“This must be the right place.”
Elaine muttered as she stepped onto the empty air without hesitation. The moment her foot touched the void, the surroundings distorted and the appearance began to change. A wooden bridge appeared, spread out beneath her feet where there was nothing previously. Then a large cave was formed beyond the cliff, where the bridge connected.
It was illusion magic. To prevent others from finding his hiding place, a different appearance was created to mask the reality. It was a magic commonly used by reclusive wizards. However, even of the appearance changed, the actual space remained the same.
One of the stones she had thrown a little while ago had landed on the bridge. Elaine noticed the location of the bridge when she had witnessed the stone floating in midair.
It was clear, the wizard must be in the cave. Elaine immediately crossed the bridge. The cave was quite large, though it would need to be for the monster to be able to enter and exit it.
As she went further inside, a space filled with bright light appeared. Flasks and various books filled the walls. Piles of parchment and other unknown objects rolled around carelessly on the floor. One side of the wall was made of glass that reached up to the ceiling. Beyond the glass wall, there was a magic circle engraved in the dirt and a large form was seen crouching there. It was the monster from before. It seemed as though the wizard had taken him away and locked him in a cage again.
Overall, the space was extremely messy and too large to be considered a room. The ceiling here was higher than the entrance she had passed though earlier.
The wizard was found sitting at a circular desk near the glass wall. He had his back turned and didn’t seem to notice her presence. There was no door, so she used her voice to announce her presence instead of knocking.
“Excuse me.”
There was no response from the wizard. He hadn’t even heard her voice. Aster a short period of thought, she began to navigate the clutter and approach the wizard. As she got closer, the air got warmer. Even though there was no door at the entrance to block the cold wind, it felt warm as if there was a heater nearby. A heating spell must have been applied to the area.
Elaine walked to the wizard, careful not to trip on any of the objects on the ground. As she got closer, she heard him mumbling something.
“…As a result, the correlation between the two becomes closely related… According to the theory of the relationship between humans and monsters…”
She didn’t know what exactly he was talking about, but she suspected it had something to do with his research. He was so focused on his studies, he wasn’t paying any attention to her approach.
“Mr. Nathan?”
Elaine called out to him again, but he just continued to mutter quietly.
“Its almost done now… One last thing… All I need now is Saturan…”
“Mr. Nathan!”
“Ahh!”
Elaine shook Nathan’s shoulder and shouted his name loudly. He was startled and made a strange noise as if screaming. Finally, he turned around and looked in her direction, recognizing who she was.
“You’re that…! How did you get here?!”
Nathan shouted, jumping up from his seat.
“You really came to catch me! I’ve done nothing wrong!”
He thought Elaine had come to detain him because of the events from yesterday and attempted to run away. Elaine quickly grabbed him.
“Calm down! I’m not here to arrest you!”
“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s only my unquenchable thirst for knowledge…What?”
Nathan’s face then contorted in confusion. He foolishly asked back, cautious as if to confirm what he had just heard.
“…You’re not here to take me away? Then why are you here?”
When he stopped resisting, Elaine released her hold on him. She lightly sighed.
“I have not come here as a member of the knights, but for my own personal business.”
“Business?”
When Nathans face again contorted with confusion, Elaine clutched the piece of cloth she kept in her pocket. When Nathan had left the camp last night, she had decided to entrust her request to him.
Investigating the magic circle. Originally, she had been planning to take some time off and find a wizard herself to investigate. The most obvious thing would have been to ask the magic tower where the most outstanding wizards were hiding, but she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
‘The procedures that must be followed for the magic tower are very strict.’
In contrast, Elaine’s identity was also unclear. Although she belonged to the Knights of Philres, everything else was missing. She did not even have the most basic of information such as a family, acquaintances, hometown or address.
It was only natural since for the past 20 years, she didn’t even exist in the world. The few ties she had were erased that night in Seveka.
‘A person who is not a part of the magic tower, but has the equivalent skills.’
