Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The next day, we moved our rooms to the inn where Ayra and Mien were staying. It was a double room, so it was larger than the previous one, and Emily didn’t complain because the inn had a better reputation. Of course, we only got half of the room fee refunded, but I thought that was good enough. We had been too noisy, constantly biting and licking Emily. And Mien really did teach me magic. It happened on the very day we moved rooms. “…What is this?” I asked, looking at the paper and quill Mien handed me. There was also a ruler and compass. When I asked, Mien gave a faint smile and took something out of the room’s drawer. “It’s a Magic Square. A magician should always be able to remember and engrave their magic. That way, even if the spellbook is torn, you can rewrite it.” What she handed me was a thick-looking book. It wasn’t a spellbook made of parchment. It was just a book made of the thin paper unique to the Kilkard Kingdom. I looked back and forth between the book and the paper Mien handed me. The single sheet of paper Mien handed me was slightly different in texture from the paper in the book. It was practice paper that could be washed and used as many times as you wanted. Suddenly, an uneasy feeling flashed through my mind. “Um, could it be…” “It’s an introductory manuscript containing 32 spells. Practice until you can remember them all and draw them perfectly.” “…” When I glanced through it, I saw complexly intertwined figures. There were a lot of circles, squares, and triangles. “If you mess up the Circuit Line, the magic will become unstable, so you need to be able to draw accurate shapes without making mistakes. I transcribed and checked it, so there shouldn’t be any errors in the magic square. Memorizing and drawing all of this is the first step in engraving magic.” Mien explained to me in a gentle yet stern tone. I wondered if she really was a magician. She had pride in her magic. It was no different from the pride I had in my martial arts. “The annotations that make up the magic square are also attached, so it will be easier to memorize if you refer to them. And I’ll continue to teach you runes from time to time.” So that’s what she meant when she said it was difficult. The road ahead was daunting, but I had no intention of giving up. Neither martial arts nor magic are easy to learn. If I work hard slowly, I’ll be able to learn somehow. It’s not easy to pass on your knowledge to others. For both the one teaching and the one learning. I looked up at Mien and answered with a smile. “…Thank you.” “If you think of it as the price for saving my life, it’s not that big of a deal.” When I expressed my gratitude, Mien smiled and replied. // Three days had already passed since we moved inns. In the meantime, instead of taking on requests, we mainly worked by collecting slime cores from the underground waterway and delivering them to the guild. And I taught Emily the essentials of the Essence Absorption Technique and Iron Body Armor, and I studied magic in my spare time. Studying after a long time was surprisingly fun. It felt like I had found another game to play at night. As a result, I managed to memorize the 32 magic squares written in the beginner’s spellbook in just three days. It was a bit of a struggle though. I had to resist the urge to be held by a man and focus on studying for the first time in a while. Still, the study of magic squares itself had certain rules, so it wasn’t that difficult. “…Amazing. I didn’t think you’d memorize them all in just three days.” Mien looked surprised, as if she didn’t expect me to memorize all those magic squares in just three days. Even though she said she would teach me magic, she was only doing it to repay her life debt, so she probably didn’t expect me to have any special talent. I replied to her words with a playful smile. “Even though I look like this, I actually like studying.” Mien and Ayra knew how I grew up in Reikas. It was because I had mentioned it casually from time to time. People generally have prejudices about prostitutes, but they also knew that children from slums often had no choice but to become that way. Therefore, they, like Emily, didn’t really care about my origins. And Mien and Ayra weren’t exactly chaste people either. “Hmm, still…this is really amazing.” Mien looked at the notebook in which I had transcribed the magic squares once more and made a serious expression. After being silent for a while, she soon looked at me and opened her mouth. “Lyla, have you ever thought about learning magic formally?” “…Pardon?” “I’m asking if you’d like to become my disciple.” That was quite surprising. Accepting someone as a disciple meant that she would pass on all her knowledge, not just teach the basics like now. Until now, Mien was only teaching me magic as a reward for saving her life. But now Mien was thinking of accepting me as a disciple. Because I had knowledge of martial arts, I knew that the relationship between master and disciple was not a light one. Even if it wasn’t martial arts, it wouldn’t be much different in this world. Of course, I had no reason to refuse. It would take quite a long time to find my friends in this vast land, and there were limits to what I could do with martial arts alone. Having the power of magic would definitely be a great help. I looked into Mien’s eyes and nodded seriously. “Yes, I want to.” Mien smiled at my answer. The smile seemed both relieved and nervous. “Then, Lyla, you are now my first disciple.” “First…?” Then she might not be that old after all. As I tilted my head thinking that, Mien’s smile changed slightly. She replied in a voice that seemed somehow heavy. “Yes, the first.” “Oh, okay.” Then that must be it. I don’t think I need to dwell on her age. It’s definitely not because I’m giving in to threats. Mien nodded as if satisfied with my answer. “But, can you just become a disciple so easily with just words?” Even when learning martial arts, you at least have to perform the disciple’s greetings, but becoming Mien’s disciple was so simple that I wondered if it was okay. But to my question, Mien answered with a smile. “We place more significance on completing him as a magician than on accepting disciples. I’ll give you a gift when Lyla finishes her apprenticeship, so you can look forward to it.” That’s a rule I