How a Wizard Survives (18)
How a Wizard Survives (18)
Objectively speaking, I was strong.
This wasn't arrogance or anything of the sort.
It had been roughly four months since I'd become a mage. I'd held a sword for barely that long, and I'd already defeated a mage recorded on the Wall of Shame.
It might not have been the fairest of fights... but if someone like me was weak, then this world had no strong people at all.
But when it comes to romance?
I was completely weak.
An orphan kid who lived in the village chief's barn wasn't exactly a charming romantic prospect to begin with.
'Women, huh...'
In my hometown, there were exactly six boys around my age, and only four girls.
And even of those, two died before they turned ten.
So the final sex ratio was six to two.
On top of that, I was the first pick for conscription in the village... so there was no way I had any real romantic experience.
So, is the situation any different in Reshutal?
From what I could see, not particularly.
Being good at killing mages doesn't automatically make you a charming romantic partner.
And the target my teacher pointed out, Katrina Wizardvein, was on a completely different level.
'To begin with, there's no way Lady Katrina would ever see someone like me as a romantic interest.'
Sure, Katrina was a little lacking in both swordsmanship and magic...
But the Wizardvein Family is a prestigious noble house renowned across the entire continent!
They didn't yield an inch even when dealing with Einhold, an actual ducal family.
As for whether Katrina herself had any shortcomings, absolutely not.
Katrina was a famous beauty even in the capital Reshutal.
She practically had to wear her helmet whenever she patrolled the city.
Even then, nobles never tired of approaching her.
If even one of them broke through the regular inquisitors' line of defense and reached Katrina, the training grounds would echo with wails of agony that day.
'It's not like Lady Katrina has any personality flaws either... No matter how I look at this, a direct approach has zero chance of success.'
In the end, my brain, trained as a mage, produced the most plausible conclusion it could.
"Should I just use Hypnosis Magic or something?"
"Do you think that would work on a Rejection Mage?"
As Ash retorted with disbelief, a burst of laughter came from Ulysses beside her.
He seemed to find something so amusing that he slightly revised his orders.
"Ah, cancel that. Jaeger, you do nothing."
"Just a moment ago you told me to seduce Lady Katrina."
"Seduce her you must, but you'd just screw things up royally with pointless schemes. Hah-ha."
Ulysses, who had been laughing heartily, quickly added as if to console me.
"Don't worry too much. She probably isn't entirely uninterested in you."
"Th-there's no way."
"Jaeger. Would someone from Wizardvein pretend not to see you without a reason?"
Ash said a few words too, but they weren't enough to quell my anxiety.
"Well, that's because I'm a reasonably useful squire..."
"There isn't a Holy Knight alive who'd stake her life and honor for a mere squire. Anyway, you just keep doing what you've been doing."
I decided to simply accept my teacher's advice with gratitude.
Has listening to Ulysses ever led me astray?
And no such misfortune was likely to happen in the future either.
I arrived at work early the next morning, my back aching from my teacher's blows, and greeted her as casually as I could.
"Good morning, Lady Katrina."
"Right. Let's start with swordsmanship training."
Katrina reacted just as she always did.
Well, if she acted differently here, it would only draw suspicion from the other inquisitors.
The branch office's training yard held far more troops than usual.
It seemed everyone had free time in their duties and had come to join the training.
After killing four mages listed on the Wall of Shame in Einhold, the branch was in unusually high spirits.
With all the heretics we'd diligently caught so far... it was fair to say the mages in the vicinity had truly been wiped out.
Through an unspoken agreement, we moved to the most secluded spot possible and began swordsmanship practice after slowly warming up.
Katrina quickly increased the tempo from the start.
As I parried her attacks with ease, her whisper reached me through the clash of swords.
"Jaeger. You haven't ever killed someone who wasn't a mage, have you?"
"Of course not. I'd never killed anyone before I met you, Lady Katrina. Ah, I'm absolutely not blaming you..."
Once I heard myself say it aloud, the implication sounded terrible.
Just as she relaxed, a conspicuous giant of a man strode into the training yard.
No one disputed that Reinhardt Wizardvein was the strongest swordsman at the Reshutal Inquisition Branch...
But he was so busy that he almost never participated in training.
Usually, training for Reinhardt meant cutting down mages in the field.
