Prologue Story

“Wow!”

My eyes sparkled.

Then, feeling embarrassed that I had let out an exclamation without thinking, I covered my mouth with my hand for a moment.

But come on, this is something you can only see in movies!

Of course, I couldn’t help but be amazed!

Forgetting my embarrassment, I alternately looked at the stairs and the wall that Inha had just touched.

Since I couldn’t sense any magic, it was probably just a device.

Then, are the stairs just ordinary stone stairs?

…No.

I focused a bit of magic into my eyes.

Now I could see it more clearly than before.

Though there was a faint trace of hidden magic, I could see colors of magic here and there on the stairs.

It was probably a trap.

“Stick close behind me.”

Inha said with a blunt expression as she started down the stairs.

I followed her as she said.

Hmm, so that’s how she avoids it.

Is that one safe to step on?

Observing the magic, I carefully descended the stairs.

Then, we came upon a door locked by a password.

Beep beep.

Inha input the password on the panel next to the door and infuse it with magic.

Then, the door slid open, revealing the room inside.

“Heh.”

It was a room filled with things that looked like advanced machines at first glance.

In front of the machines was another room, most of the wall made of thick glass.

I could sense magic surrounding the entire glass wall.

This feeling—was it a defensive magic?

I could guess because it felt somewhat similar to my own barrier magic.

The basics of barriers are ‘defense,’ after all.

I guessed that the entirely glass-walled room was a magic training room.

Thick walls enclosed by glass and countless machines in front—it really was the stereotypical setup.

And as it turned out, my guess was correct.

“That’s the magic training room.”

Then, the machines in front of us must be for controlling the environment inside the glass room.

Still focusing magic into my eyes, I looked around the area.

Then, I stopped my gaze for a moment when I saw clear magic.

Now that I looked more carefully, there was another room besides the glass one.

There was a wooden door standing against the opposite wall of the glass room.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary wooden door, but it had quite a strong magic cast on it.

I attempted to use clairvoyance magic.

But it didn’t work as well as I expected.

Was there a spell preventing it?

“Ah… That’s the storage room for high-level magical equipment. Only C-rank or higher, so we can’t touch it.”

Ah, I see. No wonder.

I accepted her explanation.

“How is it? Amazing, right?”

While I was looking around in awe, I heard Auntie Suna’s voice from behind.

Turning around, I saw Auntie Suna standing confidently with her hands on her hips, looking at me with a proud expression.

I nodded shyly.

“It’s something I took from the Ministry of National Defense ages ago. Since I helped them block an attack, I asked them to make me a training room where I could give my all. Heh… I’m quite capable, aren’t I?”

“Oh, the self-praise.”

“Hahaha.”

Watching the two of them act like children, I turned back to the training room with a look of amazement.

That meant it really was an extraordinary thing.

Auntie Suna wasn’t just any strong magician—she was an S-rank magician.

To think it was enough to withstand Auntie’s magic… I looked at the training room with a renewed sense of awe.

After a moment, Auntie Suna explained the training room to us.

For example, how to activate the defensive magic of the room, how to operate the virtual devices, the types of virtual devices, and how to apply items based on different training modes.

I listened intently, focusing on her words.

After explaining everything about the training room, Auntie Suna said I could come anytime once I could use magic.

Well, since I could already use magic, all I could do was smile awkwardly.

After looking around downstairs to my heart’s content, we went back upstairs, grabbed a few magic items, and played a board game for a bit.

Since I wasn’t very good at games, I lost quite a bit.

But it was still fun.

After playing, we ate.

Auntie Suna was surprisingly good at cooking too, so despite my shyness, I ate every bite and went home.

“Come again.”

“Yes.”

It was the end of a very enjoyable day.

And that day—no, from the day Inha first smiled at me—was it then?

We started to grow closer, gradually but also at a fast pace.

Inha, who had always been so quiet, started greeting me every time she saw me after that.

When Mom and Auntie were chatting, Inha would cautiously strike up a conversation with me.

Of course, I was happy.

I responded to her carefully and we began to have conversations.

After that, Inha often showed me a smiling face.

Once we got a bit more comfortable talking to each other, Inha began coming over to my house to hang out, even without Auntie Suna.

After welcoming her a few times, one day I gathered the courage to visit her house.

Inha greeted me warmly.

That made me really happy.

And then, one day,

“Can I sleep over at your place today?”

It was a day when both Auntie Suna and Uncle Jungmin were home, not out.

I smiled brightly and answered.

“Yeah!”

We started spending a lot of time together.

We talked, practiced using magic together.

Hearing about how I used magic, Inha was amazed that there were so many ways to use it.

At some point, I realized it was no longer awkward to smile at each other.

That night, lying in bed under the covers, talking in whispers, Inha suddenly asked.

“Aren’t you going to write today?”

“Huh?”

“At night, you usually write something in your notebook, right?”

“Oh… that…”

I scratched my head at her words, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Come to think of it, she had seen me turn on the light orb before.

“That’s… I write down the magic I want to learn.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I have a lot of affinities, right? So I can learn the most basic or support magic…”

“…True.”

Inha nodded.

We fell silent for a moment.

Then, Inha asked again.

“…Have you decided what magic you want to make your main?”

“Yeah.”

Well, more like I’d already made it.

As I debated whether I should tell her, Inha looked at me with surprise.

“Really? What is it?”

“…Illusion.”

Introducing my main magic was surprisingly embarrassing.

Or maybe it was just me.

