Chapter 6: The Great Mage from Afar (Part 2)

Nina was happy because her brother’s “illness” was gradually improving. He no longer ran around causing her worry, but he was quiet, often sitting on the church steps gazing at the sky, even ignoring when she called him…
What was he thinking?
“Could it be that the bad kids in town are bullying him again?”
Recalling how she had seen the townsfolk throwing stones at her brother, Nina felt furious. “If they throw at you, why don’t you throw back?” She thought, feeling both heartache and anger as she saw the bruises on her brother’s arms. “They’re just a bunch of boring brats. I don’t want to bother with them… Don’t worry, it will heal in about half a day…”
“But…” Nina clenched her fists, glaring hatefully at the noisy children running away. “Let’s go. We’d better buy the bread back early so Old Charles won’t worry…”
“Oh…”
But lately, her brother had mostly just sat on the church steps in a daze, never going to town at all… So what was he thinking?
It took a long time before Nina realized that her brother was thinking about magic!
Magic?
Nina secretly asked the baker’s wife about magic, but the kind woman didn’t know much. Instead, a somewhat fierce-looking man from the town’s armory told her what he knew. Sassen—Nina remembered that name firmly.
But at the same time, she learned that to learn magic, commoners first needed money to pay Sassen’s expensive tuition at the magic academy—a huge amount of gold coins…
Gold coins… Remembering the dozen or so silver coins hidden in a corner of the church garden, Nina bit her lip.
Save!
After spending over a year and a half, Nina finally saved six gold coins in total. Though she wasn’t sure exactly how much “a huge amount of gold coins” meant according to the man from the armory, she knew six gold coins probably wouldn’t be enough, as it certainly wasn’t a large sum…
“Child, go to town and buy some bread, will you?”
“Okay!”
Taking on the kind old priest’s request, Nina carried a small basket and walked down the town streets.
“Tap!” A stone rolled past her.
Nina looked up and glanced at the smiling townsfolk in the distance. With a soft hum, she turned into an alley.
How much was a huge amount of gold coins? She could earn ten copper coins per month from the baker’s wife… And fifteen copper coins from Old Charles…

Just like this, when will I be able to save up ‘a ton’ of gold coins?
Nina was somewhat annoyed and kicked at the stones by the road in frustration. Then, she saw a group of people coming out of the inn in the town, one of them—a man in armor—muttering angrily.
“Things from the countryside are just inferior to those in the capital; they’re disgusting!”
Nina looked up at the inn, the only one in Sett Town…
Disgusting? The capital?
Had they come from a big city?
Without bothering to buy bread, Nina rushed over and secretly observed those three strangers.
Behind them was a tall man, even stronger than the uncle at the town’s armory. As he walked, his golden armor peeked through his gray cloak from time to time…
Slightly behind on the left was someone wrapped entirely in a cloak. They didn’t say a word, and it was unclear whether they were male or female.
At the front was an old man about the same age as Old Charles, with white hair, a long beard, a strange hat, and a walking stick…
After comparing the three, Nina secretly made up her mind.
※※※
“My lord, there’s a suspicious little girl following us all the time…”
“Hehe,” said the old man at the front, the Royal Archmage Veston Malagigi Hastings, with a smile. “It’s just a child. Probably out of curiosity. No need to make a fuss.”
“I think my lord should be cautious,” said the person on the left in a hoarse voice. It was a thief, while the one in armor was an Imperial Knight.
“Don’t overreact. From the way she looks, she’s probably just a commoner from the town…” As he spoke, Veston’s expression turned peculiar, as if he’d discovered something interesting and amusing.
“Bang!”
A figure emerged from an alley and crashed into Veston.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Hmph! As a thief, how could he not see through their trick?
But just as the thief was about to act, he suddenly felt something pressing against his waist—it was Veston’s staff.
Having stopped the thief’s accomplice, Veston crouched down and found that the one who had “crashed into” him was just a girl around eleven or twelve years old. She was looking at him with a frightened expression, apologizing repeatedly.
As the Royal Archmage, being robbed of his purse by a child of eleven or twelve in a remote Imperial town—Veston had never encountered anything so amusing.

“Are you not hurt, child?” As soon as he said that, his expression changed…
This child…
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” As the culprit, Nina kept apologizing and took the chance to run away when the other person wasn’t looking.
“That little rascal!” The knight frowned and was about to catch that bold thief when Weston stopped him with his staff.
“I’ve been searching for over a decade, and finally I found her…” Watching the little girl run away, Weston slowly stood up, his eyes filled with excitement.
“Let’s go!”
※※※
The great mage Weston Malagigi Hastings was a legitimate dark mage with immense power. He was the empire’s chief grand mage, skilled in the water and fire elements of green magic (natural magic), as well as the combined magic of lightning magic. He was a highly renowned mage, and it was only a matter of time before he received a sacred title.
However, this respected great mage also had something that worried him—his apprentices.
Weston was already 65 years old, and his strength was gradually declining. He was eager to find someone to continue his magical research.
As a great mage and the chief grand mage, many people vied to become his apprentices. Unfortunately, despite being a magical genius, Weston was very picky when choosing apprentices.
It couldn’t really be blamed on him, as he was most proud of lightning magic, a combination of water and fire elements, and to master this, one needed the strength of a great mage.
Among the human faction, there were tens of thousands of mages, but very few great mages. That barrier might be something some mages could never overcome in their lifetime.
In the field of magic, if the goal was simply to become a mage, hard work would suffice. But if the goal was to become a great mage, outstanding talent was almost essential.
For someone like Weston, what could be more pleasing than having an exceptionally talented apprentice?
He happily accepted Old Charles’s invitation and sat at a worn-out long table in the church, chewing on dry bread, completely ignoring the two guards beside him who frowned at the bread on the table.
Nina, perhaps aware of Weston’s identity, was terrified and didn’t dare lift her head during the entire meal.
After dinner, it was usually Nina who cleared the table. The usually cheerful girl probably couldn’t be cheerful today…
After clearing the table, Nina glanced secretly at Weston, who was sitting at the long table smiling at her, filled with deep regret…

