The Disciple's Mage Companion Misunderstood?
What was Archmage William supposed to say…
He was feeling something like a crisis of self-worth.
He was an Archmage. Only a gifted few could become mages at all, and of those few, only a bare handful ever rose to the rank of Archmage. It was an extraordinary position, and the fact that he had attained it meant he was, without question, an extraordinary man. He had never once doubted that.
Even when he had failed to save his wife from the short lifespan heaven had allotted her, even when he had failed to save his daughter from an incurable disease, he had never regarded himself as pitiful or insignificant because of it. And yet lately, those thoughts had begun to creep in.
That being an Archmage was not, after all, so very impressive…
What an Archmage does these days is cook and run errands…
It was not as though he had made no effort to change this state of affairs.
"My Lord, this time allow me to—"
"I'm going. That's final."
"My Lord, this time I will definitely—!"
"I'm certain."
"My Lord, this time…"
"Yeah, I'll go."
"My Lord, you ought to entrust some of the work to me as well…"
"We can't afford variables. I should go. It's more reliable that way."
"……"
He had no choice but to accept it.
Whatever anyone said, his Lord possessed Anti-Aura.
The aura of fellow warriors, the mana of mages—before Anti-Aura, all of it became meaningless. That absolute power, capable of rendering useless both aura and mana, forces that throughout long history had been enough to seize thrones, left no place for a mage like William to step forward.
If only his Lord's body had been strained and unwell, he might have used that as grounds to intervene… but Sera was far too healthy. She never rested, to a degree that would have left an ordinary person collapsed from overwork, and yet she remained perfectly fine. The art of controlling her own flesh with absolute precision through aura mastery that surpassed even an Aura Master—it was a level of ability that would not be overstatement to call Sword Saint, or even Sword God.
She was strong, her body had no problems, and her will was utterly unbending. William had not a single scrap of justification with which to stop her.
In the end, Archmage though he was, all he could manage was the role of cook and errand boy.
In many ways, she was a thoroughly troublesome Lord.
And yet, at the same time, she was a Lord who still possessed the bearing of someone her age.
"My Lord, why do you not go to see your Master?"
"Well…"
"Well?"
"Because right now I'd only look like a little kid to him."
Whether from fully activating and perfectly controlling the aura throughout her body, Sera's physique was growing at a rapid pace. Not much time had passed since William first met her, and yet compared to those early days she was shooting up at breakneck speed, practically day by day.
His daughter Ely had been so envious that she had lately started drinking milk with great enthusiasm, something she had barely touched before. As a mage and a scholar who pursued truth, William had wondered whether he ought to teach his daughter the correct facts—but he knew that in raising a child, a small lie or the concealment of certain truths was sometimes necessary for positive growth, so he held his tongue. Being a parent came before the proper posture of a seeker of truth.
In any case, Sera's desire to see her Master only grew stronger by the day, but she knew full well that if she went to him as she was now, he would see nothing more than a cute disciple. She did not want to be a cute disciple. She wanted him to see her as a woman. And so she always sent William instead, never going herself. That was the optimal solution she had reached through rational calculation.
To William watching from the side, however, it looked entirely different. To his eyes, it was nothing more than the fresh, sweet affection of a young girl—the picture of a girl who could not easily approach the one she held in her heart, who was trying to appear even a little more grown-up. Judging by outward appearance alone, that assessment was not wrong… but the essence of it was a rational judgment reached through meticulous calculation, and that was a very long way indeed from "a girl's pure first love."
Even if it diverged from the truth, if the result was that William felt even a little more fondness for Sera because of it, that was not a bad outcome. A leader so perfect as to seem devoid of any human warmth was not, from the perspective of those working under them, such a pleasant thing either, was it?
In any case, Archmage William found the dip in his self-esteem a bit hard to take, but he rather liked this Lord of his—so perfect, and yet still possessed of a human touch. Above all, she was a good older sister to Ely, someone who made his daughter smile, and as a doting father he could only bow his head and serve her all the more loyally.
He wished to devote his full loyalty to his Lord, and yet there was nothing he could actually do.
In a situation like that, even a capable Archmage might well find himself burning with a sense of obligation to do something.
And so, for him, the scene unfolding before his eyes was the absolute worst.
A thieving cat elf has appeared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The moment he saw the elf girl leaning in to press her lips to Jade's forehead, William thought of his Lord's Aura Blade. The urge to do something—anything—for his Lord, combined with the terror of what she might do upon discovering that his security magic had been breached…
KRAAAAAAANG!!!
…William fired a spell first and asked questions later.
It could be called a chaotic result born of tangled webs of motive and relationship.
"…I am deeply sorry, Master."
"It's fine. Nobody got hurt."
