Chapter 50
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: The Aftermath of a Storm
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Rireu's frenzy... no, her anguish and painstaking efforts continued for nearly forty to fifty minutes. She only stopped swinging her staff and put down her pen when every last drop of mana had been drained from her slender body.
Rireu stared into the empty air, her eyes still filled with regret, as she gasped for breath.
“...Hah, huff. Hah.”
Letting the staff slip from her calloused fingertips, Rireu collapsed to the ground. Even an elf's sturdy legs could no longer endure her relentless drive.
Despite having poured out all her mana, her eyes were full of disappointment.
She looked like someone who didn't want to leave her current state of exhilaration, as if desperate not to lose an inspiration that might never come again.
But inspiration, by its nature, never stays in one place.
Her mind, which had been dancing in a fantasy, seemed to be dragged back to reality. She slowly lowered her vacant gaze.
Her hands trembled. Her legs were frozen in place, as if they wouldn't move. Even her breathing was a little ragged.
“...Should we be heading back?”
I asked gently, watching her lament the departure of her inspiration.
“Uh...”
She answered slowly, her voice languid as if she could fall asleep at any moment...
“Huh?!”
Jeez, you scared me.
Rireu spun around a beat too late and cried out.
“When, what? Huh?”
“‘When did you get there?’”
I kindly rephrased the question for the speechless Rireu. Her face and ears, bright red, bobbed up and down in affirmation.
“From the beginning.”
It had actually been a little less than an hour, but this answer seemed more fun.
“...If you mean the beginning, then...”
“Tossing your pen and then going to pick it up was pretty cute. A grown adult acting in a way not even a five-year-old would...”
“Aaaaaah!”
As if she didn't want to hear it, Rireu suddenly shrieked and clamped her palms over her ears.
“Why did you suddenly stop writing, get up, and start banging your head against a tree? Does that make your brain work better? I should try it myself when I get back to the castle.”
Foolish girl. As if that would stop my tongue.
“And why were you trying to piece together the parchment you'd torn up and thrown away? Didn't you repeat that little act like five times?”
“...”
Rireu crawled over to her hat on the ground, placed the twig-and-leaf-covered thing on her head, and assumed the turtle position.
“Did you reconsider and decide the previous version was better than the revision? It happens often, I get it.”
I shook the few pieces of parchment I had secretly picked up. Rireu's head shot up, and she scrambled toward me to snatch the parchment from my hand.
“‘Innovation and Convergence, Dominion over All Things’... They say a spell is a mirror of the user's thoughts. Is your head really filled with this stuff, Rireu? It’s a bit of a turn-off. Dominion over All Things... you’re not fifteen.”
“Shut up, please...!”
With the swiftness of an elf, she snatched the parchment from my hand.
“Well, the revised version is a bit better, I guess. ‘Innovation and Convergence. Rending Lightning’... Why do you like the words ‘innovation and convergence’ so much?”
I pulled out the second piece of parchment I had stashed and began to read it aloud.
I never expected a klutz like me to be able to protect a piece of parchment from an elf. That's why I'd picked up and hidden several of the scattered sheets.
Only with cold self-assessment and thorough preparation can one become an outstanding mage...!
“Oh, please!”
Rireu quickly snatched the second parchment from my hand as well.
Heh heh, my secret stash is far from empty.
I pulled out a third, then a fourth piece of parchment, continuing to tease Rireu.
You could never imagine just how many sheets of parchment are hidden within my robes.
My assault didn't stop until her earlobes turned bright red and the worry, ‘Is she actually going to cry?’ began to surface.
“...Please, stop...”
After a long session of teasing, Rireu finally begged me to stop, her voice on the verge of tears.
...Did I go a little too far?
But what can I do? It's fun.
She shouldn't react so amusingly. You could say this is partly Rireu's fault. Really.
“Well, it was cute.”
In any case, when she spoke in such a pitiful voice, even I couldn't tease her anymore. I dragged my trembling legs and slowly approached her.
“...Stop it.”
She's complaining even when I'm being nice.
I cursed Rireu inwardly as I carefully lifted her hat. At a glance, it looked like her trembling hands were clutching it tightly, but in truth, she had no strength left in them.
My small gesture was enough to reveal her bright red face.
After removing the hat from her head, I carefully brushed the dirt and twigs from her hair. Having covered her head with a hat that had been rolling on the ground for hours, her bright yellow-blonde hair was a mess.
