05. It Appears To Be Magic
The thing Alex used is magic.
It is not unusual and it appears to be widespread even if not everyone can use it.
Conversely, it is more surprising if there is a person who doesn’t know about it.
According to Alex, magic can light up fire which is used in mundane activities and for illumination. If a high level technique is used, the eye and hair color will apparently change.
“Haruto’s black coloring is very beautiful, however this country doesn’t perceive the meaning of black to be good. If possible, it’s better to change that color using magic. I’ll do it for you if you happen to have a favorite color.”
I’m thankful for Alex’s suggestion. I don’t want my appearance to be conspicious since my existence is already out of place.
I took out the ill.u.s.trated encyclopedia and pointed at a certain flower.
“Purple is good.”
That is the color of my favorite flower, wisteria.
However, I changed it to dark purple hurriedly since it obviously won’t look good if I have such bright color.
“Got it. Then let’s make that your eye color. For your hair… is light gray fine? Then, close your eyes.”
There are many parts of the language I can’t understand yet if the words are spoken too fast.
I closed my eyes so I can blend myself in this world even a little.
In the end, my coloring didn’t change.
Alex said that it’s a difficult magic so there’s no helping it, but he looked so depressed that I felt guilty.
“Alex, don’t worry about it.”
I want to somehow cheer him up using the words I just learned but they didn’t quite surface easily.
“Alex, I, here, can work? Here, black, okay?”
I proposed that since it’s impossible for me to live on free food forever.
Even if it seems like black symbolizes ill-omen in this world, I also wanted to convey that it’s not really necessary to change it.
When Alex heard that, he patted my head while saying, “I’m sorry.”
While I’m feeling the warmth from his hand…
“Even though you’re patting my head, how old do you think I am!?”
…a new doubt sprang up.
I heard that he never saw a young Asian before.
Nevertheless, I’m already twenty years old, y’know…