Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 45: Chapter 45

The cook dropped the dough he had been kneading and rushed forward to greet Maxi.

“My lady! What brings you to the kitchen so early in the morning?”

Maxi gave him an awkward smile as she made her way to the fireplace. “I-I woke up early, and I l-left the room so as n-not to disturb the l-lord. Is it a-all right if I s-stay here?”

The cook seemed flustered that the lady of the castle would ask such a thing. He nodded so vigorously that Maxi worried his head might come loose.

“Of course! We’ve just finished baking bread and making rabbit stew. Would you like to have your breakfast now, my lady?”

“Y-Yes, please. I-I’d also like to w-wash my face. C-Could I have a b-basin of water and a t-towel?”

“Right away, my lady.”

The cook promptly poured a mix of hot and cold water into a basin and brought it to her along with a clean linen cloth. Maxi sat at the table next to the fire and washed her face. Next, she dipped her fingers in the water and ran them through her tangled hair.

A few moments later, a maidservant placed a loaf of freshly baked white bread and a bowl of thick stew in front of her. Pushing the basin aside, Maxi broke the warm bread in half. Steam rose from the soft, moist crumb.

Maxi placed a pat of butter on a piece of bread, blew on it a few times, and took a bite. The sweet bread melted in her mouth. After finishing the delectable meal, she washed everything down with a glass of honeyed goat milk. As she sat in front of the warm fire on a full stomach, she felt drowsiness overtake her.

Just as she was thinking about returning to bed, Ruth shuffled into the kitchen.

“Why, you’re up early today, my lady.”

Maxi’s face fell in dismay. Ruth quickly made his way to her as if to stop her from escaping.

“I see you’re enjoying an early breakfast. That must be nice. I, on the other hand, haven’t had a single bite since dinner last night thanks to the special task Sir Riftan assigned to me.”

Maxi gave him a stiff smile. “I-I was b-busy yesterday…”

“Yes, I heard about the veritable mountain of gifts Sir Riftan brought you. Were you busy opening gifts all day?”

“Th-There are m-more matters in the c-castle that require my a-attention that you th-think!”

Maxi had in fact spent much of the previous day opening gifts, but she decided not to disclose the fact. The sorcerer stared down at her with cheerless eyes. She did not wish to be browbeaten before the servants, but Ruth’s domineering attitude had a way of making her feel like an inept student being scolded by her tutor.

“I’m sure you have a lot on your hands,” Ruth added in a softer tone. “But strengthening our defenses is our priority. We need the magical device to stop further attacks. And you, my lady, are the only person who has the arithmetic skills to help me.”

Maxi narrowed her eyes. She would have bet on her own life that Ruth did not think highly of her arithmetic skills.

“I-I understand, b-but making winter p-preparations is also i-important. I-I’ll help you as s-soon as I’m finished.”

“The safety of Anatolians takes precedence over all else for Sir Riftan. If I can complete the device with your help, his worries will be greatly alleviated.”

Maxi’s ears pricked up, and her eyes brightened. “Would it r-really?”

“Certainly, my lady.”

Excited by the chance to prove herself to Riftan, Maxi hardly took notice of the fact that Ruth had artfully chosen just the words that were needed to convince her. She glanced at the servants, who were listening intently to their conversation while pretending to work. Then she let out a long sigh as if she had been given no other choice.

“I-If that’s the case, I’ll h-help you f-first. A-Are you s-satisfied?”

“I’d be happier if you could start right away.” Ruth ran a hand over his haggard face. “I have a heap of equations that needs to be sorted out. Making a magical device usually requires the help of two to three assistants…”

“I-I understand. W-Why don’t you have s-something to eat f-first?”

“This will do.”

Ruth picked up a loaf of freshly baked bread and bit into it. He then took an apple from a sack in the kitchen corner and thrust it inside the pocket of his robe before shuffling toward the door. Maxi followed after instructing Ludis to come find her in the library if anything happened.

***

Ruth had not been exaggerating about the volume of work that awaited him. Maxi’s jaw dropped when she saw the mess he had made of the library in just two days. Haphazardly stacked books, pieces of parchment, and other odds and ends cluttered the desk.

Maxi leaned forward to inspect a piece of cloth that lay spread out on the floor. The size of a blanket, it was inscribed with complex, meticulously drawn patterns. She sighed when she saw the empty ink bottles scattered across the floor. Ruth appeared to have used five whole bottles to draw the patterns.

“Why are y-you working h-here instead of your t-tower?”

“There isn’t enough room. And Sir Riftan has made it clear that the tower will no longer be mine if I don’t finish this device within a week.”

Maxi frowned as she thought about the lofty tower located in the back garden. How could Ruth possibly have run out of space? Surely he wasn’t sleeping in the library because he lacked room in the tower? Ruth seemed not to notice her disapproving look as he sat down and placed his half-eaten apple on the edge of the desk. Maxi grudgingly took the seat across from him.

“Your task, my lady, is quite simple. I’d like you to draw copies of these diagrams using these tools. I’ll explain how to use them, of course. They should be easy to use as long as you know basic arithmetic.”

Ruth handed her six flat wooden boards of varying shapes. Gripping the boards in her hands, Maxi looked down at the intricate diagram. Piles of parchment with similar diagrams were stacked on top of the desk.

“W-What are all these?”

“Designs for the magical device.”

“Are m-magical devices enormous?”

“They vary in size, but the one we’re making is about the size of a pumpkin. These are blueprints for magic runes that will be placed inside the device. The runes will be placed in intricate layers inside an object endowed with protective magic.”

“M-Magic runes?”

Maxi studied the diagram with interest. Circles, triangles, squares, and spirals were intricately intertwined on yellow parchment. When Ruth had asked for her assistance, she had guessed that the magical device would require complex calculations, but she now realized that the process was far more complicated than she had thought.

“Magic runes are tools that allow us to amplify the mana in our surroundings tenfold or even a hundredfold. That’s how all magic is created. A mage’s talent is determined by how efficiently they use these runes to create the desired effect.”

Maxi tilted her head. “B-But I’ve seen m-mages use magic without r-runes before. Even y-you recently cast a s-spell without o-one.”

“That’s possible only when we’ve memorized the spell so well that we can draw the runes in our heads. But only basic spells can be used this way. Advanced spells take a great deal of time and effort to prepare.”

“Th-Then what we’re m-making must be extremely a-advanced magic.” Maxi eyed the heap of parchment.

Ruth nodded with a grin. “What we’re making is called a Nome shield. It’s a protective rune that uses earth magic. If someone were to attack the gates using magic, the rune would create a powerful barrier about twenty kevettes in radius as soon as it detected the attack. Once we place the runes inside the magical device and install it at the gates, even a rain of fire won’t be able to destroy it.”

“Th-That’s reassuring.”

Maxi’s interest was piqued. She had rarely had the chance to see magic in use with the exception of the hierarchs’ healing magic and the defensive magic that Ruth had employed at the gates. She had heard tales of great mages and their brilliant exploits, but she knew little about how they wielded such magic.

“D-Does that m-mean you can use m-magic if you know how to d-draw these r-runes?”

“The runes won’t work if you can’t activate them with magic, and for that, you’d have to know how to control mana. Magic isn’t something you can create from nothing, but something you must harness.”

“B-But I’ve seen ordinary p-people use magical d-devices.”

“That’s because they have magic stones.”