084

“You have a face full of worries.”

“How could I not?”

Ulf Tekireo Bralius, commonly known as Ulf.

She was a woman with strangely radiant white hair, and she spoke in an aged tone that did not match her appearance, which was that of someone who had just reached graduation age.

Furthermore, she was a woman who wore a fur coat in this sweltering heat, so I was unsure whether to call her extraordinary or out of her mind.

Most of all, the thing that gave me the biggest headache was.

“So, have you decided to accept me as your disciple yet?”

The fact that she kept throwing out absurd proposals.

From what I had heard, this person was a 6th-circle mage.

What could such a person possibly want that she would declare herself a disciple of someone like me?

The Chairman, who had accepted the proposal without a second thought, was not normal either.

“I told you that I know nothing about magic. We have a mage named Berlis in our academy, so……”

“Does that mage not hate teaching, disappearing somewhere as soon as the vacation period begins?”

“It’s not that she dislikes it, but there are no magic students with enough talent to keep up with her classes, so she only opens a class for one semester each year……”

“It is embarrassing for me to say it myself, but has a talented student not appeared?”

“But that person is merely 4th-circle and is incapable of teaching you, a 6th-circle mage, Ulf-nim……”

“Do you truly think so? 4th-circle?”

Ulf smiled brightly, as if to tease me.

It was an enigmatic smile.

Seeing my expression upon hearing her words, she burst into a clear, cackling laugh.

“For the teacher of that little thief, you have no greed and know nothing about yourself.”

“What do you mean, know nothing?”

“It was worth coming all this way. I never knew it would be so amusing to see a child who does not even know what treasures he possesses. Do not worry. You possess knowledge that is sufficiently helpful to me.”

“……”

It's nice to be acknowledged, but only when it's an acknowledgment I can understand.

When she makes proposals like this without any rhyme or reason, I can't help but suspect she has some other intention.

I need to keep a proper distance…….

“Then how about being a graduate student at your school instead of a disciple?”

I froze in my tracks.

“You may not know. Over at the Imperial Royal Academy, there is a system called graduate school, a system for those with a passion for learning.”

“……”

My body, which had been about to turn away from her, slowly turned back.

“A graduate student is more of a fellow researcher who conducts research together, rather than a disciple like the ones you are in charge of.”

“I know.”

“Oh, you knew?”

“My origins are from the Imperial Royal Academy…… Just a moment. Do you happen to like tea?”

Ulf smiled sweetly, as if she had known I would accept the proposal.

“Do you happen to have any grain tea? Like red bean or wheat.”

“I will look for some.”

As soon I served the tea, Ulf smiled faintly and looked at me.

* * *

Ulf was competent.

“I have to go on duty for the renovation work……”

“The old school building? I already took care of that at dawn. It was too desolate, so I planted some trees and flowers as well.”

“I was planning to borrow some books related to mana from the library today……”

“Tsk tsk, those basic books are full of nonsense. Rather, one of the books on your bookshelf was interesting. I have added some of my own annotations.”

“I was going to look at some swordsmanship-related books……”

“The books were organized terribly. Did Avril put them in like that? Such is the classification of those with knowledge but no wisdom. I have rearranged your bookshelf. It might give you a bit of a shock to your thoughts.”

Let me say it again, Ulf was far more competent than I had thought.

S-so this is why the great scholars of the Imperial Royal Academy all took on graduate students to conduct their research!

Was the significance of a graduate student not to help with research and advance learning, but to be the legal slave of the instructors?

Ulf was so faithful to her role that it made me think such things.

So much so that Rozalin, who had dropped by to check on things, let out a hollow laugh and left.

And most of all.

“So, how is your body?”

Ulf was more well-versed in mana than even Berlis.

She also served as my personal physician, accurately telling me about my physical condition and not sparing any advice.

When I regained consciousness after drinking the potion, Rozalin and Hati rushed over in a fuss.

They said a big incident had occurred, with a mix of good and bad things.

About a week had passed in the meantime, and they said three Mana Roads had been joined.

A total of four Mana Roads.

A little less than half of the nine disconnections had been connected.

“I don't think there's a big difference. So it doesn't seem like my mana has gotten any stronger.”

When one Mana Road had been connected, my entire body had felt like it was completely reborn.

Compared to then, I felt almost nothing now.

“Let me take a look. This concept of Aura is new to this body as well.”

I moved with Ulf to the training ground next to the dormitory and drew my sword.

With a shing sound, the sword was drawn.

“Unleash your Aura.”

I focused my mind and created a single sword within my body.

At the same time, the surrounding mana became a little clearer to my senses, and in an instant, it flowed in and out of my body, creating an Aura.

The Aura, formed along the grain of the blade, had a faint black color, unlike the Aura of other students.

It emitted a faint light, as if it could break at any moment, yet its sharp edge was no less than that of other students' Auras.

“Oh-ho.”

Ulf stared at the Aura with fascination, as if it were a strange thing.

