Chapter 17
Kaian screamed with his cheek crushed against the front window.
"WHOA! WHOOOOA! AAAAAAAH!"
His feet floated into the air.
Defying gravity should have been an incredible experience.
Unfortunately, Kaian could feel nothing but terror.
At the bottom of the cliff Fulgor was racing down, there was an extremely solid-looking floor.
"AAAAAH! THE GROUND! THE GROUND! WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!"
"Not a chance."
Eldarin's calm voice was enough to make anyone explode with frustration.
Then...
SCREEEEEECH!
Fulgor suddenly slammed on the brakes with practiced ease.
And then it gently settled onto the ground.
Click.
The door smoothly opened by itself.
"..."
Kaian sat there in a daze.
His soul looked as if it had left his body.
Amber nervously watched him.
But Fulgor's owner, Eldarin, did not care in the slightest.
She hopped out of the carriage, stroked its body, and spoke with deep satisfaction.
"Fulgor. You're the best."
Kaian's eyes slowly turned toward Eldarin.
Ah... I can feel it.
Murderous intent rising inside me.
The inferno in my heart is burning hotter than ever...!
Grinding his teeth, he said,
"Amber."
"I think today's training is going to be very fiery."
[Whoa... easy...]
Fulgor had brought them into a huge cavern inside the Silver-White Vein.
Perhaps still excited from the drive, Eldarin spoke in a slightly livelier voice than usual.
"Do you see the marks on the wall over there?"
"It's so dark I can't even see Eldarin's horns."
Kaian answered irritably.
The intelligent Fulgor immediately shone a light on the wall.
Click!
A strange cliff face appeared.
It looked as though hundreds of silver lightning bolts had been frozen inside the stone.
Kaian slowly realized what those streaks really were.
His eyes widened.
"Don't tell me all of that is..."
"Silver?"
"Why else would this place be called the Silver-White Vein?"
"Good grief..."
With this much silver, there seemed to be no reason for Eldarin to make money through farming at all.
But Kaian was slowly beginning to understand that Eldarin probably did not farm only for money.
So he did not make any unnecessary comments.
He merely stared in amazement.
"Whoa... All of that is... money..."
"..."
Eldarin frowned.
Then she explained what he had to do.
"From now on, you're going to use the inferno inside you to melt that wall."
"The silver will melt, flow down into the underground water below, and naturally cool there."
Sure enough, a pool of underground water lay before them like a small lake.
Kaian slowly approached it and peered down.
Perhaps because the cavern was so dark, or perhaps because the lake was extremely deep, he could not see the bottom.
Hmm. Is it really cold?
Kaian reached one hand toward the water.
"Do not put your hand in there."
...How did she know?
Kaian quickly pulled his hand back.
Then, copying Eldarin, he put both hands behind his back and pretended he had never planned to touch anything.
Eldarin pressed two fingers against her temple and shook her head.
"This is why children..."
As if trying to distract him, she pulled a small glass bottle from her bag.
"Drink this first."
"It's medicine made from the Flame Veil you brought back."
"It will prevent the inferno from damaging your inner world any further."
Kaian immediately snatched the bottle.
Something resembling magma flowed inside the red liquid, just like the glowing veins of Flame Veil leaves.
"Hmm..."
The medicine did not exactly look comforting.
Kaian carefully asked,
"...Is it hot when you drink it?"
"If a medicine meant to be swallowed were burning hot, how would you drink it?"
"Then is it spicy? I'm bad with spicy food."
"...Give up your prejudice that everything red is spicy."
Eldarin stared at him.
"Are tomatoes spicy?"
"Huh? Does it taste like tomato?"
"..."
"Any side effects?"
"Ask one more question and I'll pour it directly down your throat."
Kaian flinched and stepped backward.
For some reason, Eldarin's personality seemed to be getting worse every day.
Although, considering she built Fulgor, maybe she was always like this...
Either way, he had no choice but to drink it.
Kaian swallowed nervously and opened the bottle.
Unfortunately, it did not smell like tomato.
Sniff, sniff.
It smells sweet and sour, though.
He was still nervous.
But...
Eldarin wouldn't give me something harmful now... probably.
Gathering his courage, Kaian drank the entire bottle in one go.
Gulp! Gulp!
Thankfully, it was neither hot nor spicy.
Instead...
"It's cool?"
Kaian's eyes widened.
"You should never judge something only by its appearance."
Kaian nodded at Eldarin's lesson.
She was right.
The medicine looked like swirling red lava, yet it felt cool inside his body.
It even tasted good.
Kaian smacked his lips, carefully tasting what remained.
Sweet.
Sour.
Fresh.
With a slightly bitter finish.
"Pomegranate!"
"You have a surprisingly sensitive tongue."
But the truly amazing thing happened next.
The heat that had constantly remained around Kaian's heart began to settle.
"...!"
Shhhhh...
A cool energy from the medicine spread through his entire body.
It even soothed the heat around Kaian's left wrist before slowly disappearing.
Kaian laughed in amazement.
"Wow! Cobalt Poultice didn't do anything no matter how much I rubbed on myself."
