After becoming friends with Luni, she returns to her room to take a rest. I guess she must be tired, so I shouldn't bother her any longer. I should return to my room as well.
"Welcome back, Mina."
"Ah, Mimin... I'm back!"
As I open the door, Mimin greets me with a warm smile, and I sit next to her on the bed. It's probably too late, but I just realized... Maybe I should've invited her to try out the hot bath with me. I... kind of... ended up forgetting about her and went ahead myself.
"You seem to be in a good mood, Mina. Did something good happen?"
"Ah, well..."
Is it really that obvious, that I'm in a good mood?
"Um... I guess I'll start from the beginning..."
----------
"In the end, I managed to become friends with Luni!"
"That's great! I'm happy for you, that you managed to sort things out with her."
Before I noticed, I ended up talking to Mimin about everything that happened today. How many herbs I managed to find, how Maria dealt with the large group of Jellies, how I became friends with Luni, and so on.
"What about you, Mimin? I was worried that something might happen to you while I was away..."
"Ah, I'm fine, too! You don't have to worry..."
...Eh? She's acting kind of weird, for some reason. She didn't even finish her last sentence. But, before I could ask her about it, she changes the topic.
"It sounds like everything is going well for you today."
"Well... Not really..."
"Hm?"
"I just... I wish I wasn't so helpless..."
"Eh?"
Suddenly, I find myself thinking back to the scene, where Luni protected me from a Jelly, and how I wasn't able to do anything myself. No, snap out of it, Mina! It's fine now! Don't think about the sad things anymore!
When I look at Mimin, she stares back at me, and tilts her head slightly, confused about what I'm saying.
"Ah, it's nothing! I just... I wish I could use magic..."
"...Eh?"
Why does she look even more confused now? It's only natural that I can't use magic, since I'm a cat beastkin...
"Ah! Mimin! W-What are you doing, hugging me and head patting me so suddenly..."
"To cheer you up, of course!"
"Ah... Geez, I'm fine now! Stop!"
After a bit more head patting, I manage to move myself away, out of her hugs. The headpats do feel kind of nice, but... I can't admit that I like getting headpats. It's embarrassing...
----------
"Um, Mina... You said that you want to be able to use magic, right?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I... I think I might be able to help you with that. It's possible..."
"Eh!?"
But that's... That's not possible, right? I'm just a cat beastkin, and cat beastkin don't have any magic, right? I've tried it before, and even Maria tried to help me, but nothing worked. I don't have magic within me, so I can't use any magic. It's as simple as that... Right?
"Mimin, I appreciate that you're trying to encourage me, but... You know that all types of cat beastkin don't have any magic, right?"
"...Eh? Who told you that?"
"Um... Am I mistaken?"
"Wait, hold on..."
Is she serious? If I can actually use magic, then... Wait, I shouldn't get my hopes up. If nothing worked before, then why will anything work now? What can Mimin do, that Maria can't? Somehow, I want to believe it, but there's just no way...
But, she looks so serious about this, it makes me not want to doubt her now. So, I remain silent. After thinking for a few minutes, she starts asking me questions.
"I think there's a few things we're forgetting, Mina. Didn't you say that you were human, to begin with? You only turned into a cat beastkin afterwards, right? Doesn't that mean you actually have magic?"
"About that... Maria said that it still affected me, somehow, and made me unable to use magic."
"Did you try to measure your magic capacity?"
"Maria has a magic stone, which I used before, but nothing happened."
"Hm... Well, that doesn't matter! Because, anyone can use magic, no matter who they are!"
"Eh!? No way..."
"A person's magic is a part of them! Saying that you don't have any magic in you, is like saying that you're missing a part of you."
Ah... Are you serious? I can actually use magic? But, how?
"You don't seem convinced... Hm... Well, you know how when people use up all their magic, they become tired and can't move their body? That's proof that everyone has at least a little bit of magic in them! Otherwise, you know..."
"Is that... Is that how it works? That makes sense, but... So, what you're saying is, I do have magic inside me?"
This is great! I mean... I can't believe it, but... That still doesn't explain why my magic capacity can't be measured by Maria's magic stone!
"By the way, you said that nothing happened when you tried to use Maria's magic stone to measure your magic capacity, right?"
"Ah, yes. She has a silver magic stone..."
Wait, I shouldn't have said that! Silver magic stones are extremely valuable, so... Well, it's just Mimin, so maybe it's fine to tell her that.
"Yeah... Well, actually, I can help you with that, if you want."
"Eh? With what?"
"Measuring your magic capacity. I just need you to let me hold your hands."
I don't know what she's saying, or trying to do, at all. I still trust her, though. If she really can help me, then...
I reach out both of my hands, and she holds them gently. With our palms touching, and fingers interlocked, she closes her eyes to focus. Her hair swaying gently in the air as her hands start getting colder and colder.
Ah, it's cold! Suddenly, I feel a really cold sensation, like cold wind, passing through my arms, and spreading to my entire body. Is this... Is this her magic? It's so cold... Just how dense is her magic, for it to be this cold? Even Maria's magic can't compare to this...
I have to... do my best to ignore it... That aside, all she's doing is passing her magic through my body. How is this supposed to measure my magic capacity?
"...I'm done now."
