Chapter 20: Teacher and Bag

Chapter 20:
Teacher and Bag

IT WAS JUST BEFORE NOON. As we sat on top of the cliff overlooking the ancient Earth Dragon’s bones, we decided to have an early lunch. Master Speria stirred a pot of stew on top of the open-air fire. “All right, time for the rest.”

He added some strange, bottled meat and a handful of dried vegetables to the pot. The smell wafting from it whetted my appetite.

While Master Speria was absorbed in making this otherworldly dish, Gol was devoted to stroking my injured forehead. She had been like this ever since her stiffness dissipated. She must have been waiting for the chance to tend me while she was unable to finely manipulate her fingers.

“Um, Gol…it’s already healed, so it’s fine…”

The scratch on my forehead had closed cleanly. Master Speria had used a healing spell, specifically of the Water attribute.

Thank you, Water attribute. My predilection for it was only growing.

Although there’d been a lot of blood, the location of my injury was the forehead, which contains a ton of blood vessels. The wound wasn’t actually deep—it didn’t have to be to bleed so furiously. However, the cut hadn’t even left a scar. Healing spells were incredible. Did they surpass modern medicine?

That reminded me—when I first met Master Speria, there was a sizable bloodstain on his torn clothes. I’d thought he was in trouble, but he must have used a healing spell. Those had to be an indispensable survival skill in this world. But, well, you know…even though it was indispensable, I couldn’t use it…

Time to put that sad truth aside.

I turned to Gol. “Um, so, Gol. My injury is already fine. You don’t have to keep tending it…”

She refused my plea—ignored it, more like—and continued to caress my forehead. Because she was rubbing as delicately as she could, I couldn’t yell at her to stop. But how long was this going to continue? I couldn’t foresee an end…

Come to think of it, it seemed that Gol had become quite accustomed to Master Speria. She was on edge around him at first, so I’d been quite worried. But at this point, I think in her mind, Master Speria had ranked up from “a hindrance to eliminate” to “indifference.” That was a positive development.

Although, I had by then realized that Gol might have a serious case of “Stranger Danger” anxiety. I was a bit worried about what would happen when we eventually reached a populated settlement…

Master Speria scooped some stew into a wooden bowl. “Here you go. Eat up.”

I gratefully accepted it and slurped the warm stew. I sighed as it soaked into my exhausted body. The meat in this stew was particularly delicious. What was it? Beef? Like with a good beef-tongue stew, the meat melted in my mouth while retaining that wonderful chewiness. What an exquisite texture. I could keep eating this forever. Seconds, please.

“Looks like you like it.” Seeing how excited I was for another helping, Master Speria looked satisfied.

“This meat is really quite delicious,” I said.

“He he, listen and be amazed. This is a special Imperial delicacy. It’s made with aged tongue meat from a mana beast known as the Wind Yale. I wanted to splurge a little to celebrate our survival.”

“Ooh…” I didn’t really get it, but I showed my surprise out of courtesy.

So he really did use quality meat. This world, with its strange meat and glorious cranberry-apples, had a variety of delicious foods. That was an aspect for which I could be grateful.

Master Speria slurped his own soup and nodded deeply. He seemed to be proud of his craftsmanship. “But you know, Nemaki… To think that you actually defeated one of the few ancient dragons revered as gods.”

“Aah…” I gave a listless response to my teacher’s words.

After all, when you think of gods, there’s a significant spectrum of power and importance. Japan had a whole bunch, including, you know, a god of toilets and a god of rocks.

“Ah, do you perhaps not understand the gravity of what you just did?” Master Speria saw right through my evasiveness and pushed his glasses up. “Listen. The Flame Dragon, Wind Dragon, Ice Dragon, and Earth Dragon…these ancient dragons are believed to be the manifestation of the strongest gods. Even that extravagant title, ‘Four Cornerstone Attributes,’ was just something humans came up with to recognize the four pillars embodied by these ancient dragons.”

“H-how hyperbolic… Ah, but after fighting that thing, I do have to agree to some degree. Between its size and its strength, it’s no wonder it became an object of superstition—”

The moment I finished saying “superstition,” my teacher burst out laughing.

