The Abandoned White Magician’s Tea Life - Chapter 28 : Amalia’s Secret (3)
Translator: Sunnyshies
Editor: Ryuubii
Chapter 28 : Amalia’s Secret (3)
Amalia recalls the year she spent with Alphonse and the others.
The first six months were relatively calm, while Amalia often served the tea she made as a hobby to her friends. Her tea, made mainly from plants and medicinal herbs picked up on the road, was very popular among her friends. “If you drink this, you can even defeat the monster with your bare hands”, that’s what they usually said to her.
‘And back then, when I had the time to make a cup of tea, Alphonse and the others were never seriously injured.’
Sometimes they would be engulfed in fire spewed by the demons, and other times, they would fall off a cliff. But in each case, the injuries they received were relatively minor, and they would often say, “I was lucky”, “I struck the right spot”.
However, as Alphonse began to take on more and more difficult missions, Amalia could no longer afford them, and the injury rate of her companions became much higher.
In the past, he had only suffered minor burns from fire magic, but now his body was covered with burn marks, and he had broken several ribs from attacks that used to be minor bruises. In addition, there were times when the entire team struggled against a demon that could have been previously slaughtered with a single blow from Alphones’ sword, resulting in their defeat.
The team concluded that these things happened because of the lack of effort on Amalia’s part as the white magician.
And then after Esmeralda came, Amalia’s position became more and more uncertain. In the end, she was abandoned in Dragon Mountain.
‘But… that wasn’t the case?’
It wasn’t Amalia’s lack of ability that caused things to go wrong that resulted in their defeat. In the first place, the smooth sailing of the first six months was not due to the abilities of Alphonse and the others, was it?
‘Alphonse and his friends were traveling well because of me― because I made tea for everyone to drink…?’
―Thump, her chest made an uneasy sound.
The “mysterious power” that Yugo was referring to manifests in the teas Amalia made, which gives strength to those who drink it. Injuries that would normally lead to death are reduced to minor injuries, and a single blow can defeat a powerful enemy that would normally be unbeatable even if all the members of the party were united to challenge it.
Since Amalia stopped making tea, they couldn’t fulfill their missions. Since there was less and less time to spare, Amalia was unable to make any tea, and the golden dragon subjugation ended in defeat.
‘That kind of power…’
She stared at her own hands.
Her hands are about the size of an average adult woman, her nails were trimmed for work, and her skin has a good tan.
The tea made with these hands has the power to change the possibilities of human beings. Until now, Amalia had been serving such horrible things to all kinds of people.
‘…scary.’
Her fingertips twitched, and both of her hands trembled as they lost their strength.
She can’t believe her hands have that kind of power.
She never thought that the tea made with these hands could make a difference of life and death for a person.
Leonardo was the first one to notice the change in Amalia.
He stood up with a momentum that knocked over the wooden box that served as a chair, and walked around the table to kneel in front of Amalia, squeezing her hands in a firm grip.
“Amalia-san…! Please do not make such a face!”
“F-face…?”
“You look so sad and pained… your body is also shaking so much.”
“Eh…”
It was only when Leonardo pointed it out that Amalia realized, it was not only her hands, but her entire body was shaking.
Yugo also climbed up to her knees through the gap in Amalia’s arms and hugged her tightly from the front.
“…I’m sorry mom. I wanted you to learn about your power so you wouldn’t worry so much, but I guess I just made you sad in the process…”
“Uh…no, no, no, Yugo. It’s not your fault.”
Amalia replied, shaking her head.
Amalia knew that Yugo shared the secret of her powers with her out of pure good will and concern for her. So she doesn’t blame him. In fact, she should be grateful to him for telling them about Amalia’s mysterious power.
“Thanks for letting me know, Yugo. But… sorry, it’s just, everything is a mess in my head.”
“Mom…”
“You must have been tired physically and mentally because of all the information that just came at you all at once… the sun is still high, but you should get some rest today!”
“Oh, no, I can’t rest yet. There’s an old lady with back pain coming for treatment later.”
Amalia hastily retorted back against Leonardo’s suggestion.
But Leonardo raised his eyebrows in an unusually angry manner and said, “No,” as if to scold her.
“If you’re only treating back pain, you don’t have to wait like this anymore… Amalia-san, didn’t you say it before? White magic requires physical and mental strength, and since you are only an intermediate white magician, you don’t have that much magic power, so if you use white magic when you are not feeling well, you might even fall into a coma.”
“Leonardo is right, you know. I’ll explain it to Grandma, so you can go upstairs and just rest, mom.”
Yugo, too, raised his big eyes and complained. Amalia refused, but Yugo seemed to think that he had annoyed Amalia with his comments.
‘…I’m afraid that neither of you will back down.’
In the end, Amalia reluctantly agreed, and they both looked relieved. Then Leonardo said, “Excuse me,” and picked up Amalia’s body in a flash.
“…huh? Wha, whoa!”
“If you could, please put your arms around my neck.”
“Y-yes. Like this…?
“Yes, like that. I’ll take you upstairs.”
Doing as she was told, she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, and saw Leonardo smiling softly.
When he smiled at her, Amalia felt a strange buzz in her chest, even though she had been feeling depressed until this moment.
‘…wow. Leonardo really has such a strong body. And his line of sight is also quite high―’
In the past, Amalia used to carry Leonardo in her arms and take him to his room, but now one of them has become a fine young man after ten years, and the other one is still the same as then.
This created an overwhelming difference in power, and Amalia was taken aback.
Apparently, after reading the atmosphere, Yugo went ahead and opened the living room door, then set aside the basket on the stairs, and opened the bedroom door to make way for leonardo.
Leonardo then laid Amalia down on the bed and carefully took off her shoes, and pulled the blanket to cover her.
“Now, let me and Yugo take care of the rest, and you go back to sleep, Amalia-san.”
“I’m not sleepy yet―”
He said this as he closed the curtains, so the room was well shielded from sunlight. Then, strangely, she felt her body grow heavy and tired.
Leonardo looked down at Amalia and gently brushed her bangs from her forehead. His touch was so gentle and loving that for some reason it made her heart ache.
“Good night, Amalia-san. When you’re awake and refreshed, we’ll talk about…”
Perhaps it was because Leonardo’s voice was spoken in a lower and slower tone than usual, but by the time he was about to leave the room, Amalia was already sleeping quietly.