Sugar Sweet
Translator: Reo
Editor: Cale
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Part 5 – Lemon Candy Magic
Chapter 18 – Once Again
“Is this what it feels like to be rudely summoned?”
“Azul-ani, I missed you too.”
“You’re as noisy as always.”
Azul walked straight to Red and stood by his side.
“You’ve made up your mind, boy?”
“No matter what you say, my decision won’t change. I won’t leave this town, and I won’t leave him.”
“Don’t tell me you’re interested in this human? It’s foolish enough getting involved with humans, but now you’re planning on walking the same path as that Knowledge Magic user?”
“Stop badmouthing Kasa! He’s a hundred times the magician you are.”1
“Those are some big words. Tell me, what’s the essence of a magician? It’s strength, isn’t it? You, your worth isn’t something that should be wasted on a human. Ah, that’s right – I’m pretty sure that, last semester, there was someone at the academy who was excellent at attack magic. How about I introduce them to you?”
“No thanks. I’ll be the one to decide my own worth and my own life. If it means that the bloodline will end with me, then so be it.”
Yizul looked at the two, who were arguing and glaring at each other, without interjecting. He looked like he was having fun.
“Um?” Sui opened his mouth and all three of them turned to look at him at the same time.
“Don’t interfere. You second-rate –”2
“Hana-san.”
Azul’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Red also seemed startled, his shoulders trembling.
“That’s what her name is, right? Red-san’s mother.”
“You told him?” (Azul)
“No…” (Red)
Red looked at Sui with concern, sensing that he was about to say something.
“There once was a girl. A girl who lived in the world of regular humans. One day, while on a trip, she got lost and stumbled upon a magician’s town in the middle of the forest. A magician then just happened to pass by and save her. The two got along very well and immediately became close friends.”
Their hobbies and tastes also matched, as if the two had always been friends. The girl treasured the magician so much, she wanted to stay with her forever, and the magician too wished for the girl to never leave. However, the girl had to go back to her original world, because that was where her lover, the man she had promised to marry, was.”
“If you leave, we’ll never be able to meet again… No, do you live in a town by the waterside? If possible, it would be great if you could live next to the water, in a beautiful place surrounded by green nature.”
“I think there might be a place like that near my hometown.”
“Really? Magic power accumulates in such places. I don’t really know why but I’ve always thought that it was because both the word water and the word green can be read as ‘sui’.”3
“It’s nice, but does wordplay have anything to do with magic?”
“I don’t know. It’s just what I think. But, well, if there’s a place like that next to you, then I might be able to meet you there. It’ll be a gamble, but I’ll make sure to turn it into a reality. I’m a rather excellent magician after all. Right, considering it will have to be a round-trip, how about we decide on five years from now? Let’s meet there. On the same day we first met. Magicians aren’t really allowed to go to that world, but I can just tell them I got lost. Fufufu, I’m quite good at acting.”
“The girl teased the magician by saying that she’d get found out right away but agreed to her plan nonetheless. The girl was happy to be able to meet the magician even if it was only once every five years.”
The girl left Akebi and, five years later, the two were actually able to meet in the forest. After that, they would regularly meet for a short period of time every five years.”
“Something like that did happen~ People getting lost and ending up here are the rarest of the rare. I was really surprised back then.” (Yizul)
“Nobody wanted that rare thing to happen. If that human hadn’t gotten lost in the first place…” Azul grinded his teeth in anger.
“So that’s what happened? Mom used to say that she was going to meet a friend from a far-away country. But how come you know this?”
“Last night we talked about how, a long time ago, you ended up in the forest next to my town, right?”
In the past, Red had a job in Ulshia where he had gotten caught up in an argument between two magicians.
Red, having gotten involved in this dispute, ran from side to side trying to make peace between the two and wanted to consult his talented father about how to deal with this problem. However, it wasn’t that long since his mother had passed away and his father only threw cold words at him.
“With your power, you can just make them obey. Overthrow them – power is everything,” Azul told Red, but Red believed that magic wasn’t something that should be used to make others obey him.
From then on, Red and his father constantly fought until Red finally left Ulshia, moving from country to country and from one magicians’ town to another.
His next destination was Akebi since Kasa had invited him to come, but he got caught up in a fight between opposing political factions. Covered in injuries yet wanting to somehow get to Akebi, Red lost consciousness. And, when he opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar forest.
Since that day when they went to the river Sui had fallen in, Red couldn’t actually confirm his theory, but he had hypothesized that magic had accumulated in that area and created an opening that he just happened to find.
“These are some of Hana-san’s keepsakes. They were left in Kasa’s care.” Sui took two books out of his backpack. They were the building blocks Kasa had given him in order to build this story.
Seeing the picture book and the photo, Kasa had been the first to realize the truth.
“After his mom died, Red donated her books to the library. He had said that it would be bad for his dad if he left them in the house. One of them was this book, Hansel and Gretel and there’s another one I can think of. I didn’t put it in the library though.”
