A Powerful Ally
She seemed to realize that Leon was an ordinary person from the clothes he wore. Sensing the situation would only grow tiresome, Leon swallowed a sigh and spoke.
“Hello. My name is Leon, and I work at the Old Magic Library.”
Despite his most polite tone, her expression refused to soften.
“Who are you to come here and cause a scene? If an ordinary person doesn’t have a death wish, they wouldn’t dream of entering a mages’ district and making noise.”
The one making noise was her. Seeing the way she looked at him like an insect, Leon abandoned any thought of explanation. He knew full well that most mages were steeped in magical supremacism.
“Enough.”
Her mouth only stopped after Lia’s icy murmur reached her.
“If you don’t disappear from my sight this instant, prepare yourself for our next duel.”
The red-haired woman paused briefly, then crossed her arms and snorted.
“You think that scares me? You got lucky and won once, and now you’re strutting around?”
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
Leon took Lia’s arm and turned away. Continuing to deal with her would only be a loss. She didn’t follow them. He could hear her muttering arrogant… insignificant… and other insults, but Leon simply tuned her out.
Only after they had put some distance between them did Leon ask.
“Who was that?”
“Her name’s Rowen. Before I arrived, she received massive attention for having six attributes. She comes to me every day saying she won’t lose to you, or that she’ll acknowledge you as a rival.”
Six attributes truly represented an enormous talent. It meant she possessed every element except light and darkness. Only then did Leon begin to understand why she behaved that way. Perhaps the inferiority complex had set in after everyone who once praised her turned their attention to Lia instead. Not that it excused anything.
The subspace pouch Lia gave him proved incredibly useful. He no longer had to agonize over finding the perfect hiding place for his magic books and the Chrono Orb. Simply storing them inside lifted a heavy weight from his mind.
Once he adapted to Arpina’s errands, they became convenient. All he had to do was borrow books and return them, leaving him with plenty of free time.
During those hours, Leon read magic tomes in front of Arpina’s laboratory while practicing small-scale spell manifestation. Her lab occupied an entire floor, so there was no foot traffic. And since Arpina had already discovered his secret, there was no need to hide.
He spent his days in reasonably pleasant fashion, progressing his quests along the way.
The only nuisance was Rowen, whom he encountered every time he visited the Magic Tower. Today alone marked the fifth meeting since the first day. Of all days, it had to happen on his final shift, starting the morning under a bad star.
“To think an ordinary person like you is helping with Lady Arpina’s research...”
“Then why don’t you volunteer?”
When Leon answered indifferently, she flared up.
“This guy is unbelievable! Just because we’ve run into each other a few times, you think we’re friends?”
Leon watched her outburst with a calm gaze. He had learned by now that despite her harsh words, she never actually caused disturbances inside the tower.
“It’s annoying, so stop following me.”
“Who’s following whom!”
Leon waved dismissively at Rowen and headed up to the floor where Arpina’s laboratory was located. Her parting threat of “Just you wait” barely registered with him.
When he reached the lab door, Leon checked the entrance. The books from yesterday hadn’t been thrown out, suggesting she hadn’t finished reading them yet.
He sat down and pulled a magic book from his subspace pouch.
The magic he was currently practicing was Mana Concealment. After Arpina’s discovery put him on guard, Leon had spent nearly everything he had to borrow this tome from the Old Magic Library. It was a spell capable of concealing one’s rank.
A quick glance revealed why this book had ended up in the Old Magic Library. First, its mana concealment was useless against 1st-Class mages. It could only hide someone from 2nd Class onward, and even then it merely disguised them as 1st Class rather than making them appear completely ordinary. Moreover, the spell had to remain constantly memorized, which would waste precious memory slots for apprentice mages who relied heavily on memorization. Unless one had a unique situation like Leon, there was little reason to learn it.
Leon wouldn’t have bothered if better options existed, but this was the only immediate countermeasure available. He simply thought of it as preparation for reaching 2nd Class.
For 1st Class, the chance of discovery was slim unless someone like Arpina deliberately took interest and saw through the veil.
After focusing on the text for some time, Leon suddenly sensed a presence nearby and looked up. Arpina stood in front of her laboratory, staring straight at him.
“Ah, do you have a task for me?”
“No. I was going to say you can simply return the books and head home now, but...”
She crossed her arms, tapping her cheek with a finger before speaking.
“Does reading magic books alone like that all day really change anything?”
She muttered as if to herself, then continued.
