Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 90

“Vanessa.”

Gideon wrapped his arms around Vanessa’s waist, who was sitting listlessly, and lifted her up in one swift motion.

Vanessa sighed. She felt unusually impatient. *When will I reach that level?*

He scrutinized Vanessa closely, realizing she was only covered in mud and not injured. Only then did he relax his cold gaze and kiss her forehead. Jenien grimaced as if he wanted to vomit.

“You’re working hard. Jenien is a good choice.”

“Who are you to say whether the choice is good or not?”

Jenien said irritably, and Gideon chuckled briefly.

“Isn’t he a skilled wizard? It’s more difficult to make attacks ‘moderate’ in the first place.”

“That’s the problem with youngsters. The treatment of amazing, great, and grand senior wizards is terrible. Can’t you praise me more?”

Of course, he *was* actually skilled, but to say such things himself…

Vanessa wore an awkward expression, and the atmosphere between Jenien and Gideon grew increasingly chilly.

“Grip the sword very tightly. I’ll toss you around like I used to when you were young.”

“Is that a story from ten years ago? I don’t think you can do that anymore. Haven’t you been focused on research for a long time?”

The moment Gideon spoke casually, a stream of water, like a snake, shot up from beneath his feet, trying to wrap around him.

However, with a flick of Gideon’s wrist, the stream of water changed its trajectory and headed towards Jenien. Jenien wasn’t surprised and cleanly froze the water, smashing it into pieces with his staff.

The two men’s magic was relentless. Unlike Jenien, who primarily used magic, Gideon mixed magic with swordplay.

As the battle continued, Vanessa focused intently, watching the scene. She carefully observed how the two wizards manipulated their mana [magical energy].

It wasn’t necessary to block everything with a barrier. Gideon sometimes met magic with magic, causing it to repel and dissipate.

Jenien designated the point of magic manifestation close to Gideon, using even slow-to-manifest spells as if they were instantaneous. The further the point of manifestation was from the wizard, the more difficult and complex the formulas became, but Jenien didn’t seem to have any problems with that.

And at some point, Vanessa noticed that the distance between the two was gradually shrinking.

Jenien tried to widen the gap, but Gideon didn’t let him. Small but quick-to-manifest, annoying spells burst out three or four at a time, holding Jenien back. As the distance closed, Jenien couldn’t use excessively explosive magic either.

“You crazy bastard!”

Annoyed, Jenien finally forgot it was a ‘game’ and summoned a massive spell.

Suddenly, a jet-black pupil appeared in the air. The hole, small at first, grew larger with an eerie wind sound, making a strange noise as if trying to swallow something.

But it ended before that could happen. Gideon’s sword, which had already completely closed the gap, was touching Jenien. The jet-black blade was razor-sharp.

If the wizard died, the magic would end, so it was meaningless. Jenien stirred the ash wood staff with an annoyed expression. The giant pupil began to close again.

“What kind of magic is that?”

Gideon looked up at the sky with interest, but Jenien, shocked by his loss, stomped back into the house without answering. The door slammed shut.

Gideon chuckled softly and returned to Vanessa, who was standing with wide eyes, and sat down. The cold wind of Nimrod, which was a bit colder than Pyüdome, was fierce.

He took off his outer coat and wrapped it around Vanessa, then laughed in disbelief when he saw that she was barefoot.

“How long have you been doing this? Your face is so pale.”

Vanessa didn’t answer him and muttered what she had suddenly realized.

“You shouldn’t use slow-to-manifest magic against someone who uses a sword. You shouldn’t give them time to close the gap….”

Gideon pulled Vanessa close, completely into his arms, and whispered gently. Vanessa leaned comfortably against his broad upper body.

“That’s right. Wizards seem omnipotent and capable of defeating anyone, but they sometimes lose to sword users or ordinary people who rely on numbers. In such cases, the reason is simple: they didn’t maintain the distance.”

“Distance. Distance.”

Vanessa repeated several times as if engraving it in her mind.

“If you had only faced Jenien with magic, it wouldn’t have ended so easily.”

It seemed like he deliberately showed her the battle between the two to give an example to Vanessa, who was not as physically strong as other special forces members.

*I don’t know how he found me, but he’s really a worrier.*

As Vanessa stared up at him from his arms, Gideon suddenly lowered his head and kissed her plump lips. Vanessa, who had lowered her eyelids, languidly accepted his kiss.

“What the hell is that on the dirt floor? Can’t you come inside quickly? Get away from each other!”

Jenien, who saw them from inside the house, opened the window and shouted. Gideon smiled with his lips still touching hers. Vanessa also smiled awkwardly.

As soon as she entered the house, Vanessa was scolded for all her weaknesses. She also heard words that were a mix of curses and worries, saying that with such a dazed attitude, she would be hit in the back of the head and fall as soon as she went out.

“You can only use incantation magic in a safe place, not in a dangerous place! Are you going to be making bird noises when a sword is flying at you?”