The other book was Hana’s diary. It seemed to have slipped in between the other books that were being donated. Of course, Kasa couldn’t put the diary in the library, so he stored it somewhere safe where it wouldn’t be thrown away.
“This is Hana-san’s diary. Everything I just told you is written here. The name of that town as well… it was Aoimachi, the town where I live. The place Red ended up back then is the same place Hana-san would often go visit.”
Red gasped.
“Hana-san passed away thirty years ago and no one else used magic in that place except for her, so it’s no wonder magic accumulated there.”
It truly was a coincidence that Red happened to stumble on an opening where five years of magic had accumulated. According to Kasa though, such openings were usually impossible to create.
“It’s taboo for magicians to go to the human world, right? As I told you before, the only people allowed to go are elite magicians; mostly scholars and people involved in logistics. Doors do open in areas near water, but the people on our side make sure to close them. Slipping past that would be like hacking into a computer – only an unbelievably talented magician could do it. Red’s mom could only make it happen because she was truly amazing.”
Red, too, was a talented magician. However, according to Kasa, he was hurt at that time and wasn’t the type of person to break the rules and escape to the human world.
Then how did Red get there?
Perhaps that path was opened by the deceased Hana-san who hoped to heal her wounded son by entrusting him to her precious friend.
Sui didn’t know if that was true, but he liked to think it was.
“This is Hansel and Gretel. It’s a picture book that Hana-san and her friend loved and would often read together. And, hidden between the pages, there was a photo.”
Red, who already seemed to know how this story was going to end, looked at the photo with great concern. Meanwhile, Azul’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Do you recognize the person in this photo?”
“Hana…”
“That’s right. One of them is Hana-san and the other one is my grandmother. The two were friends. That means that the person Hana-san used to meet was my grandmother.”
“You-” Azul stood up in anger and, unexpectedly, it was Yizul who stopped him.
A blue light released from Yizul’s hand and something vine-like twisted around Azul’s arms.
“It sounds fun so let’s hear him out ‘til the end. I’m also curious about what happened to sister-in-law.” His gaze urged Sui to continue.
“But… the opening Hana-san had created could only be accessed from Akebi, and she had the accident on her way there from Ulshia.”
Kasa had told him that she’d been trying to help a magician who had lost control of the breaks on their broomstick. The two of them crashed and neither made it.
“That person, if she hadn’t gone to Akebi, if she hadn’t gone to meet that human, she wouldn’t have died. She’d be alive. She could have been alive. You are the one who’s my enemy. That’s right. So I’ll kill you and then these feelings will go away.”4
Azul tried to move, but the vines restricted him. Had Yizul not used his magic, Sui would have definitely been attacked.
Azul truly was a hasty person. As Red had said before, he could see nothing else once he decided on something.
Currently, all of Azul’s attention was on Sui, but had the magician who lost control of their broom survived, all of his anger would have been focused on them and he might have killed them. Azul was someone who would quickly exact revenge.
Perhaps from now on, he really would gather enough power to subjugate the humans, but, if he did, would that make him feel any better?
“You’re wrong. Those feelings won’t go away.” Sui faced Red’s father head-on. “No matter what you do, the emotions that you feel when someone important to you dies won’t go away. My grandmother passed away only a month ago, but the loss that I feel is just as big as yours.”
“Don’t talk to me like you know anything.”
“Azul-san, do you know what Red-san likes?”
“Hah?”
“Do you know what he’s good at? Red-san likes delicious stuff. He looks happy when he eats tasty food. Red-san is good at drawing – the worlds he creates are beautiful.”
Red and Azul stood dumbfounded as Sui kept blabbering and Yizul started giggling.5
“Just like a wound won’t heal faster if you hurt someone else, an emotional scar won’t go away even if you inflict it on others.”
No matter what kind of wound it is, hurting others won’t make it any less painful. It’s the opposite – the more you hurt others, the more pain you inflict upon yourself. The wound will get infected and the pain will become so severe you will no longer be able to tell what the source is.
Sui was able to heal before he reached that state due to his grandmother’s will that led him to Red and Kasa. Azul had nothing to help him heal though. No, even if there was, he didn’t have the ability to recognize it.
“The only way to heal a wound is to cure it. Even if the wound is so large that it will leave a scar, it can at least heal as it scabs over. And, when it does, couldn’t you somehow move on? Wasn’t there something that could help you heal? Didn’t you have your family? Say, Azul-san, do you hate Red-san?”
“Gufu, it’s the exact opposite, right?” Yizul, who’d been quietly laughing at the conversation from the side interjected. “The reason he went to visit the house last time was because I told him Red-kun was bedridden.”
“Yizul!”
Despite being glared at, Yizul wasn’t daunted in the slightest, and his countenance remained aloof.6
“Azul-ani’s feelings tend to be intense and on a single track going nowhere~ Ah, do you remember that time? When I was little, Azul-ani wanted to give me a surprise present for my birthday and went all over doing research about what to get me, but while he was doing that, grandpa and grandma already got me a present. Azul-ani got so mad~! It was so funny.” Yizul slapped his knee, his laughter echoing across the room.7
“That’s… kind of similar to Red-san.”8 Sui murmured.
