Chapter 40: A New Master

“Kkiya!”

Suddenly, Sylph jerked its head up, pushed off Lorelai’s shoulder, and soared into the air.

It then vanished, passing through the wall.

“What was that? Why are you coming out from there? Where’s Renki?”

Hay’s voice echoed from beyond the kitchen door, which led into the house.

As if in response, Sylph chirped, “Kee-ek, kee-ek!”

“It seems Stan’s conversation is over,” Lorelai remarked.

It was a subtle, yet unmistakable, dismissal.

Renki bowed politely, just as he had when they first met.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

“You.”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

Renki looked at Lorelai with a puzzled expression.

It was uncommon for people to ask about another’s age, as it could be considered impolite.

“I’ll be thirteen next month.”

“So young,” Lorelai observed. “That’s right. At your age, one should eat well, sleep soundly, and grow strong.”

“You have a good master.”

A corner of her mouth, not concealed by the mask, subtly curved upward.

“May I go now? I believe my master might be looking for me.”

Lorelai let out a small chuckle, then nodded.

“Very well. Until next time.”

Her smile held a profound significance.

Renki tilted his head in confusion before bowing respectfully and exiting the kitchen.

“What? Why are you coming out from there again? Weren’t you outside?”

The Spirit User’s voice drifted from the end of the hallway.

A moment later, the sound of a door opening and closing indicated their departure.

Lorelai left the kitchen without lighting a fire in the hearth.

Stan was waiting outside the potion-making room.

He appeared to be in a foul mood.

The fact that Lorelai had been with Renki, a s*ave, clearly displeased him.

Lorelai walked towards her room, feigning ignorance of his presence.

“Why were you with him?” Stan asked.

“I was bored.”

Entering her room, Lorelai pulled back the wool blanket covering her emaciated legs and settled onto the bed.

Her gaze then fell upon the glass box resting on her desk.

Though all the petals had fallen off just yesterday morning, new buds were now emerging.

“Stan.”

“Hm?”

“You refused them, didn’t you?”

“Them? Of course. I don’t like them.”

“What if you just accepted them?”

“What?”

“I think they’ve arrived.”

Stan followed Lorelai’s gaze to the glass box, his face creased in a frown.

“It seems to be one of the two,” Lorelai mused. “The person Alexandra spoke of.”

For the first time in a very long while, Lorelai smiled broadly.

****

“They’re all duds.” Hay muttered, his face sullen as he exited the last magic academy.

Despite his attempts to persuade Stan, he had been firmly rejected.

Instead, he had visited the ‘Shiny-Sparkly Magic Shop’ and received a list of five ruffians.

All but one were Class 4, and none of them appealed to him.

The first two, consumed by greed, had tried to entice them with words as sweet as melting candy, making them utterly untrustworthy.

The next two were dismissed because their contemptuous gaze upon Renki was simply too irritating.

The last individual was somewhat acceptable.

He was a Class 5 mage, but the problem lay in the sheer number of apprentices he was already teaching at the academy.

Hay couldn’t be sure Renki would receive proper instruction, so he excluded him as well.

Consequently, there was no one left on the list.

“What should I do?” Hay clicked his tongue, staring at the list.

Although not finding a master wasn’t his fault, Renki hung his head low, looking utterly dejected, like a criminal.

‘Should we go to another city if there’s truly no one here? We’ve been wandering for two months; I’d really like to rest.’

“I’m tired. Let’s call it a day and head back to the inn.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“You’ve been making so many fruitless trips because of me. I, I don’t even need magic. Besides, the tuition fee is 200 gold—that’s far too expensive.”

“If you had no talent, that would be one thing, but you *do* have talent, don’t you? We can’t just keep searching endlessly for an Elven Spirit User.”

“Even if I wanted to teach you Aura, I don’t even know if you have the talent for it. Should we really give up on the talent you already possess?”

Though he spoke in a monotonous tone, a hint of irritation laced Hay’s voice.

“While Spirit Arts can be learned for free if you find an Elven Spirit User, Aura is different. It still costs money, just the same.”

“In fact, mastering Aura takes twice as long as magic. Without talent, you might never even become a beginner, even after a lifetime.”

“This land is swarming with mercenaries, so why do you think so many of them haven’t mastered Aura? Isn’t that right?”

Renki’s mouth opened and closed, his face speechless.

He then grew even more dejected, his shoulders slumping.

Hay clicked his tongue inwardly and scratched his head.

‘What he had just said felt no different from a homeroom teacher sharply lecturing a student who was indecisive and wavering about their career path.’

‘Come to think of it, he hadn’t even properly asked Renki what *he* wanted to learn.’

‘In truth, shouldn’t the concern about what to learn have been Renki’s, not his own?’

‘It was an act of coercion to think and decide on his own, then force the child to simply follow orders.’

‘Forcing someone to learn something they disliked wouldn’t even be helpful.’

“No, no. I was wrong to think that way. If you look at it, magic is the same.”

“Just because someone has good mana sensitivity doesn’t mean everyone becomes an outstanding mage. I’m sorry, I should have asked for your thoughts first.”

Hay scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Renki, startled, practically jumped in place.

“No, Master! You were only saying that out of concern for me.”

“It’s just that I felt you were going through too much trouble because of me…”

“What trouble? It’s just a few hours of running around. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Children shouldn’t worry about adults.”

