How to Live as a Hero in a Magical World (53)
Please Let Me Leave Home!
By the time Kaian rode the Flare Horse back to Eldergrove, the morning farm work was already in full swing.
Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
The farming tools enchanted by Kaian were enthusiastically working the fields.
But Eldarin was nowhere to be seen.
Seriously?
She kept sending [Mind Link] until just a little while ago. Where did she go now?
Because of those constant [Mind Link] attempts, one side of Kaian's head had begun throbbing as he approached Eldergrove.
He could've simply accepted the link and listened to Eldarin nag him for a while.
Instead...
Kaian had chosen to ignore it and return to Eldergrove in person.
She's getting more and more overprotective.
Eldarin disliked Kaian working as an escort.
She couldn't outright stop him because she'd told him to earn his own tuition.
But she clearly hated the very idea of him leaving Eldergrove.
If you think you'll return late, contact me.
If you absolutely must stay out overnight... contact me about that too.
Try not to miss meals.
And you must not neglect the field work.
But yesterday...
Kaian had forgotten to contact Eldarin.
He had missed meals.
He hadn't joined tea time.
He'd stayed out overnight.
And he'd even eaten breakfast somewhere else.
Kaian could clearly imagine Eldarin's angry face while she repeatedly tried to connect through [Mind Link].
What's the problem anyway?
The farming tools are doing all the work she told me to do.
For some reason...
Eldarin seemed even more annoyed when Kaian completed farm work with magic than when he skipped it entirely.
Hmph.
Well, I'm annoyed too.
Kaian couldn't understand why Eldarin hated his escort work so much.
It was only escort work inside Vernas Forest.
Even potentially dangerous jobs were filtered out by Dominic before reaching him.
Does she really trust me that little...?
Whenever that thought appeared...
Kaian felt hurt.
While he was quietly sulking, the earth spirits approached.
Flutter-flutter.
They were always the first ones to greet him whenever he returned to Eldergrove.
"Hey. Did everyone behave while I was gone?"
"Peep! Peep!"
After happily greeting him, the earth spirits became curious about the Flare Horse.
Kaian gently stroked the horse's neck.
It had worked hard all morning.
"He's a new friend."
Kaian smiled.
"You've never seen a horse around here before, right?"
"Peep! Peep!"
Flutter.
With their natural friendliness, the earth spirits quickly began communicating with the horse.
The Flare Horse didn't seem bothered.
It calmly lowered its head toward them.
I thought the spell was lasting surprisingly long.
I didn't expect it to actually become a magical beast.
It was fascinating.
Most magic naturally disappeared unless the caster continuously supplied mana.
The magic Kaian had placed on the temporary shelter had long since vanished.
The steel fortress had already returned to being an ordinary cabin.
But the Flare Horse never returned to normal.
I have read about something like this.
When the caster's mana and the target's mana had excellent compatibility...
Sometimes magic wasn't released.
Instead, the target absorbed it.
But this was Kaian's first time seeing it happen personally.
Somehow... this makes me much happier than I expected.
Only then did some of Kaian's gloomy mood disappear.
He smiled at the horse.
"You're the first horse ever to officially enter Eldergrove."
"You can be proud of that."
"Neeeeigh...!"
Kaian had liked the horse from the moment they first met.
It was gentle and affectionate.
Perhaps Kaian's fondness had influenced the magic as well.
"Oh, right."
"There's someone else around here with the fire attribute, just like you."
Kaian grinned.
"I'm sure you'll like him."
"Peep! Peep!"
The earth spirits nodded enthusiastically.
Perhaps the one being discussed had somehow heard them.
The sound of charging hooves approached Kaian without hesitation.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
"GWEEEEEEEK!"
Kaian burst into a huge smile.
"Good grief."
"You're more like a tiger than a boar."
He jumped down from the Flare Horse.
Then he opened his arms and caught Piggy as the boar charged into him.
Kaian had to cast [Enhance] over his entire body and brace himself firmly to manage it.
He'd only done that because he worried the Flare Horse might be frightened.
But the horse didn't panic or become defensive at all.
It remained completely calm.
"Gweek! Gweeeeng...!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Kaian laughed.
"Hyung came back a little late this time."
Piggy rubbed its snout all over Kaian's face.
"Hahaha! That tickles."
"Oh, right."
Kaian pointed toward the horse.
"Hyung brought a new friend."
"He's a fire type just like you, but he has blue flames."
"Interesting, right?"
"You two have to get along, okay?"
"Gweeng?"
Piggy calmly walked once around the Flare Horse.
Then he gestured with his head as if telling it to follow.
Instead of immediately moving, the horse looked at Kaian.
"Looks like he wants to show you around."
Kaian nodded.
"Go ahead."
Only then did the Flare Horse calmly follow Piggy.
Clop. Clop.
He's smarter than I expected...
Kaian thought he should choose a name soon.
Then a familiar voice echoed inside his head.
[Kaian! Welcome back!]
It was as clear as morning dew hanging from leaves.
Ember.
Kaian used [Enhance] on his legs and leaped upward.
He landed in front of the door where Ember was standing.
Thump.
"I'm back!"
Ember immediately covered her nose in surprise.
[Kaian! What is that smell?]
[You smell incredibly strongly of flowers.]
"Ugh?! Really?"
Kaian stared at himself.
"You can still smell it?"
Gretel had also said he smelled like Madam's lilac perfume.
But Kaian couldn't smell anything no matter how hard he sniffed.
