Chapter 22 - Preparation

The weather had become a bit chilly after the rain.

I put on an outer garment and headed to the training ground as usual.

Before starting the training that day, Silveryn talked about mana.

First, she gave me precautions about my sword. It was an explanation about the influence my sword had on people.

Following that, she gave additional explanations about magical pressure, "Your resistance to magical pressure is actually quite good."

Even though she said it was good, I honestly had no idea what exactly was good about it.

"How is that good?"

"For one, you can wield that sword thanks to your resistance to magical pressure. And if your resistance is good, your ability to control mana will improve quickly with just a little training."

This was so basic for Silveryn that it must have been ingrained in her, but she continued her explanation calmly without showing any sign of annoyance at my question.

"If you control mana well, you can use it very efficiently. Mana is actually unpredictable. A lot of it escapes to strange places."

"Why do I need the ability to manipulate mana?"

It's not like I'm learning magic.

"Hmm, sword aura?"

"...!"

"Among people who are famous for swordsmanship, there aren't that many with large mana capacities. Some are even close to average or below. But they can handle sword aura because they use all their mana efficiently."

Sword aura seemed like such a distant concept. I had only heard about sword aura in stories and books and had never seen anyone actually use it in my life.

But I wonder what would happen if I infused sword aura into my sword. I couldn't quite imagine what it would look like.

"And also..."

Silveryn tapped her upper lip with her index finger, thinking for a moment.

"You'll be able to use artifacts effectively. The higher-level artifacts, the better. The higher you go, the better your mana manipulation and magical pressure resistance needs to be."

It was a good thing that I could handle them well, but there was another problem.

"Will there ever come a day when I can hold a high-level artifact?"

I heard that even wealthy nobles had to spend their entire fortune to obtain high-level artifacts.

"If you live diligently, opportunities will surely come, my disciple. Later, when you enter the academy, make sure to be friendly with the kids from the Magic Engineering Department. Most of the highest-level artifacts are created by Eternia graduates."

Magic Engineering Department?

Magic, alchemy, swordsmanship—I've become somewhat familiar with these three after encountering them a few times. But Magic Engineering felt like a completely unknown realm.

Had I ever seen someone well-versed in Magic Engineering around me? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't recall anyone.

Even when I was staying at Haman's, I heard about swordsmanship, magic, and alchemy, but never about Magic Engineering. It wasn't a field easily accessible in daily life.

I understand that it was a discipline that used magic stones to manufacture things like Stitches or create enchanted equipment, but beyond that, I knew nothing.

"I've never seen a Magic Engineering scholar in my life."

"That's quite possible. Not just anyone can do it. Plus, Magic Engineering scholars like to stay cooped up in their labs, so it's not easy to meet them in daily life."

"Then how do I become friends with them?"

"It's not difficult. Just give them something sweet every time you meet them."

"Something sweet, like snacks?"

"Yes."

Just with that? Is she joking?

"Will that... work?"

"You'll be surprised at how well it works later."

She was talking as if I had asked her how to tame some beast, but her tone didn't seem to be trying to deceive me.

Magic Engineering Department. Silveryn rarely used the word “must”. If she emphasized it to that extent, I should engrave it in my mind without questioning.

***

After Silveryn's lecture on mana, the training resumed.

The footwork training had advanced to the next level, slightly increasing in difficulty from before.

It wasn't a big change. It just changed from the existing footwork training to blocking stones while holding a sword.

But even with this small change, it felt like my eyes were about to pop out. I had to block stones the size of finger joints with a thin sword blade. I thought I could see the flying stones accurately, but in reality, most of the time, I missed by about a hand's width when I thrust out the sword.

Just when I thought the training was getting a bit easier and more familiar, we immediately moved on to the next level. There was no time for complacency or relaxation.

While concentrating on the training, a thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked Silveryn, "Teacher."

"Yes?"

"That test of Zeldan Hart, is there a next level?"

I had heard that this footwork training itself was a kind of test created by Zeldan Hart.

And I clearly heard that this was just the first level.

Come to think of it; it was really puzzling why someone who had reached the highest level in swordsmanship would create something like this.

Silveryn finished throwing the stones in her hand and said, "There is. As far as I know, there are up to 5 levels."

I remember that just level 1 was written on paper with its method. I wonder if all 5 levels could be done according to the instructions written on that paper.

