Chapter 3A big thank you to Ruka-san for this chapter!
Ulza was known for being strange. Everyone began to believe that label.
Most elves live their entire lives without ever leaving the forest. Ulza left to see what the outside looked like.
She ran into countless issues on her journey, but her spiritual magic and her sword skills allowed her to continue with little ha.s.sle.
She didn’t have any special reason to visit Rimaze; it was just the next stop on her journey.
And when she walked through the streets, everyone looked at her in a strange way.
She was used to getting strange looks on the street, but this was entirely different.
None of them looked at her with hostility, but the looks she received were unusual.
She was sure it was the first time she’d seen this gentleman, but his appearance urged her to talk to him. But at that exact moment, the human mumbled something…
“Exes….”
It was a very faint voice, but elves have superior hearing. There was no way she missed it.
“How do you know!!”
Ulza screamed, and Kyle was stunned.
“Huh??...Oh…d.a.m.n! I shouldn’t have said that in front of her. I’m sorry Ulza….Wait…no….I mean….N..nice to meet you? Welcome to Rimaze?”
“You think you can trick me!?”
Kyle smiled and pretended to be a regular villager in the town of Rimaze, but Ulza was insulted. Needless to say, she was very agitated.
“She did say she had visited Rimaze before…But I didn’t think she’d visit at this time….d.a.m.nit…”
Kyle was holding his head. He regretted the fact that he let his tongue slip.
Ulza stayed with Kyle until the final battle. She was very supportive in terms of fighting and mental support.
Kyle didn’t forget her. But at the same time, he really didn’t mind her too much.
He did, however, remember that right around this time, she was out on a journey to widen her perspectives. Her home is far away, so he thought the chances of meeting her here were slim.
Kyle had decided that when he had time, he would go visit her, but he wasn’t expecting to meet her like this.
Ulza was agitated further with Kyle’s nonsense mumbling, and being the impatient one, she reached for her dagger on her waist.
“S…Stop!”
Kyle used a spell, *haste*, which could be cast without saying anything.
Using this, he was able to close the distance with her in an instant.
To prevent her from brandishing her dagger, she grabbed her by the waist, and to prevent her from thrashing, he embraced her entire body.
To any bystander, it looked like he was giving her a huge hug.
To render her powerless, the best thing to do was to just pummel her, but there was no way he was going to do that to her.
“L…Let go!!”
Ulza tried to break free, but elves were small and delicate. She was unable to free herself.
“Calm down. There’s soldiers nearby. You’ll be arrested!”
If a foreign elf were to brandish a weapon and attack a human, she would most likely be severely punished.
“Shut up! Let me go!!”
She showed no signs of calming down.
If this continued any longer, she would do anything to grab the dagger and slash Kyle.
If she used any spiritual magic, things would be worse.
Kyle had no other options but to use magic to calm her down.
But elves have a high resistance to magic, so spells aren’t that effective.
Kyle had a trick.
“ *Sleep Exes*! ”
By using her mana* in a sleep inducing spell, he made it work.
“Y…yo….you….”
You could tell she was still angry by looking at her eyes, but she fell asleep just like that.
Kyle grabbed Ulza just as she was about to collapse to the ground.
To him, this was no different from what happened just five days ago.
He remembered the night before the battle.
“…We meet again….”
He gently caressed her sleeping face.
Ulza was gently breathing while she slept, and Kyle smiled.
At that moment, Kyle felt an excruciating pain on his side, and he went flying.
His was lying on the floor and his body was bent. After a few moments, he was finally able to look up.
“What are you doing…….”
“You really like hitting me in the guts don’t you!!”
Lize was looking down at Kyle. Her face showed no expression whatsoever.
“It’s not what it seems like. Just listen to me. Calm down. Let’s talk about this. She also lost her home and her family…so we comforted each other…and I was lonely because you were gone…or…”
“What are you talking about?!”
“It’s a misunderstanding! Or maybe not…but it’s complicated!”
“Be serious! You’re acting just like Seran. I can’t believe you just attacked a girl on the street because she was pretty.”
“No, it’s not like that! That’s a complete misunderstanding!”
“I knew I couldn’t trust you! I’m coming with you! I don’t care what you say, I’m going with you on your trip! No way I’m letting you out of my sights!”
The ensuing argument that continued right next to Ulza’s sleeping body carried on until it was stopped by nearby soldiers.
However, since Lize beating up Kyle was such a common event, she got away with it with only a warning.
Lize was preparing tea at Kyle’s house in his reception room.
The three sat down.
Ulza was very cautious of the two. She didn’t even drink the tea, but she seemed calmer than before.
It’s not like she could do anything about it: when she woke up, Lize was being lectured by soldiers, and Kyle was beat up pretty badly. It took a while for her to understand what was going on. For that reason, her rage simmered down.
Lize and Kyle continued with the argument.
“…I’m telling you…it’s a misunderstanding…!”
Ulza finally interrupted with a gentle but powerful voice.
“So…um….nice to meet you…I’m Kyle…Your name is Ulza…right?”
“You really think you can still fool me? Spill it out. Why do you know my mana?”
She had calmed down a bit, but one wrong move and she’d probably slice Kyle’s head off.
