Chapter 19: The Savior’s Secret Letter
by fnovelpia
The Ice Princess admitted defeat.
Ria’s ultimate strike.
A powerful blow made of solid flame, combining the opposing forces of blazing fire and hardened ice.
A strike that could shatter everything— and melt everything at once.
It didn’t fly past me— If it had been aimed directly at me, I would have died on the spot.
There was no choice but to acknowledge defeat, and no choice but to recognize her as the stronger one.
So, I accepted her joining as an ally without any fuss.
But, there was something I couldn’t help but question.
“What do you mean by helping stop Master from running away?”
“No, wait…”
“Why is Master trying to run away in the first place?”
That was the real question.
“Why was someone like Master trying to escape?”
“I don’t know either.”
“That’s why I’m asking for your help.”
“We need to figure out why Master wants to run away in order to come up with a plan.”
“Hmm…”
“I’m curious about one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Why are you so sure Master’s going to run?”
“Because yesterday, he tried to leave me, saying we should go our separate ways.”
“…?”
“But yesterday was still okay.”
“I clung to him while crying.”
“…???”
“Master still thinks I’m a crybaby coward.”
“That’s why he came with me this far.”
That might’ve been true up until yesterday, but not anymore.
He now knows I’m strong, and that I can even defeat the Demon King.
‘Master said so.’
‘That I could win, even if I fought right now.’
He did add that I’d only win if I fought without crying, but now, I’m confident I can fight without shedding a tear.
Beating the Demon King would be no problem.
However— If Master realizes that, he might leave before I can bring in new allies.
So I pretended to still be a crybaby coward.
…That’s what I explained.
“But once I gather new allies, I’ll have a new guardian.”
“Which means he might leave?”
“Yeah.”
The reason Master stays by my side is simple.
He’s worried I’ll die somewhere on my own, since I’m a cowardly crybaby.
But, if someone strong like the Ice Princess joins, he won’t have to worry anymore.
There’ll be someone even stronger than him to protect me.
He’ll think he’s no longer needed.
That’s the problem.
If I recruit the Ice Princess, Master will run away.
So I came up with an idea.
‘I’ll recruit her first and ask her to avoid being recruited by Master.’
When I said that ,The Ice Princess nodded in understanding.
“You want me to stall for time?”
“Yeah.”
“While I’m buying time, you’ll try to find out what Master’s goal is and think of a way to stop her.”
“That’s the plan, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Do you think that’ll work?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve spent all this time with him, and you still don’t know what his goal is—that must mean he’s hiding it pretty deeply”
“It probably won’t be easy to figure out.”
“That’s not it.”
“It’s not?”
“I don’t know his goal because I never had the chance to ask.”
“You never had the chance?”
“I’ve only known her for a day… maybe two?”
“That’s it?!”
“Yeah.”
“Even arriving in Glacia, the land of ice, today was completely unexpected.”
“Originally, it was supposed to take about a month to get here.”
At the earliest, two weeks if we rushed.
At a relaxed pace, about a month.
But, Master covered that entire distance in a single day.
He used an illegal warp gate created by some villain to move instantly.
That completely messed up my plans.
I thought I had a month of breathing room to look for an opportunity.
But suddenly, I had only one day left.
…When I said that, the Ice Princess gave me a stunned look.
“Your Master’s seriously got guts…”
“Those villain-made warp gates are shoddy and unstable—there’s a real risk of disintegrating mid-transfer…”
“And he used something that dangerous?”
“It was that risky?”
“Of course it was.”
“Even warp gates made by skilled spatial mages can only travel to places they’ve already visited—because of safety concerns.”
“Using an illegal warp gate that ignores all that is basically gambling with your life.”
“What if the villain is actually more skilled?”
“Huh? Uh…”
“Then… I guess it might be fine, but…”
“A skilled spatial mage can live a good life doing honest work—why would they bother becoming a villain?”
“Master said this.”
“That guy Kikl may be a villain, but when it comes to skill, he’s the best spatial mage around.”
“…Kikl?”
“Yeah.”
“The genius of spatial magic, Kikl?”
“He’s famous?”
“More than just famous.”
“He was such an extraordinary genius, people said he opened up a whole new world of spatial magic.”
The Ice Princess pressed her forehead as she spoke.
“The problem is, he was a lunatic who blew up several villages just to test out new spatial magic.”
“He destroyed entire villages?”
“He wanted to perfect mass teleportation by weaponizing the backlash of unstable spatial magic.”
“But the result was a massive failure.”
“Entire villages were blown to pieces and rained down from the sky.”
“After that incident, a bounty was placed on him.”
“Kikl escaped using teleportation, and no one’s heard from him in years.”
“So he’s way more dangerous than I thought.”
“Yeah—he’s a real monster.”
“He’s killed hundreds of people.”
“Since he only targeted commoners, the bounty on him isn’t that high… but he was so stealthy that even the knights couldn’t track him down.”
