She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man Vol. 6, page 1
Table of Contents
Color Gallery
Title Page
Table of Contents Page
Copyrights and Credits
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
EX
Newsletter
Chapter 1
SOUTHWEST OF THE STATION CITY SILVERSIDE, a seemingly endless mountain range loomed on the horizon over a vast, grassy expanse.
Though she had no idea how she’d been located, Mira had just received a letter from someone claiming to also be a Wise Man’s pupil…even though it had been delivered by their butler. The gist of the letter was that this person wanted to meet Mira, who also professed herself pupil of a Wise Man.
With great anticipation, Mira made her way to the abandoned garden where the meeting would occur. She didn’t know who this pupil could be, but if all went well, she might learn the whereabouts of one or more of the other Nine Wise Men.
She flew for nearly ten minutes, checking her map along the way. In the middle of a field, dotted with trees like day-old stubble on a man’s face, she spied a mansion that looked to be in a state of disrepair. Once the home of some feudal lord, it now contained only hints of its past glory. The abandoned garden lay behind the mansion.
Mira ordered Pegasus into a slow descent until she alighted in the clearing behind the mansion. After giving the anxious beast a reassuring pat, Mira took in her surroundings.
This enormous garden might’ve once been among the continent’s most gorgeous. Now, it was but a shadow of its former self. Weeds owned the place, even stretching their roots across the paved paths. In every sense, this was an abandoned space.
“Now, where are you?” Mira muttered as she took out the letter and read it again. But it offered no more specifics than “the abandoned garden.” Unfortunately, the years had done nothing to diminish the garden’s size, and it might take her twenty minutes to cross to the other side on foot.
The weeds and trees blocked her from seeing too far. But a stone amphitheater rose like a hill in the center of the garden, visible between the gaps in the trees.
“Pegasus, let us make for that hill.” Mira mounted once more as Pegasus neighed happily and covered the distance in a single bound.
Though the stone was decaying in a few places, nature had yet to reclaim the amphitheater, which was constructed of sturdier material than most other things in the garden. Long ago, this might’ve been the perfect place to savor a luxurious view. Now it felt very out of place among the wilds.
If I wait here, I’m sure they’ll find me. They summoned me here, so they can put in the legwork.
Mira dismissed Pegasus and plopped down atop the base of a fallen stone pillar. She was surrounded by the ruins of a fallen arch, but none of the rubble seemed to offer a more comfortable place to sit and wait.
Under the deep-blue sky, she sipped a sweet berry au lait, musing to herself that this was the first time in ages that she’d truly sat and done nothing. She watched the little birds flying and the occasional ripples on the water. She grew drowsy from the sheer tranquility of her surroundings.
Suddenly, light enveloped the world around her in a dazzling aurora.
“What the hell? Some sort of barrier?” Mira stood up abruptly and observed the phenomenon. It encircled the amphitheater like a membrane. As she glared about suspiciously, the heavy sound of metal clanking against the ground approached from behind.
Mira turned to see a full suit of armor wielding a sword and shield. A quick Biometric Scan confirmed that it wasn’t an armor spirit. But if not that, then…what?
The menacing suit of armor gleamed with a dull, metallic luster. The identity of the figure before her was unknown—the full helm concealed the eyes and face. Whoever they were seemed ready for battle, despite the peaceful surroundings. The serene feeling that had enveloped her a moment before was now replaced with an eerie sense of foreboding.
Mira could think of only one person who would come to such a remote place. She faced the suit of armor and produced the letter.
“I presume you penned this?”
The suit of armor stopped. From the helmet came a man’s muffled voice.
“I did.”
The deadpan answer seemed quite contrary to the tone of the letter. She’d expected someone glad to meet a fellow “pupil.” Something was fishy.
Mira stared down the armored man and said, “You claim to be a pupil of a Wise Man, but you’re not dressed like a mage.”
If all he wanted was to disguise himself, there would be many more comfortable options. He seemed more like someone dressed for a fight…
“Just an excuse to draw you here.” The man confirmed as he pointed his sword at Mira. Though she could not see his face, she could tell from his voice that he was wearing a triumphant grin.
She looked around and sighed in irritation. Despite the weapon pointed her way, Mira was unmoved. “This seems like a pretty intricate scheme just to pick a fight.”
“I’ll do anything if it means getting you back for the disgrace you put me through!” Her scolding tone seemed to have touched a nerve, and his fury was evident even from behind the wall of armor.
Hrmm? Disgrace? Where have I met this guy before?
Mira hadn’t been in this world for long. She didn’t remember causing any personal grudges that would call for this sort of response.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “And what do you think I’ve done to you? I don’t recall doing anything worth this sort of treatment.”
Had he misunderstood a kind deed and misdirected his anger toward her? Mira cast an annoyed glance at his sword before turning her eyes to his helmet.
“Oh, right. You can’t see my face. One second.” Opening his faceguard with his shield hand, he screamed in rage, “Remember what you did to me and rue the day!”
