MLMAS 07

Chapter – 07

Life at the antique shop—with a temporary guardian who used magic, a little sister revealed to be a wizard child, and Mari, who was human—was not as smooth as expected.

“Close your eyes and feel the lines on the paper. No, I said close your eyes. Wait, why are you folding it? This isn’t origami time!”

“I don’t want to! I’m not doing it. Sis, this is sooo boring!”

After Mari had regained her strength, Shasha’s magic lessons began—but they were far from successful.

“Mariposa, do something about your sister. Why won’t she listen?”

“S-Shasha, it’s okay. Let’s just do what the wizard says, okay?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know! I don’t wanna! I hate this!”

Mari struggled beside her, trying to hold Shasha’s attention, but with little effect.

Yet without Mari, Croffort couldn’t handle Shasha alone. So Mari constantly watched his mood, soothing her sister.

Whenever Croffort’s fierce presence made Shasha teary-eyed, he would run a hand through his hair in irritation and spit out harsh words.

“Where did your sister leave her brain? What am I supposed to do if she can’t even grasp a spell this simple?”

And Mari would immediately flare up, shattering what little patience Croffort had left.

“Don’t say such mean things to Shasha!”

Croffort hated wasting his time, and Mari couldn’t stand the way he treated Shasha coldly.

In the end, the magic lessons always ended badly.

Naturally, Mari’s heart grew uneasy.

To her, Croffort was a little frightening but impressive wizard—her sister’s savior and their temporary guardian for the next three months.

She had intended to obey whatever he said. She hadn’t expected to clash with him over Shasha’s lessons. What she thought would be warm days at the antique shop began to feel heavy.

More than anything, Mari—who had only just learned that magic existed—had countless questions.

“Magic? Why do you need to know that? Mariposa, you’re human. Don’t ask meaningless questions.”

Whenever she asked about magic, Croffort would respond like that, turning cold in an instant.

Mari felt deflated. Sad. Wronged.

I may be human, but I’m Shasha’s sister too. Can’t I at least take one step into the magical world?

Having lived in poverty all her life, she was used to resignation. Normally she would have backed down easily. But watching Shasha’s magic lessons up close, her uncontrollable curiosity only grew stronger.

“Alright, four-year-old. What does this symbol look like to you?”

“Shasha!”

“Yes, Mariposa’s sister. So what does it look like?”

“Um… circle, square, circle!”

“That’s right. See? Simple, isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

About four days into the lessons, Croffort drew an extremely simple spell on a sheet of paper, as if unveiling a trump card.

It was so simple anyone could memorize it at a glance. Mari cautiously asked,

“Wizard, what kind of spell is this?”

“A spell that leads to the magical world.”

Thankfully, he answered right away.

The magical world. Mari and Shasha’s eyes widened.

“If we draw this, can we go there?”

“Wow! Are we going right now?”

As the sisters bounced with excitement, Croffort cut them off coolly.

“No. This only works with a device issued by the Mundus Entry Administration… anyway, you can’t go that easily. Even if you draw it a thousand, ten thousand times, nothing will happen.”

Mari closed her mouth.

She was used to the way he sliced through expectations. Pretending not to mind, she asked another question.

“Then where is the magical world? It’s not on any map.”

“Where did you even find a map…?”

Croffort sighed, recalling the world maps scattered around his study.

“Of course it’s not marked on a map.”

“Then where is it?”

“The magical world exists in an entirely different dimension. Think of it like this: see this paper? This side is the human world. The next page is the magical world. They’re close, but can never see or reach each other. It’s something like that.”

With the rare explanation, Mari’s eyes sparkled.

“Then how does this spell take you there? Is it teleportation?”

“Teleportation is complex magic. It can’t be done with something this simple. The Foramen is…”

He hesitated briefly before continuing.

“The device inscribed with this spell is called a Foramen. It makes a hole in the dimensional barrier, allowing travel to another dimension.”

“Foramen…”

A hole? A dimension?

Shasha’s eyes spun in confusion. The difficult talk lost her quickly, and she began looking around for something to play with.

But Mari leaned closer to Croffort.

“What do you mean by making a hole?”

“It’s simple. Look at this paper. Now, Mariposa. If you were this pencil, how would you draw on the back without moving the paper?”

With a flick of his finger, a pencil rolled across the room and stuck onto the paper.

Mari frowned in thought.

But she quickly found the answer.

“A hole! You make a hole!”

She pierced the paper with the pencil.

The pencil passed through and, at Croffort’s gesture, floated lightly onto the sheet beneath.

“A simple principle. The human world and magical world are close dimensions, so it works. That’s why the Foramen spell is simple—simple enough for a child to understand at a glance.”

He smiled faintly, pleased by his eager student.

But when Mari’s eyes shone too brightly, he immediately lowered the corners of his lips.

“That’s enough. Today’s lesson is easy, so you can leave now, Mariposa. Go do your work.”

“What? But—”

“I said leave. Now.”

At the sudden dismissal, Mari looked close to tears.

Shasha stopped playing with the pencil and cloth doll, staring at Croffort.

“Croffoto, can Sis stay?”

“It’s Croffort. And no.”

“Croffoto!”

Shasha began to whine.

Mari looked helplessly between them.

When Croffort’s expression darkened, she bit her lip and stood.

“Shasha, it’s okay. I’ll be right outside. Let’s play dolls later.”

“Really? After this?”

“Yes. But you have to listen to the wizard, okay?”

“Okaaay.”

Shasha stopped pouting and waved. Mari forced a smile and waved back.

Croffort raised the spell in the air again and resumed explaining.

Watching that, Mari left the room and sat on a small stool outside.

She hugged her knees and buried her face in them.

It had been four days since they began living with Croffort.

Mari had so many questions. So much she needed to understand.

Their mother, who would have explained everything, had died a year ago. The only person she could ask now was Croffort.

“Why didn’t Mom tell us she was a wizard?”

“If she was, why did she come to the human world?”

Perhaps there were things he couldn’t answer. But he could have said something to calm her heart.

Instead, she received only cold warnings.

“Don’t try to know, Mariposa. You’re human. Knowing won’t help you.”

So she stopped asking.

He had refused, and she couldn’t press further. She thought it was only right—toward the man who had taken in two homeless sisters.

But questions about her parents, and longing for the magical world, left a deep ache in her heart.

If I were a wizard… would things be different?

She gazed at the room where Croffort and Shasha remained, quietly tracing an impossible dream.

A week passed at the antique shop.

“Mariposa, what are you doing?”

“Um… there was dust, so I was just cleaning.”

“Who told you to do that? Drop the rag.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Every time Mari tried to help around the house to repay her benefactor, Croffort would rush over and scold her.

“Mariposa, don’t touch the dishes. Did I ask you to?”

“Mariposa, I handle the laundry myself. Don’t interfere.”

“Mariposa, please just stay still. Go watch your sister!”

Mariposa, Mariposa!

Mari was truly… truly frustrated.

What she tried to do wasn’t much. If she couldn’t even do this, then the only things she could do in the antique shop were eat and sleep.

Croffort always said he would handle it—that his magic was far faster than Mari’s small hands.

But she had never once seen him use magic to clean.

He told me he’d do it himself…

Not once had he lifted a finger for housework.