Chapter 78
Pinch.
Della let out a small sigh of relief, then pinched her cheek with her fingers.
She was checking one last time because people sometimes dream within dreams.
Pain shot through her cheek.
“Aah!”
Della’s eyes sparkled at the vivid pain in her cheek.
She was genuinely delighted after completing even the final check.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Della, may I come in?”
“Uu!”
At that moment, an unforgettable voice came with the knock.
It was Jade’s voice—the first person to reach out a hand to her.
Hearing her master’s voice from beyond the door, Della climbed out of bed and dashed toward it.
Click.
“Goodness, you didn’t have to run over barefoot.”
Seeing Della welcome him with sparkling eyes and a smile, Jade beamed and hugged her.
Then Della greeted Whid as well.
“Ehee!”
Kkyuu!
As the two bumped their hands together like a high five, Jade couldn’t help beaming like a proud father.
Just looking at them made him smile.
Fortunately, Whid didn’t get jealous, either.
If anything, he seemed to shower Della with affection as though he himself were being loved.
“Did you sleep well?”
Nod, nod!
“Then wash up and let’s go see your big sisters and brothers. We’ll eat after our morning training.”
Della nodded vigorously.
She was willing to do anything Jade wanted.
And training was more fun than she had expected.
Yesterday, after all, she had even formed contracts with sylphs, undines, gnomes, and salamanders.
“Is anyone outside?”
“Yes.”
Jade turned away as he watched Della change her clothes on her own.
He was calling a maid so Della could wash up.
A short while later, Della quickly washed with the lukewarm water the maid brought.
“It may feel unfamiliar, but you’ll have to get used to it from now on. You’re my disciple now, after all. Understand?”
Although having someone prepare water for her to wash with felt awkward, Della steeled herself.
She decided to get used to it quickly, if only for her master Jade’s sake.
“Hi-yah!”
“Cha!”
When she arrived at the small training ground behind the lodging, hand in hand with Jade, she saw her big sisters and brothers training and sweating buckets.
In Quatis’s case, “big brother” fit less well than uncle or mister, but Della thought of him as a big brother for now.
Besides, she was in no position to call him mister.
“You’re here?”
Bow!
As soon as they arrived at the training ground, Moikan approached with a smile while lightly warming up with the children.
That was because he did not feel like a stranger, being Jade’s disciple.
Moikan had not been recognized as an official disciple like Della, but he considered Jade his master.
So Moikan took especially good care of Della.
“You’re here?”
“You came early.”
“I got restless from staying still. Hello to you too, Della?”
Arellia, who had been giving the children various pieces of advice, wiped the sweat from her brow and waved.
At that, Della politely bowed her head.
“Don’t bully the children too much.”
“Bully them? Children that age need to be toughened up. I heard they lost every match against the apprentice knights yesterday.”
“Ugh!”
Groans rose from all around.
Everyone clutched their chests as she rubbed salt into their wounds.
“It’s still difficult. We’ve only just reached the beginner level.”
“Even so, losing every match was too much. You should have won at least one.”
“It’s fine. The result will be different next time.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
Arellia swept her skeptical gaze over the twenty of them.
Even if Jade taught them, she thought that would be difficult.
“I have a secret weapon.”
“Aha.”
Seeing Jade stroke Della’s head, Arellia nodded vigorously.
Della certainly had potential.
Geniuses start from an entirely different line, after all.
“At least we won’t lose every match like this time.”
“U!”
At Jade’s words, Della adorably clenched both her tiny fists.
It was as if she were determined to restore Jade’s honor.
“She’s certainly motivated.”
“Still, you don’t need to push yourself too hard. Take care of your health first.”
Although Jade had fed her a hearty meal yesterday, Della was still painfully thin.
So for now, Jade planned to focus on her nutrition.
Physical training would have to wait until she had put on a reasonable amount of weight.
Given her terrible nutritional condition, physical training would do more harm than good.
“It looks like that won’t happen in a day or two.”
“We have plenty of time. And for the time being, practicing the mana cultivation technique alone will be enough.”
“Come to think of it, she has a considerable amount of mana. Didn’t she only start yesterday?”
“That’s right.”
Jade wore a pleased expression.
The more surprised Arellia was, the prouder he felt.
“I suppose so. It seems she has considerable talent not only for spirit affinity but for mana as well. Her young age probably plays a part, too.”
At Arellia’s words, all twenty perked up.
They already had plenty they wanted to know.
They wondered just how great Della’s talent was for Jade to be so taken with her at first sight and accept her as a disciple.
Jade taught them spirit arts as well, but that was as far as it went.
He had never once called any of them his disciples.
‘We were all outsiders who came from elsewhere, so that can’t be helped, but those children must feel a little hurt.’
Quatis, the oldest among them, looked at Farzali, Rael, and the children.
He and the others had come after hearing of Jade’s reputation, but the children were different.
Since Jade had personally discovered them in his territory, they might resent Della’s presence.
And aside from Farzali, they were still young.
‘Hmm, or maybe not? They aren’t old enough to hide their emotions.’
Quatis quickly examined the faces of the ten children.
But unexpectedly, they all wore calm expressions.
They showed curiosity, but there was no jealousy or envy to be seen.
‘Come to think of it, I am curious. Just how great must her talent be for the marquis to take her on as a disciple at once?’
