Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

Chapter 133

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None

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Many things happened, many, and yet few, things.

Ian had finished all his business in the north.

It was time to return to the Empire.

He met the people who had helped him in the north and said his goodbyes.

"May Hrundal's blessing be with you."

He followed Ian all the way to the distant harbor to see him off.

"It's great that everything worked out, Ian."

"Come visit us again!"

From the Sky Claw tribe, Priest Madagal and Gunnar came out as representatives to see him off.

Currently, the entire north was busy with the Great Hunt Festival, which was half a season late.

With the death of the Mountain King, they were gathering the beasts he had hoarded.

The war clouds that had hung over the north were gone, replaced by the fervor of the hunt.

Because of this, only those who were free could come to see him off.

Ian didn't feel any regret.

He had learned plenty of magic, secured a magic elixir, and even safely brought back Takarion.

On the ship heading to the Empire, Ian waved to the northerners.

"I'll visit again!"

"Make stone soup again!"

"Ask the priest to make it for you. Stay healthy, Priest."

"See you again, Ian!"

The ship sailed smoothly on the waves, heading towards the distant, sparkling continent.

---

---

"Ian."

As he headed to Kira's cabin, someone called out to Ian.

Belenka, dressed in casual clothes, called him from the bow of the ship.

At first, Ian was a bit concerned about Belenka wearing women's clothing.

Why?

There's a cliché that sailors don't like women on board.

They say the ship, being female, would get jealous if another woman came aboard... or so he'd heard.

Belenka was from the continent and not familiar with the sea.

He thought she wore women's clothes because she didn't know sailor culture...

'Belenka, sir? Why Belenka, sir?"

'Well, her outfit...'

'? What's wrong with her outfit?'

Listening to the sailors, they didn't care at all about a woman being on board.

Ian was the only one grumbling.

Movies, dramas, novels. These fraudsters.

Having a woman on board doesn't matter at all!

Actually, the superstition Ian was thinking of was only half true.

Old sailors indeed disliked having women on board.

The reason was simple: women always became a source of conflict.

After the Age of Exploration, when long voyages became possible, the time sailors spent on ships increased rapidly.

Sometimes, they would be on a ship for months or even years.

Having a woman in such a confined space for a long time?

No wonder incidents would happen.

That's why the presence of female sailors wasn't welcomed by sailors.

But, in this era, ships rarely made long ocean voyages. In fishing villages, female sailors were quite common.

Besides, Belenka was a passenger, not a sailor.

There was no reason for the sailors to think it strange.

Thus, Belenka was enjoying the sea breeze in a dress.

Her long blonde hair fluttered elegantly.

She looked like a classic beauty, like an illustration drawn whimsically by an AI.

"Ian. We're heading back to the Empire now, right?"

"Yes."

"We'll visit the Blue Key Monastery first."

Ian nodded.

As Belenka mentioned, the first place they needed to go was the Blue Key Monastery.

Only after safely returning Takarion would their mission be complete.

"Where will you go after the monastery?"

Belenka was interested in what came next.

Originally, Ian's destination was the northern part of the Empire.

But this time, he had gone too far north.

It wouldn't be strange for Ian to head back to the northern part of the Empire again.

But Ian had long lost the desire to roam the northern Empire.

The only thing there was the gathering of space-time wizards.

But those wizards would come looking for Ian when the time was right, so there was no reason to seek them out first.

He had already discovered the mysteries of the snowy fields in the land of barbarians...

"I'm thinking of investigating dragons."

"Dragons?"

The materials to enhance Anor-lsil were with a dragon.

If rumors about the dragon came up, Ian thought he would investigate.

Of course, only investigate.

Dragons were dangerous beings, and recklessly confronting one could be a direct ticket to the afterlife.

"Then you'll need to gather information."

"Exactly."

"Then it would be best to visit large cities?"

"Probably."

As soon as Ian finished speaking, Belenka smiled contentedly.

"That's great."

"What is?"

"It's a good place to spend money."

Belenka held out her hand confidently.

"Me, money, please."

"..."

