[V2C4] A New Title Earned Without The Real One’s Knowledge
Translated by Jodas 2: Daily Lives of a New Teacher and the Apprentice Mages“I’ve been secretly continuing my research…. at last, I have been able to activate my illusion magic without an incantation. I’ve successfully achieved chantless illusion magic.”
The word ‘chantless’ sent the room into a buzz.
Humans cannot use magecraft without an incantation. However, just one person had succeeded at that impossible task.
The pinnacle of mages in a neighboring country, one of the Seven Sages, the Silent Witch: Monica Everett.
The only person in the world capable of using chantless magic was not a citizen of the Empire.
Anxious about falling behind another country, the mages of the Empire had been desperately researching chantless magic, but it seemed not one of them had been able to reach the same heights she had.
To accomplish that, even if it was only limited to illusion magic….. if true, it would be a tremendous achievement that would earn him much praise.
Guidance Office Director Hegelich creased his brow.
“I have a hard time believing that, you know? At least, I have heard no such rumors about you.”
“Yes, since I have been researching it behind closed doors……however,”
Hütter grasped his robe in front of his chest, and coughed.
“In exchange, whenever I perform mana manipulation, an intense pain grips my heart, my hands and feet shake, it becomes difficult for me to breathe, my blood circulation slows and my whole body gets chills, stiff shoulders, hip pain, neuralgia, constipation, and hemorrhoids, and days have gone by where I haven’t been able to sleep at all.”
He worried the second half was unnecessary, but his tongue kept moving and he couldn’t stop himself. The most important part was keeping the tension.
Hütter slowly lifted his head up, and surveyed the faces of everyone else in the room.
All of them were waiting with bated breath to see where the conversation would go from there. Perfect.
The kind of atmosphere where ‘everyone was listening to my story’ gave him a strange sense of fulfillment as a con man.
The third-rate con man replaced his ordinarily disinterested face with that of a man filled with determination. He was the type of con man who preferred performances.
“As a sign of my resolve…..I will allow you all to see my chantless illusion magic.”
Hütter opened his eyes with a start, then made a low gurgling sound from the bottom of his throat.
Every eye in the room was nailed to his performance.
Hütter crushed the flowers he had hidden inside the sleeves of his robes. These flowers had mana imbued in them, so when crushed, they would release that mana in the form of small grains of light.
They were truly tiny bits of light, but that way was probably more convincing.
People gasped upon seeing the faint light emitted without an incantation.
Hütter shouted with exertion as he ripped fabric.
“HaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHH!”
None of them pointed out that he was rather loud for ‘chantless’ magic. At times like this, it was important to signal that he was ‘doing something’ as he performed his trick.
Sweat dripped all over Hütter’s face, and he lifted a violently shaking hand.
Then, five white pigeons flew out of nowhere.
The mages in the room shouted in surprise.
“Pigeons!?”
“Where did they…..No, is this an illusion?”
“They look so real….”
“And chantless, at that!”
When Hütter swung his hand to the right, the pigeons went right; he swung to the left and they moved left; he twirled his finger around and they spun in a circle near the ceiling; then finally, they flew out the window.
“Haa, Haa.” As Hütter repeated deep, pained breaths, a trail of blood formed at the corner of his mouth.
“Mr. Hütter!”
Röhm, in the next seat, shouted and took out a handkerchief.
Hütter raised one hand to stop her, then wiped his mouth with his own handkerchief.
“I wouldn’t want to get your handkerchief dirty.”
It was really to prevent her from discovering his fake blood, but he made sure to say it like a conscientious man.
He thought he pulled it off pretty well.
“This is my chantless illusion magic. However, regardless of whether it’s chantless or not, my whole body aches terribly, my shakes intensify, my breathing gets harder, and I start vomiting blood. At this point, I can barely even use mana at all…..”
Hütter shook his whole body, then made a series of anguished shallow breaths.
Playing up a sudden bout of illness was a crucial skill for any con man.
“There are many in the Mage Association who envy me and would stop at nothing to see me lose face. If they knew the state I was in now….their testimony would likely be enough to get me ejected from the Mage Association altogether.”
The third-rate con man Smoke Fox made his ordinarily depressive eyes sparkle with light.
With the face of a man who had steeled his resolve amidst an awful predicament, Hütter declared with aplomb.
“The Wedge Tower accumulates all forms of magic. If I’m here, I may just be able to discover a hint to resolve my condition….. that is why I have come here to the Wedge Tower!”
“Ooohhh”, someone in the room lets out.
Röhm, sitting right next to him, held back intense emotions with a hand over her mouth.
“You were going through all that….. And foolish me asked to see your illusions like it was nothing….”
A younger woman was concerned for him.
It might have cost him a little bit of self esteem, but thanks to that, the atmosphere of the room became more sympathetic to Hütter’s plight.
Spiremaster Abel looked at Hütter with affection.
“I understand your circumstances now. We will do our best to ensure your secret stays within the Wedge Tower, and that your body can recover so you can make full use of your chantless illusion magic.”
Abel smiled with an ever-so-slightly teasing look.
“The Wedge Tower is an ally of any who studies magic, after all.”
Hütter was grateful he’d made it to such a blessed place—He made sure his whole body showed that kind of joy.
He covered his face with one hand, and with a shaking voice, replied “Thank you so much.”
