Chapter 40

60,000 points achieved, yeah!

The next day, around noon, Node visited Elyseo's place again.

He climbed the spiral staircase of the stone tower within the grounds of the Magic Academy and knocked on the door.

There was no response.

Thinking Elyseo was out, he turned to leave, but then he heard hurried footsteps from inside the door.

"Coming... oh!"

"Hey, are you okay?"

From inside the door came Elyseo's scream. Judging from the sound, it seemed she had fallen.

Node called out through the door.

"It hurts... Is that you, Node?"

"Yeah, it's me. I came about yesterday's matter."

"Sorry, I'll open it now."

The sound of the lock being undone, and then the door opened.

On the other side stood Elyseo, wearing her usual magician's robe. Her nose was red and her eyes were teary, as if she had hit her face.

"What, were you sleeping?"

"Yes, I ended up staying up all night..."

"That's not good. Should I come back later?"

"No, it's fine. Come in, let's not stand here talking."

Node decided to take Elyseo up on her offer.

Entering Elyseo's house for the first time since yesterday and closing the door, he noticed the same pleasant smell as before tickling his nose.

He tried to find the source of the smell but couldn't find it in the room. Perhaps it wasn't incense but some kind of magic.

"Hmm?"

Looking around the room, Node noticed something.

The door leading to the back was open.

Probably, Elyseo had forgotten to close it when she rushed out.

What kind of room would a skilled magician have? Node's curiosity was piqued, and he felt an urge to peek inside.

"I'll make tea right away, so please have a seat... Node?"

"Huh? Oh..."

Elyseo was trying to boil water on a small magic stone stove set against the wall.

As she was about to put the kettle on the fire, she noticed Node looking elsewhere.

"What are you looking at... oh my!?"

"Whoa!?"

Following Node's gaze, Elyseo realized the door to the back was wide open and let out a loud scream, running towards it.

She threw the kettle into the air and, in a panic, started running. Node, surprised, dodged and caught the kettle mid-air, spilling a little water on the floor. After placing the kettle back on the stove, he turned to Elyseo.

"Heh... hehe... Did you see?"

"See? More like, I could see... Sorry."

"Yeah... I guess so..."

"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have peeked. Magicians probably have a lot of things they don't want others to see."

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

Hearing Node's apology, Elyseo let out a strange sound.

Was something wrong?

"Um... What did you see, Node?"

"What? Just a glimpse, but I saw something white... like a piece of cloth. Was it some kind of material?"

"! Oh, yes, that's it!! It's actually material for magic, and I didn't want others to see it."

"Really sorry, I'll be more careful from now on. I'll forget what I saw, so please forgive me."

"Thank you! That really helps... phew."

Maybe it was material for the magical device Elyseo was working on for the instructor.

It seemed Node's guess was correct. When he honestly told Elyseo what he saw, she made a face and, in a high-pitched voice, confirmed it.

Perhaps she was excited from running, as her face was flushed.

Elyseo slumped to the floor and then stood up, this time actually putting the kettle on the stove.

Node, not wanting to be rude, sat in the chair by the window as suggested.

The magic stone stove produced a smokeless flame, heating the bottom of the kettle. It would take a while for the water to boil, and an awkward silence filled the room.

Node felt uncomfortable, and Elyseo, standing by the stove, probably felt the same.

Trying to break the awkward silence, Node let his gaze wander.

His eyes landed on the spines of books on the shelf in front of him.

"I think you mentioned yesterday that you were copying books, Elyseo?"

"Yes, books are generally expensive. Plus, I do it to earn some money."

"Money?"

"Yes, the Magic Academy provides jobs to those who can't afford it, like me."

"Copying books is one of those jobs?"

"Copying is one of them, but I do it for fun too. If I make extra copies, I can keep them."

It's half a hobby, Elyseo said with a cheerful laugh.

"Can I take a look?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Node looked at the spines of the books on the shelf.

Most of them, as he had seen yesterday, were about magic. Flipping through a few pages, he found many terms he didn't understand.

However, there were a few books that he had some connection to.

"This one...?"

"Oh, that one?"

Elyseo was setting out two teacups on the table after the kettle had boiled and the tea was ready.

Glancing at the book Node held, she recognized it.

"This book isn't part of my work or research. I copied it out of interest."

The title of the book Node held was "Legendary Monsters."

"Hmm... 'Divine Wolf,' 'Sky Dragon,' 'Thunder Bear,' 'King Tsunami,' 'Giant Spirit'..."

"Come to think of it, Node, you're an adventurer, right? Were you fascinated by fighting such monsters?"

"Yeah..."

Hearing Elyseo's words, Node looked up from the book.

—The reason he became an adventurer.

He had become an adventurer mainly to support the Felis family.

In fact, if Node had gone to military school instead of becoming an adventurer, his sister Lilia wouldn't have been able to attend a girls' school. And there were many other situations where things would have gone badly without Node, such as the financial support he provided to Alek and his sister Hannah's marriage.

However, despite his busy days, he realized he had enjoyed the life of an adventurer quite a bit.

The bedtime stories his mother and sister used to read to him when he was young.

He loved the heroic tales of the Felis family's ancestors and the country's history, but he also enjoyed stories about adventurers.

Thinking about it, the days he spent as an adventurer with Genius and Elsa were like the adventures he had dreamed of as a child.

Node felt nostalgic for the time he spent as an adventurer just over a year ago.

"Node?"

"Hmm, yeah. Well, I can't say I wasn't fascinated. Actually, adventuring was quite fun. But—"

Node held up the book and spoke honestly.

"I'd rather not deal with legendary monsters. You'd need more lives than you have to face them."

"And besides, aren't these mythical creatures?"

"No, that's not true, Node."

"What?"

