Chapter 23

When Ricardo returned to the employee dormitory, he filled a pot with water and placed it over the fire, the pot containing the bones of a rabbit. If he continued to cook it, it would probably be ready by the time Sydney and the others returned, with a good broth.

He took out the ingredients he had bought, including pepper, vegetable oil, honey, and garlic, and arranged them on the kitchen table.

He placed the sap lamp in the dining room with the fireplace. He took out the sap sphere from the sap lamp, which stores sunlight, and observed it. It didn't seem to have accumulated much light.

He took out the magic light and turned it on, placing the sap sphere under its light. The small magic light Ricardo chose was a simple design with a magic circuit, a magic power storage crystal, and a switch attached to a candlestick. The magic circuit could be adjusted, and when the switch was turned on, a ball of light appeared about a meter away in the air.

He studied in the dining room while occasionally checking on the pot on the fire. In the evening, the young servants returned.

"Wow, it's bright."

"It's a magic light. What's going on?"

In response to Sydney's question, Ricardo said,

"I bought it because I need it for studying."

The young servants were amazed and wide-eyed.

"Amazing, Ricardo must be rich."

It was no wonder they were surprised. Sydney and the others, who worked every day except for the 'Day of Darkness' when the Mage Guild was closed, received only one hole silver coin per week.

Incidentally, a month was thirty days, and a week was six days in the order of 'Fire Day,' 'Wind Day,' 'Water Day,' 'Earth Day,' 'Light Day,' and 'Darkness Day.' The 'Day of Darkness' was a rest day.

When he was at Alessandro's mansion, it didn't matter much, so he didn't pay much attention, but it seemed to be important at the Mage Guild.

"Could it be that Master Ricardo is from a noble family?"

Sydney asked timidly.

"I'm not a noble, so you don't need to call me 'Master.' I have money because I hunted monsters while living in the borderlands."

He hunted the monster tree Trill, made a magic rod from its materials, and sold it, but he omitted the middle part, which wasn't a lie.

Exclamations of admiration and surprise rose from Sydney and the others.

"But, please keep the magic light and money a secret."

Robson looked unconvinced.

"Why?"

Sydney had a 'you don't get it' look.

"If it's known that you have a magic light and money, you might be targeted."

"Ah, I see."

The capital had relatively good security, but there were pickpockets, burglars, and thieves. They weren't few in number. If Robson and the others hadn't been picked up by the Mage Guild, they might have lived on the streets and been pickpockets.

Sydney sighed.

"To be honest, I'm envious."

Ricardo thought about it when Sydney said that. He hadn't thought his situation would be enviable. Then he thought about Sydney and the others' future.

"What do you plan to do from now on, Sydney?"

Sydney's shoulders drooped.

"I don't know. I can read and write, so I might ask a store to hire me as a clerk. Or I could ask a craftsman to take me on as an apprentice..."

"Do none of you want to become mages?"

He wondered why the children working at the Mage Guild didn't want to become mages and asked.

Robson's shoulders drooped as he denied it.

"It's impossible. To become a mage, you need to attend a specialized school or become an apprentice to a mage."

The mages here apparently didn't take Robson and the others as apprentices.

"Besides, you need expensive catalysts to learn magic."

The young servants, who received only one hole silver coin per week, couldn't even afford practice catalysts.

Seeing Robson and the others with gloomy faces, Ricardo felt a sense of helplessness.

"I can get the catalysts. I can teach you how to study to become a mage."

"Really!"

Robson's face lit up.

Seeing that face, his heart trembled. Joy welled up from the bottom of his heart. He realized that he had chosen the profession of a teacher in Japan because he wanted to see such faces.

From that day on, after Robson and the others finished their meals, he started teaching them. Of course, it was only for those who wanted to learn. The older Sydney, eight-year-old Robson, the quiet ten-year-old Nicola, and the strong twelve-year-old Domenico, all four of them, wanted to learn.

The others were skeptical about whether studying to become a mage would be useful. They seemed to have doubts about whether they could become mages no matter how hard they tried.

Regardless of the study, the first thing was dinner. Domenico and the others were in charge of cooking.

It was the third time Ricardo taught them how to cut vegetables. Since it wasn't very efficient, he decided to gather everyone and teach them the basics of cooking.

"Everyone, gather in the kitchen."

There, he taught them how to cut vegetables, remove bitterness, and use seasonings.

"Today, we'll make a soup using the broth from the rabbit bones."

Although having soup every day might get boring, the hard black bread couldn't be eaten without it.

After explaining how to extract the broth from the rabbit bones, he put half of it in a large pot and placed it over the fire.

He added the cut vegetables and cooked them until they were soft.

Tasting it, the umami from the rabbit bones had dissolved into the soup, making it delicious. However, it seemed to need a little more salt. When he let Domenico and the others taste it,

"It's delicious."

They looked genuinely happy.

"Doesn't it need a little more salt?"

"It's delicious, but you're right, it might need a little more."

He added salt little by little while tasting.

"Is this good?"

He let Domenico and the others taste it again.

"Ah, you're right. It's even more delicious."

That evening's dinner was lively. The vegetable soup made from the broth of the rabbit bones seemed to satisfy the young servants' palates.

After dinner, he started the study session.

He asked the four to bring the writing tools they used when learning to read and write, and Ricardo prepared paper to use as notebooks.

He placed the magic light on the dining room table and gave the first lesson to the four sitting around it.

That day, he explained the content of the magic textbook 'Basic Concepts of Magic' and taught the basics of magic power control.

After studying for about two hours with a break, the four's concentration started to wane, so he ended the session.

"Did you understand the basics of magic?"

