MK 029 – The Three’s Turning Points

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[…ugh… w-woahh!?]

Zeonly was caught off guard by the time he opened his eyes.

[—Ah, damn… I completely dozed off…] (Z)

He then rolls over to the side to get off from the water bed before falling to the ground. 

[…Ugh…] (Z)

He stands up and thinks about what happened. He isn’t expecting to really fall asleep. It was just supposed to be a short nap. 

But no. He was powerless in front of the comfortness of the waterbed and it really blew his mind. 

Zeonly then looks at the skies and notices that it’s still blue.

‘I guess it wasn’t that long.’

[Were you able to get a good sleep?]

Putting the inquiring Kunon aside, Dario and Milika didn’t hold back as they glared at Zeonly so coldly. After all, Zeonly acted all smug of himself earlier just to fall asleep during his duty.

‘Bah, who cares.’ (Z)

Apparently, Zeonly doesn’t.

[Yo, kiddo. That should have given you plenty of time. Have you given up on breaking that wall down?]

Zeonly found Kunon sitting on the table chatting with Milika.

He returned to his seat and took the scones on the children’s plates and made them his own snack.

‘I’ve fallen asleep and the wall’s still here.’ (Z)

[Oh, can I break it down now?] (Kunon)
[Ha? Go ahead. Let me see you try—] (Z)

Kunon then moves his hand towards the wall when bubbles suddenly appeared from them to cover the whole wall from top to bottom. 

It’s a magic called bubble wash (A Rubu).

It’s a magic that is meant to clean dirt from things by covering them with bubbles.

[Heee~] (Z)

Zeonly sips the tea made by the maid with the heavy make up and can’t help but grin  after seeing what Kunon did.

[Did you understand the purpose of this test?] (Z)

[I believe this wall is built in a way that it will become more brittle the more water it absorbs and would eventually break down at a certain level of moisture. Otherwise, why would you make it so dry? Someone will lose a tooth if they bite this wall so hard.] (K)

[I didn’t make this wall to break people’s teeth in the first place but yeah, you got it mostly right.
So? Why did you use Bubble Wash? I thought your specialty lies with Water Ball, no? I thought you’d experiment your way in breaking it down with that magic.] (Z)

A certain number of experiments and trial and error should be enough to break the wall down using Water Ball per Zeonly’s estimate.

Well, as long as Kunon won’t give up, that is.

Based on what Zeonly heard, Kunon hasn’t learned any offensive magic so he set the wall up so that it could be broken down by anything except by strong blunt forces and impact.

There’s also the fact that the amount of mana Zeonly put to the wall should have made it possible to last against Kunon’s entire mana pool.

It literally shouldn’t have broken down until Kunon exerted the very last drop of his magic and not give up until the end.

[I think it’s easier this way. That’s all.] (K)

And as Kunon said so, a portion of the upper wall is already crumbling.

Each bubble takes a portion of the dry wall and separates it to its body one after the other.

It seems like the whole wall is a very large dirt that the Bubble Wash is tearing apart piece by piece.

[Easier way, huh— alright, not bad. I don’t mind petty tricks like that as long as it’s being used smartly. That’s right. There will always be an appropriate magic for certain tasks and it’s a mage’s duty to identify it and resolve it as efficiently as they can. Let’s leave the brute force methods to those who have the Fire Crests.] (Z)

[Then – does this mean that I’m officially your disciple then…? Yyyeeeeahhhh!!! Hehehe!] (K)

[No – wait. I don’t remember accepting you.] (Z)

[But you’ll accept me, right? I passed the test, after all.] (K)

[…Tsk, fine.] (Z)

‘I guess I won’t be able to get out of this one no matter what… Tsk. A promise is a promise.’

That’s what Zeonly realized when he saw Milika, Dario, and the maid with heavy make up glaring at him like if he keeps this up any longer, then they’ll throw their hands at him right this instant.

‘It’s not that they’re scary. It’ll just be a drag. Yeah.’ (Z)

[Kunon, from today onwards, you are now my disciple. Rejoice. You’re the luckiest brat in the world from this moment on.] (Z)

Zeonly Finroll.

Meeting him will be a crucial turning point  for Kunon but – the same can be said as well to Zeonly.

From this day that Zeonly met Kunon, his name and achievements will start to spread further and wider for the world to know.

