■ Master and I □
“Who are you?”
I absentmindedly asked the black-haired girl who acted as if we were acquainted, even though it was our first meeting.
In response, the girl slammed her hand on the table and shouted at me.
“Hey! You fool! Even if it’s been a long time, it’s not that bad, is it? You don’t recognize your own master’s face!”
“????”
What is this? What’s happening?
Her words were completely incomprehensible by any existing standard, causing my mind to momentarily overload.
But I soon regained my composure and countered.
“So, you’re saying you’re my Master right now?”
“That’s right.”
The girl nodded, then began rhythmically tapping her fingers on the desk, seemingly in an irritable mood.
Despite harboring doubts, seeing how her small habits mirrored Master exactly, I pressed on with a mix of disbelief and determination.
“The Esmeralda Lady I know is well over 150 years old, a grandmother with silvery white hair. How does that fit?”
At this, the girl furrowed her brow but explained calmly.
“My body was reconstructed when I ascended to the 7th Tier. It seems the previous body was too worn out to contain vast amounts of mana, so it naturally updated to a newer version.”
“So, putting it simply, like something from a martial arts novel, you underwent ‘reverse aging’?”
“More or less, that’s a good way to explain it.”
Now, finally, the conversation seemed to align somewhat, but it was still hard to believe.
“In that case, let me confirm one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“I gave you a birthday gift two years ago. What was it?”
At this, veins bulged on the girl’s forehead.
“You’ve never cared about my birthday. Damned brat.”
This reaction felt genuine.
“Master!”
To defuse the cooling atmosphere, I exaggeratedly grabbed Master’s hand.
“It’s been a year and a half since I last saw you, unworthy disciple that I am!”
“Yes, yes.”
As if handling a well-behaved puppy, Master patted my head and glanced slightly behind her at Dorothea and Barnett.
“But who are these two? They look ridiculously powerful just at a glance.”
At this, Dorothea removed her sunglasses and placed them on her head while replying.
“I’m Quattro Virginia.”
The nearby Barnett also removed her helmet and responded.
“I’m Janet.”
Both reused their former aliases.
Well, under these circumstances, it’s the right judgment.
It’s not just Master in the room; the secretary is here too.
“Since we have guests, we should offer some hospitality. Olivia.”
“Yes.”
The blonde secretary standing behind bowed slightly upon being called and entered the pantry.
Rising from her seat, Master swished her cloak and sat down at the head of the reception sofa.
Looking at her now, it was hard to believe she was my Master.
The elderly woman I knew, with her raspy voice, had such a beautiful youthfulness I hadn’t imagined.
As if reading my thoughts, Master smirked and crossed her legs.
“So, do you still find it hard to believe I’m your Master?”
“No, not really… Just…”
“Boring, isn’t it?”
When I vaguely evaded, Master blew her nose and gestured with her fan toward Dorothea and Barnett.
“You two women standing there like statues, come sit down. Your presence makes me nervous.”
“Ah, understood.”
For some reason, Dorothea obediently followed the command, which was strange given her fiery personality.
After both had barely taken their seats, the secretary returned with a tray of tea and snacks.
She set it down in front of each person, bowed slightly, and stepped back. Then, Master signaled for her to leave with a nod of the chin.
“Go ahead and leave.”
“Yes.”
Click-
As the door closed and silence enveloped the room, I sipped the tea in my cup and cautiously observed Master.
“You’ve hired a new secretary?”
“The person who used to attend to me hasn’t been seen for over a year. What could I do? I picked someone who seemed quick on their feet.”
“You made a good decision. After all, I can’t take care of you forever.”
“Hmph. Words without heart.”
Though her tone was curt, her subtly rising corners of her mouth betrayed her hidden joy.
Seeing this, I realized it was indeed the tsundere Master I knew.
I lightly nudged Dorothea beside me and whispered.
“Our Master has a similar personality to yours, doesn’t she?”
“What, huh?”
Dorothea’s eyes flared up, but perhaps due to Master’s presence nearby, she refrained from exploding.
“Hem, hem.”
Master cleared her throat ostentatiously, then resumed her solemn expression and asked after regaining my attention.
