Violence in the Name of Education (3)
Violence in the Name of Education (3)
"I-I did it..."
"Urgh... I-I can't do any more."
"Mommy, I did it..."
Watching her disciples collapse after finally managing all ten, Glacia's face took on a look of sheer disbelief.
'That actually works?'
With every repetition, their magic grew more stable, and their casting speed increased. By the time they passed five times, the change was visibly noticeable.
The moment they completed the full ten, the clumsiness had completely vanished. The proof was right there in the weary faces gradually spreading into smiles.
They were satisfied with the magic they had produced.
"Haaah..."
A sigh of admiration escaped Glacia.
It seemed that barbaric training had actually been effective.
Then again, given that every moment pushed them to their absolute limits, it would have been stranger if it didn't work.
In truth, the phrase 'pushing them to their limits' was easy to say, but one wrong move and things could easily go wrong.
However, Olivia must have controlled things well, since there were no major problems...
"Master... Bleurgh, bluurrgh!"
"Bwaaarrgh..."
...Well.
Now that I looked at it, maybe it was a bit serious.
Glacia rubbed her eyes and looked again.
The sight of them sprawled out haphazardly on the bare ground was a spectacle to behold.
Seeing them shiver from the cold, she even felt a little sorry for them.
"...Is it alright to just leave them like that?"
The fact that she had asked at all showed just how bad things were.
"It's fine. I'm going to let them rest now."
No, that much was obvious!
Give them a bed, or at least a blanket!
Could he not see them trembling on the bare ground like that?
Imagining having to stick with someone who lacked even the slightest hint of decency made the back of her skull ache.
If he treated his own disciples like this, she didn't dare guess how roughly he'd handle her, who wasn't even a disciple.
"You look like you have something to say. Say it now."
"...Nothing."
"You won't get another chance."
"Really, really. Nothing."
"Is that sooo?"
Seeing Olivia back down so easily, Glacia sighed in relief.
Dealing with that human, you could never afford to give them anything to pick at.
The answer was already decided anyway.
'No matter what, the fault is mine, and I'm the only idiot here.'
Acutely aware of her position, Glacia shut her eyes tight.
Just then.
Whoosh!
A biting wind sliced inside with a sharp howl. The cold that came with the spine-chilling sound was nothing to scoff at.
"K-Kyah!"
"Achoo!"
"Cough! Hack!"
The disciples, hit directly by the wind, shot upright and frantically wrapped their robes around themselves. Olivia, who had been watching them blankly, opened her mouth.
"Hey."
"...Speak."
"Are you cold right now, by any chance?"
...What kind of stupid question was that?
Could he not see the blizzard raging outside?
But one look at Olivia’s face made the reason impossible to deny.
Olivia genuinely could not comprehend it.
'He really didn't know it was cold?'
Come to think of it, it had been the same during their first meeting. While even the wyverns with their thick hides had frozen solid, Olivia had been standing there perfectly fine.
At the time, she had thought it was because of magic, but now she saw that his cold resistance was just absurdly high.
'Damn it. I should have sensed something was off back then!'
Glacia, who had barely collected herself, asked back.
"Are you asking if I am cold right now?"
"Would I have asked if you were hot?"
"...My apologies. I was born with bad hearing."
"So, are you cold."
"I am fine, but... wouldn't they be a bit uncomfortable? A lair is, after all, a place where a dragon sleeps. I imagine it might be a little too uncomfortable for humans."
Olivia bent down and touched the floor.
As expected of a white dragon's lair, even ordinary pebbles held the chill of frost. Looking up now, ice essence crystals were even hanging from the ceiling. The fact that they hadn't melted and kept their shape should have been a clear warning sign.
Olivia plucked one of the ice essences off with a pop. The ice essence gave off cold air like dry ice before melting away at her fingertips.
'Mm, they must be very cold.'
To her, it only felt fleetingly chilly, but the disciples with their poor cold resistance would feel differently.
It probably felt like being inside a freezer to them.
The reason they'd endured this long was because they were mages from the White Tower, their robes had cold resistance enchanted on them, and their generous master kept endlessly supplying them with recovery potions.
But even that was reaching its limit. If she left them like this, she'd be holding a funeral tomorrow.
"Hey, you. Got anything useful?"
With an indifferent face, Olivia pointed at the items piled in a corner of the lair.
It was the hoard Glacia had collected over the past several years.
Without any dwarves.
All by herself.
'This damned bastard is finally plundering my house too...'
She was reaching the point of spiritual transcendence.
"By useful... are you referring to a cold resistance artifact?"
"Yeah. Got one?"
'Would I have one! That's like saying a blue dragon uses a water-breathing artifact!'
Glacia shook her head with as much grace as she could muster.
"No."
"If you find and bring one out later, you're dead."
