Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: A Patron's Offer
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At Yahalong’s words, the employee’s face drained of color.
Even with his limited experience, being from the Senior Magic Tower, he couldn't possibly fail to recognize Yahalong, the direct heir of a historic elder family of the Tower.
So shocked was he that the employee even hiccupped as he stuttered.
“P-Please, wait a moment. Sir Yahalong. Th-There must be some misunderstanding…”
“Misunderstanding, my ass! Shut up and get your superior. Or what? Should I call them through the line myself?”
Now pale as a living corpse, the employee pleaded with a grimace.
“…I will. Please wait just a moment.”
As the employee took out his smartphone to call his superior, Yahalong slapped Lee Si-woo heartily on the back.
“Hang in there, friend. I might not have been much in the Niam Mountains, but I’ve got some pull around here.”
Yahalong, who had made it out of the mountains alive a week ago thanks to Si-woo, had been consistently friendly toward him ever since.
Although he was incredibly bitter and annoyed that Si-woo had taken the elemental stone he so desperately wanted, he wasn’t so ungrateful as to forget a favor. He would often boast loudly that Si-woo could count on him from now on.
“I was in a tight spot. You saved me, Sir Yahalong. Thank you.”
“What’s to thank? I should be thanking you for saving me in that mess. Hehe, well, that kick you gave me in the ruins hurt like hell, though.”
When Yahalong brought up the time Si-woo had kicked him in the ruins to shake off Yoana’s pursuit, Si-woo replied with an apologetic tone.
“I am truly sorry about that. I was worried that if I hadn't, the Ancient would have taken you hostage, making the situation even more difficult…”
As Si-woo’s voice trailed off, Yahalong laughed heartily and clapped his shoulder with a hand as large as a pot lid.
“Haha, I’m just kidding, so don’t take it so seriously. You think I’d get bent out of shape over getting hit once by the person who saved my life? Especially a troll like me? I’m not that petty.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Was it because he was pleased with Si-woo’s demeanor, who remained polite to him, a 2nd-Circle beginner, despite having become a 2nd-Circle master by consuming the elemental stone?
Yahalong chuckled and said.
“I really like you. Hehe. If I’d known there were outstanding humans like this, I would’ve made a human friend or two sooner. You're good. Really good.”
About three minutes passed as the now-elated Yahalong chatted with Si-woo. The elven employee from the coin shop returned with his superior, looking terribly flustered.
As soon as the Ursa-tribe superior came to the counter, he bowed his head to Yahalong with a sour expression.
“Sir Yahalong, I heard our employee made a mistake. I have no excuse. I will ensure our staff is properly trained…”
Before the Ursa superior could finish, Yahalong kicked him in the shin.
Caught off guard without time to deploy a mana shield, the Ursa superior groaned and clutched his leg after taking the full force of the troll’s low kick.
“S-Sir Yahalong.”
“How can a mere coin shop employee refuse to sell a grimoire to a mage from the Magic Tower? Do you know this is an abuse of authority? Huh?”
“As I’ve said repeatedly, I have no excuse…”
*Thwack!*
“Is a simple apology enough when you haven’t trained your staff properly? Huh? Or what? Did getting a little public service position make you blind to everything else? If you’re a public servant, you should be facilitating things for the Magic Tower’s mages! Instead, you’re sitting around practicing pathetic species discrimination. Hey, are you a racist?”
At being accused of being a racist, the Ursa superior’s face turned deathly pale.
In the multi-species society of the Main Dimension, being branded a racist was tantamount to social ostracism.
The Ursa superior grabbed Yahalong’s leg and shook his head frantically.
“A-A racist? What a terrifying thing to say. I-It was just a misunderstanding, a simple misunderstanding. Besides, if I had known you were backing this man, Sir Yahalong…”
Still not getting it, the Ursa superior earned a click of the tongue from Yahalong, who snapped at him.