“So, judging by how you’ve returned looking so healthy, I assume you must have some news. What happened to the hero party you went to defeat the Demon King?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I honestly reveal the fact that I betrayed the Hero Party based on the Demon King’s proposal, leading to their complete annihilation?
Master is like my maternal grandmother.
My mother in this life, who had always been frail, passed away from illness when I was young. My father, left as a widower, chose to focus on raising me rather than remarrying.
Once I grew up enough, I supported him instead, but what’s the point of dwelling on that?
After leaving my hometown at 15 to become a mage, I lived with Master for nearly ten years.
We practically had a familial relationship.
So, while I trusted Master, this was more of a matter of sentiment.
The Hero Party was sent out under Master’s recommendation, and confessing that I betrayed them weighed heavily on me psychologically.
After an intense moment of deliberation—thinking, rethinking, and thinking again—I decided to be honest.
“The Hero Party was wiped out except for me. I betrayed them at the end.”
“Hmm? Well done.”
“Wait, what? Did you just say…?”
At this, Master chuckled and lightly tapped my knuckles with her fan.
“Of all people, I know you best. If you, who thinks three times before acting despite your rebellious streak, decided to betray them, then the heroes of this era must have been truly incompetent individuals.”
“Master…”
As I looked at her with a moved expression, Master shrugged and popped a snack into her mouth.
“So, what conditions did the Demon King offer that made you betray them on the spot? From what I see, you stayed with the hero until the very end, meaning you must have met the Demon King.”
I scratched the back of my head as I answered Master’s question.
“He said he’d give me half the world if he succeeded in conquering it….”
Upon hearing this, Master burst out laughing.
“What? World domination? Hahaha! Both you and the Demon King seem to have swollen heads!”
Master covered her mouth with her fan, laughing uncontrollably, calling it the funniest story she’d heard all year.
“Is that difficult?”
When I cautiously inquired, Master wiped tears from her eyes after calming down and nodded.
“Yeah, it’s difficult. Extremely difficult. Do you know how long it took for the once-mighty human empire to fall after provoking the elves?”
“…No, I don’t.”
Records from that era barely exist.
Literally, everyone capable of passing down the history died, leaving no trace.
After hearing my answer, Master extended her fingers.
“Just three days. Exactly three days. And that was after they announced war, giving the commoners time to escape. The last emperor of the empire relied solely on his meager strength and directly challenged the elves beyond the Great Forest, only to turn the capital into dust.”
“Does such a large-scale magic exist?”
“There’s one. Among the 8th Tier spells.”
Master pointed upward with her finger as she replied.
“Meteor Strike.”
Only then did I understand what Master meant.
On the day the elves destroyed the empire, they dropped a meteor onto the capital, reducing the massive empire to ashes.
If that’s true, it likely possessed power far surpassing even nuclear bombs.
“So, there were 8th Tier mages among the elves three hundred years ago?”
Master shook her head.
“Probably not. Records indicate there were seven Great Archmages among the elves back then, so it’s likely they combined their powers to cast celestial magic.”
“Can it still be used today?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps one of those elves has died and can no longer perform it, or maybe an elf has reached the 8th Tier and can cast it alone.”
In short, we won’t know unless we try.
“Anyway, enough about the elves. You haven’t even conquered the Great Forest, let alone the human kingdom.”
“So, you brought the Demon Tribe to help?”
“…Did you know all along?”
At this, Master smiled faintly and pointed at Dorothea with her fan.
“This lady appears to be from Ruby Tower. A young witch who’s already reached the 6th Tier can only be Dorothea, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army, as far as I know.”
Then she pointed at Barnett sitting nearby.
“I’ve seen you once from afar. Aren’t you a Dullahan who served the previous Demon King? I didn’t expect such a feminine appearance to be hidden beneath that metal helmet.”
Once again, I was reminded of how sharp Master’s insight truly was.
Even after just a brief conversation and observation, she could deduce this much.
When Dorothea and Barnett applauded with an “Oh!”, Master became visibly pleased and raised her nose higher.
“This level of deduction is basic.”
