Lilia's Tale: Freyja's Endeavor

Chapter 33: Conversion

I focused on the current task at hand before letting my mind wander. Once I would start thinking of the spell I had just devised, nothing would take me away from it.

I went into the bath and tried finding a comfortable position. Nothing seemed to work for a while, so I decided to be daring and submerged myself. It wasn't the nicest of position, but the feeling of being fully underwater made up for it. I closed my eyes, and imagined.

The spell had one single premise. A person's body would be enveloped in a layer of magic to create an illusion. Instead of light bouncing off of the person and showing them to us, it would bounce off the spell and show the spell instead. This idea was fairly simple to grasp.

However, there came multiple issues with it. First of all, the magic had to consistently show the same thing and not look weird. This meant it had to be very detailed, adapting to wrinkles and movement. This meant a simple veil wouldn't suffice, and made the spell extremely difficult to make into a high-quality illusion.

Second of all came the issue of size and placement. Since it would closely follow the person's movements, it had to be as close to them as possible. This had two results: clothes, and body contour. The spell could not transform a tall, muscular man into a cute little girl, nor the other way around.

There also came the question of clothes, regarding whether it had to be placed atop or below clothes. If it were to be placed atop, it means it had to have thickness to simulate the illusory clothes, which adds complexity to the spell. If it were to be below, it would make it like a second skin and makes things much more difficult when it comes to details.

Overall, regardless of what path and specificities I chose, the complexity would be very significant. I would have to decide exactly how it would work before even attempting to develop it, too, which added a time constraint to the theorising. I did not have much time, and I needed to make the best use of it I could.

I ended up thinking about the different kinds of ways to make this magic bear fruit across the night. Thoughts came from the earlier clothes or skin question, all the way to the possibility, or not, of creating larger simulated bodies. I also questioned for automatic injury simulation.

As my mind kept asking questions, I slowly heard my name getting called repeatedly. I eventually managed to get out of my mental bubble and listened carefully.

"Lilia..." Sayuri was calling out shyly.

I opened my eyes and looked up. I could not discern any shape through the water's surface. I figured she was next to the bathtub instead so I sat back up. She indeed was, fully clothed.

"Oh, Sayuri. Don't worry, I'm fine, I won't die from drowning."

"Right. You told me."

She seemed...odd. Something felt very off, including the fact she was here in the bathroom even though I was already occupying it.

"...Did something happen?"

"Ah. Uh...No. I just..."

She seemed too anxious to continue. I wasn't sure what to expect at that point, so I simply waited.

"I...I'm sorry," she finally muttered.

"Was that what you wanted to say?"

She seemed hurt by my comment. I thought of what I had said and realised I was a bit harsher than I should have been.

"Err, what I mean is that I feel like just saying sorry is very little. I don't really think you have much to be sorry about."

"But... What happened that night."