Disciple, how long do you have to keep doing this?

“P-Pupil…”

“……”

“Pupil, can you hear me?”

I heard Meiko’s voice, all crumpled up next to me.

“P-Pupil?”

“……”

“Ugh, how long do I have to stay like this?”

I turned my head at Meiko’s constant voice.

Where I turned my head, Meiko was kneeling with both hands up.

Whether her knees were numb or her arms were sore, she was shedding tears and looking at me with teary eyes.

“C-Can I put my arms down now?”

“No. Keep them up straight.”

“But Pupil, even so, treating your teacher like this is…”

“Isn’t it too much?”

Meiko nodded vigorously.

“Considering the money you spent, Teacher, it’s definitely not too much, so just keep holding them up.”

“……”

Meiko, who had become powerless again at the mention of money, made a tearful face and raised her arms again.

“I’m sorry…”

Feeling dejected, she raised her hands again, unable to put away her pouting lips, and mumbled.

“I-I was just trying to do well… A-Alchemy needs it too… To procure local materials there…”

Still, she knew what she had done wrong, so she didn’t openly express her dissatisfaction.

A normal person wouldn’t have heard it and just passed it by, but it couldn’t escape the ears of a magician with enhanced physical abilities like me.

Her mumbling tone was a little different from her usual mature tone.

It was closer to the tone of a whining child.

“Now that I have all the equipment, I can earn money there and not rely on my pupil, so I spent it. I had my own thoughts…”

Hearing that voice, I was sure that she was a younger magician than me.

I called out to Meiko, who was slowly trying to lower her hands while watching my face.

“Teacher.”

“U-Uh? W-Why?”

“You can spend a lot of money for research. Most of the money from grants is used for research.”

The way she spent the money wasn’t bad.

It’s not like she spent the money on luxury goods.

You could say it was a magician-like way of using it.

But still.

“But you went too far.”

It’s not like I don’t know the market price of magic items.

If you only set up with basic equipment, you could easily solve it within 30 gold.

But the 40 gold I supported and the 40 gold of the grant budget, a total of 80 gold.

The reason I’m blaming her is that she set up the equipment at a price 2.5 times higher than the market price.

“Even if it’s a remote area, how can you spend that much money to install alchemy equipment in the Witch’s Forest?”

“But the witches said it would cost a lot of labor to buy equipment all the way there…”

“Don’t those people have alchemist equipment? Then you should have rented it.”

Then it would have been solved within 10 gold.

“But I can’t concentrate if it’s not my stuff.”

“That’s what I’m pointing out, Teacher.”

“……”

“The intention was good, but you spent all the money close to the budget for a year when there were other ways. That’s why I came all the way back here.”

“……”

Meiko couldn’t argue.

“We don’t have much money anyway, how can you spend all the budget there?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Meiko lowered her head with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

I mustn’t weaken because of sympathy.

“Teacher, you need to feel the weight of the money you wasted.”

“……”

I sat her down next to me and thought about how to make up for this serious deficit.

‘Should I contact more nobles and have them come to the store?’

I can get a lot of money for showing a video once, so I can make up for some of the losses.

Of course, I’ll have to use my mana like crazy to avoid using that much mana stone.

‘If it’s to make up for the deficit…’

My eyes turned to the glasses Helen gave me.

“No way.”

Are you crazy?

Are you going to sell a gift to make money?

Are you out of your mind?

Of course, I could easily get 50 gold if I sold one.

But this is not it.

It’s not polite.

I shook my head, which was possessed by a demon for a moment, and chased away the agony.

‘I can just do alchemy a little harder and get external requests.’

I can somehow earn money.

I’ll have to tighten my belt a little.

‘I might have to survive on a piece of bread until next month.’

Meiko, who had been kneeling and holding her hands up, watched my face and slowly approached me.

“Hey, Pupil.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

“I thought of another way to atone for my sins.”

“What is it?”

“That magic circle research you’re doing. This teacher will help you directly. You’ve always avoided showing it to me directly, haven’t you?”

“It’s not that I avoided it, it’s that you refused because of the laws of the Goddess Church or something!”

“W-Well, that’s because you always touched my hands and arms lewdly and said, ‘This is for research!'”

“When have I ever touched you lewdly, Teacher?”

“Y-You touched me! You said that if you fold the fat on my arm, it’s similar to the feeling of a chest…”

Ah.

That’s what you’re talking about.

“It was for data research. And I didn’t touch you lewdly, and it wasn’t a sensitive area.”

“B-But! Y-You touched my thighs too!”

“……”

I can’t deny that.

In the early research, I got a lot of help from my teacher for the data research of the female body.

