The morning call that woke Flamme every day had already changed from the alarm clock to the chirping of the Stollenwercks in the courtyard.
A full year of meditation training had increased her mana reserves by more than a whole magnitude.
The various spells Link had taught her periodically during this time were also a massive help.
Frequent casting and repeated depletion were, after all, the most effective brute-force method for expanding mana capacity.
Not only was Flamme a genius, but what made her truly formidable was that she worked even harder than ordinary people.
Just as Flamme felt her mana was finally strong enough to take on that alarm clock that had tormented her for an entire year, she discovered something.
As long as she siphoned out the mana already stored inside it, it would naturally stop.
Yet for the past year, what she had been doing every morning was desperately pouring her own mana into it—that wasn’t “suppression” at all, but rather “charging” it.
Flamme looked at the copper alarm clock that had finally gone quiet before her, falling silent for a long time.
The problem had been solved so unexpectedly that she didn’t even know whether to feel happy or annoyed.
From then on, however, Flamme had gained precise control over her mana.
After a quick wash, Flamme gave a comfortable, deep stretch.
Today was her monthly rest day; there was no need for meditation, nor any need to practice spells in the courtyard over and over until her mana ran dry.
Standing by the window, she took a deep breath of the morning air, suddenly realizing a problem.
It was a rare chance to relax, yet she had no idea what to do.
Living in the Dragon Castle for so long, her routine had essentially been a straight line between three points: the front courtyard, her bedroom, and the dining hall.
And so, she decided to wander around this castle she wasn’t actually all that familiar with.
The corridor was quiet, save for the faint echoes of her footsteps on the stone floor.
Most of the room doors were tightly shut, but Flamme had no desire to open them.
Because Link never told her where she couldn’t go, it paradoxically left her with little interest in uninhabited rooms.
“Master has been staying in the study lately. I haven’t seen him come out for days.”
Spurred by curiosity, Flamme set aside her plan to explore the castle and switched to investigating her master.
With light steps, she made her way to the second floor.
At the end of the second floor, the study door stood ajar, a narrow sliver of light spilling out from the crack.
Flamme hurried closer, peeking inside through the gap.
Sure enough, Link was still there, bent over the desk writing something.
He was so absorbed that he hadn’t noticed her.
Still just a young girl, Flamme felt a impulse for mischief, intending to give her master a quick scare.
She used the gentlest force to nudge the door open, but as if receiving such delicate treatment for the very first time, the door strained against her with all its might, letting out a grating, ear-splitting creak.
“Flamme, come on in.”
Link wasn’t startled, nor did he look back.
He kept writing as if he had known all along that Flamme was behind the door.
“Master, how did you spot me?”
Having failed her prank before it even began, the girl slipped inside, feeling a bit guilty.
“I sensed your mana, of course.”
Remarking inwardly that Flamme had reached the age for playing pranks, Link let out a gratified smile.
A child being overly mature wasn’t entirely a good thing.
“Huh? But I can already control my mana properly! How did you catch me?”
“It was always a perfect stealth run.”
Mentioning the adventures of those years, Link’s tone overflowed with joy, and his tail hidden beneath his cloak couldn’t help but sway.
It was hard for Flamme to imagine Link pulling off stealth in his giant dragon form.
Would people really fail to notice him?
Seeing there was a story to hear, Flamme’s interest was piqued, and she leaned a little closer to Link.
Link pushed his manuscript aside and turned around.
Although he wanted to tell Flamme about those bygone days, now was not the right time.
Better to let your senior apprentice sister tell you in the future.
At the thought, he rubbed his throbbing temples.
Flamme took the opportunity to catch a glance at the manuscript Link was writing.
She only managed to make out something about Primary Methods of Resurrecting the Dead, while the rest remained unreadable.
“Isn’t today your rest day? Why come looking for me?”
“Well, mostly…”
Hearing her master ask, Flamme instantly put her hands behind her back, her foot tracing continuous circles on the floor behind her.
“Mostly… I came to see what magic books I can learn from.”
“What a well-behaved disciple.”
Though Link said this aloud, he had long seen right through her.
