episode_0006

From that day on, Arthur went out when it was time, ate the minimum amount of food, and went back to his room. Alice came to visit him once in a while, but it was just a one-sided conversation. It didn’t last long.

‘If things continue like this, something really big might happen.’

Contrary to expectations that time would heal, Hilda had to come up with a plan for Arthur’s condition, which did not improve at all.

‘Hmm… isn’t there a better way..?’

Luckily, Hilda quickly came up with a good idea.

The reason Arthur is acting like that now is because he has not received the blessing related to mana. Using magic was Arthur’s dream.

In other words, it was an issue that could be easily resolved by creating new hope. A hope that did not deviate too much from the existing framework.

And the new hope that Hilda can create is by revealing the existence of the ‘Magic Tower’.

Even if he couldn’t use magic himself, it was the only way to see magic being used right before his eyes. In fact, Arthur often said that he would be happy just to see magic, so he thought it wasn’t a bad idea.

Of course, Matap was not a place that an ordinary country boy could enter by studying hard, but Hilda believed in Arthur’s talent.

If you ask for the basis, Arthur usually liked reading books related to magic, so there were many cases where the city bought books for him. I have seen him read books and quickly make them his own. Considering that he had no teacher to advise him on magic, it was an incredible genius.

The only thing that bothers me is that theoreticians are treated less well than magicians. But that’s only when they’re on the same level. With Arthur’s talent, he’ll be able to write a paper that’s at least 7th circle level.

Arthur doesn’t need to be so frustrated because he can secure a professorship at the Academy even if he only reaches the 6th Circle.

Hilda, now confident in her plan, went straight to see Arthur.

dripping.

“Arthur? I have something to say, so come out.”

“…”

Arthur, who came out upon hearing the voice, opened the door slightly and stuck his head out without saying anything.

Hilda looked at Arthur’s very thin face and spoke carefully.

“Arthur, as you know, I haven’t been feeling well lately. I can’t go to the city often. So, even though I want to buy you a lot of magic books, it hasn’t been easy lately…”

“..So?”

“You know, the village chief often goes to the city to sell things, right? I asked if you could come with him, and he said that since you’re 10 years old, it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t mind.

If you want, I can help you a little bit with the village chief and selling things in the city, and you can spend the rest of the time however you want. You can go to the city library and read any books you want, and if there are any books or tools you need, I’ll give you enough money to buy them. ”

“But…then wouldn’t it cost too much money..?”

“Hehehe, don’t worry about that. You don’t have to worry about it because you saved up a lot when you retired as an adventurer. And later, if you study hard and graduate from the academy with excellent grades, you can enter the Magic Tower as a theorist. Then you’ll be able to see the magic you like every day.”

“Really? When is the village chief leaving..?”

Arthur had a blank expression on his face, but Hilda could tell from the anticipation in Arthur’s tone that her plan had been successful.

“You said you were going tomorrow. Then I’ll tell the village chief, so go to his house tomorrow morning.”

After hearing that, Arthur suddenly hugged Hilda.

“Thank you, Hilia!! Hehe.”

“Arthur, now eat a lot and play outside a bit. Oh, what’s wrong with my body… If you do that too much, my heart will hurt even more? ”

“Yes! Now I’ll eat well and exercise. Then I’ll tell Alice that I’m going to the city tomorrow!”

Arthur seemed more cheerful than ever, perhaps aware of Hilda’s worries, and went to Millia’s house.

“… I’m glad Arthur’s mood has improved..”

Hilda, left alone, thought about the blessing that had caused things to turn out this way.

A blessing that anyone can receive. To put it in extreme terms, even criminals who kill innocent people have a blessing. But why wouldn’t a child who is innocent and lives harder than others receive a blessing? At this point, I wondered if even the goddess hated Arthur.

“Or is it because of the curse that I can’t even receive blessings..?”

..Anyway, what’s important is not the blessing that has already passed, but that Arthur has a new purpose to live for. Since his talent seems sufficient, the only two things left for me to do are to provide financial support and keep him safe from danger.

“Well… I guess it’s okay since I piled up a lot of money when I raided the Demon King’s treasure trove.”