But for some reason today, it seemed there were no mages to practice slaughtering.
He approached me without hesitation, training sword in hand.
"Jaeger, Katrina. I've found some rare free time. Care for a match?"
"I-I'd be honored!"
Katrina gripped her sword tightly, excited by a proposal she hadn't dared to hope for.
I turned to face him immediately as Reinhardt walked slowly over.
"Do as you please."
"Yes, then..."
Before the spar, I offered a greeting and used the gesture to launch a surprise attack.
My slightly underhanded move made not only Katrina but other Holy Knights' faces contort...
But Reinhardt himself just laughed and deflected it.
"Ha! I knew you and I would understand each other."
Because of our previous promise, I was in no position to disappoint Reinhardt.
Courtesy?
Against an opponent leagues stronger than me, leisurely exchanging pleasantries would be the discourteous act.
Reinhardt certainly didn't request a duel just to exchange greetings!
"Lady Katrina!"
As I shouted and swung my sword with full force, Katrina also cast off her embarrassment and joined in.
We skillfully pressured him from both sides...
But regrettably, we had little success against Reinhardt.
'This is absurd. Even for a spar, going two-against-one without using magic shouldn't be possible.'
As I expected, Reinhardt was still a distant, towering figure of strength.
It wasn't simply that he was strong and skilled.
He knew how to utilize his abilities at more than a hundred percent.
A talent that Katrina unfortunately did not possess.
Clang! Claaang!
The loud ringing of swords echoed ceaselessly.
The other inquisitors had at some point stopped their own training to watch us.
Katrina and I had practiced joint combat together as best we could until now...
But Reinhardt was far more proficient at it than we were in sync.
He was a master of chaotic melee, deflecting our attacks like flowing water.
His natural positioning and use of his armor were especially admirable.
'I see. Like that...'
I applied what I learned from him on the spot, and Reinhardt's breathing changed.
Unfortunately, Katrina seemed barely able to keep up with me.
Still, having one more person on my side was a tremendous advantage.
I made the most of her presence as I continued the spar.
"Urgh!"
After a long, closely fought duel, we were declared the losers.
Even then, Reinhardt must have held back a great deal.
As Katrina caught her labored breath, Reinhardt supported her and spoke quietly.
"Next time, let's try it while using miracles too."
"Thank you, Commander."
Katrina glanced at me oddly as she clenched her fist tightly.
Once the training was roughly finished, she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the yard.
It might have looked a little odd, but she probably meant to keep a mage like me from wandering off.
"Lady Katrina. Now that training's over, equipment maintenance..."
"Forget it. Just stay by my side."
I knew it.
Keeping me beside her, Katrina muttered quietly under her breath.
To me, her grumbling felt incredibly endearing.
"How could I trust you out of my sight, after you deceived me so perfectly?"
"I-I'm sorry."
"You detestable fellow. And copying techniques in the middle of a spar? How in the world do you even do that?"
"Haha..."
"If you're a mage, act like a mage. You could have just stabbed me in the back the first time we met..."
Was she trying to peer into the very depths of my soul?
Katrina stared at me intently with transparent eyes, lamenting without pause.
Because she usually said so little, every word carried unusual weight.
I accepted it all and let out a chuckle.
"I always enjoy listening to your voice, Lady Katrina. I wish you'd speak this often all the time."
"..."
Katrina's pale face flushed bright red, and her eyes trembled slightly.
After a moment's deliberation, she meted out a punishment perfectly tailored to me.
That is, she clamped her mouth shut and didn't say another word.
After that, I tried to coax her into talking, but I failed every time.
She even substituted the order to leave work for the day with a frosty glare.
I returned to the smithy with my head slightly drooping. Right afterward, I spotted my teacher walking through the door.
He had revealed his true face and was even dressed in unusually sharp clothes.
"T-Teacher? Where are you coming back from?"
"A little social activity and leisure. I do hold a noble title in Reshutal, you know."
"A noble? But is it alright to walk around with your face exposed like that?"
"When I'm playing the noble, it's far more dangerous to maintain a disguise. No matter how good it is, you can't fool the eyes of a real expert."
Well, that makes sense. That's why I chose to enter the Inquisition Branch without altering my face either.
Ash came up from the basement as she always did, glanced sideways at Ulysses, and immediately scolded him.
