bodies.

He agreed with an uncomfortable expression. Without caring that my dress was being ruined, I gathered every body I could recover.

After burying the unidentified corpses behind the village, I stood before my parents’ graves.

“Mom. Dad. Yuwol... I’ll avenge you. I swear I will...”

I already knew who had committed this atrocity.

The dense demonic energy still lingering in front of the village chief’s house, even after so much time had passed.

More than anything, the symbol left on the ground was unmistakably one I had learned about.

The symbol of two overlapping crescents, granted to the second-in-command of the Demon World.

Fear and pain no longer mattered.

From now on, I would never let a single demon who crossed my path leave alive.

And you who harmed my family would never die peacefully.

I would sever your limbs, behead your parents, and hang their heads before you.

Then you’ll be able to close your eyes in peace too, won’t you... Yuwol...?

* * *

Three years had passed since I began training under Master.

At twenty, I had grown into someone who looked more like a young man than a boy.

I had grown taller, my shoulders had broadened, and the constant training had given me a solid build.

Luna had also become less of a pretty girl and more of a beautiful young woman.

We were always together. For the past three years, we had spent most of our waking hours together.

Whether it was dull studying, sparring sessions where Yan beat the hell out of me, or the occasional magic lecture from Master.

I had grown so used to life here and to Luna that I sometimes forgot I was human.

When Master and Luna said “we,” they meant demons, but that “we” had always included me.

At some point, I had begun accepting it naturally. It didn’t feel strange at all.

The Luna I had known at first had been incredibly prickly, but after spending so much time together, she had become a more comfortable partner than anyone else.

She had clearly been unhappy with me in the beginning as well, but before I knew it, she had grown attached to me and seemed to acknowledge me as her partner.

Even so, her overwhelming beauty sometimes made my face heat up.

Lately, she had somehow become even more alluring. A few times, I had stared at her without realizing it and gotten caught.

“Sirius... Be honest. You were looking at me again when you thought I wasn’t watching, weren’t you?”

I flinched, but as always, I pretended otherwise.

“What are you talking about? You know you’re full of yourself, right?”

As if that were funny, she crossed her legs and mocked me again.

“At this level of beauty, it’s only natural to stare. I know. It’s because I’m so pretty.”

Then she walked up to me, slightly lifted the neckline of her dress, and smiled with her eyes.

“Wow. If you’d just been honest, I might’ve shown you a little more.”

She had no intention of showing me anything. She was just teasing me again.

Still, even with such a pathetic provocation, my eyes had nowhere to go, and I hurriedly searched for somewhere else to look.

Trying to change the subject, I brought up the ritual we would undergo today.

“What do you think my Innate Magic will be, Luna?”

Innate Magic.

In the Human World, it was an unfamiliar concept. I had learned that only an incredibly small number of people, those who had reached the pinnacle of magic, could manifest it.

Most demons, especially high-ranking demons, could manifest one.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the ranks of high-ranking demons were determined by their Innate Magic.

The type and power of each Innate Magic varied wildly depending on its user.

That was why most demons never revealed their Innate Magic unless absolutely necessary.

After three years, Luna and I had completed every basic magic course and combat application course. We had finally reached the level where we could explore our Innate Magic.

“Well... You’re not untalented, so shouldn’t you get something decent?”

That was true.

It felt odd to say it myself, but I had realized that I possessed overwhelming magical talent among humans.

The fact that I had become capable of sparring evenly with Yan, a high-ranking demon, in just three years meant I would have been called a magical genius worthy of going down in Human World history.

Of course, I still lost to Luna, who had the Demon King’s blood flowing through her veins. And honestly, I didn’t think I could defeat Master even if I trained for another thirty years.

None of my magic could so much as touch the hem of her clothes before vanishing on the spot.

“Hmm... Personally, I hope it’s wide-range offensive magic...”

I could already use wide-range offensive magic, but I didn’t think that would be enough to break through Celia and the people around her.

The strongest warriors of humanity would surely be waiting on that side.

Behind Amelia’s castle was a vast clearing.

It was where Luna and I always trained in magic, and where Master tested new spells.

Luna and I waited at the center of the clearing at the appointed time.

Master slowly walked out from the back as she always did.

Three years might have meant nothing to a demon like her, but she truly had not changed at all since the day we first met.

I remembered the day I had given in to curiosity and asked her age. A torrent of water had poured down on me from above.

“At last, the day has come when I see my disciples become somewhat useful.”

As usual, she smiled while spinning her parasol.

“All right. Who wants to go first?”

Luna and I met each other’s eyes.

She was probably telling me to go first, but I felt the same way.

There were only two of us, so we were bound to be compared.

In that sense, going first in front of Luna, the Demon King’s daughter, was no different from volunteering to play the fool.

Naturally, Master was not the kind of person who would take such circumstances into consideration.

“Sirius. You’ll go first.”

I thought she might show a little mercy today of all days, but not a chance.

“Yes...!”

I had demonstrated ordinary magic before Master hundreds of times, but I was terribly nervous because I had no idea what would come out this time.

“Don’t be nervous. Take a deep breath. And remember, Innate Magic resembles what your soul desires most.”

What my soul desired most. Even I didn’t know. I had never really thought about it.

Master nodded, and an incredibly complex-looking magic circle formed before me and began to glow.

Having someone else forcibly bring out my magic did not feel pleasant.

It felt as though something inside me had been grabbed by the hair and dragged out.

A vast current of magical power swirled around me like a gale.

The magical power continued to circulate in a spiral, then gradually settled.

Was it wind magic? Yet in terms of power, it was about as strong as the sort of magic beginners would use.

Was that it? Seriously?

I was dumbfounded. The Innate Magic of archmages and supreme demons often possessed abilities beyond imagination.

Summoning meteors, turning back time, there were plenty of famous, ridiculous abilities like that. Yet mine was a breeze strong enough to use as a fan...

It was utterly deflating.

I couldn’t hide my disappointment. My face twisted into a deep frown despite Luna and Master standing in front of me.

As silence fell, Luna suddenly trembled and spoke.

“What... did you do to me?”

“Me...?”

Footnotes:

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