Almark – Northern Sword, Southern Wand - Chapter 142

Almark’s call, Leila turns slowly, looks at the voice and sighs.

“You are.”

Leila then smiled, unexpectedly.

‘You always show up when I don’t want to see you.”

‘Sorry.’

　Apologizing, Almark stands next to Leila and looks out to sea.

“What were you looking at?

Nothing.

he said, as Leila turned to look at the sea.

“Look, you don’t see anything.”

　Her voice is calm.

“The ocean.”

　Almark squinted.

Beyond this sea is Lerbuda, but one can’t see it from here .

When I have a bad day, I come here and look at the sea,”

　But today. Leila laughs bitterly.

“I can’t see anything.”

　She shakes her head. Her long hair sways in the sea breeze.

The calmness in her voice made the depth of Leila’s wounds clear to Almark.

The initial shock had worn off and she was able to speak in a calm tone, but even so, her wounds were such that she was unable to share in the joy of her classmate’s victory.

‘Leila, you told me before.’

　Almark said.

“My goals are high.”

Leila glanced at Almark with a sideways glance.

“What are your goals, Leila?”

　Leila laughed, her voice a little hoarse.

“You’re asking me that right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

　Almark apologizes again.

But I had to ask. What exactly is your goal that is pushing you so hard right now?”

　Almark connects his words as he stares out at the ocean.

　A moment of silence.

　Only the sound of the waves and the chirping of birds surround them.

Almark did not speak, but waited.

……”Forretta’s High Magician Test ……….”

　After a pause, Leila said.

‘Have you heard of it?’

　Almark shook his head.

　The Kingdom of Forretta is a major country in the Middle Plains, as it is well known. Leila’s home country, the Kingdom of Rogosha, is its next kingdom.

“I’m sure you have.”

　Leila smiles thinly.

“It is not a test that a child would take. The very youngest person who passed the test was a graduate of the upper grade of this academy, and he was 18 years old. Usually, they are in their late twenties or thirties,……, and some keep on taking the test at an even older age.”

　My father,” Leila says.

‘He wants me to take that test before I come of age. If not, he told me to quit and return.”

“Until they come of age? I’m sure Nakahara and Minami have come of age.”

　Almark looked at Leila’s face.

“Yes, fifteen years old.”

　Leila nodded her head without changing her expression.

“That’s …… absurd.”

　Almark nodded his head.

“Why would your father ask you to do that?”

‘My father was against me coming here. He finally accepted me only after I received a letter from the director of the academy, but that was on my father’s terms.

　Leila had a smile on her face.

‘I haven’t really talked to my father since then. I don’t want people from my family to come into the academy, so I have a servant waiting for me at the harbor when I leave.”

Almark had already seen this.

My family is on the verge of collapse,”

　Leila said to herself.

“I can’t help it, I’m the only daughter,”

she said bluntly.

Almark was about to speak, but Leila spoke first.

My father wants to use me. He wants to use me as an instrument for a political marriage.

Leila’s words seemed to be speaking from someone else’s perspective.

. He wants a good son-in-law, and he can’t wait until he is eighteen, ?

It was a terribly vivid story.

　Almark shook his head.

“It’s only a three-year difference. Besides, I have no doubt that you will become a great magician. , even restore the family. Is that not good enough for your father?”

‘No, . It’s not about how it is in reality. It’s about how he feels about it. He is all about what he thinks. That’s why he made such an impossible request.”

　Leila never took her eyes off the sea. The expression on her face is calm, but her eyes are harsh.

But you don’t intend to take such impossible task, do you?”

‘Well, yes.”

　Leila nodded.

I’ve already taught myself everything I need to know in the elementary grade. I’m in my 2nd year of middle grade.

‘Oh …… so.’

　Almark remembers Leila before the exam.

All the necessary things are remembered in class. That’s what Leila had been boasting.

That’s right, for Leila, all the classes in the elementary class were nothing more than a review.

“If I really studied only the content of the elementary course, I think I could get first or second place in grade, but that would be meaningless to me. If I had that kind of extra time, I’d rather study something higher.”

　Almark nodded at these words.

But you said that you never want to lose to Rosfilia in the martial arts tournament. Why is that?

“Rosfilia is ……”

A little shade of gloom came into Leila’s eyes.

“The girl is aiming to pass the high mage test right after her graduation from academy “.

　“So,” Leila muttered.

“I don’t want to lose to her. I don’t care if it’s in the martial arts. I have to be three years ahead of her.”

　I had to win overwhelmingly.

　And yet, she lost. The difference in the two groups was clearly shown.

But it wasn’t just because she had lost in the tournament.

　It was because she lost to Rosfilia. That is what deeply affected Leila’s heart.

When Almark finally reached the point, Leila shook her head.

‘Almark, I am sure you see a lot of things.”

　Leila looked at Almark’s face for the first time.

‘What is the difference between me and Rosfilia. What am I lacking?”

　Leila’s eyes were serious as she looked at Almark. But there was a sense of fear that she might fall apart at any moment.

Almark looked into her eyes for a while and then shook his head slowly, saying he felt sorry.

I still know almost nothing about magic. I don’t know what you larking ,”

　Leila looked disappointed at his answer.

　Almark does not mind and slowly looks out to sea.

“Leila, have you ever heard of the Straits of Menobar?”

The Straits of Menobar?

　Leila looks doubtful at the sudden question.

I know what it is. It is the name of the strait that separates the north from the midlands, right? Of course, I’ve never seen it”.

“Yes,”

　Almark nodded.

“It’s also known as the Shuilong Strait. It’s like a ship graveyard. Every day there are gray waves on the sea, swirling here and there.”

　I’ve been over there,” Almark said.

“It’s very different from this sea.”

　With that, Almark held out his hands to show the calm blue sea in front of him.

“The first sea I ever saw in my life was the Menobar Channel. There were always waves, eddies, and rocks opening their mouths like monsters, and sailors struggled to steer their boats so they wouldn’t get eaten by them. That’s what I thought the sea was like. So when I saw this southern sea, I was surprised. I couldn’t believe it was the same sea.”

　Leila looked at Almark with a face that said, “What in the world did he just say?”

“Leila, now you are looking at this southern sea and it was as if you were looking at the Menober Strait.”

　Almark looked at Leila’s face.

Her beautiful face, always looking at him in side profile, was now looking straight at Almark.

“The sea in front of you is so blue and calm, but in your eyes I could see the black straits that run in opposite directions.”

Leila looked as if she had been caught in a lie.

‘Teacher Yilmaz said that a magician sees things as they are.”

　Leila was silent for a while at Almark’s words.

　She silently gazed at the calm sea.

　The chirping of sea birds.

　Leila shook her head.

” I don’t get it,” she said.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

　Leila said and turned her back to the sea.

　Her long hair was blowing in the wind.

“But thank you for listening to me.”

Leila said and then walked away slowly without looking back.

　When Almark looked back, there seemed to be a bit of softness in her face .

T/n sorry for absent