So he'd assumed Gretel simply had an unusually good nose.
Or that she was teasing him.
"Weird."
"I definitely bathed and changed clothes..."
Ember coughed.
[Cough. Think carefully.]
[Did you crush flowers and rub them all over your body or something?]
Kaian grimaced.
"Do you think Eldarin's going to hate this?"
Ember smiled like the answer should've been obvious.
[You ignored her messages again, didn't you?]
[And you didn't tell her anything beforehand.]
Kaian scratched his head.
A habit that appeared whenever he felt uncomfortable.
"I mean..."
"It's not like I wasn't coming back."
"It was only one or two days."
[But a promise is still a promise.]
Ember crossed her arms.
[And I was waiting too this time.]
[I made a beautiful sweet potato cake before dawn.]
She looked disappointed.
[I didn't think you'd come back this late!]
Kaian's expression finally showed guilt.
"Ah..."
"I'm sorry."
Ember sighed helplessly and pushed him toward the house.
[All right, all right. Go inside.]
[Eldarin is waiting.]
"Where is she?"
[The Mirror Room.]
Ember answered.
[She spent all of last night sitting in front of the mirror too.]
Kaian's face immediately darkened.
That damned goat-horned teacher.
That meant she'd watched everything.
Then couldn't she just think, 'Oh, he must be busy,' and leave me alone?!
Seriously. What a ridiculous goat elf!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Kaian stomped up the stairs in anger.
Ember called after him.
[Both of you better come to the lunchtime tea on time!]
[Otherwise, Piggy gets the sweet potato cake!]
Ember kept her head tilted upward, watching Kaian disappear toward the third-floor Mirror Room.
Once he was finally gone...
A silent sigh escaped her.
I really hope they talk calmly today.
Recently...
It would've been impossible to describe Kaian and Eldarin's relationship as good.
They were both acting cold toward each other.
But from Ember's perspective...
Their conflict was actually hotter than ever.
And she didn't believe either one was entirely at fault.
They're both clumsy.
In Ember's view, Kaian was going through adolescence.
He had become especially sensitive to every word spoken by Eldarin, his main guardian.
Haah. She's always said things like that, but lately it makes me strangely irritated.
Why does she have to be sarcastic about everything?
To avoid unnecessary conflict with Eldarin...
Kaian started spending more time outside.
He was at an age where he needed to establish his own identity.
From Ember's perspective, leaving the house wasn't necessarily a bad choice.
Even trees say social life is important.
Kaian is careful.
He won't cause some huge disaster.
He's steadily earning money.
And he's strong enough to protect himself.
But Eldarin couldn't accept Kaian's frequent outings.
He's a child who spent his whole life inside Eldergrove.
Yes, he's experienced tragedy.
But he still doesn't understand just how cruel and disgusting humans can become.
And now he wants to work through illegal exchanges...?
Bad influences spread in an instant!
Eldarin constantly worried that Kaian would experience the world and suffer another deep emotional wound.
But she never openly explained those feelings.
She simply showed her displeasure whenever he left.
Because of that...
Kaian's misunderstanding only deepened.
She doesn't trust me!
She taught me herself, and she still doesn't trust me!
At this rate, I'm sure she won't even let me go to the academy!
Meanwhile, Eldarin continued accumulating her own worry and hurt.
He doesn't even tell me what he's doing outside anymore.
He's staying out overnight more often.
He refuses to answer [Mind Link].
Haah... what in the world is that child doing out there...?
Caught between the two...
Ember had been having rather difficult days.
Even so...
She didn't entirely hate their conflict.
If they didn't care about each other...
The conflict would've never existed in the first place.
Still... I wish both of them would just be a little more honest.
Then suddenly...
A violent gust of wind struck the house.
WHOOOOOSH!
The windows along one wall shook violently.
RATTLE! RATTLE! RATTLE!
Ember hurried to the window and widened her eyes.
Kaian and Eldarin were already racing across the Golden Plains like streaks of light.
Apparently Eldarin had used her famous...
"Let's take a little walk."
Seriously, those two...!
When Eldarin said, "Let's take a little walk," she never meant an ordinary walk.
Eldergrove was sixty kilometers across.
Her words meant...
We'll race across the entire sixty-kilometer Eldergrove while using [Enhance]. Try to keep up if you can.
Ember hurried upstairs to the third-floor Mirror Room.
Just as expected...
The window was wide open.
They had obviously both launched themselves through it while competing against each other.
And near the entrance of the room...
There was a book that Eldarin appeared to have thrown.
Ember looked at the cover and pressed a hand against her forehead.
Oh, Eldarin...
Primal Instinct? Seriously? Why would you worry about something like that...?
⟪Primal Instinct⟫ was a book about a man who became blinded by instinct and temptation...
Then willingly walked into his own destruction.
Apparently...
Because Kaian had returned covered in a woman's perfume...
Eldarin had become convinced that he'd been seduced by some woman.
Ember imagined just how hard Eldarin must've tried to mock him.
She'd probably crossed her legs and stared at Kaian with the most arrogant expression possible.
She must've pushed every single button he has.
There was no way a fifteen-year-old boy would politely appreciate his teacher's refined sense of humor.
Which was probably why they'd ended up going on one of their special walks.
Ember sighed.
Maybe this method actually suits those two better.
She opened and secured every window on every floor.
That way, Kaian and Eldarin would have plenty of entrances when they came racing back.
Of course...
If they didn't return on time, neither of them was getting any sweet potato cake.
