I Quit Being a Court Magician Apprentice to Become a Magical Item Craftsman
“I want to serve my master even more!”
As we gathered in a room at the inn to discuss our plans, just the three of us—Lady Iriya , Sebirino, and myself—Sebirino suddenly declared this out of nowhere.
My familiar, Rini, shared a room with Lady Iriya and had already fallen asleep. Lately, she’d been so excited about flying together on the wyvern that she had trouble settling down at night. She couldn’t fly in her humanoid form, only when she transformed into a bat—but even then, she wasn’t very fast.
Getting to ride a wyvern, soaring high and fast, must have made her incredibly happy.
“Sebirino, you seem more like a vassal than a disciple.”
“No, Sir Ekvar, this is the proper way for an apprentice to serve.”
An apprentice. Well, since he’s living at her house now, I suppose that makes sense… or at least, that’s how he wants to see it.
A prodigy respected even in Egdualum—this is how he thinks?
“He gathers herbs for me, helps with alchemy, and even does housework… I’d say he’s fulfilling his duties quite well.”
“That’s true, but… How should I put it? Isn’t there something more decisive, something that truly makes me the ‘first disciple’?”
It seemed Sebirino had grand ideals about what it meant to be an apprentice or a first disciple.
Lady Iriya also looked troubled. What exactly did he consider to be a “decisive” factor?
“That’s it! Master, shall I wash your back?”
“…Huh!? Why? No, absolutely not!”
Why is this where the conversation is going?! Sebirino had such a serious expression that it didn’t seem like a joke. Not that he was the type to joke in the first place—but this was so absurd!
“Then, I shall attend to you at night. Please, leave it to me!”
“Wha…?”
Lady Iriya ’s face turned bright red, but before she could say anything, I cut in with a loud voice.
“Hold it right there, Sebirino! What exactly are you saying?!”
Sebirino placed a hand on his chest, looking oddly confident. I had absolutely no idea what he was trying to convey!
“Well, you see, in Egdualum, some magic masters have caused issues by forcing their disciples to bathe them or attend to them at night. I simply wanted to express that I would have no objections to such… physical service.”
Yes, I was aware of that problem!
But that kind of underhanded move is unfair!
“That’s an issue because male masters force unwilling female disciples to do it! If it were Lady Iriya attending to me, I’d gladly accept it every night!”
“No, Sir Ekvar, you are not a disciple, are you?”
SMACK!!!
A sharp, loud sound echoed through the room, and a hot shock ran across my cheek.
…Did I just get slapped? By Lady Iriya …?!
“Ekvar, you pervert!!!”
“…Huh? What? But Sebirino was the one who brought it up…?”
“Sebirino can’t help it, but you said that knowing exactly what it meant!”
For a moment, Sebirino froze before clearing his throat, as if regaining his composure.
“…Well, now that you mention it, having a grown man attend to a woman at night would indeed be strange.”
“…And whose fault do you think it is that I got slapped…?”
Why was I the only one who got hit…?
This is so unfair!
Lady Iriya stormed out, saying she didn’t want to deal with this anymore. She’s going to be in a bad mood tomorrow, isn’t she? This is rough. I always thought I was good at keeping girls happy, but it never seems to work with her…
Well, no helping it. Time to shift gears and discuss what she shouldn’t hear.
“So, how much have you told Lady Iriya ?”
Now alone with Sebirino, I asked him directly.
“How much… about what?”
“For example, about the former Grand Mage’s embezzlement.”
“Ah, that.”
That self-destructive, worthless Grand Mage had failed to report her achievements.
As a result, she never received the rewards she was due. In fact, some of the elixirs had been siphoned off, and we even traced where they had been illegally sold. The buyers were so astonished by the superior effects that they reached out with inquiries.
From people we had no records of selling to, no less. Now that the culprit was gone, there was no longer any risk of the information being buried.
“I haven’t explained anything about the elixir rewards at all. I realized that the Grand Mage was diverting them, and I couldn’t bear to tell Master that she was the only one denied her due.”
“Back then, reporting it wouldn’t have changed anything, so learning about it now would just be cruel.”
