Magic Maker - How to make magic in another world

Magic Maker – How to make magic in another world –

Chapter 166 Decoding 2

During the day, we conducted analyses and deciphering of the fairy language, explored for monsters, and practiced magical energy refinement. At night, we conducted experiments and analyses on spells. This routine continued for a while.

“I just can’t get it, ugh!!”

Carla, seemingly surrendering, lay down on the ground. On the ancient text, there was Melfi. Sitting next to her were myself and the Count, who had a paper and pen.

Seeing Melfi looking a bit uneasy, I gently stroked her head, and she responded with a smile, albeit looking ticklish.

“I’m starting to understand it little by little.”

“However, it is still the fairy language. It seems it’s not straightforward.”

Carla suddenly sat up and scratched the back of her head, looking displeased.

“Unlike regular languages, the rules are completely incomprehensible. Sometimes, even if the characters and arrangements are exactly the same, the meanings can be entirely different. Sure, changing the order of words can alter the meaning, but having the exact same sentence with different content is weird, right!? It seems like there’s no connection with context!”

It was a question I had also been pondering. In fairy text, even with exactly the same characters, meanings often vary. I thought they might be different characters with the same appearance and observed closely, but they were exactly the same. I checked for potential changes based on preceding or following sentences, but that wasn’t the case either. Having such significant shifts in content between sentences is not something I’d expect in a language; it makes understanding the meaning difficult.

“Words with multiple meanings exist, but usually, the meanings are close or related. Having conflicting meanings or completely different meanings wouldn’t work as a language. There are plenty of words that refer to the same thing in a comprehensive or classificatory sense, though.”

For example, if a word written as ‘yes’ had the meaning of ‘no,’ or if it carried the meanings of red, blue, white, and yellow, or if it meant running, walking, and stopping, the language would be incoherent. Fairy text is full of words with such characteristics.

“So, the structure of fairy language is different from human language. It seems like we shouldn’t think about it the same way humans do?”

“Well, using the spoken language of fairy text requires magic. If that’s true, then it’s no wonder ordinary humans wouldn’t understand! Ahh, why can’t I use magic yet?! Is it even real? Seriously!”

Certainly, fairy language involves using magical perception and magic release. It’s not something everyone can do, and it utilizes quite a unique approach. Magic. Magical perception. It makes one wonder if they are also integrated into the fairy script. That line of thinking seems entirely plausible. Fairy language is fundamentally different from regular languages, and conventional reasoning should probably be discarded. Even analyzing the characters themselves doesn’t make sense. Dealing with magic deeply connected to fairies appears to be a reasonable approach.

“…Let’s assume that decoding fairy text involves using magic. In that case, how do you think magic should be used?”

“Hmm, perhaps magical perception, you think? You can’t see the magic just by looking at the characters.”

“That makes sense… However, it doesn’t register on magical perception either. It’s as if there’s no magic at all. There’s a possibility it contains trace amounts of magic so minute that even I can’t sense it.”

“If it’s not detectable by Shion-sensei’s magical perception… then no one can figure it out.”

I tried asking Melfi, but she insisted on pretending not to know or understand. While reading fairy text seems to be no problem, questions related to fairies and magic were mostly rejected.

“But you know, after researching this much and still not grasping any patterns, I think it’s reasonable to try decoding it using a different method.”

“I also think the idea of using magic is not entirely wrong. However, the method itself…”

Suddenly, an idea struck me. I placed Melfi, who was on the book, onto my hand and then moved her to my shoulder. Facing the book, I released magic. A faint light enveloped the book and disappeared after a few seconds.

“…It disappeared.”

“…Can’t see anything.”

Both the Count and I, and even Carla-san, were disappointed in different ways. It seemed that merely touching the magic itself was ineffective. Next, I tried touching the characters.

“…I don’t feel anything.”

“…You don’t feel anything?”

“…What are you doing?”

There was no response in magical perception. If that was the case, I couldn’t determine if I had magic. Next, I brought my face close to the book. Melfi was next to my face, looking puzzled. I stared at the characters in front of me.

“…I can’t see anything.”

“…You can’t see anything?”

“…You’re nothing but peculiar.”

Melfi sat on the book, examining the characters up close, so I thought she might notice something. There must be some breakthrough. Think, Shion Ornstein. If magic is involved, how can you decipher the language? Language conveys meaning through characters, words, order, and rules. In other words, a method to identify differences is needed. Differences… something to distinguish… differences in magic.

“….Magic color?”

It was a momentary inspiration. I hastily peered into the Count’s notes. There, the recorded fairy characters and their meanings were lined up.

“Co-Count! Are there words with different meanings!?”

“Y-Yes, for example… here, there are words for ‘mountain,’ ‘sky,’ and ‘love.'”

I confirmed the words the Count showed me and found them in the book. Mountain, sky, and love. In that case, I emitted magical colors in sequence: green, blue, and yellow-green, directing them towards the ancient characters. The magical colors touched the characters. Green disappeared. Blue disappeared. Then, yellow-green faded into the ancient characters, making the characters themselves glow yellow-green.

“Th-This, what is this!? It’s glowing!?”

“W-We have the meaning of yellow-green, it represents ‘affection.’ So, is this a word representing love!?”

“Hey! Explain what just happened!”

“R-Right now, I directed magic with different meanings towards the characters! Then, the yellow-green representing affection reacted to the characters, and the characters themselves lit up! S-So, in other words, fairy characters respond to magical colors and carry their meanings!”

“W-Whoa, magical colors!? I-I see… that’s how it is! Words and order alone have fewer conditions to convey meaning. By using magical colors, the meaning of the characters themselves is further specified. That’s the fairy characters, right!?”

“Oh! What a splendid discovery! With magical colors, deciphering fairy characters is possible! We now understand the reason why the same word, context, and order can have completely different meanings!”

Excitement filled Carla and the Count. I, too, was thrilled. The idea of using magical colors for judgment was truly unexpected.

“W-Wait a minute. But isn’t something strange? The fairy over there didn’t use magical colors earlier, right? Yet, why can she read the characters?”

“Perhaps the fairies have more sensitive magical perception than us. They might naturally use delicate magic manipulation and magical perception for handling fairy language.”

Or perhaps it’s because fairies are beings close to magic. Based on the information so far, it’s highly likely that fairies can generate magic.

“We have indeed learned various things from Melfi-sama. Considering that is reasonable.”

“W-Well… if what you guys said is correct, it’s not strange to think that fairies have the upper hand when it comes to magic… B-But, you know, why do we need magic to decipher language!? I’m a linguist, and yet, why are you guys decoding it first… it’s unfair…”

This flow won’t do. She’s going to sulk again. The Count and I exchanged glances and immediately took action.

“N-No, no! First of all, without Carla-san, we wouldn’t have been able to decode this smoothly! If it were just us, we might not have realized that magical power is necessary for deciphering fairy characters!”

“T-That’s right! Thanks to Carla, we are where we are now! In actual conversations, it took quite a bit of time! Carla can be proud!”

With a lot of enthusiasm, the Count and I showered Carla with praise. Carla responded by visibly brightening her mood. Her ears were twitching, revealing her delight.

“Well, well, whatever. Can’t be helped, I guess. Honestly. If I’m not here, you guys can’t do anything, you know! Come on, what are you doing? Hurry up and decipher with that magical color thing!”

She’s so straightforward. Well, it’s true that thanks to Carla, we’ve made significant progress. We smiled wryly and resumed the deciphering of fairy characters.