"No, someone should have gotten hurt! If I hadn't reacted, it would have been a disaster!"
Riel, who had been watching William bow at the waist in sincere apology and Jade casually accept it, finally exploded in sheer disbelief.
"It was a situation anyone could have misunderstood, wasn't it?"
"What misunderstanding?!"
"An elf trying to pounce on a man lying down?"
"…Just what do you think elves are?"
"A terrifying race that, once they latch onto you the wrong way, will torment you for hundreds of years?"
"……"
On that particular point, Riel could not quite find a rebuttal. She ultimately failed to deny Jade's words and decided to aim her arrows elsewhere.
"Hey, mage! You said this human man was precious to you, right? So how does it make any sense to just fire off a spell at him out of nowhere?!"
"I ought to apologize a hundred times for that part. But one can never be too careful with elves."
"No! What on earth do you people think elves are?!"
"A race that, once they latch onto you the wrong way, will torment you until the day you die."
"……"
Given the countless incidents and accidents elves had caused over the years—the product of extreme longevity combined with excellent memory, resulting in grudges of truly staggering length—Riel, as an elf with a conscience, could not find a single word to say in reply.
"Anyway, it's nothing major. This elf claimed to be the 'Elf of Blessing,' so I was checking whether the blessing's effect was reliable. If it was, I intended to ask her to do the same for Sera."
"…That does not sound like 'nothing major' to me…"
In other words, he had been planning to use himself as a test subject for Sera's sake? William thought, not for the first time, that his Lord's Master had a peculiar talent for turning something extraordinary into something casual.
William had always believed true humility did not exist in this world—having only ever seen people use the word to dress themselves up even a little more. What he was witnessing now was genuinely astonishing. Or rather, in Jade's case, the humility seemed sincerely, almost excessively, overdone.
…Is this the kind of person who made my Lord fall so completely?
No—it was not a story that applied only to his Lord. Anyone carrying a deep wound in their soul (other races included) would want to stay by the Master's side. The Master possessed that kind of special power. And so William also understood why Sera always fretted over who was near Jade. It would not be strange at all if some thieving cat suddenly appeared and set her sights on him.
"……? What? You looking for a fight?"
"…No."
Apparently that thieving cat had already shown up.
Mages were beings who instinctively pursued and investigated truth and mystery. Naturally, as an Archmage, William had taken an interest in the mysterious existence of elves and had researched them before.
Because someone was her lifesaver, she would use the special power she possessed on a human out of gratitude?
That was absurd.
For example: if someone received help from another person and then offered to hand over their entire fortune in return, would that make sense? Of course not.
To an elf, that special power was exactly that kind of thing—the most precious thing they possessed, something they would never use lightly no matter the circumstances. Even if they sincerely regarded someone as their lifesaver, so long as the other party was human, not using that power was the far more natural response for an elf. Of course, using the power once did not mean it could never be used again—but to elves, the World Tree was an absolute being, and the special power bestowed by the World Tree was, to an elf, essentially everything they were. As a result, elves were reluctant to use that power even on fellow elves. No one would casually share a sacred relic granted to them personally by a god, would they? It was something like that.
To knowing eyes, much is visible. And so William's eyes saw a great deal right now. The conclusion he reached was that the present situation was extremely strange.
Thieving cat… thieving cat elf…
And the way she kept glancing at Jade at every opportunity was the unmistakable gaze of a cat eyeing a fish.
…But if she truly is the 'Elf of Blessing'… then this is an opportunity the Master must not let slip.
Jade had improved considerably, but that did not mean he was healthy. It only meant the worst-case scenario had been avoided—that things were much better relative to the absolute worst. If someone like that could truly receive a blessing carrying the power of the World Tree, it would clearly be a great boon for him. Under ordinary circumstances… William would have done everything in his power to find the 'Elf of Blessing,' dragged Jade along, and bowed until his forehead hit the floor to secure that blessing. In other words, an enormous stroke of luck had fallen into their laps. Letting it go would be the height of foolishness.
But…
That method is out of the question…
There was nothing more terrifying than a girl whose eyes had gone wild with love. And if that girl could swing an Aura Blade? She might well become a being of terror more frightening than even the Demon King.
"Elf."
"What is it, human mage?"
"Does it really have to be done that way? Wouldn't simply holding hands be enough?"
"…Well, it's not that it wouldn't work…"
"So it would work, then?"
"…No, it's just that doing it with the lips on the forehead is the most convenie—"
"Holding hands works, correct?!"
"…Yeah, it works."
Faced with the overwhelming pressure radiating from the human mage, Riel finally nodded. It was a force of will that would not have looked out of place on someone staring death in the face and fighting to survive—Riel simply could not overcome it.
…Just what was that?