“Ah ha ha. Right, ‘superstition.’ Ha ha. You have a truly interesting way of putting things into perspective.” He laughed, enjoying this from the bottom of his heart. “Ah, on the topic of superstition. People say that even if the ancient dragons lose their physical body, they resurrect soon afterward. And, well, it’s hearsay, so I guess you could call that a superstition.”

“Resurrection, you say…?”

“Right, new life after death. It’s said there were fights between the ancient dragons. There’s even an old legend of how the Ice Dragon fought and died after a long battle with the Flame Dragon. However, the ancient Ice Dragon is alive even now in the extreme north. Whether the record of this fight is factual is still debated by scholars.”

Wait a sec. No matter how strange a life-form is, it is absolutely impossible for anything dead to resurrect, teacher.

My teacher grinned at my bewildered expression and jokingly said, “That’s why, you see, the ancient Earth Dragon might resurrect soon. And I’m sure it holds quite the grudge against you. You’ll have to be careful the next time you meet. Ha ha ha.”

“Please don’t say something so scary…”

If such a frightening horror-movie thing happened, and I had to have a revenge match against that monstrous beast, I was sure weak little me would die.

I was frightened to my core by this terrifying possibility when Gol finally left my side. Ah, had she grown tired of rubbing me? I was relieved to be freed from that relentless caressing and looked over toward her. She was cutting a glorious cranberry-apple into elegant slices.

She must have been waiting for me to finish eating my main meal. But wait, was that the only reason she stopped her petting?!

As usual, my partner’s timing was impeccable.

After I finished the fruit for dessert, we all sat around the fire, warmed our bodies with Master Speria’s herbal tea, and enjoyed a pleasant chat. I learned that if we continued on the road much farther west, we would reach the imperial capital. This country’s capital was heavily populated, and the city was considered wondrously beautiful.

I was relieved. More proof that this world’s humanity hadn’t been destroyed. This wasn’t a sorrowful world inhabited by only us two humans.

Another thing I discovered was that “Goretaru” was the name of the war goddess of slaughter and jealousy. Was this the explanation for Master Speria’s complex reaction to her introduction? But Gol looked extremely delicate… She by no means looked like a war goddess of slaughter. Besides, she was thoughtful and gentle—a far cry from jealousy.

But Master Speria laughed and said that after spending time with us, he’d found Goretaru was exactly like her namesake. Exactly what kind of image did he have of Gol after these few days?

Master Speria laughed again and sipped his herbal tea. Then he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, that’s right. Nemaki-kun, do you want to come with me to check out the ancient Earth Dragon’s remains? You might find something interesting.”

***

Later, the three of us made our way to the bony remnants of the ancient Earth Dragon.

It really was huge. Only a portion of the skeleton had yet to decay, but it was still the size of a building. The bones didn’t seem like they would last for much longer, either. Like they were all show and no go… They might crumble at the touch of a light breeze. Actually, was it possible they were hollow?

Master Speria rummaged around the torso of the skeleton for some time. “Oh! Found it. It’s this, right here.”

It appeared he had found the thing he was looking for. He came over and showed me a large, stone-like object.

“What exactly is that?”

“It’s the ancient Earth Dragon’s sorcery core.” He appeared to be holding a giant crystal.

Ah, actually, I recognized it. It was more or less the same as the rocks I had found inside the large monkeys’ corpses. Luckily, I still had several of them stuffed in my kit bag in hopes of exchanging them for money, so they hadn’t been blown away by the Earth Dragon.

As my teacher explained earlier, sorcery cores were an organ inside mana beasts that manipulated objects created from spells.

“I see. So this is a sorcery core…” I said.

The sorcery core in Speria’s hands was far bigger than the large monkeys’. Also, while the monkeys’ cores were certainly dark, the Earth Dragon’s was completely black.

Though if I took a picture of it, I was sure it would look like a simple rock. You had to see it in person to really get the right idea. It was hard to describe, but the dragon’s sorcery core overflowed with an antagonistic pressure. It was on a completely different level from the monkeys’ in that respect too.

Hmph. As expected of mere monkeys…

“Sorcery cores are formed only inside bodies that can produce a dense amount of mana. Still…the ancient Earth Dragon’s is extraordinary, as expected.”

Did this mean you could only take these crystals from strong mana beasts? Was that why I couldn’t find anything inside the bodies of the small and medium monkeys, whereas they’d been plentiful in the large monkeys?

