Chapter 53: Selling an Experienced Rookie (4)

“Ughahaha. Our teacher is a bit gruff, true. But he’s genuinely a good person.”

“A good person wouldn’t seem like they’d trouble others.”

“Uhhahaha, our teacher doesn’t trouble people… well, uh, maybe not?”

“Jason, your language functions are malfunctioning.”

Jason laughed, making that ambiguous sound that was somewhere between a groan and a chuckle.

The day after I met the Old Man, I sought out Jason and the other mages to learn about the Old Man’s love life.

“So, that’s just his way of expressing his feelings in a gruff manner.”

“Probably?”

Today too, Jason was hard at work moving a huge coffin.

Just glancing at it, it looked like it weighed over 100 kilograms, yet he showed no sign of strain.

It didn’t seem like he had any magic cast on himself either.

Hasn’t this guy been a 3rd Circle mage for a long time?

Could he have chosen the wrong major?

“Have you ever heard the Old Man mention or talk about the Lady? Maybe express longing or missing her?”

At my question, Jason seemed to ponder deeply, then tilted his head in confusion.

“I- I don’t know. Did he? Didn’t he? I’m not sure.”

“Is that so.”

Not only Jason, but the other mages shook their heads as well.

What to do.

“Is there anyone besides the mages who interacts frequently with the Tower Lord?”

“Interacts? Other Tower Lords or perhaps some veteran mages? But meeting them would be difficult.”

“How about Mr. Humboldt?”

At that moment, a female mage tucked away in the corner spoke up.

“Humboldt?”

“He’s a herbalist. Supplies research materials to our Magic Tower. He’s had dealings with the teacher for over 40 years. They’re close… I think?”

Jason had a strange habit of trailing off awkwardly in his sentences.

“But he’s probably quite difficult to deal with.”

When the female mage who first mentioned Humboldt’s name cut in with a peculiar expression.

“Why?”

“Our teacher may be gruff but kind, but Old Man Humboldt is a bad person.”

…….

More gruff and worse than the Old Man?

Why do cranky old men keep circling around me?

Did I offend my elders in a past life?

“By chance, Old Man Humboldt will come to the tower tomorrow to deliver herbs. I’ll arrange some time for you to meet.”

I made a tea gathering under the pretense of wanting to hear more of the Old Man’s story today.

Duke Helpion’s letter was nothing but a long story about swordsmanship, so at least I could fill it with sweet feelings of love.

But with the Old Man, I had no confidence I could write anything useful.

“Here…”

Alice brought us each a cup of Selbinas tea.

The familiar scent quietly began to soothe my mind.

“Well then. What do you want to know?”

“Of course, it’s about love. I looked into it a bit and heard that your love life wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.”

“Tsk, I bet some gossiping fool blabbed again. Not doing the research I’m supposed to do.”

“No, it wasn’t your disciples but a lady who runs a grocery store out on the frontier.”

“Love wasn’t easy. She was from Portamin Magic Tower, and I was from Unitello Magic Tower, so we couldn’t have had a good relationship.”

There are the three great Magic Towers in the world.

The Empire’s Portamin, the Eastern Entil Empire’s Unitello, and the Northern Sea’s Cheongnyeom.

The three towers each insisted they were the best, so naturally, they never got along well.

“I first saw her at the Magic Tower Exchange Tournament. Because of my genius talent from youth, I was the Unitello representative and advanced steadily to the semifinals.”

That self-praise is always inevitable.

If I left him alone, he’d probably talk about himself all day, so I quickly asked.

“Is that when you first saw the Lady?”

“Ahem, yes.”

Oh, this is getting strange.

“You lost, right?”

“Ahem! Ahem! It wasn’t because I lacked skill; my wife was just cowardly! In the last duel, I slightly twisted my right ankle, but she kept targeting that spot relentlessly with magic!”

Targeting the opponent’s weakness precisely is actually a very strategic and wise move.

The Lady was quite clever.

“Ah, that must’ve been really unfair.”

Of course, I had to say that because of social niceties.

“Yes! She won so unfairly! And then do you know what she said to me?”

Oh, was there something more after the match?

“What did she say?”

Hey.

‘Good job.’

……. She dared say ‘good job’ to me!

Huh?

I wish someone would explain how I’m supposed to react to that.

Ending a match well and telling the loser ‘good game’ and ‘good job’ is hardly wrong.

“How can she say such harsh words with such a shameless expression?”

But the Old Man was so flushed with anger that his face turned bright red as he scolded.

“Is that something to get angry about?”

“What? Shameless?! Because she couldn’t beat this genius by skill, she won by cowardly methods, then came to me not with an apology but saying ‘good job’! If that isn’t mocking me, what is?”

Right now, I was grateful that the Old Man was blind.

If his eyesight were normal, he’d see the absurd and baffled expressions Alice and I were wearing.

