Let's change things up for today's exercise, shall we?

　The next day. After finishing the day's mission, I returned to the city and cut it off like that to Mei Fan.

　The place was the guild's training ground, just like yesterday. However, today we weren't going to have a mock battle, so we were huddled in a corner.

''A change of pace, is it?''

''Yeah. Up until yesterday, I got you used to handling the sword in a mock battle, but today I thought I'd try something else.

Why?　I don't mean to say it myself, but I'm getting more and more comfortable with the sword, and I think I'm getting better at fighting...

　Meil nodded at Mei Fan's words.

''Why do we have to do something else?　You practiced swords until yesterday. If you try to do something else here, you'll only be doing it halfway, won't you? Hey, Mei-chan?

'What?　Oh, no, yes. Yes, sir.

　This is where Mei Fan looks awkward.

　And then a somewhat self-loathing look comes over his face.

Half-heartedly is no good. If you're going to be good at something, you have to be good at it, and I think you have to be consistent.

　I made a strong statement like that.

''Well, don't say that. Watching Mei Fan fight, I had an idea.''

　I soothed, thrusting my right hand forward, palm upward.

"'Flame,'

　And as he chanted this, a glowing red ball of fire appeared in the palm of his hand.

　The fire continued to burn for a while, and then it became smaller and disappeared.

　At the same time, there was a thunderous roar of "Oh!" from all over the training grounds.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. Is it a magic trick? No, I heard that new guy is a magician. I've heard that he's a pretty good magician. It's not a bad idea." "Gantt and Xiaolan, that kid, that monster was born for a reason.

　With a rustle, I could hear such voices whispering to each other.

　I blushed a little at the content of it, but I kept my eyes on Mei Fan as I continued talking.

''Mei Fan, try to imitate what I just did. All you have to do is mouth the incantation while picturing a fireball in the palm of your hand.

'Oh, yes. But ... this is witchcraft, isn't it?　I'm not going to be a sorcerer...

'Uh, yeah. It might be a little hard to believe, but this isn't that kind of practice, so for now, just try to imitate it honestly.

　He urged Mei Fan to try it while interrupting her words.

　Mei Fan then obeyed, though he was puzzled.

''Ho, ho, ho, ho-oh!

　........and then it hit a snag from the start.

'Mei-chan, you're not good at all!'

　And Meir let out a comment like that.

'Ugh ... what was wrong with me?

　Pronunciation.

Well, I'll do it myself this time.　Watch me!　Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

　With such a strange call, Myl thrust out his right hand and wrinkled his brow as hard as he could.

　Your entire body is filled with strength. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what the effect of the magic is, but it doesn't seem to be working.

It's not good at all, Mr. Mill,

'G-n-n-No.......what's wrong with it!

　I guess it's pronunciation.

　Anyway, this was unexpected..................but it almost started out as expected.

　Even in the village, the only person who could properly pronounce 'flame yo' was my sister Sierra.

　It's probably a good thing that she has seen me speak the magic language (Japanese) since I was a child. The speed of improvement is much faster than any other in the village.

　By the way, when the rest of the people try to say 'flame,' the variations are very rich.

　Honi-niyo. Ho-no-no. No-ooh-ooh. You can't say 'Hoho-o-no-o. Of course, you can say 'Ofo-no-o. The hooch. The hoo-ho... Ho-ho-ho. Ohhhhh...

　At first I didn't understand, and when I asked the villagers why they couldn't pronounce the words, they said "they all sounded the same and I don't know how to vocalize them.

　I see. When I thought about it, the vowels in "Hono-o-o-yo" are all in the form of an "o" and the lips are all the same.

　Moreover, even if the syllables are separated by "Ho-no-o-yo", the actual pronunciation is "Ho-no-yo", which is another reason why it is difficult to pronounce. The number of syllables in this case is three.

　In our everyday language, the long "ー" is not considered to be a single beat. In English, it means the same thing as "Go!

