Interlude 24
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Those days will never return.
For Purume, the time spent together was more precious than anything else.
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When Purume decided to take in the red-haired girl, Angelica, she considered adopting her.
However, Purume quickly dismissed that option. While there would be significant benefits to becoming Angelica’s full-fledged guardian, there would be equally significant drawbacks.
The drawback was the factional strife within Honest, which was not a monolithic organization.
It’s not hard to imagine that Purume, a formidable power in her own right, throwing her support behind Angelica would upset the balance of factions within Honest.
What would happen to Angelica then? Would she be inappropriately elevated? Or assassinated? Purume wanted to avoid these risks.
After careful consideration, Purume decided to maintain the public appearance that Angelica was earning her own tuition for the Royal Magic Academy, and that she was merely employed as Purume’s caretaker while living in her house.
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Purume intended to cover not only Angelica’s living expenses but also her tuition for the Royal Magic Academy and all other related costs. However, Angelica herself shook her head at this.
「I didn’t take your hand just to rely on you and use you.」
The girl’s words choked Purume up.
In the two years since being cast out from her home, the young girl had forgotten how to rely on adults.
Purume put her hand to her head in confusion and said, 「You don’t need to think about such things. You should just focus on magic,」 but—
「But—」 「No, no, you don’t need to worry about—」 「Even so, I—」 「I’m telling you, you don’t have to—」 「But still—」 「Look, you really don’t need to think about—」 「I don’t want to—」 「It’s not about wanting or not, I just want you to—」 「I appreciate that, but—」 After a long discussion, Purume, perhaps due to her age and experience, sighed and decided to compromise.
Purume was troubled.
She wanted Angelica to focus solely on studying magic.
Yet Angelica insisted on paying for her basic living expenses herself.
After much thought, holding her head and going 「Hmm, hmm,」 Purume finally gave Angelica the job of infusing empty magic stones with mana.
She told Angelica that the pay from this would cover her school tuition.
This was just for appearances, though. In reality, Purume managed Angelica’s income, arranging for it to be given to her when she graduated from the academy in the future.
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The story that Purume had hired Angelica as a caretaker was also just for show. Purume herself had no intention of making Angelica do housemaid-like work.
Yet Angelica, living with Purume, diligently took care of Purume’s everyday needs. She was truly, truly diligent in taking care of Purume.
「Don’t worry about it. It’s fine as it is. I’m not going to die or anything.」
Purume told Angelica with dignity.
But what do you know, Angelica threw Purume’s words back at her tenfold, twentyfold.
「This is really terrible… Living in such a filthy room, you’ll die. And what’s this food? Is it garbage? Is it refuse? Are you trying to die?」
Appalled by the disastrous housekeeping skills of Purume, who was the dignified Guildmaster at the guild, Angelica voluntarily took on these tasks.
Even the job of infusing magic stones with mana that Purume had given her wasn’t simply given as a straightforward job. There was an intention behind it when she assigned it to the girl.
The intention—to put it simply—was to thoroughly train the girl’s potential mana capacity.
In Purume’s homeland, it was said that 「to fully awaken one’s potential mana capacity, it’s most efficient to completely deplete one’s mana.」
However, just as mana manipulation training caused intense pain as one improved, the act of depleting one’s mana to increase mana capacity was said to cause unbearable lethargy in the practitioner.
For long-lived elves, if they occasionally depleted their mana in combat such as hunting, they would eventually reach their maximum mana capacity. But for humans with finite lifespans—especially Angelica, whose talent needed to bloom as soon as possible—there was no time to spare, Purume thought.
It must have been hellish lethargy every day, but Purume gave her large quantities of expensive magic potions daily, saying 「It’s just a common nutritional supplement, don’t worry about it.」 Thanks to that, the girl was able to overcome the adversity.
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It happens one day.
The night has fallen, but it’s still too early for complete silence. Perhaps because the winter cold has started to show its face, the bustle of the street has died down, and along with the silence, moonlight streaming through the window illuminates the room.
Purume feels thirsty and leaves her room.
She senses a presence in the living room.
When she peeks in quietly, there stands Angelica, looking lost.
「What’s wrong?」
「…I just can’t sleep for some reason.」
The girl answers weakly.
Purume doesn’t ask anything more, just thinks for a moment.
「I see… Sit down and wait.」
She quickly takes out some milk that had been refrigerated and warms it up. Finally, she adds honey, stirs it, and hands it to Angelica.
「You’ll sleep well after drinking this.」
The girl’s troubles are her own.
Purume can be there for her, but she can’t fully understand.
If the girl asks for help and wants to talk about what’s on her mind, that’s fine, but Purume won’t force it out of her. She knows the foolishness of barging into someone else’s heart uninvited.
Even so, watching the girl sip the milk little by little, Purume feels her heart constrict.
「It’s cold today… So keep me company.」
After Angelica finishes drinking the milk and puts away the cup, Purume takes her hand.
「What are you…?」
「Just come with me.」
There are things more important than words.
「It’s cold today, after all.」
Purume leads the girl to her own room and falls onto the bed with her.
「You’ll be my hot water bottle.」
Angelica blushes and wriggles, trying to get free, but Purume doesn’t loosen her hold. She’s inherently clumsy, and she doesn’t even know if what she’s doing is right. That’s to be expected. After all, Purume has never lived with a young girl before. But when Purume was young and had a hard time, this is how her parents comforted her. She remembers that when she slept with her parents, even her heart felt warm.
That night, Purume falls asleep hugging Angelica, who has a high body temperature. Angelica sneakily slips out of Purume’s embrace and, ever the caretaker, covers Purume with the blanket that had slipped off. Then she crawls back under the covers herself. Before she knows it, the girl has fallen into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while.
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Purume still thinks back on it.
To those who could see, Angelica’s intricately controlled mana lines and bottomless mana capacity were top-tier from the moment Purume took her in. By the time she graduated from the academy, she had grown to rival the wise, who were said to be the greatest of all time.
However, as the girl approached adulthood and graduated from school, she still—couldn’t progress beyond being a novice mage.
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Purume knew of the girl’s struggles.
She knew about the training from her early childhood, the headwinds she faced from the age of ten, and that even now she cries alone in her room.
Even with the teachings of Purume, an elf, they couldn’t bring the girl’s talent to full bloom.
After all of her secret teachings had ended in vain, Purume realized in her disappointment that what Angelica needed was some kind of breakthrough that had never existed in this world before.
It was then that it happened.
A report came in from Yamada, the otherworlder.
His party had conquered the 「Mirror Dungeon,」 one of the 「Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeons」 that had been impregnable until now.
Of course, Purume was glad that a dungeon threatening humanity had been conquered, but more than that, she felt 「This is it!」
She became convinced that he could bring about the breakthrough Angelica needed.
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