I tried so hard to find her, and you’re trying to take her from me? I tightened my arms around Lena.
Plus, this child gets very tense when she meets strangers.
If you want to get close to her, start with letters first.
I pulled the completely stiffened Lena even closer and snorted at Bella.
“Oh my. You’re being stingy. Can’t we teach her together?”
“No.”
Until she at least becomes an advanced mage, I won’t let anyone else touch her.
Bella is the director of the Red Hall of the Ivory Tower. Naturally, she’s better at magic than me.
That means she can teach better than me too.
If I receive her help, the process of making Lena an advanced mage might become faster.
But if you ask me if that will help me obtain my Sage qualification? I can only answer that I don’t know.
Then there’s no need to choose a risky path.
“Hmm. Then what about after she becomes an advanced mage? Can you teach her beyond that?”
“Well. Let’s ask Lena for her opinion then and do what she wishes.”
“Awww… Te-teacher…”
Then I heard Lena’s melting voice from my arms.
When I lowered my head to look, Lena’s face was flushed so red it seemed like it would burst.
“Anyway, this child is very shy, so if you want to teach her, start by getting close to her first.”
“Ugh. What a hassle.”
“Why don’t you focus on teaching the kids under you now? You already have two, don’t you?”
As far as I know, Bella’s disciples are also known for their outstanding talent.
To have two such kids.
I was so envious when I saw it before.
“Tsk. See you later then.”
Waving her hand roughly, Bella left.
Only after watching that did I pull my arm around Lena.
“Haaaa…!”
She plopped down on the ground.
Perhaps her strength left her?
Or maybe she couldn’t endure the powerful mana Bella possesses.
“Are you okay?”
“Ye-yes…”
This is a serious condition.
She can’t get a hold of herself at all.
I lightly picked Lena up.
“Eek?!”
“There’s no need to stay here like this.”
“Uh. Ah. I-I’m fi-fine…”
“Hm? You’re okay? Want me to put you down?”
Did she regain some strength?
I looked at Lena, who I was holding in a princess carry.
Light returned to her face, which had been dazed for a moment.
“…Thi-thinking about it… I-I don’t think I’m o-okay…”
Then stay still.
Holding Lena, I headed towards the gate of Greenhild.
Perhaps because it was a place where people passed through without any particular luggage, the inspection wasn’t very strict.
“A patient?”
“She’s just a bit tired.”
“Is that so? There’s a clinic inside, so go there if you wish. Next!”
The inspection ended quickly since we didn’t have any items that would get caught in the inspection anyway.
“Are you very tired? If it’s to the point you can’t endure, how about going to the clinic?”
“I-I’m okay now!”
When I tried to head to the clinic, Lena hurriedly shouted.
If that’s the case, good. I put Lena down from my arms.
“If there’s no problem, let’s head straight to the ruins.”
“Ye-yes.”
I headed to the ruins on the map together with Lena, who had regained her senses.
Finding the ruins deep in Greenhild’s underground waterways wasn’t an easy task.
“Ah. Rats.”
“It’s the underground waterways after all.”
The better thing was that Lena wasn’t afraid of bugs or rats.
In the game, there were cases where characters had phobias of rats or bugs.
Perhaps because she lived in the forest, Lena didn’t fear such things at all.
“Hey Len, are you scared of ghosts?”
“Eh-ehehe. Wh-where would gho-ghosts exist in this world~.”
“Among monsters, there are also ghost-like monsters.”
“Oh-oh. That’s interesting.”
But she still didn’t seem particularly scared.
Is it true that living people are the scariest after all?
While moving through the underground waterways, talking about this and that, we found a peculiarly shaped door.
Looking at the map, it seems to be here.
Then, if I put the key here…
-Clank! Clank!
When I took the necklace and inserted it into the small hole, the door opened.
Deep darkness could be seen. Staring into the darkness like an abyss without a single point of light, Lena raised her hand.
“Light.”
The darkness began to disappear as the elementary magic that creates light was cast.
“For ruins, it’s better to form a party of 4 or more.”
“We-we’re tw-two, though?”
“I have various qualifications.”
That case doesn’t apply to me because I have skills obtained using bugs.
But since there won’t be another chance to meet someone with various skills like this later, I should educate her step by step at times like this.
“Also, remember that you must bring a thief when you explore ruins. Their lockpicking skill or trap detection and disarming skills come in handy. Look over there. Doesn’t the floor look a bit strange? That’s a trap.”
“Ah. Ohh. I-I see…”
“Now. Then what should you do when you can’t have a skilled thief join your party?”
