Teacher and Disciples (3)
“It’s a sword so amazing it’s almost frightening.... The pitch-black blade looks like it could swallow me whole...”
Hmm... I didn’t cast any magic like that, did I? Nothing that interferes with the mind... Just chalk it up to it being a well-crafted sword. Yeah.
“But the part about taking away the owner’s most precious possession... that’s a little scary. I’m prepared for it, but...”
Asterios sheathed the sword and said.
He might be prepared, but it was only natural to fear having his most precious thing taken. Especially when he didn’t know if it would be his life, an object, or a person.
“I was lying, though.”
“What?!”
“I was just testing what kind of resolve Asterios has. That sword is just a blade with special power, so no need to worry. It’s not some demon sword or anything.”
Asterios looked a bit deflated at my words.
“When you say it like that, Teacher, it doesn’t feel like a lie. Considering everything you’ve done so far, it seems entirely possible.”
“Oh dear, is that so?”
I don’t think I’ve done anything that grand.
“From building this treehouse to dragging a river here because swimming would help with training, making a small rocky hill behind the house for us to break with a pickaxe, animating life-sized wooden dummies to spar with us... Honestly, someone who can do all that doesn’t seem like the type who couldn’t make a demon sword.”
Hmm. Is that how it seems? I only did those things because they seemed helpful for training Asterios.
“Anyway, that sword—Dainsleif—will now be Asterios’s. Use it well.”
“Yes. Thank you!”
Asterios, who had been a young boy when he first entered this forest, had grown into a sturdy young man over the five years. He smiled before me.
Behind that innocently bright smile lurked a heart rotten with black vengeance.
Still, whatever. It was about time to get moving.
“You gave Brother a sword, but nothing for me, Teacher?”
“Vivi, you don’t need a weapon like that.”
“Still! Brother got a gift from you, and I hate not getting one! This is discrimination!”
I’m not trying to discriminate.
“The Order of Life itself is basically a gift for you, isn’t it?”
“I find those people a bit off-putting. They keep begging me to come to the order every time I see them. I want to stay with you longer, Teacher.”
Vivi grumbled.
Unlike five years ago when she was young but clever, she’d become quite the spoiled young lady now.
Well, only with me, that is. She handled the priests of the Order of Life and others quite maturely...
Hmm. Is she like that because she’s comfortable with me? A kid who had to flee from her uncle at such a young age opening up like this... It doesn’t feel bad.
“Really, what an incorrigible young lady.”
“You’re the bad one, Teacher. Discrimination is wrong. If you keep discriminating like this... I might tell Brother your secret!”
“That won’t do.”
I chuckled softly at Vivi’s playful words.
She said it every time, but I knew she wouldn’t tell.
“But why keep it secret from Brother? That you’re actually acting on the will of the Life Goddess.”
“Because if more people learn that the Life Goddess is interfering in this world even a little, it’ll be trouble. Officially, she’s supposed to be a lazy goddess.”
Vivi thought I wasn’t the Life Goddess herself, but a being created by her.
Well, the voice was the same, after all. She must have quickly realized we were connected.
I still vividly remembered how she’d stared at me in shock right after hearing the Goddess’s voice as the Dragon Maiden.
Should I have altered my voice in this sage’s body? At least she hasn’t figured out I’m the Goddess herself!
“Hmm... I don’t quite get it. Why does the Life Goddess have to be lazy?”
“To protect the lives on earth from the gods. The Life Goddess placed restrictions on them to stop them from ruining the surface. They can’t interfere directly with the earthly realm.”
It’s just an excuse! I just want to be lazy!
Teaching these two kids in this sage’s body was fun enough, but it wouldn’t last much longer.
“I see... So the Life Goddess, who set those restrictions, can’t let anyone catch her secretly interfering through you, Teacher. That’s why it has to stay secret!”
“Yes. So keep it secret, Vivi. You figured it out from my voice, but if more people catch on, it’ll be a problem.”
“Okay! But... my hand feels a bit empty...”
Vivi glanced at Asterios while flexing her hand open and closed.
That sly yet cute gesture made me burst into a small laugh.
“Really, what am I going to do with you.”
Well, a staff is easy enough to make.
I lightly tapped the ground twice with my toe, and at the same moment, a tiny sprout emerged from the soil.
The sprout grew into a tree, stretching tall until it reached a suitable height for a staff.
Perfect. That should do it.
I halted the tree’s growth, gripped it, and pulled it out easily. I brushed off the dirt from the roots, gathered and wove the stray ones together, then neatly shaped the upper branches.
Oh, right. Since I’m making it, I should add some helpful features.
Let’s see... This’ll work!
I pretended to rummage in my robes and pulled out a fist-sized magic stone.
It was from an ogre the Knight King had supposedly slain long ago.
The monsters I’d beaten with the hero back then had decent-sized stones too, but digging through them would’ve been a hassle. They were buried deep inside, after all.
So this would do for now.
I encased the fist-sized stone in diamond, shaped it properly, and adjusted the branches to wrap around it.
A staff with branches cradling a diamond slightly larger than a fist. Good. The shape was coming together.
Now to add a few functions.
If planted in the ground, it absorbs mana from the soil to recharge the stone’s power.
Channeling mana through the staff improves efficiency—reduces consumption to 1/10th.
Treat the stone like a backup battery to quickly restore the user’s mana. In emergencies, use its power to erect a barrier...
Hmm. That should be enough. Oh, and finish with an indestructibility enchantment.
“There. It’s done.”
“Wow... Teacher’s skills are so baffling no matter how many times I see them. How does it even work?”
“Think of the tree like your own child, and it becomes possible.”
Because the World Tree Yggdrasil is my child!
Most trees have no choice but to obey me!
“Whoa, whoaaa!”
“How’s the weight and grip?”
“It sticks perfectly to my hand! Amazing! And casting magic feels effortless!”
Vivi swung the staff excitedly, firing a barrage of glowing arrows from its tip.
Simple magic arrows, but fired at that speed, it was like a machine gun.
Kaboom boom boom!!
The arrows Vivi unleashed all struck the massive rock Asterios had shown off Dainsleif on earlier—the one he’d split in two. The boulder shattered into gravel in an instant.
“To give me such an incredible staff! Thank you, Teacher!”
“You’re welcome. Now that it’s time to send you two off, I hope these help.”
“Huh?”
Vivi’s face stiffened at my words.
“Teacher...? What did you just say...?”
“Hmm? I hope these help...”
“No, before that.”
“That it’s about time to send you two off? You can’t stay here forever. It’s time to leave the forest.”
Asterios to achieve his revenge and reclaim his place.
Vivi to aid him and serve as the Order of Life’s saintess.
They both needed to leave.
“B-But Teacher... you’re not coming?”
“Me?”
Oh, right. They’re worried because I won’t be going with them.
Like little kids.
“I can’t leave this forest.”
“But... we thought you’d come with us and Brother!”
“Come along...? That’d be tricky.”
This sage’s body wasn’t made for travel in the first place—it’s heavy like a rock.
Can’t ride a horse, walks slowly...
Not built for moving around. Plus, I’ve exceeded the activity period I planned for it by far. It was only meant for Lyclean’s time, after all.
“Why not?”
“Umm... It’d be difficult...”
Vivi looked up at me with moist eyes on the verge of tears.
Ugh... She’s so cute...
I let out a small sigh and said,
“Give me a little time to think.”
She really is a handful.