“We’re nothing alike!” The father and son pair quickly denied it, their loud shouts overlapping with each other.
Both of them averted their eyes with a look of disgust.
“This might be my own selfishness talking, but… for Hana-san, her friend was precious enough that she’d risk going to visit her once every five years. And, for my grandmother, Hana-san was precious enough to leave her something in her will.”
Sui took his grandmother’s pendant out of his backpack.
“This belonged to my grandmother. She wanted me to deliver it to her friend in Akebi.”
Red’s father stared at the pendant before grabbing it.
“She also had something like this… the gem was red though.”
“Those two treasured each other, so please don’t blame this bond for Hana-san’s death. It’s sad. It’s like you’re denying the beautiful friendship that they had built over the years.”
Azul looked at Red and Sui then abruptly turned his back to them.
“Red, as you wanted, I’m cutting my ties with you. From today on we’re strangers. You got it?”9
“Wait,” Red stopped Azul from leaving. “Take responsibility.”
“Red-san!?” Sui looked at Red, surprised at his sudden demand.
“I was badly hurt by you. While chasing power, you didn’t even look at me. That isn’t something you can easily fix by simply breaking ties.”
“I understand. You want compensation. If it’s within my ability, I’ll give it to you.”
Sui anxiously listened to the exchange between the two.
“Mom used to say that magic is a modest skill used to give people just the slightest bit of happiness. So I want you to give me some magic.”
“Magic…?”
“You can just agree. For me, that’s already a kind of magic. It’ll make me feel happy, like I won a little prize.” Red took a deep breath and then continued. “Let’s be a proper family again.”
A small gasp could be heard.
“I, I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you. I never wanted to do that to you. I was only thinking of myself. So I want to fix this, to take responsibility. I’ll do whatever you want. What is it that you wish for? What will make you happy?”
“I…”
There was a long moment of silence before Azul opened his mouth again.
“At least introduce me…”
“Huh?”
Red looked at him, puzzled and Yizul snorted.
“Introduce?”
“You’re going to marry that kid, right?”10
“Eh?” When Azul turned to him, Sui could only blink.
“Pfft. Azul-ani really is simple-minded, or how should I say it? Shouldn’t you let them date first?”
“Those two already look like they’re in love, did I make a mistake?”
“Well, I do like him…” For some reason when Sui turned to look at him, Red had a complicated expression on his face.
“Then you’re getting married, right? At least come give me your greetings. When I got engaged to Hana, I also had to go give my greetings to her family and she came to give greetings to mine. Since that’s what family’s for.”
“Um, eh, please wait a second.” (Sui)
“I got it. But we’re not going to Ulshia. It’ll be at the house in Akebi.”
“Hmph, I can at least arrange something like that. Now then…”
When Azul hesitated, Yizul came to the rescue all the while laughing – “It’s Sui-kun~”11
“…Sui. You said that your grandmother’s wish was to give that pendant to Hana, right?”
Hana, his grandmother’s friend, had already passed away so it was a wish he couldn’t fulfill.
“Bring it with you when we do the greetings. I’ll take you to where she’s buried.”
“Eh?”
“You have to deliver it to her, right? I’ll at least let you bury it at her grave.”
Those kind words, spoken so bluntly, sounded similar to Red’s.
Those two really are father and son, Sui thought.
“Thank you.”
When Sui bowed in thanks, Azul let out a huff and turned his back to him. Then, just like that, he said he had work to do in Ulshia and left.
Standing up from the chair, Yizul stretched leisurely. “Aah, that was fun. No, no, you made it quite entertaining, didn’t you?”
“We weren’t arguing for your entertainment.”
“Well… for me, I think it’s better if family gets along so I’m glad. I think that was a good enough ending, yup. The trickster that settled the fight between the magician father and son is a regular human! Doesn’t it sound dramatic? Regular humans are so much fun.”
Yizul’s eyes narrowed with mirth, and he turned to look at Sui.
“In the end though, Sui-kun’s the only one left who has to bite the bullet.”
Sui tilted his head wondering what he was talking about, and Yizul smirked.
“It’s been decided that you’re marrying Red.”
“Um?”
Sui turned to Red for help, but for some reason he was facing away from Sui like the whole thing had nothing to do with him.12
“Which means you’ll be living in Akebi. But a regular human living here is a biiiit… it’s going to be annoying. Yeah.” Yizul happily talked to himself while nodding his head.
“So, I’ve thought of a great idea.” Yizul’s eyes sparkled like a kid with a new toy as he innocently declared, “You13, you need to become a magician’s apprentice!”
Translator and Editor Corner:
Reo: I… What even is this chapter? I have no idea(‘◉⌓◉’)
Cale: Tis a wild ride from start to finish – Azul somehow went from big bad villain to moronic tsundere.
