Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 89

Jenian scoffed loudly, causing Vanessa to shrink back slightly.

“If I get serious, you’ll be done in an instant.”

Jenian said coldly.

“Please, just the right amount of seriousness. I tend to lose my mind in dangerous situations, which seems to satisfy the conditions well.”

Vanessa’s bright blue eyes burned with sincerity and passion.

Dressed in a deep green velvet dress, Vanessa looked like a well-bred young lady to anyone, but Jenian knew that wasn’t the case.

A magician who grew up in an orphanage and received education with the help of a patron.

Vanessa, whom he met at eighteen, stubbornly stirred up his house and made a place for herself despite his neglect. By the time she left, even Jenian felt a little regret.

So now, with the years passed and Vanessa at twenty-two, she would have become a magician worth teaching.

At least she wouldn’t run away halfway, saying it was too hard. The kid has persistence.

After considering a few things in his head, Jenian grinned. One side of his mustache, dyed purple from experiments, was pulled up by the smile.

“Alright. Follow me.”

“Really? Wow, Jenian is the best.”

Jenian snorted as he watched Vanessa rejoice. He would soon make her regret those words.

Jenian opened the door leading to the backyard. It was Vanessa’s first time passing through the blue door, which had always been forbidden, and she looked around the backyard with curious eyes.

The backyard was even larger than the front yard, but there wasn’t much in it.

In one corner, several red-painted tin flowerpots were stacked, and thick white gloves were scattered around. Tall trees densely filled the area, making it difficult for passersby to peek inside.

Of course, who would dare to peek into Jenian’s house?

Part of the ground was covered with dark, blackish-green grass, and part of it was bare black soil, which stirred up dust whenever someone walked on it. It didn’t seem like it would hurt to fall.

Vanessa took off the dark-colored shoes and long, pure white socks that the people of Valder Castle had carefully prepared for her, and stood resolutely on the ground.

Jenian’s eyes widened in disbelief as he saw her barefoot.

“So, what are your conditions?”

“My conditions?”

Vanessa looked up at the sky for a moment, stalling for time. Then, while braiding her fluttering hair, she mumbled uncertainly.

“‘Believe that you can do it’ and ‘specific imagination,’ I think. But it’s not certain yet…”

“What?”

Jenian picked at his ear and raised his bushy, caterpillar-like eyebrows.

“No situational or behavioral conditions? Only internal conditions that depend on you?”

Situational conditions referred to conditions that had to be met externally, such as ‘a rainbow in the sky’ or ‘wet pant cuffs.’

Gideon’s condition, ‘contact with a sword made of Eldar steel,’ was a behavioral condition. Gideon had only external conditions without internal conditions, which was also rare. Most people had to satisfy both internal and external conditions.

Therefore, Vanessa knew that her conditions were lucky. With only internal conditions, she could realize magic in any situation.

“Uh, uh, it doesn’t seem like there are any external conditions… Not so far.”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re lucky. Can’t you just imagine and think you can do it?”

At the question that sounded almost innocent, Vanessa drooped her shoulders powerlessly.

“That’s… it’s not working well. I might not be able to do it…? Maybe my magic is insufficient… or I might get the formula wrong…”

Even at those words, Jenian looked genuinely uncomprehending.

Vanessa grumbled inwardly. How many magicians with overflowing self-love are there in the world! Why don’t they have even an ounce of doubt in themselves?

“Well, I guess we’ll have to try it. I don’t really understand what you’re saying.”

And before Vanessa could answer, Jenian condensed his magic and then released it as it was. Vanessa staggered from the rushing wind and fell.

“You need to come to your senses. Agility in front of monsters is a shield that saves your life.”

A nonchalant voice was heard. Before Vanessa, who had regained her senses, could get up, moisture from above turned into ice and plunged down.

Surprised, Vanessa cast a barrier with incantation magic. However, the ice turned into snow before touching the barrier and piled up softly.

“Using incantation magic when you know the conditions? I’ve never seen such an idiot.”

Jenian said with a pathetic expression. Vanessa felt somehow wronged and resentful.

“I… I am an idiot, but a hard-working idiot.”

“Who will know your efforts in a real battle? The dead tell no tales.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Vanessa detonated an exploding light in front of Jenian’s eyes. While he closed his eyes, she intended to unleash a wind that would freeze everything.

But Jenian, who had stolen darkness from the shade under a large tree, swallowed the light.

“If imagination is really part of your conditions, then experience must be very important too. You need to increase the range of possibilities by seeing various things.”

“Stealing darkness from the shadows is possible, Ack!”

While Vanessa was flustered, Jenian, who had moved behind her, flicked her forehead. Vanessa raised her arms in surrender.