　That's why they can't understand the difference between an old man and an old man, an aunt and a grandmother, sweets and funny......they can't understand the difference in meaning and pronunciation.

　In addition, there were many people who could not pronounce "Ho" well. I guess this is also the confusion that comes from the fact that the language system is different from the way of pronunciation.

　Therefore, the people of this world cannot pronounce and understand the word 'flame'.

''Ugh ... Mr. Gerald, no, sir!　Me ... what the hell was wrong with me!

'Oh, you don't have to be so seriously frustrated. I just acted recklessly now, knowing I couldn't do it.

"...Gerald, I think that's a bad character.

　Meir gives me a cold look.

'Just to make sure, you know. And I felt like I'd be super lucky if I could, just in case I could.

'You're super lucky if you can do it... that's how unlikely I am...'

　It's not just Mayfang (you) who has no prospects, but everyone else in this world (everyone) as well.

　But, well, Mei Fan is Mei Fan and has other 'prospects', so the details are not important.

''Well, don't be so depressed. I have my own ideas for how to make sure that you guys can pull this off as well.

So, you mean I'll be able to do what Mr. Gerald just did?

If I'm good at thinking, that is. Well, at any rate, it's a lot quicker than talking about it, right?

Yes!

　Clenching her fists tightly on her chest, Mei Fan turned her glittering gaze on me with a look of full of spirit.

　His eyes were a bit embarrassing, as if he was looking at his beloved master and teacher.

It's a good idea. Then let's do it.

　Shaking off such embarrassment, I reached out to both of Mei Fan's ears.

　It was a casual gesture on my part, but when Mei Fan realized where my hands were going, she let out a short scream-like "Ah!" and held her ears with her hands and cowered in place.

''!　Mei Fan, what the hell is wrong with you?

　I can't keep up with the sudden action.

　Mei Fan looked up at me with a resentful look.

...uhhhhh, this is, uhhh...

　He let out a cute moan as he squirmed around.

'What's this?'

'This is, you know. Um.....

Yes.

In our... beastmen's value system, letting a non-family member of the opposite s*x touch your ear is a lifelong commitment to that person.

　Mei Fan said this in a grave tone, as if he was announcing something serious.

.........Will Gerald-san be able to take me for the rest of my life!

　I can't help but be confused when I'm suddenly confronted with a choice that is too heavy.

　Anyway, the conversation didn't go anywhere, so I decided to muddle through with appropriate words.

''Ah, I wasn't trying to touch your ears right now,'' he said. I was just trying to cast a spell on Mei Fan's ears, and if I'm not allowed to touch them, I'll never touch them.''

Oh, no...

　Why do you look so sad there!

I've been a burden to Mr. Gerald...

Mei, poor Mei!　Gerald, you owe me an apology!

　Meir took advantage and accused me of taking advantage of the flight.

'Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!　Give me your head and don't push me around!　Let's force it!

　It would only consume my time if I lingered here any longer.

　Frustrated, I forcefully grab Mei Fan's head and bring it close to my ear with my palm facing her ear.

''Wah!　Oh, no, you can't force me to do that...

'This is for your own good, Mei Fan!　I'll hear you complain later!　'Multilingual Understanding'

　It's times like these that forcefulness is needed. Perhaps.

　Anyway, with this, I was able to cast a spell on Mei Fan's ears. All we have to do now is to test whether it really works or not.

''How about it, Mei Fan? Can you properly understand what I'm saying?

'Well, Mr. Gerald I see what you mean. This isn't the common language of the continent, is it?

'What?　What, Gerald, what do you mean by that?

　Looking at Mei Fan and Myl's reactions, it seems that the magic was properly applied to them.

　And there was one more thing I found out. It seems that if you speak the "magic language" with the intention of speaking to them as a "conversation" rather than with the intention of using magic, the magic doesn't activate on its own.

　If that's the case, the conversation might be quicker than I thought.

