Chapter 58
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: A New Circle, A New Recruit
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After the non-event of an event, Rireu and I stopped by a music shop.
Violins, guitars, cellos, and other large string instruments of all kinds were on display, along with pianos and books of sheet music for famous compositions.
Most of the sheet music was for church hymns and chants, largely written in neume notation, which was quite different from the modern five-line staff, so it wasn't of much use to me.
I ordered a piano and told them I would send someone to pick it up. The shop owner eyed my plain attire with suspicion, but the moment I handed him a gold coin, his doubt vanished, replaced by a gentle smile.
...In the face of capital, what does social status even matter?
I also bought a guitar and some sheet music before leaving the shop. Of course, carrying the guitar was Rireu's job.
She looked displeased, but since she couldn't let me carry something as heavy as a guitar, she slung the case over her shoulder without another word.
After we were done with the music shop, Rireu said she wanted to buy coffee beans and tea leaves, so we visited several stores where she sampled various coffees.
I couldn't tell the difference, but she meticulously compared the aroma and taste of each type of bean before making her selection. It seemed an elf's delicate senses came in handy even when it came to coffee.
Once our respective shopping sprees were over, we waited on the street, now completely shrouded in twilight, for the carriage. The coachman arrived at the exact time we had agreed upon, pulling up in the imperial carriage right where he had dropped us off.
It had been an uneventful day.
Or, wait, did getting mugged count as an event?
But since the robber was a nobody, I figured it was safe to call the day uneventful.
Perhaps because of that, I dozed off for a bit in the carriage on the way back to the castle. I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, the massive castle gates, large enough for a dragon to pass through, were there to greet us.
As always, I smiled and greeted the guards.
"Oh, right. Please check this."
"Coffee beans?"
Rireu obediently handed the guards the coffee beans she had bought.
As a rule, any food brought in from the outside had to be inspected to ensure it wasn't poisoned and was safe for consumption by the castle's important figures.
After handing over the bag of coffee beans, Rireu smacked her lips with a hint of disappointment.
"You'll get them back in an hour or two. Why so sad?"
"I was going to brew some as soon as we got back."
...Anyone would think the castle didn't have any coffee or tea.
"Aren't you satisfied with what the castle provides?"
"The quality is top-notch, but the taste and aroma are always the same, you know? Sometimes you just want to try something different."
"Hmm..."
Honestly, I couldn't tell. My senses of smell and taste weren't as sharp as an elf's.
I just took her word for it and returned to my quarters.
A soft bed, warm black tea, a cheap guitar, and some mysterious sheet music.
Gazing at the peaceful ceiling, which made me forget I was being dragged to a living hell in a few days, I tried to enjoy what I had to the fullest.
My uncalloused hands cried out in pain every time I pressed down on a string. My fingertips were quickly covered in cuts.
I dislike pain, but I don't particularly dislike the sensation of the guitar strings scraping against my fingers and skin.
You might think I'm a 'weirdo', but honestly, the feeling of the strings on my skin felt less like pain and more like pleasure.
...No, using the word 'pleasure' makes it sound far more perverted.
Let's find another word.
A sense of release? No, that word sounds just as perverted...
"Bin!"
"Whoa."
Like a son caught by his mother watching a questionable video, I hid my scraped-up hands.
I mean, it wasn't anything weird—I just got a few cuts from playing the guitar—but I have no idea why I felt so embarrassed and ashamed, like it was some secret I couldn't let anyone discover. Am I really that strange?
"...What. What is it?"
I tucked my injured hands under the covers and looked at Rireu, who had burst through the door.
"I've... I've risen a Circle."
"You what?"
"I'm 5th Circle!"
"...You what?"
She barges into my room and starts spouting nonsense?
"Look at this, look!"
Rireu thrust the blue crystal orb she was holding at me.
"What is this?"
"Look, there are five circles drawn inside the crystal orb!"
"...Ah."
Following Rireu's explanation, I looked closely inside the orb and saw five white circles floating within the blue crystal.
In the game, you could just right-click a mage to see their Circle in their character info, so I never knew a magical tool for measuring Circles even existed.
"After what you said today, I decided to test it just in case, and my Circle had increased! I had a feeling my lightning spells were packing more of a punch than usual... Thank you!"
Why was she thanking me?
I don't think I did anything to help you.
Rireu's reaching the 5th Circle was an achievement she had earned entirely through her own power. Even if I had influenced or inspired her in some way, it was her effort alone that turned that inspiration into a result.
I had seen her in the Akilliptus Forest Zone, tearing up parchment after parchment, her hand bleeding as she gripped her staff, completely engrossed in her inspiration.
This was an achievement she had earned all on her own. Having her thank me for it would only make me uncomfortable.
"They say being 5th Circle at twenty-one is the youngest ever, even including humans."
"Even if it is limited to the lightning school...! With an achievement like this, even those damned old folks will have to see me in a new light, won't they?"
Old folks? I had no idea who Rireu was talking about, but she seemed thoroughly fed up with them. For the word 'damned' to come out of her mouth, it had to be serious.
"Rireu, who are you trying so hard to get approval from?"
I was curious. I wanted to know who she resented so much.
"What?"
To me, it was just an idle question.
But for Rireu, who received it, it didn't seem to be taken so lightly.
"...What did you say?"
Rireu, seemingly struck dumb by the unexpected question, just stared at me blankly before asking again.