Quatis’s gaze turned toward Della.
Like everyone else, he was curious as well.
Curious about the talent that had captivated Jade.
Moreover, Della was not an ordinary child. She had a disability.
“All right, let’s practice the mana cultivation technique as we did yesterday. Don’t lose consciousness for too long. You must stay awake at all times. Don’t let the mana sweep you away. Understand?”
Nod!
Della nodded determinedly, as if she would never disappoint Jade.
Then she glanced at Whid as well.
It was as if she were promising to do well today, too.
Kkyuu!
At that gaze, Whid raised his forepaw.
It was his way of expressing his support.
“Then shall we begin? I’ll be watching, so don’t be too nervous. Keep your mind at ease, like yesterday. Do you remember the mana circuit?”
Nod, nod!
Della nodded firmly.
Worried she might forget, she had gone over it repeatedly in her mind the night before.
She had not practiced without Jade there, but she was confident because she had kept thinking about it.
Swish.
Although everyone’s attention was focused on her, Della was surprisingly not nervous.
With Jade and Whid beside her, Della sat down in place with a peaceful expression and slowly stirred the mana within her body as she had the day before.
Before long, the mana settled in her lower abdomen began moving slowly according to Della’s will.
At the same time, the mana outside her body began to churn.
“Huh?”
“Quiet!”
They could not see it, but everyone clearly felt it.
Mana was suddenly churning around Della.
Then it began slowly spinning like a vortex and was gradually drawn into Della through her nostrils and pores.
“…Holy.”
Everyone wore a dumbfounded expression at the sight.
Even when they all practiced the mana cultivation technique together, nothing like what was happening before their eyes had ever occurred.
Moreover, the astonishing part was that spirits of all four elements had appeared around Della without being summoned separately.
“…That’s insane.”
“Is that what a genius is?”
As Della accumulated mana with an utterly peaceful expression and the four elemental spirits danced around her, several people let out sighs.
They were low-ranking spirits, but all four elements had appeared.
She had not even tried to form contracts with them. She was merely practicing the mana cultivation technique.
“It must be a difference in talent.”
“No wonder the lord brought her here.”
Ellie approached Quatis, who could not hide his bitter expression.
Her expression was little different from Quatis’s.
She could plainly feel the difference in talent.
Unlike Ellie, who had struggled desperately just to form contracts with low-ranking earth and wind spirits, the four elemental spirits had come to Della of their own accord even though she had not formed any contracts.
“You all expected this, didn’t you? If she hadn’t been that talented, you would have been disappointed.”
“That’s true, but I’m still envious. That child is only ten, right?”
“Yes. Her life has been short, but it seems to have been eventful.”
“She must have faced discrimination. There must have been many unfair situations, too.”
Ellie could tell what kind of life Della had lived without even looking into it.
The lives of people with disabilities were remarkably similar, after all.
And yet Della was surprisingly unjaded.
“The lord said it, didn’t he? That we’re merely a little different from others. That it doesn’t mean we’re wrong.”
“He really knows what to say. It hits you right in the heart.”
“With talent like that, she’ll be able to use intent in no time.”
Quatis’s expression grew calm.
He was still envious, but he did not resent her for it.
He had felt the wall of talent often enough to be sick of it.
Della was impressive, but she was still incomparable to Jade.
“Your shock wore off surprisingly quickly.”
“The lord is here, after all. Della is impressive, but she can’t be compared with the lord.”
“That’s true.”
Ellie’s eyes grew round.
Della was certainly displaying an astonishing talent.
But she could not dare compare her to Jade.
“We only need to do what we can. Steadily, tenaciously, and with all our might.”
“Ordinary people have their own path.”
“Exactly.”
Quatis and Ellie looked at each other and grinned.
Their expressions looked remarkably alike.
After finishing his business in the capital and returning to Baden Village, Jade stepped up his work on the mana cultivation technique Moikan would learn.
Since he had also obtained the mana cultivation technique of the House of Duke Caesars during this trip, Jade studied mana cultivation through a wider variety of approaches.
“How is it? Are you in pain?”
“If you mean the intensity, it’s similar.”
“When you’re in human form, your physical structure is truly almost identical to a human’s. Could it be that your genes are undergoing some kind of mutation?”
“Genes?”
Moikan blinked at the word he was hearing for the first time in his life.
But Jade did not bother explaining it in detail.
He was not a biotechnology major, so a detailed explanation would have been difficult.
Besides, he was not a mage, either.
Swish.
While Jade researched with Moikan, Della and Whid quietly watched them.
They had stopped playing with the spirits to observe the two of them.
However, four intermediate spirits, one of each element, stood in a row behind Della.
Even playing was a form of training for Della.
“Fundamentally, the amount of mana isn’t a problem. Beastfolk naturally possess more mana than humans. It also accumulates naturally over time.”
“That’s true, but the gap between races is severe.”
Moikan’s face darkened.
No matter how hard they tried, monkeyfolk could never surpass tigerfolk, lionfolk, or elephantfolk.
That was why Moikan was undertaking this absurd challenge.
To transcend the limits of his race.
“By that logic, humans, monsters, and magical beasts are the same. They all have limits to their innate abilities.”
“But humans are the only ones who can surpass their limits. Not through mutation, but through training and effort.”