“Well, listen to this guy. So you’re saying you would have openly discriminated against my friend if I weren't here? Hey, haven’t you heard the rumors? This man is my benefactor. The one who saved me! And isn’t Lady Isabelle his sponsor? Tsk, tsk, pathetic. You should look before you leap. You picked on the wrong person.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t know Isabelle was behind Si-woo.
However, more than seventy percent of the mages in the Magic Tower dismissed the rumor of Isabelle and Si-woo being lovers as nonsense.
Knowing Isabelle’s personality, they couldn’t imagine that the proud woman would date a mere human, not even a fellow elf.
Realizing he had stepped in it big time today, the Ursa superior squeezed his eyes shut and knelt before Yahalong. The employee, who had been standing by blankly with a pale face, also bowed his head to the ground before Si-woo, begging for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry! I-I was just so jealous of Sir Si-woo’s recent success that I made a huge mistake.”
“…It is my failure for not training my staff properly. Please, forgive us.”
Whether they were sincere or not, seeing them swallow their pride and beg for forgiveness, Yahalong turned to Si-woo and asked.
“What do you think, friend? Forgive them or not? If you’re not satisfied, I can ask a few people I know to have their positions revoked.”
At the mention of being fired, both the superior and the employee flinched. Si-woo, who had been looking down at them with a blank expression, twisted his lips into a smirk and said.
“I was a bit offended, but I don’t want to blow this out of proportion. However, letting such an insult slide would be bad for my reputation and wouldn't help them change their ways. So, could you ask if I can get a 50 percent discount on the grimoires?”
At the mention of a 50 percent discount, the employee blurted out.
“A 5-50 percent discount? That’s ridiculous…”
The Ursa superior kicked the employee in the side for still not grasping the situation.
The employee rolled across the floor several times, groaning and clutching his side.
The Ursa superior bowed his head to Yahalong once more and declared.
“I will cover the cost with my own funds. Please, purchase any grimoire you desire.”
The coin shop wasn’t some neighborhood market; discounts were unheard of. The Ursa superior was trying to show he would use his own money to earn forgiveness.
It was a quick-witted response, proving that not just anyone could rise to a high position.
Greatly pleased with the Ursa superior’s attitude, Yahalong draped an arm over Si-woo’s shoulder and said in a suggestive tone.
“Hey, friend. I told you, didn’t I? That I’d repay you properly. I may not have much else, but I do have a decent amount of coins. So buy whatever grimoires you want today. I’ll cover whatever you’re short.”
Si-woo’s eyes sparkled, and he accepted the deal in a flash, as if he had no intention of politely refusing.
“You’re truly generous. Then, shamelessly, I’ll indulge myself today.”
For some reason, the word “indulge” made Yahalong slightly anxious, but thinking about how many grimoires Si-woo could possibly buy, he laughed heartily and said.
“How could I stop my benefactor from indulging himself? Go ahead, buy whatever you want. I mean, at most, it’ll be two or three…”
A thought suddenly struck him, and Yahalong paused, asking Si-woo.
“Wait, now that I think about it… you’re a Multi-Root Mage, right?”
“Yes. A Six-Root.”
“A-A Six-Root?”
Having acted on impulse without much thought, Yahalong’s green skin was instantly bleached white.
If Isabelle, a 4th-Circle master, could only give Si-woo 100 coins, how many coins could Yahalong, even as an elder’s grandson, possibly have at his disposal?
Coins, the public capital of the Magic Tower, were not an easily obtainable currency.
Yahalong checked his balance, then said with a grimace.
“Uh, sorry… I only have 200 coins. I don’t think I can cover everything.”
“It’s fine. I have 100 coins. With the 50 percent discount, the average price will be 25 coins, so I’ll have more than enough to learn everything I need.”
At Si-woo’s declaration that he would get his money’s worth, the troll became visibly gloomy.
Just as he’d felt in the ruins, this guy was truly a heartless bastard.
***
From the school magic available at the coin shop, Si-woo, with Harman’s advice, selected only the spells he deemed useful. The total came to ten.
As befitting a Multi-Root Mage, he had cherry-picked the essentials from every school.