“Making the impossible possible is magic. Why else would they say you’ve stolen the power of God? And you were so distracted that you didn’t even see me summon the teleportation magic circle.”

Jenian clicked his tongue.

“You said just the right amount of seriousness… I’m a beginner.”

Vanessa mumbled. Jenian coldly walked back to his original spot. Then he picked up a stick-like piece of wood and slammed it into the ground.

Vanessa staggered as she got up.

“Again.”

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

As Jenian thought, Vanessa had persistence and didn’t get upset or run away crying despite the constant criticism.

However, her progress was slow because she had so many doubts and worries about herself. Already, the sunset was beginning to color the sky.

“Ugh, Ack!”

Vanessa stole the darkness pooled inside the tin flowerpot and devoured the exploding light. She had copied what Jenian had done, and somehow it had come to fruition.

Vanessa was so excited by the magic she had unknowingly performed that she raised her hand in the air, then quickly bent over to avoid the fireballs flying in succession. The tips of her hair stood on end from the passing heat.

“You definitely tend to do better when it’s dangerous. Clear your head.”

“If I could do that at will, I’d already be a great magician—Ack!”

The magic flew non-stop. This time, something grabbed her ankle, and when she looked down, a cute vine was growing out of the ground, wrapping tightly around her ankle.

She had been hit so many times that she could roughly predict what would come next.

But Jenian didn’t use magic with cutting or exploding properties.

He drew in the darkest color among the reddish colors that stained the sky. That black darkness swallowed Vanessa. From that moment on, she couldn’t see anything.

Her ankles were tied, so she couldn’t move, and her eyes were dark, making her whole body feel cold. At that moment, the sound of wind brushed past her ear. It felt like a few strands of her hair had been cut off.

Vanessa, pale as a sheet, instinctively imagined something that could protect her. The magic power, released broadly following the formula, created something.

“Oh.”

Jenian exclaimed briefly. Vanessa couldn’t even think about admiring it since she couldn’t see. Vanessa detonated light to drive away the darkness. Only then did she see the barrier she had created.

The beautiful spherical barrier was qualitatively different from the one created with incantation magic.

Vanessa reached out and touched the barrier lightly. The barrier, with a subtle luster like a soap bubble, was strong and unwavering, having absorbed plenty of magic power. Vanessa was moved as she thought of the one-time barriers she had cast with incantation magic.

“I… I might be a genius.”

At the serious nonsense, Jenian snorted.

“Investing more than half a day and only managing to make one barrier, what’s the big deal? If I had those conditions, I would have already scattered thunder and lightning from the sky.”

“The professors at the academy said that spherical barriers are the most difficult form!”

Although planar barriers could only block one direction, spherical barriers were the most preferred form because they could block attacks from all directions.

However, it was much more difficult to realize because magic power had to be emitted evenly.

“It’s all thanks to me, so just be grateful.”

Jenian then struck the barrier with a rough wind. The barrier shook slightly but still safely protected Vanessa.

From then on, Vanessa got excited and started throwing flames near Jenian. Because it was winter, there was little moisture in the air, so the fire grew easily and was annoying to block.

Jenian annoyedly gathered water, but Vanessa’s excited flames evaporated the water.

Jenian snorted and condensed his magic very delicately, drawing it out thinly.

The reason she’s suddenly so excited is obvious. It must be because she feels safe with the barrier.

Jenian aimed at a specific part of the barrier and sharply shot the condensed magic. The spherical barrier could not withstand the powerful impact, and cracks slowly formed from that part before it shattered into pieces.

“Oh!”

Vanessa hurriedly tried to create the barrier again, but failed. It must have been because she was worried that her magic power would be insufficient. Her magic power drained away like a tide, and she became dizzy.

Vanessa barely stuck her head into the grass and grumbled, panting.

“I… I feel like I’m going to throw up… You’re really too much…”

“A spherical barrier isn’t always that good. Sometimes it’s better to block attacks coming from one direction by only blocking that area with a barrier, you idiot.”

“You don’t think my name is Idiot, do you?”

“Wasn’t it something similar?”

Was it Idiot Rose? As Jenian stroked his beard indifferently, Vanessa mumbled something. It wasn’t very clear, but the word ‘grandfather’ was definitely included.

Then suddenly, Jenian unleashed a huge flame with a long, coiling tail. It was a different dimension of size from what he had attacked with so far.

Was he angry at the word grandfather? Vanessa was surprised and tried to put up a barrier, but there was no need. From the start, he was attacking a different target.

“That’s harsh.”

The moment the tip of the sword touched the flame, the flame disappeared as if melting. Jenian cursed excitedly at the skill of cleanly disrupting the magic power.