Chapter 41.2: Yufia Queensroad

———

I was rendered speechless.

Sure, my parents had taught me magic ever since I could remember. Learning magic from a young age wasn’t unusual at all.

But practicing a spell for seven years without ever succeeding—I couldn’t possibly do that, and I couldn’t believe it. I thought you’d have given up long ago.

“How could you keep at it for so long without ever giving up…?”

Even though we’d just started talking, I felt it was rather rude to suddenly ask such a personal question. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what could have driven you to put in such tremendous effort.

“Why, huh…”

Muttering as if wondering why I would even ask that, he added,

“Because magic would be so cool if you could use it.”

“C-cool…?”

Not fully understanding what he meant, I asked him to clarify.

“Yeah. Don’t you think it’d be super cool to have flames or lightning shoot out from your hands?”

He spread his right hand toward the sky and spoke with sparkling eyes.

“I… don’t understand.”

To me, magic was nothing more than something my parents made me do since I was little. Once you succeeded at one spell, you were expected to succeed at the next. Without any personal goal, there was no sense of achievement in growing. I never found magic particularly captivating, nor did I ever think it was cool.

“Don’t you think the magicians in stories are cool?”

“I don’t really read storybooks…”

“So… you don’t like magic?”

Noticing the lack of enthusiasm in my tone, he asked.

“…No. I don’t like it.”

“I see… Then,”

He said, as if acknowledging my feelings,

“Would you like to hear a story that might make you love magic?”

“…Huh?”

I was taken aback by his unexpected words.

“I want you to fall in love with magic. So, I want you to hear a story that will make you think magic is ‘amazing’, ‘cool’, and ‘fun.'”

“…Why would you do that…? We just started talking today…”

I knew he meant well. But precisely because of that, I was confused. I couldn’t understand why someone would show such kindness to someone like me, who was just now starting to talk and was generally shunned by everyone.

Then he said,

“It’d be a waste. You have a talent for magic and attend a magic school—so why force yourself to do something you hate? If you’re going to do it anyway, you might as well love it.”

“And,” he continued,

“when you said you don’t like magic, your face looked truly miserable. If there’s any way I can help, I want to try. Well, it’s just selfish, I guess.”

…

At that moment, a deep warmth filled my chest. My tear ducts softened, and I almost cried. I didn’t quite understand why I felt that way at the time. But in retrospect, it might have been because it was the first time in my life someone had spoken to me so kindly. Or maybe my heart was simply moved by the fact that a kind person like him existed.

“A story about not liking something isn’t fun to listen to, and you might not be interested. I might be being selfish and making an annoying suggestion. But will you listen, just a little bit?”

“…Not that.”

“…Huh?”

“I-I’m not bothered…”

I mustered all my courage to express my true feelings in return for his kindness.

“I…I want to hear your story.”

It was the first time in my life that I had asked someone for something so openly, since I’m not good at expressing my feelings. It was because I desperately wanted to know what made him so passionate about magic. I wanted to talk with him more. I wanted to hear all the stories he had to share.

“Alright, that’s good. Then, let me get started.”

He smiled broadly, then said, “Ah, but before that…”

“We’re in the same class, but we’ve never properly introduced ourselves. I’m Shion. Shion Kurosaki.”

“Ah, I’m Yufia Queensroad.”

“Nice to meet you, Yufia.”

Saying that, he gently extended his right hand to me.

“Y-yeah…! Nice to meet you, Shion…!”

Very nervously, I took his hand in mine. The moment I held his hand, I felt a warm sensation in my chest.

“So, where should I begin? Hmm… Ah, may I ask what your strongest magic attribute is?”

“Mine…? Um, water, I guess…”

“Alright, then I’ll tell you an interesting story related to water magic, if that’s okay?”

“What kind of story is it?”

“It’s a story I really like—the tale of a man who brought rain to a desert. I’m sure it’ll make you appreciate water magic.”

“That sounds interesting…! I want to hear that story…!”

“Alright, then let’s go with this one. First, there were people suffering on the parched lands of the southern continent—”

“——, —”

“——… and now, it seems that in the center of that city, next to a fountain, a statue of that man has been erected.”

“Is that so…!? I’d love to see it someday when I visit that city.”

He was such a great storyteller—I was completely drawn into the tale he was telling.

“And that’s the end of the story. …What did you think?”

“It was really interesting…! And, even though I’d never thought about it before, I now realize that water magic is truly a wonderful form of magic.”

“I’m glad to hear that… Oh, it’s already this late. It’s gotten really dark.”

“Really… Your story was so captivating, time just flew by…”

“If you enjoyed it, that’s all that matters. Then, shall we head home?”

“Ah… Y-yeah… That’s right…”

“Take care.”

With that, he gathered his belongings and stood up.

“Sh–Shion…”

I called out to stop him.

“Huh?”

“Um… could you… tell me another story…?”

“Eh?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

To me, talking with him that day was truly enjoyable. Not in an exaggerated way, but it was probably the happiest I’ve ever felt in my life.

Because of that, I sincerely wished to talk with him again.

But judging by his reaction, I thought he didn’t feel the same.

But that wasn’t the case.

“I intended that from the start, you know?”

“Eh…?”

“Do you have time after school tomorrow?”

“Um, yeah…”

“Then, let’s talk again tomorrow.”

“I–Is that okay…?”

“Yeah, of course. See you tomorrow, Yufia.”

He smiled gently and waved.

“Ah, y-yeah… See you tomorrow, Shion…”

And I waved back at him.

That was the moment I made my first friend.