The Villains I Taught Became Heroes. – Chapter 43

The staff we obtained from the ruins this time is called the Staff of Mana.

It’s a staff that accepts mana from the atmosphere and further enhances the power of magic, a weapon that’s quite useful if obtained in the early to mid-game.

But if we’re talking about value, Lena, who can help me obtain my Sage qualification, is more precious.

I flicked the forehead of Lena, who was blankly staring at me.

“You sometimes look down on yourself too much. To me, you are a disciple more precious than anything.”

One of Lena’s shortcomings is that she severely underestimates herself.

Lena’s talent is so remarkable that I could call any average guys small fries compared to her.

But because she severely underestimates herself, she often can’t properly display that skill.

“Those who can’t love themselves are hard to be loved. Having too much self-love is also a problem, but being too self-deprecating isn’t good either.”

“…Yes…”

Are you listening to me?

Lena was just blankly staring at me.

After waving my fingers in front of her eyes a few times, I sighed at Lena, who couldn’t get a hold of herself at all.

This kid is all good, but sometimes she spaces out like this.

“Anyway, since the ruin conquest is over, shall we have fun today as promised?”

Going hardcore is good, but you should let loose when it’s time to relax.

Since we came to the big city, playing around wouldn’t be bad.

“Yep! Ye-yes!!”

Lena, who finally came to her senses at the mention of playing, nodded her head.

Now. What should we do for fun?

“Is there anything you want to do?”

“Uh, um, uh… We-well?”

“Shall we go look at clothes first?”

I did say I would buy her an outfit.

The clothes Lena is wearing now are ordinary clothes hastily purchased from the village.

Originally, the completion of fashion is the face. Lena, a silver-haired and blue-eyed pretty girl, would look pretty even if dressed in rags, but it’s better to dress her in nice clothes if possible, right?

I took her to a clothing store in Greenhild.

Perhaps because it was a famous clothing store in a huge city, there was a difference starting from the types compared to the clothing stores in the village.

In addition to activewear and combat gear, there were quite a few things like dresses for parties.

“First, choose what you want.”

“Ye-yes!!”

She hurriedly shouted and began choosing clothes with Sylphid, whom she summoned.

As I was watching that, the store owner approached.

“Oh my~. Mister~. Are you looking for clothes to put on that young lady?”

“Yes. Is there anything good?”

“That silver hair! Those blue eyes! Whoohoohoohoo~! My artistic spirit is burning! I’ll pick out something very elegant for you!”

Excitedly, the store owner began to happily pick out clothes.

Then shall I choose some suitable clothes for myself to wear?

A long time passed like that.

As I was waiting after picking out a sturdy outfit I needed, Lena, who had changed clothes, approached me.

“Ho-how is it?!”

“…..”

A green pleated skirt and a red jacket. How did you even find something like that?

No, putting aside those intense colors, why are the shoulder pads so big?

I looked at Lena and Sylphid, who were grinning with satisfaction.

Seeing Lena and Sylphid, I became speechless.

She looks really confident, but was that the best?

I think the two of them picked it out together, but was that the best?

Around the time I lost words at Lena’s bizarre fashion, the store owner approached, letting out a loud laugh.

“Ohohohohohoooook! Oh my eyes!”

It seems he received a strong blow from the sight of Lena, the fashion terrorist.

Expressing his desire to gouge out his own eyes with sound and twisting his whole body, he approached me and spoke earnestly.

“Mister?! You’re not thinking of buying those clothes for her, right?! No, to think our store had such inelegant clothes!”

Certainly, those shoulder pads do have an avant-garde taste, but.

Anyway, the store owner, who died inside bit by bit every time he glanced at Lena, showed me the clothes he had picked out.

“Mister?! How about these clothes?!”

The store owner chose a bright-looking white blouse and a blue skirt.

The neat and refreshing outfit seemed to suit Lena well, even in my eyes.

“Uh… Th-that’s a bit, you know?”

I learned another of Lena’s shortcomings today.

That kid’s fashion sense is really terrible.

Come to think of it, when she was the Silent Witch, she only wore pitch-black clothes…

“Te-teacher, what do you th-think?”

I smiled at her, who asked with sparkling eyes.

“Eh-ehehe~!”

Naturally, I didn’t buy the clothes Lena chose.

I tried to buy it because she seemed to want it badly, but the owner wouldn’t sell it.

Although the completion of fashion is the face, I thought traffic light fashion was a bit much, but it turned out well.

Still, Lena smiled brightly, perhaps happy to receive new clothes.

“Since we bought clothes, it would be good to get a robe too.”

Now that she has mastered elementary magic, Lena can also be called a mage.

Then I think we should at least match her outfit properly.

