The Death of the Foolish Sheep (2)
The Death of the Foolish Sheep (2)
#31
To my beloved granddaughter, Elysia.
It is truly regrettable that I cannot tell you this in person while looking at your face. This, too, is the fate of a mage, so please understand. Thus, I leave you my will through this book.
By the time you read this book, I imagine you will have graduated from the Academy and will soon become a full-fledged mage. Did the name we gave you grow on you? Your mother and I thought it over carefully before finally deciding on it. I hope it suits you.
In any case, my cute granddaughter, you must have faced countless trials while studying magic. Our Unique Magic, "Equivalent Exchange," is a little different from that of other mages. So, this grandmother has prepared a gift for you, Elysia.
This book contains all the secret traditions of alchemy recorded by our ancestors. I, your grandmother, believe that if you have safely graduated from the Academy, you will be able to handle it properly. Trust in yourself and please pioneer new levels of magic.
Your predecessor and bearer of the Unique Magic, Hene Florentia.
#32
Not long after the sun had set, the silver mage—no, the silver-haired thief—was in the middle of raiding her mother's archive. Her skill was probably enough to slap the cheek of an old kunoichi from the eastern island nation.
Uh...
I didn't expect this!
I felt as though I had been hit with a massive spoiler. There must've been a reason Mom hid this book so tightly. She was planning to show it to me after I graduated from the Academy!
But wasn't it also fate that I had ended up stealing that book from Mom's archive? Or maybe not.
Anyway, since I had already seen Grandma's book, I would just copy the useful potions written in it and use them. Looking through it, I even found a recipe for the Invisible-Invisible Potion.
Ah, now that I looked at it, it was su~per easy to make. It was a potion that only needed a handful of Inkleaf and the use of Unique Magic! I'd make this one first, right away.
Hmm...
But while I was at it, it would be better to make a cooler potion too, right? Looking at the table of contents, I found potions underlined in red!
But what on earth did the red underlines mean? I still lacked the knowledge to know exactly what effects they had...
Libido Potion?
Since this was at the beginning of the table of contents, I'd try making it. It didn't seem to require many ingredients, so I could probably make it right away. However, since I only had half of the Imprint needed to exercise my Unique Magic, I wasn't sure whether it would be completed properly...
But if I fed it to Mr. Do-yun, I would find out what kind of potion it was!
#33
A quiet room.
Sitting in this cozy room, small but with everything one needed, with nothing to do, I was bored out of my mind.
Since there was no way the internet would work on a floating island of mages, I was sitting there aimlessly on the white sheets of the bed when I heard a knock breaking the quiet silence.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Yes, come in."
I briefly held onto the hope that it might be Elysia, but unfortunately, a blonde girl opened the door and entered instead of Elysia.
"Excuse me, I have an important matter, so I came to visit late at night."
I wondered what the matter could be. It was a welcome distraction since I was bored to tears anyway.
"Yes, please come in. So, what is this important matter?"
"It's nothing else, I just need you to sign this consent form. Here it is."
The white document Estelle handed over had the title 'Designated Teaching Aid Usage Consent Form' densely packed with detailed clauses.
"After the practical session with you ended earlier, I stopped by the infirmary and got a scolding from Professor Carmine. It seems the issue was that, as a 2nd-year, I conducted an experiment with a Teaching Aid without the professor's permission."
Come to think of it, she was Elysia's junior. Since Elysia was said to be a 3rd-year, it must have been impossible for the younger Estelle to experiment alone without permission. This was likely a permit to resolve that issue.
"If you sign here, even as a 2nd-year, I can freely conduct practical experiments alone. Of course, since this permission is granted with your assistance, I'm not asking you to sign for nothing."
Oh—if it wasn't for nothing, what would she give me?
"I will grant you one wish within my power."
Fuck.
Was Estelle a god?
No, how dare I harbor such a preposterous question like 'Are you a god?' toward a god. A blasphemous human like me deserved to die sooner rather than later. In any case, since the gods had given me this opportunity, it would be best to ask for money and turn my life around.
But just like with Rubel before, I needed to think carefully. Simply asking for money? This was too great an opportunity to be satisfied with mere money.
However, if I made an absurd wish—for example,
'I wanted to become Lady Estelle's gigolo.'