And so—

[Hahaha, the luckiest in the world, huh… Yeah, that might be true. With you, master, and princess Milika by my side, the heavens might punish me if I wish for anything else after this. Hahaha!] (K)

[Oh, gosh, Kunon~~ you, really…~~ *Blush*] (Milika)

[I believe you know this already but let me reiterate just in case. You better devote yourself to your master first before your fiancée.] (Z)

[Haaaaaaaa?] (M)

*Shiverss*

This is a first for everyone in the garden.

No one has seen Milika look and react like this even before as she stares at Zeonly down.

For Kunon, Milika’s response felt like it came from the deepest of the absolute hell.

‘Iko told me that there’s nothing more scary than an angry woman and it seems she isn’t kidding at all…’
‘I thought she’s an exception… I guess the princess gets angry too from time to time…’ (K)

Well, Kunon might not realize, but it is an exception for Milika to be angry indeed. It is only if it’s related to him.

[Go on with your love or what not when you’re proper adults. Now that Kunon’s my disciple, he’ll eventually have to go to the Magic Academy. We have countless things to do even before that. I’ll teach him and have him work with me with my experiments. You think he’ll have the time to spoil you around? No. In the first place, don’t you have anything else to do, Princess Milika?] (Z)

[And that would be?] (M)

[Look here, princess, do you think it’s fine for you to just watch your lover grind himself to death? Won’t it be better if you’re doing something on your own as well? This kid is my disciple, you know? From this day onwards, this kid’s name will resound all over the kingdom along with his achievements. Perhaps even further. Are you confident that you can keep him as your lover in the future if you just do nothing? He might not be as handsome as me but I’ll guarantee flocks of women will want him. Are you really that confident, NINTH princess?] (Z)

[…!!!!]

It shocked Milika’s soul and wasn’t able to respond at all. 

When Milika heard that flocks of women would want Kunon, her sisters’ faces immediately entered her head.

Milike is the ninth princess.
She’s just another daughter in the royal family and has a very weak position politically.
She can’t even win a single information war within the castle.

If her elder sisters decided to pursue Kunon… being a betrothed to a mere ninth princess won’t mean anything and their engagement could dissolve as fast as it was decided.

Everything Zeonly said was correct.
Kunon has now grown enough as mage to the point that one of the royal mages of the kingdom decided to take him in as his disciple.

‘And me…?’ (M)

Milika has received the required education for nobility but that’s just it.
She has no achievements on her own.
Her own position hardly matters within the royal family.
She doesn’t even have a future prospect.
All this time, as the ninth princess, she isn’t even provided security and guards her entire school life.

—And when Milika’s realizations came to that point—

‘Ah… I am no longer someone who’s worthy of Kunon-kun…’

When they were still small, she tended to run away and cry because of the pain she felt being engaged with Kunon.
But now, it’s the other way around.

Kunon has already left her behind.
She just didn’t notice it because Kunon is affectionate enough to turn her way every now and then.
It is only at this moment that Milika realized that there’s already a big gap between them.

It’s a gap big enough for someone else to fit in between.
To the point that they can easily separate her from him as long as they want it to be.

[Please don’t bully the princess, shishou.] (K)

[I ain’t bullying her though. In fact I’m cheering for her. I really think you suit each other well.] (Z)

[Oh, alright. Shishou, are you the type of person who tends to pick on the girl you like? I just get that feeling from you after hearing what you said.] (K)

[Ha?] (Z)

[Then, you realize at the end that you actually like the girl you’re picking on, right? You sound like you aren’t good with words, after all. So I think you’re the type of person who picks on the girl you like then loses her to someone else at the end, am I wrong? You’re kinda clumsy on that part, I guess, shishou.] (K)

[….] (Z)


Kunon does not have any basis on whatever he is saying and is might as well spouting bullsh*t.

But when Zeonly looks back on his past…

‘Damn…’

It kinda hurts. Because somehow, Kunon got it a bit right.

—-

And that ends Zeonly’s first visit in Kunon’s estate.

It was a fateful meeting that will lead to Kunon’s turning point in life.

A turning point to Zeonly’s work, experiments, and achievements.

And last but not the least—

[…If I let things be…] (M)

A turning point that ignited the heart of the ninth princess, Milika Hyuguria.

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Translator’s Notes:

1. Shishou means master/teacher.
2. Posting more panels from the manga as I’m liking it. :3

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