“Not me but the person with me is a bit injured. I heard there is magic ointment here? Please lend it to me.”
“Oh, that unlucky bastard?”
Cain snorted.
“Then, I won’t give it to you.”
He turned his body like a child and went into the room.
“That person is bleeding from their hands…”
When I spoke, Chain shouted angrily.
“Still, I won’t give it! That kid kidnapped you! Why should I give ointment to the kidnapper?”
“………. How did you know that?”
“That kid said so. He kidnapped you, so don’t say anything about him.”
When did you said something like that? It was true. Was it just kidnapping? He also bombed a attack in the Magic Tower and threatened to kill me. Well, he was a decent guy for a while, so I forgot about it.
I sighed deeply and turned around. Cain suddenly followed me out.
“Where are you going!”
“To get ointment from Heron.”
“Hey, are you a fool? Why are worried about the kidnapper getting hurt!”
Cain screamed loudly. It was tiring to taste Cain’s temper after a long time. Is he two years old or twenty? Why is he acting like a brat?
When I looked at Cain with force in my eyes, he grunted.
“Do you know how worried I was? The Magic tower was attacked, and you disappeared. It’s the 99th floor, and all the windows are broken. Did he push you? Or did you jump suddenly… How much mental agony did I go through…”
Cain’s booming voice gradually faded.
“I should have cast a tracking spell earlier. You’re supposed to be my disciple, but you don’t even know a lot of spells. You don’t even have enough mana to cast magic without my help………………I should’ve thought about everything.”
He said, muttering.
“I thought you might have run away again. You’re good at that.”
Cain glared at me resentfully. But soon, the resentment melted away, and relief took its place.
“…But you came back well. Mana vessel.”
“……Yes.”
I’ll give you the ointment, come in.”
Cain’s voice, saying that, seemed a bit down, so I pretended not to notice. I nodded silently and followed him in the room.
Cain went to a massive dresser in the corner, claiming he would find the ointment. There were dozens of small drawers, and he immediately opened one containing the ointment.
The magical ointment, which supposedly healed wounds and grew new skin growth instantly when applied, was stored in a large jar. He walked towards the desk, transferring it to a smaller bottle.
While Cain was transferring the ointment, I explored the room. Cain’s room was messier than I remembered. Books were scattered on both the bed and the floor. The walls were covered in magical runes drawn with what seemed like charcoal. Empty potion bottles rolled around everywhere. Overall, it felt like the lair of a mad genius scientist.
“Why is it dirty in here?” I asked casually. Cain responded equally nonchalantly.
“Oh, I was looking for you. Doesn’t it look a little obvious?
He capped the bottle and tapped the outside of the bottle. A label appeared, indicating “Magic Ointment.” He handed it to me.
But instead of taking the bottle, I picked up an empty potion bottle nearby.
“Is this a meal potion?”
“Yeah.”
It was unbelievable. With this many empty bottles, he could sell them and afford gourmet meals. And he searched for me while having all these potions?
“Oh, it’s not just meal potions, there’s also a sleepless potion.”
“A remedy for insomnia?”
“No, that’s a sleeping potion. The one I took is a sleepless potion. It keeps you energetic for 48 hours. It’s a popular item in our tower.”
Of course, I couldn’t stay awake for 48 hours straight, but Cain laughed cheerfully, adding more to his words.
But, I lost both words and expressions. He roamed around looking for me while not sleeping and gulping down meal potions every few hours.
Honestly, I didn’t think much about Cain while I was with Andrea. His favorability towards me seemed more like a teacher would have, so I didn’t expect him to search for me desperately… Well, that was a lie. I was thinking about myself. At first, I was scared because my life was in Andrea’s hands, and when going home was possible that was the only thing I could think about.
“So you didn’t sleep for three weeks?”
I asked quietly, and Cain rolled his eyes a few times before nodding.
“I slept for three days. Sleepless potions have cooldowns, you know.”
“…..”
Cain read the look of bewilderment on my face and replied.
