The Hero’s Disciple Has Returned

“It doesn’t taste the same as back then.”

When my disciple was here, whatever food I made seemed quite delicious… Even though it’s clearly the same ingredients and the same recipe, it doesn’t taste anything like it did back then.

“They say ‘It’s important not only to make food well, but also who you eat it with’… But for the difference to be this stark. It’s surprising.”

No, it’s not that I didn’t know.

During my mercenary days, when I heard news of an acquaintance dying, even the most delicious food tasted like chewing rubber. And it was to forget such things that I went into seclusion. It’s just that what I had finally managed to forget after secluding myself for so long, I’ve been reminded of again because of Sera.

“I’m being sentimental in my old age.”

How immature

My disciple is probably working hard to grow as a hero candidate even at this moment, yet here I am, the master, feeling bitter about her absence.

“I wonder if she’s doing well?”

Other than feeling bitter about the disciple’s absence, worrying about the disciple’s well-being, or praying for the disciple’s safety, there was nothing this incompetent master could do.

“I hope she’s eating properly…”

Well, she’s not a picky eater, so she’s probably eating well.

♧♧♧

“This isn’t the taste.”
“But… I followed the ingredients and recipe exactly as you said, my lord.”
“It must be the chef’s skill level.”
“……”

Now I’m being treated as a chef…

Great Magician William felt sick to his stomach. To think he would receive such treatment… This was something he had never experienced even in his days as a 3rd-class magician, let alone as a 2nd-class or 1st-class magician before becoming a Great Magician. Even a 3rd-class magician was naturally treated no worse than a noble. That’s why receiving such treatment was something he hadn’t experienced in so long that he couldn’t remember even if he tried.

But he couldn’t say anything.

Because no matter what anyone said, this silver-haired girl was his lord.

In the end, this girl had completely annihilated that massive energy

And as promised, he had performed the Mana Oath.

Thus, he had come to serve this girl named Sera as his lord, in a state no different from wearing a collar.

Still, a hero candidate who saved the capital from crisis… no, William was certain she was the hero. Anyway, he had no doubt that she would be an excellent lord as the hero. That belief didn’t take long to crumble, though.

-Why am I cooking?
-We don’t know what might happen, do we?
-I mean, being cautious is good, but I’m a Great Magician…
-Didn’t you say you’re good at cooking?
-Well, I couldn’t leave my daughter’s meals to ignorant people…
-If you have the ability, you should use it. Be a cook too.
-……

Being cautious is good, but… To think he had to cook because of his lord’s caution. He was a Great Magician… A Great Magician being treated as a cook… Great Magician William’s mental state was inevitably shaken in many ways.

No, let’s say he can cook.

She’s using a Great Magician as a cook.

Normally… Shouldn’t she feel some burden or guilt?

“This isn’t the taste. I can’t eat this at all. Do it again.”
“My lord, I’m not a chef but a Great Magician…”
“So?”
“……”
“Who is the lord?”
“…It’s you, Sera-nim.”
“Who has the right to command?”
“…It’s you, Sera-nim.”
“Who must obey?”
“…It’s me.”
“Then?”
“…I will execute.”

Nod, nod

In the end, Great Magician William had no choice but to obediently go cook.

“……”

Sera had her reasons. She had countless experiences of being poisoned after eating what the cook ate. There were all sorts of assassination attempts once she reached the position of a prominent hero candidate, and the most commonly used method was to bribe the cook to add poison. Of course, she had developed the ability to easily detoxify herself after eating so much poison.

However, eating poisoned food just because she wouldn’t die wasn’t Sera’s hobby, so Great Magician William, who couldn’t betray her due to the Mana Oath, was perfectly suitable to be a cook for her who needed a cook who wouldn’t betray her.

Moreover, William’s cooking skills were certainly excellent. Perhaps it was because he had experience combining various ingredients to make potions as a magician? But even so, Sera couldn’t be satisfied.

‘It’s clearly the same ingredients and recipe, but it doesn’t taste like Master’s cooking.’

She knew the reason.

Because it wasn’t made by Master

Because Master wasn’t by her side

Because Master wasn’t here right now

But that was natural.

Master shouldn’t be here.

‘Master would be in danger.’

She will soon become a prominent hero candidate. When that happens, the Demon King, the Demon King’s army, and the trash who’ve turned to the Demon King will all target her. But being a prominent hero candidate means being that strong. So targeting her directly feels burdensome. When that happens, they target her surroundings first, especially easy targets, rather than her. Do you think the Demon King, the Demon King’s army, and humanity’s traitors care about honor or how petty their actions are? It’s because they don’t care about such things that they are the Demon King, the Demon King’s army, and humanity’s traitors.

Even if she’s not yet a prominent hero candidate, if she acts carelessly feeling safe, all the damage from that will be borne by her and those around her. So to prevent such things, she needs to be cautious and even more cautious. For this reason, she had already done special work on Master’s secluded place. It was perfect, with high-level techniques that even Master, an experienced A-rank mercenary, wouldn’t be able to notice.

‘Come to think of it, it’s about time for the body’s balance to be disturbed.’