I'd probably be coldly ignored. I thought this required a truly, truly, truly careful consideration. By the way, a teaching-material slave like me would naturally just sign something if asked, so why was she giving me such a special privilege? I needed to know the reason.
"I appreciate Lady Estelle's kindness. However, I have one thing I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Why would Lady Estelle go so far as to grant a wish to a lowly person like me? For a lowly slave like myself, Lady Estelle's mercy is truly a huge opportunity."
Upon hearing that, the golden-haired girl began to twirl a strand of hair around her small finger and opened her mouth to speak.
"You're quite the smooth talker. Very well, I'll explain the reason. Mr. Do-yun, you originally received an offer from Lady Rubel to follow her, didn't you?"
Nod.
"As a successor of the same Count House, and furthermore, as a mage who handles the Unique Magic of contracts, I'm simply balancing the scales equally with Lady Rubel's conditions. In any case, a wish of your caliber is something I can grant easily. Whether it's money or anything else, speak up. I'll grant it."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like a reason that deviated greatly from my expectations.
"Then, would it be alright if I ask for that wish later?"
"Alright. Ask for that wish later, whenever you need it. In exchange, I'll add one condition of my own."
"What might that be?"
"Cooperate in the experiments every day. Even outside the Academy."
"Weren't you planning to do that every day anyway? That's what I was aware of."
"Hmm, it seems the misunderstanding arose from what I said earlier in the lecture hall. Do you remember when we first met? Back then, I said I usually give Teaching Aids a day of rest after practical sessions."
Ah—now that I thought about it carefully, she did say something like that.
"So, we can't do experiments at the Academy tomorrow. Therefore, on days like tomorrow, which are rest days, I plan to conduct experiments at my mansion. Anyway, it's late now, so I'll be on my way. When daylight breaks, I'll send Mira to you. Follow her to the drawing room and bring that document."
With that declaration, the girl disappeared out the door.
***
The silence returned. I couldn't sleep, so what was I really supposed to do now?
It was at that moment.
I'm here!
'?'
I heard a vaguely familiar voice.
Over here!
As I approached the window to find the source of the voice,
It's me, Elysia! Please open the window quickly!
Elysia, with only her head floating, was standing outside the window.
#34
"Mr. Do-yun~ Nice to see you."
"Yes, it's nice to see you too. I see you managed to make that Invisible-Invisible Potion?"
It was terrifying because just her head was floating, and it wasn't even a Dullahan. Wait, don't Dullahans have no heads? I had it backwards. Anyway.
The silver-haired girl whispered quietly.
"Yes. By the way, is Estelle gone? I can't afford to get caught."
"She probably went out into the hallway, so I don't think she'll be back until tomorrow morning. You can just speak comfortably. But how on earth did you end up looking like that?"
"It was my first time making the Invisible-Invisible Potion. And since I don't have half of my Imprint, making potions that require Unique Magic doesn't work as I intend. In any case, the potion was made imperfectly..."
Seeing Elysia's downcast expression on her floating noggin made me feel a bit of pity.
"Still, I hid well and managed to sneak into the mansion. I forgot to give you the reagent yesterday, remember? So, I took the risk and came here today no matter what, to make sure I gave it to you."
Hmm, was she planning to give me another injection in my cock?
I was all for it this time!
"Eh. Why are you making that expression? Today's a bit difficult. I have to go back before the potion's effect ends."
What a shame.
"And since the Imprint has started to settle into your body, Mr. Do-yun, I switched the reagent to a drinkable potion. Here, drink this."
Elysia rummaged through her invisible clothes and handed me a flask containing a red potion.
"Can I just drink it like water?"
"Yep. And once you finish that, drink this potion too."
This time it was a pinkish potion.
"What about this one?"
"Hmm... It's just a potion needed for an experiment! Drink it, and let me know how it feels later at the academy."
"I actually have more questions I want to ask..."
"I'm sorry. The duration of the Invisible-Invisible Potion is about to end. Let's talk next time!"
The silver-haired head disappeared beyond the window.
I was about to ask why on earth she gave me the Imprint in the first place...
I'd just ask next time.
For the moment, I would just drink the medicine and get some sleep.