Chapter 247.
When I took out the magic wand, Arwen was wary and took out a short magic wand from her breast pocket.
"You don"t have to be vigilant. It’s useless with your skills."
I grinned and flicked the floor slightly with my magic wand. Then I teleported me and Arwen, still seated in chairs, to somewhere in the meadows.
Arwen, who was suddenly teleported out of the house, looked around in bewilderment.
"Is this your first time teleporting? Well, spatial magic is very difficult. But it"s too early to be surprised."
I hit the ground with my magic wand again, the ground froze and ice pillars rose high everywhere. The surroundings froze too, creating a transparent ice castle.
It was made in a hurry, so the durability was poor, but Arwen was mesmerized by the sight of the ice castle s.h.i.+ning in the sun. As expected for a child, something flashy on the exterior seemed to work better than a complex mana structure.
I got up looking at Arwen whose eyes were twinkling like a child.
Now, shall I get started with showing off my skills...
"Break down."
I brandished my magic wand, and the ice castle began to crack and broke down into tiny pieces of ice. The plummeting ice debris was reflected in the sun, seeming like a diamond.
"Reverse gravity."
I spread the reverse gravity field around and the falling ice debris went up into the sky against gravity.
"Pulverize!"
The ice debris that climbed high in the sky turned into powder and scattered like snow.
Arwen touched the slowly falling fragments of ice and was as amazed as a child.
I approached her and asked, "What do you think? Don"t you want to try doing something like this?"
Arwen nodded eagerly. If I were her, I would have been suspicious at first, but she was very naïve.
"If you learn from me, you can do it. Do you want to learn?"
Arwen hesitated.
"Oh, come to think of it, you can"t go out without a guardian, right? Have you seen cherry blossoms this year?”
Arwen shook her head.
"Darn, the cherry blossoms are all gone by now. Then shall we make them bloom again?”
- Is that possible? Even though there are no cherry blossom trees around here?
Arwen looked up at me with eyes full of antic.i.p.ation.
"If there are none, then we can just make some."
I took cherry blossom tree seeds out of my pocket s.p.a.ce and threw them around, then sprayed a magic reagent made through alchemy on it.
"The breath of life is benevolent, so consume it. Grow."
With my incantation, the seeds quickly consumed the magic reagent, rooted themselves in the ground, and grew. As they grew rapidly, they quickly consumed moisture from the surrounding land.
"It"s the source of life, distribute it."
I melted the fallen ice shards and sprayed them on the trees. The trees were full of water and quickly formed pink flowers and bloomed beautiful cherry blossoms.
Arwen smiled and clapped, happy to see petals fluttering in the wind.
"How is it? Don"t you want to try?"
Arwen wrote in the air with a flushed face.
- I want to try!
"If you learn from me, you can do it too.”
- Really?
"Of course. All I"ve shown you is the basics.”
Looking at the sparkling eyes, I felt guilty because I felt like some bad adult who seduced children with candy, but I was not lying.
- Then I"ll learn!
"You have to be polite. And also call me Master."
- I want to learn, Master!
Persuading Arwen was easier than I thought. At first, I was going to persuade her by showing magic only madosas could do or some other high-level magic. However, she didn’t seem to have the ability to recognize them, so I only showed things flashy to the eyes, which seemed to be more effective.
"Then as the first instruction as your master, don"t tell anyone anything about me. And also don’t tell Flam."
Arwen seemed hesitant but nodded.
Is this what it feels like to teach a newbie? It makes me feel prouder than I thought.
I teleported us to where we were originally. Arwen looked around curiously as the surrounding area turned into the familiar landscape of her home again.
Flam, who happened to bring the teacups from the kitchen, smiled and said, "I"m sorry for taking so long. I don"t usually go into the kitchen, so I couldn’t find the cups." He put the teacups down on the table, looked back and forth between me and Arwen, and asked, "Did something happen? Why are you standing?"
"No, nothing happened, right?"
Arwen nodded at my question.
"Is that so? But Arwen being friendly to someone she has hardly seen is rare."
I grinned at his surprise.
"We decided to be friends.”
I poured some tea into the cups and placed them in front of Arwen and Flam.
-o-
Since I took Arwen as my disciple, after drinking the tea, I decided to check her skills. If my eyes didn’t deceive me, it was clear that she was talented. However, there was too little magic that she knew.
Even so, the thought of the ahjumma who taught Arwen magic bothered me. According to the explanations written in the magic book that was given to Arwen as a teaching aid, she was not a madosa, but a great magician at the most. In particular, considering that the magic provided was simple and practical so that it could be used while moving, I thought she might be a battle magician or a magic swordsman.
"Master, what are you looking intently at?”
I shrugged at Tristan, who he was training lightly beside me.
"I discovered a talented little kid before I came to the workshop, and I made her a disciple. I"m looking at the textbook she’s been using, and it seems she was being taught battle magic for self-defense rather than the basics."
With Arwen"s talent, it may not be a big problem, but there was a risk of hitting an obstacle when she tries to cross the Wall of Mado later. This was why I thought it would be better to teach her again from the basics. Come to think of it, Arwen"s mana pattern seemed similar to Hillis’s. It would be fun to teach divine magic with the latter’s help.
Percival grumbled a little discontentedly at what I said. "More than that, I would like for you to look at Her Majesty the Holy Queen, Master."
I closed the magic book and approached the last queen lying in the middle of the workshop. Around her was a magic circle that maximized natural healing.
"Okay, now it’d be better to gradually wake her up even if forcefully, so back away.”
I beckoned Percival to step aside. Then I took out a magic wand and the Miracle Crystal from my pocket s.p.a.ce.
