Chapter 19 – Wizard’s Worries (4)
‘Yes… ? Seven? Wake up? Three-even? Did I miss something?’
Merim, who rubbed her eyes while telling Loxia to wait a moment, raised her index finger in front of the student’s eyes staring at her.
“Hey… ，Loxia? I’m sorry, but why don’t you try just one more time?”
“Yes, sister.”
As Roxia concentrated her mana once more, the seven-colored stone in her palm once again showed off seven colors in sequence, then returned to colorless.
‘Wow, the colorful things are shining so beautifully… No, it’s not like this. Aside from the many attributes that can be handled, the gorgeous golden color reflected at the end… That must be the color that symbolizes the attribute of light, right?’
One of the knowledge Merim learned as a wizard is that the light attribute cannot be manipulated simultaneously with other attributes.
Although it can only handle one attribute, it has the characteristic of being able to purify negative energy stained with dirt and evil and heal disease and injury… Talented people who can handle the light attribute are highly valued.
Being able to handle such a precious attribute was not enough, so it was not unreasonable for Merim to fall into considerable confusion as she saw the exception of the exceptions of the remaining six, in other words, being able to handle all the attributes right in front of her eyes.
“If I’m not counting wrong, I think it changed seven times in all… ,Is that right? Sister Merim?”
“Yes? Uh… ，Ugh! Wow, that’s amazing?! Our Loxia is a whopping seven. But, with just this much, we still have a long way to go before we can use magic. Shall we learn how to put mana in our voice next?”
“Yes! Please tell me. Merim unnie.”
Roxia nodded vigorously with her eyes shining, and Mirim, who tried hard to show a nonchalant expression and attitude, continued her class.
ㅡ Smart! Knock!
After a while, I heard Roden knocking on the other side of the door as if it was almost lunch time.
“Did you listen well in class? Didn’t you fall asleep in the middle?”
“Yes, Uncle. Merim unnie taught me in an easy-to-understand and fun way, so I never had a chance to get bored.”
“Whoa… ! The students who are learning are very active, so I got a taste for teaching, so I continued without stopping in the middle of class.”
Roden listened to Merim’s answer as he grinned as he tousled Loxia’s hair, nodding her head in her heart and strongly sympathizing with her words.
‘Mmmm, I know that feeling very well. That kid is basically a smart guy, he understands well, he always answers well, and he’s also overflowing with motivation to learn, so as a teacher, I want to tell him a little bit more.’
“You both did a good job, and lunch will be ready soon, so rest in peace.”
“I’ll help too. Uncle!”
“…”
Merim, who silently watched Roden and Roxia’s back as they headed to the living room side by side, lay down on the bed she was sitting on, staring blankly at her ceiling, then suddenly remembered.
‘Ah… ,That’s right. I couldn’t ask that kid a question about Mr. Roden. I was so embarrassed I completely forgot…’
* * *
Merim called Roden out of the store just after lunch, and she was talking to him alone.
“That Roxia had all of her attributes?”
“Looking at the expression on his face, it seems that he didn’t know at all. I thought about the possibility that the seven-colored stone reacted incorrectly… ，If it’s the exact same reaction twice in a row, it’s probably correct. I’ve seen it myself, but I still can’t believe it.”
“… How did you tell the child?”
“At first, I just put it on the line by saying that it’s great. As a teacher, I didn’t want Roxia to fall into the idea that she was special.”
Roden looked at Merim, who was revealing her opinion with her serious face, and thought that she had the temperament of an educator.
‘I didn’t expect this… ，Is it related to the devil’s talent? And should I use a crow on him… ?’
If the official rating of a crow statue with the ability to manipulate memory is a valuable artifact, it is classified as first class, but there are limitations.
After using it for a long time, Roden found three major limitations.
1. The caster must be of a much higher rank than the target who is trying to manipulate the memory.
2. If you try to greatly distort the perception of an object to the extent that you feel an excessive sense of incongruity, it will fail from the beginning or your memory will come back later.
3. It cannot be used again on a target who has already used it once.
For the sake of Roxia’s safety, should I properly fix her memories? What stopped Roden from thinking about it was a word from Merim who grabbed his hand.
“You know, Mr. Roden knows, but I don’t think it’s any good that other people know about this.”
“You mean to keep it a secret?”
“Sometimes. Cruel people who will not hesitate to do literally anything to gain special powers or talents, or to uncover secrets…”
Whoa-! As the wind blew past her, Merim brushed her scarlet bob and continued her words.
“I don’t want a child like Loxia to get involved with people like that. Isn’t that the same for you, too?”
“… Yes. Me too.”
Roden, who looked into Merim’s green eyes, didn’t take out the crow statue he had hidden in her arms while he was talking to her.
After her lunch break was over, Merim returned to her shop and carefully moved her warm hand toward her face.
‘… Now I can finally be sure. It smells the same as the grass I smelled then. Come to think of it, that man has a roughly similar physique to the prosecutor. The last thing I need to check now is the alibi for that day.’
Suddenly, she lightly pats both cheeks with her outstretched hands! As they collided, Merim opened her eyes and entered the room where Roxia was waiting and sat down.
