She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

ONCE MIRA REVEALED the truth to Mariana and Cleos, the impact took a moment to subside. Next came the daunting task of explaining how it happened—how it was the work of a unique item with hidden powers. How she opened a box and was changed into this form. How she required another of the same item to undo the change…and how that she might never find one ever again. She explained that she’d kept this a secret when they first met because she was afraid that they might despise her if they saw what she had become.

Mariana was the first to speak, and her reaction was ever so slightly indignant: “I would never despise you for something like that, Master Danblf. It’s awful that you’d suggest such a thing.”

“I agree, Master Danblf,” Cleos hastily added, gulping down his fifth cup of tea.

“We fairies never judge someone based on their appearance. No matter what form you may take, you’ll always be Master Danblf to me. Nothing will change my commitment to you.”

“She’s right. I don’t care one bit either… In fact, it’s kind of nice that you’re not nearly as terrifying as you once were.” His tone was joking, but his eyes were serious. “Still, a box that changes one’s appearance? It must be some sort of artifact.”

He closed his eyes in thought. No matter how powerful the instrument, he couldn’t recall one that would fundamentally change someone’s form. If there were such a thing, he could only imagine it was some god-given gift capable of performing miracles.

Precious artifacts did exist, and Mira had even seen a few herself during her time in the game. They might be rewards for particularly long and arduous quests, or loot dropped from the most challenging legendary beasts. However, she couldn’t recall one on the level of a Vanity Case. So, on some level, it was god-given…or at least server-given after cash was paid. But there was no way she could explain cash shop items to people who used to be NPCs. She could never prove it either. And why subject her friends to a needless existential crisis?

“That may be true. But I was also careless,” she said, running with the artifact theory. It wasn’t that far from the truth. It was an item that performed miracles, and this explanation made it easier to comprehend. “Most importantly, we need to keep this between us.”

“Of course.” Mariana immediately agreed with a nod.

Cleos was less than certain. “Hmm, but why? If we told the people that Master Danblf had returned to reclaim his position among the Nine Wise Men, it would guarantee the future of summoning, wouldn’t it?”

He had a point. But Mira also saw the wisdom in Solomon’s logic. Her appearance was just too different from Danblf’s. At best, no one would take her seriously. At worst, it could cause an international incident. Aside from her former-player friends, these two had been the closest to Danblf. They’d understand even if no one else would.

Moreover, Mira had access to certain tasks and opportunities because she wasn’t Danblf. As a known Wise Man, she would have far less freedom, and she wouldn’t be able to continue searching for the other Elders.

She would eventually retake her rightful position, but now was not the time.

“Hrmm, you two should probably know some other things as well…” Filtering through all her information, Mira decided it was best to share some of the particulars. She trusted the pair, and bringing them into the loop would only strengthen their bond, giving new life to their relationship.

“Only two others know the truth: Solomon and Luminaria. Solomon has asked me to search for the other missing Wise Men, wherever they might be.”

“What?! A search for the Nine Wise Men?!” Cleos cried, incredulous.

The disappearance of the Nine Wise Men was a national calamity, to be sure, but he had yet to hear of a sanctioned search for their whereabouts. It made sense, though. They were the kingdom’s strongest military force, and there had been speculation as to why a formal search had never been conducted. One theory held that they had departed this world, and as the years passed, that theory became the most plausible.

But now it turned out that King Solomon, supreme ruler of the kingdom, and Danblf, one of the Nine Wise Men, were searching for the others. That would only happen if those two worthies actually thought the rest of the Wise Men were scattered throughout the world.

Cleos could hardly contain his excitement.

“Anyhow, if I reclaim my title, I won’t be able to search for them properly,” Mira continued, bringing him back to the present. “So I need to entrust the tower to you for a while longer. Is that all right?”

“Absolutely! I’ll do whatever it takes if it means the Nine Wise Men are returned to us!” Cleos trembled as he remembered the last time the full group had been assembled. As a mage himself, he couldn’t help but rejoice at the thought of the Linked Silver Towers returning to their glory days.

“That means you’ll be leaving again,” Mariana muttered. In contrast to the elated Cleos, she’d been silent all this time.

Mariana had been moved to tears by Mira’s return, and now her master was planning on leaving and heading into danger somewhere far away. But what other choice did Mira have? It was a mission of national importance and not easily abandoned.

“I apologize. That was selfish of me.” Mariana tried to smile, but her gaze was forlorn.

“I also understand how you feel, Miss Mariana, but this will have a great impact on the future of our country. Besides, things are different now—Master Danblf is returned to us. We can rejoice in that knowledge, at least.” Cleos sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself. He flashed Mira a smile.

His use of “we” and “us” meant the acting Elders and attendants of the towers. The Nine Wise Men were an odd group full of weirdos, yet they somehow had the steadfast devotion of their aides and deputies.

“I promise to come back whenever I can,” said Mira, and the pair nodded with relief.

Picking up her cup, she sipped at her cooled tea and smiled ruefully as she imagined all the hassle of traveling back and forth. Nevertheless, her heart warmed as the weight of her deception was lifted away.

