How a Wizard Survives (3)
How a Wizard Survives (3)
"You were lucky. You were buried in such a remote corner that you dodged the Heretic Inquisitors' regular patrols."
"Even though I came this close to being conscripted?"
"Getting dragged to the Front Lines doesn't mean certain death. But if a Heretic Inquisitor catches you, you're dead for sure."
I'd heard plenty about how terrifying the Heretic Inquisitors were, but this was beyond what I'd imagined.
Recalling the magic Ulysses had shown me earlier doubled my dread.
To think that even a mage as powerful as him feared them.
"With your magic, Teacher, a Heretic Inquisitor wouldn't stand a chance..."
"Most of the time, that's true. But not always."
"Do they use powers like magic too?"
"Oh, now that's a sharp question."
Ulysses, who seemed oddly pleased by my question, answered without hesitation.
He was a teacher who couldn't stand leaving a student's curiosity hanging.
"There are a few who use that sort of thing now and then, but for the most part, they face mages with courage, grit, and sheer numbers."
"C-Courage and grit don't seem like they'd be enough to catch you, Teacher..."
"Which is exactly why I haven't been caught yet. Still, the Heretic Inquisitors are undeniably a threat. Never underestimate the accumulated wisdom of humanity and its social systems."
His voice grew more serious as he warned me, then he grinned and added, "Money, power, and prestige are far more potent than most magic."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. Shall we eat now?"
Stopping under the shade of a tree, my teacher held out bread and meat to me.
It wasn't cheap sausage stuffed with offal and scraps; it was smoked meat, the likes of which I'd never tasted in my life.
"Whoa..."
"Hey, hey, you'll choke."
My head still insisted I ought to be wary of Ulysses.
But my body was far too honest, already regarding him as my teacher for life.
My head didn't hold out much longer, either.
'Well, things can't possibly get worse than they were. Besides, what use would a mage of his caliber have for a nobody like me that he'd need to string me along?'
This wasn't entirely baseless reasoning either...
The smoked meat I'd just eaten cost far more than my monthly pay.
Though I had to factor in that the village chief had been exploiting me at a ludicrously cheap rate.
After a leisurely meal, my teacher even handed me a gift.
It looked like a strip of iron twisted into a ring, though it did not seem entirely cheap.
"Here, take this."
"What is it?"
"A device that seals your mana. You still don't know how to suppress it, so wear this day and night. We'll be entering the city in a day or two."
"The city!"
I'd assumed being a mage meant holing up in some mountain valley, but we were going to the city?
The Heretic Inquisitors were terrifying, sure... but my teacher would handle things.
Excited by the unexpected destination, I accepted the ring and then hesitated.
"Ah, by the way, Teacher."
"What? Don't like the design?"
"No. But wouldn't a guy like me wearing a ring like this look suspicious?"
The first rule of survival: deceive others.
When I recalled it and asked, Ulysses looked genuinely delighted.
"That's exactly it. Always consider how others will perceive you. You might just live a good while, you know?"
"Th-Thank you."
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
While I was too dumbfounded to reply, Ulysses swiftly added, "Well, a single ring is fine. It's not that high-end... and more importantly, from now on, you're going to be a forge worker."
"A forge?"
"Yes. It's one of my cover identities. An expert armorer is welcome anywhere. You can even survive a city being overrun."
Aha.
It made sense that a forge apprentice would have a scrap-iron ring like this.
I could just say I'd made it myself from the odd metal lying around the forge.
A cover identity, huh.
Once again, I was impressed by my teacher's foresight.
A mage who operated in a city teeming with Heretic Inquisitors clearly knew what he was doing.
Sticking with this man, at the very least, meant I wouldn't go hungry.
"So you use a job like blacksmithing as a cover identity..."
"You're surprisingly quick on the uptake, aren't you? Aren't there some unfamiliar words mixed in?"
"Ah, I learned basic math and letters because I was aiming for a supply clerk position."
My explanation left my teacher visibly moved.
But in truth, I was far more moved than he was.
What good had it done me to scrape together my meager allowance to learn letters and arithmetic?
Apparently, even supply clerks ended up fighting.
Worse, I had heard that even those positions were bought up by children from wealthy families.
But now, things were different.
The knowledge I'd gained was finally usable.
Unlike the dull conversations back in the village, every word my teacher used seemed to brim with intelligence.
There were occasionally words too difficult to grasp, but I read the context and figured out the gist.
Equally pleased with our new arrangement, we reached our destination on the evening of the following day.
Sleeping outdoors was not easy, but it was still far better than my days in the barn.
Now I had a future to look forward to.
That hope was rewarded far sooner than expected.
In the distance, a massive fortress city, standing tall with its back against a cliff, welcomed Ulysses and me.
