After Emilya had left, Lucius got to work.
He started by separating the flowers into categories, then dried them, ground them, put them into the vial, and let them rest for a day.
The next day, he placed the Moon Flower into the vial.
It mixed with the other flowers, creating the sleeping potion.
He had gone through the process so many times that he could do it with his eyes closed.
He prepared several vials so he would have a supply.
Once his injuries had healed enough, it was time to leave.
It had been three days since he had seen Emilya or Melvis.
But when the two of them joined him, they looked exhausted.
— Wow, what did you two do to end up looking like that?
Lucius asked, teasing them.
— Shut up, will you?
We just trained a little too intensely, Emilya replied, leaning on her staff to support her exhausted body.
During those three days in the forest, they had trained to make up for their weaknesses.
Emilya had tried to improve her spells without success, which explained her exhaustion.
For three days, she had constantly tried to find a way to expand her arsenal of spells, but in vain.
She and Melvis had fought each other nonstop during that time.
Emilya had won the most duels, but when it came to ingenuity, Melvis beat her at every level.
She knew how to exploit Emilya’s weaknesses very well.
After spending so much time together, they knew each other by heart.
As they were about to leave the village, Emilya once again asked Lucius to give her back her map, telling him that this was the last time she would ask.
She said it in a threatening tone.
The boy immediately complied, shivers running down his spine.
She snatched the map from his hands and put it back in her bag.
After they had already left the village, Lucius asked where they were heading first.
— When we were in the forest, I talked a little with the witch, and she told me quite a few things, including about an abandoned place in the academy that I didn’t know existed.
So we’re going to the academy of mages where I trained, Emilya said.
— How do you know it’s the same academy?
Lucius asked.
— Even though there are several warrior academies, there is only one academy for mages, Emilya replied.
— How come there are so few of you?
Lucius asked.
— People who fully awaken their magic are one in ten thousand.
So naturally, there is only one academy with so few people who fully awaken their magic, she replied.
— Fully awaken?
Emilya was exasperated.
She asked him if they had taught him nothing at the warrior academy.
He shook his head.
She sighed.
All muscles, no brains, she thought.
— Well, there are individuals who fully awaken their magic and become mages, and there are those who can manifest magic.
But that doesn’t mean they will become mages, so they become fighters instead.
— Ah, I get it.
So there are people who have a lot of magic and people who have less.
Those who have the most go to the academy to become mages, and the others become fighters.
Am I right?
he asked, looking for confirmation from Emilya.
— Yes, she calmly replied.
Lucius congratulated himself on being a genius.
Emilya looked at him in exasperation before turning her gaze toward Melvis.
Melvis looked back at her and shrugged, as if to say that she didn’t understand either.
They continued on their way, and night fell fairly quickly.
They set up camp, and then it was time for dinner.
Lucius had bought provisions in the village, but Emilya and Melvis, having no money left, had eaten nothing for three days except for the few fruits the forest had provided.
Seeing Lucius eating his fill, Emilya couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous.
Suddenly, noticing that they weren’t eating, he asked them if they weren’t hungry.
They both said no.
Suddenly, Emilya’s stomach growled.
Melvis and Lucius turned toward her with surprised expressions.
She looked back at them and, rather than hiding her embarrassment, said: — You’ve never heard a stomach growl before?
Why are you looking at me like that?
Suddenly, Lucius burst out laughing and couldn’t stop.
Embarrassed by the situation, Emilya turned her back to him as if sulking.
Then Lucius held out a piece of bread and some cheese.
— Here, you can have it.
Emilya turned slightly toward him and was about to refuse, but when she heard her stomach growl louder and louder, as if warning her not to refuse the food being offered, she reached out and politely thanked him.
It was the second time she had thanked him, and at that moment, he felt incredibly happy.
He offered Melvis some food as well, but she continued to refuse.
So Emilya split the piece of bread Lucius had given her in half, and Melvis accepted it.
He felt a little embarrassed about being rejected, but quickly forgot about it and finished eating.
Then the three of them went to sleep.
As usual, Emilya couldn’t fall asleep.
She got up, ready to go train, when Lucius appeared behind her.
She hadn’t noticed him at first, and when she turned around, he blew some of the sleeping potion he had prepared that morning toward her.
— Again?!