"The harder an ingredient is to obtain, the more powerful its effects tend to be."
Eldarin added proudly,
"Of course, the correct recipe and the skill of the person preparing it are equally important."
This time, even Kaian had to admit it.
He bowed politely, using formal speech in a way completely unlike himself.
"Naturally. I cannot help but admire my teacher's magnificent skill. Thank you very much!"
"...Disgusting. Speak normally."
"Yes! Hehe."
Kaian tapped his chest.
"So now I'm okay even with the inferno inside me?"
Eldarin shook her head immediately.
"If it were that simple, there would have been no reason to come all the way to the Silver-White Vein."
She looked at him seriously.
"Do not forget. The inferno must be removed."
"And one dose of Flame Veil is nowhere near enough to properly affect your inner world."
"You'll have to take it for another six years."
"W-W-WHAT?! Six years?!"
Flame Veil bloomed only once each year.
At the end of September.
In other words...
Taking it for six years meant Kaian would be stuck in Eldargrove for that entire time.
And he would have to visit the Ash-Covered Land at least six more times.
Kaian shuddered just imagining it.
Eldarin skillfully persuaded him.
"If you consistently take Flame Veil for six years, your inner world will eventually become resistant enough that even another inferno will not destroy it."
"Think of it as buying a lifetime of safety with only six years."
Kaian's ears practically twitched.
He did not know whether the effect would really last all six hundred years of his planned lifespan.
But...
If it wears off, Eldarin can just make more for me, right?
She's definitely a long-lived race.
After completing his calculations, Kaian finally smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Teacher! I will never forget this kindness!"
"Stop getting excited. At most, you'll only gain resistance against the power of fire."
Kaian thought that was more than enough.
Eldarin did not know this, but ever since Kaian was three years old, people had told him he had a fiery temper despite being so small.
He was fiercely competitive.
He could never tolerate unfairness.
And he constantly talked about heroes and adventures while wandering into dangerous places.
Even challenging his older brothers to fights he could never win had been another result of that personality.
So Kaian had always vaguely believed that if his life ever became horribly complicated...
It would probably be because of his fiery temper.
...I was almost certain.
Some feelings settled inside the soul long before a person had enough words to explain them.
Kaian's bad feeling about his own temper was one of those things.
And now she's giving me such an incredible safety measure!
He felt one step closer to his dream of a long and healthy life.
Six years is nothing!
Compared to six hundred years, it'll pass in an instant!
Kaian was smiling happily at his own imagination when Eldarin grabbed the back of his neck.
"Stop daydreaming and sit down."
"You've taken the Flame Veil. Now we need to deal with the urgent problem."
Kaian was dragged along the ground.
"You mean removing the inferno inside me?"
"You said I have to melt that silver vein across from us, right?"
"Hah. You always look absent-minded, yet your memory is strangely good."
"Of course."
Kaian grinned.
"I listen carefully when my teacher speaks."
Then he tilted his head.
"But how do I get the inferno out?"
"I don't know how to use magic."
Eldarin pushed him down into a sitting position.
"Of course you don't."
"Right now, you can't even perceive mana."
"Do you know why?"
"Of course I..."
Kaian stopped.
Then he immediately straightened his posture.
"...do not. Why is that, Teacher?"
Eldarin frowned at his awkward politeness.
"...Because you awakened your inner world unconsciously."
Kaian tilted his head.
His face clearly said he understood absolutely nothing.
As though she had expected that, Eldarin gestured toward Fulgor.
The clever carriage moved its light toward the nearby cave wall.
"I already knew you wouldn't understand just from hearing that."
Kaian frowned.
"Then explain it properly."
In truth, it was perfectly natural for Kaian to know very little about magic.
Mages in the Empire normally avoided reading books about magic before awakening their mana.
Instead, children were encouraged to read books about general knowledge.
History.
Geography.
Illustrated guides about plants and animals.
Imperial mages believed that seeing and learning as much as possible before studying magic increased the potential of one's inner world.
Perhaps because of that belief, using magic outside the home before the age of fifteen was forbidden.
Enrollment at a Magic Academy also began at fifteen.
Eldarin could not understand the logic at all.
Magic is like breathing.
Why deliberately delay something that should be understood and learned through instinct?
The tendency was especially strong among nobles.
Many noble children did not even undergo their official Awakening Ceremony until just before entering the Academy.
Eldarin knew this well.
She had even asked Kaian about the children's books he used to read.
Apparently, every section involving actual magical spells had been removed.
Considering how much information was deliberately kept from him, this child actually knows quite a lot.
It was probably thanks to his two older brothers, who had already undergone their Awakening Ceremonies and entered the Academy.
Children always learned far more from watching adults than adults realized.
Let's see how much he can understand once he's properly taught.
Eldarin raised one corner of her mouth.
"Very well."
"From now on, your teacher will give her foolish student a basic introduction to magical theory."
"Using magic without understanding the process once was enough."
"Everything you hear today, carve it directly into your head."
Kaian finally sat properly.
His eyes shone with excitement.
Eldarin smiled.
"This is a special lecture from an Ancient Race."
"Pay attention."