She even touched her staff to the Aura here and there.

Each time, an Aura mixed with green and purple light rippled from the staff, and the Aura collided with it, making a sizzling sound, as if pushing the energy away.

“It is certainly a grotesque power. How is your body?”

“It doesn't hurt much.”

“Which means it hurts a little.”

Since the Mana Roads had been expanded, the piercing pain throughout my body had lessened considerably.

The pain hadn't completely disappeared, but it wasn't so severe that I couldn't swing my sword properly.

“Well then. That's enough. Swing your sword one last time. Here.”

Thump.

Ulf lightly tapped the ground with her staff.

The light from the staff then intertwined strongly, eventually forming the shape of a wolf twice my size.

Grrr—!

The elaborate illusion, so realistic it could have been a real wolf, drooled and opened its mouth towards me.

“Cut it.”

The wolf charged straight at me.

It was a charge that felt as powerful as its size suggested, but.

'I see it.'

My heightened senses pointed out the weaknesses all over the wolf's body.

There were so many openings that I didn't even know where to cut.

As I cut the sword along the path, the wolf's illusion disappeared.

And almost simultaneously, a sharp pain settled in my elbows and knees.

“Hoo.”

I let out a long, thin breath and suppressed the pain.

It was bearable.

With this level of pain, I felt like I could swing my sword five, no, maybe ten more times.

“It hasn't disappeared yet.”

At Ulf's words, I looked at my sword.

The Aura was still faintly flickering there, looking the same as when I first unleashed it.

'It really isn't disappearing.'

Come to think of it, when other students or the regressors swung their swords, their Auras often disappeared.

I had never cut a target before, so I thought mine would too.

“That seems to be the result of the Mana Roads connecting this time.”

“Did you see something?”

“Do you know that Mana Roads are paths for circulation?”

I had heard about it from Berlis.

Unlike the circles that mages build, roads were a process of taking in and breathing out mana, like breathing.

“The reason a human body has nine Mana Roads is that four take in external mana, four emit internal mana, and the one in the very center circulates within the body.”

“My Mana Roads are……”

“This time, we pounded in herbs to connect the foundation. A circulatory path has been created, with two absorbing and one emitting.”

In other words, it seemed to mean that mana had finally begun to circulate in my body.

So, the mana escaping from my body had decreased, reducing the pain, and even if it did escape, if it reached the circulating road, the mana would be reabsorbed.

And all of this was helping to emit and maintain the Aura.

“I see, thank you.”

I had already heard that the herbs I ate were Ulf's.

I had also heard that she had helped me wake up when I was unconscious.

So I said thank you, but.

“That is enough. I have already received my payment 9 years in the future.”

Ulf said that and just chuckled.

9 years from now, is she talking about Pan?

“The unbalanced roads will still put a strain on your body. Even if it doesn't hurt right now when you swing your sword, it can explode later, so it's important to discharge the mana.”

“Discharge?”

“I will cast a spell on you.”

Saying that, Ulf rummaged through the inner pocket of her fur coat and took out a small brush and a gourd bottle.

From the tip of the brush, which had been dipped into the gourd bottle, a strange golden powder crumbled, like a fairy's flapping wings.

“Take off your shirt.”

“Here?”

“The riffraff of the Great Forest walk around shirtless as a daily routine. No one cares about your body, so take it off quickly.”

W-well, it's true that the druids of the Great Forest often go shirtless, but.

I hesitantly turned around and took off my shirt.

Immediately, a brush began to crawl on my back and shoulders.

'Ugh.'

The sensation of the brush enveloping my body was both ticklish and goosebump-inducing.

I focused on the sensation in my body.

'A wolf?'

The shape the brush drew from my shoulder to my side seemed to be that of a wolf.

“There. Now this fellow will absorb all the mana accumulated in your body.”

“What happens when it absorbs it?”

“It will sleep inside your body and then, just once, when your life is in danger, it will run rampant using the mana it has devoured.”

She had created a life-saving measure for me using the mana that was tormenting me.

“Thank you.”

“Huhu. Consider it a reward for the good show I saw today.”

She's talking about the Aura, right?

Ulf said that, then clasped her hands behind her back and disappeared into the shadows.

She had dispelled her magic.

'She said it wasn't her real body.'

Ulf's real body was said to be in the Great Forest.

To be able to send a clone from that far away and cast magic.

It seemed that 6th-circle mages were truly beings beyond common sense.

That aside.

'My body feels refreshed.'

Did she say it would absorb the mana seeping into my body?

Perhaps because of that, my body felt a little more refreshed and light than usual.

Should I swing my sword a bit more tonight and then go to bed?

It felt like I could finally work up a sweat swinging my sword after a long time.

“Senior.”

However, my resolution was bound to be thwarted by an unexpected visitor.

“……The Empire is looking for this officer. What should I do?”

Qantaii sought me out with a very troubled expression on his face.