After all, how could a disciple who never lied match up against a master who occasionally told little fibs?
Link reached out and patted her head.
Ever since Serie had patted his head back then, Link had grown fond of the feeling.
He figured others would enjoy being patted too—at least judging by how much Flamme seemed to savor it, he wasn’t wrong.
“Since you’re so eager to learn, I’ll reward you with a lesson on suppressing mana tomorrow,” Link said with a beaming smile.
“Eh?”
As expected of her master, he could steer the conversation back to studying with utter ease.
Flamme pursed her lips, doing her best to keep her grief and indignation from spilling over.
After nodding in agreement, she turned to leave.
“Hold on.”
“What is it, Master?”
“You haven’t taken your book yet. Be sure to learn two spells by tomorrow—I’ll be testing you.”
Link gestured to the bookshelf beside him, indicating she could pick whatever she wanted, then turned away to hold back his laughter.
Clearly, teasing his disciple offered him a welcome relief from the tense atmosphere of studying magic.
Though it meant a bit of suffering for his good disciple.
“Just don’t touch that book in the corner. It won’t help your studies,” Link added.
Hearing that it wouldn’t help her studies, Flamme instantly perked up.
Won’t help my studies?
That’s great!
She hadn’t known which book to pick in the first place, but now she had a clear target.
“Alright, Master! I definitely won’t touch that book.”
At dusk, the daylight turned dim.
In the empty second-floor study, a tiny shadow quietly snuck in.
Magic to Silence Doors
A flash of light gleamed as Flamme pushed the door open, and it made no sound whatsoever.
“Master, your disciple is here to hand in her homework,” Flamme whispered to the vacant study.
“That was the first spell just now. Now for the second.”
She arrived at the corner of the bookshelf and located the book Link had mentioned earlier—the one that was useless for her studies.
Magic to Duplicate Objects
Another glow of magic flared from Flamme’s hand, perfectly duplicating the book without her even making physical contact with it.
With the copied book in hand, a sly smile broke out on the girl’s face.
Sure enough, when people do bad things, their potential is limitless and no effort is spared.
On a rest day meant for relaxation, Flamme had managed to spend half a day learning two spells she had never encountered before.
Slipping back into her room with complete satisfaction, she opened her prize for the night.
Dragon Chronicles—Also Known as Link’s Autobiography
“It’s actually Master’s autobiography?!”
Flamme’s interest deepened even further, and she hurriedly flipped open the page.
There on the title page, written in bold, stood: This book records only the most authentically existing history.
“Great, great, great! Then let me learn about that history!”
Lying on her stomach on the bed, Flamme slid her finger down line after line of the table of contents.
“Chapter 1: Elegy of the Dragons”
It was probably about how Master’s kin were wiped out by demons.
She decided to skip it first—it was far too heavy to read.
“Chapter 2: The Strongest Dragon Alive”
The corners of her mouth curled up.
Master’s skill at naming chapters was just like his skill at naming spells—utterly terrible.
“Chapter 3: Assemble! The Heroic Party of Four”
“Chapter 4: Subjugate! The Demon King!”
“Chapter 5: …”
“Chapter 30: The Three-Way War of Humans, Dragons, and Elves—Also Known as the Battle to Defend Dragon Castle”
Flamme decided to start reading from Chapter 3.
Impatiently flipping to that page, her eyes scanned across the opening introduction.
“This is a story that begins with a four-person party.”
“They were: [The Somewhat Honest Dwarf Vanguard], [The Somewhat Interesting Dragon Hero], [The Atheist Human Priest], and [The Idle Elf Mage].”
“Why does none of these four sound like a good person?”
She rolled over, pulling the blanket up to her chin, and flipped to the next page.
Unlike Flamme, who was engrossed in the heroic tale, Link had far more things to consider.
Research progress on Magic to Resurrect the Dead had hit a bottleneck, forcing Link to consider calling in outside help.
Only this time, the outside help would no longer be Serie.
After all, who wouldn’t have a friend or two after all these years?
Under cover of the night sky, a Stollenwerck departed from Dragon Castle, flying toward the far north—Ende.