I awkwardly turned my head, feeling self-conscious, but Inha, nodding in agreement, raised her index finger.

“I’ve decided on my main magic too.”

Then, Inha infused magic into the tip of her finger, creating a small light.

A few tiny orbs of light appeared and began circling around us, dispelling the darkness.

“Wow…”

In the autumn of her sixth year, Inha had already created her main magic.

It was an astonishing speed.

She wasn’t a reincarnator, nor did she possess any special advantage.

But with a natural talent that surpassed even her parents, she had already made magic.

It was the “Light” magic that I had once mentioned would suit her.

“Do you have a sub yet?”

“I’m still thinking about the sub…”

Inha moved her finger, twirling the orbs of light.

It was beautiful.

There was clearly something different from pre-existing magic.

This was Inha’s own magic.

The soft, yellow light floating in the air was like fireflies.

“Then, since Inha showed me…”

I murmured as I raised my finger to point at the light magic she was floating.

I could still only make them move slowly, but as I grew and my magic power increased, their speed would become much faster and they would gain destructive power.

In comparison, my magic was just about diverting people’s attention unless it was of considerable difficulty.

But I had never intended to use this magic as an offensive one in the first place.

“Huh…?”

The lights scattered.

They spread out like a reflection in a mirror, floating here and there.

I had now reached the point where I could create illusions real enough that the brain or reality would accept them.

The room was filled with small orbs of light.

Inha, startled, exclaimed.

“You…!”

“Yeah…”

“This is ‘Illusion’ magic? When did you start making magic…?”

Inha must have known that her own talent was extraordinary.

After thinking for a moment, I answered.

Since Inha had shown me, after all.

And now, we were ‘friends,’ right?

Telling her this required a lot of courage, but I decided to be honest.

“…When I was five.”

“Five?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It felt like a burden… and I was embarrassed… and it just didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up… I guess I was waiting for the right moment? I just didn’t feel like talking about it much.”

“…”

“Mm, since it’s already out, should I just tell you everything? Actually, I’ve already made my sub magic too.”

“What…?”

“Written magic and barrier magic! Both of them, plus the illusion magic, though that’s still incomplete. Especially the barrier—it’s incredibly difficult. Maybe it’s because I based it on the concept of ‘world’ rather than just defense?”

“…”

Inha, who had frozen for a moment after hearing my shocking confession, eventually crossed her arms and fell into deep thought.

Hmm… was it still too early to say?

Just as I was wondering, Inha met my gaze with serious eyes and said.

“Show me.”

“…Okay!”

Gladly.

I smiled proudly.

☆

Watching the children sleeping, leaning against each other, Han Mirae had a gentle smile on her face.

She closed the door and turned around, resuming the communication she had been having.

Kim Suna, who had been watching via video, also smiled contentedly and said.

[It’s a relief they’ve gotten close. Our Inha cared so much about Eunha, you know. If she didn’t like someone or wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t even think about approaching them, but she always sat near Eunha, and when she saw her from afar, she hesitated before going up to her.]

Kim Suna recalled a recent event as she spoke.

On a rainy day, during a three-day period when Inha stayed at Eunha’s house due to the ongoing monsoon, Inha, holding an umbrella, had immediately recognized Eunha sitting crouched and had gone straight to her.

The child had kicked at puddles afterward, and Suna, seeing that, thought to herself that this calm and mature Eunha was still just a child, smiling warmly.

[And I even saw her mumbling once, wondering if Eunha hated her.]

Han Mirae chuckled at that.

“No wonder, Inha always tries to sleep next to Eunha.”

[Oh my, my.]

“And our Eunha cared a lot about Inha too. She was watching her with those eyes. She even said she wanted to become friends.”

[Haha, did you know? If you watch closely, Inha often observes what Eunha does.]

“No wonder, every time I saw them, Inha was always watching our Eunha.”

[They’re both mature, but in terms of attentiveness and awareness, Inha might be a step ahead, huh? Haha. By the way, lately, I feel like I can sense magic around Eunha.]

As soon as that was said, Han Mirae lowered her head and fell silent.

Kim Suna’s face momentarily hardened.

“…”

[…Mirae?]

Called by Kim Suna, Han Mirae answered with an apologetic look.

She had a somewhat guilty expression.

“Um… sorry. It seems our kid is quite gifted when it comes to magic. So I can’t tell you yet. Even you would be shocked. And Eunha said she finds it embarrassing and burdensome.”

[Is that so? Hmm, from what I see, it looks like she already knows how to use magic.]

Twitch—Han Mirae’s shoulders trembled.

Kim Suna noticed that and gave her a meaningful look, then smiled bitterly.

Kim Suna spoke in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone.

[So Eunha’s a step ahead in magic, huh~.]

“Suna!”

[Okay, okay. I’ll pretend I don’t know for now. But why did she suddenly want to get close to her? Didn’t she say she might hate her?]

“Oh, I saw that.”

Han Mirae’s slightly darkened expression brightened, and she laughed.

“I told you I asked Eunha if she wanted to get closer to Inha, right? Inha was secretly eavesdropping from behind. She was hiding.”

[Oh my, kids can be so precocious.]

“Tell me about it.”

[Well, in any case, I’m just glad they’ve become friends. Our Inha didn’t have a single friend…]

“Our Eunha also had trouble getting along with friends…”

The two women looked at each other and smiled warmly.

They were thrilled that their children had become each other’s confidants, just as they themselves had been long ago.

They were overjoyed that their wish had come true.