“Exactly. The subjugation was classified as rear-line support, so the compensation was minimal… but she was happy, thinking she had been paid generously.”
“…Yeah, keeping quiet was the right choice. Now that I think about it, since she’s from a village, her sense of money is probably different to begin with.”
She was happy with it, huh? Well, no need to make her sad unnecessarily.
She refers to dragon-slaying as ‘material gathering,’ so her sense of danger is clearly on a whole different level.
I’ve already reported this recent dragon subjugation to His Highness. The kingdom will probably send her a reward in due time.
We’ve done quite a bit in the defense city as well. Commander Ranvalt, despite his gentle appearance, seemed like a shrewd man, so he might be considering some form of compensation. Maybe he’ll offer us more materials?
Still, there’s something charming about her—naïve yet reckless in a way.
I now understand a little more about why she’s so indifferent to money.
She personally gathers the rare materials she needs, forms good relationships, and people naturally gift her things. Since she helps others without concern for profit, they, in turn, want to help her. A virtuous cycle.
She has so few things she wants to buy with money that she doesn’t even feel the need for it.
Lord Belial seems eager to be relied on, and if she asked, he’d probably lavish her with gifts. But she never really begs for anything.
I suppose my job is to fend off the vultures trying to take advantage of her kindness.
“…By the way, Sir Ekvar. I was wondering how you managed to reach Master before I did, but now I see—you noticed the communication magic and waited for her to contact you, didn’t you?”
“Oh, right. Did you also go to her family home? Well, she is your master, after all.”
I answered casually, but Sebirino eyed me with suspicion.
“…Are you trying to dodge the question? Why haven’t you told Master about the classified technology?”
“Ahhh, so you figured it out. If I had mentioned it carelessly in Chenkaslar and it got reported to the higher-ups, they would’ve accused me of stealing the technology and used it as leverage to force my cooperation in the Grand Mage case. That’s not necessary anymore, though.”
“If that information spreads, won’t you be punished for it?”
He’s sharp—surprisingly so. Except when it comes to Lady Iriya .
“It was just a gamble. You know me—I don’t plan strategies based on self-preservation.”
Besides, if it’s Lady Iriya , she could easily set up her magic to ensure that any information she transmits comes back to her as well, don’t you think?
I need more intel on the defense city. Chenkaslar seems to be the most dangerous place right now.
“Also, I heard that you and Master defeated a high-ranking dragon in Chenkaslar. His Highness mentioned that Ekvar never gives proper reports.”
“Ah, damn. I deliberately kept the dragon’s rank vague in my report, but she went and spilled the truth… Well, it wasn’t something I could properly explain anyway. Lord Belial delivered the finishing blow using the king’s forbidden magic, but I couldn’t exactly go around revealing that, could I?”
I had already examined her magic, so I crafted the report in a way that made it seem like she took down the dragon with a spell, leading to a convenient misunderstanding. It was technically a breach of protocol.
After all, a high-ranking dragon is supposed to warrant a full-scale national subjugation effort. Just running into one and taking it down on the spot? That’s ridiculous! If His Highness received such a report, he’d think it was some kind of coded message rather than a straightforward account.
I didn’t want to mislead him, but how else was I supposed to report something this absurd?!
Would it be too much to ask for a kiss as compensation for all this trouble?!
“Lord Belial’s forbidden magic! I would love to see that for myself! I can’t wait for another such opportunity!”
“You’re way too carefree about this…”
Sebirino looked absolutely thrilled. Completely oblivious to my struggles…
People say Sebirino is stoic and reserved, but when it comes to magic or Lady Iriya , he gets so excited he can’t stop talking.
My impression of him has changed significantly since coming here.
Now that His Highness has met Lady Iriya in person and seen the reality for himself, I can probably start reporting things more honestly. Once he’s exposed to this level of absurdity firsthand, he won’t need me to explain it.
If someone suddenly submitted a report saying, “We accidentally ran into a high-ranking dragon and took it down. Everyone’s fine.” without any prior context, it would sound like some kind of cryptic message rather than an actual event!
Even if they asked for more details, I wouldn’t be able to explain properly, which is why I couldn’t report it in the first place…
