Chapter 11: White Witch(5)
Chapter 11: White Witch(5)
The legendary archmage of the continent.
With her beautiful, shimmering white hair, she sniffled.
“Sniffle… sob… sob… You’re truly too cruel…”
“…”
Even Kerry felt a little sorry for her as she turned her back to him, sulking and sniffling.
It was no surprise that his own voice sounded like he was making an excuse.
“You tried to rape me first.”
“…That doesn’t unconditionally justify your actions. You’re just the same as this one…”
“I know. I don’t think what I did was right, either.”
“…”
The White Witch sniffled. It seemed she didn’t take the matter of sex as seriously as one might expect.
But there were still plenty of other things to be upset about.
“You raised your fist to this one.”
“That was self-defense, too.”
“Even so! What kind of man in this world punches a woman in the solar plexus that hard?”
“That’s a sexist remark. In my homeland, we despise sexism to an extreme degree, so I became a gender equality advocate who can strike both men and women without hesitation.”
The White Witch fell silent for a moment, dumbfounded. A country where people mercilessly hit women in the pursuit of gender equality.
“What a… rotten country.”
“You tried to harm me, and I stopped you. That’s all there is to it. Am I wrong?”
“…”
The White Witch seemed to have lost all will to resist. A single punch had shattered the archmage’s fighting spirit.
A fist that could make an archmage submit in one blow. It almost made him wonder if he had a talent for being a warrior, not a mage.
But the path Kerry sought was that of a mage.
“I have something to ask. You’re a mage, so why can’t you use magic?”
“…You’re asking that now? You don’t seem to know much about magic, so to put it simply… it’s because I’m pouring all my power into maintaining this dimension.”
It was just as he’d expected. Kerry silently stared at the White Witch’s sulking back. Let’s think this through.
The woman before him was the continent’s legendary archmage. Could this be an incredible opportunity?
“Hey.”
“Insolence! Address this one with the proper respect.”
As Kerry strode toward her, the White Witch’s shoulders flinched.
“…I shall permit you to address this one without such formalities.”
“I don’t care about your permission. How about you teach me magic?”
The sulking White Witch whipped her head around. Her cold red eyes, now welling with tears, looked a little pitiful.
“You ask me to teach you my magic, said to be the greatest on the continent? Don’t be ridiculous. The Emperor of the Empire promised riches and honor, yet none could obtain my magic. Ah, but there is an exception. If you carve the Seal of the Soul and pledge your loyalty to me, I might consider teaching you. Will you do so?”
“No. The Seal of the Soul basically makes me your puppet, right? I don’t want that. I’ll give you something better instead.”
“Something better? Is there anything better than riches and honor?”
“Peace.”
“…Peace? I was at peace here from the very beginning! Who was it that disturbed that peace…”
“And who do you think is the only person who can give that peace back to you?”
Kerry clenched his fist, and the White Witch’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“So you’ll teach me, right? If you even think about teaching me wrong, I’ll beat you to a pulp that day. For real.”
“…”
“Then I’ll be in your care, Master!”
It was an auspicious day, for he had just gained the greatest master on the continent.
*
After officially becoming her disciple, I had many conversations with the White Witch.
She said she hated being called Master. I asked for her name, but she dismissed me, saying I should just call her Lady Witch.
“…Lady Witch. Let’s start the lesson already.”
The White Witch trembled. She really seemed to hate being taken advantage of.
But every time she acted up, Kerry would clench his fist, and the White Witch’s trembling would stop as she regained her composure.
“…Have you ever learned magic before?”
“No. But I believe in you, Lady Witch. As the greatest archmage on the continent, surely you can make me a proper mage in no time, right?”
“Nonsense. Magic is ninety percent innate talent…”
“I’ll be counting on you to take care of this foolish disciple! Lady Witch.”
“…How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-seven. Why do you ask?”
“You are too old to begin learning magic. It would be better for you to learn something else…”
“They say the best time to start is when you think it’s too late. I really want to learn magic. Don’t tell me I can’t. If you do, I might lose my reason, and the gender equality advocate inside me might awaken again.”
“…It normally takes ten years to learn magic.”
It was a bolt from the blue. I knew learning magic wouldn’t be easy, but ten years? That was insane.
