“Why do you look so dusty?” Ethan asked, confused, as he offered Frieren the breakfast he bought on his way back from his morning training.
“Thank you,” Frieren replied honestly, then slumped onto the table weakly.
“…
The magic shop wouldn’t sell me a spellbook.” “Huh?
Why not?” Why wouldn’t they do business when it practically walked in the door?
“I think I know what’s going on,” Frieren sighed deeply, her expression calming.
“It’s probably because that old woman showed up.” Ethan hesitated, having a minor personal grievance about this.
Yesterday, they had discussed the friction between the Continental Magic Association and the Magic Empire, and Serie, the president of the Continental Magic Association and one of the three great mages still alive today, had become Frieren’s main topic of introduction.
Simply put, Serie and Frieren’s magical philosophies clashed, almost to a point of being incompatible.
If they weren’t discussing magic, they could chat for a bit, but as soon as magic came up, they’d usually part ways after a few words.
Frieren inherited Flamme’s will, wanting to promote magic, an art that could create miracles, and pass it down for thousands of years.
Serie, on the other hand, just wanted to blow things up.
Serie: Magic is POWER!
However, the two weren’t truly enemies.
Serie would throw a wrench in Frieren’s plans in non-critical areas, and Frieren, whenever she had the chance, would use Flamme’s magical ideas to annoy Serie.
Serie, being a tsundere about such things, would never admit to caring about her students and would end up furious in her heart every time Frieren got under her skin.
It could only be said that these two were truly interesting, a peculiar way of interaction between long-lived beings.
The magic shops in the capital could hardly escape Serie’s influence, and expelling Frieren was just another part of their peculiar relationship.
“But it’s good that Serie will be leaving tomorrow, so we still have time.” “Huh?
Master, you’re not planning to leave the capital?” Ethan had thought Frieren would teach him while traveling, as it was both fun and educational, and he could also experience the world’s culture and customs, which would make his time in this world worthwhile.
“Why would I leave?” Frieren asked expressionlessly.
“I can’t just travel around with you until you become a 5th class mage.” Oh.
“Although you’ve made good progress on the warrior path, you ultimately need to walk the path of a mage.
I won’t allow you to die in front of me before you have sufficient self-protection.” Frieren’s tone was calm, but Ethan could hear the unquestionable firmness in it.
Alright, you’re the master, you get to decide.
Ethan found it rather strange.
He thought he wouldn’t see Übel for a long time, but unexpectedly, he would be staying somewhere so close to her.
The key point was, he had no idea how long “a while” would be.
Without a structured beginning to Frieren’s tutelage, he had no idea when he would become a 5th class mage.
Ethan was completely clueless about that.
“Also,” Frieren added suddenly as Ethan was pondering his future, “my remaining travel funds can only last for another week.” ???
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Ethan looked up at the ceiling.
It seemed he would have to find a way to make money.
First, he’d start by taking on quests at the Adventurer’s Guild.
However, in less than three days, he realized that even as an adventurer, the income from the quests he could take with his current adventurer level was barely enough to cover his expenses, let alone generate any surplus.
He’d only be able to break even once his adventurer level was higher and he could take on more difficult quests.
The inns in the capital were outrageously expensive.
Especially Frieren, this B…
no, this lazy mage, she barely worked.
When she wasn’t teaching Ethan magic, she was usually studying spellbooks.
Any money she had would be spent on buying all sorts of spellbooks or magical artifacts, even if they were useless.
Thus, before the travel funds lasted even five days, they were forced to sleep on the streets.
Wow, truly incredible.
The members of the hero’s party that saved the world, a powerful mage in her prime, could only sleep under a bridge with a thin blanket.
Ethan steeled himself.
Since they couldn’t stay in the city, he decided to move outside the capital.
He found a high point in the suburbs and started building a wooden house.
With Frieren, a mage, there, construction was incredibly fast.
In just two days, they successfully had a small home near the capital.
“Oh ho, Ethan, you can actually make something decent when you try,” Frieren seemed quite pleased with the wooden house, perhaps because Ethan had also built a personal room for her.
Of course, she believed it wasn’t her fault that the money ran out so quickly.
“However, there are some troublesome creatures outside the capital, so…” Frieren floated up, her masterful flying magic making her look like a descending goddess of salvation.
She twirled her staff in the air, and a transparent magic barrier enveloped the small wooden house.
“This is ‘Magic to Repel Monsters and Wild Animals.’ It’s very practical, you can take notes.
The principle is to make wild animals and monsters sense the presence of a predator, so they won’t come near,” Frieren said, glancing at Ethan.
“So, it’s essentially a form of psychological control over them?” Frieren nodded.
“Mental magic is especially effective against minor threats, saving a lot of trouble.
However, it’s difficult to achieve the same effect against mages of the same level.” This was their daily routine.
Whenever she had the chance, Frieren would take the opportunity to teach Ethan something.
Ethan, with his notebook, would record everything.
He’d write it down first, and if he couldn’t cast it, it meant the conditions weren’t met yet, and he could add to it later.
The following days were incredibly fulfilling for Ethan.
He could only fit in his warrior training in the few hours before Frieren woke up.
Once she was up, they would begin studying magic theory, and sometimes, he was even forced into one-on-one magic combat training with Frieren under limited conditions.
There was no question that Frieren was teaching him sincerely, and Ethan would not betray Frieren’s trust, pouring all his effort into memorizing the spells in his notes.
Generally, five days a week were spent on training.
On the remaining two days, after Frieren woke up, he had to help carry her to the capital while she was half-asleep.
What she did after that was none of Ethan’s business.
Fortunately, the small wooden house was not far from the capital.
With his warrior training, it would only take him about forty minutes to run at full speed.
This amount of time was just enough for Frieren to take a nap on his back.
As for Ethan himself, he had to work to earn money.
After all, Frieren wasn’t charging him for teaching him magic, so he had to cover their living expenses.
A year passed in this fulfilling routine.