(Let’s go!! I made it through!)
He’d worried that ‘chantless illusion magic’ might have been a bridge too far, but he wanted to sell the impact of his excuse that he couldn’t manipulate mana anymore.
Then, he’d heard talk of the Silent Witch, the hero of a neighboring kingdom.
When dealing with ordinary people, he could just say whatever gibberish came to mind to fake an incantation, but the guys here were magic pros. There was a chance his lie would be discovered if his incantations didn’t check out. For that reason, chantless magic was convenient.
(After the meeting ends, I’ll make sure to feed those pigeons the best meal I can find…..)
As Hütter reveled in his feeling of accomplishment, Röhm made eye contact with him.
“Actually, me too……”
“Eh?”
Was she about to come out and say ‘I’m a con man too?’ or something like that?
No, no, no way. As Hütter sweated, Röhm spoke with emotion.
“I also suffer from damage to my magical organs….. Every time I try to manipulate mana, my whole body aches.”
Hütter’s back shot straight up, as Hegelich whispered to him.
“Ms. Röhm was once the ace of the Extermination Office, you know?”
That’s why she had been so concerned for Hütter.
Hütter scrunched his face in a strange way, while Röhm gave him a hearty smile.
“I’ll do everything I can to help you recover from your condition, Mr. Hütter. Let’s do our best…..together!”
“Ah, yes, I appreciate it…..”
He felt terrible having faked an illness while sitting right next to someone who actually suffered from that illness.
Hiding his burgeoning sense of guilt, Hütter chuckled sympathetically.
After sharing a couple more minor announcements, the meeting came to a close.
It seemed that he was to receive an explanation from Guidance Office Director Hegelich about his job details at the Guidance Office after this.
Seriously, he had way too much to remember on the first day.
”Mr. Hütter, a second.”
Just before he was about to leave the room, a blond heavyset frugal-looking old man—Finance Office Director Eigen—called out to him.
(Crap, is he already catching on to me…..?)
As Hütter steeled himself, Eigen whispered quietly.
It looked like he wanted to make a deal.
“The First Branch Office has medicine that works for hemorrhoids.”
“………..”
—And thus, the curtain rose on the infiltration life of the third-rate con man Smoke Fox, with the honor of being known as ‘the man with hemorrhoids.’
After the members of the Guidance Office had left the room, the Director of the Medical Office’s Second Branch, Paula Meine’s eyes uncomfortably darted back and forth.
Meine was a black-haired woman of roughly thirty years wearing dark green glasses.
Since she was attending this meeting today, she had tied up her black hair in a tight knot and ironed her lab coat to give the impression of a capable woman, but ordinarily her coat was all wrinkled up and her hair in a fuzzy, tangled mess.
(No one’s noticed that I have my underwear inside out, or that my socks are on the wrong feet yet, right…..ahaha…..ahh~, well, the Spiremaster did ask me to stay behind, so maybe……)
Eventually, the meeting room emptied out, and all that were left were Spiremaster Abel, General Affairs Office Director Schacht, and Finance Office Director Eigen. Aside from Meine, they were all important people.
(It’s so mean~ Having a meeting with just the Classical School. Hegelich is part of the Modern School, so he always gets left out at times like this~)
“Branch Director Meine.”
Abel, the Spiremaster, spoke softly.
At first glance, Abel appears to be a warm, merciful, and friendly person.
However, she was the most fearsome among the three Spiremasters. At least, that was Meine’s impression of her.
“How did the Dream Mage Caspar Hütter’s suffering appear to your eyes?”
Meine thought back to the appearance of Hütter a few moments ago as he demonstrated his chantless illusion magic.
Abel was asking if it looked like he was acting or not.
“Ah, I don’t really know~. My Director would probably be able to tell, but me….. I’m not good enough to tell if someone’s faking an illness just by looking at them~.”
Laughing nervously and twirling her hair, the band keeping her hair together flew out and her appearance fell to ruins.
Abel smiled gently, but Schacht and Eigen made strange faces.
(It’s hard to tie up bristly hair like this, okay~!)
While Meine made excuses for herself in her mind, General Affairs Office Director Schacht spoke with a stern voice.
“It’s debatable just how grounded his claims of chantless illusion magic truly are, but his suffering appeared genuine. If that was an act, then he must be incredibly accustomed to it.”
“I also believe it wasn’t an act.”
Finance Office Director Eigen folded his arms and nodded in agreement.
Spiremaster Abel lent her ears to each of their opinions in order, then spoke with a gentle, merciful smile.
“Let us keep an eye on him for the time being. If the Mage Association is truly plotting something…… then we need only dispose of him the same way we did Löwenich.”
(Ooh, how scary…..)
Her shoulders shivering, Meine placed a pin in her exploding hair. She thought she should at least stop it from getting even worse.
However, her thick hair tossed out that sad little pin, and it wobbled pitifully on the ground.
Post-Script
Sorry there are so many characters to remember.
Abel: Spiremaster of the First Spire, “White Smoke.” A nice-looking but scary granny.
Schacht: General Affairs Office Director. Dandy.
Eigen: Finance Office Director. Member of the hemorrhoids alliance.
Meine: Medical Office Second Branch Director. An unkempt young woman.
It’s fine if you only remember that much about them.