Ah, that was fast. The cold sensation disappears from my body, then my arms, and return to Mimin's hands. I'm starting to feel warm again. Thank goodness...
"So, how was it, Mimin? Did it work?"
"57. That's how much you have."
...Eh? That's... That's extremely low. No wonder I couldn't use any magic. I can't even feel anything cold, when I try to use magic. A normal person of my age, has around 1,000 magic capacity, so...
"How... How are you so sure about this, Mimin?"
From how serious her expression is, it seems like she's not joking at all.
"Ah... Let's just say... I have a lot of experience... with magic..."
Eh? Her voice is getting softer as she said that. Did I say something that I shouldn't have? Why does she look so depressed all of a sudden?
"Anyway, Mina! Now that we know your magic capacity, I can help you to increase that too."
"How... How do you do that?"
"Normally, you can increase your magic capacity by constantly using up your magic. But, since you don't even have enough to be able to use magic, that's kind of an issue."
Suddenly, she returns to her usual mood. I don't understand what's going on at all, now. I'll just go with whatever she says.
"It's a little dangerous, and I've only experienced this once before, but... I could force some of my magic into your body, so your magic capacity is forced to increase, in order to accept it."
"That sounds... really bad, if it goes wrong... I'll trust you, Mimin!"
"...Are you sure? Then... Once again, I just need to hold your hands. Ah, I'll try to hold back this time so it's not as cold."
So it's just the same thing? While holding hands like earlier, I feel her magic enter my hands again, but this time it's way less cold. It's much easier to deal with this time.
But, this time, Mimin let go of my hands earlier, and the cold sensation stays in my body instead. Ah... My head hurts, for some reason. My vision is getting blurry, and my fingers start hurting a little bit.
"Mina! Are you okay? Even though I held back... Did I force too much magic?"
"I'm okay... I think I just need some rest..."
With some help, I manage to lie down on the bed, and I close my eyes. I still feel cold, and my fingers still hurt, but it's not so bad. Maybe I'll be fine after a while.
----------
It didn't take long, before I've already fully recovered from the headache. It only takes around 15 minutes, I think.
"Are you sure you're feeling better already?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Let's continue."
I reach out my hands, so Mimin can continue doing what she needs to. But, for some reason, she's hesitating.
"What's wrong?"
"...I can't do this. I'm sorry, Mina, but... If I mess up, then you..."
Ah... I see, she's worried about me, after all. But, if there's anything that can help me to use magic, then...
"Mimin, if you keep doing what you did just now, then everything will be fine. Right?"
"Yeah, but...!"
"Please... Help me with my selfish request, will you? I want to be able to use magic, so... If I have to feel some pain, then it's fine. It's not like I'm actually in any danger, right?"
I show Mimin my determination, and hopefully she gets what I'm saying. I don't blame her for anything that happens to me, since I accepted her offer to help.
"Fine... I'll be even more careful from now, too. Just make sure to say anything if you start feeling pain..."
After some more hesitation, Mimin holds my hand again. She holds back even more this time, taking it very slowly.
----------
It's almost time for dinner, isn't it? I didn't even notice, that the sun is already setting. Until a while ago, the process of her forcing magic into me, and me taking a short break from feeling pain, has been repeating for many times.
Mimin refuses to continue for any longer, saying that she's not sure if it's still safe for me to continue. Since I couldn't convince her, I've just been lying down on the bed for the past hour or so.
It's probably just my imagination, but I can feel something gathering inside me. Although it's extremely weak, it's a feeling of cold air, similar to Mimin's magic, circulating around in my body.
So, does this mean it works? Has my magic capacity increased at all, during the past few hours? Maybe I'll ask Maria if I can use her magic stone later, after dinner.
"Ah, here you go, Mina. I think you may want to use this."
Mimin passes me a shiny gem, that she's holding in her hand. A shiny gem that looks really similar to...
"This... Is this a silver magic stone!? How do you-mmph!"
"Shh! Not so loud...!"
Ah, I need to keep my voice down. I was surprised that she has a silver magic stone, that I ended up shouting. I hope nobody else heard me say anything.
"I'm sorry... How do you have a silver magic stone as well?"
"That doesn't matter. Just don't tell anyone that I have this. Anyway, don't you want to measure your magic capacity? I can help you, but I'm sure you want to see the result for yourself, right?"
"...Yeah."
I guess I don't have to wait until after dinner. Let's see if I can get this to work. I just need to... pass my magic through the magic stone, right? Focus... Feel the cold air inside me, and pass it through the magic stone...
The magic stone starts to shine with a bright light, forming a bunch of numbers on it. I open my eyes to look at it.
"It... It works! I can control my magic now! Thank you so much, Mimin! I can never repay you for how much you helped me!"
This is amazing! So this is what it's like, to be able to use magic! I'm... I feel excited, all of a sudden. Words can't describe how good I feel now, and... I start hugging Mimin, unable to contain my joy.
"Calm down, Mina... I didn't do anything special. Anyone could've helped you with this."
"No, this is special! This is really important to me, so... Thank you so much! Really, thank you!"
Mimin, who still seems confused about my reaction, simply smiles at me after I repeatedly thank her for her help. I look at the numbers on the magic stone again.
612. That's how much magic I have now! It's still a small number, but I wasn't thinking about that. I can finally use magic now!