* * *

The next morning.

The village chief packed the items to be sold in the city into a carriage, placed Arthur on the coachman’s bench, and set off.

Arthur talked to the village chief next to him about his dreams and the things he wanted to buy when he went to the city. Time passed by in an instant thanks to the happiness he felt after a long time, and the carriage arrived at ‘Padun’ before he knew it.

“Arthur. Today, help me with the business for about 3 hours, and spend the rest of the time freely. And I’m going to sleep in one day and leave, so come to the inn by dinner at the latest.”

“Yes, Chief!”

Arthur worked hard to help the village chief sell local specialties such as fruits and vegetables.

Rumors spread that a cute boy was doing the hawking, and within three hours the village chief was able to sell all the items he had brought. This was the first time this had happened to him, and he was in a very good mood.

“Arthur, thanks to you, business is going very well.”

“Then I’ll go to the Taoist temple!!”

“Hehe, okay, go ahead. Don’t forget to come back to the inn before dinner.”

“Yes!”

Arthur waved to the village chief and headed towards the library in the center of the city.

Arriving at the library, Arthur cautiously headed inside. Upon entering, he saw numerous bookshelves and books. And next to the entrance, he saw a person who appeared to be a librarian sitting.

“Excuse me..?”

“Hmm…? What’s the little gentleman doing here?”

“I came here to look at books. Can I look at all the books here?”

“It is the policy of the Empire that learning is open to all. As long as you don’t damage or steal the books, you can read them all, right?”

“Yes! Thank you.”

Arthur bowed his head in greeting and quickly walked towards the place where the grimoire was.

“Kid? You’re over there… … Oh, you’re already gone.”

That’s where the grimoires used as textbooks by the Academy professors are kept. So it was obvious that even if those kids read them, there wouldn’t be anything they could understand.

‘I guess I’ll read something for a while, then decide it’s not interesting and quickly move on to something else.’

But contrary to the librarian’s expectations, Arthur did not come out until the appointed time with the village chief.

* * *

While Arthur was away in the city, in the village, Alice was being trained by Hilda.

“Still don’t know what a blessing this is?”

“I have no idea.. I can’t even feel it.”

“No, usually it just feels like a bang!?”

Since it was natural that if you received a blessing, you would learn how to use it naturally without anyone having to tell you, Hilda felt a little strange seeing Alice who had no clue.

“Come to think of it, sometimes I hear a sound in my head!”

Another case came to mind as Iris continued to speak. I had heard that in rare cases, one can receive something like an oracle in the process of recognizing a blessing.

If Alice also thought that was the case, it wasn’t that strange.

“What do you hear?”

“What are you saying… I can still hear it, so I’ll concentrate!”

Alice closed her eyes, covered her ears with both hands, and let out a huff as she concentrated.

“Oh! Got it! The word ‘status window’…huh?”

At the same time, a blue window appeared before Alice’s eyes. And Hilda was shocked when she heard Alice’s words.

“You..!! Do you see something in front of your eyes?”

“Yes..? Can’t you see this, Master?”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s only visible to your eyes. Could you read what it says?”

Hilda, recalling the status window the warrior had, asked Alice to confirm whether she had really gained the same ability, and Alice also began to read the blue window that appeared before her without thinking.

─────────

Name: Alice

[Ability]

Stamina-19

Strength-21

Agility-20

Horsepower-17

[blessing]

– Guardian Knight who handles lightning (S-)

[Skill]

-Soul Bond (S+)

-Brainstorm Magic (S)

-Status Window (S-)

─────────

Although this was something she had never seen before, strangely enough, it wasn’t hard for her to figure out what it meant. The moment she read the blessings and skills, she naturally came to understand the content to some extent.

Phagec…!

A small blast of electricity emerged from Alice’s hand.

“Master. I read it and it says my ability, blessings, and skills. Do you know what these mean?”

“… That’s really amazing. It seems like it’s the same ability as someone I knew. First of all, you can think of ability values as a numerical value that represents your strength. ”

Alice realized that what she had vaguely understood was almost identical to what Hilda had told her, so she immediately continued asking questions.

