WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 5: Innate Magic (2)

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For some reason, Luna was staring at me with a flushed face.

No, I was the one who wanted to crawl into a hole after manifesting an Innate Magic that was below standard. Why was Luna the one blushing?

"Ha... What the hell is this...?"

She looked away, sounding troubled.

Stop being disappointed. I know. I know my Innate Magic is trash.

Unlike Luna, who was staring at the floor as though she were angry or disappointed for some reason, Master rubbed her chin and muttered.

"...Quite an interesting magic... Nothing like I expected..."

I couldn't hear her clearly, but at least she hadn't said she'd never had a disciple like me, so she didn't seem too angry.

Still, I cautiously spoke to her just to make sure.

"Um... Master?"

Master, who seemed to be staring off into the distance, shook her head and spoke to me.

"Sirius. Did you grasp what kind of magic you just manifested?"

Yes. A puny wind spell.

It was too pathetic to say out loud, so I just gave a slight nod.

"What do you think of that magic?"

The words, "I think it's incredibly crude," were on the tip of my tongue, but I forced a smile and tried to answer positively.

"...I think it could be useful depending on the situation...?"

Trailing off, I nervously watched her expression.

"Exactly. Perhaps it is a magic that could raise your value more than any other spell."

Huh? This? Something weaker than a decent Wind Arrow?

I looked at her, unable to understand.

"To others, that magic might be near the lowest tier of Innate Magic. But for us, who must stop the Hero, it is a tremendous gain, Sirius."

From what she said, my Innate Magic apparently had more to it than what I could see.

It was embarrassing not to know what my own ability did, but I couldn't just let it go.

"Master. Um... What exactly is my magic capable of?"

Master looked at me as if wondering what kind of idiot I was, but she kindly tried to answer.

"Listen carefully, Sirius. Your Innate Magic is..."

With truly impeccable timing, Luna interrupted us.

"Master. How long do you intend to keep me waiting to see my Innate Magic?"

Seriously, Luna. You've been getting on my nerves this whole time.

First, she made that openly strange face after my Innate Magic manifested.

Then, just as I was about to hear the explanation, she interrupted at the most important moment.

Why was she acting like this toward me?

Unaware of my thoughts, Master grinned as if she found this amusing.

"Oh, you were here, Luna. All right. How do you feel?"

Her tone was clearly teasing, but I had no idea what she was teasing her about.

Luna glared at Master, her face even redder than before.

Don't get cocky. I don't know why, but if you keep fooling around, we're the ones who'll get killed, Luna.

"I want to see it quickly too, Master. It's obvious mine will be far more impressive than Sirius's."

Why did she seem angry at Master, yet drive a nail through my heart...?

It was even sadder that I couldn't deny it.

Yeah... Whatever she gets, it'll be better than this...

Luna strode proudly toward the spot where I had been standing.

Her attitude toward me annoyed me, but I was still very curious about Luna's Innate Magic.

She was the Demon King's daughter. She had inherited the blood of the strongest man among demonkind.

There was a good chance she would manifest something even greater than Master's Innate Magic.

I swallowed and watched her ritual.

Master performed the ritual the same way she had for me.

A black magic circle glowed around Luna, and soon a storm of magical power wrapped around her.

Then, through gaps in the storm, I saw something.

For some reason, pillars of crimson blood surrounded her.

The pillars of blood, each with a radius of around ten centimeters, accelerated and spun rapidly around her before returning to her as though nothing had happened.

The ritual seemed to be over.

Luna, whose eyes had been closed, opened them. Her already red eyes gleamed an even deeper crimson.

Master had only one thing to say as she watched.

"Blood doesn't lie."

Today had been nothing but one long stretch of feeling left out.

I was right there with them, yet Luna and Master kept saying things I couldn't understand. It was exhausting.

Without saying a word, Luna slowly walked toward us.

Something about her felt slightly different from before, and I felt overwhelmed.

Nothing about her appearance had changed, but she gave off an overpowering presence.

Predator.

That seemed like the perfect word to describe her eyes.

What's with her?

Judging from Master's words, it was clearly a good ability, but why was she looking at me as though I were prey?

She stopped in front of me, then did something I never could have expected.

Lifting her slender hand, she bit down on her index finger with all her strength.

"Hey... Hey! What are you doing?"

Blood began pouring from her fingertip.

She must have bitten herself incredibly hard. The blood showed no sign of stopping, as though she'd been bitten by a wild beast.

Startled, I reached for her hand to stop the bleeding.

At that moment, she brushed my hand away and forcefully shoved her index finger into my mouth.

The metallic smell of blood filled my mouth.

What...? What was this...? How was I supposed to understand this?

I stood there like an idiot, my eyes wide with a finger in my mouth.

Did she want me to stop the bleeding? I remembered how I had lightly sucked the wound when Celia got cut while I was living among humans.

My brain had stopped working, so I settled on that explanation and stayed like that until the bleeding stopped.

It was my first time drinking blood, especially demon blood, and an indescribable sensation ran through my body.

Once the bleeding gradually stopped, I pulled her finger from my mouth and looked at her face, ready to demand an explanation.

"Luna... What the hell was that...!"

I couldn't finish my sentence.

Luna had both hands raised to her face, looking completely flushed.

Maybe she had started sweating too, because droplets ran down the line of her neck.

And most of all, there was her expression.

Of every expression I had ever seen her make...

She looked the most ecstatic.

What she said next was even more absurd.

"Happy birthday, Sirius~"

I was wondering why Luna had lost her mind when we'd supposedly undergone the same Innate Magic ritual, when a sudden wave of dizziness hit me.

My head spun, and my entire body grew hot.

Losing my balance, I collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

Luna's happy laughter echoed in my head.

Something had clearly gone wrong.

I had no idea how long I had slept.

When I woke up, I was in my bed.

My head felt fuzzy.

Scratching my head, I sat up and tried to piece together my memories through the dizziness.

I had definitely undergone a ritual for my Innate Magic.

I thought my Innate Magic was puny, but it seemed to have another purpose.

I had been about to ask Master what it was, but Luna interrupted.

And then there was Luna.

Nothing she had done made sense.

Especially after the ritual, her actions couldn't be explained by common sense.

She suddenly hurt herself, then shoved her injured finger into my mouth.

The final question was why I had collapsed at all.

My body had been trained to the point where ordinary external or internal injuries couldn't faze me.

I could say without hesitation that few humans possessed a healthier body than mine.

There was no way I could collapse just from sucking a little blood. It wasn't like my blood had been sucked out.

As one question led to another, I heard a knock.

"Have you awakened, Sir Sirius?"

It was Yan's voice.

"Yes. Come in."

Yan entered the room and looked me over from head to toe.

"Is your body all right?"

"Yes... I don't feel anything wrong, but... How long was I asleep?"

"About a week."

...I slept for a long time.

I didn't feel any accumulated fatigue at all.

As I examined my condition, I jolted at an odd sensation.

What is this?

I could feel another magical power circuit inside my body.

Humans naturally store mana in their hearts and use it to manifest magic.

That was how I had learned it, and I had heard most humans were the same.

But this thing I felt in my heart. I knew exactly what it was.

Master and Luna had shown it to me every day. There was no way I could mistake it.

The way demons manifested magic. The reason they could easily wield magic far more destructive than humans.

Magical power was flowing through my body.

I had no idea why.

As I stood there in confusion, another visitor came to my room.

It was Luna, smiling brightly unlike usual.

Normally, I would have casually asked whether something good had happened, but today was different.

This time, I asked first.

"You... What did you do to me?"

Footnotes:

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