33 – On the way home
We pass through the square and enter a narrow alley.
I’d offered to carry the potion boxes for Carol numerous times, but she stubbornly refused.
“A servant who lets the master carry burdens is frowned upon. I don’t want to bring shame upon Mr. Anderson.”
“Ah…”
I hadn’t thought of that.
I just wanted to correct him simply due to the deeply ingrained values in my mind and because the situation left me feeling significantly uncomfortable.
I mean, making such a petite figure as her carry those heavy-looking boxes while I, a much larger presence, strolled along with empty hands.
‘If I were in my place, no matter how much of a master, I would have been cursed…’
When an elite figure is caught on media blatantly mistreating an employee, they are left ridiculed by the entire nation.
‘This current situation would be no different…’
“Moreover, a woman making a man carry her burdens… That’s not only disgrace against the family but also an individual’s humiliation.”
“Sigh…”
From Noble mtl dot com
I let out a small sigh looking at her speaking such matter-of-factly.
No matter how hard I try, I’m unable to adapt to it. The strength she emanates from her petite presence is something I can’t resist.
As the alley got narrower and there were hardly any signs of human activity, something occurred to me. I remembered something I’d been forgetting.
‘Is it still following?
“Bekdori, are you there?”
“I am!”
The moment I call out, the space next to me warps and a round, white object pops out.
‘Patience is indeed a virtue…’
It has been more than 5 hours since I entered the palace looking for Alhyun and ever since then it has been locked in the ether.
Keeping aside my admiration, I decided to accomplish the original objective of calling it.
“Let me borrow your power.”
Bekdori tilts its head from the ground.
“Please store these potions.”
Pointing at the potion boxes that Carol is carrying, I asked Bekdori.
“Understood!”
Bekdori opened its mouth wide.
A space opens up like a void.
“Can I get a Carol Box?”
Perhaps because Carol had already seen Baekdol’s antics in the wagon earlier, she didn’t appear all that surprised.
I received the box that Carol handed me and opened it.
Twenty-four tall bottles containing about 100 milliliters of liquid each were lined up inside.
‘Twenty-four bottles of this drink cost 12 million won…’
I had gotten tired of having to visit the store all the time, so I bought a whole box this time, but the price tag was beyond my imagination.
‘Well, it’s not my money anyway, and the store clerk unexpectedly gave me a 10 gold discount…’
‘Come to think of it, that kid wasn’t there today. I guess I can relax this time?’
With thoughts like that, I began to take out the potions one by one and pop them into Baekdol’s mouth.
‘This is kind of fun…’
The moment each potion entered his mouth, it disappeared into him as if sinking into a black swamp.
“Won’t these break or something while they’re inside?”
After I had given him all 24 potions, Baekdol responded.
“The things you put in are immediately sorted inside!”
“That’s really convenient. But how do you get them out?”
“You just tell me the type and number, and I’ll take them out!”
“Aha. Then can you take out three of the potions I just gave you?”
Baekdol opened his mouth again and spat out three potions.
I took them and held them up in front of my eyes to inspect them closely.
‘Well, at least there’s nothing weird on them.’
I shoved the three potions into the potion pocket hanging from my belt and picked up Baekdol to cradle him in my arms.
“Master?”
Baekdol looked up at me, seemingly taken by surprise.
“I don’t have to go back in?”
“Yeah, since I’ll just be carrying you around like this, it’s basically like you’re a white dog.”
“A dog?”
Baekdol looked like he didn’t know what a dog was.
“How about putting him in this box and taking him with you?”
Carol offered, holding out the empty potion box from behind me.
She seems to dislike that I’m carrying something.
“Pets should be held by their owners.”
I tried to find an excuse, but in reality, I didn’t carry the little guy because I couldn’t bear the feeling of being empty-handed.
“Master!”
Baekdol greets me, rubbing against my chest.
“Okay, okay.”
I replied casually, petting him, and took another step.
————–
Upon entering the house, Maria, who had arrived earlier, greeted me.
“I’m back.”
“You’re quite late… Oh my, how cute.”
She reaches out to me with both hands.
The meaning of her gesture was obvious.
I handed Baekdol, who I was holding in my arms, to her.
“Uh…huh?”
Baekdol, as if surprised, stretched out and grabbed my sleeve with his short front paws, but he was no match for Maria’s strength.
The little guy, who seemed to have been ripped away from me, went into Maria’s arms.
He seemed to have developed a slight aversion to women because of his previous owner who abandoned him.
‘I’m sorry.’
