chapter 35
35. Siabelle Cianella (2)
It was quite a while ago that I first became interested in Shione’s servants.
Since the day Sione threw her sword in front of Dioria, my swordsmanship teacher.
She thought that from now on, she would never catch her sword or come near her gym.
But after her mother gave her a new servant, Shion began to change.
It was interesting.
Just because a new servant came in, what kind of change could have made Shione change?
I wanted to immediately ask what had happened, but I couldn’t.
It’s been a long time since I neglected Shione.
What’s more, my younger brother is extremely burdened with conversations with me.
As time went by, Shione came to visit me when I finally tried to put my curiosity in my heart.
“… Her mother ordered her and her sister to subdue the monsters in the Beltrin Mountains.”
On the day I returned from the Marquis of Peiosha, I heard from Shione, who came to visit me, that aroused my interest again.
“Can I move with my attendant…? His mana has awakened… He is also excellent at archery, so he won’t become a burden.”
Anxiety about what to do if I refuse.
And faith in my servant’s skills.
What on earth has happened to allow Shione to show these feelings?
I started to get more curious.
“It’s about riding a mountain and catching monsters. I don’t think an untrained man can follow.”
“He’s different.”
Shione shook her head without hesitation and began defending her servant.
He has enough stamina to climb a mountain, and his mysterious bow skills to pierce even moving enemies.
It’s like he’s trying to convince me by talking nonsense about how he handles knives well.
In the end, I agreed to Shione’s request.
“Let it be.”
I was confident that I could protect at least one attendant.
Above all, I wondered what kind of person he was to give Shione such deep trust.
Seeing him while defeating monsters in the Beltrin Mountains together was beyond imagination.
It’s not enough to cling to Shione and skillfully teach her how to use a bow.
Even going so far as to pierce the goblin’s head without the slightest hesitation the moment a goblin rushes around her.
Even his attitude, as if he was accustomed to catching monsters, left a deep impression on me.
‘Obviously, Mother said that she was nothing special except that she had awakened mana.’
It was the complete opposite of what her mother had told her about him in the past.
Just like when I first grabbed the sword, led by my mother.
Curiosity about him surged.
So he asked through Shione’s conversation.
“Come to think of it, I heard that the person who taught you the bow was your servant. Is this his servant?”
“Yes. Archery was taught to me separately by Ray.”
“An attendant, not another archery instructor…”
“He said he’d been learning the bow for a while. Not only does he teach me well enough…he’s reliable.”
“Whoa.”
He had learned the bow for a while in the past.
It took his skill, which was too good for a while.
Those skills that are as sharp as those of Cianella’s archers cannot be seen as learned for a moment.
“I only saw it briefly, but he had sharp skills like our count’s family’s archers.”
I looked at Shione’s servant, Ray, and crossed my arms.
“That’s interesting.”
All of them were fresh.
From over there, saying that my interest is burdensome and showing off what I don’t like.
It seemed like he was hiding it, but unfortunately everything shows through.
A type of person you’ve never seen before.
I began to examine him as closely as Sione.
And the turning point came the next day, while dealing with the orcs.
“Oops! What are you guys doing!”
The soldiers could not stop the orcs.
The angry orc rushed towards Sione, who was shooting arrows at him from afar.
Shione was frightened, and his body stiffened and he couldn’t even dodge properly.
I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to decapitate him in time, even if I had some distance and ran right away.
Moreover, there are still orcs to deal with.
My heart started to get impatient.
After hastily beating the head of the orc in front of me.
I could see that something unbelievable was happening.
“Huh…?”
I ended up talking stupidly to myself.
My gaze was fixed on the servant of Sione.
“Haa…”
The wind began to blow around Ray, who let out a sigh.
I already noticed that it was not an ordinary wind.
“A lie.”
It seems that he hid it as much as possible, even though the manifestation of magic was barely noticeable.
As I became an expert knight, my intellect, which had become sharper than ever, was letting me know that he had used magic.
Right after that, he even rescued Shione at breakneck speed.
I couldn’t believe it.
At most, a man who handles proper magic, not a small ember or a flimsy magic that rises.
I looked at Ray as he rolled on the floor after cutting off the head of the orc who had threatened Shion.
“Magic?”
At my words, I could see Ray’s eyes cooled as he hugged Shione.
As expected, looking at the reaction, I don’t think I saw anything wrong.
Even while I was checking to see if Shione was okay, my interest was directed to that attendant.