like. I removed the playful smile from my lips and bowed to Mien in a polite manner. “Then, I look forward to working with you in the future. Master.” In this way, I gained my first master in this world. // “An investigation team?” Emily tilted her head at the sound she suddenly heard. Her guild senior, Meryl Brishian, smiled at Emily as if she were cute and continued. “Yes, a report came in that a new adventurer killed a goblin chief last time. But we haven’t been able to dispatch an investigation team because we’ve been short-handed, but this time the guild decided that it would be difficult to delay any longer, so they formed an investigation team.” Goblins, especially goblin chiefs, were troublesome monsters. They didn’t have many valuable materials, but they had high intelligence and attacked adventurers and villagers. A goblin’s sling could knock out even an adult male in one hit if it hit him directly. Furthermore, if more than ten of those goblins gathered and ambushed an adventurer party, it was possible to wipe out an entire party. However, it was impossible to completely exterminate them. Goblins were a race that was located throughout the Mesheen Great Forest, and even if all the goblin nests near Karaldin were wiped out, goblins driven out from the inner part of the Great Forest would re-establish their bases after a few months. Mobilizing the regular army every time also consumed money and manpower. Simply preparing supplies was a troublesome burden, and the various corruption that occurred in the process had already become a custom. Especially in cities that occupy large areas like Karaldin. In the end, Karaldin had no choice but to choose to entrust the goblin extermination to the Adventurer’s Guild, and the Adventurer’s Guild solved the defense problem by inducing adventurers to exterminate goblins by offering rewards for goblin nests, and forming an investigation team and departing after the extermination was completed. Emily tilted her head as if she understood even less. “Oh, but why am I going there…?” Meryl smiled bitterly at her words. Emily’s question was valid. Originally, there should be no reason to send a newbie who had only been there for a week, but the timing was not good. It was now the season approaching autumn, so the guild was conducting its own settlement for tax payment. Because of this, even the low-level employees had to be mobilized, and there were reports that bandits were appearing near Ltuicel, a nearby village. Because of this, the Retila Guild was facing an unexpected labor shortage. “Originally, you didn’t need to go, but the timing isn’t very good. But I won’t force you, so I just want you to think about it.” Meryl knew that Emily was skilled in swordsmanship. She had seen Lacas and her sparring with swords for practice before, and Emily had said several times that she would become a receptionist and adventurer. That’s why she asked her once as a recommendation. “No, I’ll go!” And Emily didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Because her friend Lyla had already become an adventurer, she was already thinking about becoming an adventurer in her heart. In that situation, Meryl’s offer was a temptation that was hard to refuse. “Are you okay? This investigation is for a total of seven places, so it will take about three days.” “Hmm…I’m okay. I’ll do it!” Meryl smiled as she watched Emily shout energetically. “Okay, then I’ll tell the headquarters that.” // Mien looked around the Karaldin Magic Guild with a troubled expression. “Hmm, it’s not here…” The inside of the guild was filled with various reagents, monster bones, skins, and organs. It was a sight that would make ordinary people faint, but these sights were familiar to magicians. But the thing she was looking for was not in the Magic Guild. To be precise, it was there, but the quality was not to her liking. What she was looking for was a fountain pen and notebook for Lyla. According to the traditions of the school she belonged to, it was right to give a gift when someone became a magician, but for Mien, Lyla was her first disciple. Besides, Mien had a crush on Lyla. It included not only the favor as a life savior, but also the favor as a smart disciple. Geometry and mathematics are essential for learning magic. Lyla already knew them, and she used her knowledge to completely grasp the shapes of 32 magic squares in just three days. Those magic squares were nothing more than the basics of magic, so you couldn’t proceed to the next step without memorizing them first. Mien originally had no intention of taking in a disciple, but she thought it was not right to ignore Lyla even after seeing her talent. Whether she had a talent for swords or not, it didn’t matter. Mien looked at the fountain pens displayed in the guild one by one and sighed. ‘There’s nothing good.’ Fountain pens were an important tool for drawing magic squares. It is possible to engrave, and it is also possible to create simple scrolls by filling it with ink made from monster blood. For a magician, the fountain pen is more important than the magic book, or perhaps even more important than the staff, but none of the ones in Karaldin were satisfactory. “After all, should I go to Ortania…”

If it’s Ortenia, the direct territory of the Kilkard Kingdom and the headquarters of the Kilkard Kingdom’s Magic Society, I should be able to find satisfactory magical implements. Mien hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind. ‘Let’s go to Ortenia.’ Either way, Ortenia was a place she had to visit at least once. Going to Ortenia was necessary not only for Laila, but also for herself. Since she would continue to stay in base cities like Karaldin, it would be better to go now. There would be no need to take Laila with her. This was, after all, a personal matter, and on the other hand, she also wanted to give Laila a surprise gift. Mien made up her mind and left the Magic Guild. Ortenia is a direct territory of the Kilkard Kingdom. Even with an Undead Steed-led carriage, it was a five-day round trip. ‘I should tell her in advance.’ Mien smiled slightly and headed towards the inn. ———= Author’s Notes ———= This is the preparation part. // I thought it would be more fitting for Mien’s character to maintain formal speech for the noble scenes that may appear later, so I modified Mien’s words in the teacher part.