"Huo Lin."
Hayate looked worriedly at Huo Lin as she opened the door. Her face was rather pale, and she looked as though she had not rested in ages.
She had shut herself in her room for three whole days. If she had been a shut-in gamer, she would surely have been engrossed in some game.
But what Huo Lin was engrossed in was magic-real magic.
After truly stepping into the world of magic, she had discovered that magic was simply too fascinating! So much so that anime and games no longer interested her at all.
"But even so, you still need to take care of yourself and get some rest."
"By the way, what's the date today?"
"June 21."
Oh, I went to the hospital with Hayate on June 17. Since then, she had not left her room except to use the bathroom, and all three meals each day had consisted of convenience foods.
"That much time has passed already?" Huo Lin realized that she really had become too absorbed in it.
Her room was quite a mess, with sheets of paper everywhere covered in the various magic circles Huo Lin had tried out. There were also pages of calculations-magic was not that simple. Merely using a magical device to fight was one thing, but studying the essence of magic made it a science, and every science had its barriers to entry.
In her previous life, she had reached her second year of university. Naturally, she had studied advanced mathematics, including calculus; it had even been her major. Yet that knowledge was already proving insufficient for her research into magic. Studying magic required calculations involving solid analytic geometry, multivariable functions, dynamic rates of change, and accumulated quantities. Those were only the bare minimum of the fundamentals.
Without even mastering that much, there was no way to delve any deeper.
The boundaries of magic were continuous. Each fundamental particle was isolated, while functions were continuous, which could readily be modeled through discrete topology. Unfortunately, she had already forgotten everything her teachers had taught her about that.
Honestly, Huo Lin felt she had wasted all nine years since her reincarnation. She should have studied properly long ago.
But now that Hayate had reminded her, she knew she could not rush things. Magic was right here, after all, and she still had plenty of time.
Leaving her room and entering the living room, Huo Lin suddenly realized something.
"Hayate, you haven't been eating nothing but instant noodles these past few days, have you?"
"Ah... well..."
"That won't do. Instant noodles aren't nutritious enough!"
"But, Huo Lin, if you're going to say that, aren't the snacks you've been eating even less nutritious?"
Huo Lin really had no comeback to that. She began to reflect on her behavior. However wonderful the world of magic was, she should at least not have neglected Hayate.
"By the way, did you give the school your medical certificate?"
"Yes, I gave it to them yesterday. The teacher said I could go back to class next Monday."
Today was Saturday, so they still had a weekend to enjoy.
"That's good."
Hayate could return to school and get back to her everyday life. That was a good thing, of course. Yet, to Huo Lin's surprise, Hayate suddenly protested loudly.
"It's not good at all! What about you, Huo Lin? What are you going to do? The teacher asked me about you yesterday, and I said you'd worn yourself out taking care of me and gotten sick too. But you have to go to school eventually, don't you?"
Hayate could not possibly accept Huo Lin being unable to attend school because of her!
Huo Lin was a little surprised. It had been a long time since she had seen Hayate so worked up. In her memories, Hayate had always been quiet and gentle. Even when something had gone wrong with her own health, she had never been this agitated.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way."
"You're lying."
"I'm not. You know I've learned magic now. There are lots of things I can do."
"Really?" Hayate was somewhat persuaded, because Huo Lin really was a magical girl. She had seen the power of Huo Lin's magic, such as making cups and glass bowls hover in midair, or forming the water in the bathtub into a ball.
Actually, that did not count as magic. It was simply the power of raw magical energy.
But Huo Lin really was studying magic now, and she had begun to get an idea of how she could fool everyone's eyes and ears and attend school.
She just needed a little more time.
"Not just school. I've also figured out a way to make money."
Making money had always been a major headache for the two children.
They had been living off their parents' inheritance without replenishing it. The balance in their account had now dwindled to three million yen, which would hardly last them until adulthood.
It was not that they had nothing else of value. Their mother had left jewelry such as a gold necklace and a diamond ring, and their father had owned a Patek Philippe Calatrava watch. Those could all fetch a fair amount of money, but they were keepsakes left by their parents. Neither girl wanted to touch them unless they had no other choice.
"Really?"
"Yes, don't worry. I've found a way to get those detective novels I prepared published."
She had finished writing the Baron of the Night trilogy more than six months ago, and it had been sitting in a drawer ever since. Since Yusaku Kudo had conquered Japan's literary scene with it in her previous world, she believed earning enough royalties here to put food on the table should at least be no problem.
In the world of her previous life, detective novels had always been the darlings of the publishing industry, setting trends throughout Japan's entertainment world. Detective novelists such as Yusaku Kudo were considered leading literary figures.
In the world where Huo Lin now lived, detective novels did not enjoy quite such a dominant position, but they were far from being ignored. They were still a hot category in publishing.
That was the conclusion she had reached after deliberately checking the prominently recommended titles in bookstores over the past six months.
Quite a few of the books recommended in conspicuous spots were detective novels.
If the response was good, she also remembered Kudo's Stormbound Lodge, Suspect Zero, and The Locked Room Without a Victim. There were works by other detective novelists, too, such as Rentaro Shinna's Detective Samonji. Although her memories of those books were less clear than her memories of the trilogy, she should have no trouble writing them down with a little polishing of her own.
What mattered in detective fiction was the plot. As long as the logic came across clearly, it was a success. Passable prose was enough; the style did not matter all that much.
Overly fussy wording only made for an uncomfortable read.
"In that case, let's go see a movie tomorrow to celebrate!"
"A movie? Why?"
"Huo Lin, you can't stay in your room all day. It's bad for your health. Besides, I've wanted to see Alice's Candy House for ages. Let's go together, okay?"
"I really can't say no to you."
Although the Kansai dialect was always used for comic effect in TV dramas and talk shows, when Hayate spoke it, it always sounded warm and gentle.
So whenever Hayate asked "okay?" in that soft voice, Huo Lin could never refuse.
She, of all people, could not refuse Hayate. Because apart from her, Hayate had no one else she could turn to for affection and support.
Even though she had little interest in watching a movie;
Even though she was on the verge of figuring out the magic she needed to improve their current predicament, with only one final hurdle left;
Even though...
Oh, forget it. I'll go with her and call it a day off.
They were family, after all.
"No more instant noodles today. I'll make dinner. Let's keep it simple with some tamagoyaki. There's still chicken in the fridge, so I'll make some yakitori too."
With the Book of the Night Sky tucked under her arm, Huo Lin stepped out of her room and closed her bedroom door.
Before you continue