The Hero’s Disciple Has Returned

Great Magician William was, how should I put it…

Feeling something like a crisis of self-esteem.

He is a Great Magician.

Only a talented few can become magicians, and among those few magicians, only a handful can reach the position of Great Magician. Therefore, the position of Great Magician is an incredible one, and he, who succeeded in reaching that position, is certainly an amazing person. He had never doubted that in the slightest.

Even though he couldn’t save his wife from the limit of the short lifespan given by heaven, even though he couldn’t save his daughter from an incurable disease, he had never considered himself to be utterly pathetic and worthless because of that. But lately, even he has been thinking such thoughts.

That he, a Great Magician, is not all that great…

‘A Great Magician doing the work of a cook and an errand boy…’

It’s not that he hadn’t made efforts to change this situation.

-My lord, this time I…
-It’s more certain if I go.
-My lord, this time I will definitely…!
-I’m more certain.
-My lord, this time…
-Yes, I’ll go.
-My lord, you should also entrust me with work…
-We can’t afford any variables, so I should go. That’s more certain.
-……

He had to admit it.

No matter what anyone says, his lord has ‘Anti-Aura’.

Not only the aura of fellow warriors, but even the magic power of magicians became meaningless before the ‘Anti-Aura’. Before that absolute power that renders useless both aura and magic power, which have played such a tremendous role throughout long history as to allow one to grasp power, there was no place for William, a magician, to step forward.

If his lord’s body had been strained and unwell, he could have used that as a pretext… But Sera was too healthy. Despite not resting to the point where an ordinary person would have collapsed from overwork, she was too healthy. With that ability to control aura more perfectly than even an aura master, she had the skill to perfectly control her own body, an ability so tremendous that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a sword saint, no, a sword god.

Strong, with no problems with her body, and never bending her will

William had not a single justifiable reason to stop her.

In the end, despite being a Great Magician, William could do nothing more than play the roles of cook and errand boy.

Anyway, in many ways, she was a truly troublesome lord for him.

But at the same time, she was also a lord who had an appearance befitting her age.

-My lord, why don’t you go to see Master?
-Well…
-Well?
-Because I’ll only look like a child right now.

Perhaps due to the influence of fully activating and perfectly controlling the aura throughout her body, Sera’s body was growing rapidly. Not much time had passed since William met Sera, but she was growing at an ultra-fast rate, almost daily, to a degree incomparable to that time.

She had even started drinking milk very well recently, which she hadn’t eaten much before, saying she envied William’s daughter, Ellie. As a magician who pursues truth as a scholar, he thought he should tell his daughter the correct knowledge, but knowing that small lies or hiding some facts are essential for positive growth in children’s education, he deliberately kept his mouth shut. The role of a parent came before the desirable attitude of one who pursues truth.

Anyway, Sera’s desire to see her master was growing, but she couldn’t do so because she knew that if she went to her master now, she would only be seen as a cute disciple. She wanted to be seen as a woman to him, not a cute disciple. That’s why she always sent William, but couldn’t go herself. That was the optimal solution Sera had come up with after rational thinking.

However, in William’s eyes watching from the side, it looked different. To William, it just looked like the fresh and sweet love of a young girl. The image of a girl who can’t easily approach the one she has feelings for and tries to look a bit more grown-up, if you just look at the appearance, it certainly wasn’t wrong to think that way… But its essence was a rational judgment made through meticulous calculation, and that was far, far from ‘a girl’s fresh love’.

Even if it’s different from the truth, if William feels even a little closer to Sera because of it, that’s not a bad result in itself.

After all, isn’t it not so good for people working under a leader who feels inhuman because they’re too perfect to the point of having no humanity?

Anyway, although the Great Magician William felt a bit bad about his self-esteem lowering, he still quite liked his lord who was too perfect yet felt human. Above all, as she was a good older sister to Ellie who made her smile, as a daughter-doting father, he couldn’t help but bow his head and be loyal.

Wanting to be fully loyal to his lord but in a state where he can’t actually do anything

In such a state, it wouldn’t be strange for even a capable Great Magician to feel heated with a sense of duty that he should do something.

Therefore,

For him,

The scene unfolding now was the worst.

‘A stray cat elf has appeared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

The moment William saw the elf girl trying to press her lips to Jade’s forehead, he thought of his lord’s aura blade. With the desire to do something for his lord somehow, coupled with the fear of what his lord might do in anger at his security magic being broken…

Boom!!!

…William shot magic first before looking.

It could be seen as a chaotic result caused by various intertwined dynamics.

♧♧♧

“…I’m sorry, Master.”
“It’s fine. No one got hurt, so…”
“No, it would have been normal if someone had been hurt! If I hadn’t reacted, it would have been a disaster!”