Of course, grimoires weren’t the kind of thing you could master just by reading. They required time for research and training. Still, with Harman and Lime around, mastering these spells was only a matter of time.
Si-woo opened his notebook and listed all the magic he had secured, regardless of mastery, highlighting the newly acquired spells in bold.
Elemental School 1st Circle: Cutting Wind, Swiftness, ***Ironman***, ***Superhuman Strength***
Elemental School 2nd Circle: ***Antlion's Grave***, Wind Throw, Blade Augmentation
Spatial School 1st Circle: ***Blink***, ***Concealment***
Spatial School 2nd Circle: ***Spell Charge***
Luminosity School 1st Circle: ***Orb of Light***
Luminosity School 2nd Circle: ***Trail of Light***
Umbral School 1st Circle: ***Black Mist***
Umbral School 2nd Circle: ***Shadow Snare***
Mystic School 1st Circle: Divination
Mystic School 2nd Circle: Illusion
‘Excluding Illusion, which Harman already knows… that makes ten in total? Huh, I got quite a lot.’
While Si-woo looked on, feeling full just by looking at the list, Yahalong, who had been completely drained of his 200 coins, looked utterly depressed.
Si-woo had spent a total of 250 coins, 25 for each.
And that vicious Si-woo had used all of Yahalong’s coins before touching his own, managing to save 50 of his own coins in the process.
While Yahalong pouted, muttering about the shameless bastard, Si-woo assessed his own magical prowess, which had improved in a single leap.
‘Looking at elemental magic, I found it had too many useless attack spells besides the useful buffs, so I only learned Antlion's Grave. After what I went through with that bipedal mage in the mountains, I realized how tricky it could be. And since I consumed the elemental stone, it’ll be even more powerful when I use it.’
Harman had advised Si-woo not to learn too many attack spells.
After all, once a battle began, he would end up not using most of them, aside from a few familiar ones.
That’s why Si-woo focused on spatial magic, which was considered the most useful among the schools, and on luminosity and umbral magic, which excelled as CC (Crowd Control) abilities.
Black Mist and Orb of Light to blind enemies and obstruct their vision.
Trail of Light, a type of marking ability, and Shadow Snare to entangle foes.
He had prioritized acquiring spells that were, one and all, masters at frustrating the enemy.
—A common mistake inexperienced fledglings make is to prefer powerful attack spells. In truth, in a duel between mages of the same level, the most powerful abilities are CC. Moreover, a combat mage’s skill is often determined by whether or not they have the ability to create variables.
Finding merit in Harman’s words, Si-woo nodded repeatedly.
Having fought a fair number of battles in a short time, he too felt that few things could fluster an enemy as much as a good CC ability.
—Having experienced war, I know the power of Multi-Root Mages well. They are often ridiculously underrated because of their slow growth, but such evaluations disappear once you see them gain an unbelievable advantage on the battlefield using CC and buffs from various schools.
‘Harman, if I become able to wield all the magic I’ve secured at will, what level of skill do you think I’ll possess?’
—Hmm, I can't be certain… but in my personal judgment, I believe you could face a 3rd-Circle beginner. If nothing else, the ability to use spatial magic is just too great an advantage…
Ironically, among the five major schools, the one with the highest evaluation in combat was the Spatial School, which had extremely few attack spells.
Blink, Spell Charge, Counter, and so on.
There were more than a few spells with high utility value for combat magic.
As Si-woo was deep in a mental discussion with Harman about his future growth, Yahalong, whose patience had finally run out, poked him in the side.
“Hey, friend. I get that you’re happy about getting so many spells, but aren’t you neglecting me a little too much?”
Only then did Si-woo realize he had been ignoring Yahalong. He smiled apologetically and said.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I got carried away. Well then, Sir Yahalong, thank you so much for everything today. Thanks to you, I was able to get my hands on all the magic I wanted. To show my gratitude, how about I treat you to dinner?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll pass on dinner…”
Yahalong paused for a moment, then looked at Si-woo with an intense gaze and said.
“I’ll be direct, Si-woo. Have you ever seriously considered becoming one of my people?”