Ch.16Violence in the Name of Education (3)

“Okay, okay……”

“Ugh… I, I can’t do any more.”

“Mom, I did it……”

Glacia looked disgusted as she watched her disciples collapse after finally completing ten repetitions.

‘Does that actually work?’

With each repetition, the magic became more stable and the casting speed increased. After the fifth repetition, the changes became visibly noticeable.

By the time they reached ten repetitions, the awkwardness had disappeared completely. The proof was in the smiles spreading across their faces, which had been stiff from the grueling training.

They were satisfied with the magic they had performed.

“Huh……”

Glacia let out a gasp.

It seemed that the brutish training method actually worked.

Well, it would be stranger if there were no results, considering how they were pushed to their absolute limits every moment.

Of course, pushing limits sounds easy in theory, but the slightest mistake could lead to disaster.

Still, Olivia must have regulated it well enough that there weren’t any major problems…

“Master… urgh, uuurgh!”

“Uweeeeek……”

…Hmm.

On second thought, it looks quite serious.

Glacia rubbed her eyes and opened them again.

The sight of them sprawled haphazardly on the bare ground was truly a spectacle.

Seeing them shivering from the cold made her feel sorry for them.

“…Is it okay to leave them like that?”

She must have been quite concerned to ask such a question.

“It’s fine. I’ll let them rest now.”

No, that’s obvious!

Give them beds, or at least lay down some blankets!

Can’t you see them shivering on the bare ground?

The thought of having to continue traveling with someone who lacked even this basic decency made her head throb.

If this was how he treated his disciples, she couldn’t even imagine how harshly he would treat her, who wasn’t even a disciple.

“You look like you have something to say. Say it now.”

“…I don’t.”

“If not now, you won’t get another chance.”

“Really, really, I don’t have anything to say.”

“Reeeally?”

Glacia breathed a sigh of relief when Olivia backed down without a fight.

When dealing with this person, one should never give them anything to nitpick about.

The answer was predetermined anyway.

‘It’s always my fault, and I’m the only idiot here.’

Glacia squeezed her eyes shut as she realized her position.

At that moment.

Wheeeeee!

A cutting wind made a sharp sound as it flowed inside. The cold it carried was as extraordinary as its eerie sound.

“Urghack!”

“Achoo!”

“Kuhack, hack!”

The disciples who were directly hit by the wind jumped up and hurriedly wrapped themselves in their robes. Olivia, who had been watching them impassively, spoke.

“Hey.”

“…Yes, Master?”

“Are you cold right now?”

…What kind of stupid question is this?

Can’t you see the heavy snow falling outside?

But upon facing Olivia, she had no choice but to understand.

Olivia genuinely didn’t comprehend.

‘She really didn’t know it was cold?’

Come to think of it, she was like this when they first met too. Even when wyverns with their thick hides were freezing, Olivia stood there perfectly fine.

At the time, she thought Olivia was blocking it with magic, but now it seemed she had an absurdly high resistance to cold.

‘Damn it. I should have found that suspicious back then!’

Glacia, having barely regained her senses, asked back.

“Are you asking if it’s cold right now?”

“Would I be asking if it’s hot?”

“…I apologize. I have congenitally bad hearing.”

“So, are you cold?”

“I’m fine, but… don’t you think they’re not doing so well? After all, this is a lair where a dragon sleeps. I think it’s quite uncomfortable for humans to sleep here.”

Olivia bent down and touched the floor.

Befitting the lair of a White Dragon Lord, even ordinary stones were permeated with cold. Looking up, she noticed ice crystals hanging from the ceiling. The fact that they weren’t melting and maintained their original form should have been a clue.

Olivia broke off one of the ice crystals with a snap. The crystal emitted cold like dry ice before melting and disappearing in her fingertips.

‘Hmm, it must be very cold.’

While she only felt a momentary chill, her disciples with lower cold resistance would experience it differently.

They probably felt like they were inside a freezer.

The reason they had endured until now was because they were mages from the White Tower, their robes had cold resistance enchantments, and a certain generous master had continuously provided them with recovery potions.

But even that must be reaching its limit. Left like this, they might be attending funerals tomorrow.

“Hey, do you have anything useful?”

Olivia pointed indifferently at the items piled in a corner of the lair.

These were the possessions Glacia had accumulated over the past few years.

Without dwarves.

All by herself.

‘This damn bastard is finally robbing my home…’

She was beyond caring at this point.

“By useful… do you mean cold resistance artifacts?”

“Yeah. Do you have any?”

‘As if! That’s like asking a Blue Dragon if they use underwater breathing artifacts!’

Glacia shook her head as respectfully as possible.

“I don’t.”

“You’re dead if I find any.”