"I asked who you're trying so hard to get approval from."
I assumed she simply hadn't heard me because she wasn't paying attention.
Having just confirmed her rise in Circle, it wouldn't be strange for her to miss my words in her excitement, right?
"...No."
But then, out of the blue, she spoke with a resolute expression.
The sudden tension in the air made me belatedly retrace my words, wondering if I had misspoken.
But finding nothing to worry about, I decided this strange elf was just being her usual whimsical self.
"Right, those old folks aren't that important."
"Uh, what?"
Why did she suddenly have a look of realization? Did her Circle go up, or did her mind go crazy?
"Thank you."
For what, exactly?
Seriously, please try to make some sense.
"I study magic because I love it."
With those final, incomprehensible words, Rireu left.
She barges in, spouts a bunch of nonsense, and then leaves.
"...Ah, okay."
I replied in a listless voice as I watched Rireu leave through the doorway.
Seriously, what was that all about?
* * *
The next day, Rireu, Alter, and I began to seriously pack our things in preparation for the expedition in five days.
Most of our supplies and food would be provided, so we focused on making a list of special accessories, grimoires, robes, and books that we couldn't get through military supply channels.
The attendant had told us we needed to submit the list by today if possible so everything could be prepared before our departure, which meant we had to finish it before lunch.
"First, I'll write down the guitar..."
"Should we bring coffee beans and... tea leaves, just in case?"
"Please request a large supply of chocolate to ensure we have enough sugar."
That was an unexpected choice. So Alter still likes chocolate at his age. I thought people's taste for sweets diminished as they got older...
"..."
Rireu turned her head towards me without a word. Our eyes met, and I gave a silent nod.
"This isn't a picnic, you know. Chocolate? Really, Master?"
"That's right, Vellaland is a battlefield, Sir Alter."
As if sharing the same thought, the two of us ganged up on Alter for his childish choice of supplies.
I knew the ones who put a guitar and coffee beans at the top of the list had no room to talk, but...
What can I say? It's just my nature.
"A lack of sugar can prevent the brain from operating at its usual capacity. For us mages, the speed of our thoughts is our lifeline, so please do not look at me with such eyes."
"Master, it's okay to just admit you like sweets. It's nothing to be ashamed of..."
"That's right, I like chocolate too."
"...The saying 'bad company corrupts good morals' seems to have been invented for precisely this sort of occasion."
Alter, with a composure befitting his age, deflected our two-pronged attack.
Well, whether he deflected it or not, our mouths didn't stop.
I continued to needle Alter about how cute chocolate was and how Valentine's was still over half a year away as I wrote down items on the list.
"...Huh. Do we need a separate escort detail?"
Rireu, giving the list a final check before handing it to the attendant, voiced her confusion upon seeing the words 'Escort Troops' written at the end.
"The military will send an escort for the mages, won't they? I think we can take this off the list."
"That won't be enough."
"...Not enough?"
I took the paper back from Rireu as she was about to amend the list and continued.
"Vellaland will likely be a more dangerous battlefield than you can imagine. And we'll be deployed to dangerous places like this often in the future. That means we'll face challenges that three mages alone can't overcome."
"...Well, yes, that's true."
"But if our escort changes every time, it'll be inconvenient for everyone, right? We won't know each other's habits, fighting styles, or detailed positioning. We'd have to figure all that out every single time."
"In short, you're saying we need a fixed party."
As if proving that his long years as a mage hadn't been for naught, Alter unerringly grasped the meaning behind my words.
"Exactly."
"But Bin, you're officially a mage in the Sword Saint's party."
"You want me to use the Sword Saint as my personal bodyguard...?"
I was not yet a mage valuable enough to warrant the Sword Saint's protection. That much should be obvious without me having to waste my breath explaining it.
The Sword Saint was humanity's ultimate weapon, a man who could effortlessly overwhelm an Overlord with his bare hands and was considered fully capable of winning one-on-one battles against the Demon King or other devils.
While a vanguard's main duty might be to 'protect the damage dealer', that only holds true when the damage dealer is on a similar level as the vanguard.
Right now, the Sword Saint was dimensions ahead of me. To use such a being to protect a mage like me... it was absurd.
"...Now that I think about it, that does sound ridiculous."
Rireu thought for a moment and quickly corrected herself.
"Then, do you have someone in mind?"
I answered Alter's question immediately.
"For now, I'd like to bring in Rex."
Even without my intervention, Rex was destined to become a heroic Orc Barbarian whose name would be known across the continent in the near future. And I had already secured the best barbarian artifact in the game for him. His future was looking even brighter.
If I was going to buy low, now was the chance.
Rex was at his cheapest right now...!
"Have you asked his opinion?"
"No, I still need to."
"...You are quite impulsive. He is currently serving as a platoon leader in Captain Bellua's company, so you should be prepared for the possibility of him refusing. I will look into other suitable vanguards."
"I'm more comfortable with Rex, too. It's tough getting to know a complete stranger all over again."
"You don't have to worry. Rex won't refuse."
I proclaimed confidently to Alter and Rireu, then picked up the list and rang the golden bell.
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because there's a monster in Vellaland that Rex desperately wants to kill."
A moment later, a young attendant in his usual uniform entered the room.
I handed him the list and then wrote a letter each to Bellua and Rex.
The next day, Rex's change of post was officially decided.