“As one ages, impurities that obstruct the flow of mana build up in the body, and the innate sense for feeling mana dies. That is why magic is difficult to learn unless one becomes accustomed to mana from a very young age.”
This filthy isekai world! Did this mean magic was something only the talented, silver-spooned elites could learn?
I was well aware of the injustices of this world, but my body trembled with rage.
Just when I thought a man’s fantasy was about to come true!
“D-Don’t be so angry! It is not my fault! That fist… unclench that fist at once! What are you planning to do to me now!”
The White Witch recoiled in fear at the rage welling deep inside Kerry’s heart.
That’s how incredibly pissed I was right now.
But it wasn’t because of the White Witch. I was angry at the injustices of this fucking isekai world.
‘Hell Korea was a better place to live.’
“Seven years! With my abilities, I can do it in seven years! It’s true! Believe me! Any less is impossible!”
‘Seven years is still too long. This is so fucking annoying.’
“…Five years! It can be done in five years! I will use all my talent and teach you with all my might… so please, calm your anger. I beg you!”
It had been reduced from ten years to five. I wondered if I could push for even less, but seeing the White Witch on the verge of tears as she pleaded, I knew this was the limit.
“Understood. I’m prepared to invest about five years.”
“Y-Yes. I will be sure to teach you so you can use magic within five years!”
“Then could you first tell me what I’ll be learning? Lady Witch. Your disciple will listen with all his heart and soul.”
“Before that… there is something we must do first. The five years I mentioned is only if you are capable of learning magic in the first place, is it not?”
“…Are you saying I might not be able to learn magic at all if I have no talent?”
“Did I not say that magic is ninety percent talent?”
It was undeniably bitter news. But Kerry had his hopes.
He remembered Lina, the regressor, praising his talent.
As the White Witch prepared the talent test, a strange sense of anticipation kept bubbling up inside him.
“Preparations are complete, so we shall begin at once. First, watch what I do carefully.”
The White Witch held out a kind of orb. It reminded him of the magic orb she said she had made, but this one was slightly different. It looked like a completely transparent glass orb.
The White Witch placed both her hands on the orb. When she pulled them away, the inside of the glass orb was filled with a blue light.
“This is an orb of my own creation. The more talented one is, the more blue light they can fill the orb with. Try to copy me.”
“Copy you? Without any explanation of how you did it?”
“Sensing mana is a feeling, so it cannot be explained. It is like how you cannot explain how to move your arms and legs. It is an innate sense. If I must force an analogy, imagine finding a foreign energy within you and pushing it into the orb.”
Kerry nodded. He felt like Lina had said something similar before.
This was his second time. Maybe he could do a little better than the first.
‘Find the mana… and imagine putting it into the orb!’
He felt a tiny, grain-sized energy inside his body. Sensing it, he moved it. He didn’t know how.
Just as one moves their arms and legs without knowing how, the energy called mana moved naturally according to Kerry’s will.
The moment that tiny bit of mana swirling inside Kerry entered the glass orb…
Though smaller than the White Witch’s, a blue light filled the glass orb completely.
“!”
“…”
Since the blue light was smaller than the White Witch’s, did that mean his talent was inferior to hers?
No, that wasn’t it. Kerry’s body had gone twenty-seven years without any of the conditioning a mage would receive. Over that much time, even the most outstanding talent would lose its luster.
And this was the result of that faded talent. His innate talent might have been comparable to the White Witch’s.
‘A talent on par with my own? Impossible. I have never met such a person in my entire life. Not even that old man from the Magic Tower could match me…’
“…Is it broken? Shall you try again?”
Kerry silently repeated the process, and the orb shone as brightly as before.
“…”
“Hm. This is considered talented, right?”
Kerry, who knew nothing, asked. But the White Witch didn’t bother to praise his talent.
After all, Kerry was nothing more than an unwelcome guest to her right now.
“Yes. You have talent.”
But even that small praise made Kerry jump for joy. It was the happiness of discovering that he, who thought he was just another talentless nobody, actually had a gift.
“Then we shall begin with studying the theory of magic in earnest.”
The White Witch moved to a bookshelf and retrieved one of the many books lining its shelves.
She had no need for a beginner’s book now, but she had kept this one for old time’s sake.
“This is a textbook for beginners. Study this first.”
The book the White Witch handed him was as thick as an encyclopedia. And this was for beginners?