Curiosity and doubt grew in size, and the increased interest was, as expected, focused precisely on him.
That’s why I called him when the sun was setting and the soldiers were asleep.
“Wait. Don’t we have something to share?”
“You mean the story?”
“Pretend you don’t know. Follow me this way.”
We started talking in a forest where people were far away from the camp.
“I ask straight forward. The daytime magic. How on earth could you, a man, use it?”
“You mean magic, that I threw my body to save Shione-nim?”
“Yes. You know it well.”
“…Isn’t it said that if a person is earnest, they will generate superhuman strength?”
“Looks like you have no intention of telling the truth.”
“For a man like me to use magic. It’s impossible.”
As expected, he seemed to have no intention of easily agreeing to my question.
He was denying my question with skillful acting.
But even so, I was not shaken.
“So you mean that the movement of mana I felt was a lie, and everything I saw with my own eyes was my hallucination?”
Because I saw and felt that he used magic.
“Don’t think about dragging it. It doesn’t work for me.”
Unfortunately, his sloppy excuses didn’t make any sense to me.
“…Keep it a secret from others.”
“I promise you in the name of Cianella. I will keep the fact that you can use magic as a secret.”
And finally, I got the answer I wanted.
My heart started beating with excitement for something new.
A male wizard.
Something that existed only in legends or novels is right in front of my eyes?
At that time, his magic that I saw passing by in that short time was not enough.
I wanted to check his magic again.
“Can you show me some magic?”
Ray nodded.
“Of course.”
Hwareuk!
At the same time, a spark appeared above his hand.
It was definitely magic. But this alone was not enough.
I’ve heard that there are very few men who can produce one spark, but there are definitely men who can.
What I wanted wasn’t this trivial magic.
As expected, it seems that one of them is not all.
A breeze began to spread through his center, as seen during the day.
The wind embracing mana created a wind path and circled around Ray and me.
The flames he created in his hand rose beautifully along the mana and wind path.
“Wow.”
I was amazed at how beautiful it looked.
Under the soft moonlight, a thin curtain of fire wrapped around it, and that was also quite tasteful.
Soon he gave up the magic.
I looked at him quietly.
I felt thirsty.
Until now, the only thing I’ve felt this deep fun with was about swords.
Now more than anything else, this man in front of me was fun.
I’m sorry for Sione, but-
“It’s fun.”
To the extent that I want to have it.
* *
I stared at the status window like an idiot for a while.
Mana efficiency goes up with just having fun?
No, before that.
I couldn’t have imagined that my abilities would improve not only with Sione but also with Siabelle.
‘Well, it’s not bad no matter what.’
Whatever the reason, the improved mana efficiency is definitely a big help.
The spirit magic I deal with is originally magic that is used while summoning a spirit.
If you draw the power of the spirit with only my mana without summoning the spirit, the amount of mana required is doubled.
Thanks to that, mana was always running low.
The more mana efficiency is improved, the more skillful you will be able to handle spirit magic, which is extremely burdensome.
‘Then… What about Shion or Ainel?’
When I cleared the quest related to Shione, the total amount of spirit magic and my mana improved.
When I bought Siabelle’s fun, my mana efficiency improved.
Seeing how my abilities are gradually improving according to my relationship with Cianella’s people…….
Maybe Shion Cianella and Ainel Cianella have something hidden.
I was lost in thought in front of Siabelle for a while.
Sia Belle addressed her with a deep smile.
“That’s amazing. You haven’t learned magic before, have you?”
“…Because he is from a lowly background, he has never learned magic.”
“Really?”
“How could I lie to Siabelle?”
Sia Bell let out her laugh.
“Didn’t you treat me well when you told me that you couldn’t handle magic a while ago?”
“That’s-“
“Well, let’s get past that much.”
“…Thank you.”
Siabel giggled as if teasing me was so much fun.
As I was silently suppressing my anger at the puck or nasty look, she immediately started talking to her.
“From now on, when it’s just the two of us, I’ll let you know.”
“Yes? When you’re alone?”
“Why. Do you have any complaints?”
“No, nothing.”
I wondered if there would ever be a time when I would be alone with Siabelle in the future.
There was no need to go against her will, so she obeyed Siabelle’s words.
Like that, we talked for a while as if I was answering Siabelle’s question.
After an appropriate amount of time, I opened my mouth at the end of the story.
“Please keep my handling of magic a secret.”
“Don’t worry.”
After saying that, Siabelle smiled like an innocent child.
“Because I have no intention of telling anyone.”