Silence descended upon the room.
The Saint of the Sword, Sowol, was the first to break it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sowol from the Church.”
“N-n-nice to m-meet you too… I’ve h-heard a lot about you…”
Lena stammered softly in reply.
As she said, she had heard much about the renowned Saint of the Sword.
It was only natural. The Asura Church was Lena’s mortal enemy.
Even as the Colorless Chamber Master, Lena needed allies to fight against such a formidable foe. And the one considered most suitable among those allies was none other than Sowol, the Church’s blade.
‘Ah, she’s so beautiful…’
Lena had heard tales of the golden-eyed beauty with flowing pink hair who dominated the battlefield with her sword. But seeing Sowol in person, Lena realized those tales didn’t do her justice. As Lena stole glances at Sowol, her eyes fixated on the other woman’s ample bosom.
‘Wow… her b-breasts are huge…’
Didn’t Lee Hyun say he liked large breasts? Lena instinctively looked down at her own chest.
Lena had put in tremendous effort to enlarge her breasts after hearing about Lee Hyun’s preferences from Bella. While not envious of others, seeing Sowol’s large, shapely, and perky breasts made Lena understandably jealous.
“It’s an honor to finally meet you, Lady Archmage.”
“O-oh no, the h-honor is mine… to m-meet the Saint who has v-vanquished so many cultists…”
Silence overtook the room once more.
Pondering what to do, Lena clapped her hands together. She had prepared something for occasions like this.
“Ah, tea!”
“Pardon?”
“I h-have some really n-nice tea… w-would you like some…?”
Lena asked as she fumbled to prepare the tea set.
Observing the overly nervous girl, Sowol smiled gently.
‘What an adorable person.’
Like a frightened little rabbit. As cute in mannerisms as in appearance.
Sowol pointed to a seat with a bright smile.
“I’d be delighted. May I sit and wait?”
“O-of course!”
Having her suggestion accepted helped calm Lena’s pounding heart a bit. Giggling, she prepared the tea and took out some delicious cookies, placing them on the table with a beaming smile.
“Th-these are my f-favorite cookies…”
The same cookies she often made together with Lee Hyun. Though Lena wasn’t fond of overly sweet things, she really enjoyed these for some reason.
“These… are quite tasty.”
Sowol marveled after taking a bite.
It wasn’t mere flattery. As the successor of the Eastern Merchant Group, in addition to being the Saint, Sowol sampled all sorts of delicacies. But she never expected such humble cookies to suit her palate so well.
“Where did you buy these from?”
“I… I m-made them myself.”
“You did, Lady Archmage? How impressive. I had no idea you possessed such culinary talent in addition to magic.”
“Eh-heh… a-actually, I used to m-make these together with my t-teacher…”
“Your teacher… do you mean Archmage Bella?”
“Umm, n-no.”
‘I heard the Colorless Chamber Master studied advanced magic under the Red Chamber Master… but she’s saying Bella wasn’t her teacher?’
This was intriguing information. Sowol’s visible interest caused Lena to blush and bow her head deeply.
“…The p-person I admire and r-respect the most…”
“To have someone like that…”
Hearing those words made Sowol reminisce. She also once had someone like that.
Someone she respected, yearned for, and missed dearly. Someone whose whereabouts were unknown, but who Sowol believed she could find one day.
“That person is…”
“…n-not here right now…”
“I see…”
“Ah! B-but they didn’t p-pass away or anything!! I’m s-sure they’re out there somewhere!”
Lena waved her hands frantically to clarify. Somehow, her reaction gave Sowol strength.
“I also have someone very precious to me. Their current whereabouts are unknown… but I believe in my ability to find them and am giving it my all.”
“I s-see…”
Lena felt sorrow hearing Sowol’s words. She understood that pain all too well.
Losing someone dear was a sad and heartbreaking experience. Perhaps that was why Lena found Sowol a bit more approachable now.
“W-would you like more c-cookies?”
However, being a poor conversationalist, Lena wasn’t sure what else to say to comfort the other woman. So she attempted to convey her sympathy the only way she knew how – by offering more cookies.
Seeming to sense her intentions, Sowol smiled gently.
