Book 14 Chapter 30
39th Chapter
One evening, after finishing my reading as usual, my heart swelled with anticipation at the thought of indulging in a delicious chocolate cake.
Just as I was about to stab the cake with my fork, it suddenly scurried away from me.
My second attempt was the same; the fork hit the table. The cake didn't have feet. Gorilla 2 had capriciously pulled the plate away.
“Sir, do you want to die?”
“PM is my magic teacher, isn't he?”
“Huh?”
“Then you can also supervise magic duels, right?”
“Why?”
“Because PM is my magic teacher.”
“Hm?”
“PM is a magic teacher hired by me, isn't he?”
“Why?”
“?”
“?”
“???”
“?????”
The back-and-forth continued for ten times, with forks being plunged and plates being pulled away, as the conversation completely failed to connect.
“How about you supervise a magic duel and receive one more cake?”
Cecile Duren proposed.
“That might not be bad?”
I ended up heading to the mansion's training ground on the condition of receiving one more cake.
The training ground was unbelievably vast.
It also offered an unbelievably clear glimpse into the class system. To exaggerate a little, it seemed as wide as the courtyard of our magic tower.
- Overkill, Rin, overkill!
Winter Wind Ricky, who used to laugh brightly and run over while feeding chicks… I had to subtly lower my straw hat to hide the smile that had bloomed on its own.
“Shall we warm up first?”
First, I took off my shoes on the training ground floor, sat down, and assumed the lotus position.
Magic meditation is good for the health of the core when done before using magic. It's also very good for organizing thoughts, so I repeat this routine every morning when I wake up.
Gorilla 2, who had changed into training clothes, sat beside me and likewise assumed the lotus position. His eagerness to improve is as great as Giselle's. He's just stupid.
“PM, how should I combine beast magic with swordsmanship?”
“Honestly, I'm not sure if it will work well.”
No, if it's the practical magic I'm currently passionately researching, it might be possible.
If it's magic that activates a spell with a trigger like a finger point after deploying a domain in advance…
I picked up a wooden sword placed on the rack. Of course, it was too heavy, so I immediately gave up. The bamboo sword was at least manageable.
“First, form the hand signs… Thunder (雷) • Field (場).”
Gorilla 2 stood before me, holding the wooden sword. I pointed the bamboo sword at him and then his wooden sword with my left hand.
“Ah!”
A lightning bolt shot out and directly hit the wooden sword, causing Gorilla 2 to let out a short groan and drop his sword.
“It would roughly work if used like this.”
Then Gorilla 2's eyes gleamed.
“Wow, what was that? How did you do that just now?”
“Shall I tell you?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Three cakes.”
“I’ll give you four!”
“Good.”
Not all runes are equal.
The fundamental runes, namely 'Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Thunder, Poison, Ice, Iron,' exert the greatest power, but imbuing these runes requires advanced mathematical equations.
Does that mean there's no answer? Not quite. You can use 擂 instead of 雷. The power is significantly halved, but what can you do?
In the Osarius style of hand signs, it seems the lower the rank of the rune, the more hand signs you have to form.
Of course, if you can solve the calculation part mentally, like me, one hand sign per rune is enough (Osarius wrote this down as mathematical equation abbreviation).
I expected him to look dejected, but Gorilla 2 enthusiastically learned these hand signs.
It's a secret that it reminded me of Giselle when she earned her Bandoran (1-star) rank in the past.
As we did so, we became quite close, and Gorilla 2's name was Gid.
He was the same age as me, and his father, the lord, had given him discretionary power to choose his own teacher.
Gid said he had a swordsmanship instructor who was skilled and kind, but he confessed that he couldn't keep up with the lessons.
“In contrast, PM’s lessons are great! I can understand them right away. You know, my father is incredibly busy these days. Remember that meteor shower from back then? I think it’s because of that, but my father’s birthday is coming up soon. Even if he’s busy, we always have a meal together then, and I'm going to show him the magic PM taught me!”
I wondered if it was really something to be so excited about, but then I remembered being like this when I wanted to show my newly completed magic to the Headmaster, and a soft chuckle escaped me.
“Are you laughing? Just you wait, PM! I’ll definitely master it and show you.”
That day, when I took the cakes and returned to the inn, Rista was sitting at the counter drinking milk. Her clothes were perfectly mended.
It was our reunion after four days.
Rista asked about what had happened, and since there was no need to hide anything, I told her about the events.
“You became friends with Gid?”
“Friends, what friends? It should be called a relationship of employment and exploitation.”
I took out the cakes, the tearful proof of that exploitation, from my pouch and showed them to Rista.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no! To think you two became friends and are even eating cake together, just imagining it warms my heart.”
“You know Gid?”
I asked, genuinely not knowing.
How would she know?
“Why wouldn't I know?”
Rista chuckled as if to say, "What kind of question is that?" but the quality of her laugh changed to a bitter one.
“No, I don't. I shouldn't know anymore. Sorry, I keep making mistakes. So, how is that young master?”
“He was pitiful.”
Because he was so bad at magic.
“Really? I guess so. He has nothing to rely on…”
Rista said that with sad eyes, stroking Sval who was eating my cake without permission. Rista sighed, "Hoo," and then her expression became serious.
“Rin, it seems it will take quite some time to find delicious apples. I’ll have to stay in the city a little longer.”
Rista is serious about apples.
Just as I am serious about [The Strongest].
One should not disregard someone's earnestness. Therefore, I also nodded with a very serious look in my eyes.
“That’s a very important matter. Don't worry. I still have a few books left to read.”
“Alright, then you be careful too, Rin.”