But she’s the one who takes care of him, so there’s nothing I can do.
I have to tell her two facts from the square.
“Maria, I have something to tell you.”
“Shall we move?”
Maria strokes the trembling Baekdol, asking.
I shook my head. It was only Carol anyway.
“We’ll do it here. About the iconic speech. You know?”
“Oh…”
Maria’s expression darkened.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. But it’s shameless for us to ask Tom for anything more…”
‘Is it okay to ask for the king’s favor?’
Even though he wanted to tackle it head-on, he restrained himself.
His resolution had already been hardened by the event in the square.
“I’ll give the speech. However, I refuse to advertise it under the Sorcerer banner. Please relay my decision like so.”
He didn’t feel the need to correct blatant misunderstandings, but he was reluctant to directly lie.
“You’ve made a good decision.”
Maria flushed in response.
‘Let’s take a break.’
He walked past her, heading for the stairs, but paused to add one more thing.
“I don’t know what kind of request Hex would make. Please skillfully evade it when the time comes.”
“What?”
Maria looked confused, but he continued up the stairs and retired to his room.
He threw himself on the bed.
“Ugghh…”
An unintentional groan slips out.
Even though he had only been active for about half a day, he was mentally exhausted.
Meeting the highest-ranking person in this country, visiting a memorial for the deceased from his old post, encountering a strange magician, and shopping… Today’s shopping went smoothly, so he decided to exclude it.
‘What will happen between Betty and me from now on…’
Originally, his plan only included the second meeting.
Before entering the university, he’d heard that they’d have an engagement ceremony.
However, it’s still about five months until the university’s entrance.
‘Is the engagement ceremony next? I remember hearing that once an engagement ceremony takes place, it can’t be revoked.’
According to what he’d been taught at home, the engagement ceremony is essentially stamping a seal of approval, and the subsequent wedding is akin to a celebratory party among nobles.
‘I’ll have to ask tomorrow…’
With that, he drifted off to sleep.
————————
“Are you still struggling?”
Selriana asked, sounding a bit weary.
“Yes, please ease up a bit more.”
He, too, is quite exhausted.
The magic lesson had resumed.
The elf teacher and I were sitting on the floor, leaning back against each other.
10 minutes ago,
I had been telling her about what had happened on the day of the theater disaster at the request of Celianna.
Naturally, I also ended up telling her about when I used magic using Betty’s mana.
Upon hearing this, Celianna cried out in disbelief.
“You can’t do that! There are no instances of using others’ mana as if it is your own!”
“Huh? Was that not allowed?”
“Not just not allowed! Over time many researchers, even forbidden ones, made attempts but in the end, all failed!”
I couldn’t do anything about it having been possible for me.
When I didn’t say anything, Celianna began to mumble to herself.
“No… maybe Thomas… the one who surprised me multiple times just after two lessons…”
“Teacher?”
She suddenly turned her head to me, as if making a decision.
“Let’s give it a try!”
“What?”
“Prove it by using my mana!”
She spread her arms towards me with a defiant expression.
“Oh, no, that’s a bit…”
It was a little embarrassing because I also had to explain the condition for activation.
The condition was to be in close physical contact, and the fact that Betty had hugged me.
‘Hugging an elf here doesn’t seem right in many ways.’
So, the alternative I came up with was to sit like this, back to back.
But no matter how hard we tried for 10 minutes, it was impossible to move the mana.
Celianna began to speak with an exhausted expression.
“Maybe the hug is a necessary trigger?”
Then she spread her arms again towards me.
I was taking aback.
‘Why are all the magicians like this…’
This species seems to do anything to satisfy their curiosity.
I replied, wiping the sweat from my forehead.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that the wider the contact area, the easier it becomes to control, but actually, it can be used by just grabbing hands.”
That was a fact.
Even when I held Betty’s hand and walked, I felt that I could move her magic power at any moment.
I never felt as much resistance as I do now.
Just like the width of a channel, the wider the contact surface with the magic medium, the greater the amount of magic power that can be used in a short time.
If it’s Betty’s magic pressure, just by holding hands, hundreds of level 1 magic could be used in an instant.
“Hmm… I wonder what the difference is between me and a princess… Because we aren’t the same species?”
‘Elves and humans, so we’re different species…’
-Knock Knock
At that moment, I heard a sound knocking on the door.
“Brother, teacher. I’ve brought some refreshments! You should rest for a bit!”
It was Kristine.
Celian and I exchanged glances and nodded.
“We’ve found a good test subject.”
Celiana said with a smile.