am-books Chapter Vol. 1 Ch. 38
Chapter Vol. 1 Ch. 38
(Walson)
“Master... Are you alright?” When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Melon’s worried face, and my head was on her lap.
Ahh- I drained all my mana and fainted again. A strong headache hit me as the side effect of abusing the mana potion.
[Commoners] have really low stats, and despite me using [Meditatraining] to improve my mana, and me being a [Vassal of The Forest], I’m still at this level...
By the way, [Meditatraining] is just a random name, it’s execution is to drain all of my mana as much as possible to train my stats.
As we all know, ‘better start when you’re young!’ So I started training like this since I was 5, this is why I have more mana than other [Commoners]. If they have 100, then I have 1000. *
But, this is actually not a lot.@@@@
In this country, the weakest of the weak [Beginner Mage] has about 900 mana, in other words. Despite having impressive reserves for a commoner, I’m still just a slightly uncommon [Commoner].
But on the other hand, I had Grace train using this method from a young age, which had extraordinary results and made her reservoirs really scary.
How scary, you ask? On the levels of something like Godzilla, I think.
“...Ahh.” I moaned in pain. My headache is absolutely killing me.
Even though this is pushing myself too much, I had to get this done quickly. This is going to be my gift for Grace, and she is going to leave soon.
“It’s lunchtime, Master, do you want something to eat?” Said Melon, kneeling. I saw her move a box of mana potions away from me out of the corner of my eyes.
“Melon, those potions are the last batch...”
*Crash!* Before I could finish, I saw her tail sway to the side, in a heavy, smashing motion...
“I’m sorry, Master, I accidentally ruined the potions, please discipline me.” Melon said with a straight face. The potions are now nothing more than glass shards on the floor.
“... Whatever, can I lie down a bit more?” I closed my eyes. Well, I could always do things later.
“Of course, Master.” Melon caressed my head... I don’t know why, but I want to snuggle with her for now.
“Erm...Master...what about Grace...”
“Let her be, it’s time for the both of you to choose your future paths.” I replied, not really wanting to continue with the subject.
“But, Master has been messing around these days.”
“Yeah... Right, Melon, I have something to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll leave this place once I’m 15, what do you plan on doing then?”
“Master... This can’t be...” She gains a panicked expression
“Do you want the collar to go? With your current level, you can become very powerful...” Becoming an [Adventurer] or joining the army shouldn’t be too hard for her.
“No.” I was cut off suddenly. “I want to keep serving Master.”
“...Really? You could become an [Adventurer], or go to the capital and join the army.”
“...Are you abandoning me?” She suddenly teared up.
“Ehh!? No, no no no. I’m not abandoning you, I just wanted to ask... On a side note, do you not have any interest in freedom?”
“Then choosing to keep serving Master, is my freedom.” She answered without hesitation.
“So you like me that much.” I started to laugh, teasing her.
But hearing this, Melon straightened up her pose and stared at me.
From the position of the lap pillow, I saw Melon’s cheeks turn red, but her eyes were still full of determination.
Whoa, she looks so cute.
“No. Why suddenly come up here? It’s dinner time right now, want something to eat?” I get ready to go to the kitchen.
“...Am I not allowed to come here without a reason?” Grace didn’t answer me, but asked a weird question instead.
Hearing this, I stopped walking.
Am I not allowed to come here without a reason? You dare ask this question?
“Of course not, if your friends don’t mind. You can come and go whenever you like, treat this place as your private garden. It’s okay!” I turned around and answered Grace, and despite keeping a smile on my face, my tone was cold.
“...No, it’s not like that... I...” Grace seemed nervous, but to me, she was just feeling guilty.
I know, I know that Grace has become more outgoing during these two years, she even has a huge group of fans back in the village, and I know that the landlord’s son is clearly after her.
The landlord’s son is experienced, handsome, and has a good reputation, plus having the rare talent for [Magic Swordsman], I should be happy for Grace.
But? The incident 3 weeks ago is freaking impossible for me to forget.
At that time, I went to the Dryad’s tree to refine the [Core Magic Circle] of the staff, but after I spent a whole night on that, dragging my tired body along, I returned to the secret base to see an unbelievable sight.
A group of mercenaries is searching the outside of the secret base, an enraged Rifle is being attacked, and Grace? She is the one that led the mercenaries here, and the landlord’s son is holding her hand while saying things like “protecting her”, etc.
It would cause a big ruckus if anything in the secret base was known by the public; and for a weak being like me, this can only lead to my death!
She knew that!
SHE KNEW THAT!
If it wasn’t for them attracting the mountain king by being too loud, I think I would already be taken away by now!
“...That was a misunderstanding, I-I don’t...”
“Am I wrong? Oh, right, it’s now enough treating this place as a private garden, how about this, what’s his name... Your boyfriend... Oh, Neolla, right? I’ll just give you this place, how about that? Oh, you don’t have to care about our feelings, no, why am I saying this? It’s not like you cared about that anyway!”
Yeah, if you cared, why only decide to visit me after three weeks?
At this point, I realized that I just said something very serious, which I had never done before... I... never talked this way.
“...Walson, think of me like that?”
“...Well, I shouldn’t blame you, sorry for saying all of that.” Watching Grace like this, I deflated. I... can’t really stay angry when she has that look.
It’s no use arguing anyway, as it has already happened.
I thought Grace would be angry at me and leave, but she stood straight – her height makes her tower over me – instead and stared down into my eyes.
So this is a height advantage... My height was still stuck at 160cm, a head shorter than Grace.
“...If that’s how Walson thinks of me, then Walson needs to take me to the Capital.” Grace’s eyes were filled with anger and stubbornness.
“Ahh?” I wasn’t able to react.
“...Walson made me unable to get to the Capital... I still need to go to the Academy, Walson needs to take me there.”
I finally understood what Grace was saying, she wanted me to take her to the Royal Academy.
Of course, the next term starts in one and a half months, to make it in time, Grace needs to depart early.
So, it’s before the coming-of-age ceremony...
“...The shop owner can’t take me there because of personal reasons, so Walson must take me there.” Grace added, “... We need to leave as soon as possible, or I can’t see the shop owner again.”
I almost choked when I heard this, a-are you treating me as an errand boy right now?
...Whatever, it’s not like I haven’t experienced this in the past life.
The staff for Grace hasn’t been finished anyway, and I haven’t decided where and what to trade, maybe it’s better to go to the Capital.
I started to calculate every risk that would bring, but there’s no reason to not go.
“M-Master, something happened in the village!” Just then, Melon runs in, panicking.