Chapter 018
Leaving the soldier’s advice behind , I tried operating my mana once more on the spot, recalling the training I had done last night.
“...It has definitely grown sturdier.”
It was not that my muscles or body had beco tougher.
What I felt was that the Mana Circuit—the path through which mana traveled—had beco far more solid and resilient.
Like any road, once it becos smooth and firm, whatever travels across it is placed in a much more stable state. If you imagine a car speeding along a well-paved road, it becos easy to understand.
Was that all that had changed?
I began examining the inside of my body more carefully.
Hummm!
As expected, I sensed another change as well.
When I tried to force mana into motion before, the pain had been severe, but compared to before, the pain had lessened significantly. In other words, I had beco able to move mana much more easily.
I did not know how it would change in the future, but if I kept using mana in this way, it felt like I would eventually be able to handle a much greater quantity of it.
I had, in a sense, acquired a kind of cultivation thod.
It might have been a hasty conclusion, but I had gained the qualifications to beco a mage. On top of that, my ability to imbue objects with mana had improved dramatically as well.
Once again, that thrilling sensation ran down my spine.
“But what sort of standing do mages hold in this world? I have never even seen one.”
Now that I had begun working in the library, I understood magic and mages sowhat better than before, but they were still among the unknowns.
Naturally, I could not help becoming curious about the existence known as the mage.
I had already guessed they must be extrely rare. After all, the Adeline Marquis House was a place of trendous power, yet I had never once seen a mage while living here.
To begin with, I had never seen magic itself. Nor had I seen an object infused with magic.
“They may not be the sort who stride about openly like in gas or novels. Perhaps they are more like reclusive sages.”
Then, suddenly, I rembered the phrase “Twilight of Mana” that I had read in the book yesterday.
When I heard the word “Twilight,” it made think of Ragnarok. Could it be that sothing had happened to the mages, as though the gods themselves had all fallen?
After that, the book had said mana ca to gather in the dantian rather than the heart, so it really did seem as if so great upheaval had taken place.
No matter how much I turned it over in my head, I could not guess the answer. Perhaps Stewart might know. He was more like a scholar than a butler, after all.
I thought it would be best to ask him.
I looked once more toward where the sun was rising. The glow dyeing one side of the sky red had deepened considerably.
“I should start preparing for today’s work.”
I was about to turn and leave when I heard footsteps heading toward the Training Ground. Who was trying to train at this hour? I waited a mont to see who it was.
“Oh? Soone is here.”
He had a youthful voice, but a solid build that did not match it. He looked around my age, yet his muscles were far more developed than one would expect.
At a glance, he did not look like a Butler Apprentice.
This was the apprentices’ Training Ground. It was not the sort of place full butlers or knights were likely to co.
Which ant that the man before had to be so kind of apprentice too, yet I had never seen his face before. On top of that, he wore armor, shabby though it was.
“Who are you?”
“Ah, just let it slide this once. I am an Apprentice Knight, but there is soone in the Knight Order’s Training Ground I cannot stand the sight of, so I ca here to hide for a bit.”
“Do as you please. No one pays to use the place, so it hardly matters who trains here.”
“You are a Butler Apprentice?”
I nodded.
It was irritating that he spoke informally to despite this being our first eting, but at this point I had beco used to the fact that rank mattered more than age here.
A Butler Apprentice and an Apprentice Knight were in much the sa position. Until we received formal appointnt, neither of us amounted to much.
He looked at with curiosity.
“What is your na?”
“Dilen.”
“Dilen? I have heard that na sowhere before. Ah, are you the apprentice who fell from the balcony?”
“That is right.”
I was suddenly curious how far and in what way my reputation had spread. If even this Apprentice Knight knew, then it could not be a small thing. Well, it was certainly not a good rumor. Not yet, anyway.
The Apprentice Knight stepped closer and offered a handshake.
“It is good to et you. Sorry for introducing myself so late. I am the Apprentice Knight Arthas. Still, training at this hour of dawn... the competition among Butler Apprentices must be fiercer than I thought.”
That was the sort of na that sounded absurdly strong. I almost wondered whether the sword hanging at his waist happened to be called Frostmourne.
I smiled as I took his hand. He looked a little rough in the way only a knight could, but he did not seem like a bad person.
And at that mont, unexpectedly, his Status Window appeared.
○ Arthas rdiang
Rank: ★★★★
Level: 22
Traits: Swordsmanship A, Horsemanship A, Breakthrough B, Iron Wall B, Archery C, ???, ???
Status: Goodwill
[Not Unlocked]
[Not Unlocked]
......
Impressive.
He was still only an Apprentice Knight, yet if he had a four-star rank and both Swordsmanship and Horsemanship at A-rank, then he was an exceptional talent. Then again, that might simply be because few of the people whose Status Windows I had seen so far belonged to the upper ranks.
Still, A-rank clearly was not a common rating.
I had a feeling that if I beca close to him, there might co a day when he would be useful to .
And since he already held goodwill toward , keeping up a relationship with him did not seem as though it would be very difficult.
I asked him,
“Do you often train at dawn?”
“Not just at dawn. I train whenever I can. Receiving knighthood is brutal. Of course, it probably is not easy for you to beco a full butler either.”