"Now, it"s time to wake up, Sleepyhead!"
I opened a gap between the seals sealing the Miracle Crystal and poured the mana onto the last queen. Then the last queen, who was lying as if she were dead, flinched.
“U...uuuk!"
As the last queen slowly opened her eyes, I closed the gap in the seal again and put it back into the pocket s.p.a.ce. Hovering my magic wand at the edge of the magic circle, I spoke in the ancient language.
"Don"t move. I"m in the middle of healing now."
She was trying to force herself up but returned to lay helplessly and asked, "Caron? Where is this? I"m... Keuk!" She held her head as if she had a headache.
I walked up to the queen and cast healing magic. "And who"s Caron?"
Tristan answered my question with a wry smile. "That"s the name of Master’s ancestor before he was named Modred. How can the descendants not know?”
"Hey, do you even remember the names of your ancestors from 500 years ago? There are so many of my ancestors named Caron."
My grandfather"s name is Caron, and my 8th generation grandfather"s name was Caron.
"But it"s strange. His name was Caron but he left the village?”
In fact, in my family, Caron was not only a name but also a t.i.tle name. Those a.s.signed to protect the Crow Tribe"s holy place were given the name Caron. Indeed, even I left the village despite being appointed as the next chief, so there was no reason why my ancestor would not do so either just because he was my ancestor.
Then suddenly the last queen held my hand and burst into tears. "Heuk! Caron, you’re alive. I"m glad... I"m glad."
Because of the sudden crying, I looked back in bewilderment. I wasn"t the only one who was shocked by her tears.
"I"m sorry. I"m sorry. I should have trusted you to the end. I"m sorry I drove you into a wall...”
She continued to shed tears of regret.
“Look, I"m sorry, but I"m not the person named Caron.”
"Huh?"
"They say we look alike, but do we look that much alike? I"ve been told that I look like my mother quite a bit, but with someone from 500 years ago, I can"t confirm it."
The last queen, who was looking at me with tears in her eyes, blushed and let go of my hand.
"Khmm! I must have been mistaken! For-forget it!”
I smiled and handed over my handkerchief at the sudden change in att.i.tude.
"Let"s wipe our tears and find our dignity first, shall we?"
She s.n.a.t.c.hed the handkerchief out of my hand, embarra.s.sed, and asked, "Who... who are you? Where is this? Sir Percival! Sir Tristan…? I"m sure you two were killed in action?! Am I perhaps dead too!?"
Percival and Tristan slowly explained what had happened to the bewildered Last Queen. She was initially panic-stricken but gradually calmed down as she listened to the story.
"Is that so? Then you"re a distant descendant of Sir Modred. My knights and I have been blessed."
I shrugged at her thanks. "I just followed my end of the deal, so there"s nothing to be thankful for.”
"No, you certainly have the power to suppress the knights’ freedom. Nevertheless, you did not suppress them, but rather helped them, so it is something to be thankful for. Also, thank you for bringing back the knights who made a stupid choice because of this stupid queen.”
"I agree that it was a stupid choice, but you should be giving thanks to those fools. And consider this as someone else’s home and please behave carefully. There"s a lot of dangerous stuff like hydrochloric acid."
She nodded at my warning. "I see. By the way, I honestly can"t believe that Sir Modred"s descendant is a magician.”
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Sir Modred had always lived by the saying that brute force was the most effective."
I agreed on that point. Normally, brute force was the most effective.
The smiling Last Queen asked cautiously, "Is there any record in your family about what happened to Sir Modred? Or, by any chance, anything about who he married...”
Still, at least she seemed to be aware that it had been 500 years and did not ask if he was alive or not.
"Hmm, if he had returned to town normally, wouldn"t he have played the role of protecting the holy place of my tribe? If I look at the genealogy, there will be records left, so I’ll be able to find out about his marriage. Do you want me to look into it for you?”
She shook her head. "Ah, no! It would be a bit of a shock if Sir Modred had married.”
I stood up with a grin.
"Then I"ll leave first. I"ll leave those two behind, so tell them if you need anything done.”
Hillis came on the same train, so she must have gone home first. I wonder if she will nag me or something about coming back late.
-o-
One day, two weeks after returning from Asterium...
No, it wasn"t just ‘one day’. Today’s my birthday.
"Um, do I have to wear this ridiculous hat?” I said.
Alphonso nodded vigorously. "Of course! You"re the star of the day!"
Can I not be the star of the day? Honestly, it’s embarra.s.sing.
If it was just a cone hat, I would do it, but it was unpleasant to see strange characters drawn on it and strange decorations hanging like a tree.
Hillis laughed as she took a picture of me with an expensive magic camera.
"Huhu, who cares? Mrs. Arscilla prepared magnificently especially for you today, so shouldn’t you smile?"
I wanted to make fun of Hillis"s face, but it was my birthday, so I held it in.
"What’s the star of the day doing, not coming over here? Come on in!"
Alice came out of the kitchen and beckoned me to come quickly and I was forced to follow Hillis and Alphonso into the kitchen.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Happy birthday!"
It seemed to be similar to last year when I pa.s.sed the civil service exam, but it was a bit grander.
"Huhu, Alphonso said that Den never seemed to have enjoyed his birthday, so I tried my best."
I responded to Mrs. Arscilla with a smile, "Haha, thank you."
It would have been nice if it hadn"t been for the ridiculous hat on my head. Looking back, it"s already been a year since I left my hometown. Time seemed to have flown by quickly.
"Come, it’s time for a photo!"
Everyone gathered by my side with the birthday cake at the employee’s call.
Click!
Time flew by as the picture of me wearing the ridiculous hat got fixed.