Beyond the thick stone walls, a sea breeze carrying the scent of salt blew in.
"Wow, this is..."
"The capital, Reshutal. Let's head in quickly, Jaeger."
"Yes, Teacher."
When I answered to my new name without missing a beat, Ulysses smirked again.
Guards stood steadfast at the fortress gate.
But after Ulysses exchanged a few words with them, they let me through without a fuss.
"Who's this one?"
"An apprentice I brought along to train up."
"Hmm, if it's someone you brought, Stefan, then it should be fine. Pass."
We entered the city with barely any inspection. I kept my head rigidly forward, resisting the urge to look around, and followed my teacher.
Even as he walked on without hesitation, he spoke to me.
"Just look around at ease. It's fine to let your inner country bumpkin show a little."
"C-Can all these people really live here?"
"That's what I wonder. This way."
My teacher entered a clean, prosperous-looking street and passed beneath a sign painted with an anvil.
A building that seemed far too spacious for just one person.
It looked like a shop, workshop, warehouse, and residence all in one, but even considering that, it was enormous.
"Wow..."
"Ulysses. Where in the world have you been? And who's that kid?"
While I was looking around in a daze, a woman appeared from the staircase leading down to the basement.
Her clothes were strikingly unusual, yet they only made the beautiful woman seem more captivating.
Tall and self-assured, she looked well suited to my teacher.
Now that I looked, their ages were roughly similar, too.
"Was there a lady of the house? Or is she another student?"
"No way. Ash is a Puppet Mage, my business partner. We help each other out. Ash, say hello to Jaeger."
"Hold on. Don't tell me you've gone and taken a student now?"
"That 'no way' is precisely what happened."
Ash looked slightly dumbfounded as my teacher affirmed it without hesitation.
Grumbling quietly, she retreated back down into the basement.
"Honestly, always doing whatever he wants."
"As you can see, Ash is very shy around strangers. You can sleep over there."
"Yes, Teacher."
A fairly decent bedroom was set up in the corner of the workshop.
Delighted with my new bed, I lay down to sleep.
I was exhausted from the unexpected journey, yet sleep would not come.
Just what kind of magic would I be learning from tomorrow?
With my imagination running wild like that, there was no way sleep would come.
But my expectations were utterly dashed.
What began the next day was training as an apprentice blacksmith.
I woke early to haul heavy lumps of iron and spent my days beside the fire.
Ulysses took on the blacksmithing work himself to catch up on the backlog of orders.
He breezed through most of the process with magic... but maintaining his cover identity seemed to be a fair amount of hassle.
"Huff, huff..."
"Jaeger. Once that's done, go draw some water."
"Y-Yes, T-Teacher."
I barely managed to reply, drenched in sweat, already feeling my body creak.
Hard labor that couldn't compare to the odd jobs back in the farming village!
It was enough to make me wonder if he'd lured me in by calling me a mage just to exploit me like this.
Still, the magic Ulysses occasionally displayed was incredible.
With a single wave of his hand, an impossibly intricate suit of chainmail assembled itself perfectly.
The armor he made so casually seemed to sell for a price I couldn't earn in a lifetime of work.
'Damn it, but the food here is insanely good, so...'
I had eaten more meat since arriving here than in the rest of my life combined.
Food alone was keeping me going through this life.
As I convinced myself of this and returned from the well, Ulysses grinned as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
"Don't be impatient. For now, it's all about physical strength."
"Physical strength?"
"Right. I'm the type who uses anything that can be put to use. You've got two arms and two legs, all perfectly fine, don't you? It'd be a waste to leave them idle. Once you've built up some stamina, let's fit in swordsmanship training too. For a blacksmith's apprentice, knowing how to use a sword isn't out of the ordinary."
"S-Swordsmanship..."
A high-level skill I'd never dared hope for.
It would be completely different from that bastard Hans swinging a wooden sword alone in the forest.
But more than that, I wanted to learn magic.
They said someone like me was born maybe once every three hundred years, so wasn't it about time he taught me some?
Careful not to offend my teacher, I asked cautiously, "Um, so when will I be training in magic?"
"Magic? I don't know about anything else, but I have no intention of teaching you magic."
"Wh-What?"
I was supposed to be a mage's apprentice, and he wasn't going to teach me magic?
Had I really been scammed?
Before my thoughts could even fully land, he shook his head firmly.
"A contractor teaching magic to an Awakened One? That's absurd, isn't it? I do have a sense of shame, you know."
"I-Is it absurd?"
"You'll understand when the time comes. Now, time to work the bellows."
I worked the bellows diligently, just as my teacher ordered.
My arms, which had reached their limit long ago, trembled violently.