“Actually, if you don’t want to be my assistant, you can just say so.”
Helos stared at the meat feast before her, fighting the urge to drool. “No need to poison the food… right?”
“Who said anything about poison! What are you thinking?”
Julius tilted his head. “You don’t have an ounce of meat on you. A balanced diet with meat is healthier!”
“I know you mean well, but…”
Helos sighed and raised her hands helplessly. “I actually can’t eat meat.”
“Huh?”
“Not that I can’t eat it at all…”
She hurriedly waved her hand. Seeing the sudden gloom in his eyes made her chest tighten unexpectedly.
She picked up a golden slice of toasted bread, then shoved the biggest rib into the boy’s mouth.
“Same difference.”
“It’s just that the magic contained in meat—I can’t absorb it.”
Her voice softened, like sharing a trivial secret. “Every time I eat it, my whole body aches like I’ve been run over by a wagon.”
Julius chewed on the glistening rib, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster. “Why can’t you absorb it?”
Helos propped her chin on her hand, watching the boy’s adorable expression and couldn’t help but laugh.
She reached out and poked his chubby cheek.
“Because I don’t have any magic inside me. I’m a complete Magicless.”
Julius’ chewing suddenly froze. His eyes went wide as if he’d seen a ghost.
He hastily swallowed the meat and almost choked, pounding his chest and coughing hard before he caught his breath. “Oh… um?”
“So when you said before that you don’t like using magic, it’s actually because you can’t use it at all, isn’t it?”
“Hey!”
Helos’ face flushed red instantly. She grabbed the pillow beside her and pretended to throw it. “If you can see through me, don’t say it out loud, got it!”
Julius quickly jumped back but accidentally knocked over the toolbox behind him.
Tools clattered everywhere. He scrambled to pick them up, muttering, “I didn’t say anything wrong…”
“You’re still saying stuff!”
Helos angrily picked up a small part and threw it at him. “Some things are better left unsaid! You don’t have to be so rude about it!”
The boy tilted his head to dodge the flying piece, then saw the girl already turning her back, puffing her cheeks in anger.
He scratched his head and suddenly found this version of Helos more endearing than her usual pretentious mature act.
“Alright, alright,” Julius suppressed a laugh and handed her the last piece of bread. “I was wrong, okay?”
Helos glanced at him sideways, snatched the bread, and took a big, fierce bite.
“Hmph! Now you have to spend your time as my assistant making it up to me!”
Julius couldn’t help but smile at her expression and casually set the lunchbox aside.
***
Morning light filtered through the workshop’s glass windows, casting streaks of light and shadow over the girl’s pouty cheeks.
Clearing his throat, he tried to put on a serious face.
“Speaking of assistant… what experiment are we doing today?”
“Changing the subject, huh? Fine, you win.”
Helos pouted, quickly stuffing the rest of the bread into her mouth.
She brushed crumbs off her hands and turned toward the workbench.
“It’s not really a big project…”
She pushed aside the clutter on the workbench to reveal a tattered blueprint. “I just want to try reconstructing some Magic Circuits.”
Julius leaned in. The blueprint was filled with intricate geometric shapes and unfamiliar text, with messy notes scribbled all along the edges.
He blinked in confusion. “But you don’t have magic, right?”
“Stop right there!”
Helos cut him off without looking up, fingers lightly tracing the paper. “That’s what you’re for!”
She suddenly spun around and jabbed a finger squarely into Julius’ chest. “You’ll be my ‘Mana Source’ to test whether these circuits work!”
“Help me test them.”
She suddenly bounced back two steps, her silver hair sparkling in the morning light.
“Of course, I’ll stand at a safe distance while testing~”
Julius narrowed his eyes suspiciously, glancing back and forth between the girl’s overly bright smile and the dubious blueprint.
“…There won’t be any danger, right?”
Helos’ smile stiffened.
She lowered her head, her toes absentmindedly scraping scratches in the workshop floor.
The only sound left was the chirping of birds outside the window.
“Mm.”
Julius couldn’t help but wave his hand in front of her eyes.
Helos’ voice dropped to a whisper, her fingers intertwined. “There shouldn’t be any danger.”
The boy crouched down, looking up at her bowed face. “Why did you suddenly pause halfway through saying that? Sounds suspicious.”
Helos bit her lip, silver lashes fluttering slightly.
“Alright, I admit it—there is a risk of failure.”
She suddenly raised her head, eyes shining stubbornly. “But it’s fine! After all, failure is the mother of success!”
“The problem is—”
Julius pointed at his own nose, his voice sharpening a little. “If it fails, the first to suffer will be me!”
“Don’t worry~”
Helos pushed him aside without hesitation and stood in front of the workbench. “This is my improved design! It’ll definitely work!”
With that, she turned and dragged out a dented, blackened iron pot lid from the corner.
“At worst, you can use this to shield yourself.”
Julius stared at the battle-scarred lid, twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“…Is it still possible to back out now?”
“Not a chance!”
Helos slapped the pot lid onto his head. “Contract signed, no returns!”
Julius took a deep breath, his trembling fingers gently pressing the center of the Magic Circuit.
As magic flowed into him, the lines on the circuit began to glow a faint blue, spreading like a spiderweb across the metal surface.
“Y-Yeah! Just like that!”
Helos watched excitedly from eight yards away. “Keep that output steady!”
Suddenly, the center of the Magic Circuit emitted a screeching noise, and cracks spread like lightning across the metal block.
Before Julius could react, the circuit exploded with a blinding white light.
“Duck!!!”
Helos’ voice was drowned out by the deafening blast.
Julius instinctively raised the pot lid and curled into a ball.
The lid clanged loudly under the shockwave, numbing his palm.
“Helos! You call this an improved version?!”
Julius shouted behind the lid, “You promised it would work!”
“An accident! Purely an accident!”
Helos’ voice came from behind a fallen empty rack.
She crawled out looking dusty and scratched her head in confusion.
“…Why is it that whenever I deal with anything magic-related, it always ends up exploding?”