“Still, um…” Cleos began, giving Mira a nervous look.

“What is it?”

His smile twitched. “Calling you Master Danblf when you look like that feels rather odd. Perhaps to keep up the cover story, we should continue calling you Mistress Mira?”

“Argh…” Mira’s brow furrowed in distress. He made a good point; if they wanted to keep the secret, they had to settle this now, otherwise someone might slip up. “Hrmm, you’re right. Very well. So long as I look like this, keep calling me Mira.”

At that, Cleos looked oddly relieved. “Understood, Mistress Mira.”

“Are you all right with that, Mariana?”

“Yes, I’m fine with it,” she told Mira, still stroking her own feather mark. This was the proof of the Fairy’s Blessing linking the two, the mark showing just how much she treasured the person before her. Among the fairies, this bond was revered above all else. Compared to that, a change in name or looks was insignificant.

“Well, then I suppose that’s that. I’ll be taking off again for a little while, so I’m counting on you two to take care of things.”

“I won’t let you down!” Mariana said with a serious nod.

Cleos wore a reassuring smile. “I shall endeavor to serve with the best of my abilities.”

The next moment the clattering of a bell echoed throughout the office.

“Hrmm, what’s that noise?”

“That’s the emergency technomancy communicator!” Jumping to his feet, Cleos rushed to his desk, where he opened a black box and twisted a lever on the device inside. “Acting Elder Cleos speaking.”

“Sir, this is Giosue of the Silverhorn Patrol,” came a faint male voice from the handset. Mira could only barely hear the other side of the conversation from a few paces away. “We have an emergency and are contacting the towers for instruction.”

“All right, what’s the issue?”

“Three hours ago, we received reports from nearby settlements that a large dragon was seen in the skies overhead. We sent out a patrol to confirm, and while we didn’t see the beast ourselves, we did find traces of something enormous landing in a forest clearing northwest of the city. We focused our search around that area but have yet to find a cause. We thought it might have been a misidentification, but we just received word from Silverwand that they observed a large dragon flying back and forth over the area before moving in our direction a few hours ago. No witnesses have seen the dragon flying away, so it’s highly likely that it’s concealed itself and is hiding somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, we’re out of options, so we’re contacting the towers for assistance.”

“A dragon, you say… If it came from the direction of Silverwand, it may have also passed close to Lunatic Lake.” The two were just a mountain range away, after all.

“Yes, sir. Highly possible.”

He glanced over at Mira, and she averted her gaze. Fidgeting, she moved to take a sip of tea, only to notice the teacup was already empty and then gently put it back on the table. Very suspicious.

The patrolman waited patiently for Cleos’s response.

“Return with a minimal detail and await further instructions. Who else have you contacted?”

“Understood, sir. We’ve also contacted Mistress Luminaria.”

“All right. I’ll contact her as well. Now, begin your return.”

“Will do, sir! Thank you.”

The call audibly ended, and then the office was quiet once more.

“Mistress Mira…you were in Lunatic Lake yesterday, were you not? How did you get here?” Closing up the black box, Cleos looked at Mira, both exasperated and inquisitive. It was clear from his face that he already knew what happened.

“Hrmm… Uh, you see…I…”

Mariana giggled as Mira’s reaction clued her in to the truth of the matter. “Mistress Mira, you didn’t. Did you?”

Cornered, Mira hung her head in resignation. “I may have…flown here on Eizenfald.”

“I knew it! It had to be Eizenfald! No wonder people are panicking.”

While traveling with Danblf, Cleos had become well acquainted with the dragon—his bravery, his massive size, his undeniable presence. With such a threat spotted so close to human settlements, the uproar made total sense.

Mira thought she’d been careful, hence why she first summoned him in the woods outside of Lunatic Lake. Evidently, that wasn’t enough. People couldn’t stand the dark of night, much less the sight of a beast that could reap their lives like a scythe slicing wheat.

“I have to explain this to Mistress Luminaria. Please, Mistress Mira, try to show a little restraint in the future.”

“Hrmm… Sorry about this.”

As Cleos made his way from the office, he was glad to see Mira feeling at least a little remorse. Perfect timing on that call, he thought. Gives me a chance to escape before she brings up my little indiscretion from before. Even so, riding in on Eizenfald? Still overdoing everything, I see. Life is about to get interesting again.

He was practically skipping as he made his way to the Tower of Sorcery.

“Oh, Mistress Mira, you haven’t changed a bit,” Mariana said, smiling. She was reminded how moderation had never been a word in Danblf’s vocabulary.

Mira picked up her empty teacup yet again and scowled. “I suppose I wasn’t careful enough.”

Sorry, Eizenfald. Looks like I won’t be calling on you as often as I promised.

When she’d dismissed the dragon earlier, she thought she’d found the perfect means of transportation—but it seemed that was too good to be true. She resolved to summon him someplace out of the way to explain things properly. Her poor, big, adorable dragon child.

Mariana picked up her own cup before plucking the one from Mira’s hand, saying, “I’ll make another pot of tea.” She headed to a corner of the room where Cleos kept a special technomancy device made solely for the purpose of brewing tea.