“You were making such a fuss about wanting to learn magic quickly… Why are you just standing there?”
“What… are all these complicated symbols? Can’t I just use magic if you teach me how to do it?”
“…Of course not. Why do you think magic takes so long to learn? While honing your senses is important, studying the theory is just as crucial. To change the laws of nature, you must first study those laws.”
“…Do I just have to finish this one book?”
“No. Let’s see… yes. You would need to read at least half the books on that bookshelf to be considered a competent mage who can pull their own weight.”
The bookshelf the White Witch pointed to was too large to be called a simple bookshelf. How in the world was he supposed to study all of that?
“…Your talent is greater than I thought, so perhaps it might be possible in under five years.”
The White Witch tried to soothe him, afraid Kerry would throw another tantrum, but it had no effect.
“I don’t want to…”
“W-What do you mean? Even if you insist, any less than five years is impossible. No matter how talented you are, absorbing and handling such a vast amount of knowledge takes time… Even I! It took even me five years to use magic freely! Do not be angry!”
“I said I don’t want to!”
“Hieeek!”
“I don’t want to study! How am I supposed to sit here and read all this? It’s hard enough just trying to get by!”
A man born with this much talent didn’t even want to study.
If the mages who were currently coughing up blood and honing their skills without any talent saw this, their blood pressure would surely skyrocket.
“Teach me how to use magic without studying! If you don’t, I’m walking the path of a warrior starting today, and you, Lady Witch, will be my training sandbag!”
I want to use magic. I really want to. Magic is one of the few fantasies I have in this isekai world.
An isekai world without magic was just a primitive and unjust medieval age.
“Such… absurdity! How can you change the laws without knowing them? What you say is all nonsense!”
Kerry continued to fume, demanding she find a way.
To the witch, who had already been traumatized by Kerry’s punch to her solar plexus, he looked like a demon.
‘This man’s eyes… his eyes are completely insane! At this rate, I really might become his punching bag for the rest of my life!’
“It is not that there is no way. But… it is a shortcut…”
“No. You should have taught me that from the start. Are you trying to pick a fight with me? Were you upset that I punched you in the stomach? Is that it?”
“That is not it! The path a mage must walk is one that leads to truth and accomplishment. If you take a shortcut, you will reach neither truth nor accomplishment.”
“I don’t want to be a great mage; I just want to be able to make a living. I don’t need truth or accomplishment. Just teach me that shortcut.”
“Do you know of an item called a Magic Storage Orb…? It is a precious item of my own creation, and with it, you can use magic. But I do not have one here, so… there is no way…”
“You mean this?”
“Yes. An orb that looks exactly like that one. Huh? Why do you have that?”
“I picked it up off the ground.”
“…You are one lucky bastard.”
*
With the White Witch’s help, Kerry was able to leave that place. He had also confirmed that he could go back again.
He had spent too much time inside the orb, so he felt he needed to rejoin his party for now.
When he went outside, Lina gave him an incredibly warm welcome.
He didn’t know why, but Lina looked haggard, as if she had been through a lot.
Then, hearing that Natasha had woken up, he rushed to her room.
“Natasha. You’re awake.”
“…”
“What’s wrong? Are you still not feeling well?”
“I’m sorry… husband… sob, sob!”
Natasha wailed, saying she was sorry. It seemed she was deeply upset that I had almost died because of her.
But for me, who had already obtained a legendary item and found the path to becoming a mage, it was a trivial matter.
“Sniffle… A-Are you really… really forgiving me?”
“I told you, it’s fine, Natasha. Besides, Lady Lina was protecting me, so I didn’t even feel like I was in danger.”
I spent a long time comforting Natasha. She apparently hadn’t eaten at all while I was gone.
It seemed she was afraid I would hate her. Lina watched me soothe Natasha for a while before giving a small nod.
For some reason, her gaze seemed to say she thought I was amazing. What in the world happened while I was gone?
I was enjoying a rare, leisurely chat with the party.
Suddenly, a commotion started outside the inn. Looking out the window, I could see priests dressed in white robes gathered in front of the inn.
Lina saw the priests and spoke.
“What business do the priests of the Goddess Elena have here…?”
It seemed the slow-witted goddess was looking for us. She must have realized that the regressor and I had met.