What a Master Can Do for His Disciple
Archmage William kept watch at the unconscious Jade's side, and once Jade came around, he offered a carefully measured explanation. The uninvited guest, he said, had been an "enemy" — for the time being. He had been ordered to put it that way by his lord. The guild master of Dark Moon was hardly someone worth befriending, and William judged that framing to be the right call as well.
…Though it didn't exactly look as though that was her only intention…
William had never seen the face behind the veil, yet he could tell Madam Rain was a considerable beauty. His past, before he met Ely's mother, had been rather colorful — colorful enough that he possessed a peculiar knack for gauging a woman's looks from everything but her face. …Not a talent he could brag about anywhere, of course. Mention it to women and he'd draw stares; mention it to men and he'd draw stares of an entirely different kind.
And judging by what he had seen —
Clearly —
His lord…
That was not the look of someone thinking about her master.
…Archmage William found himself turning the matter over in his mind from every angle, but he had no intention of saying anything outright. He had no right to comment on it in the first place. He knew full well that speaking up would almost certainly end badly for him. Better not to stick his nose into something he couldn't change — better for his own sake. True to his nature as a mage, he prized individualism and rational self-interest above all else.
But the essential fact remained unchanged.
If his lord had a weakness —
It was her master.
No matter how pure his intentions, no matter that he had done it out of goodwill for his disciple —
There was no Aura Heart inside him.
That was, without question, a problem.
It's astonishing that he can fight by wielding Natural Mana the way he does… but you can hardly expect him to stay safe forever on that kind of power alone.
And it wasn't as though William could keep watch like this every time, reaching out a helping hand whenever the opportunity arose. He was soon to take the field against the Demon King's army as a member of the Hero's party. Ideally, this hermitage would never be discovered, and the master's existence — the Hero's greatest vulnerability — would remain a secret. But the affairs of the world, regrettably, tend to flow toward the worst possible outcome rather than the best. An eternal secret simply does not exist.
And so William had no choice but to say it.
"I shall prepare a suitable place for you. What do you say to relocating there?"
Once I came to, I got a rough account of what had happened. Though I doubted it was the whole truth.
The other party didn't seem to approach with any real malice, after all.
I figured it was something of an unfortunate accident — my ability to read presence had grown too sharp thanks to Natural Mana. There was a chance the visitor had simply meant to observe me, gather a certain amount of information, and withdraw. But I had sensed them first, loosed an arrow, and put them on guard, and things had escalated from there. That was the conclusion I reached.
You could even say firing that arrow worked out for the best. Nothing reads an opponent's skill more clearly than crossing weapons.
Still, I couldn't let my guard down. The claim that she was Sera's companion was almost certainly a lie.
Someone of Dark Moon's caliber, most likely.
I hadn't won my seat as an A-class mercenary at a gambling table. I was a veteran who knew how the underworld worked. To someone like me, William's lie was far too transparent.
"I see."
But I played along, pretending to buy it even though I knew better. I had no other choice. Letting on that I knew would only complicate things — that much I understood. For the weak, ignorance is a shield. A weak man who knows too much only tangles the situation further and makes everything messier. Knowing that, I feigned ignorance. I knew full well it was the surest way to keep things rolling along smoothly enough.
William continued.
"I shall prepare a suitable place for you. What do you say to relocating there?"
"……."
I still lacked the ability to precisely gauge an opponent's level the way I could when I still had an Aura Heart. But Natural Mana had sharpened my senses, and I carried the weapon of experience carved into my bones through years of crawling across battlefields. Even without an Aura Heart, I could read someone's presence well enough through instinct and hard-won experience.
For instance, I could tell that William was disguising himself as a younger man through something like polymorph magic — and that, contrary to what he claimed, his true level was extraordinarily high. Even as I was now, that much was plain.
In other words, following his advice here would be the rational choice in every practical sense. Following rational decisions is good. On the battlefield, the most level-headed and reasonable people are the ones who survive. But this was not a battlefield. This was a sanctuary. This was the place she was meant to return to.