Emilya asked.
— Don’t worry, this time it’s not because I want to take something from you.
Sweet dreams, he said with a smile.
Not prepared for what was happening, her body couldn’t resist.
As she began to fall, Lucius caught her and watched her for a moment.
Just as he was about to place his hand on her cheek, Melvis interrupted him and asked what he was doing.
He had his back to her, and suddenly she saw Emilya unconscious in his arms.
She snatched her mistress away from him and got into a fighting stance, ready to fight him.
— What did you do to her?
Melvis asked furiously.
— Don’t worry, I just gave her some sleeping potion so she could finally get some peaceful sleep.
Looking at Emilya, he saw that she was simply asleep.
Melvis lowered her guard slightly, and he reassured her by saying that he would take Emilya back to where she had been sleeping.
Melvis lowered her weapons, took Emilya into her arms, and went back to sleep with her.
The next day, Lucius and Melvis woke up, but Emilya didn’t.
She didn’t wake up at all, even when Melvis shook her.
She then turned toward the culprit and attacked him, but he told her to calm down.
It was normal for Emilya not to wake up after going so long without sleep.
Her body could finally rest, so it was normal for her sleep to last longer.
She calmed down, because between the two of them, he was the expert.
She put away her weapons and began taking down their camp.
She wasn’t happy about it, but she had to trust Lucius.
— I’m warning you.
At the slightest mistake, I’ll kill you, no matter what it costs me, she told him with a furious look.
— Such hostility, Lucius replied.
— Miss Emilya may have forgiven you, but I won’t.
— I’m not asking you to, he replied.
With that, she finished gathering her belongings and Emilya’s, then carried Emilya on her back as they continued on their way.
After two hours, Emilya still hadn’t woken up, and Melvis was beginning to get tired from carrying her.
Lucius offered to help carry her, but she refused.
The two continued like this, but an hour later, Melvis suggested taking a break.
She was tired and slightly sweating.
Lucius offered her some water, but she refused, not wanting to accept anything from him.
Then he told her that the water hadn’t come from him, but from the stream he had spotted along the way.
She looked at him for a moment and finally accepted.
After their break, they continued on their way in silence, and things remained like that until evening.
They found a place to rest and fell asleep without saying a word.
I hope she wakes up soon, Lucius thought before closing his eyes.
The second day was the same.
They traveled a certain distance and, once night fell, each of them slept separately.
Melvis wouldn’t let Lucius get anywhere near Emilya, so he had no way of knowing when she would wake up.
He could only hope that she would wake up soon, otherwise Melvis might very well stab him in his sleep.
On the third day, they were in the forest, but there was a city not far away.
They stopped a little before reaching it to take a short break.
As Melvis fell asleep from exhaustion, Emilya woke up with a start a few moments later.
She wondered where she was and what she was doing.
Just as she was about to wake Melvis, a hand covered her mouth.
Instinctively, she reached for her dagger, but the individual stopped her hand before she could even draw it.
Who is this?
Emilya wondered.
— Shh!
Don’t worry, it’s me, Lucius whispered.
He released Emilya once he had confirmed her identity.
She sighed and asked him why he had done that.
— You wouldn’t want to wake your servant, who stayed awake and watched over you for three days while waiting for you to wake up, would you?
— Three days?
Emilya asked, intrigued.
— Yes.
You’ve been asleep for three days.
Realizing this, she didn’t disturb Melvis while she slept and placed her cape over her.
Then she took Lucius aside and asked him countless questions about what had happened while she was asleep.
He gave her a summary, and just as she had barely woken up, Melvis threw herself into Emilya’s arms.
Having been worried about seeing her sleep for so long, but realizing that it had ultimately been good for her, Emilya felt more energetic than usual.
She then decided to go into town to find a vehicle and head to the capital.
When they arrived in the city, it was bustling and full of excitement, as if a festival were taking place.
Slightly intrigued, Emilya asked a woman what they were celebrating.
The woman replied that there was a fighting tournament taking place in the center of the city, with a reward of 2,000 gold coins for whoever defeated the champion, and that people from all over had come to participate.
She thanked the woman.
— We don’t have time to participate in events like this.
We don’t have time, Melvis said.
— We’re participating!
Emilya and Lucius said at the same time, their eyes sparkling with excitement.