Mira giggled as she watched Mariana shuffle around. It’s like we’re like newlyweds! But in this situation, who was the husband and who was the wife? Perhaps they were more like a kindly older sister and her rambunctious younger sister.

A few moments later, Mariana placed fresh cups on the table. “Here you are, Mistress Mira.”

“Hrmm, thank you,” said Mira, taking a sip. “Phew…”

The aroma of the tea helped her regain her composure, and she looked over at Mariana, who had once again taken a seat across from her. Solomon’s tale of the fairy waiting for her master to return came to the forefront of Mira’s mind.

“You took care of cleaning my room and managing my belongings while I was away. I’m sorry I left you with all that.”

Mariana’s smile grew wider. “Oh, it was no bother at all. It gave me purpose.”

The two began to reminisce, getting lost in their memories together. Mira was spellbound by Mariana’s retelling of her life over the past thirty years.

After some time, Cleos returned.

“Good news! Mistress Luminaria and I smoothed over the whole dragon mess. No need to worry.” He grinned at the two young ladies engaged in their chat. “Well, doesn’t this look fun? May I join in?” he asked, then swapped out his old teacup for a fresh one from the shelf.

“I’d like to be included as well,” came a familiar voice from behind them. Mira turned to see a beauty with long crimson hair staring at her with an impish look.

“And what business might you have with us, Luminaria?” Mira joked. 

Luminaria smiled broadly and hugged Mira from behind. “Come now, Grandpa. You haven’t forgotten your own granddaughter’s face, now have you?” Then she leaned in close and whispered with a smirk, “So you’ve told them? Getting more settled in, are we?”

A moment later, she pulled back to accept the tea that Cleos was offering. Taking a sip, she looked at the other three happy people and her eyes narrowed in delight.

“To commemorate this joyous reunion, I shall treat you all to dinner.”

No one argued against this marvelous idea, and she instructed them to meet in front of the Tower of Sorcery at half past six. Then she bounded off to begin the preparations.

Mira chuckled. “As demanding as ever, that one…”

The three of them continued to reminisce until the flow of the conversation had led back to some of the idle grumbles that Cleos had made during their initial reunion.

“I thought I was doing the right thing. I apologize, Cleos,” Mira said sincerely.

“Oh, no… Think nothing of it…” But Cleos couldn’t stop the cold sweat from breaking out across his brow.

***

Mira, Cleos, and Mariana stood before the Tower of Sorcery at the scheduled time. With both the acting Elder and the tower attendant standing together, they drew a lot of attention. Some researchers called out greetings as they passed. One even came over and delivered an experimental device in the hops that it would revitalize the school of summoning. Mira wanted to know all about it, but Cleos said that while it worked, it didn’t guarantee a summoning contract. This just reinforced what Mira already knew: Help was useful, but there was no substitute for hard work.

Soon, Luminaria threw open the tower doors. “Thank you for waiting. Please, come in!”

“Aren’t we going somewhere?” Mira asked, but Luminaria smiled softly and poked her forehead.

“We can’t talk freely in any ordinary restaurant. You’ve had some real adventures, and I want to hear all about them.”

“Hrmm, so that explains the invitation to dinner,” Mira mumbled to herself as she stepped into the tower. Luminaria was undoubtedly talking about the demon.

The sorceress led the three to her private chambers. The furnishings were finely crafted but rather plain, a far cry from their owner. Mira was unsurprised; Luminaria had never shown much interest in furniture or decor. She left those matters to her attendant, Lythalia, who had kept the room minimalist, but comfortable and functional. Mira was also unsurprised to learn that Lythalia had prepared the entirety of the evening’s meal.

She finished laying the dishes out on the table and then approached Mira.

“Good evening, Mistress Mira. You mentioned you would tell me more about Master Danblf. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Ah, w-well, perhaps… Hrmm,” Mira stammered with an indescribable expression, recalling that she had made a promise to that effect the last time she left the tower.

***

Surrounded by friends and enjoying a meal, Mira took the lead and shared stories from her adventures. She told them of Soul Howl’s mysterious quest, her battle against a demon, the mysterious spirit kidnappings, and so on—all things that couldn’t be talked about in a public restaurant where the walls might have ears.

Amid the joyful conversation, Lythalia kept her gaze pinned on Mira, eyes shining, as though trying to tug at her heartstrings. Since everyone else in the room knew, Mira came clean to Lythalia as well. Mariana and Cleos both vouched for the veracity of her claim.

Lythalia froze with a blank smile on her face.

As the elven attendant sat there in shock, Mira told Luminaria about what happened at the academy. She grumbled a bit before moving on to discussing the effort to restore evocation’s reputation. Mira managed to extract a promise from Luminaria to assist Cleos while she was away, which left Cleos looking tense for some unknowable reason.

In return, Luminaria asked Mira to collect further catalysts on her behalf. A Snowmelt Crystal, the scale of a Frost Dragon, and a Frozen Lance. Mira agreed, and the four continued discussing state secrets.

They left Lythalia as she was.