Side Story Part 6

The attack subsided after a while, but he was sweating profusely all over his body and was feeling extremely fatigued.

(That should be all for today…)

Aubest took Aishela to the Magic University’s cafeteria where they had dinner and decided to take her back to the dormitory for the day. Even while they were eating, she didn’t feel like talking and so they simply ate in complete silence.

(What shall we do tomorrow?)

Aubest stirred up his dwindling feelings and thought about the plans for tomorrow.

The original plan he had in mind needed to be postponed util later, because he needed to leave Elam to go to Waldrind the day after tomorrow at the latest. He thought about postponing his plans, but there was no way he could do that right now,

However, he still had one thing to do in mind, so he decided to go there tomorrow. If that wasn’t going to work and get Aishela to open up to him, then he was pretty sure that nothing else would work as well.

It was at that time…

「Aubest-senpai? 」

… that someone called out to him in a surprised voice.

When Aubest turned around, he saw a woman named Ritte Lotus, whom he met when he was a student at the Blue Transmutation Magic Faculty at Magic University.

She was wearing her uniform and a tie in the same color as Aubest’s, so it’d seem like she’s still enrolled in the same Faculty.

「Long time no see. 」
Aubest simply nodded his head at her.
「Is it okay if I sit next to you? 」

When Ritte said that, she came to sit next to Aubest without waiting for his permission to do so.

Like Aubest, she doesn’t have the personality to actively socialize with people, and she spends most of her time alone. She often behaved in the same way as other isolated people, and there weren’t many opportunities for them to spend that much time together.

He has heard that she wanted to be alone because she is afraid of being hurt by others. She was the same as Aubest in that regard, but she was even more afraid of hurting others herself. She didn’t mean to behave in such a way, but at the very least she was aware that something was wrong with her, but at the same time she was relieved to know that at least Aubest wouldn’t hurt her in any way.

After Aubest completed the basic course of learning Transmutation Magic, he graduated from Magic University, but Ritte continued her studies with the aim of entering the Magic Workshop after graduating.

「Mind if I ask who’s this little lady? 」

Ritte turned her gaze to Aishela as she asked Aubest about her.

「She’s my adopted daughter, and I named him Aishela. Did you come here to see me because you need me for something? 」

「Adopted daughter? You adopted a child, Aubest-senpai?! 」

Ritte looked at Aishela in surprise.

「Is it really that strange? 」

「N-no, not at all. I just thought it might be a little too early for someone like you to be adopting a child, but… 」

Ritte hurriedly shook her head and stopped talking, said hello to Aishela, and extended her hand towards her. Aishela didn’t respond, so Aubest ordered her to shake her hand, and Aishela obeyed him silently.

「She’s a cute girl, this one. 」

When Ritte said that, she returned her gaze to Aubest. He felt the same way, but he didn’t want to judge things based on beauty or ugliness, so he didn’t dare to answer.

「Has your research progressed any further? 」

「No. I’m stuck with it, actually. 」

When Aubest asked, Ritte smiled weakly.

She is conducting research on stably imparting magical power particles into liquids and gas forms. Unlike when it is in solid form, you cannot draw patterns that stabilize Chaos with them like that. She often used a method of mixing microscopic magic particles with Arts carved into them, but they lack stability and can mutate or get lost due to the influence of Chaos itself. If she can could develop a stable medium and realize the production of artifacts using liquids and gases, she will definitely be welcomed into the Magic Workshop with open arms, but sadly, such an outcome was outside of her reach for the time being.

In fact, things haven’t been going well for her for a while now. After a deep dejected sigh, Ritte proceeded to talk to Aubest about the many failures that she has experienced with her experiments thus far.

「When you were still in the Blue Magic Transmutation Faculty, you gave me a lot of useful advice, Aubest-senpai. 」

「I might be a rainbow Mage, but I can only see Chaos in an integrated manner. 」

Aubest doesn’t specialize in anything in particular, but he studied the basics of all the types of magic at all Faculties in order to gain the understanding of magic as a whole at a basic and integrated manner. If he could truly master all the aspects of magic, that would allow him to become an all-around great Mage, but it was unlikely to happen because of his personal limitations, but still, the skills that he already possesses make him an excellent Mage as he is now, because with the basic knowledge of all types of magic, he can theoretically handle any situation and problem he’d be facing.

Aubest then asked Ritte what it was that she was stuck with and suggested a few possible solutions that he came up with on the spot.

「I see… 」

Ritte thought about everything she heard from him for a while, and then her expression immediately lit up.

「With your advice, it looks like I’ll be able to get back on the right track. I’ll be sure to try all of them out! 」

Ritte exclaimed, visibly overjoyed.

「You know what, Aubest-senpai? I thought that you of all the people would stay at the Magic University… 」

「It was something that my family decided for me. I had no say in the matter. 」

Truth to be told, Aubest wanted to stay at the Magic University and continue his research there as well, especially since Headmaster Sembros was strongly encouraging him to do so as well, but he never conveyed that desire of his to the family because he didn’t want to go against their expectations of him.

「Is that so? 」
Ritte nodded sadly.

「Senpai, you’re going to continue working as a contracted Mage for the time being, right? 」

「I will, but I can’t imagine it to be too hard to cancel the contract with my current employer. 」

Aubest answered without any expression on his face. However, it’s not that such a turn of events would be all that impossible. After all, he can’t say that he’s being used all that often in the Kraische family’s Magic Division. All that it’d take for him to be fired is for him to be judged as incompetent for any reason.

「Well, that’s true, but even if you adopt this child, you won’t always be able to check up on her, right? 」

「I don’t think so. 」

「Then, how about I check on this child from time to time? I could take care of her on my days off as well… 」

Ritte humbly offered to Aubest.

「Hmm… 」

Aubest thought about her proposal for a while.

Honestly, he was grateful for her offer. As long as it’s just financial support, there’d be no problem for him even if he had to stay in Waldrind for longer periods of time.

However, if he isn’t nearby, he won’t be able to help Aishela if something happens to her.

In the first place, Aishela still didn’t open her heart to Aubest. He has tried is best to understand her and make her open up to him, but instead he felt like he only filled her with more anxiety and fear.

(After all, it may be easier for children to open up to women than to men.)

He thought as such, but then…
「I’m tired… 」

Aishela suddenly murmured in a voice that seemed to be fading away. For a moment Aubest couldn’t believe it and thought that me must’ve heard it wrong, but then he realized that she really said that just now.

「I see. 」

Aubest nodded strongly.

This was the second time that Aishela did something of her own free will, not because he told her to do it.

「I’m sorry for not noticing it sooner. From now on, if you’re ever dissatisfied with something or have something you wish to say to me, you can go ahead and say it whenever you want. I’ll judge whether it’s appropriate or not. 」