No immediate reply came this time. She seemed to be searching her memory to see if she really lacked one.
"I really don't have any."
"...Tch."
Olivia clicked her tongue. If she said she didn't have it, there was nothing to be done.
'I'll have to use mine.'
At the sound of approaching footsteps, the disciples huddled inside their robes broke into a cold sweat.
'Sh-she's coming! Don't shiver!'
'B-But it's too, too c-cold.'
'Endure it! Shut up and endure it!'
The disciples gritted their teeth and cast the spell of pretending to sleep. And in their hearts, they prayed and prayed again that their damned master would leave without noticing them.
'...Is she gone?'
It was the very moment Jeina carefully lifted her eyelids.
'...!'
She ended up seeing it.
Olivia, staring down at her with wide, clear eyes.
'W-we're screwed.'
Jeina squeezed her eyes shut.
There had been no presence at all!
Had she waited for her to open her eyes?
'Isn't he seriously insane?'
Wooong!
The next moment, a sound that shouldn't be heard echoed through Jeina's ears. The other disciples flinched, as if they'd heard the same sound.
The gates of hell—no, the distinctive resonance created when opening a subspace.
Whenever that sound rang out, without fail, a red potion would reveal itself.
And after that came...
- Seven left now. So you only have to faint ten more times. Right?
...only an endless hell waiting for them.
'But I succeeded!'
The thought alone was horrifying.
'I really can't anymore. I can't...'
But the object Olivia brought out was nothing like what they had expected.
It was a plain circular bracelet.
"You brats. If you're cold, say you're cold."
Olivia fitted the bracelet artifacts onto her feigning-sleep disciples. A moment later, the artifacts glowed red and radiated warmth in all directions.
Realizing Olivia's true intent, the disciples looked surprised.
'...It's warm.'
The trembling slowly subsided. In an instant, the tension left their bodies, and they felt their eyelids grow heavy.
"Good work today. Get some good sleep."
Olivia gazed down blankly at the disciples, who had been claimed by the sleep demon. They must have been very tired, since they'd passed out cold.
"I miss mommy..."
"Sob, sob..."
Mm.
Had I been too hard on them?
Olivia sheepishly scratched her head. Lo aside, even Jeina had a rather bold personality.
Aramis was...
"I'll kill... I'll definitely kill you, you damned witch..."
I'd have to educate that one later.
Anyway.
Honestly speaking, I hadn't expected them to follow along this well.
Forget ten times, I'd thought it would be fine if they managed just once each, but they'd all pulled off the full ten.
'They're way tougher than I thought.'
No matter how much you scare them, if a person won't do it, they won't. That's an unchanging fact.
The mental strength to overcome grueling training isn't something just anyone has. Especially the mental strength to get back up after collapsing several times.
In that sense, these three really were geniuses. They were worthy of being the next generation's talent leading the White Tower.
If they kept this pace up steadily, they'd easily pull their own weight even in the latter half of the story.
In any case...
Olivia's gaze turned sideways.
[...!]
A frost spirit planted near the Magic Tower sent a thought impulse. Olivia immediately sent mana over and shared hearing with the frost spirit.
[Boss, it's a dragon. A dragon. I think calling for reinforcements would be—]
[I'm just going to check. Just check.]
[Agh, seriously...]
[Just see if the witch really controlled the dragon or not...]
The signal cut off. Judging by the way the volume had been steadily decreasing, they seemed to be moving out of range.
Spirit magic was good for many things, but that was one flaw of it. Noise aside, without any visuals, you'd hear a voice and have absolutely no idea whose it was.
The one thing that was certain was that they weren't mages from the White Tower. They'd have their hands full just salvaging the wrecked tower; there was no way they had the leisure to cross a mountain range.
And above all, the White Tower never referred to anyone as "Boss." That sort of title was for mercenaries.
'That voice sounded familiar.'
It was a voice I'd heard a lot.
At this period, the only person likely to come up north would be Sword Saint Kiel at most. But Kiel was already knocked out, and the mercenaries staying in nearby villages wouldn't bother coming all the way to the distant White Tower.
'Could the Gold Tower have already sent support?'
Whatever it was, I had to check.
"Keep watch here. I'm stepping out for a bit."
"Huh?"
"You know what happens if you wake the kids. And put mana into the artifacts periodically. If the kids catch a cold by the time I'm back, you know what's coming."
"W-Wait a momen—"
Olivia's figure vanished in an instant. The only sign that she had been there moments ago was the spatial movement magic circle carved into the floor.
'Grrrrrk!'
Glacia's eyes rolled back in fury. She was even foaming at the mouth.
Now, on top of being a slave, she had to babysit the brats?
That, that damned bastard!
'Just drop dead! Die! Please, just die!'
Glacia screamed in silence.
*****