Chapter 5
Seeing Ena's face slowly stiffen, Acel quickly explained his current situation before she could misunderstand.
He compressed the story of fleeing from his devil-worshipping parents to the slums, working as a drug courier, and Evelyn originally working in a factory but now being sick and needing medicine urgently.
"So becoming a disciple seems difficult. If I disappear, I'd have to leave my sister here alone."
Acel cared quite a bit for Evelyn. If they had grown up normally, the two might have lived bickering like other siblings, but the environment Acel and Evelyn grew up in wasn't so easy.
The village they lived in was a nameless, remote mountain valley. Barely one or two visitors came a year, and it was a closed community where only the residents lived together.
Acel and Evelyn grew up experiencing all sorts of injustices there. They were beaten countless times and had to do all the menial tasks of the village, like cleaning up animal waste, chopping firewood, and fetching water.
Except for sleeping hours, they spent all day working to death. It was as if they were thrown into an environment where they had no choice but to rely on each other.
This relationship became even closer when they left the village and settled in the slums. Therefore, Acel had no intention of suddenly leaving Evelyn alone here.
"You're a good brother," Ena said this with a sympathetic smile after hearing Acel's tragic life story.
Then she bent her knees to meet his gaze.
"Don't worry. If I take you as my disciple, I'll take care of your sister, too."
"...Really?"
"There's no reason I can't, right?"
Ena smiled gently. She brushed Acel's rain-soaked hair away from his face as she stood up.
"Besides, you said you need to buy medicine for your sister now, right? Let's go. I have some medicines with me."
"...Medicine?"
"An alchemist in my organization often gives me various medicines. Among them is one that can cure any disease."
Ena turned to Acel and pulled out several sloshing glass bottles from her pocket. From bottles containing ominous black liquid to ones half-filled with red, blue, yellow, and other elixirs. Ena carefully sorted them using her magic, then smiled faintly as she grasped a bottle filled with emerald liquid.
"Lead the way."
Acel stood still for a moment at those words, then seemed to make up his mind and started walking ahead. Ena followed him, recalling the dosage instructions she had heard from the alchemist.
It had been a long time since she walked on two feet without riding lightning.
Ena frowned for a moment when she saw the house Acel led her to.
A shack on the verge of collapse, swarming with rats and insects. The wooden walls, gnawed by bugs, were riddled with holes, and the slightly sunken ceiling creaked precariously, as if it might collapse on the interior at any moment.
People can live even in a place like this.
She inwardly marveled at human adaptability as she followed Acel into the house.
Passing through the wooden door, too embarrassing to call an entrance, she saw a small girl lying in the middle of the living room. She was in a precarious state, sweating profusely and convulsing. Her face was red, almost cooked like a heated metal lump.
"Sis!" Acel screamed and ran towards Evelyn.
He hurriedly patted her shoulder and called her name, but there was no response. She was just breathing roughly.
Even that was becoming fainter. Her limbs wouldn't stay still, and her ragged clothes stuck to her skin due to cold sweat. It was difficult to remove, and there weren't any clothes to change into, anyway. Acel gritted his teeth and removed the metal he had placed on Evelyn's forehead. Her forehead was still hot, like the warmed metal.
"...Archmage."
Acel called Ena with an expression on the verge of tears. Even a child with an extraordinary mind for his age reverted to a young child when faced with the imminent death of a family member while helpless to stop it. Ena looked down at the worried and concerned Acel with a faint smile, as if to say not to worry.
There was no reason to delay. Ena immediately opened the bottle of medicine she had taken out and began to slowly infuse it with mana.
Whoosh!
As the pure mana, released without changing its properties, touched the medicine, the emerald potion began to glow with a soft light. Ena poured in mana until just before the light faded, and when it became slightly darker than before, she carefully poured the potion into Evelyn's mouth.
"..."
She slightly lifted Evelyn's head to ensure she could drink the medicine properly.
After confirming that Evelyn's throat moved once, Ena nodded.
Acel asked her in an anxious voice, "...Is it over?"
"Ah, yes. She'll open her eyes in about an hour. The medicine is... already taking effect," Ena said as she gently stroked Evelyn's forehead.
As she said, Evelyn's rough breathing had somehow returned to normal. Her convulsing limbs had also settled, and except for the cold sweat that had already formed, there didn't seem to be any more flowing. Acel came close to Evelyn to confirm these things himself before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"Haa..."
He plopped down nearby and ran his hand over his face. Along with his contorting face, anxiety and fear slowly peeled away. If he hadn't met Ena. If she hadn't readily shown kindness, he probably would have lost Evelyn today.
Thinking this, Acel bowed deeply to Ena, who was standing still, looking at him with gentle eyes.