This time, the answer didn’t come immediately. She seemed to be searching her memory to make sure she really didn’t have any.

“I really don’t have any.”

“…Tsk.”

Olivia clicked her tongue. What could she do if there weren’t any?

‘I’ll have to use mine.’

The disciples, huddled in their robes, broke into cold sweat at the sound of approaching footsteps.

‘Oh, here he comes! Don’t tremble!’

‘B-but it’s s-so c-cold.’

‘Endure it! Shut up and endure!’

The disciples gritted their teeth and pretended to be asleep. They prayed that their damned master wouldn’t notice and would just leave.

‘…Is he gone?’

The moment Jayna slightly lifted her eyelids, it happened.

‘…!’

She saw it.

Olivia staring down at her with wide-open eyes.

‘I’m d-doomed.’

Jayna squeezed her eyes shut.

There had been no sign of presence!

Did he wait until she opened her eyes?

‘Is he really insane?’

Woooong!

The next moment, a sound that shouldn’t be heard rang in Jayna’s ears. The other disciples also flinched, apparently hearing the same sound.

The distinctive resonance that occurs when opening the gates of hell—no, a spatial pocket.

Whenever that sound was heard, red potions invariably appeared.

And after that.

– Seven more to go. Just ten more faints and you’re done. Right?

Only endless hell awaited.

‘How did I even succeed!’

The thought alone was terrifying.

‘I really can’t do this anymore. I can’t…’

But what Olivia took out was completely different from what they expected.

It was a plain, circular bracelet.

“You fools. If you’re cold, just say so.”

Olivia put the bracelet artifacts on the disciples who were pretending to sleep. After a moment, the artifacts glowed red and emitted heat in all directions.

The disciples, realizing Olivia’s true intentions, looked surprised.

‘…It’s warm.’

The trembling in their bodies gradually subsided. They felt their eyelids growing heavy as tension drained from them.

“Good work today. Get some rest.”

Olivia gazed at the disciples who had fallen into deep sleep. They must have been very tired to pass out so quickly.

“I, I miss my mom…”

“Sob, sob…”

Hmm.

Was I too harsh?

Olivia scratched her head awkwardly. Ro was one thing, but Jayna had quite a tough personality.

As for Aramis…

“Kill you… I’ll definitely kill you, you damn witch…”

That one needs some education later.

Anyway.

To be honest, she hadn’t expected them to follow through so well.

She would have been satisfied if they had succeeded just once each, let alone ten times.

‘They’re much tougher than I thought.’

No matter how much you threaten someone, those who can’t do it, won’t do it. That’s an unchangeable fact.

Not everyone possesses the mental fortitude to endure harsh training. Even fewer can get back up after falling down multiple times.

In that sense, these three were indeed geniuses. They were worthy of being the next generation of talents to lead the White Tower.

If they maintain this pace, they could certainly pull their weight even in the later parts of the story.

By the way…

Olivia’s gaze shifted to the side.

[…!]

A frost spirit she had planted near the Magic Tower sent her a mental message. Olivia immediately transmitted mana to share the frost spirit’s hearing.

[Boss, it’s dragons. Dragons. I think we should call for reinforcements…]

[I’m just going to check. Just check.]

[Oh, really…]

[Just to see if the witch really controlled the dragon or not…]

The signal cut off. Judging by how the volume gradually decreased, they must have moved out of range.

Spirit magic was good in many ways, but this was the problem. Not only was there noise, but with only voices and no visuals, it was impossible to tell whose voice it was.

One thing was certain—they weren’t mages from the White Tower. They would be too busy dealing with their collapsed tower to have the leisure to cross the mountains.

And above all, White Tower mages don’t refer to anyone as “boss.” Only mercenaries use such titles.

‘That voice sounded familiar.’

It was a voice she had heard many times.

The only person who might come to the north at this time would be Sword Master Kiel. But she had already knocked Kiel out, and mercenaries staying in nearby villages wouldn’t bother traveling all the way to the distant White Tower.

‘Could it be that the Golden Tower has already sent support?’

Whatever it was, she needed to check.

“Stay here and guard this place. I’ll be back shortly.”

“What?”

“You know what happens if you wake the kids, right? And keep feeding mana into the artifacts. If the kids catch colds by the time I get back, you’ll deal with it.”

“W-wait…”

Olivia’s figure disappeared in an instant. Only the spatial movement magic circle etched on the floor indicated that she had been there just moments ago.

‘Grrrrrr!’

Glacia’s eyes rolled with rage. She was even foaming at the mouth.

Not content with making her a slave, now she had to babysit children?

That, that damned bastard!

‘Just die already! Die! Please die!’

Glacia screamed inwardly.