I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Isabel answered as though it were nothing special.
“I’ve completed a small spell by grafting Bumblebee’s mana into the magical formula I created this time. It’s a translation spell.”
“Ah, right. You said you were learning magic?”
Michael accepted it without much thought.
Neither Isabel nor Michael thought the other was anything special.
Isabel continued speaking with ease.
“Yes. If I had to hide, Brother should hide too. Surely you didn’t keep making only my Bumblebee hide?”
“Well, what’s wrong with that?”
“I think that’s cowardly.”
“Co, cowardly?”
“Yes.”
Michael rubbed his nose awkwardly.
He had recognized his cowardice.
He hadn’t thought about it in the first place, but once he understood, his acknowledgment and apology came quickly.
“Hey, I’m sorry.”
Michael extended his hand, and Bumblebee bit it with a sharp snap.
Today, he simply let himself be bitten without complaining that it hurt.
Isabel spoke.
“Bumblebee, would you come here for a moment?”
As Isabel sat in the chair, Bumblebee quickly leaped onto her lap.
He expressed his affection by rubbing his head against her belly.
“Hey! You only ever bite me!”
Isabel began organizing the flow of mana surrounding the ratel according to her formula.
Five-colored mana gathered in Isabel’s hands.
A brilliantly iridescent light covered Bumblebee’s body.
‘Hmm, is this how it’s done?’
The innate intuition that Karin spoke of shone brightly.
Just as one knows how to breathe without being taught, Isabel naturally manifested the translation spell.
Then something remarkable happened.
[You. Dislike.]
Michael, who wasn’t particularly surprised by this remarkable phenomenon, was greatly startled by the word “dislike” alone.
He seemed to have received quite a shock.
“Why do you dislike me?”
[Good things. All yours.]
[Bad things. All mine.]
“I thought of you as a friend!”
[Friend X.]
“If not a friend, then what?”
[Food giver.]
“Th, that’s too harsh a way to put it?”
Bumblebee nodded in agreement.
Michael felt somewhat relieved at this.
“Right? I’ll give you another chance. What do you think of me?”
[A punk.]
Bumblebee was quite resolute.
Her expression suggested there was no room for negotiation.
Then she looked up at Isabel’s face.
Bumblebee’s expression changed in an instant.
Her eyes were brimming with affection directed toward Isabel.
[Protector♡]
Isabel found this situation fascinating.
She had sensed an odd mana flow from the beginning, but she hadn’t expected the creature to be this intelligent.
Isabel stroked the ratel’s head.
There was something slightly strange about it.
‘Is interpretation magic really this effective?’
Of course not.
Magic capable of interpreting an animal’s intentions to this degree didn’t exist in the first place.
If the Academy had witnessed this, it would have caused an uproar.
Unfortunately, there was no one here to evaluate my magic.
‘I suppose everyone can do this much.’
Magical letters continued to form above Bumblebee’s head.
[Protector=Master]
[Master. Name. Request.]
“Name?”
[Name. Family name.]
Though she was having quite a specific conversation with an animal, Michael found nothing strange about it.
He still had no thoughts on the matter.
“Hmm…”
Honey Villorian.
That seemed far too odd.
It was difficult to pronounce.
‘Then I’ll just go with something simple…’
I decided to give her a name that rolled off the tongue.
“Kim Beolggwol.”
[Call me. Kim Beolggwol.]
A [♡] mark appeared above Kim Beolggwol’s head.
She seemed quite pleased with her name.
Kim Beolggwol and Isabel rapidly grew closer.
* * *
A month later, when Karin returned, she was startled to discover this miraculous phenomenon.
“Did you express the ratel’s psychology through written characters?”
“Yes!”
“So while I was away, you completed the magical theory and actually applied it.”
“Yes, I worked very hard on it.”
Karin found herself at a loss for words.
Magic that could read the minds of animals did not exist.
‘It couldn’t be accomplished with merely magical theory and magical power alone.’
Multiple additional elements were required.
First, the caster themselves had to possess an innate affinity to commune with animals or magical beasts, and there had to be an animal whose wavelength and compatibility matched that affinity.
‘Was the ratel truly such an intelligent creature?’
Intelligent enough to commune with humans to that degree?
‘That couldn’t be.’
Which meant that Isabel’s unique power had amplified the ratel’s emotions, humanized them, and interpreted them.
‘For that to happen, mana amplification theory would have had to be naturally incorporated as well.’
Karin’s mind grew complicated.
Isabel seemed to be an even greater genius than she had thought.
Seeing Karin speechless from shock, Isabel grew anxious without reason.
‘Is the magic’s completion too poor?’