Not everything in the world goes according to the textbook.
You should at least know the methods to prepare for that, or else don’t say you’re my disciple anywhere.
“…Po-pour attacks like Ma-Magic Arrow on it?”
“Correct. First, try triggering the trap. Now. Try it.”
Lena created Magic Arrow and attacked the trap.
Numerous blades quickly shot up from the trap that received the impact.
You would have been skewered if you had gone there without knowing better.
-Shing…
The blades that only pierced the air retreated back into the wall.
Watching that, Lena closed her eyes and thought momentarily, then reached out her hand.
“Create Water.”
A powerful stream of water was created and began to soak the trap.
And what followed was another magic.
“Freeze.”
-Crackle!!
The trap was completely frozen.
Since the holes where the blades should come out were frozen solid, the trap wouldn’t be triggered.
Not stopping there, Lena used Magic Arrow again just in case to check if the trap would activate.
“It-it worked!!”
“Well done.”
I patted Lena’s head.
Liking that, Lena began to smile helplessly and wiggle her body.
“Now. Shall we continue?”
Lena explored the ruins better than I thought.
Using basic magic to neutralize traps was a given, and she was also skillfully finding the path by summoning Sylphid and using the wind.
And combat wasn’t a problem to begin with
Her combination of Magic Arrow and Multiple Magic was a powerful weapon that couldn’t be easily blocked.
I’m looking forward to how terrifying she’ll be when she becomes an advanced mage.
“It seems to be the end soon. It looks like we were able to conquer the ruins quickly because you guys did better than I thought.”
“Eh-ehehe.”
– Eh-ehehe.
Lena and Sylphid were scratching the backs of their heads and looking pleased.
After smiling at them once, I opened the door to the last room.
What was at the end of the ruins was a wide cavity.
A long staff was placed in the center.
And as if to protect it, a golem slowly raised its body.
“That’s the ruin guardian.”
“Wh-what should we. Do?”
“What do you mean? We have to defeat it.”
“Ye-yes!!”
As the golem moved, Lena prepared Magic Arrow as usual.
And she fired it. Hundreds of Magic Arrows quickly flew and attacked the ruin guardian’s body and,
“Ah, no?!”
The Magic Arrows disappeared as if it were an illusion.
Surprised by that, Lena looked at me, and I smiled and put my hand on the hilt of my sword.
“Among ruin guardians, there are also ones that have the skill to nullify magic. And among them, there are also ones that nullify physical attacks.”
“I-I see…”
– Sh-should I. Tr-try?
“Okay!!”
Oh. Is this where she’ll use spirit power?
Green energy began to settle in Sylphid’s body.
When it gradually became stronger, Sylphid reached out her hand, and a powerful wind began to envelop the ruin guardian’s body.
The wind began to erode the ruin guardian’s body.
It tried to escape from the powerful whirlwind, but the wind Sylphid created persistently eroded various parts of the golem’s body. Not long after, cracks began to form on the golem’s legs.
“Wo-wow…!”
Around the time Lena was admiring it, the legs that couldn’t endure it any longer shattered.
As the golem that couldn’t even move struggled, Sylphid stopped the wind.
– Ho-how was it?
“Ama…amazing!!”
– Eh-ehehe…
As I watched the two holding hands and giggling, I applauded.
That Sylphid, she’s a more powerful spirit than I thought.
It’s my first time seeing a ruin guardian being defeated like that.
Just how much spirit power does she possess to be able to do that?
With that much, it seems she could become a great spirit?
“Is, is it… over?”
“For now. We need to shatter the core of the ruin guardian that can no longer move. But that’s very simple.”
I threw a dagger to Lena.
Receiving that, Lena hesitantly stepped forward and stabbed the red glowing core of the golem with the dagger.
With just that, the golem’s body crumbled down. The ruin conquest was over with this.
“You conquered the ruins with your own strength from start to finish. I’m proud.”
“It-it’s thanks to te-teacher’s guidance and Sy-Sylphid’s help!!”
“Yeah. Since the ruin conquest is over, shall we receive the reward and leave?”
The reward of the ruins would be that staff over there.
I brought it over, examined it this way, and then held it out to Lena.
“Can, can I… have it?”
“Of course.”
You’re a mage too, so you should have at least one staff.
“It, it seems pre-precious…”
It’s a staff obtained from a ruin, it’ll be good.
I patted Lena’s head.
“Before long, you’ll also become an advanced mage, so you should properly equip yourself.”
“Will I… be able to do it?”
I nodded at her, who asked worriedly.
I’ll definitely make it happen within a year.