"What's level 2? Is that what we're doing now?"

"No. We can't do it here."

"...Why?"

Silveryn chuckles.

"It's too early for that. It might be more difficult than the Masters Class evaluation."

"...?"

Does the difficulty increase that much?

"There's no need to rush, my disciple. Whether you want to or not, there will come a time when you'll have to pass all of Zeldan Hart's tests."

Saying that the time will come someday, why does she speak so meaningfully?

"You can't pass the next level unless you've perfectly mastered the previous one. So for now, just keep working hard on what you've been doing."

Silveryn picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at me. My blade inevitably missed that stone. 

***

After returning to the mansion, I downed the special potion as I always did. Thanks to pouring in the potion every day, my body was gradually becoming firmer and developing resistance to fatigue.

While lying on the bed reading an alchemy book, the head butler, Ezra, came to bring me the items I had requested.

"Here are the things brought from the village workshop."

They were items for metalworking. In addition, the butler's hands held chunks of cloud iron processed into the form I had requested.

They had taken a lump of cloud iron ore, removed impurities, extracted pure cloud iron, and cast it into thin rod shapes.

From the rod state, I could shape it as I wanted, add patterns, then roll it into a circle and just attach the seam to form a ring.

I received the tools and twenty cloud iron rods that the head butler brought and said, "Thank you very much."

"Lady Silveryn said to provide any necessary items without limit. If you need anything, please let me know anytime."

Silveryn was so generous to me that I wondered if I should be enjoying such luxury.

"Oh, and do you remember the girl who was injured by a ghoul and was lying in the infirmary?"

"Of course."

"That child wants to see you, Master Damian."

"Me?"

She wanted to see me at this late hour? I hadn't expected this at all.

"Yes. She's waiting outside the door now."

"Uh... Well, please tell her to come in."

As the head butler gestured, the girl entered the room. The head butler then quietly left.

When I stared blankly at the girl, she opened her mouth as if to say something but hesitated for a moment, perhaps feeling nervous.

An awkward silence followed.

"What brings you here?"

"Ah, well... I heard that you, Master Damian, had eliminated all the ghouls. You avenged my grandmother, didn't you? I came to thank you for that."

"Someone would have done it even if it wasn't me."

I didn't want to leave her feeling indebted, as I hadn't done it to receive thanks.

"But you were the one who caught them, Master Damian. It was important to me. Thank you so much."

"You didn't need to come out with your ailing body."

"I'm not in pain at all anymore."

It's good that her body has healed, but...

Wait, what will happen to her now?

"I'm glad you've recovered. But does that mean you're going home now?"

"No! Actually, I just met with Lady Silveryn and talked to her. I asked if I could stay here and work as a maid, and Lady Silveryn said I could."

An excellent decision. Silveryn's mansion was, above all, safe for this girl to stay. There weren't many people living here, visitors were infrequent, and the work wasn't too hard.

When I heard her crying in the morning, I felt troubled, but she was a smart kid who knew how to find her own way without me needing to worry or meddle.

Seeing this girl made me realize once again the kind of special treatment I was receiving from Silveryn. I was getting everything I wanted without working for it.

The girl continued as if she had remembered something else, "And there's another reason I came like this. Lady Silveryn told me to help you, Master Damian. That's my job. To help you."

"To help with my work?"

"Yes. Specifically, she said to 'participate in the secret project Damian is planning now'."

"..."

As my expression darkened, the girl became restless, perhaps thinking she had made some mistake.

"That secret project... Um, did I, did I make a mistake?"

"Do you know what I'm trying to do?"

"No, but my grandmother was an alchemist. I learned and observed while helping her, so even if I don't know other things, I'm confident in alchemy."

I slapped my forehead.

It seemed Silveryn knew that I was trying to manufacture potions following Zveref's recipe. If it were just ordinary potion making, this girl's help wouldn't have been necessary.

She knew too well what I needed.

No matter what I did, I would always be in the palm of Silveryn's hand.

I sighed lightly and said, "The exact person I needed has come."

Perhaps my expression looked bad despite my words, as the girl couldn't continue speaking for a moment.

"Ah, yes, that's good. Um... My name is Liria. I look forward to working with you."

Then she bowed her head towards me. Ignoring her greeting, which seemed like she was addressing a superior, I stepped forward and offered a handshake.

"I look forward to working with you too."