“Well, the magic doesn’t work well….”

Vanessa stirred the spoon in the bland soup bowl with a sullen look.

Jenien hit his chest in frustration. He looked like he was going to get more white hair from being so angry.

“No, why *can’t* you do it? Just think you can do it!”

“I can’t do that. I keep thinking, ‘What if I can’t do it?’ in my mind!”

Vanessa made a tearful face, and Jenien clicked his tongue. Gideon, who hadn’t heard about Vanessa’s condition, tilted his head.

“The condition is ‘if you think you can do it’?”

“It’s not that… it’s the belief that I *can* do it…? And specific imagination… I think…. It’s not completely certain yet. Of course, formulas are also needed… but it seems right after trying it today.”

Gideon raised his eyebrows slightly.

It was a condition that most wizards would be overjoyed with because there were no situational conditions like ‘sunny weather’ or ‘wet pants,’ only internal conditions that depended on oneself.

In the first place, most wizards had lived privileged lives compared to ordinary people and had sky-high confidence, and the thought that they *couldn’t* do it was excessively absent, which was rather a problem.

Even if they were born with very little power, how great is that power compared to people with no power at all?

The prime example was Nimrod. Walking down the street, wizards who were overconfident in their skills exploded machines and built houses, then tore them down. So, the arrogance of being able to do it was a very easy condition.

However, it seemed like a pretty big obstacle for Vanessa, who he had seen so far. Vanessa, who believed in the power of effort, was thorough and moved only when she had some self-confidence. She wasn’t the type to have confidence that she could do it for no reason.

“Jenien, didn’t you used to research the conditions of magic?”

“I did. There were so many terrible conditions that I quit.”

Gideon was silent for a moment, then rubbed his face. He looked worried as he looked at Vanessa.

“Your condition will create powerful magic as time and experience accumulate. The moment any doubt disappears, there will be nothing you can’t do.”

“If I had been born with such a condition, I would have danced. Not even grateful, saying ‘What if I can’t do it?’ What are you going to do!”

Vanessa pouted as Jenien scolded in a gruff voice. Gideon said softly.

“Vanessa, don’t be discouraged because even Jenien, who is so arrogant, used to be confused by mistaking his own conditions.”

Jenien rose as if he would breathe fire from his mouth, but Gideon had already opened his mouth.

“He thought his condition was shouting ‘Harihara’.”

Vanessa suddenly remembered the letter that the teacher had sent her. The second semester vacation of her third year, she went to Jenien’s house, and he told her to shout ‘Harihara’ if he didn’t open the door.

“Ah.”

Vanessa looked at Jenien with a smirk. Jenien, who remembered the worst embarrassing scene of his life, began to rage.

The moments when he used magic while shouting Harihara. Little did he know that a trinket made of ash wood was hanging around his neck.

“Who told you to say that!”

“Because you’re scolding our Vanessa so much. Aren’t her pretty blue eyes getting watery?”

Vanessa’s eyes were just dry from fatigue.

“Is this crazy? Whether I scold her or not! She came to receive teachings, so she has to endure this much!”

Jenien shouted loudly, but Gideon didn’t care. But amidst the noise, Vanessa, who slowly erased her smile, thought differently.

Did Jenien tell that secret to many people? No, he wouldn’t.

Vanessa quietly looked at Gideon.

*Could the teacher and Gideon know each other?*

The suspicion she had before resurfaced. Vanessa rubbed her eyes for a moment.

*No, if that were the case, he would have told me for sure. He knows how much I want to see the teacher. He would have told me that he knew him, even if he couldn’t tell me anything else.*

After a late lunch, Gideon flatly refused Vanessa’s request to spar with her.

“I will never use magic against you.”

“What if it’s a sword instead of magic? I can also practice maintaining distance.”

He left for Pyüdome again without answering. He felt more at ease because Vanessa wouldn’t be in danger if she was with Jenien.

Thanks to that, Vanessa stayed alone until the next day, repeatedly rolling, falling, and collapsing from Jenien’s magic.

But there were gains. Now she was confident that she could block anything that came flying at her.

It wasn’t necessary to create a barrier only in a spherical shape. Sometimes she created it in the form of a cross-section, and sometimes she created it far away from her surroundings.

Unlike the barrier realized with incantation magic, the barrier realized by realizing the conditions was very powerful. At the same time, the realization was so fast that even Jenien looked slightly surprised.

After tapping the barrier a few times with magic, Jenien finally nodded. Vanessa raised her arms and cheered.

“Wow, now I can really put up a barrier! I’m confident because I’ve done it once. I can do it!”

“If I tell you to put up something bigger, you’ll say, ‘I don’t think I can do it?’ again.”

Vanessa grumbled for a moment at the cold answer, but she jumped up.

“Hurry up and do more. More, more, more!”

Knowing her shortcomings and striving to improve is certainly not in line with the conditions, but it can be said to be Vanessa’s strength.