While William was bowing deeply and sincerely apologizing, and Jade was calmly forgiving him, Riel, who had been watching, shouted in disbelief.

“It was a situation where misunderstandings could easily happen, right?”
“What misunderstanding!!”
“An elf trying to pounce on someone lying down?”
“…What exactly do you think elves are?”
“A scary race that will torment you for hundreds of years if you get on their bad side once?”
“……”

Unable to find words to refute that part, Riel finally couldn’t deny Jade’s words and decided to aim her arrows elsewhere.

“Hey, magician! You said this human man is precious, right? Does it make sense to shoot magic without warning?”
“I should apologize a hundred times for that part. But it’s never bad to be careful with elves.”
“No! What exactly do you guys think elves are?!”
“A race that will torment you until you die if you get on their bad side once”
“……”

Given that there had been numerous incidents caused by elves due to their longevity and excellent memory combining to result in extremely long-lasting grudges… Riel, a conscientious elf, couldn’t find any words to say.

“Anyway, it’s nothing. This elf said she’s the ‘Elf of Blessing’, so I was checking if the effect of the blessing was certain. If it was certain, I was thinking of asking her to do it for Sera too.”
“…It doesn’t seem like nothing…”

In the end, isn’t he saying he was going to use himself as an experiment subject for Sera’s sake? Every time I think about it, it seems like the Master of my lord has a talent for making incredibly special things seem like nothing…

For William, who had thought true humility didn’t exist in this world after seeing those who always try to package themselves a little better when it comes to humility, it was truly an amazing sight. No, in Jade’s case, his humility seems too extreme to be sincere.

‘…Is this why my lord has fallen so deeply for him?’

No, it’s not just about my lord. Anyone with deep wounds in their soul (including other races) would want to be by Master’s side. Because Master had such a special power. That’s why it was understandable that Sera always cared about being by Jade’s side. It wouldn’t be strange for a suddenly appearing stray cat to target Jade.

“…? What? You want to fight?”
“…No, sir.”

It seemed that stray cat had already appeared.

Magicians are beings who instinctively pursue and explore truth and mystery. Naturally, William, as a Great Magician, had been interested in and investigated and explored elves as mysterious beings.

Using the power of her special blessing on a human out of gratitude for being a life-saving benefactor?

That’s nonsense.

For example, if someone said they wanted to give all their wealth to someone who helped them, would that make sense? Of course not.

For elves, their special blessing is like that. It’s the most precious thing to them, something they can’t use carelessly no matter what happens. Even if they truly consider someone a life-saving benefactor, as long as the other party is human, it’s rather natural for an elf not to think of using their special blessing. Of course, using the power of the special blessing once doesn’t mean they can never use it again, but for elves, the World Tree is an absolute being, and the special blessing bestowed by the World Tree is practically everything to an elf. As a result, elves rarely try to use the power of their special blessing even on other elves. Would anyone want to share a sacred object directly bestowed by God? It’s similar to that.

Those who know can see a lot. Therefore, William’s eyes could see a lot at present. And the conclusion drawn from that was that the current situation was very strange.

‘Stray cat… Stray cat elf…’

And the way she had been glancing at Jade whenever she got the chance was exactly like the eyes of a cat eyeing fish.

‘…But if she really is the ‘Elf of Blessing’… It’s an opportunity Master shouldn’t miss.’

Although he had improved a lot, that didn’t mean he was healthy. It just meant he had avoided the worst situation, and compared to the worst situation, it was much better. If Jade could really receive a blessing with the power of the World Tree’s special blessing, it was clearly a very good thing for him. Rather, if it wasn’t for this situation… It would be normal for William to somehow find an ‘Elf of Blessing’ and take Jade to receive a blessing, even if he had to bow down. In other words, tremendous luck had struck. Therefore, missing this luck would be an utterly foolish act.

But…

‘That method won’t do…’

Nothing is scarier than a girl blinded by love. And if that girl can wield an aura blade? It might create a being of terror possibly scarier than even the Demon King.

“Elf.”
“What is it, human magician?”
“Do you really have to do it that way? Isn’t it possible to just hold hands or something?”
“…Well, it’s not impossible…”
“So it’s possible, right?”
“…No, it’s just that touching the forehead with lips is the most convenient…”
“But it’s possible with hand-holding, right?!”
“…Yes, it’s possible.”

In the end, Riel nodded, feeling the overwhelming pressure from the human magician. It was an incredible mental strength no less than that shown by someone facing death trying to survive, so Riel simply couldn’t overcome it.

…What on earth is going on?