Misfortunate Reincarnation: V02 18

“Everyone, you will now listen to the ‘voice’ of the magic stone.”

This was our first lesson in the spring of the second year; after everyone had passed the final test for the Mitoan language course. 

Everyone was surprised. 

But the playful teacher wasn’t joking. 

A green magic stone the size of a broach was handed to each of us, and we were asked seriously to ‘listen to the voice of the magic stone’. 

“You all have learnt that the mana ^[1]TN: Not sure if I called this magic power in the past… but if I did… then that should now be mana! inside of a magic stone never leaks out. The magic stone has a ‘lock’ on it. To open that lock, you need the <Opening Spell>. Those who have the aptitude of a mage can hear this spell from the magic stone.”

That spell was, of course, in Mitoan, and was apparently unique.

If you chant the password that the magic stone tells you then the mana in the magic stone is released, and then you can freely use the mana in the magic stone. 

A <Sealing Spell> must be cast when you want to ‘lock’ the magic stone again; this could also be learnt by talking to the magic stone. 

The reason why we learnt Mitoan first was because our brain would recognise the sound that the magic stone created as noise if we didn’t know Mitoan, or we would hear the sound the magic stone created and are unable to recognise what they mean. 

In other words, it wasn’t like the stone would just sprout a mouth and start talking. Well, duh. 

The teacher describes it as ‘a faint echo in your mind’. 

That was what he said the aptitude of a mage was. 

We were given half a month to hear the voice of the magic stone. 

There were no classes or assignments during that time, and we just kept listening to the magic stone. You become a mage when you hear the spell and feel the mana flowing into your body. The magic stones belonged to us as soon as we were given it. 

Students are allowed to keep the magic stones until graduation but according to what has happened in the past, those who didn’t hear the spell within half a month have almost no chance of becoming a mage. 

Aptitude ――― a vague and absurd word. The students who have worked hard to get this far looked as if they had mixed feelings about this. 

But I’d like to believe that I wasn’t the only one who thought, ‘Huh? Isn’t this a belated spring break?’

Anyways, I put the magic stone to my ear like I was told to on the first day of my long-awaited break. 

I fell asleep in no time at all. 

It was a bad idea to lie in bed since it made me tired. 

To not have this happen again, I spent time quietly in my room and avoided making any unnecessary noise, but it was hard to relax and stay still. 

I thought about doing some reading, but I wasn’t sure if I could shift my attention to something other than the magic stone. I was just frustrated because I couldn’t predict when or how the stone would make a sound.

――― Argh, I hate this kind of thing!

It was torture to just sit and wait while doing nothing! What do you mean listen to the voice of the magic stone!? 

I was so bored that I couldn’t help but think about the theory behind this. 

I was told that mages have ‘circuits’. 

It was an invisible spiritual pathway that connected you to the magic stone. You could hear the magic stone’s voice through that circuit and mana flows through the circuit inside of you. 

That pathway was the blessing that God gave to mages. 

It is said that mages are loved by God since magic stones are considered a fragment of God’s power. 

Our robes are the colour of the sky and the colour of the sun because those colours symbolize Vishvelia, the God who rules the sky, and help us draw mana from the magic stone easier. 

I’m not denying God’s existence. I do feel that there is something like a God (regardless of whether they favour certain people or not).

I often felt that the world moved systematically and seemed to reflect the will of something when I was doing my research in my previous life. I also feel that the same applies to my current life as well. 

But that didn’t make me want to devote myself to a particular God. Whenever someone talks about God, I instantly feel dubious. 

Anyway, let’s assume that there is a Sky God in this world, and define him as the creator of the laws of this world. 

Events that happen in a world with laws should have a logical explanation. 

Then what is the voice of the magic stone? 

The voice is sound. Sound is air vibrations. If people can hear different sounds from different stones, then are they referring to the vibrations that the stones emit?

Each molecule that makes up an object is constantly vibrating. A mage is someone who has special hearing which can distinguish those vibrations which are inaudible to normal people. Does a ‘circuit’ refer to their sense of hearing? 

No, that theory is too far-fetched. 

The shape of the magic stone and the temperature conditions would change the way it vibrates, so special hearing has nothing to do with it. It’s also impossible to assume that all vibrations sound Mitoan. 

I couldn’t come up with a good theory even after three days of groaning and mumbling, so I couldn’t figure out how to hear the stone’s voice and my head hurt. 

I wanted to become a mage since I’ve gotten this far, but I have been frustrated and couldn’t find the solution. 

I knew this wasn’t good, so I decided to force myself to go for a walk the next day. 

I need to keep my head and body working at all times. 

I ran into Mary when I left my room. She had the same gloomy expression on her face. 

“Did you hear it?”

“Nope!”

We both let out a deep sigh. What can we do?

“Let’s go see how the others are doing?”

Mary suggested. She must have gotten sick of holing herself in her room. 

“Why are we doing that?”

“If there are people who have heard the voice, then we can ask them how they did it.”

Mary, surprisingly, wasn’t prideful… She’s an honest girl. 

First, we found Matty in the study room. He smiled timidly while lightly shaking his head in response to our question. 

“I guess I don’t have what it takes.”

He was studying like always. 

He’s young but he’s determined to give up on himself. It’s too soon for that. 

“Why are you being timid!? There’s still a lot of days left!”

Mary yelled at her cousin. Matty was extremely insecure, and Mary often got angry at him because of that. 

Whenever Mary yelled at him, he would lower his eyebrows and cower his shoulders like a scolded puppy. 

“Sorry… I don’t really need to use magic…”

He had a bad habit of mumbling and muddling the end of his sentences. 

He seemed reluctant to express his opinion clearly for some reason. 

Perhaps it’s because he’s kind, but sometimes I feel the urge to pat him on the back and tell him to get a grip. But I don’t have to do that since Mary does that all the time. 

“You’re all very free.”

A grumpy Cliff showed up when we made too much noise. 

He was also having a hard time and was taking a walk to clear his mind. 

Even so, I’m amazed at how often this group of people meet up without prior plans to meet up. 

“How do we hear the voice?”

“I don’t know. I can’t hear anything even if I keep it with me 24/7.”

“Let’s go ask the teacher.”

Mary was already holding Matty’s arm. He didn’t look like he wanted to go ask a teacher. 

Well, there’s no way that a group of people who don’t know what they’re talking about could come up with an answer. We desperately needed someone to give us a hint. 

There was a place where teachers take their break. It was the staff room. 

I thought no one would be there since classes were on, but at times like this, the black-haired mage was here for some reason. 

It’s Harold-sensei…

“What’s with that reaction?”

Because you won’t give us any real advice. His stubble is about to grow into a decent beard, not that it matters. Does he look a little more dignified? 

I don’t have much hope… but I’ll grasp at the straw.

“We have a question. How do we hear the voice of the stone?”

“Ah, yeah, yeah. I knew you would come.”

Harold-sensei smiled widely as if he had been waiting for this. 

“There are desperate students like you every year. I can only say one thing to them. Give up.”

He was blunt. 

“Do you have any examples of what has been done to hear the voice of the magic stone?”

Cliff asked in a slightly irritated tone and Harold-sensei beat around the bush, “Well…”

“There are a lot of legends of students running a hundred laps around the grounds, standing on their heads until all the blood rushes down, drinking alcohol and spinning continuously. Why don’t you try those things if you have time to idle like this.”

He said lightly but what the hell!?

“I won’t do those things!”

We left the room since we got mad at this joke.  

Harold stopped smiling after the students left and sighed. 

“But I did those things.”

Even if he knew it was stupid. 

He knew that a cornered person would do whatever it took.