Hay chuckled softly and ruffled Renki’s hair.

“I’ll give you some time to think for yourself. What is it that *you* want to learn?”

“Once you decide, we’ll go with that, no matter how long it takes. Don’t worry about money; we can always earn more.”

“You want me to decide?”

“Yes. I think I was too hasty in my own judgment.”

Hay readily admitted his mistake and walked ahead.

Renki followed silently behind Hay.

Glancing back, Hay saw him deep in thought, his eyes remarkably serious.

‘Was he even watching where he was going?’

Renki’s steps, which usually matched Hay’s stride, began to slow.

This time, Hay adjusted his pace to match Renki’s, walking leisurely.

It was quite a while before they finally arrived at the inn.

‘They should probably rest a bit and then head out for dinner around dusk.’

‘He hadn’t really done much, yet he was already exhausted.’

‘It was likely because they had arrived yesterday and had been moving around without fully recovering from travel fatigue.’

‘At this rate, the cold he’d treated with healing water might even relapse.’

“Renki, let’s rest in the room for a bit, then…”

“I’ve made my decision.”

“Already?”

“You’re right, Master. It would be foolish to let talent go to waste when I possess it.”

“Honestly, I truly didn’t care what it was. Spirit Arts are fine, Aura is fine, magic is fine—as long as I can become stronger.”

“You want to become stronger?”

“Didn’t I tell you earlier, when we left the magic shop? I’ll become an excellent hunting dog—no, a great mage—one who won’t disappoint your expectations.”

Renki took a deep breath, letting his stiff, tense shoulders relax.

His eyes and voice were more serious and profound than ever before.

Hay closed his mouth, waiting for Renki’s next words.

“I want to become a mage. A proper one, if possible, not like those ruffians we saw.”

“In that case, you should learn from a proper mage.”

The reply had not come from Hay.

Both of them snapped their heads up.

On the second floor of the inn, a man sat perched on the windowsill of the room Hay and Renki were staying in, resting his chin on his hand.

“Where did Sylph go? Did you unsummon them?”

The man waving his hand was Stan Demonic.

Hay frowned.

“They went off to play. More importantly, why are *you* up there—”

Before Hay could finish his sentence, Stan leaped out the window.

He shoved one hand into his pocket, his face arrogant and sullen, as he eyed the two of them in turn.

“You, lighten up your expression.”

With that, he rudely poked Hay between the eyebrows with his index finger.

Hay was utterly dumbfounded.

‘He should lighten up his own expression first.’

“For a little runt to aspire to be a great mage, that’s quite an ambition. Fine. I’ll take you as my apprentice.”

“Huh? Your apprentice? Suddenly?”

Renki’s eyes widened so much they seemed about to pop out from behind his mask.

“What is this? You said no before.”

Hay was perplexed.

He then looked up at their inn room, from which Stan had just jumped, with a suspicious glare.

“But why did you just barge into an unoccupied room?”

“The window was open.”

“Regardless, that’s illegal entry. You weren’t here to steal something, were you?”

“Steal what, you idiot? There has to be something *to* steal. That room was completely bare.”

Stan let out a scoffing laugh, as if utterly dumbfounded.

Renki, with sharp eyes, spoke up towards Stan.

“My Master isn’t broke! He has plenty of money!”

“Listen, kid. If you want to be my apprentice, there are things you must keep in mind.”

“Yes?”

“First, you do not question what your master says.”

Stan snapped his fingers.

Renki tried to speak, but no words came out; his mouth merely opened and closed.

His voice had vanished.

Renki, beyond surprise, fearfully clutched at his throat.

It was a simple silencing spell.

“When your master tells you to do something, you do it without question. It’s a rule, so engrave it firmly in your thick skull.”

“I’ll tell you the rest of the rules later.”

He snapped his fingers again.

Renki’s voice returned, and he gasped in terror.

“H-huh? W-what did you do?”

“Magic, what else? How about it? Is it amazing?”

Hay watched the two of them with sunken eyes before speaking.

“Mr. Demonic, what made you suddenly change your mind?”

“I told you. I liked the ridiculously grand ambition.”

“But you just heard that here.”

“Lorelai told me,” Stan said, taking an abrupt step closer to Hay.

“She said there are no bad Spirit Users in the world. I think that’s utter nonsense, but whatever.”

‘What a thing for an old geezer like her to say.’

“Are you saying you decided to accept Renki because I’m a Spirit User?”

“Yeah. That, and I just got curious.”

“Curious about whether you, who tries so hard to see a child in a dog, are truly a good person or a despicable one.”

The olive-colored eyes gazing down at Hay were quite sharp.

That last remark confirmed it.

Stan didn’t dislike slaves.

“What if I’m a good person, and what if I’m despicable?”

Stan scoffed, shrugging his shoulders.

“Alright, enough. If you want to make a contract, come find me before the noon bell rings tomorrow. Lessons start three days from now. If you’re not on time, the offer is off.”

With those words, Stan opened a portal instantly and vanished through it without a backward glance.

“What was that guy’s deal?”

To just say his piece and disappear like that—he was utterly arrogant and insufferable.

Hay wondered why he had changed his mind after initially refusing.

“Master, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what? You just got yourself a master. Ugh, what a waste of effort.”

Hay grumbled, then walked into the inn.