Konbini Ossan Volume 4 Chapter 15 — The Newhalf Magic
No matter how I looked at her, or rather, him — the person with Matsuriya Yuuki’s voice was unmistakably a woman.
She walked toward us as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“You’re late, Matsuriya-kun. Was your makeup that messed up?”
“Yeah. I had to redo the base, so it took a while.”
“Heh. Funny, isn’t it? Even after coming to another world, the only man who still takes the time to do his makeup is you, Matsuriya-kun.”
The mysterious person and the saint, Mimori, spoke casually, as though they were used to it; as though Matsuriya and that person were one and the same.
“Um, Kanehama-kun.”
“Yes?”
“Is that… a woman, or rather, a man? Either way, who exactly is that?”
“Oh, Otsugi-san didn’t know? That’s Yuuki. Matsuriya Yuuki. Apparently, he had some goal in mind, so he kept refining a transformation spell until he made something he calls ‘Newhalf Magic’. Ever since then, he’s been living in that form.”
It was a shocking revelation. Newhalf Magic — I never imagined such a spell could exist.
No — it hadn’t existed. Matsuriya had invented it himself.
Why go so far as to create an entirely new spell just to look like a woman? I almost asked, but quickly stopped myself.
Because I already had a feeling what the reason was.
“Oh? Otsugi-san, you’re here too! Had I known, I’d have put more effort into my makeup.”
“I-I see.”
“It might be hard to tell in this form, but it’s me. Matsuriya. Look, if you focus around the eyes, you can still see traces of the old me, right?”
I tried looking closely, but couldn’t tell at first glance. Even comparing with my «Perfect Record» skill, I could barely recognize him.
No matter how you looked, that was a woman’s face. There was a natural femininity that went far beyond just a man in makeup.
“With this, you’ll finally keep that promise, won’t you?”
“Promise?”
“Don’t play dumb. You said you’d agree if I became more womanly, didn’t you, Otsugi-san?”
Hearing him say that, it all became clear.
So that’s what he wanted to do— he’d transformed himself through magic for this. For, that night we once talked about, when he confessed his feelings to me.
Back then, I told him I couldn’t do it with another man.
So he’d flipped the idea around. If being a man was the problem, he’d simply stop being one.
He’d gone as far as developing his own “Newhalf Magic” just for that.
“You’ll keep your promise now, right?”
Matsuriya’s face leaned close — too close. Before I realized it, he was sitting right beside me. I couldn’t escape.
Though, come to think of it, I never really promised anything. Still, I had said I could do it if the other party were more feminine.
“W-Why don’t we talk about that later? This isn’t really the right time or place.”
“Fair enough. My apologies.”
For now, I deflected and moved the topic aside.
I needed time to think. Could I actually go through with it, with Matsuriya?
(E/N: You still want to go through?! Hell naw, dawg!)
His voice was entirely male, but his body — more feminine than Shuri’s, even. If he were naked, maybe… it wouldn’t be impossible.
But that voice.
The moment things got serious, I might lose all will.
If that happened, all his effort would have been for nothing — it would hurt him deeply.
Better to avoid that than risk wounding him further.
“So, what were we talking about again?”
“We’d just finished introducing everyone to Otsugi-san,” Kanehama said. “Even mentioned Naitou.”
“I see. That makes things easier.”
Matsuriya nodded and smoothly took over the conversation from Kanehama.
“Now, the main reason we’re here today is to discuss what comes next. Having Otsugi-san with us is actually quite convenient.”
“What do you mean, ‘what comes next’? Are we doing something big?” Toudou asked.
Matsuriya shook his head.
“No, we won’t be making any major moves. It’d be dangerous to provoke either Naitou’s group or the royal palace.
…
Before anything else, we need a foundation — something to support our activities.”
“The palace, huh? You’re always saying to watch out for them, but are they really that bad? They’ve treated us well so far.
…
Sure, they send us to fight in wars, but the enemies are all pushovers anyway,” Toudou muttered.
“You idiot,” Matsuriya sighed, sounding exasperated.
“I’ve told you before — just because things are good now doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way.
…
Several of our classmates have already sided with the palace.”
“Yeah, but that’s because being under a noble’s care comes with perks, right?”
“And in return, they’ll grant even unreasonable requests. Aligning with a nation’s faction means eventually being used up.”
“You think this country would go that far? They seem reasonable enough. They wouldn’t want to turn us into enemies.”
“That’s exactly why they’re keeping us isolated. By scattering us among individual nobles, they prevent us from forming a united front.
…
It’s all groundwork to wear us down when the time comes.”
“Hmph. I still think you’re overthinking it.”
Though unconvinced, Toudou dropped the subject. Talking about it any further wouldn’t get them anywhere — it all came down to whether one chose to trust or not.
“In any case, we need to stand together and prepare for the threat of Naitou’s group. I reached out to all our classmates, but only these few gathered.
…
I also tried looking for potential allies within the palace, but the results were poor.”
“Well, yeah, if you keep treating everyone like an enemy…”
“Youta,” Kanehama warned quietly.
Toudou frowned but fell silent. Clearly, this group wasn’t united either. More like a loose coalition of those wary of Naitou’s movements.
That must be why Matsuriya acted first. Without some form of leadership, they’d never hold together.
“So next, we’ll have to look outward — to forces beyond the palace. Originally, we were going to discuss which groups to approach and how, but as luck would have it, Otsugi-san is here today.”
At that, everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
“What do you say, Otsugi-san? Could you tell us what you plan to do from here on? Depending on your answer, we may be able to help.”
I see. So that’s where this is going. Very well — I’ll tell them. About what I’ve been up to lately.
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E/N:
This Toudou is really irritating. Maybe Ossan is rubbing off of me but I'm starting to hate pure muscleheads! Hope he gets a lesson early instead of regretting later! Stay tuned!
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Check out my other modern fantasy translation - Soul Devourer of Infinite Growth
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