No wonder Alice was giving him a look that said she was fed up.

And somehow, I began to understand how the Old Man’s love life had been.

He had lived hearing he was a genius from a young age but was struck by a powerful shock when he was first defeated by the Lady, whom he fell in love with at first sight.

But the Lady’s plain ‘good job’ comment had wounded his pride.

“So, what did you do?”

“What could I do? I trained my ass off for a whole year! With the determination not to be fooled by such cowardly tricks again! Then, a year later, the Magic Tower tournament was held again.”

“Did you win this time?”

Just as I was waiting to hear more of the Old Man’s story, the laboratory door screeched open.

“Ugh, teacher, preparations are complete.”

“Already? Let’s go quickly.”

“What? You’re ending the story just like that? Don’t you know how frustrating it is to have a story cut off midway?”

“What kind of story is so important? It’s more frustrating to have the mana experiment interrupted. Get up quickly. We’re resuming the mana reaction experiment we couldn’t finish yesterday.”

The place we arrived at looked like a training ground.

The people gathered were the Old Man, Jason, myself, and Chechil — four in total.

After arriving at the Magic Tower, Chechil was doing menial tasks under Jason.

Since he didn’t come from the Academy but somewhere else, he lacked the foundation to work in the Tower.

Still, having followed wars around the Helpion Domain, he seemed to have matured enough to endure tedious labor silently.

Of course, enduring labor and physical endurance are two different things.

After three days, his expression had come to resemble Jason’s a bit.

“Today, I will teach you all magic.”

Hearing ‘magic,’ my ears perked up automatically.

“I told you during the last survey. Your affinity for mana is remarkable. You’ll probably pick up magic quickly. Once you succeed in manifesting magic, we’ll observe how mana moves within you.”

“Then I’ll be able to see the mana flow inside my body more clearly.”

“Just as well, that brat also needs to learn magic here and there to do his part. Consider yourself lucky. It’s rare to have the chance to learn directly from the Magic Tower Lord.”

“Yes, yes.”

I half-listened to the Old Man’s boasting.

“Mana is a vast energy existing in the atmosphere. I believe mana is the life and breath of this world.”

The Old Man slowly began speaking about mana.

“A mage is someone who creates miracles based on that breath. Look. How full of wonders is this world? Especially the power that lights up our lives most strongly. That.”

His finger pointed at the sun outside the window.

“The power that brightens the night and drives away evil! Mana naturally tries to imitate the properties of nature, so even a light casting can easily mimic sunlight. Jason.”

Jason raised his hand, and in an instant, a small glowing orb formed above it.

“This is the basic Light Spell of the 1st Circle. It manifests by releasing accumulated mana from one point in the body, then gathering it at another point in the air. You, kid, try it.”

Chechil looked tense but managed to produce a Light Spell.

“2nd Circle, right? Your mana movement is orderly and clean. Good.”

“T-Thank you.”

“Now, what you will learn from here on is the Light Spell. Receiving mana well and feeling and moving it inside the body are different things. So, until you can receive mana properly, these two will take turns casting Light nearby. If you have talent, it will take about a week. If average, around a month.”

“Wait a moment.”

There was a part of the Old Man’s explanation I didn’t quite understand.

“What is it?”

How should I put this?

I glanced at Jason and Chechil’s Light Spells, observing how the mana was structured.

It felt as if the world itself was teaching me how to use that magic.

“Don’t you think you can do it even now?”

At my words, all three looked utterly incredulous.

“Brat. Do you know what you just said?”

“I said I think I can do it.”

“You insolent whelp!”

The atmosphere suddenly turned sharp.

“I’ve been letting you get away with arrogance because of your talent, but now you mock me by confusing what should be serious and what shouldn’t!”

“M-Master, calm down!”

“Think you can do it? Think you can do it, huh? You think magic is a joke? There are people who spend ten years working day and night just to perform this 1st Circle spell once!”

The Old Man’s presence radiated an icy intensity without end.

No wonder Chechil standing beside him was shivering as if caught in a chill.

Even I was struggling to keep my legs from trembling.

His anger was not just simple fury but an overwhelming force.

But I couldn’t let that intimidate me.

I said I could do it, so I’ll show him.

To steady myself, I recalled the vast flow of mana I saw in the Akashic Record a few days ago.

A majestic movement that felt like looking at a great ocean.

From that convergence, thin lines bled out into the world, connecting to the two people before me.

As the Old Man said, the Light Spell was about releasing that line outward and binding it at a single point.

So, roughly… like this?

“This is why brats get so full of themselves when spoiled. They think they’re the greatest and ignore the magic the ancients made! Even I, known as a legendary genius, took four whole days to manifest the Light Spell, and you do it so easily… so easily…”

He must have sensed it quickly since he’s most sensitive to mana.

“It’s… easy?”