Magic is not recommended.
Magic is dangerous.
Magic requires years of training.
Magic demands both talent and aptitude.
Magic is a noble art.
After hearing all of that, wanting to learn magic started to feel wrong.
“Did she get mad because it is wrong?” I murmured while staring at the ceiling. I’d just woken up on my straw bed—thoughts like these had even crept into my dreams.
It was still early morning, and the sun hadn’t fully risen yet. My body ached from the past few days of hiking and training, and I wanted nothing more than to stay still. But thanks to that dream, sleep had completely left me.
“Magic... Magia, huh?”
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t fascinated by the powerful spells in the stories I’d read about legendary heroes. But the spell I wanted to use more than anything was detection, because I wanted to find all the mana pools Old Badger had told me about. Except...
I turned my head without getting up. Sheya’s magic book for beginners sat on a thick pile of straw. I had carefully placed it there to make sure it wouldn’t get dirty from the stable floor. The book was a hefty stack of parchment, so heavy that I felt like just picking it up would wear me out.
“It’s thick,” I grumbled.
The detection spell had seemed simple, but I would have to read that entire book and undergo a lot of training just to use it. Would that be easier than just searching for mana pools on foot? Leaving town for long periods of time meant running into monsters, and that was risky. Learning magic still seemed like the safer option.
Then I thought about Liluetta and Sheya arguing yesterday. If learning magic was going to cause that kind of fight, maybe it was better to just give up. Sheya hadn’t seemed all that enthusiastic about it when I’d asked her to teach me, anyway.
I let out a low groan and sat up. My mind was swirling with thoughts, and it didn’t seem like I’d be able to fall back asleep. I could go to the guild, but the only food they would have this early was either raw vegetables or stale bread. Raw vegetables were fine, but I wasn’t in the mood for them right now.
I did the only thing I felt like doing and leaned back against the wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the magic book. I thought about flipping through it since I had nothing better to do, but I just couldn’t muster the energy to lift something that heavy right now.
Why had Liluetta been so against it? Sheya had told me not to worry, but I felt like I shouldn’t try reading the book without figuring that out first. There had to be a reason—a reason strong enough to make Liluetta so angry.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Basically, the young lady wanted you to ask her to stay,” Yune explained matter-of-factly.
Wait, what? I pressed a hand to my forehead, trying to steady myself against the dizziness creeping in.
“Uh, but you two are planning to join a different party eventually, right?” I asked, still trying to process what she’d just said.
“Yes,” Yune confirmed with a nod. “But that’s beside the point. She still wanted you to ask her not to go.”
We were in a corner of the armorer’s shop next to the adventurer’s guild. Yune had said there was something she wanted to buy, and she’d asked me to come along and give my opinion.
Then she hits me with this nonsense the moment we arrive. Liluetta’s still waiting back at the guild...
“Well, we haven’t exactly been that helpful, have we?” Yune whispered. “If anything, we’ve probably been holding you back. Wouldn’t it feel much better to leave a party knowing someone wants you to stay, rather than thinking they’re secretly relieved to see you go?”
“That logic is kind of messed up.” I leaned away from Yune a little. The sheer selfishness of what she had just said was throwing me off. If they were going to leave anyway, what difference did asking Liluetta to stay make? Honestly, I should’ve just started reading the magic book instead of worrying so much.
But I could kind of see her point too. If the roles were reversed, maybe I would’ve felt the same way.
I decided to tell the truth. “For the record, I don’t want you two to leave anytime soon. If something dangerous happens, I won’t be able to protect you. That really scares me. But I have a lot of fun when the three of us are together.”
At first, I had thought of dealing with Liluetta and Yune as a hassle. On our very first day, when we had to turn back because of Liluetta’s shoes, I had no idea if this was even going to work out. But both girls took things more seriously than I expected.
When I told Liluetta she needed better shoes, she bought them. When both of them realized they needed canteens, they made sure to get them. They did their best to keep up with me on every hike up and down the mountain, even though it meant being drenched in sweat every day.
Besides, we found the mana pool thanks to Liluetta. And the fruit juice we shared was a brand-new discovery for me. It was one of the best things I’d ever tasted. Most importantly, Liluetta and Yune were the first friends around my age I made in this town.
“Oh dear. That was...” Yune pressed a hand to her chest and looked away. “Unexpectedly heart fluttering,” she murmured.
Does her chest hurt? I wondered. She’s probably exhausted. If she isn’t feeling well, maybe I shouldn’t push her too hard today.
“W-Well, for what it’s worth,” she continued, “if both you and the young lady are okay with it, I wouldn’t mind adventuring together for a while longer.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Really.”
That was unexpected. Joining a stronger party of experienced adventurers was definitely way better for Liluetta and Yune, compared to staying with me. That was exactly why I had no right to stop them if they decided to leave. If I held them back, I would only be getting in their way.
“The truth is,” Yune began, “Master Magnan, the young lady’s grandfather, assigned me the duty of protecting her. So, ideally, I’d like to stick to low-risk, manageable adventures.”
Ah, that made sense. If that was her position, then staying in my party was a good idea after all. The only thing we were doing was gathering herbs, which wasn’t very dangerous.
Now that I thought about it, Yune didn’t speak up as much as Liluetta did. But back when Liluetta and Waine were arguing, Yune had actually agreed with Waine’s suggestion to go with me. Looking back at it now, maybe that whole situation had been convenient for her.
“As far as I’m concerned,” she continued, “I’d really like for you to convince the young lady to stay. She won’t listen if I’m the one who says it...”
Yune ended on a slightly pitiful note. But if she couldn’t convince Liluetta, I wasn’t sure I could either. Still, maybe it was worth trying.
Yesterday, Liluetta had said her goal was to connect with reliable and skilled adventurers she could trust. That didn’t necessarily mean she had to go on dangerous adventures herself. In fact, now that I had introduced her to Waine, Sheya, and Chikka, hadn’t she already achieved her goal? If I convinced her to stay, and both Liluetta and Yune ended up staying in my party for a while, then... Yeah. That would be fine. It wouldn’t cause any problems for them at all.
I still felt a bit anxious, but I decided to give it a shot. “All right. I’ll do what I can. I’ll talk to her when we get back.”
As soon as I said that, Yune’s face lit up. It seemed like she actually did want to stay in my party. I really wasn’t all that confident about convincing Liluetta, though.
We left the armorer’s shop without buying anything and headed back to the adventurer’s guild. I walked with my arms crossed and wondered what in the world I should do.
How should I even go about convincing her? Can I make a case about party composition? Well, you don’t really need three people to gather herbs. Having two rare magic users in the group just for that probably seemed like a waste to other adventurers.
What about financially? Right now, we were making good money thanks to the herbs from the mana-rich spots. But gathering herbs didn’t bring in that much coin most of the time. If Liluetta and Yune wanted to make the most of their abilities, they’d be better off joining a stronger party. Liluetta might not care too much about money since she came from a wealthy family, but earning more was always better.
Then there was the matter of improving our skills. If I was going to study magic, it would be great to have Liluetta around so I could ask her questions. But she was against me learning magic in the first place, and I didn’t think there was much else I could teach her in return.
The more I thought about it, the clearer reality became: I had no real argument here. To make things worse, there was what happened yesterday. Liluetta had barely even looked at me this morning, before Yune and I went to the armorer’s. She was probably still furious.
The moment I opened the door to the adventurer’s guild, I heard someone shouting in anger.
“Never speak to me again, you insolent fool!”