How a Wizard Survives (4)
How a Wizard Survives (4)
About a year had passed since I arrived in Reshutal with Ulysses.
I rose lightly from the bed.
My frame had filled out and I weighed more than before, but the real change was the sheer amount of muscle.
Back in my hometown, I'd done plenty of back-breaking labor without a moment's rest, but...
Hard work with proper nutrition produces entirely different results.
Sometimes my teacher even fed me until eating was painful.
"Hoo."
I washed up, did my morning exercises, then walked to the mirror more out of habit than anything else.
Facial expressions were what my teacher and I had drilled the hardest.
I maintained a slightly gloomy, worn-down look as I threw on some clothes and stepped out of the bedroom.
"Teacher, did you sleep wel—ah, already out?"
It wasn't Ulysses sitting at the small table in the corner of the workshop. It was Smith.
You could say both of them were my teachers, but this was different.
That was not my real teacher. It was a puppet made by Ash, my teacher's business partner.
Ash, the Puppet Mage, often used puppets eerily similar to real people to cover my teacher's absences.
Ash's fake teacher ate its meal with perfectly natural movements.
It was so well-made that even I, who knew the truth, was nearly fooled for a moment.
As I sat down across from it and began eating, Ash emerged from the basement.
"Hello, Ash."
"Ulysses stepped out to buy a few things."
"Ah... I see."
Unlike my teacher, Ash had no cover identity at all.
Which meant that, officially, she didn't exist in this city, so she rarely came up from the basement.
And since the basement was entirely her territory...
Even though I'd been here for a year, I could count the number of times I'd seen her face on one hand.
Her complexion was pale from the lack of sunlight, but she was still an astonishing beauty.
My eye for such things had sharpened since coming to the capital, yet I still hadn't seen a woman who matched Ash.
Seeing her face still made me awkward, so I ate in silence. She stared at me intently.
"... You've gotten a lot bigger."
"Ah, yes... thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
The Puppet Mage replied coldly and scrutinized me piece by piece.
Thankfully, she broke the silence before it stretched too long.
"Have you learned any magic from Ulysses?"
"Oh, no. Not yet..."
"Thought so. Why take a kid like you as a disciple if he won't even teach you magic? Honestly."
Ash grumbled away right in front of the person in question.
Just as I was about to offer her some food, she said, out of nowhere, "I wanted to become Ulysses's disciple myself, you know."
"Y-you mean, my teacher's disciple?"
"Yes. The very thing you are now."
That genuinely surprised me.
Ash didn't seem like a second-rate mage by any measure... yet she'd sought Ulysses's teaching.
Still not convinced, I asked cautiously, "Ash, you're more than a full-fledged mage already. Is my teacher really that powerful a mage?"
"Ulysses, the Wizard of Change? Of course. In this era, you'd be hard-pressed to find a mage stronger than him."
"Ohh..."
Maybe she'd gotten lonely being alone in the basement for so long.
Once she started talking, Ash didn't stop.
"Ulysses is a mage who can use Immobility Magic in addition to Transformation Magic. Mages who master different branches of magic are exceedingly rare. It's like writing with fire on water."
"But Puppet Magic is amazing too."
I gestured toward the 'Mr. Smith' next to me, and Ash smiled bitterly.
"Compared to his magic, this is just a cheap trick. When you're finished eating, come down to the basement."
"Yes."
As Ash stood up, the Smith puppet jumped to his feet and briskly started clearing the table.
I quickly emptied my plate and headed underground. For the first time, I properly saw Ash's puppet workshop.
Without turning from her worktable, Ash explained.
"Today I'll be making your puppet. Ulysses asked me to."
"Ah... thank you very much."
"First, stand with your arms straight out and your feet shoulder-width apart. Breathe normally, and talk as much as you can."
"Speak?"
"Yes. I need to understand your everyday vocabulary."
Making a puppet seemed to be an extremely sophisticated process.
I decided to use the opportunity to satisfy a little curiosity.
"Do you ever get lonely, staying in the basement every day?"
"I didn't say to ask me questions... Well, fine. Loneliness is a mage's closest friend."
True enough.
Just yesterday, I'd seen a mage hanging in the square.
This place, the capital Reshutal, was adjacent to the sea and had an excellent location, so people inevitably flocked here.
That inevitably meant a worrying number of mages were mixed in among them.
"Then it's my turn. So... why do you think Ulysses took you as a disciple?"
I hadn't expected her to ask so bluntly.
Being rejected by my teacher must have been a heavy blow for her.
Feeling the hands tracing over my body, I answered honestly.
"Wouldn't it be because I'm an Awakened One?"
"What? An Awakened One?"
Ash's voice suddenly jumped in volume, and the hands that had been at my waist seized my shoulders.
"Are you sure?"
"That's what my teacher told me..."
"An Awakened One, after all this time. So that's how it was... Then he had no choice but to take you on. Ahem."
Ash agonized to herself for a moment, and then her expression turned oddly peaceful.
With the look of someone who had finally let go of an old grudge, she spoke in a noticeably more relaxed voice.
"And here I was, not knowing that, just wasting away on my own... Well, whatever."
"Ash, you've been with my teacher far longer than I have... couldn't you already be considered his disciple?"
Ash gave me a look of sheer disbelief at my clumsy attempt at consolation.
She shook her head and kept working.
"A mage's disciple isn't something that simple. Do you know what the ultimate goal of most mages is?"
"Huh? Hmm... to live comfortably without getting caught by the Heretic Inquisitors?"
