Chapter 50
Lir’s outburst—no, her anguish and arduous efforts continued for nearly 40 to 50 minutes. She only stopped swinging her staff and putting down her pen when all of her magical power had drained from her slight body.
Lir still looked regretful as she stared into the air, panting heavily.
“…Huff, wheeze. Huff.”
After placing the staff she’d been gripping tightly down on the now-calloused tips of her fingers, Lir collapsed onto the ground. Even the sturdy legs of an Elf could no longer bear her stubborn resilience.
Despite expending all her magic, her eyes were filled with regret.
She seemed like someone who didn’t want to break away from the exhilaration of the moment, unwilling to let go of the rare inspiration she feared might not return anytime soon.
But inspiration doesn’t stay in one place forever.
Her mind, lost in a fantasy and dancing, seemed to return to reality. Slowly, her dazed eyes looked downward.
Her hands trembled. Her legs felt as if they could no longer move, and she remained frozen in place. Her breathing became slightly labored.
“…Should we head back?”
I casually broke the silence as I watched her, lingering in the aftermath of lost inspiration.
“Uh….”
She responded slowly, her voice lethargic, as if about to drift off to sleep.
“Eh?!”
Whoa, scared you there.
Lir turned abruptly after a brief pause and exclaimed.
“Since when…? What?”
“When did I get here?”
I kindly asked for her, as she seemed to have lost her ability to speak. Her face and ears turned bright red as they shook up and down in affirmation.
“From the very beginning.”
It hadn’t quite been an hour, but it was more fun to say it this way.
“…From the start, so…?”
“The way you threw your pen and then went back to pick it up was quite adorable. What grown-up behaves like a five-year-old wouldn’t?”
“AAAAAAA!”
Unwilling to hear more, Lir suddenly screamed and covered her ears with her palms.
“What was all that about suddenly standing up from your writing and bashing your head on a tree? Does that make your brain work a bit better? I’ll have to try that when we get back to the castle.”
Foolish indeed. No amount of head-bashing will ever stop Lord’s tongue or speech from flowing.
“Then why were you painstakingly piecing together the parchment you had shredded? Wasn’t that repeated about five times?”
“…”
Lir crawled towards the hat lying on the ground, picked it up despite it being covered in twigs and leaves, and placed it on her head, adopting a defensive turtle-like stance.
“When you reconsidered your draft and thought the previous version was better, that’s something that happens often, right? I can relate.”
I waved the parchment I’d secretly collected. Instantly, Lir raised her head to dash towards my hand and grab the parchment frantically.
“‘Innovation and Merging, the Rule of All Things’… Was that a reflection of your thoughts while crafting the spell, Lir? You seem to hold such lofty ambitions. I see through them easily now. The rule of all things? You aren’t even fifteen yet.”
“Shut up… please!”
Using the quick reflexes typical of an Elf, she deftly snatched the parchment from my hand.
“Well, the revised version is slightly better. ‘Innovation and Merging. The Tearing Lightning.’ Why do you have such a fondness for the words innovation and merging, anyway?”
I pulled out the second parchment I’d kept secret and started reading it aloud.
I never expected to guard the parchment from an Elf like me, who’s clumsy with my body, so I secretly collected several scattered parchments from the ground.
Only through cold self-objectivity and thorough preparation can one become an excellent Mage!
“Ah, please!”
Lir quickly snatched the second parchment too without hesitation.
Heh, Lord still has a number of tricks left up his sleeve.
I continued teasing her while pulling out the third, then the fourth parchment.
How many parchments do you think Lord has hidden inside his robes?
My barrage continued until her ears turned bright red and I worried, “Is she going to cry now?”
“…Enough now…”
After enduring a long time of being teased, Lir finally pleaded with a tearful voice.
…Did I go too far?
But what can I do? It was fun.
And look at how she reacted so vividly! This is partly Lir’s fault for reacting so adorably.
“Well, it was cute.”
In any case, no matter how much she begged with such a pitiful tone, I couldn’t continue teasing her. I wobbled my shaky legs toward her slowly.
“…Stop it.”
What’s all this fuss about anyway?
As much as I cursed her inside my head, I gently lifted the hat on her head. At first glance, it seemed like her hands gripped the hat tightly while trembling, but in reality, there was no strength left in her hands.
Her red face became fully exposed with just my small gesture.
After removing her hat, I carefully brushed off the dirt and leaves tangled in her golden hair. After rolling around on the ground for hours, her once pristine blonde hair was now covered in dirt.