I hadn’t been able to tell the large monkeys were significantly stronger, as size didn’t matter for us; Gol defeated every one of them with a single, equal-opportunity hit. Guess those large monkeys really were tough…

“Hey, Nemaki.”

“Yes?”

“Do you mind entrusting this sorcery core to me…? I need it for research.”

“That’s fine. I don’t mind.” I naturally consented. I wouldn’t deny anyone their request if it was for research purposes.

In the first place, I hadn’t even known such an item existed. If my teacher hadn’t searched for it, I would’ve abandoned it and continued on my journey. Besides, I was sure my teacher was conducting his research for the benefit of the world.

I, on the other hand, would’ve been caught up in materialistic worry over my current economic situation and thought, “I might get some money out of it.” But as a cultured man, I valued learning over economic gain. Though…could I still sell the monkeys’ sorcery cores? I was concerned about that.

While I was in my materialistic little world, I suddenly thought, Oh?

Master Speria had been staring at the sorcery core in silence for some time. Usually, he would have started in on a lecture about various things by now. When he noticed my gaze, he slowly raised his head. Both his expression and tone were extremely serious.

“Now then, I know it’s a bit regrettable…but this is where you and I will part ways. I’m heading north by myself.”

“Eh?” I unintentionally raised my voice.

What are you saying, teacher? Are you going to leave me behind? That can’t be. I-I’m not lonely or anything, but I didn’t think we would split so suddenly. I thought we were going to go to the city together. I-I’m not sad.

“Wh-what do you mean…? D-did something u-urgent come up?”

“Yes… This matter, you see, requires investigation.” There was a determination in his face as he answered me. He was resolute.

I thought for a moment that I could go with him to investigate. But I felt like he had placed an emphasis on the words “by myself.” It wasn’t the time to protest.

Come to think of it, Master Speria was extremely disturbed when he saw the ancient Earth Dragon here. It probably was an aberration of sorts…

Master Speria regarded my silence somberly. Then, as if suddenly hit by an idea, he began to empty his shoulder bag. He took out something that looked like a small ration of food, along with many unfamiliar tools—probably mana tools. Each of the items he removed got stuffed into the pouch on his waist or inside the pockets of his tattered robe.

I simply watched him. Ah, there went the ancient Earth Dragon’s sorcery core. And there, though I only saw it for a moment, went a light novel-sized book, placed delicately inside the pouch. It looked just like my textbook, but there was no need for a teacher at a spellcrafting academy like Master Speria to study beginner Earth spells at this point. It was probably some other tome.

After Master Speria finished transferring those items, he took the bag off his shoulder. Then he held the bag out to me. It was a splendid shoulder bag made of rough, black leather. I wondered what skin it was made of. When I looked closer, I could even see scales.

“Take this bag with you,” he said. “Food and water are inside. The basket with all your stuff was blown away during your battle with the ancient Earth Dragon, right?”

“Eh?”

While that was true and I was grateful for this offer, what would he do if he gave his bag to me? Also, I had Gol by my side, so I could make do if worse came to worst.

“But what about you?” I asked. “You’re going on another investigation now, right?”

He responded to my question with a mischievous smile and puffed out his chest. “Heh. Don’t look down on your teacher. I was once known as a prodigy at the Imperial Spellcaster Academy. My attributes are, if you can believe it, out of the twelve, ten! Well, just because I have the aptitude doesn’t mean I can handle every spell available.”

U-unbelievable?! I knew he was talented, but ten?! I can only use one, and it’s a trash attribute! Why was there such a difference in people’s talents? God was too cruel.

“Well, actually, you would only need advanced spells from two or three attributes to survive a journey by yourself. More importantly, it seems that you specialize in Earth spells, right? I’m more worried about you.” Master Speria paused for a moment before getting politely ambiguous. “Earth spells are, how can I put it…? They aren’t particularly useful in this situation.”

My teacher’s worry was warranted. My beloved Earth attribute could only create disposable pedestals and toilets.

I lowered my head and accepted the splendid black shoulder bag. “Thank you very much. You’ve taken care of me in so many ways.”

“You don’t need to thank me. This is just a modest farewell gift for my adorable student. Well, I’m not the type to call myself an excellent teacher anyway.” He lightly clapped my shoulder. “If you continue on this road and head west, you should reach human civilization. Nemaki, from here on out is your story… Please, live freely and make your life the one you want.”