Elyseo gave an unexpected response.

"What do you mean?" Node asked.

"The monsters in this book are said to be legendary, but some of them have been confirmed in ancient texts."

"Really?"

"Yes, I saw it in the Magic Academy's library... Here, this is it."

Elyseo took the book from Node, flipped through the pages, and sat down.

While waiting, Node decided to enjoy the tea he had been offered.

The steaming tea was at a perfect temperature and had a pleasant aroma.

Node savored the tea, which was a slightly darker shade of ruby than Elyseo's hair.

"Ah! Here it is."

"Let me see..."

Just as Node put his teacup back on the saucer, Elyseo's voice cut through the slight sound of the cup.

Elyseo turned the book halfway and showed the open page to Node.

When Node looked at the book, he read the following:

"Empress Spider"

Their voices overlapped, echoing in the stone room.

§

"Empress Spider... I feel like I've heard that name before."

"Oh, I think it's the name of a fabric."

"Oh, right, the thread of Arachne. I heard it's imported from the Eastern Continent."

"They call it 'silk' over there."

Node recognized the name "Arachne."

Thinking about where he had heard it, Elyseo provided the answer, and Node smacked his knee in realization.

The thread of Arachne, which Node had heard of, was a lustrous white or yellowish thread with a noble and alluring sheen. Because of its luxurious appearance, it was popular for women's dresses at social gatherings and as a smooth, comfortable material for undergarments.

The thread of Arachne, transported by large trading ships from the Eastern Continent across the sea, was already expensive due to the cost of transportation.

High-ranking nobles and wealthy merchants competed to acquire it, driving the price even higher. During a major storm that prevented most trading ships from reaching their destination, the thread of Arachne was said to be worth its weight in silver.

It was a coveted item for women, but unfortunately, Node's family, including his mother Maria and sister Hannah, didn't have dresses made of Arachne's thread.

"The name 'Arachne's thread' comes from the first noble who saw the 'raw silk' and compared it to the thread of the legendary Empress Spider."

"Interesting, I didn't know that."

"It's said to be from a time when Saint Treasure-class adventurers were active."

Node couldn't help but chuckle at the term Elyseo used.

Saint Treasure-class adventurers were the pinnacle of adventurers, ranking above the ninth tier, Saint Gold, and occupying the highest tenth tier.

They were said to be the ancient people who unified the Irvan continent in the past.

At that time, the ancient empire had collapsed, and the Irvan continent was in chaos. Small countries sprang up across the continent, each claiming to be the successor to the empire and vying for dominance through war.

The people fled from the ravages of war, lost their homes, and were attacked by rampaging monsters.

The imperial army, which was supposed to deal with the monsters, was no longer there and instead caused harm to the people.

The Irvan continent had entered a dark age.

Amidst this chaos, the "first adventurers" banded together and traveled across the Irvan continent, slaying monsters.

Eventually, others followed in their footsteps.

Those who sympathized with their actions, those who were helped by them, and those who decided to hunt monsters to survive.

These people, rising from among the people, also called themselves "adventurers" and formed guilds to help each other.

By the time the Kingdom of Hamil and other countries that still bear their names today had established their territories, the efforts of the adventurers had brought a degree of stability to the Irvan continent.

The guilds of adventurers, which had developed from the gatherings of adventurers, became the Adventurer's Guild.

The prototype of the current tier system was created during this time.

The name "Saint Treasure" was derived from the legend that the first adventurers all wore precious gems.

In the history of the Adventurer's Guild, only the legendary adventurers who gave the name had ever reached the tenth tier.

This was over several hundred years ago.

"Ah, you think I'm lying, don't you?"

"I know you're not joking, Elyseo, but still..."

"But this content is from an old document in the back of the Magic Academy's library, so I think it's credible."

"Why did you find such a thing?"

Elyseo explained that she found it while organizing the library as part of a student job.

"So, according to the document, it seems the Empress Spider really existed back then."

"Seems? What do you mean?"

"The document itself was quite worn out, and only part of it could be deciphered, but it described the characteristics, appearance, and the material, Arachne's thread, of the Empress Spider. Here, this is a copy of it."

"Hmm..."

Elyseo took a booklet from the bookshelf, separate from the copy. It indeed contained the characteristics of the Empress Spider.

Node compared the content of the booklet, a copy of the document, with the contents of the book "Legendary Monsters."

The characteristics matched.

"So what does that mean? Are there—monsters like this swarming the Irvan continent?"

"No, probably not. Since there have been no sightings for hundreds of years, they might have been hunted to extinction by the first adventurers."

"That would be a relief."

Node looked at the page again.

The page about the Empress Spider was written in an old-fashioned style, stating, "The Empress is born in times of intense warfare."

The Kingdom of Hamil had been at war a dozen years ago.

There had been wars long before that.

All of them were large-scale battles, but Node, who had limited knowledge, had never heard of the Empress Spider appearing.

So, it seemed Elyseo was right.

"Oops, I got carried away talking. I almost forgot the main reason I came."

"Oh! Right... Sorry, I got a bit excited."

"No, it was an interesting story. So, I met an adventurer named Genius yesterday and we discussed some things..."

"I see... Got it. So—"

Node shifted the topic to the main reason for his visit, recounting the details of his conversation with Genius the previous night.

By the time the conversation was over, the tea Elyseo had made had completely cooled.

The writing process is tough, no matter how far it goes.

I feel like I have a condition where I can only move the characters.

Also, I have a tendency to over-explain.

I feel like the writing style is getting sloppy. I'm not sure, but if you think "something's off," I'd appreciate it if you could point it out.

Can you believe it? I, Elyseo, was supposed to be a minor character who would be done with in two chapters.

Also, I'm really grateful for the typo corrections, Nikki and others. Thanks!