“Why? Magicians usually take a lot of those when they start their research.”
If side effects occur, just cast a healing spell, he added, as if he were a child getting scolded by his mother.
“Why did you search so desperately?”
Cain’s favorability was currently 58. It was high, but not to the extent of deep love. Moreover, the type of affection seemed more platonic than romantic, which raised some questions.
However, Cain frowned as if my question was not fully understood.
“Hey! Why are you making it sound like that? From the moment you joined the apprenticeship, you became apart of my family.”
He pounded his chest.
“What kind of idiot stays still when their family member is gone?”
Family member? I couldn’t imagine such an answer. As I blinked in confusion, Cain scratched the back of his head and shouted.
“No matter where you are, no matter how long it takes, I’ll find you. It would be the same even if Heron went missing. That’s what it means to enter the Magic Tower.”
I remembered Cain’s favorability rising by 10 at a time. He had been isolated, receiving no care from anyone other than a golem since he was a newborn. He dedicated himself to magic to get closer to people, but it ended up isolating him even more.
Yeah, you were a guy who was hungry for affection and needed a family.
I took the ointment bottle he handed me, played with it for a moment, and then took a few steps closer to him. And I hugged him tightly.
“W-what’s this?”
“Thank you for finding me, Master.”
“…Oh….well…I did do something like that.”
Cain took a deep breath. To avoid it becoming awkward, I gently released myself from his arms.
“I’m not going anywhere now? Please teach me a lot of magic.”
“Sure, look forward to it. I’ll start teaching you physically tomorrow!”
He said something strange again. But since he didn’t seem ill-intention I nodded happily and left the room. As I closed the door, I thought I heard a faint ding-dong sound from inside, but there was nothing in front of me.
Did I mishear? I returned to my room, picking my ears.
Andrea was sitting quietly on my room’s bed, waiting for me. I tossed the ointment bottle to Andrea, who caught it effortlessly.
“Weren’t you going to apply it yourself?”
“Do it yourself. Take that and leave my room.”
“But my hands hurt, and I can’t even properly open the cap…”
Andrea lowered his eyebrows and whined. I could clearly see what was going on but I didn’t want to pick a fight unnecessarily, so I just sat down next to Andrea. Then I opened the cap and scooped a small amount of ointment using the thin stick inside the bottle, then applied it to the back of my hand.
Without saying a word, I took Andrea’s hand and applied the ointment to the wounds. There weren’t severe wounds, but there were small cuts with dried blood. A long tear-shaped wound was in the center of the palm and cuts on the back of the hand were a deep red.
“Please cast a protection spell on my hands as well? It’s all injured because you couldn’t say that to the Magic Tower Lord?”
“They wouldn’t have put a protection spell on me. I’m the kidnapper who kidnapped Dell.”
“Proud of it, huh…”
“Haha.”
Andrea stared intensely at my face as I applied the ointment. I stubbornly kept my gaze only on Andrea’s hand to avoid making eye contact, but I wasn’t unaware that he was looking at my face.
Is this face really that good?…
It felt like my face would be pierced. Unable to endure any longer, I declared my defeat first.
“Stop looking.”
“Are you going to ask Cain for a favor? Soul separation magic or true love magic.”
Ah, right. Andrea came here in the first place to ask for that. Well, since I planned to raise Cain’s favorability l to 100 and log out, it made some sense.
“I’ll ask for the magic of true love.”
“Do you know what kind of magic that is?”
Yes.
“…Yes.”
In response to my answer, Andrea leaned towards me. The refreshing scent of soap filled the air.
“What kind of magic is it?”
True love is not magic. It’s love itself. I wanted to say that I would win Cain’s love. However, I put on a nonchalant expression and replied.
“It’s a magic that Cain and I need to cast together. I decided to learn that spell separately.”
I closed the ointment bottle and handed it back to Andrea.
“You take this. You’ll need it more.”
And while looking into his eyes, I said.
“At first, it was a bit strange, but still… Thank you until now.”
It was a farewell.