"That's your ultimate goal. Most mages aren't Awakened Ones; they're contractors. And when a contractor dies, their soul is forfeit to the demon."
Ah, right. I'd briefly forgotten because that didn't apply to me.
Ash continued in a somber tone.
"But there's exactly one way to keep from becoming a demon's slave after death."
"There's a way? What is it?"
"Simple. Kill the demon you contracted with. If the one holding your debt disappears, the debt disappears with them."
I was so shocked that I stood still for a long moment.
Kill a demon.
I'd never even imagined such a thing.
"B-but it doesn't sound as simple as you make it sound. Demons are the ones who lend mages their power, aren't they?"
"Yes. It actually isn't easy. To be blunt, there are almost no cases of success. Even for Ulysses, his odds against a demon would be slim."
So even for someone like my teacher, the odds weren't zero.
Seeing my eyes light up, Ash brought the topic back around.
"Anyway, nearly all mages want to kill their contracted demon and reclaim their freedom. But most die before they can realize that dream. What do you suppose is left for those mages after death?"
"Hmm."
I pondered the profound question.
It wouldn't be wealth.
Once you became a demon's slave, fame and the like were meaningless too...
Family?
Ridiculous.
Creating a family was the surest way to get caught by the Heretic Inquisitors.
My teacher had drilled that into my ears until they were sore.
The only ones a mage could keep company with were other mages.
After mulling it over and over, I finally found the answer in what Ash had said earlier.
"... A disciple. When a mage dies, nothing remains but their disciple."
"Yes, you're sharper than you look."
Now I understood what Ash had been trying to tell me.
A mage's disciple was that mage's everything.
The sole legacy a mage could leave in this world!
Even if they personally failed to kill their demon, if their disciple killed the demon for them, they could still be freed, even later.
My heart suddenly felt heavy.
Having finished taking my measurements, Ash smiled thinly and tapped my forehead.
It was the first time I'd ever seen this woman smile, and I already wanted to see it again.
"I'm not going to ask you to kill a demon. That's not Ulysses's way."
"Oh, getting friendly already? Good to see."
My teacher had returned unnoticed and waved from the stairway.
He handed me a small paper bag and asked Ash, "How long do you think the puppet will take?"
"I already have a base, so about two weeks? Is it urgent?"
"Jaeger needs to start his proper training soon. Jaeger, take that out."
"Yes, Teacher."
Inside the crumpled paper bag was a tiny glass bottle.
The expensive bottle was filled to the brim with jet-black liquid.
"What is this?"
"Mana extracted from a Demonic Beast on the Front Lines. Mere possession alone warrants a minimum sentence of life imprisonment. Typically, it's the death penalty."
"Mana..."
Was I finally going to be able to use magic?
I possessed my own mana, but the amount was so minuscule it was practically unusable.
Mana was the power of Demonic Beasts and Demons.
Acquiring it from nature is nearly impossible.
"Alright, first, take off your ring."
"Is it really okay? Shouldn't I train a bit more..."
"It's fine. Did you need training to breathe?"
As always, my teacher's composed demeanor put me at ease.
I did as he instructed and removed the Mana-Sealing Ring.
My body, long accustomed to the sealed state, was holding its mana in perfect balance.
"See? Fine, right? Now drink that down in one go. The taste won't be great, but..."
"Thank you."
I bowed my head once more and gulped down the viscous liquid in one shot.
It felt like my esophagus was slowly burning.
But soon, vitality surged through my body.
"Ugh... nnngh."
"Wait, he already calmed it down?"
"I told you. He's an Awakened One."
"I only heard that for the first time today?"
"Ah, did I forget to mention it?"
Ulysses headed up to the workshop, getting scolded by Ash along the way.
In the meantime, the Mr. Smith puppet had brought in the day's work.
Ash's Puppet Magic was so impressive that it handled everyday conversation flawlessly.
"Good. Perfect timing—there's a chainmail repair request. You give it a try. Using magic."
"Ah, yes..."
It was my revered teacher's command, so I didn't dare refuse, but...
Could I really do this?
I'd never even properly learned magic.
As if reading my mind, Ulysses added quickly, "Have conviction. I won't ask you to do the impossible. You just need to reconnect the broken links."
"Reconnect the broken links..."
I picked up a few intact links nearby and cautiously moved my mana.
I moved the links with mana instead of my hands, prying one open and closing it again.
Each ring passed through four others and was secured with a rivet.
Watching a suit of armor composed of two hundred thousand rings repair itself in midair, Ash swallowed hard.
"This is absurd..."
The chainmail was repaired in no time.
I was lucky the damage was on the torso, one of the simplest sections to repair.
As I stared down at my own hands, my teacher smiled with satisfaction and gave the next order.
"Now go fetch some water."
"I think I still have enough left. Should I just use magic?"
"Getting cocky."
Ducking my teacher's swinging fist, I grabbed the bucket. Before long, I understood the lesson.
In front of the city well, the corpse of a recently executed mage was dangling by the neck.
The citizens passed it without a second glance, exchanging ordinary morning greetings.
"Jaeger. Isn't it about time you stopped by my shop for a drink?"
"If the master raises my pay, sure."
"Sure thing, I'll be waiting."
I answered with a smile, but all the while I kept my internal mana firmly suppressed.
That's right. This was the capital, crawling with Heretic Inquisitors.
If I got cocky just because I'd succeeded at one pathetic spell, I'd die.
Grasping my teacher's deeper intent, I quickly drew the water and headed back to the smithy.