“Wh-where are we go-going?”

The place I took Lena, who was tilting her head, to was a small building.

It was one of the branches of the Ivory Tower where artifacts could be purchased.

“I want to give you one of the artifacts I have, but that’s too early for you.”

“Is, is that so?”

“Yeah.”

There is a good one, but I should save that for when you graduate later.

As Lena and I entered near the Ivory Tower branch, grinning and following behind, the door opened roughly.

“Get out! You punks!!”

“Aaargh!”

Three giants floating in the air flew out and fell.

Surprised by that, Lena hugged her staff and let out a shriek, and I peeked inside.

I saw a middle-aged man whose face was bright red, perhaps because he was quite furious.

“Uh, uhh. Te-teacher.”

The very shy Lena quickly hid behind me.

Regardless, the bearded middle-aged man with huge muscles wriggling glanced at me and Lena, then rubbed his palms.

“Oh my~. Aren’t you customers?  Please come in~.”

This man. He’s a pro.

The murderous expression seen until just before disappeared, and he was smiling affectionately in no time.

It was such a natural change that if I hadn’t seen that expression before, I would have thought that smile was his default.

“I’m here to purchase a robe that would suit her.”

“Hmm… So? Have you mastered elementary magic?”

“Ah, ye-yes!”

“Then this is the best! A robe for elementary magic use for those who have entered the path of magic!”

What he took out was a brown robe that could also be used as a coat substitute.

It’s an artifact made of thick material with a waterproofing magic cast on it, a piece of equipment with decent physical and magic defense.

It’s also equipment that appears in the game, so you can think of it as a useful store item in the early game.

“Don’t you have anything other than that?”

I showed the pendant I took out from my bosom.

It’s proof of being an official mage of the Ivory Tower. Seeing that, the middle-aged man’s expression changed.

“Ah. Were you a colleague? Then, that’s a different story. From the looks of it, this young lady seems to be your disciple… How far are you planning to raise her?”

“Up to an advanced mage.”

“Then it will take at least ten years.”

This man may be a pro, but he seems unable to see the talent of others.

Well, skills like Appraisal are extremely rare.

“Te-ten years… Ehehe…”

“It won’t take ten years.”

Because I’ll definitely finish within a year. I patted Lena’s head.

In the meantime, he brought out a box from the inside and showed three items.

“Choose from these.”

I know all three items.

The first robe is called the Shadow Robe, which gives additional damage when you learn dark magic.

The second is called the Nature Robe, which gives additional damage when you use nature magic.

The third is the Invisibility Robe. As the name suggests, it’s a robe with an invisibility magic cast on it.

“In-invisibility?! Then i-isn’t this the best?”

“It only makes your appearance invisible. It can’t hide your mana.”

“Ah… Si, since you can detect ma-mana, it’s meaningless…”

She’s very disappointed.

What were you trying to do with that?

After firmly pressing down on Lena’s head, I chose the Nature Robe.

“I’ll take this one. Do you have a white one?”

“Of course!”

“Wo-won’t white get di-dirty easily?”

“Artifacts don’t get dirty.”

“Oh, ohhhhh!! Th-that’s amazing!”

“Other than that, being waterproof is a given. Young lady. Is there anything else you need besides a robe? Like a staff…”

“I-I have a staff!”

“Hmm… Oh. That’s the Staff of Mana. That’s quite good, isn’t it? Well, you have to take care of it well.”

“Yes?”

What is he talking about now?

As Lena and I were puzzled, he handed her the robe he had prepared and said nonchalantly.

“Everyone probably knows a magic tournament is being held in Greenhild City. Perhaps because of that, there are guys hunting down elementary mages in this city…”

“Hunting elementary mages.”

This is another interesting story.

Lena’s face turned pale, but I told him to tell us more.

“Among the elementary mages, if there are those wearing good equipment, there are guys who attack them out of the blue and take that equipment.”

“Oho…”

“The Staff of Mana and the Nature Robe that the young lady has are treasures others would covet. Try to protect them well.”

Grinning, he gave us two potions as a gift.

Lena seemed to have tensed up, stiff as a board.

What a coward.

“Te-teacher. You’ll st-stay with me, ri-right?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

Of course, I have no intention of fighting, though.

As soon as we left the store, a customer came.

A customer who approached Lena

“Ooh~. Young lady~. That staff looks nice?”

“Can you lend it to us for a bit? Hehehe~.”

They look like ruffians.

Their equipment is not bad. Mages? Well, that doesn’t matter.

“Lena.”

“Ah, ye-yes?!”

“The things they have. They’re quite good.”

“Huh? Wh-what about it?”

What about it?

“Go borrow them for a bit.”