“Do you know what a skill is?”

“Skill… It’s something very special. As far as I know, it can’t be obtained through normal means, and it’s a power called authority. It’s either innate or derived from a blessing. In other words, it’s a power that can’t be learned from others. ”

As she listened to Hilda’s explanation, Alice instinctively pressed her own blessing. She felt like she had to press it to get more detailed information.

─────────

[Guardian Knight Who Handles Brain Power (S-)]

-You can designate a target for protection through soul bonding. (Only one can be designated, cannot be changed)

– Gain the magical power of lightning.

─────────

Then I pressed the soul bond.

─────────

[Soul Bond (S+)]

– Gain additional abilities proportional to the abilities of the designated target.

-Randomly duplicates one skill of the specified target.

-You can know all the status of the specified target and track its location.

─────────

“!!”

‘What is this…? I’d like to use it on Arthur, but the rest of the effects are such a waste…’

Alice told Hilda about the effects of the skills she had read.

“In my opinion, it seems like it would be better to save it for now. If what you said is true, the effect will be amplified the more you use it on strong people. And never tell anyone about your skills or abilities. In particular, the ‘status window’ can be used on people or objects, so there are a lot of people who are after it.”

Surprised by those words, Alice clicked on the status window.

─────────

[Status Window (S-)]

-You can appraise most things with skills that mimic the abilities of another world.

-It is a gift containing the goddess’ favor.

─────────

At the end, there was a question about the favor of the goddess, but Alice didn’t think too deeply about it and just let it go, thinking that a good thing is a good thing.

“May I use it on you, Master?”

Hilda accepted this, and Alice shouted the status window in her mind.

─────────

Name: Hilda

[Ability]

Stamina-62

Strength-83

Agility-72

Horsepower-68

─────────

“Wow… Master, you’re really strong? I thought I couldn’t possibly win.”

bean!

“Ouch! It hurts!”

Alice, who had been hit with a slap on the wrist by Hilda for being rude, continued speaking with a frown on her face.

“… Master? I don’t see any blessings or skills?”

“Really? It seems like a skill that’s one level lower than the skills I knew.”

“…But, Master. Why does the name appear as ‘Hilda’?”

“… I guess that’s because there are many cases where you’ll develop grudges while doing adventure work. That’s why I changed my name to avoid causing damage to the village, so don’t worry too much about it.”

“I see.. I understand!”

Fortunately, the names of the warrior party were hardly known except for Saint Elin, so Hilda was able to successfully deceive Alice. To be exact, it was also thanks to the fact that Alice wasn’t particularly curious.

“Aris. Now that you know your blessing, I will teach you my visionary techniques. Although they are focused on my blessing, I will teach them to you in a way that suits you, so you will have to make up for any shortcomings yourself.”

“Yes!”

“First of all, the name of the technique is ‘Hwa-ryong-gu-sik [火龍九式]’. At first, there were no forms or names, but eventually only the most efficient nine forms remained. It is said that the name was given because people around them said that the appearance resembled a dragon using fire. First, I will teach you about mana control and swordsmanship from the first form… .”

* * *

The next afternoon.

Arthur returned to the village and Alice headed to Hilda’s house.

dripping.

“Arthur!! Come out quickly!”

Suddenly.

“What’s going on? Alice…?”

Without hesitation, Alice looked at Arthur and shouted the status window in her mind.

─────────

Name: Arthur

[Ability]

Stamina -4

Strength-2

Agility-3

Horsepower-1

─────────

“… ”

‘Lies! That I’m this weak?’

Alice was surprised at Arthur’s extremely low abilities.

‘If you’re really this weak, I’m going to worry you so much. There’s nothing I can do, I have to stay by your side and protect you for the rest of your life!’

Arthur tilted his head when he saw Alice suddenly wandering around alone.

“Aris..? Why aren’t you saying anything after calling me…”

“Oh, I just came here to see your face! I have to go back. See you later, Arthur!!”

From that day on, the two began to run towards their goal.

One to enter the magic tower.

The other one is to gain the strength to protect someone precious.

And as with all childhood, time flies, five years have passed, and the two are now 15 years old.