Chapter 230 The Wandering Magician
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In the eastern part of the Gradigium Empire, there existed a village called Froylen, with a population of only around 50 people. It was a small village where Lanza, Seira, and Yuru, the 3 pioneers, called home.
Now, it was the first week of Flame Star, which would be equivalent to early July in the real world. As the villagers worked in the fields, they wore light, comfortable clothing, sweating profusely under the scorching sun.
In this village of Froylen, a lone traveler had arrived.
”I’ve arrived… The problem is whether I can trade for food or not, but it seems like there’s no general store around.”
The woman was a traveling magician, and since her food supply was running low, she had stopped by Froylen to buy some provisions.
In the midst of this sweltering heat, she wore a black robe that covered her entire body, and a wide-brimmed black hat that gave off a strong mage vibe. Her appearance stood out starkly in this quiet, rural village.
”Hey, miss!”
”What is it?”
”You’re that mage who came to our village around last year’s Ice Star, aren’t you? Ah, it’s so nostalgic!”
”…?”
The one who called out to her was a middle-aged woman with a plump figure, but the magician she was talking to seemed to have no memory of her whatsoever, tilting her head in confusion.
”Weren’t you going to the kingdom or something? Did you finish your business and come back?”
”Uh, yeah… I guess so.”
”Ah, good! I’m glad you returned safely. I was worried since I heard the kingdom and the Theocracy were in a state of turmoil.”
The magician had no recollection of the middle-aged woman, but since she wasn’t interested in unnecessary things, she didn’t bother to remember. The magician, who didn’t trust her own memories, concluded that she must have simply forgotten their encounter and decided to play along.
”Well, it wasn’t as chaotic as the rumors said. At least, the people’s daily lives didn’t change much, and while there were certainly many stories about bandits, they weren’t a threat to me.”
”Ah, that’s reassuring. So, what brings you to a village like this? Did you come to check on those 3 people?”
”Those 3 people?”
”Look, aren’t they the three who begged you to teach them a magic?”
”Me, teach a magic… ah…”
At that moment, the female magician recalled how she had been stuck in some village for a few days last year because the city roads were unusable due to Ice Star, the harsh snowfall.
(That village was probably this one, and I think there were some annoying kids who kept asking me to teach them magic…)
Even though she remembered, the number of kids was vague, and it seemed like a trivial memory to her.
”No, this time I just came to ask for food, not to bother you. I just happened to pass by and thought I’d drop in.”
”Is that so? Well, if that’s the case, it’s fine… We don’t have much food that can be preserved, especially during this time of year, but if you’re willing, I can spare some.”
”Thank you very much.”
”Then, please come with me to my house.”
As the magician walked with the middle-aged woman to her home, she wouldn’t stop talking. Just before they were about to divide the food, the magician couldn’t ignore her anymore, so she nodded politely while following her into her house.
The woman immediately went to the kitchen to check the food and made a difficult face.
”Hmm, what can we do? As I said earlier, we do have food, but it’s not the kind that can be stored for a long time… We did stock up on dried goods when Ice Star was approaching, but… Well, we do have potatoes, though…”
”Root vegetables are fine too, but you don’t have to worry about that. With ice magic, you can preserve them.”
”Oh, really? Magic is convenient, isn’t it?”
”Let’s see if you can sell some of your vegetables with this.”
Saying so, the magician took out 5 silver coins from her pocket and placed them on the middle-aged woman’s hand.
”Wait, is this okay?”
”Of course, it’s only natural to give you this much for the valuable food.”
”It’s not like our village is struggling to get by, unlike in the past…”
The woman said, but didn’t push the coins back and instead grasped them tightly, starting to select the food to give to the magician.
”Is meat okay too? We just got some fresh meat from a hunter this morning.”
”Meat is fine too; with magic, I can freeze it and it’ll last for about 4 weeks.”
”Whoa, having that much at this time is more than enough, isn’t it? But magic is really convenient, isn’t it? I mean, for people like us who aren’t scholars, magic seemed like something scary and unpredictable, but for people with knowledge, it’s different, right?”