I had never met another mage besides Karin even once.
I had no experience knowing what level a genius mage in this world should reach.
Therefore, I had no basis for comparison whatsoever.
Because of this, I had no understanding of how remarkable what I had accomplished truly was.
‘The magic won’t activate anymore.’
It was strange.
No more magical characters were being generated above the ratel’s head after meeting Karin.
In other words, the magic had failed.
I could make a reasonable deduction of my own.
‘The bumblebee must have instinctively recognized the final mastermind.’
There was no other way to explain it.
Karin spoke matter-of-factly, as if it were nothing.
“You’ve worked quite hard in my absence.”
“Yes. I worked very hard! Did I do well?”
“Yes. It was commendable.”
“Really? Are you praising me?”
I broke into a bright smile.
It felt as though warm autumn sunlight filled the entire room.
At least, that was how it appeared to Karin.
She wanted nothing more than to embrace me and nuzzle her cheek against mine.
‘I need to keep my wits about me.’
Karin steadied her resolve.
The moment I let my guard down, I felt as though I might burst into an uncontrolled grin.
She had never been loved, and thus she scarcely knew how to give love in return.
“I look forward to what lies ahead.”
* * *
Karin sought out Servant Dailsa.
“Sister.”
“I’m working now, so call me Steward.”
“There you go again, so stiff. You’re much warmer and nicer as a sister, you know.”
“….”
“You’re the first sister I’ve ever had, so please be a little lenient with me.”
Karin had come from an orphanage, where she had endured constant torment.
For her, Dailsa was the first ‘sister’ she had ever known.
Though they had not known each other long, Karin harbored deep affection for Dailsa.
And Dailsa did not find Karin particularly disagreeable.
“So. What is it?”
“I think I’ll need to return to the academy again.”
“Didn’t you just come back today?”
“The Princess showed me something absolutely extraordinary. I was truly astounded.”
“It seems like there’s something else you really want to say?”
Karin clenched and unclenched her fists as though restraining something within herself.
She seemed desperate to cry out about something.
“The Princess is so adorable I thought I’d die. Ah! Now that I’ve said it, I feel alive again.”
“Yet you’re so cold to her face.”
“I can’t help it. There are two dedicated instructors, and one of them is half-mad.”
Dailsa nodded in understanding.
She knew all too well how Biatone treated the Princess.
“There’s another mad instructor among them.”
“Pardon?”
“There is. Someone who takes pretend play far too seriously.”
“Who could that be…?”
Dailsa shook her head. She seemed unwilling even to mention it.
The two continued their conversation.
“The Princess’s talent is nearly demonic in its extent.”
“To that degree?”
“Yes. One misstep and she’ll consume herself. That’s why I must remain at her side to keep her grounded.”
She explained earnestly why she had no choice but to treat the Princess coldly.
Afterward, Karin continued speaking.
“The magical formula the Princess devised this time will also be formally registered with the academy. I’ll register it under my name again, and we’ll add a special clause so that the intellectual property rights automatically transfer to the Princess when she turns twelve.”
“I’ve heard the procedure is quite complex.”
“That’s because I’m Wilhelm’s adopted daughter. I can manage something like that.”
Karin could not bring herself to call him “Father.”
Dailsa did not press the matter either.
Karin’s voice grew quieter.
“If I possessed even a fraction of the Princess’s talent, I think I would harbor truly grand ambitions.”
“Grand ambitions?”
“Like conquering the world, for instance.”
“….”
“Yet the Princess harbors no ambitions whatsoever.”
“That is unbecoming of Villorian royalty.”
“What the Princess truly desires is….”
Karin bit her lip.
She gazed down at her own hands.
“A single word of praise from me.”
She longed to stroke that head with her hand.
What the Princess desired was far from grandiose.
“Simply for Mother and Father to rest without burden.”
“….”
“To form a deep bond with a willful Ratel.”
“….”
“Had I been the Princess, I think I would have been utterly wretched. I would have cursed my fate. I would have thought only I could not die. Rather than die alone, I would have wanted to kill everything.”
“….”
Tears welled in Karin’s eyes.
“But the Princess smiles every day.”
“….”
“It is so warm.”
Isabel had transformed Karin’s world profoundly.
“Like sunlight. That is why it feels so strange.”
I had never harbored such a tender heart before.
It felt so strange and awkward.
Dailsa listened to every word in silence.
After a moment, she walked over slowly and patted Karin gently.
“There is nothing strange about it.”
Karin did not dislike Dailsa’s warmth.
Like a child, she nestled into her sister’s embrace.
“Spring is simply coming to you as well.”
A spring named Isabel.
The first spring I had ever known in my life.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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