Although she had given first aid with the elven breathing method, that alone couldn’t be perfect. It was natural. It was obviously unreasonable to think that losing the body’s center could be perfectly compensated with just a breathing method.

“William”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Head to the place I told you about immediately. Go and check if Master’s condition is alright.”
“Huh? What about the cooking?”
“I’ve lost my appetite.”
“But, you haven’t eaten properly for days…”
“Even if I don’t eat for a week, my body’s health won’t have any problems.”

William knew that too. Considering his lord’s monstrous ability to handle aura, controlling metabolism would be as simple as eating for her. Of course, not all Sword Masters live without eating by controlling their metabolism. That’s because they have to consume mental energy to do so, in proportion to how much their body doesn’t suffer. But his lord could perform this high-difficulty technique effortlessly, for some reason. As if she had been trapped in places without water or food many times.

It was an absurd thing, but not for his lord. There’s nothing strange about strange things becoming even stranger.

“I’ll eat some fruit or something, so you hurry and go. I’ll take care of Ellia’s medicine.”
“If you say so…”

After all, he was in a position where he had to do whatever his lord told him to do. And strangely enough, his daughter Ellia followed his lord very well, so there wouldn’t be any problems. It was really strange. The child who would whine and refuse when he told her to take medicine would eat it well with a smile when his lord gave it to her. It was a scene that made him feel a bit empty as a father, but seeing his daughter become healthy made him just happy as a parent. So he just had to do as his lord said.

“And this is a letter.”
“Ah. Yes…”

Surely, after asking for so much paper until now, it couldn’t be that it was all for this one letter? Of course, I thought she was going to do some magical research… But if she had done magical research, there should normally be changes in magical power, but there was none of that… William’s brilliant mind could easily deduce that many papers had burned and disappeared in vain, resulting in only this one letter remaining. But he didn’t bother to bring up unnecessary words. Because his brilliant mind came with equally brilliant tact.

It was clear that the moment he started babbling here, he would witness his lord’s tremendous Aura Blade.

“I’ll be going then.”

That’s why William decided to leave quickly.

“By the way, if you go to Master and talk nonsense about lords or whatever, know that you’ll die.”
“…I’ll be very careful.”

My life is precious, after all.

Great Magician William realized that what he thought was a simple errand was a very big misunderstanding. It was a very difficult mission where my life was at stake.

William immediately started using disguise magic. It was clear that if a Great Magician who looked experienced and elderly suddenly visited, the situation would get strangely complicated. He started desperately trying to make himself look as young as possible and appear like a magician of moderate rank.

♤♤♤

“You say you’re an acquaintance of my disciple?”
“Yes, to be precise, I’ve joined the candidate’s party. But the candidate was worried about Master’s health. If the candidate can’t concentrate on her work, accidents could happen, so I came to prevent that in advance.”

I could only scratch my cheek. Moreover, seeing him casually use high-level teleport magic, it was clear that the person in front of me was a Great Magician. But there’s no way a Great Magician would come all the way here and act so humbly. Especially considering the treatment Great Magicians receive. Great Magicians could strut around even in front of royalty without anyone daring to say anything.

‘Surely this young man can’t be a Great Magician, he must be using an artifact.’

With an artifact, even someone who’s not a Great Magician can naturally use teleport magic. The problem was that only high-ranking nobles with enormous wealth could use such incredible artifacts, so it was also absurd for someone with such an artifact to show such a humble attitude in front of me.

‘If my Aura Heart was intact, I could have sensed it with my aura. But that’s impossible now.’

But if he had any ill intentions, he wouldn’t be talking to me so humbly like this. He could just attack immediately and torture me for information. The fact that he didn’t meant that he was at least friendly towards me. In other words, there was a high possibility that he was Sera’s companion, as he said.

“To become a master and hold back my disciple. I’m really an incompetent master.”
“That can’t be true!”
“Thank you for saying that.”

It seemed that a companion with good character had joined my disciple’s party. All the magicians I had met were arrogant, but to think there was a magician with such good character. It was truly fortunate.

♧♧♧

Great Magician William was genuinely surprised.

‘My hypothesis that my lord has two Aura Hearts was correct.’

William thought he should be careful about making hasty thoughts or judgments about his lord as her servant. But even so, his essence was undeniably that of a magician. Research on the scene that unfolded before his eyes continued in his mind. One of the hypotheses was

Anti-Aura

It’s not an official name. To begin with, the annihilation of magic power or mana had never been confirmed by any phenomenon until now. Therefore, only Sera, who used it, and William, who witnessed it, knew about this Anti-Aura phenomenon. That’s why William had temporarily named it Anti-Aura, as he couldn’t leave it unnamed.

William had formed several hypotheses about this Anti-Aura phenomenon. One of them was the theory that it was an application of energy created by colliding two Aura Hearts. While externally, when aura and aura collide, they simply cancel out, if two Aura Hearts of the same nature collide inside the body, a new phenomenon might occur. This hypothesis started from that possibility. However, it was so unrealistic that William didn’t consider it a highly probable hypothesis.

But the moment he saw Jade, Sera’s master, he couldn’t help but realize.

That the hypothesis with the lowest probability was heading towards becoming the established theory.