”Magic isn’t inherently dangerous. Magic is like a tool, just like a knife. If you use a knife to cook, it’s a convenient tool, but if you use it to hurt someone, it becomes a deadly weapon. It’s all about how you use it.”
”That’s true, isn’t it? Our lives have really improved thanks to magic. For example, that fertilizer created by the eldest son of the Atmiras family, or that ‘Box’ thingy…”
Neil’s first developed item, the Item Box, used spatial magic and required a warehouse to use, making it inaccessible to commoners who didn’t have storage space.
However, even though it didn’t directly affect them, the impact of the Item Box on the commoners’ lives was enormous.
With the Item Box, all sorts of goods started moving around domestically and internationally, and even goods that couldn’t be sold locally became valuable when sent to distant places. As a result, goods that were previously worthless gained value as commodities, and traveling merchants started buying them from villages, making the villages prosper.
And as for the alchemy fertilizer, most farmers are commoners, so it’s obvious how much it has impacted their lives.
”It’s amazing how magic can change our lives like this, isn’t it? People with knowledge are really incredible…”
”…Alchemy fertilizer uses alchemy, not magic.”
The magician replied to the middle-aged woman who was murmuring in amazement, with a hint of irritation in her voice.
”Oh, is that so? I didn’t know that. I thought it was magic because the vegetables grew so well, and I was really surprised.”
”Yes, there are some overlapping parts, but alchemy and magic are fundamentally different fields of study. There are many people who dislike it when they’re confused, so be careful.”
”Did I maybe make you angry?”
”You wouldn’t understand the difference between magic and alchemy, would you? And as for ‘that’… I don’t really care.”
When she got frustrated that ordinary people couldn’t understand, she got a simple answer that they didn’t learn it, which just made her more annoyed.
When it comes to older people, even if they’re paying, they don’t even share their food, and yet they expect to be treated with respect. It’s not like she’s the kind of person who gets angry over something like that.
”Don’t give up just because you don’t have an education, and try to learn simple magic. That way, you can save on crystal costs, and you won’t have to deal with those greedy crystal merchants who only care about money.”
”Hahaha! I heard that magicians and crystal merchants don’t get along!”
”Of course not! They sell magic power from people who can’t use magic, store it in crystals, and then sell it back to those people at an exorbitant price. There’s nothing to like about that.”
”Still, we can easily receive the blessings of magic, and we’re not dissatisfied… but when those kids come back from the frontier settlement, they’ll teach people here how to use magic to start a fire or something.”
”‘Frontier settlement’…?”
The magician reacts to the word “frontier settlement” that the middle-aged woman let slip.
”Ah, I was talking about those 3 people, but they’re currently at the frontier settlement.”
”You mean the frontier settlement, not the kingdom, but the empire’s?”
”That’s right. What kind of parent would send their child, who’s just become an adult, to a distant foreign land? The families of those 3 people were strongly opposed to sending them to the empire’s frontier, but it seems they’re doing well over there. I heard that they even got to receive magic lessons directly from the eldest son of the Atmiras family.”
”――――.”
The magician’s movement comes to a sudden halt, as if accompanied by a “thud” sound effect.
Anyone could tell that something was off from her obvious attitude, but the middle-aged woman choosing food didn’t notice the magician’s change.
”Hmm, it’s bad that you only get one kind of meat and three kinds of vegetables… Okay, I’ll just go around the neighborhood and gather some food!”
Saying that, the middle-aged woman takes a burlap sack and leaves the house without waiting for the magician’s response.
The remaining magician, despite the middle-aged woman suddenly leaving the house, didn’t seem to care and was still immersed in her own world.
”Neil Atmiras… Amelia Pordhale’s disciple…”
The magician’s expression, muttering Neil’s name, was filled with intense anger and disgust.
Why this magician had such a face, only the magician herself knew.
Until the female homeowner, carrying a bulging sack of provisions on her back, realized she would continue her journey, the magician’s woman continued to harbor negative emotions.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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