“Not me but the person with me is a bit injured. I heard there is magic ointment here? Please lend it to me.”
“Oh, that unlucky bastard?”
Cain snorted.
“Then, I won’t give it to you.”
He turned his body like a child and went into the room.
“That person is bleeding from their hands…”
When I spoke, Chain shouted angrily.
“Still, I won’t give it! That kid kidnapped you! Why should I give ointment to the kidnapper?”
“………. How did you know that?”
“That kid said so. He kidnapped you, so don’t say anything about him.”
When did you said something like that? It was true. Was it just kidnapping? He also bombed a attack in the Magic Tower and threatened to kill me. Well, he was a decent guy for a while, so I forgot about it.
I sighed deeply and turned around. Cain suddenly followed me out.
“Where are you going!”
“To get ointment from Heron.”
“Hey, are you a fool? Why are worried about the kidnapper getting hurt!”
Cain screamed loudly. It was tiring to taste Cain’s temper after a long time. Is he two years old or twenty? Why is he acting like a brat?
When I looked at Cain with force in my eyes, he grunted.
“Do you know how worried I was? The Magic tower was attacked, and you disappeared. It’s the 99th floor, and all the windows are broken. Did he push you? Or did you jump suddenly… How much mental agony did I go through…”
Cain’s booming voice gradually faded.
“I should have cast a tracking spell earlier. You’re supposed to be my disciple, but you don’t even know a lot of spells. You don’t even have enough mana to cast magic without my help………………I should’ve thought about everything.”
He said, muttering.
“I thought you might have run away again. You’re good at that.”
Cain glared at me resentfully. But soon, the resentment melted away, and relief took its place.
“…But you came back well. Mana vessel.”
“……Yes.”
I’ll give you the ointment, come in.”
Cain’s voice, saying that, seemed a bit down, so I pretended not to notice. I nodded silently and followed him in the room.
Cain went to a massive dresser in the corner, claiming he would find the ointment. There were dozens of small drawers, and he immediately opened one containing the ointment.
The magical ointment, which supposedly healed wounds and grew new skin growth instantly when applied, was stored in a large jar. He walked towards the desk, transferring it to a smaller bottle.
While Cain was transferring the ointment, I explored the room. Cain’s room was messier than I remembered. Books were scattered on both the bed and the floor. The walls were covered in magical runes drawn with what seemed like charcoal. Empty potion bottles rolled around everywhere. Overall, it felt like the lair of a mad genius scientist.
“Why is it dirty in here?” I asked casually. Cain responded equally nonchalantly.
“Oh, I was looking for you. Doesn’t it look a little obvious?
He capped the bottle and tapped the outside of the bottle. A label appeared, indicating “Magic Ointment.” He handed it to me.
But instead of taking the bottle, I picked up an empty potion bottle nearby.
“Is this a meal potion?”
“Yeah.”
It was unbelievable. With this many empty bottles, he could sell them and afford gourmet meals. And he searched for me while having all these potions?
“Oh, it’s not just meal potions, there’s also a sleepless potion.”
“A remedy for insomnia?”
“No, that’s a sleeping potion. The one I took is a sleepless potion. It keeps you energetic for 48 hours. It’s a popular item in our tower.”
Of course, I couldn’t stay awake for 48 hours straight, but Cain laughed cheerfully, adding more to his words.
But, I lost both words and expressions. He roamed around looking for me while not sleeping and gulping down meal potions every few hours.
Honestly, I didn’t think much about Cain while I was with Andrea. His favorability towards me seemed more like a teacher would have, so I didn’t expect him to search for me desperately… Well, that was a lie. I was thinking about myself. At first, I was scared because my life was in Andrea’s hands, and when going home was possible that was the only thing I could think about.
“So you didn’t sleep for three weeks?”
I asked quietly, and Cain rolled his eyes a few times before nodding.
“I slept for three days. Sleepless potions have cooldowns, you know.”
“…..”
Cain read the look of bewilderment on my face and replied.