“Can you stand?”
“…Carry me.”
“Say what?”
“….”
It was as if she realized after speaking that it wasn’t such a good idea, and she broke into a small chuckle.
The one who speaks and then finds humor in their own words… she’s still not fully with us.
I sat beside Lir who was slumped on the ground and looked blankly up at the sky. The crescent moon faintly peeked through the clouds, gently caressing our cheeks. Lir’s pale skin took on a platinum hue under the dim light.
“Let me know when you can walk. We can return together.”
“…I don’t think I can get up today.”
After hesitating to speak, Lir then seemed to make a decision and bit her lips softly before continuing.
“What?”
Are you serious?
I frowned at her answer.
Seeing my perplexed expression, Lir’s porcelain face turned bright red again, and she hid it beneath her robes.
“Just… let’s stay here for the night.”
Her voice muffled and barely audible beneath the thick robes sounded small and meek.
“…I’m looking forward to the morning point-check tomorrow. Once word spreads that a Mage—let alone Alte’s prized student—has gone missing, the whole camp will be thrown into chaos.”
I scrunched up my face once more.
“…That’s true too.”
After checking my expression carefully once again, Lir heaved a small sigh from within her robes before trying to stand up slowly.
“Eh? You couldn’t stand up just a moment ago…”
“Let’s walk a bit, then rest, repeating as necessary. I should be fine.”
Lir, after glancing away momentarily, spoke.
Still, considering her efforts to avoid causing trouble for the unit, I felt I should offer some help too, and extended my hand.
“…You know this is probably the clumsiest hand in the world, right?”
“If you don’t like it, don’t take it.”
Truth be told, I secretly hoped she’d reject my assistance.
After all, my legs were shaking in a similar fashion.
“No, I’ll take it.”
…Well, that’s disappointing.
Her hands were rough. From wrestling with pens and staffs for hours, they were covered in scrapes and scratches.
Still, despite the pain, she firmly grasped my hand.
Doesn’t it hurt?
With a sigh, I quietly guided her back to the mages’ dormitory.
The usually silent forest, which would normally feel eerie, seemed peaceful and calming tonight by contrast.
—
*
The next day, Lir and I went to meet the Thunder Spirit, Daljin, under the guidance of Trian.
It was hard to believe that Lir, who couldn’t walk properly the night before, was now effortlessly keeping pace with Trian.
Meanwhile, my body was still screaming in pain from muscular soreness.
“Ha! You’ve arrived, children! Do you smell the freshness of these woods?”
When we touched the Runestone concealed beneath a massive tree, the Thunder Spirit Daljin revealed himself. He appeared in the form of a giant stag with large horns, his voice full of vigor.
I quickly told Daljin to cut straight to the chase, remembering the absurd quest he once gave Rex, which nearly killed him. My whole body was still stiff and cold, bone-deep.
There’ll be proper recompense, commensurate with the difficulty.
I’ll make sure to suck him dry to the very marrow.
“Ha… breathe….”
First, I’ll calm my ragged breathing.
“…Oh, right. Catch your breath first.”
“Ha… golly, really.”
“Alright… uh… Do you need more time?”
“…Don’t talk…”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Daljin, who had arrived with a hearty laugh, looked somewhat awkward standing before me as I struggled to catch my breath.
“Ah.”
Daljin noticed Lir as his head turned. The Thunder Spirit’s previously dull and embarrassed expression lit up into a smile as he slowly approached her and spoke.
“Last night was quite a ruckus.”
“…Yes, I apologize.”
“There’s no need for apologies. I delight in the sight of my children grappling with their struggles.”
Daljin then sent a warm… bolt of lightning to Lir’s chin.
It sounds illogical, but the lightning Daljin emitted to her chin could only be described as such.
“Do you see it yet? What you glimpsed.”
“…Not yet.”
“Ha! Excellent! Very excellent!”
Daljin laughed heartily at Lir’s response.
“‘Not yet’ means that there’s an understanding that you will someday achieve it. I look forward to it.”
“Ha… golly… enough meaningless talk already. Just hand over what you promised.”
I cut in on their conversation, speaking with a raspy voice.
I’m shooting a brutal survival documentary here, but you two seem to have jumped into some cheesy romance drama. This looks really awkward.
For the love of all things, if you two have the time to talk about such things, could you at least bring me a cup of water?
I feel like I’m about to die here.