It was a coincidence that a person with the exact qualifications she needed had appeared last night. It happened to be the man in front of her.
Helon Royal Academy of Magic, also commonly referred to as Helon Academy, was the highest-level wizard training institution among the kingdom’s academics. Of course, the competition for admission was also incredibly fierce. Those who passed and entered into the school were considered the elite of the elite. Wizards who graduated from the academy usually would either enter the Magic Tower or become royal wizards.
In any case, graduating top of the class from such a place means that you have skills comparable to most magic tower wizards. And the magic Nathan had already shown was enough to back his statements up. It was rare to be able to find a wizard able to put a mid-level monster to sleep so quickly and cast illusion magic of this level.
“I would like to make a request of you.”
As soon as he heard Elaine’s words, he appeared extremely embarrassed. Nathan then scratched the back of his head and answered in an apologetic tone.
“Excuse me, I’m really sorry, but I don’t think that will be possible.”
She hadn’t even brought up the details of the request yet, but he was already rejecting it. Nathan then explained why.
“I would like to accept the request if possible, but I’m too busy with the research I’m currently doing now. I don’t have the time to take on other requests.”
“Are you talking about the experiment you mentioned last time?”
The day before, Nathan had explained everything to prove his innocence. He had even talked about the research he was conducting. The monster that had attacked the camp was an important part of that research.
It was complicated, so she didn’t comprehend it completely, but she did roughly understand that it was related to mental magic.
“Yes, I’ve stayed up so many nights because of it, just researching. I’m so close to my goal, there is only one thing I am unable to resolve. It’s a troubling situation.”
Elaine who had been quietly listening to his explanation, suddenly asked.
“Do you need Saturan?”
“That’s right, it’s the only thing left I need… Oh, how did you know that? Did I mention it before?”
“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but as I was trying to get your attention earlier, you were talking to yourself.”
Saturan. It was the name of a flower that bloomed fleetingly, and then disappeared after a brief moment. It was also known as the ‘fairy’s flower’.
She tilted her head and continued speaking.
“I’ll get it for you.”
She spoke in a very light tone, as if it was nothing. Nathan laughed as if listening to a joke.
“Hey, don’t joke around like that. Saturan is so rare, you can’t even get it with loads of money since there is no supply. How would a mere knight be able to find something like that?”
He wondered if she even knew what it looked like in the first place. Rare materials were a major concern for wizards, because they were needed for research. On the other hand, sword wielding knights had no interest in them.
But her, a knight, will find him Saturan? Even though Nathan, a wizard, was struggling because he was unable to locate it?
“I can get it, I know where it comes from.”
She spoke evenly, with confidence. Nathan finally realized she wasn’t joking.
He asked incredulously.
“…Really? You know where to find the Saturan?”
“Yes, and I will get it for you on the condition that you accept my request.”
Before time had passed, she had traveled everywhere with Bella and Espel. Bella had lived for so many years that she knew of many places that humans had yet to set foot. There were also places with rare plants and divine beasts. As she traveled with Bella, Elaine had naturally learned about many things. Saturan was one of them.
A flower that bloomed under a rainbow, shining brightly like the afterimage of a fairy. The scene remained in her memory because it was so beautiful. When she had heard Nathan mumbling about it earlier, the memory had been recalled immediately.
Elaine had already decided what to trade with at the time. Magic materials that were needed by a wizard who was passionate about his research. The materials needed were usually difficult to obtain and very rare. To them, the magic ingredients were more valuable than money. And to her luck, Nathan seemed to be in desperate need of Saturan.
“Why should I believe you? You could be lying to me.”
That was a valid point. He seemed like he could be easily scammed, but surprisingly, he seemed sure of his calculations. Or could his common sense only be limited to things pertaining to his research?
“If that’s a problem, its simple. You can exchange the results of the research with the Saturan. If I don’t bring the Saturan, I’m lying and you won’t have to tell me the results of what you find. It’s that simple.”
Smiling Elaine continued.
“Would you like to make a deal?”