“Why? Magicians usually take a lot of those when they start their research.”
If side effects occur, just cast a healing spell, he added, as if he were a child getting scolded by his mother.
“Why did you search so desperately?”
Cain’s favorability was currently 58. It was high, but not to the extent of deep love. Moreover, the type of affection seemed more platonic than romantic, which raised some questions.
However, Cain frowned as if my question was not fully understood.
“Hey! Why are you making it sound like that? From the moment you joined the apprenticeship, you became apart of my family.”
He pounded his chest.
“What kind of idiot stays still when their family member is gone?”
Family member? I couldn’t imagine such an answer. As I blinked in confusion, Cain scratched the back of his head and shouted.
“No matter where you are, no matter how long it takes, I’ll find you. It would be the same even if Heron went missing. That’s what it means to enter the Magic Tower.”
I remembered Cain’s favorability rising by 10 at a time. He had been isolated, receiving no care from anyone other than a golem since he was a newborn. He dedicated himself to magic to get closer to people, but it ended up isolating him even more.
Yeah, you were a guy who was hungry for affection and needed a family.
I took the ointment bottle he handed me, played with it for a moment, and then took a few steps closer to him. And I hugged him tightly.
“W-what’s this?”
“Thank you for finding me, Master.”
“…Oh….well…I did do something like that.”
Cain took a deep breath. To avoid it becoming awkward, I gently released myself from his arms.
“I’m not going anywhere now? Please teach me a lot of magic.”
“Sure, look forward to it. I’ll start teaching you physically tomorrow!”
He said something strange again. But since he didn’t seem ill-intention I nodded happily and left the room. As I closed the door, I thought I heard a faint ding-dong sound from inside, but there was nothing in front of me.
Did I mishear? I returned to my room, picking my ears.
Andrea was sitting quietly on my room’s bed, waiting for me. I tossed the ointment bottle to Andrea, who caught it effortlessly.
“Weren’t you going to apply it yourself?”
“Do it yourself. Take that and leave my room.”
“But my hands hurt, and I can’t even properly open the cap…”
Andrea lowered his eyebrows and whined. I could clearly see what was going on but I didn’t want to pick a fight unnecessarily, so I just sat down next to Andrea. Then I opened the cap and scooped a small amount of ointment using the thin stick inside the bottle, then applied it to the back of my hand.
Without saying a word, I took Andrea’s hand and applied the ointment to the wounds. There weren’t severe wounds, but there were small cuts with dried blood. A long tear-shaped wound was in the center of the palm and cuts on the back of the hand were a deep red.
“Please cast a protection spell on my hands as well? It’s all injured because you couldn’t say that to the Magic Tower Lord?”
“They wouldn’t have put a protection spell on me. I’m the kidnapper who kidnapped Dell.”
“Proud of it, huh…”
“Haha.”
Andrea stared intensely at my face as I applied the ointment. I stubbornly kept my gaze only on Andrea’s hand to avoid making eye contact, but I wasn’t unaware that he was looking at my face.
Is this face really that good?…
It felt like my face would be pierced. Unable to endure any longer, I declared my defeat first.
“Stop looking.”
“Are you going to ask Cain for a favor? Soul separation magic or true love magic.”
Ah, right. Andrea came here in the first place to ask for that. Well, since I planned to raise Cain’s favorability l to 100 and log out, it made some sense.
“I’ll ask for the magic of true love.”
“Do you know what kind of magic that is?”
Yes.
“…Yes.”
In response to my answer, Andrea leaned towards me. The refreshing scent of soap filled the air.
“What kind of magic is it?”
True love is not magic. It’s love itself. I wanted to say that I would win Cain’s love. However, I put on a nonchalant expression and replied.
“It’s a magic that Cain and I need to cast together. I decided to learn that spell separately.”
I closed the ointment bottle and handed it back to Andrea.
“You take this. You’ll need it more.”
And while looking into his eyes, I said.
“At first, it was a bit strange, but still… Thank you until now.”
It was a farewell.