“Respected Archmage, if you’re angry, turn me into a frog instead—please don’t hurt Thos…” Nina pleaded in a sobbing voice.
Wiston, who had been pleased to see his favorite ‘apprentice’ approaching, was now at a loss for words and quickly reassured her, “Who told you that? Nonsense! I’m not angry at all—not even a little!”
“Really?” Nina raised her head fearfully. “You won’t turn me into a frog?”
Wiston felt both annoyed and amused. He knew that some magicians, disturbed while practicing magic, would turn intruders into frogs, snakes, or similar creatures out of anger—but that was a long time ago!
Seeing the fear in Nina’s eyes, the old mage felt helpless and soothed her, “Those were acts of evil magicians. I’m the Royal Chief Archmage—how could I do such a thing?” Seeing the fear in her eyes fade slightly, he said what he wanted most to say.
“Child, do you want to learn magic?”
“Magic?”
“Yes! Look!” Wiston stretched out his right hand, focused his gaze, and soon a blue flame appeared on his index finger.
“Wow!” Nina widened her eyes in disbelief. Hesitantly, she reached out with her small hand, but pulled it back quickly when she felt the heat.
“Is that really fire?”
“Of course!” Wiston was even happier than when he had created a new spell.
“Is this magic?” Nina murmured, biting her lip before adding weakly, “Respected Archmage, can my brother learn too?”
“Your brother?” Wiston froze, his expression hesitant.
In his opinion, the sister had a natural talent for learning magic. Even though she didn’t yet understand what magic was, she already possessed a hint of magical energy—a quality ordinary people never had. She was a genius at magic. With hard work, she could become not just an archmage but even a holy mage. This was the kind of apprentice Wiston wanted to teach the most. But the brother? He had no trace of magical energy at all—just an ordinary person. Without any special experiences, even if he learned magic, he might only reach the level of a mage in his lifetime. At best, he might have a chance to become an archmage…
But Wiston’s goal wasn’t just to turn his apprentices into archmages.

You should know that Veston’s mentor is a Sacred Mage, and he himself hopes to become one before he dies. How glorious it would be if his apprentices could also become Sacred Mages—enough to be recorded in the history of magic. But to train a great mage, or even a Sacred Mage, requires an immeasurable amount of wealth, precious herbs, and various tools. Veston has neither the interest nor the energy to train two apprentices…

“Can’t you?” Nina glanced secretly at the old mage’s expression and suddenly shook her head, saying, “Then I won’t learn!”

No… not learn?

So many people compete or use connections just to become his apprentices…

Veston was both amused and exasperated. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Child, I’m confident I can make you a great mage within fifteen years!”

To expect a child who still doesn’t understand what magic is to become a great mage in fifteen years—what an astonishing claim.

But…

“I don’t want to!” Nina shook her head. “Fifteen years is too long… I have to take care of Thos. If others bully him, I have to protect him…”

The old mage was at a loss—completely helpless with this little girl who thought fifteen years was too long.

Suddenly, he had an idea. He coughed and said softly, “If you learn magic, won’t you be able to protect your brother better? If someone dares to bully your brother, you just use a spell…”

“Veston!” A voice laced with anger interrupted him.

“As the Royal Chief Great Mage, how dare you tempt such a kind-hearted child? What’s the difference between you and those demons?” Old Charles had appeared at the church door at some point, glaring angrily at Veston.

But Nina was somewhat tempted. Just as she was about to speak, Old Charles gave her a look and said, “Go to bed!”

“Oh.”

“Hey, Charles, what are you doing?” Seeing the interest in Nina’s eyes, Veston intended to continue persuading her.

Glaring fiercely at Veston, the old priest said angrily, “I don’t approve of your methods!”

Watching his promising apprentice go upstairs, Veston sighed in frustration. “She has great talent for learning magic. It’s a shame she’s stuck in such a rural place!” Then, as if remembering something, he said curiously, “Charles, I’m curious. Although you’ve lost your magic power, in terms of experience, even I’m probably not as good as you. Why… I see you get along well with these two children, and that little boy really wants to learn magic. Why…”

“Sos?” The old priest sat down beside the long table.
“Is it called Sos? Ah, yes, that’s him! Is it your Church’s policy to crush children’s dreams? Though that child doesn’t have much talent, I think he’s quite smart…”
“No talent…” The old priest smiled faintly and said, “Yes, he is indeed very smart, far smarter than most children. A child like this, even without talent, might become a great mage in the future…”
“A great mage?” Wiston shook his head and smiled; clearly, he wasn’t optimistic.
Glancing at Wiston briefly, the old priest whispered, “But if possible, I hope this child never comes into contact with magic, never in his life…”
Wiston was stunned.