"That look... you were out having fun again?"
"I-I barely did any this time!"
"Having fun...?"
Now that I think about it, what exactly does my teacher do for fun?
When I looked at him with pure curiosity, Ash answered with a sigh.
"Gambling. He's good at going out, even though he always loses."
"Aha, are you acting the patsy in front of other nobles? As expected of you, Teacher..."
"No. I'm genuinely terrible at gambling. Even when I try my hardest, I lose almost without fail."
"Huh."
My eyes widened at Ulysses' confession.
To think there's something my teacher is bad at.
Ash actually smacked him on the back.
"What are you babbling about as if it's something to be proud of? You didn't blow through all the operating funds again, did you?"
"I'm telling you, I only did a tiny bit. Come on, let's have dinner quickly."
Swiftly taking off his coat and washing his hands, my teacher headed straight for the kitchen.
His cooking skills far transcended the average.
Only then did Ash's anger subside as she sat at the table and watched Ulysses' back.
I quickly took the seat next to her.
When I provided the hot-off-the-press intelligence I'd gathered at the Inquisition Branch today, a satisfied reaction came from the direction of the stove.
"Ah, there's a concentrated crackdown in this area in three days, so keep that in mind."
"Okay. What about the lower-noble districts? Like near the Royal Palace."
"Those places are watched, so we can't go often. Though Lord Reinhardt seemed keen on stirring things up whenever he had the time..."
"Good grief, that man and his pointless diligence."
Ash, who had been listening quietly, voiced her disgust.
Her reaction was perfectly natural...
There were just under thirty mages recorded on the Wall of Shame erected at the Inquisition Branch.
And yet, over three months, Reshutal had killed five of those rare and powerful mages.
On top of that, both Permanent Sealing Targets were captured alive!
It's reasonable to get a little lax in a situation like this.
My teacher, who had been chatting idly with us, soon brought a splendid dish to the table.
It wasn't the kind of thing you eat in other households, where they just roughly toss in vegetables and boil it until it's soft.
This could easily be served to customers at the restaurant I'd visited with Katrina.
"How were things with your lady knight today?"
"I-it was just... uneventful..."
When I explained my day with Katrina in as much detail as possible, Ulysses grinned.
He glanced back at Ash and spoke with a shrug.
"Didn't I say it would be fine?"
"You call this fine?"
"Well, the fact that she still hasn't reported you is a kind of success, isn't it? Show me your Gravity Magic after dinner."
"Yes, sir."
Come to think of it, yesterday we'd been so preoccupied with the Katrina talk that I didn't get to properly show him my new magic.
After finishing a leisurely meal, I demonstrated Gravity Magic in front of Ulysses and Ash.
"Here I go."
"Sure, anytime."
Gravity isn't a force that drops things; it's a force that pulls things in.
I replayed that fact in my head as I gave a simple demonstration.
Since we were indoors, I showed off a variety of small but diverse techniques, and my teacher's smile stiffened slightly.
He'd been watching my demonstration without a word for a long while before he finally spoke with some difficulty.
"You took down the Earth Mage, Yaul, with that magic, correct?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Looking closer, Ash did not look pleased either.
Appearances aside, I'd never been underrated when it came to magic...
I was inwardly trembling with anxiety because of this, but Ulysses slowly shook his head.
"No, the opposite."
"You're sure you'd never even seen Gravity Magic before?"
"The Einhold mages were assigned to a completely different area. You know... when I fell into the earth, I suppose you could say I had a sort of epiphany?"
"Even so, you're too proficient. Your Gravity Magic is technically refined. It is more polished than the Transformation Magic you have spent the most time practicing."
That much?
As I froze for a moment, he relaxed his expression a little and reassured me.
"Originally, Gravity Magic has an incredible difficulty level. It seems to suit you far better than Transformation Magic. Even an Awakened One has a specialty magic, after all..."
"Aha, I see."
"Right. So if a time ever comes when you must fight at full power, plan on using Gravity Magic as your primary. Now, you can rest for today."
Finishing his words, Ulysses picked up his coat again and moved toward the smithy's exit.
A flustered Ash grabbed hold of him, but all she got was a short reply.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"There's something I want to confirm. It'll take a few days."
Creeeak.
Left behind in the smithy, Ash and I looked at each other and shut our eyes tight.