Behind the helmet, his sunken blue eyes were full of ire and lacking reason. His lips split into a dope fiend’s crescent grin. It seemed he really hated Mira.
She put a finger to her chin and furrowed her brow in thought. There had to be some mistake. Mira stared at his madness-tinged visage and searched her memories again. “Hrmm… Are you sure you have the right person? I still don’t recognize you.”
The man shuddered from top to bottom and roared, “Don’t toy with me! Do you mean to claim you’ve forgotten how you dishonored me at the academy symposium?!” With unbridled fury, he slammed his sword into the ground.
“The symposium…?” A memory began to surface through the fog. The symposium—an event held at Alcait Academy. Like a student arts festival, but for magic. The pieces began to fall into place. “Aha, I remember! You’re that young sorcerer kid, aren’t you?”
Specifically, Caerus of the Department of Sorcery. Mira had met him, even though she couldn’t remember his face. She never bothered to remember people she didn’t care for. And she certainly didn’t care for Caerus. All she remembered was that he’d challenged her, or some nonsense.
That had been nearly two weeks ago. Caerus was so used to sorcerers always coming out on top while summoners finished last. Mira’s sudden appearance had crushed his achievements and his pride.
And now, armed with the most thorough of plans, he had come to get his revenge.
Chapter 2
CLAD IN FULL ARMOR, Caerus stared at Mira with pure hatred. The two couldn’t have looked more different as they confronted each other within the decrepit amphitheater.
“As I recall, that was an unbiased symposium,” Mira said. “You dug your own grave. I don’t see the logic in getting mad at me.”
Caerus’s accusations against Mira had led to his crushing defeat in a duel witnessed by the entire academy. The fact that Mira seemed to regard him as no more than a yapping dog infuriated him even more.
“You’re one to talk after how much you insulted me. I needed to keep my first place! And I was beaten by a summoner, of all people?!”
Caerus’s dreams had been plagued by the gleaming red eyes of the Dark Knight looking down upon him. That Mira didn’t even remember the incident was insult added to injury. No, he could not let this stand.
Hrmm. This kid is annoying me.
“So you’ve come for revenge,” Mira sighed. “I’m amazed that you’d go through all of this for something so insignificant as that symposium.”
“Shut up! You came in out of nowhere and messed everything up. Then I hear you’re some Wise Man’s apprentice?! Thanks to you, I’ve been branded as a short-sighted failure! Everything is your fault!” Caerus’ voice grew hoarse as he raged, and he slammed his sword against the debris next to him.
Crimson light rose from the sword and gathered at one point, creating a heat wave that crushed and detonated the debris with a shriek that reverberated through Mira’s entire body. Despite standing right next to the burst, Caerus’s armor was unscathed. Face filled with ire, he chuckled to himself as he looked upon the wreckage.
Admiring the fire that tore through the debris, Caerus vented the fury that had been stoked by Mira’s words. “Incredible, isn’t it? This place is surrounded by a magic-sealing barrier. No matter how good a mage you were…now you’re just a little pipsqueak without any magic.”
Oho. It seals magic, hm? I’ve seen traps like this in dungeons. I suppose they’ve been actively developing such technology.
It seemed the membrane surrounding the amphitheater was a barrier, after all. Mira attempted to summon, but nothing happened. Her magic was indeed sealed. She surveyed the barrier and felt the passage of thirty years in this new technology.
It would be most advantageous for one to seal the other’s magic, but… Mira asked the armor-clad Caerus, “You’re a sorcerer, as I recall? Doesn’t it defeat the point if you seal your magic as well as mine?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? I don’t need magic. This sword, shield, and helmet are all spirit weapons. They do just fine in barriers. I think I can handle the likes of you.”
It was true that Caerus’s sword was a fire spirit’s sword, and his armor and shield harbored spirits’ power. However, Mira was neither surprised nor panicked. If she felt anything at all, it was exasperation. How could a sorcerer and citizen of the kingdom of magic surrender his magic and rely on weapons instead?
“Why’re you just standing there like that? You don’t understand the situation you’re in, do you?!”
Caerus swung his spirit blade. The blade ignited the air as it sliced through with a crimson gleam and launched flames toward Mira. When it landed in the debris close by, there was another shrieking explosion and hot air enveloped Mira.
As the inferno died down, all that remained was Caerus’s muffled laughter.
I thought I heard something in that explosion… That was a voice, wasn’t it?
Mira had heard a bitter cry tinged with hints of rage and hatred. She had heard it faintly the first time Caerus had slammed his sword into the debris, though it was overpowered by the explosions instantly after. But this time, Mira clearly heard that chilling voice.
“Do you see the power of my spirit blade? If it so much as grazes you, that delicate little body of yours will be burned to a crisp. Now you finally see the difference in power between us. But hey, even I can be merciful.”
Intoxicated with power, Caerus grinned condescendingly behind his face guard. He then leered at Mira’s youthful yet charming figure. As he ogled her, he swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth and fantasized about how he might make her scream. The only decisions she could make were the ones he allowed her.