“Three attributes is still a respectable talent, isn’t it? Why aren’t you thinking about learning properly?”
“...I don’t want to reveal it yet.”
“What a funny kid. I’ve already caught you, haven’t I?”
At those words, Leon sprang to his feet and bowed deeply.
“Please keep it a secret.”
“...Would I believe you’re sincere if the sly one suddenly bows like that?”
Leon straightened with a serious expression.
“I am completely sincere about wanting you to keep my secret. If you protect it, you’ll gain a powerful ally in the future.”
That remark must have struck a nerve. The slight curve at the corner of her mouth vanished instantly. Her now expressionless face looked sharply cold.
“You’d better take those words back. Don’t drag Lia into this for your own benefit.”
“...”
Leon’s face went blank for a moment, then realization hit him belatedly. She had interpreted his “powerful ally” as Lia.
“Um… I was referring to myself as that powerful ally.”
“...”
She closed her mouth for a second before bursting into laughter.
“Pfft! Hahaha!”
She laughed for a long while without stopping. Was it really that funny? Leon’s expression grew awkward.
“You, my powerful ally? Heh… Bwahahaha!”
“It’s not—”
“Not what?”
“Never mind.”
She wiped the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“That was the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.”
“If you see it as mere bravado, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Do you even know what kind of mage I am?”
Leon’s statement hadn’t assumed anything about her. It had been made with his future self in mind—the one who would grow strong. Therefore, her level as a mage didn’t matter.
Leon shook his head calmly.
“There will definitely come a day when I can be of help to you.”
“...Is that so?”
She appeared to ponder for a moment, still chuckling as if it amused her greatly, then spoke.
“Ah, this is interesting. Come inside.”
She invited Leon into her laboratory. Approaching a bookshelf packed with volumes, she snapped her fingers. One book flew out from the shelf and floated through the air toward him.
Arpina School: Basic Four-Element Magic
Unique magic manual created by Mystery-class mage Arpina.
“To be precise, it’s for the future version of you who might actually prove useful.”
Listening to her laughter-filled voice, Leon tightened his grip on the book. Despite the casual way she had tossed it, he immediately recognized how valuable the tome was.
“You understand this doesn’t mean I’m taking you as my disciple, right?”
“I know. Still, thank you.”
“I don’t know who your master is, but seeing you rummage through trash magic books by yourself, they must not be much of a mage. This might bruise their pride.”
The way the corner of her mouth lifted made it seem as if she were mocking Leon’s master.
She has quite the spiteful side.
But since Leon had no master to speak of, it didn’t concern him.
After finishing work, Leon headed not to the dormitory but to the Merit Exchange Center. Arpina had added fifty extra merit points, saying he had worked hard. He wondered if it was acceptable to hand out merit points so freely based on mood, but it wasn’t his place to worry.
This brought his total to 120 merit points. Even after being assigned a private room, twenty remained.
He applied for the private room at the exchange center and returned to the dormitory.
“Lulu~”
In truth, Leon had mentioned becoming a powerful ally to Arpina with a specific purpose in mind. Of course, he hadn’t expected to receive her unique magic book. He had simply wanted to ask a few questions about things that puzzled him.
Memorizing the basic spells for water, wind, and earth had been easy enough, but he had been completely lost on how to harmonize the three attributes. Who could have guessed it would lead to this?
Back in the dormitory, Leon immediately opened the book Arpina had given him.
Arpina School: Basic Four-Element Magic
Unique magic manual created by Mystery-class mage Arpina.
Although it lacked a formal spell name, the inclusion of “School” indicated it was her personally created unique magic.
From what Lia had told him, Arpina was a Mystery-class mage. In the hierarchy of Apprentice, Secret Magic, Mystery, Insight, and Transcendence, she stood at the pinnacle of the Mystery stage—a high-ranking mage.
The four-element magic she created encompassed fire, water, wind, and earth. Because it dealt with all four elements, the book contained every foundational spell for them.
Fire was an attribute Leon lacked, but the rest matched his own perfectly. He wouldn’t need to worry about obtaining higher-level magic texts at least until he reached Secret Magic rank.
Moreover, the book contained the very answers he had been seeking on how to harmoniously wield multiple attributes.
Arpina School magic. Or rather, the defining trait of the Widia School was “harmony.” As the unique magic of one of its high-ranking mages, it naturally focused on harmony.
Leon spent the entire day absorbed in the tome.
A week later, after receiving his private room, Leon threw himself into training in earnest.
And so, half a year passed.