‘She’s an even better person than I thought.’
Geniuses tended to be eccentric. While there were kindhearted prodigies like Sowol herself, most were too absorbed in their own brilliance to understand the feelings of others.
Thus, Sowol had been a tad apprehensive before meeting Lena. As the youngest Ivory Tower Chamber Master ever, she assumed Lena would be unable to empathize with the hearts of others.
But seeing her in person dispelled those worries. Lena was pure, simple, and humble, and Sowol felt a strange kinship with her.
“This may be a bit forward for me to say, but… somehow, Lady Lena, you feel like a little sister to me. And I say this as an only child.”
“Eh?! I… I felt the same way!”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, I mean… Lady Sowol, you g-give off an older sister vibe…”
Lena had shared the sentiment. When she first heard of Sowol, the Saint who had slain over a thousand foes with a single blade despite being close in age to Lena, she imagined a terrifying existence.
A monster obsessed with blood and battle. So, Lena was worried about how to handle such a person.
But reality proved different. Sowol seemed an upright individual with unwavering conviction.
Someone dependable, like an older sister to lean on in hard times.
“Heh. Perhaps we share some kind of bond.”
“Eh-heh…”
A warm atmosphere began filling the tent as the two women enjoyed the pleasant moment. Then, they began discussing the monster subjugation in earnest.
.
.
.
“In that case, we shall handle the eastern continent.”
“Y-yes. Then we will head w-west.”
As planned, the Ivory Tower would cleanse the cults in the west while the Church swept the east.
By eliminating the cults spread like poisonous mushrooms across the vast continent, they hoped to uncover traces of the Asura Church.
Sowol stood up, ready to depart. “May the grace of light be with you.”
“M-may mana be with you always…”
They likely wouldn’t meet again after this. With Lena heading to the far west and Sowol to the distant east, what reason would they have to cross paths?
Thus, Sowol gazed at Lena with a hint of regret. A sentiment the Archmage shared.
‘It’s a pity this meeting will be our last.’
Lena, departing for the west.
Sowol, leaving for the east.
Seeing each other again would prove difficult.
However, the wistfulness compelled Sowol to speak up as she stood.
“…I pray we may meet again someday.”
“M-me too.”
With bright smiles, the two beauties bid each other farewell, cherishing the memory of their encounter as they went their separate ways.
***
Becoming a sage was no easy task.
Many skills to master and many trying ordeals to overcome.
But I had no choice except to press onward despite the hardships.
One day, in the midst of my intense studies as an acolyte of the Sage Tower, after I had sent letters to Sowol and Lena, someone came to see me.
A fellow acolyte with heavy dark circles under his exhausted eyes, too tired to hide his fatigue, handed me a mission brief.
“Acolyte Lee Hyun. A new task for you.”
“Ah, let’s see.”
The mission entailed exorcising a demon possessing a young girl in collaboration with an outside agent. The reward – a voucher waiving three assignments.
A waiver for three whole assignments? How could I resist?
I had to do it, no question.
“You are to rendezvous with the external personnel in Toilrot Village.”
“No other support?”
“None.”
Meaning I had to go alone.
It didn’t concern me much. Combining my inherent abilities with the skills and power I gained in the Sage Tower, dealing with a single demon, one merely possessing a host, should prove quite simple.
Accepting the task, I departed Hyunin’s Tower and went to Toilrot Village in the central continent.
Thanks to the Tower’s spatial translocation device, reaching Toilrot didn’t take long.
Upon arriving at the village entrance, I immediately headed to the designated meeting spot – the local pub.
There I saw them.
“Oh? You are…”
“Hm? Are you the agent sent by the Sage Tower?”
A hulking man with a thick beard and a blonde girl.
I immediately recognized the red-haired man in the worn combat uniform and knuckle guards.
Legrance Latrevor, the King of Fists. One who had reached the apex of martial arts.
“Uncle! Uncle! Who is this mister?”
And I knew the identity of the golden-haired, green-eyed girl with the lovely smile beside him.
“Introduce yourself. This is my niece, Arisa Latrevor.”
One of the main characters of Ragnarok.
A key figure in the route I had to pursue smiled brightly at me.