“Y-You touched my stomach and my, my belly button too…”

“I just touched it for a moment for research.”

“So, I couldn’t see the magic circle.”

“……”

Tsk.

What should I do?

If Teacher sees the inside of the magic circle, she will definitely notice.

That it’s not just a magic circle that shows illusions.

But I can’t refuse.

‘Then, if I turn off some of the automatic calculation functions of the magic circle, I can show a somewhat softened scene.’

If I remove all the keywords related to lust, there will be no problem.

Teacher is not the type of person who would dig into elements that don’t work.

“Okay. Then let’s take a look for a moment. That doesn’t mean the fact that you wasted money disappears.”

“Ah, I know. I’ll work hard there to make up for the money I’m short.”

“Okay. I’ll set it up for a moment, so put your hands down.”

“I’ll help you set it up too.”

I can’t do that.

If she, a magician who is much more skilled than me, touches the setup, she will quickly notice.

That it’s not just showing lewd illusions.

“It’s okay. Your arms must be numb, so take a rest.”

“……Pupil.”

I flicked Meiko’s forehead, who seemed moved and tearful.

“Ouch!”

“That doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you, so don’t get too attached.”

“Hmph, my pupil has become heartless.”

“I’m just more worried about money.”

It was when I was setting up for a moment.

“Ah, that’s right, Pupil.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

“I saw her before I came into the store, that young lady who left your store as if she was running away. Is she your girlfriend?”

“……Huh?”

She saw Helen?

I looked at her.

Meiko’s eyes stared at me intently.

The gaze, which felt like a strange obsession, was so intense.

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Is that…so?”

“Yes. She was a customer.”

“So there really was a customer looking for such illusions.”

“Then how could I have sent money to you, Teacher?”

“As expected of my pupil. You’ve grown up wonderfully.”

“I’m two years older than you.”

“But I learned magic five years earlier than you.”

She kept talking to me while I was setting up.

“She looked like a noble’s daughter, do you have feelings for that woman?”

“…Why are you asking that?”

“Well, isn’t it natural for a teacher to be interested in her pupil’s love life?”

“……I don’t.”

“You hesitated a little?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I can’t concentrate.”

Do I have feelings for Helen?

I don’t know.

Until recently, we were just in a customer-owner relationship.

Helen might think differently.

‘There’s no way she would have just given me such expensive glasses.’

I might look like trash, but I didn’t think it was time to have such special feelings yet.

When you think about it, we’re still just enjoying each other’s company.

I finished setting up.

I minimized the automatic calculation and excluded the keyword ‘lust’ as much as possible.

It will put more burden on me, but I have to do this much to deceive my teacher.

“It’s done.”

“I’m, I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be too nervous. I’ve removed as much weird stuff as possible.”

“Is that so… That’s, that’s a relief.”

She, who was hesitant because she didn’t have immunity, stood in the center of the magic circle.

“I’m going to go in with you.”

“The caster is going to go into the illusion together? Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“I need to get feedback from you, Teacher, so I can feel it properly.”

“I see. Okay. Then start quickly.”

“I will.”

I cast the spell.

Then the magic circle shone.

[User: Meiko]

[Projects the user’s desires.]

The illusion began to unfold around Meiko.

“Oh, it’s an illusion that projects desires.”

Meiko seemed to have seen the message I saw as well.

The fact that she saw the user message that is only visible to the caster meant that she was a magician one level higher than me.

‘I’m still not good enough to surpass Meiko.’

“Yes, it’s an illusion that shows the opponent’s most desired desires.”

“I see.”

“If it’s the desire you want, Teacher, you’ll see yourself using Bretilla flowers.”

Meiko was silent.

The space in the illusion created by the magic circle was the professor’s office.

“Oh… It’s really elaborate. Your skill in creating illusions and your imagination are one level above mine.”

Meiko, who looked around the professor’s office, looked at me with a voice mixed with admiration.

“…Huh? Pupil, is that you?”

Meiko, who turned to look at me, asked in a surprised voice.

Huh?

Meiko’s height suddenly seems to have increased considerably.

I was clearly looking down at her, but as soon as the illusion was fully activated, the viewing angle changed.

As her height increased, the structure became that I was looking up at her.

‘No.’

It wasn’t that her height had increased.

It’s that my height has decreased.

To the point where all the viewing angles that I had been looking at straight were slightly distorted.

The most convincing evidence was that I was slightly looking up at Meiko, who was originally in her late 5’3.

It seems like I’ve shrunk to around 5’1.

[Changes the caster’s appearance according to the user’s desires.]

“…Master? What is this…”

I looked at Meiko, speechless.

“Wow, woah…”

Meiko’s face, looking at me, was as red as it could possibly get.

“Master?”