The four nodded with uncertain faces. They had just learned the basics of magic power control and hadn't yet been able to sense magic power. Once they could sense magic power, they would be able to understand the basics of magic.

"According to Patrick, it takes time to be able to sense magic power. It can take a month for some, and up to three months for others."

It took him about ten days, but he thought it wasn't very relevant. His existence was not ordinary.

He slightly modified the 'trick' of guiding magic power from the heart, which he had taught to Sydney and the others.

If magic power floated in the air and accumulated in the body through breathing, wouldn't it accumulate in the lungs rather than the heart? When he changed the image to magic power flowing out from the lungs, he noticed that it flowed more smoothly than from the heart.

The new discovery that magic power accumulated in the lungs rather than the heart was a significant one. He didn't realize that this discovery alone could lead to a magic thesis until Tania pointed it out later.

Ricardo thought he was solid, but he seemed to have a somewhat vague side.

The study session started with four people, but when Robson successfully controlled magic power and Sydney finally sensed it, more participants began to join.

Especially after Robson successfully cast the fire magic 'Ignition,' everyone started to participate.

It seemed that all the young servants had dreamed of becoming mages.

Incidentally, Monta also participated in the study session and had already successfully controlled magic power, though he couldn't cast magic because he couldn't speak well.

Monta stood on two legs, released magic power from his right front paw, and signaled to Ricardo with his eyes. It was a signal to scatter the catalyst. When Ricardo scattered the catalyst, it was sucked into the magic vortex and began to glow red.

"Kyukya Kyokyoky" (Fana 《Fire》 Kolor)

A small flame appeared at the tip of Monta's front paw but quickly disappeared.

Monta, who had failed the magic, looked at Ricardo with a dissatisfied face.

"Once you can speak better. It's too early to learn magic."

"Kyokyoky" (No, I want to get good at magic)

Monta threw a tantrum, but that was a story for another day.

Returning to the story, the morning after the snow stopped, Ricardo went hunting with Tania and Patrick.

The ground was wet, but there was no snow. It was a pleasant morning with a clear sky.

Today, they were carrying a cart. Ricardo and the others went upstream of the Krem River and started looking for Devil-faced Rats.

"I want Tania to use the magic rod from today."

Patrick agreed.

"That's right. It's a waste to use catalysts on small creatures."

"But it might break."

"It should be fine against Devil-faced Rats and Headbutting Rabbits. It's made from a monster tree branch, after all."

Ricardo explained how to use the magic rod.

He also gave Tania a round shield. He felt it was unwise not to have any armor. The shield could protect against attacks from Devil-faced Rats and Headbutting Rabbits.

In a test battle against a Devil-faced Rat, Tania managed to defeat one while defending against its charge with the round shield.

"Haa haa haa... I'm so tired after just one... Using magic would be easier."

"But catalysts aren't free. You'd go bankrupt if you used them to defeat Devil-faced Rats."

"But the teeth of Devil-faced Rats can be used as catalysts, right?"

Ricardo nodded.

"But it costs to crush the teeth and turn them into powder."

Tania's face twisted in disappointment.

"That's true. I'll try to get better at using the magic rod."

After defeating about five Devil-faced Rats, Ricardo's magic power detection sensed a large amount of magic power.

"Hmm... this magic power..."

Patrick also sensed it and exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, this magic power..."

They quietly approached the source of the magic power. When they pushed through the bushes, they saw the monster tree.

It was smaller than the monster tree Elbir but about three meters long, with a trunk diameter of about twenty-five centimeters.

The wriggling roots reminded him of octopus tentacles, and the small branches and leaves on the head, resembling an afro, were a bright green. Two ribbons of vines called flash whips extended from it.

The monster tree Trill also had one flash whip, but this one had two. Moreover, they were more than twice as long as Trill's, about two and a half meters.

The branches extending from both sides of the trunk also seemed to be twice as many as Trill's.

"This is the monster tree Damir."

When he shared his knowledge from the book, Patrick was impressed.

The roots of the monster tree Damir had cut and killed a large antlered deer with its flash whips.

The large antlered deer was not a monster but a regular animal.

"It's rare for a monster tree to appear near the capital. What should we do?"

"It's a lower-class monster than the monster tree Elbir. Let's try to take it down."

Encountering a monster tree near the capital was rare. A monster tree from the mountainous region in the northern part of the kingdom might have been washed down by the Krem River.

The three prepared to take it down with a single blow.

Ricardo used 'Explosive Spear,' Patrick used 'Crashing Water Spear,' and Tania used 'Storm Fang Array.'

They synchronized their breathing and simultaneously cast their spells. The wind blades from 'Storm Fang Array' scratched the monster tree's trunk but missed the tree liver knot. The rotating water blades from 'Crashing Water Spear' were deflected by the branches.

Then, 'Explosive Spear' hit the tree liver knot directly and exploded, slicing it open. Tree liver oil leaked out, and the monster tree Damir's movements slowed.

A few minutes later, the monster tree fell to the ground and stopped moving.

"It seems we took it down."

Tania looked relieved.

Ricardo and the others were relieved for a moment, but they faced another problem.

"How are we going to get this thing back to the city?"

Ricardo and Tania scratched their heads.

If the monster tree had been smaller, they could have loaded it onto the cart, but it was too large, and only the root part could fit.

They reluctantly loaded the root part onto the cart, secured it with ropes, and Ricardo and Patrick carried the trunk part, dragging it along.

They cut off the branches that would get in the way, and Tania carried them.

They wanted to bring back the large antlered deer the monster tree had killed, but it was impossible to carry more.

When the three arrived at the north gate of the capital, Ricardo and Patrick were out of breath and exhausted.