No Way, That Crazy Old Man Actually Called Her
No, no, this crazy old man, seriously.
“Hello! I'm Estelle!”
I'd asked him to call someone skilled in magic or whatever, and instead he pulls this ridiculous stunt—what the hell was he thinking, summoning Heroine Number Two, the Saintess, out of nowhere?
“Uh, er… Y-yes, I'm, uh, Theo…”
“Theo-ssi?”
“No, just Theo.”
“Oh.”
Saintesses are usually blonde in these stories, but this one had blue hair—that's what stuck with me most from playing the game. And whether saintess or saint, she was brutally straightforward, with zero regard for others' feelings. She hurt a ton of people and made even more enemies.
But damn, being a saintess suited her way better. In those white saintess robes, her chest was… Uh, no. Ahem.
But I'm a guy, right? Of course that's the first thing I'd notice…!
“Your face just now looked totally pervy, Theo.”
“…It wasn't.”
“It was.”
“Well, whatever—guys are all like that around pretty girls anyway, so let's move on. You ain't busy these days, right?”
“Nope, not busy at all. Just on infinite standby.”
Wait, a saintess? Isn't she supposed to be swamped? Healing people left and right or something?
…Of course, the game never showed her doing that much. She'd use her insane holy power to heal her allies or the crown prince(ss) if they got hurt, but she wasn't the type to hand out free heals to random folks.
“Then teach this kid some magic.”
Anyway, isn't holy power her main thing as a saintess? Does she even know magic? I'd played countless times, but I didn't remember any setting like that, so I was racking my brain when—
“Hmph, old-timer. I don't move for free.”
Her voice was as blunt and rude as ever.
“I'll pay, obviously. How's this per hour?”
“You think that's all I'm worth?”
“Hey, I'm just the neighborhood butcher, y'know. Cut me some slack.”
“Hmmm… Fine, then throw in a pork party next time.”
“…Ugh, fine, deal.”
Felt like some massive deal was going down without me. Why was he going this far just to make me learn magic? I'm just a villager… no, an awesome villager. If I don't grind swordsmanship hard, getting into the academy's a pipe dream! Wasting time on mana like this!
Sure, aside from sword practice, all I do is farm…!
“Alright, Theo. Shall we give it a try?”
“Looks like you've wrapped up your haggling.”
“Yeah, got a pretty good deal out of it.”
Her bright smile made my heart skip for no reason—probably because no matter her prickly personality, this Estelle was still a top-tier heroine, drop-dead gorgeous.
“Hmm, Theo, you've got a huge mana capacity?”
“Huh? My mana capacity is huge? Me?”
“Yeah, but there's barely any mana inside it—like a booger-sized speck. No wonder you couldn't feel a thing.”
Some people can say the exact same thing prettily, others make it sound awful. Estelle was definitely the latter. It was neutral info, but she delivered it with maximum asshole energy.
“Gonna need to fill that up some. You know mana breathing? Nah, figured not—that's why they called me, right?”
“Nope, no clue.”
I'm usually an eye-for-an-eye kinda guy. If they come at me rude, I throw it right back.
Ah, okay, maybe calling Estelle outright rude is a stretch. Point is, since she's casual with me, I just filter it out and don't take it personally. Otherwise, dealing with her would be a nightmare.
“Okay, watch. Strike a pose like this first?”
Look at her—she's not the type who picks fights for fun. It's just her speech pattern. Maybe I've built up immunity from all the trauma in the early game.
I'm kinda proud I don't get hurt by Estelle anymore.
“Like this?”
“Yeah, but not that ugly pose.”
“Poses can be ugly?”
“Duh.”
What an odd guy.
Estelle watched Theo diligently practicing mana breathing right in front of her, murmuring her impressions inwardly.
He didn't look hurt at all.
She knew full well how her straightforward speech and personality rubbed people the wrong way. Everyone got offended or upset at first.
Even that crown princess before… she looked pretty pissed.
Back when they'd met for empire alliance talks, the crown princess hadn't been much different. The emperor was an old sly fox who never flinched no matter what she said, but the princess—around her age, with a face that screamed fun to bully—had been clearly annoyed.
But now, someone even more intriguing had caught her eye.
“Mm, like this…?”
Theo, the guy Duncan introduced.
Maybe I'll stick around this one instead of the usual suspects?
She giggled softly and tapped his shoulder.
“Relax your shoulders. They're tense.”
“Ah, got it.”
Plus, he'd claimed zero knowledge of mana breathing, but after just theory, he was doing it for real. No wonder Duncan had made such a fuss about her teaching him.
That Duncan, of all people.
Duncan and Estelle had met about ten years ago, when she was still ten.
Even then, she was the saintess, but she wanted nothing more than to ditch the heavy title and burdens.
Early puberty had lured her toward the glamorous path of running away.
She'd learned about adventurers, but no guild took a ten-year-old without a registration card.
Hey, little miss. Gotta register as an adventurer first.
Oh? Thanks, mister.
Call me bro.
Mister.
…
Amid adults who gave her nothing, he was the one who'd shown her the ropes and even let her join his party. To Estelle, he was the adult who'd kept her from veering into dangerous paths—an adult among adults.
So she'd come to teach Theo because she trusted him.
Man, that old guy's got a killer eye for talent.
If word got out about a commoner with this much potential, even the emperor would come sniffing around. Theo's mana capacity was absurdly massive.
“How's it? Feel the mana yet?”
Mana breathing in a mana-rich forest should help, but his absorption rate was on another level. Others took days to fill what he'd done already, Estelle noted, asking him.
“Kinda like cool, refreshing water filling up… weird feeling.”
“Spot on. That's mana.”
Once you sense it, the rest is easy—just learn spells to pull it out.
“But aren't you the saintess?”
“Oh? You knew?”
“Weren't really hiding it…?”
She'd used her real name, kept her usual hair and eye colors instead of changing them like always in public, even left the star mark on her forehead plain as day. No effort to hide whatsoever.
“I mean, I wasn't trying to hide…”
“Yeah, that tracks. Hiding would look different.”
Theo figured if she wanted to hide even a little, she'd at least cover that forehead star.
“Anyway, so what?”
“Saintess handling mana alongside holy power? You're good at magic too?”
“Yep, magic's my specialty.”
“Whoa… had no idea.”
“Figures. Only Duncan and a few others know.”
Theo was still baffled. When the hell had this girl picked up the fraudulent title of magic genius?
“Since when were you a magic genius?”
“Since birth.”
She answered like it was a dumb question, then patted his shoulders.
“Hey, what's with that pose? It's collapsing. No intention to learn, kid? Should I head out?”
“No, no! Ahem.”
Setting aside the suspicious backstory, his teacher was too strict to dwell on it. With Estelle posing like she might bail any second, Theo scrambled back into mana breathing.
Never thought I'd actually use mana.
He could feel that refreshing water-like sensation filling him up nicely.
But is this what a 'huge' capacity feels like? Isn't it normal?
It filled faster than expected, so to Theo, it just seemed average.
This guy's insane. Filling mana that quick? More talent than me?
Estelle was floored.