“And to think someone actually caught that guy…”
“That’s incredible…”
“Right?”
“My teacher is amazing, isn’t he?”
“If we’re talking about what’s truly amazing, then tricking someone like that and even using a warp gate is the real deal…”
“He even captured him and sold him off as a slave!”
“Okay, that’s impressive too…”
“Right?”
“My teacher is amazing, isn’t he?”
The Ice Princess looked at Ria, who beamed with pride every time her teacher was mentioned, and found herself slightly dumbfounded.
‘What could possibly make a student who’s only known their teacher for a day or two show this much respect?’
Respect is usually built over time.
But Ria’s admiration had practically sprouted overnight.
‘Was he really that incredible of a person?’
‘I’m getting more and more curious…’
That’s why, She agreed to the plan to stop the teacher from escaping.
Because if he didn’t run away, she’d be able to learn something from him too.
…Or so she thought as she listened to all sorts of stories.
According to them, the teacher had a plan to capture her.
She absolutely had to avoid falling for it.
…Or so they said.
“Wa… wait.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m seriously asking this because I’m curious.”
“That teacher of yours… how did he even figure out my tastes?!”
The teacher’s plan was something like this:
Lure her in with something cute.
Capture her.
It was such a simple, sloppy plan that it was hard to believe anyone would actually fall for it.
But the problem was… it worked on her.
Because she loved cute things.
She was the type who couldn’t help but follow after baby animals like she was under a spell.
However, No one knew this about her.
It was a secret preference.
Whenever she went to see baby animals, she always made sure no one was around.
‘It’d be so embarrassing if anyone found out…’
So the possibility of someone knowing her taste was almost zero.
…Or so she thought.
But somehow, this teacher guy knew exactly what she liked.
‘Isn’t this basically stalking?’
…Was what crossed her mind.
“That’s what makes our teacher so amazing.”
“He’s someone with such vast knowledge that there’s practically nothing he doesn’t know.”
“Vast knowledge?”
“If you read this, you’ll understand just how great he is.”
Ria flipped open a book.
‘Ah.’
‘That book.’
The one she mentioned during the duel—her teacher’s book.
“I’ll give it a read.”
She quickly started reading it.
“Th… this is…?”
It was a guidebook on how to defeat the Demon King and how to save the world.
…Which was already impressive enough.
But the real shock was that it had absurdly detailed information about the potential candidates for the Hero’s party.
“Wow…”
“This is insane…”
It even included techniques she might be able to learn in the future.
It described how to gain enlightenment and what kind of training would help her get stronger.
Everything was written down.
And there was more.
“Ri… Ria?”
“This thing about a ‘Cursed Ring’—what is it…?”
“You’re telling me something like this actually exists?”
The Cursed Ring.
A miraculous ring that could seal her magic outbursts.
Because of her uncontrollable mana, she’d always been alone.
She thought she was going crazy from the loneliness.
But now she learned that something like this—something that could completely resolve her cursed condition, ‘actually existed in this world?’
…Or so she thought, dumbfounded, as she asked.
“The teacher has it.”
“He said he’ll give it to you if you join as his companion.”
For a moment, she knelt and offered a prayer.
“Ahhh…”
“To think someone so merciful exists in this world…”
“You’re not just a teacher…”
“You’re a savior…”
“You’re like the savior of my entire life.”
He understood her skill, abilities, and potential completely.
He had already researched the perfect techniques for her and was preparing to teach them.
He understood her suffering.
He offered her a path to salvation.
To think that someone like him existed…
The word “teacher” didn’t do him justice.
He was a true savior.
You are the savior of my life.
‘The idea of using a curse to suppress magic outbursts…’
‘If not for this merciful savior, I never would’ve reached this realization…’
A curse.
She’d never once considered using something so filthy and vile.
She had researched ways to stop her mana rampage before.
But the idea of using a curse had never even crossed her mind.
She had never once thought that such a dark force could become someone’s salvation.
But her savior was different.
‘Ahhh…’
‘So this… this is what technique really means…’
It wasn’t just about finding better ways to use helpful things.
It was also about finding ways to use what seemed completely useless.
This too, was a form of technique.
‘Is this how humanity felt when they first discovered fire…?’
Fire is a disaster.
It burns everything, even humans.
But, It can be used to cook meat.
It can keep you warm when it’s cold.
It can melt metal to make weapons or armor.
At first, fire was a disaster.
But once people learned how to use it, it became one of the greatest advancements in human history.
A curse was the same.
When you don’t understand it, it’s a disaster.
But once you understand and control it, it becomes salvation.
‘Ahhh…’
‘Thanks to my savior, I’ve gained enlightenment…’
…She was thinking that, emotionally moved, as she read the text in the book line by line, Chiiik!
Suddenly, new text appeared in the book.
[If you’re reading this, then I’ve probably already left.]
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