“It takes three years for a knight, does it not?”
“That is right.”
Then objectively speaking, the Apprentice Knights had it much harder. Even by the numbers alone, they had to endure testing for a period three tis as long.
I pointed around us and explained,
“This place is always empty at dawn. It is the sa late at night. Butler Apprentices do not like training very much. There are not many occasions for us to use weapons, after all. So you can use this place from ti to ti in the future if you want.”
“Really? That is useful information.”
“If you think it is useful information, then let us at least start greeting each other from now on.”
“Fine. Dilen.”
Good things kept happening one after another.
In an unexpected place, I had gained both a new power and a new friend.
“Arthas.”
“What?”
Impatient by nature, he had already taken up a Wooden Sword in his hand. Even to an ignoramus like , his sword stance looked properly ford. Smiling, I asked,
“If I need to find you, should I go to the Knight Order?”
“You can. There are separate quarters for the Apprentice Knights behind the Knight Order building. If I am not at headquarters, co find at the quarters.”
“Let us have a spar soti.”
“Think you can handle it? My tuition is rather expensive.”
The tuition he ant was not money. It was a joking threat that I might end up getting beaten black and blue. Of course, I had every confidence that I would not be the one getting beaten.
“You never know who is longer or shorter until you line them up and compare, do you?”
“True enough. In any case, a spar is always welco. Co find soti when you have the ti.”
I gave him a crooked grin, waved once, and stepped outside. By now, the sun that had been painting the sky had risen completely.
***
As expected, Stewart was already at the library.
I had barely slept after fainting for a short while, but my mind was perfectly clear. It did not seem like there would be any real problem even if I started work imdiately, so I ca straight here without stopping by my quarters.
“Good morning, sir.”
“Yes. You ca rather early today.”
“I am on my way back from the Training Ground. The timing was awkward, so I ca straight here.”
“Just as I thought, you are diligent.”
“There is also sothing I wanted to ask you, sir.”
“To ask ?”
Stewart, who had been arranging books, showed interest. Compared to the other Butler Apprentices, I had more knowledge and sharper powers of observation. Naturally, an apprentice like that saying he had a question would arouse curiosity.
“I have sothing I am curious about regarding magic and mages. Yesterday, I happened to have the chance to read a book related to the subject, and I thought that soone as learned as you would be able to explain it well.”
“Hm, magic....”
It must have been no easy topic, because Stewart stroked his chin and sank into thought. I stood beside him and waited for him to continue.
“It is such a vast subject that I am not quite sure where I ought to begin.”
“Then would it be all right if I asked a few specific questions instead?”
“That would be fine.”
“First of all, are mages difficult to encounter?”
“Of course they are. Mages are exceedingly rare. In the past, there were Court Mages and House Mages who worked for specific groups. But after the Twilight of Mana, their numbers diminished dramatically, and now it is best to assu they all live in seclusion.”
There it was again, the phrase “Twilight of Mana.”
It seed my guess about a great upheaval had been correct.
“If they are living in seclusion, does that an they are researching magic sowhere like a Mage Tower?”
“For the most part, yes. Mages have secret organizations of their own, and they do not even obey royal commands. You might say they are practically hidden away.”
On that point, my suspicion had been right. If this had been a world where mages were relatively common, there was no way soone living in such a large mansion would never have encountered one.
I moved on to my next question.
“But what exactly is the Twilight of Mana?”
“That too is a long story. In earlier tis, mana was abundant. It was the source of all power, and indeed it was an age when using mana to fight was more natural than battling with weapons like swords and spears.”
Stewart trailed off for a mont, letting out a low hum. It seed the truly important part of the story was about to co.
“...But at a certain point, mana began to rage in violent currents, and countless mages either lost their lives or lost their magical power. That event ca to be known as the Twilight of Mana.”
“Why did such a thing happen?”
“I do not know that myself. Many scholars have speculated, but the most persuasive theory is that sothing went wrong with whatever is believed to be the source of mana.”
I nodded. That made suspect that it might also be why the place where mana accumulated had changed.
“But why are you asking about magic all of a sudden?”
“I am the sort who cannot ignore things that make curious. Since it is such a vast field, I judged that hearing it explained by soone else would be more effective.”
“Hahaha. The more I look at you, the more I think you have the makings of a scholar. You know how to get results.”
I dipped my head slightly in respect. Then I moved on to my final question.
“If soone were to beco able to handle mana, how would they be treated?”
“They would be treated generously. But perhaps not.”
“And when would they not be?”
“Mages, in general, have no interest in worldly affairs. If there were a mage who abused magic for the sake of climbing the ladder, the other mages would not leave him alone.”
So that was the shape of things.
That made think I should not use magical power carelessly. The mages clearly had organizations of their own, and if word spread that I was a mana user, I would beco a target for them.
In ga terms, I had only just finished the tutorial.
If the boss appeared already, there would be no way to avoid a ga over. I needed to move more cautiously.
“Thank you for your explanation.”
“If there is anything else you are curious about, ask as much as you like. Now then, shall we begin work? Go inside and start by arranging the books.”
“Yes, sir.”
I bowed my head and walked deeper into the library.
User Comments
0 comments from readers