“If it’s okay with Roxya, before we start her class again, there’s something I want to ask you, is that okay?”
“You want to ask me? Yes I’m okay.”
Roxia tilted her head for a moment, then nodded her head willingly.
“Have you been with her uncle all along three days ago?”
“Uh… ， That day, she replenished her ingredients, and at lunchtime, she stopped by the city, and she returned right away.”
“Right away?”
“… Yes. After returning home, her uncle said he was not feeling well, so he finished his business early and stayed in bed all day.”
Roxia gave a false answer that she was lying in her house at the time Roden entered the dungeon.
The reason was that she had been instructed by Roden to answer this kind of question beforehand, and she did not want to say anything that would embarrass neither Loxia herself nor her master.
“Hmm, that’s right… Thanks for the answer. I’ll start this lesson by showing you how to use a simple magic. You have to see magic with your own eyes to get a feel for it.”
“Yes… ，Sister Merim.”
Merim, who started the afternoon class by stroking her hair as a thank you, did not lose sight of the fact that Roxia paused in the middle of her reply and avoided her eyes.
* * *
“… Yes, she utters a spell while imagining the image of glowing grains gathering at her fingertips. You can do it.”
Closing her eyes and concentrating as much as she could, Roxia chanted her spell as she had been taught by her master.
“Light!”
Slowly opening her eyes, she frantically looked at the orb of light floating on her palm and Merim, who was smiling and holding her thumb up in the seat in front of her.
“Hehe, how do you feel about completing your order for the first time?”
“All I can say is that it’s so amazing… Did I really make this?”
“It’s a carrot! That shining right in front of your eyes is proof that Roxia is a full-fledged wizard from now on.”
On the third day of Merim’s one-on-one tutoring, Roxia, who had accumulated her knowledge of magic under her guidance, was able to successfully cast her most basic spell, Light, after several attempts.
ㅡ clap clap clap-! Mate-!
The loud applause that came alternately from both sides of Loxia was the sound of Roden and Marill, who were watching her with Merim.
“Congratulations!”
“Good job.”
Roxia, who was listening to the sincere words of congratulations among the three, smiled at the thought that she had finally done it, even as she lowered her head, as if she was gradually getting embarrassed.
Meanwhile, as her twin sister is watching, Roden, who restrains her emotional expression as much as possible, roars and jumps in her heart at the same time as she shouts of joy.
When he looks out the window, he sees a landscape where an orange sunset has begun to seep into the sky.
‘… It’s just the right time. On a celebratory day like today, I’ll have to use some extravagance.’
“Roxia, it’s time to get cold. Change into thick clothes and go to the dining room. And you two follow.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
“Uncle Roden… Oppa. It wouldn’t be a problem if I interpreted that statement to mean that I’m going to give it a shot, right?”
“I’ll let you eat without a wish today.”
As soon as Merim heard that answer, she made a mouth-watering expression, and she followed Roden’s side with her brother, who was instead embarrassed by her beside her because of her grotesque expression.
* * *
Roden and his party gathered around a table piled with leftover snacks in a row in a noisy pub.
“Oh really… I can’t eat any more… Sister…”
Among her party, Marill, who was the first to stretch out and fell face down on the table, muttered from time to time biting her lips,
“Ooh… Master…”
Roxia, who could not bear the feeling of gradually getting drowsy after quietly waiting for her master, was dozing while leaning on her master’s side.
“Khaaaaa! It’s the ultimate! Here!! Two more beers!”
On the other hand, Merim, who wiped her mouth with a fresh expression, ordered an additional beer before emptying it, even to Roden.
“… Aren’t you drinking too much?”
“Hey! This is not something a man who drinks the same as me and doesn’t change his expression~”
Roden, who gave up halfway through counting the extra glasses of beer Merim had ordered, stuck her tongue out at her colossal amount of alcohol.
‘Hey, I’ve never seen a wizard who drinks so well.’
When her beer glass was refilled to the point where it overflowed with foam, Merim shared her toast with Roden and downed the beer in one gulp, raising her tension as the cold carbonation squeezed into her throat.
“Big… ! It’s been a long time since I’ve been drinking like this without wishing~ Oh, I ate really well today. Mr. Roden~!”
“I’m buying it for you because you’re teaching Loxia better than expected.”
“Ahaha! She said that the child followed well, but she said that I taught her well!”
No matter how strong her alcohol was, Merim’s tongue began to twitch as if the limit was gradually approaching.
“If you stop, you seem to have had enough, so let’s finish it soon. I’ll accompany you to the inn, so take care of your sister and get up quickly.”
“Old New Year! Ooh, wake up, you supporters.”
Roden, who decided to end her drinking party, put her Roxia on her back after finishing her calculations, and Merim left her tavern with her Maril on her back.
‘… Come to think of it, I don’t know where the inn is.’
“Merim, tell me which inn you usually stay at.”
“Umm~ It’s an inn~”
Merim, who was looking at Roden with a smile, smiled at her reddened face and gave a completely different answer than he expected from her.
“Hey~ Mister Roden. It looks like there’s a room left in the back of the store. Can you put us in that room tonight?”