''Then, try chanting 'Fire,' while reminding yourself in your head that you're going to use magic~'' Right now, I've put a language comprehension spell on Mei Fan's ears, so you should be able to figure out how it was pronounced.''

''Eh........Ah, if you ask me, I can understand. It seems like a word that somehow makes more sense to me than it did earlier!

　Mei Fan said this with a huff, and thrust his right arm straight out again, just like before.

　He then turned his palm upwards and uttered an incantation as his face turned serious.

''Onoyo... oh, oh, ho?　What?　Oh, no, not exactly. Um.

'Flame,'

Oh, yeah, that's the one. Okay, I guess.

　That's when Mei Fan put her hands on her chest as if she was praying as she meditated on both eyes.

　But that was only for a moment, and she immediately opened her eyes and stretched her right arm straight forward.

'.........er, 'Honoyo'

　A small fire lights up in Mei Fan's palm like a pea grain.

　My pronunciation is much better, but I still have a strange intonation, like when I speak a foreign language.

　I'm still naive about my awareness of my own magical powers, too.

　Therefore, it's no surprise that the effect of magic is small.

　Still, success is still a success. Mei Fan was finally able to use magic.

　This fact would be a great stepping stone for Mei Fan to become stronger in the future.

''Huh?　Oh, did I do this...?

Yeah, that's right. It was Mei Fan.

Really?　Yay, I got it!　It's done, Mr. Gerald!

Dude, don't hug me now, I'm burning!

Oh, I'm sorry, I just got carried away and got carried away, you know?

　I'm trying to suppress it, but Mei Fan's tail is spinning all over the place, unable to hold back, so it's easy to guess its inner thoughts.

　

''With a little more practice, maybe you'll be able to use it better. From now on, you can practice that. I think it's good to do it as if you're pumping up the magic inside you and releasing it outward.

Pumping the magic out and releasing it...

　With a mysterious look on his face, Mei Fan repeats my words.

''Ah. In martial arts style, I guess you can understand if I say it's like concocting and striking a chi.

Yes.

Can you do it?

I don't know. My father taught me to do the same thing, but I've never been able to do it.

　Mei Fan says with an apologetic look on her face.

　But I know that Mei Fan will do this. I know that Mei Fan will do this kind of thing.

It'll be fine. If you continue with this training every day, you will get used to it. Then Mei Fan will be able to become many times stronger than ever before.

Really?

''Yeah. Maybe we'll be able to take out at least one of the demons.

　Mei Fan's cheeks relaxed in a huff as I said that.

''That's quite a funny joke,''

''That's right, Gerald. In general, demons don't work by slashing, hitting, or kicking, right?　The only person who could defeat such an opponent is Gerald....

　It's not really a joke, though.

　After all, the person who had defeated the last demon was probably Mei Fan's father.

　How could Mei Fan, who had been taught by such a person, not have his master's teachings etched into his bones?

　It's just, well, it's tactless to go out of your way to talk about such things. Even if a demon appears, I can probably defeat it, and Mei Fan can just grow up slowly.

　I don't need to get strong in a hurry. All I can do is give them a chance to grow stronger. It's up to Mei Fan to realize that.

''For now, I guess that's it for today's training.

　A pang and a clap of hands signaled the end of the practice.

''Oh, is that all you've got?''

That's right, Gerald. You haven't moved at all today!

''Moving is not the purpose of today's training, you know. Besides, the training so far wasn't suited to Mei Fan's original way of fighting... is it?

'What?　I mean, that's....

　Mei Fan is blatantly upset.

''Well, I'm not going to force you to find out what's going on in that area. That's all for today for now. And the homework - Mei Fan is to continue what you did today, every day. All right?

Yes!

Gerald Gerald. I am what?　I want to be able to use magic too!

Well, I'll see you soon. That's all for today. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one. I'm sure you'll be hungry after being on duty all day.

Yes!

Yeah, I'm starving, too.