"Thank you. It seems no matter how many times I say it, it won't be enough. Really, really thank you."
Ena smiled faintly at Acel's words of gratitude. She approached Acel's side, sat down gently, and took off her hat.
"You don't need to thank me. It's natural for a master to help their disciple, right?"
"...Master, you say," Acel asked with a bitter smile.
At this reaction, Ena turned to look at Acel with an expression that seemed to say “surely not”.
"...You're not saying you won't be my disciple, are you?"
She thought she had scored some points by saving Evelyn, but was it still not enough? Ena inwardly felt impatient thinking this.
Of course, she had no intention of taking credit for saving Evelyn. She saved her because she could. If Ena had no means to save Evelyn, she wouldn't have saved her. So, grumbling about this would be beyond pricking her conscience, it would be at the level of completely disappearing. Despite having experienced many things as a mage, she still had a human heart.
But I thought I had built up some goodwill. Was that not the case?
Ena slightly pouted her lips and weakly hugged the hat in her hand.
At that moment, as Evelyn began to stir slightly, Acel opened his mouth, "If you'll have me, I'd like to be your disciple."
"...! Really?"
"Yes. But I'm not sure if I have talent. I'm worried I might just disappoint you if you take me..."
"Disappoint?"
Ena snorted and turned to look at Acel. Her eyes held an undisguisable desire.
"For you to disappoint me, there would have to be a development like 'Actually, I was a devil, and I clung to you to suck your power.' Other than that, you can't disappoint me. Your talent is that special."
"...Is that so?"
"Of course. Moreover, I've never seen someone awaken to mana on their own while watching a battle. You may not have fully realized it, but that alone is amazing. So..."
Ena patted Acel's head and smiled.
"Let's go together. I'll teach you magic. I'll show you the world."
Ena extended her hand towards Acel. Acel stared blankly at that small, snow-white hand for a while, then smiled and stretched out his right hand.
***
"Mmm..."
Evelyn groaned and tossed and turned. She continued to writhe in bed for a while, then slowly began to open her eyes. Heavy eyelids covered her vision, but she forced herself to shake off the drowsiness as she sat up.
I usually get up right away, but why am I so tired today? Is it because I’ve been sick?
She looked around while letting out a big yawn. The next moment, her body stiffened.
"Uh, uhh..."
The scene before her eyes was unfamiliar. No, more than unfamiliar, it was alien. Evelyn had never been in such a space in her life. She began to quickly gather information while touching the floor, which felt addictively soft.
The overall space wasn't very large. At most, about the size of a master bedroom. But the walls, finished with high-quality wood, indicated that this space was certainly not in the slums.
What about the ceiling? It was luxuriously decorated overall, with a yellow flickering lantern brightly illuminating the space.
Warm sunlight seeped into the interior through the clear windows on the walls, and the scenery beyond the windows was changing rapidly. Upon closer observation, it looked like they were moving. No, it wasn't just looking like they were moving, they were actually moving. Evelyn covered her mouth with her hand in shock.
Am I... being kidnapped?
Ominous thoughts began to rise in her mind. She recalled the situation just before falling asleep and cast her gaze to the opposite side. And in her eyes, she saw a strange snow-white woman and Acel sitting there. The two were in the middle of an earnest conversation, not noticing that Evelyn had woken up.
"Detailed education will start after we arrive in Wyheim. Before that, I'll just tell you what mana and magical power are."
"Mana is the substance that forms the basis of this world, and magical power is the energy that mages use to manifest magic by refining mana. Is that correct?"
"...What, how did you know?"
"I read it in the book in the carriage. That's what it said."
"You read the book? You can read?"
"It's a small skill."
The content of their conversation didn't register in her ears. Only the image of the two was clearly visible in Evelyn's sight. She gasped for breath and opened her mouth, recalling the words Acel had uttered with a determined expression just before she fainted.
He said he'd be back before sunset, that he'd get medicine! In the end, did he sell himself to get money for medicine?
Tears welled up in Evelyn's eyes. She glared at the paper the suspicious woman had taken out and bit her lip.
Surely that paper must be a slave contract. If she could just tear it up, Acel could be freed. Thinking this, Evelyn abruptly stood up. At this big movement, the two finally noticed that Evelyn had woken up.
"Sis!"
Acel called out in a bright voice. Evelyn briefly glanced at him, then glared at Ena and spat out, "Let Acel go! You witch!"
"Sis?"
"Huh?"
Acel said with wide eyes, and Ena, who had been quietly watching the reunion of the two, tilted her head.
She stared at Evelyn, who was glaring at her with hostile eyes, and thought with a serious expression.
Maybe she hasn't fully recovered yet?
"I said let him go! Witch!"
It seemed that was indeed the case.