Kyle knew this, and anyone who understood the situation would understand as well.
Spiritual magicians use their mana to make a contract with the spirits, and cast their spells by borrowing their power.
The mana is usually known only by close friends, the naming parent, and a significant other. Misuse or abuse of the mana could be fatal.
The reason is because the mana is linked directly to soul. If a spell that affects the mental state is casted using the mana, she would be unable to fight back.
If the ‘charm’ spell is casted, she would definitely be a slave. On the other hand, if a curse was inflicted using the mana, she wouldn’t be able to resist.
In essence, Ulza’s life was in Kyle’s hands.
“n.o.body knows my mana except my parents. How do you know it!”
In his head, Kyle said: “You’re the one who told me…”
In the other world, both Kyle and Ulza had lost important people. They trusted each other more and more and eventually, they covered each other’s backs.
The night before they stormed the Demon King’s castle, Ulza came into Kyle’s room.
// “My mana is *Exes*…When we’re alone, call me by that name…and as long as you’re with me…” //
Ulza was holding onto Kyle tightly when she told him this.
(d.a.m.n, Ulza was cute then…)
Kyle remembered her tear-filled eyes when she said this.
“Why are you grinning…..”
Kyle snapped back, and saw that Lize was staring back at him.
He cleared his throat and straightened his posture before looking straight at Ulza.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t tell you right now. But I’m the only one that knows right now. There is n.o.body else that knows this right now. So you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
What he said was meant for Lize as well; not just Ulza.
Lize was about to say something, but when she saw Kyle’s face, she decided it was best to no say anything, so she just sighed.
“Are you daft?! You think I’m going to believe you?!”
Ulza was clearly not satisfied with Kyle’s response.
“It’s easy to lie about this…I could make anything sound true…but that would be pointless.”
(Actually, it was my fault anyways for letting my tongue slip…I can’t think of a good excuse…”
But he wondered what would happen if he did tell the truth.
“Four years later, we’ll fall in love. That was when you told me your mana. As evidence, I know you have a heart shaped birthmark on your a.s.s. I’m pretty sure I’m the only guy that knows this…Also, your left ear is very sensitive…and a whole bunch of other stuff…”
The day Kyle tells her this, would be his last day. Ulza would definitely slice him into pieces and tear him apart with magic.
Instead, he said, “I don’t like to lie…that’s why I just said I can’t tell you right now. I know you probably feel insecure about this, and I apologize.”
Lize looked at Kyle with the what-are-you-talking-about face, but he ignored it.
Kyle used what he knew from before to his advantage.
He knew that her weakness was being dealt with face-to-face. He also knew that she hated liars.
“And even if I did tell the truth…would you believe me…even if you used the lie detection magic…could you prove it…?”
The lie detection magic was just what it sounds like. It tells the user if the other person is lying or not. But it’s effectiveness is questionable. Sometimes it gives false positives.
Ulza seemed to relax a bit.
“But…I still don’t feel safe…Normally, I’d have to kill you to prevent you from telling anyone my mana…”
“Hey!!”
The word ‘kill’ set Lize off. She interrupted the two.
“I know the how important your mana is to you. But I can’t afford to be killed right now. So in exchange, how about you use the spell: Contract Agreement?”
“Contract Agreement?! Are you serious?”
Ulza’s eyes widened.
Contracts are basically deals that spiritual magicians have with the spirits using their mana. The Contract Agreement, on the other hand, is an agreement with humans that places a restriction of some kind.
Since the use of this magic would result in the human knowing the mana of the one dealing the spell, it’s rarely used. But since Kyle already knows Ulza’s mana, that didn’t matter.
“…..I can’t believe you know about the Contract Agreement….only elves and spiritual magicians should know that….”
“Here’s the deal: I won’t tell anyone your mana. Nor will I abuse it. What do you say?”
“You do know what will happen to you if you break this contract right?”
“Of course. I die.”
“Are you sure you understand? As long as I’m the one using the Contract Agreement, I can trick you and stuff too you know? If I wanted…I could take your life….”
“I’m not worried about that. I know Ulza wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“We just met. What makes you so confident that I won’t?”
“And even if it were true, you wouldn’t warn me beforehand.”
“…hmph…..”
Ulza looked away. She clearly was not having any fun.
“Fine. My life is on the line as well. I see no reason to object.”
“Ah, okay. Regarding why I know your real name, I’ll speak when the time comes. I promise.”
“But not right now. I can’t create a Contract Agreement until the next full moon.”
Contracts require the power of Muna, the Guardian Elf and Moon G.o.d. His power is largely dependent on the phases of the moon.
“If I remember correctly, there’s at least half a month until the next full moon.”
Ulza let out a sigh, knowing that she’d have to stay in town until then next full moon.
Kyle, without any remorse, added on: “Oh. Sorry. By the way, I’m leaving town in a day or two.”
*Translator’s note: mana written in characters in the original is 真名. Literally, it means true name. First character translates to True/Real/Authentic (read ma). Second character translates to Name (read na). The na is the same character for the first letter of the j.a.panese word for name namae(名前). The mana used here should not be confused for the mana that most of you a.s.sociate with magic spells (i.e. HP and Mana).