And that was the most important fact of this moment.
"William."
"Yes, Master?"
"Transcendents must be lonely, don't you think?"
"…I wouldn't know."
"What's your own take?"
"…I imagine they would be lonely."
"I'm no Transcendent. But I did climb as far as the ranks just below — to the level of a true master. And from where I stood, Transcendents always seemed terribly lonely."
"……."
People in this world like to say that once you become a Transcendent, you can have everything.
That's what they say.
But every Transcendent I had ever known carried some kind of lack, and that lack left them with a savage thirst. I had seen Transcendents thrash about on the battlefield, flinging aura and magic like madmen trying to fill that thirst somehow — and I had been forced to buy time against them with my life on the line. So I can say this much: rising to those heights looks like happiness to the people gazing up from below, because they can't see what it's really like. But from as close as I managed to get, it didn't look happy at all.
Even Transcendents were like that.
Even Transcendents.
So then —
What of the Hero?
The one and only Hero of this world?
The one who must save the world?
The one who cannot be forgiven, cannot be accepted, cannot have her very existence affirmed unless she saves the world — what of her?
"William, I'm a poor excuse for a master. A powerless wretch who can't even be a source of strength for his own disciple."
"That can't possibly be true!"
"I appreciate you saying so. But the fact remains that I've become a burden holding my disciple back."
"That's…"
"I know you're right. I know relocating is the rational decision. But someone has to be there. For a Hero forced to shoulder the weight of expectations people dump on her whether she wants them or not… there needs to be at least one person whose role is to wait — a sanctuary, a place she can come home to. I believe that's the right thing."
"……."
"So I have to wait here. That's the role I'm meant to take on. Just as you, as a companion of the Hero, have taken on the role of standing by Sera's side and protecting her."
Because that was the one thing a poor master like me could still do for his disciple.
"And Master?"
"He's fine. Just as you instructed, I left him a generous stock of potions, so there's no need to worry."
"Good. That's a relief."
Sera smiled as she said it. The only times her perpetually expressionless face ever softened were moments like this — whenever she received news of Jade. Master and disciple were both fools for each other, William couldn't help thinking.
"My lord."
"What is it?"
"I told your master that I wished to guide him to a safer location."
"……."
William braced himself for a hard blow. He had acted without her permission, after all — he had gone into it fully prepared for the consequences. He had simply believed it was something that needed doing for her sake.
"…I see. And?"
"He said that even a Hero bearing the crushing weight of saving the world needs a sanctuary, does she not?"
"……."
"He also said that at least one person ought to take on the role of waiting for the Hero — that that would be the right thing."
"……."
"I couldn't find a single word to refute him."
At that, Sera smiled, hugged the sword Jade had given her tightly to her chest, and closed her eyes.
Countless regressions.
Countless lives.
Countless faces of humanity.
Kind people.
Vicious people.
Good people.
Cruel people.
Wise people.
Foolish people.
She had seen every kind of person there was.
But not one among them —
Not one had ever tried to be her support.
Not one had ever tried to be her pillar.
Everyone only ever tried to dump the burden called expectation onto her, the Hero.
Because she was the Hero, she had to.
Because she was the Hero, she had to be a convenient tool.
Because she was the Hero, she was not allowed human feelings.
Because she was the Hero, she had to shoulder every last duty without question.
There had been no one.
No one had ever tried to see her as a person.
And so she had no choice but to grow frustrated, disappointed, and despairing.
Without a support to lean on, even the greatest will tilt and collapse — and her collapse had been the inevitable end. Even a Hero will fall if she has no pillar to hold her up.
But now she had a pillar.
The warmest and firmest pillar in all the world.
"Follow Master's wishes."
"I shall arrange things as best I can."
"Thank you."
"……?!"
William was caught completely off guard. It was the first time he had ever heard words of thanks from her since he began serving her as his lord. A soft smile soon spread across his face.
She herself didn't realize it yet — but William, too, was well on his way to becoming just another fool for that master and that disciple.