“If you apologize now, I could let you be my servant,” the lust-crazed Caerus commanded as if looking down on her from far above. He took a large metal ring from the pouch at his hip and threw it at Mira. It was a collar bearing the same sealing markings as the binding cloth that the Isuzu Alliance had used once before. “Put that around your neck. Do it—and I’ll let you live.”
Mira peered down at the collar at her feet. Planting her left foot, she punted it back at him with her right. Then it flew fast and low before it smacked into Caerus’s greaves, making a low metallic clunk before falling to the ground.
“Denied,” she replied flatly. “Now, listen up. Surrender now, and we can call this water under the bridge.” Mira looked at Caerus head-on, neither staring nor glaring.
Her words only caused Caerus’s lust to turn into pitch-black animosity. He began to swing his sword wildly with no form, proper swordplay, or aim.
“Damn yooou!” He screamed as shrilly as a steam whistle venting pressure to stop a boiler explosion. Fire spurted from the hideous arc of his sword’s swing and a wild blaze flew out toward Mira. Caerus fell onto his backside, blown back by the aftermath of the attack.
His aim was off, but the raging hellfire billowed outward to engulf all around it. No one could possibly be left unsinged by the inferno.
“Hah! Ha ha ha! I told you—this is what happens when you defy me! Hah! Hah hah! Ha ha ha!”
Then Caerus’s face went blank. Overwhelming strength, murderous malice, the realization that he had killed someone with his own hands…and some very minor guilt all intertwined. The emotional gravity began to tug him back to earth.
“Hrmm. Ample firepower, but no finesse. It would be no laughing matter if it hit me, though. Do you understand what you’ve just done?” Mira’s chilly voice cut through the superheated air like an ice storm.
Unable to find Mira through the limited view of his visor slit, Caerus fought the weight of the armor as he tried to regain his feet. Once he managed to stand, he held his sword and shield close and spun around, looking for his prey.
Mira stood to his left, watching him scornfully. Her form, her eyes, and her very presence detonated the miniscule guilt that was previously within him.
“Aaaah!” The chaotic mix of emotions—the thought of his assassination attempt and the slight relief of seeing his victim survive—turned into fear at once.
As if trying to dispel the nightmare in front of him, Caerus single-mindedly swung his sword. Each time, however, the expelled flames only hit Mira’s afterimages.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” He lost sight of his target as Mira evaded each swing with Mirage Step. Each time the hellfire incinerated one illusion, she appeared in a new location.
Her magic was sealed…but her skills were not.
Worse still, with each of Caerus’s failed attacks, the distance between them shortened. As she slowly but surely approached, he shuddered and stepped back, yet he could not stop his arms from swinging.
That voice nearly muffled by the explosions wasn’t a hallucination; it was a clear voice of resentment. Listening close to the unbearable sounds of the voice, Mira hit upon one possibility.
This spirit blade… Could it be yin?
Spirit weapons weren’t just elemental; they were also divided into yin and yang. It was partially dependent on the properties of the spirit within, but they were generally associated with either negative or positive emotions. The vast majority of spirit weapons in circulation were yang, and they were obtained because a spirit took a liking to and blessed their wielder. But yin weapons… Such blessings were the product of hatred and anger in a spirit’s dying moments.
A voice appealing to hatred was mixed in the flames emitted by Caerus’s sword. Mira was sure of it.
It varied from person to person, but among a mage’s powers was the ability to see and converse with spirits. This theoretically applied to spirit weapons as well, but this was the first time Mira had heard the voice of one. Odd as it was, there could be no mistake.
As Mira analyzed the sound, she weaved through the baleful fireballs and gradually approached her attacker. Caerus kept trying to back away—his terror giving way to frustration—but he eventually stumbled over debris and fell backward spectacularly, armor rattling like a fistful of coins scattered across the ground.
With a grating metallic noise, Caerus righted himself and screamed, “Why can’t I hit you?!”
His emotions reached a crescendo. Reacting to Caerus’s fury, his armor began to cycle through the elements.
The spirit elements overflowing from his armor mixed and gathered at his blade. Curses filled the air so thickly that their madness seemed infectious.
“Ack… Is his gear all yin?” Mira asked herself. It certainly looked that way. It couldn’t be a coincidence that so many rare items were gathered around him.
I think I’ll have to question him regarding where he got these. Mira decided she would not be gentle in her interrogation. But for now, she kept her eyes fixed on Caerus, who laughed madly as the raw power of his spirit gear seemed to intoxicate him even more.
Using the sword as a vector, the elements whirled into a misshapen, unstable spiral resembling a miniature typhoon. Shooting a quick look at the incomprehensibly destructive sword, Mira relaxed her shoulders and leapt directly in front of Caerus.
“Damn! How are you so fast?!”
Barely able to control the torrent of energy enough to clench his fists, Caerus was unable to control his sword enough to swing it as his abominable enemy. Instead, he gritted his teeth as the elements began to coalesce. He was essentially stuck holding an open umbrella in the middle of a windstorm.
Mira did not miss this opening. She thrust out a slender arm and punched Caerus right in the stomach.
