Chapter 69
What on earth was I thinking when I said I wanted to learn magic?
“I’m going to die….”
“Shh. You’ve only just been declared fully cured, and you’re saying things like that? Do you want to get scolded?”
“Look who’s talking….”
I thought once I was healthy again, a rosy future would unfold. But what awaited me was pitch-black darkness.
“Come on, get up. Break time’s over.”
The moment the doctor declared me fully recovered, Hereis cranked up the intensity of our lessons, which had been somewhat relaxed until then.
“You treated me like fragile glass before, and now you’re being way too harsh, don’t you think?”
“I’m still being gentle.”
Gentle, my foot. His utterly bland, unbothered gaze made me pout.
“Liar. You said you wanted to cherish me and take care of me—so how can your heart change like this?”
“Change? My feelings haven’t changed at all. Don’t you know that?”
“How could I know? This isn’t cherishing me, it’s rolling me around like a ball!”
This wasn’t the rosy future I had imagined.
“I was supposed to go out and have fun, eat all the sweet and salty things I couldn’t have before! That’s how it was supposed to be!”
The more I said it, the more unfair it felt. Why on earth was I stuck studying, which wasn’t even in my fate?
Utterly drained, I sprawled on the sofa and stared blankly at the distant view.
Then Hereis’s voice turned soft, coaxing.
“Shishi, it would be a waste to bury your talent. You have the potential to become strong—are you really going to give up now?”
“…It doesn’t have to be right now, does it?”
“You never know when something could happen. Of course, I’ll always protect you, but what if something unexpected happens? You should be able to protect yourself too.”
“That’s why you keep drilling defensive magic into me?”
I’d lost track of how many hours we’d spent on nothing but shield theory.
Boring. And besides, just sitting back and defending wasn’t my style.
“Hey, Heren, you know what they say? The best defense is offense.”
“…So?”
“Don’t just teach me defensive magic, teach me offensive magic too!”
“Offensive?”
“Like scorching people, burning them up, roasting them over fire—there are so many options.”
“You want to learn fire magic, huh. You emphasized it three times, so I get the picture.”
“Well, not only that, but it’s just… cool, isn’t it?”
When you think “mage,” the first image that comes to mind is fire magic.
‘Even Dig**n* had the fire-type as the protagonist.’
My eyes sparkled with anticipation, but Hereis looked doubtful.
“Fire magic… doesn’t suit you.”
“Why not?”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“My intuition.”
What an absurd answer.
“Intuition? You haven’t even tested it yet, and you say that?”
“Then let’s test it now.”
He stood up, opened a desk drawer, and pulled something out.
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
“A gift for your full recovery.”
Inside the box lay a small wand.
I picked up the wand, about as long as my forearm, and waved it.
“This is… a magic wand?”
“You’re still too inexperienced to use magic without a tool.”
“But you don’t use one.”
“That’s because I’m a genius.”
“…”
Sure, I knew he was a genius—but the way he said it was just insufferable.
Instead of replying, I quietly chanted.
“Fire.”
Pop.
A small flame flickered at the tip of the wand.
When I saw the dancing flame, I jumped up in delight.
“Wow! Heren, look! It’s fire!”
Doesn’t this prove I have talent?
I bounced around, wand in hand. Watching me, Hereis pressed a fist to his lips.
He was obviously trying not to laugh.
“Why are you making that face?”
“Because you’re cute.”
“W-what?”
I stammered, flustered. Just then, fire flared up from Hereis’s hand.
Whoosh.
Compared to my tiny thumb-sized flame, his was on an entirely different scale.
‘Well… next to that, mine does look “cute.”’
I sheepishly extinguished my flame.
“Now that’s what talent looks like.”
“…You’re seriously annoying.”
What kind of teacher crushes their student’s confidence like that?
I glared at him, but his eyes were practically sparkling as if he found me unbearably adorable.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“They’re weird. Just… keep them shut.”
Whenever he looked at me like that, my fingertips itched unbearably.
Unable to stand his unrelenting gaze, I reached out and covered his eyes with my hand.
“…And what’s this tantrum about?”
“Just stay like this for a second.”
Mistaking my sudden action for a sulk, he reached up and patted the back of my hand soothingly.
“Why don’t you try something else? Like ice magic, or maybe… ice magic, or better yet, ice magic?”