“Can you stand up?”
“...Carry me on your back.”
“Be reasonable.”
“...”
Rireu let out a dry laugh, as if even she thought her own suggestion was ridiculous.
Talking to herself and then laughing... It seemed she still wasn't in her right mind.
I sat down next to the collapsed Rireu and stared blankly at the sky. A crescent moon faintly broke through the clouds, caressing our cheeks. Rireu's pale skin took on a platinum hue in the twilight.
“Let me know when you get the strength back in your legs. We'll walk back together.”
“...I don't think I'll be able to stand up today.”
Rireu opened her mouth as if to say something, then bit her lip like someone who had made a decision, and spoke.
“Excuse me?”
Seriously?
I scowled at her reply.
Seeing my bewildered expression, Rireu's pale face flushed red again, and she buried it in her robes.
“We could just... spend the night here...”
Rireu said, her face still buried in her robes. Her already quiet voice was muffled by the thick fabric, making it difficult to understand her without concentrating.
“...I'm looking forward to tomorrow's morning roll call. The entire unit will be in an uproar when they wake up to find a mage—Alter's prized student, no less—has vanished.”
My scowl deepened as I spoke.
“...That's true.”
Rireu glanced at my face one more time, let out a small sigh from within her robes, and slowly tried to stand.
“Huh? But you just said you couldn't stand up...”
“If I walk a little, then rest, and repeat, I should be fine.”
Rireu paused, looking off in a random direction for a moment before speaking.
Still, seeing her trying not to be a burden to the unit made me feel like I should help, so I held out my hand.
“...You know this is the most untrustworthy hand in the world, right?”
“Don't take it if you don't want to.”
Truthfully, I was hoping she would refuse my hand.
My own legs were just as shaky.
“No, I'll take it.”
...What a shame.
Her hand was rough. It was covered in scrapes from grappling with her pen and staff for hours.
Her hand must have been stinging, but she gripped mine tightly.
Doesn't it hurt?
I sighed and quietly guided her to the mages' barracks.
Usually, the deathly quiet forest felt frightening.
But today, for some reason, that same silent forest felt comforting.
***
The next day, Rireu and I went to meet Dajin, the Spirit of Lightning, with Trian as our guide.
It was hard to believe she was the same person who could barely walk last night; Rireu followed Trian without any trouble.
Meanwhile, my entire body was still screaming with muscle pain.
“Ha! You have come, children! Can you feel the scent of this pure forest?”
When we placed our hands on the runestone hidden beneath a giant tree, Dajin, the Spirit of Lightning, appeared. The voice of the spirit, which had the form of a deer with massive antlers, was full of excitement.
I told Dajin to skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point.
Thanks to this damn spirit giving us a quest the likes of which I'd never heard of, Rex nearly died, and I can still feel a cold chill in every joint of my body.
The reward had better be as substantial as the difficulty.
I'm going to squeeze him dry, down to the marrow.
“Hah, huff...!”
First, I needed to catch this breath that was stuck in my throat.
“...Ah, yes. Go ahead and catch your breath first.”
“Hah... damn it, seriously.”
“Right, well... hmm. Do you need more time?”
“Don't... talk...”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Dajin, who had appeared with a hearty laugh, now looked awkward in front of me as I struggled to breathe, turning his head this way and that.
“Oh.”
As he turned his head, his gaze seemed to land on Rireu. The Spirit of Lightning brought a smile back to his awkward face and slowly approached her.
“You caused quite a commotion last night.”
“...Yes. I apologize.”
“There is no need to be sorry. I most enjoy seeing my children struggle.”
Dajin shot a warm... bolt of lightning at the chin of the bowing Rireu.
I know it sounds nonsensical, but there was no other way to describe the lightning Dajin sent to Rireu's chin.
“So, did you reach it? The vista you glimpsed.”
“...Not yet.”
“Ha! Good! Very good.”
Dajin laughed heartily at Rireu's answer.
“‘Not yet’ means you know you will reach it someday. I shall look forward to it.”
“Hah, damn... Stop with the nonsense. Just give us what you promised.”
I cut into their conversation, my voice hoarse.
It was quite the eyesore to see them suddenly start filming a coming-of-age drama while I was shooting a desperate survival documentary right next to them.
Please, if you have the energy for that kind of talk, bring me a cup of water.
Because I really feel like I'm going to die.