“You’re the one who wants me to learn ice magic, huh? You emphasized it three times…”
So fire magic was off-limits, but ice magic was fine? Suspicious.
I pulled my hand away, stepped back, and flipped through the spellbook with narrowed eyes.
Then I tried the basic incantation for ice magic.
“Ice.”
The moment ice began to form at the tip of my wand—
Bang.
The door flew open.
“Siena.”
Crash!
A huge icicle, as thick as my arm, lodged itself right beside Noah.
“…What the hell.”
“See? I told you her talent is overflowing.”
Hereis smirked and shrugged as if to say “I told you so.”
“…Looks like it.”
Noah, who had just walked into the room only to be attacked out of nowhere, wiped his cheek in bewilderment.
A red streak of blood trickled down.
“Gasp! Noah! You’re bleeding! Are you okay?”
Startled, I rushed to him.
After hastily wiping away the blood, he smiled calmly and patted my head.
“I thought Hereis was exaggerating, but you really do have talent. You’re amazing, Siena.”
His praise made my cheeks flush red.
After all, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been praised for doing something well.
‘The best I ever got was, “You swallowed that bitter medicine so well.”’
Just as I was starting to lose interest in magic, his single compliment reignited my passion.
“I’ll study hard!”
“Shishi, good. Since you wanted to learn offensive magic, let’s focus on ice magic. But don’t neglect shields either.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll check every day.”
Hereis grinned wickedly.
I swear, Hereis was definitely a demon.
“Shishi, you’re hopeless at defense.”
Hereis sighed.
“But you’re specialized in offense.”
Looking at the training ground, where holes had been blasted into the floor by ice, he ran a hand through his hair with a weary sigh.
“I wanted to train you in defense, but it’s not working out.”
“That’s no excuse for pushing me this hard!”
I rolled desperately on the ground to dodge Noah’s attacks.
“Damn it, shield!”
Clang!
The thin barrier shattered under Noah’s sword.
“This is crazy! Ice Arrow!”
Boom!
Arrows of ice rained down over Noah’s head.
While he was busy fending them off, I quickly created some distance.
“Huff… Huff… Noah, are you trying to kill me?”
“Don’t worry, Siena. Trust me. I’ll adjust so you won’t get hurt.”
“Do you really expect me to trust a Sword Master swinging a drawn blade at me?!”
Honestly, it was easier sparring with Heren.
‘Even fire arrows were better than this!’
At least with fire arrows, I could counter them with ice.
But Noah’s sword…
“Siena, focus.”
“Eek!”
I yelped and rolled across the floor as his sword nearly reached me.
At this point, it was impossible to tell if I was a human or a ball.
‘I shouldn’t have agreed to train in the arena….’
It all started the first day of shield training in the training ground.
When Noah saw Hereis shooting fire arrows at me, he scolded us with a frightening expression.
If only it had ended there…
“Fire arrows? What if she gets burned? This kind of dangerous training won’t do. I’ll spar with her myself.”
And then he unsheathed his sword and rolled me around like crazy—just like a knight in training.
“That’s enough. Let’s rest for a bit.”
At Hereis’s declaration of a break, I collapsed flat on the dirt where I’d been rolling.
“Siena, you shouldn’t lie on bare ground.”
“I just spent the last hour rolling all over it—thanks to you.”
I waved my hand dismissively to shoo Noah away and stared blankly up at the sky.
That was when a familiar sound reached my ears.
Brr-brr. Brr-brr.
“What’s that sound?”
At the sudden birdcall, Hereis shaded his eyes and looked up at the sky.
“It must be Noah’s messenger bird returning.”
Sure enough, Noah stretched out his arm, and the bird landed gracefully.
With practiced hands, he untied the small container from its ankle and unrolled the letter inside.
I pushed myself up and went over to him.
“What does it say?”
Noah’s expression darkened as he read.
“…What’s wrong?”
Unease prickled at me.
“Let me see.”
Unable to hold back, I snatched the letter from his hand.
And immediately, my face mirrored his.
“What? This letter is the one you sent… why has it come back?”
A messenger bird returning meant it couldn’t deliver the letter to its recipient.
Which meant… something had happened to the duke.
“No way.”
Suddenly, Noah bolted.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, I chased after him.
“Noah! What’s going on?”
Urgently, we both ran straight toward the duke’s office.