"If you cheat me, it'll be troublesome."

Belenka was indebted to Ian for her ransom.

But just because she had a debt didn't mean she should work without a penny.

No matter the debt, she still needed money to live.

Belenka was a knight.

Of course, she needed maintenance costs.

Having accompanied Ian to the north and fought many battles, Belenka had accumulated a lot of performance pay.

A knight's pay consisted of daily wages and performance pay based on the battle results.

Belenka had the right to claim the amount after deducting the debt repayment from Ian.

"You want it now? I don't have any money right now."

Ian was slightly taken aback.

He had enough travel expenses but not enough to pay the knight's wages.

"Really? Then give it to me later."

Belenka smiled and withdrew her hand.

Then she went back to gazing at the sea as if nothing had happened.

Ian looked at her in surprise.

Belenka was meticulous when it came to money.

But now, hearing there was no money, she backed down so easily.

For freelancers, hearing that their pay is delayed is as serious as it gets.

Especially for freelancers bound by loose contracts, hearing they won't get paid is enough to make them flip out.

Seeing Ian's strange expression, Belenka asked.

"What is it? That look?"

"Well... I feel a bit sorry."

Belenka chuckled and patted Ian's shoulder.

"I'm not foolish enough to get angry hearing a traveler has no money. Besides, Ian, you're a wizard. You can always make money."

It's true.

Ian could make enough money for Belenka's salary in any city doing any job.

Or, if he went to any noble and demanded money, they would pile up gold coins.

That's the treatment wizards received in the Empire.

Wizards are highly capable, so they receive such treatment.

But on the flip side.

Wizards aren't easily trusted because of their capabilities.

They can betray you with unimaginable tricks.

Logically, Belenka shouldn't trust Ian.

Knights only trust wizards when there's a sword at their necks.

"And also..."

But Belenka trusted Ian.

"...You're not someone who breaks promises."

Belenka mumbled, scratching her cheek as if embarrassed.

Ian realized that Belenka trusted him.

Trust doesn't build overnight.

Belenka had enough trust in Ian to wait for him to repay her.

"Thanks. I'll make sure to give you the money as soon as we get to the city."

"I'm looking forward to it. I hope we arrive soon."

Ian and Belenka smiled at each other.

---

---

While heading back to the Empire, Ian taught Kira the Maronius.

Teaching, he called it, but Ian felt it was a bit laughable.

Who was he, a novice himself, to teach anyone?

Of course, there wasn't another novice like Ian in the world.

What kind of novice wizard survives a firestorm and communicates with transcendent mysteries?

If the 'real novice' wizards at the Imperial Magic Academy, cramming Maronius' language like civil service exam candidates, saw Ian, they would have been outraged, thinking, 'Is that a novice?'

Ian had few opportunities to meet other wizards, so he lacked self-awareness.

Honestly, he wasn't confident about teaching Kira properly.

But since he had promised to teach her, he decided to stick to the basics.

"Kira, are you ready?"

"Yes!"

Kira was brimming with enthusiasm.

It wasn't just a metaphor; she was literally scorching the floor...!

"Kira! Focus!"

"... Oh!"

When she came to her senses, the smoke stopped.

She had almost burned the floor.

This was the issue with someone naturally gifted in magic like Kira.

Being so close to mystery, just getting excited could attract its attention.

'If she keeps living like this, she'll end up burning herself to death.'

Ian shook his head, thinking of Kira's talent.

In most cases, magical talent was more of a curse than a blessing.

Before learning to control the mysteries, one's life was always at risk.

Especially with dangerous magic like fire magic, if unlucky, spontaneous human combustion could happen, causing death simply by breathing.

Ian felt certain.

Regardless of anything else, Kira needed to learn magic for her survival.

"Since it's the first day, how about we start lightly with 50 characters?"

"50 characters...? Isn't that too many?"

"???"

Ian tilted his head, as if hearing nonsense.

Oh my, what is she saying?

Fifty characters are too many? I learned 100 characters a day when I was ten.

"Fifty characters are too many?"

"Memorizing all of them... isn't that a lot?"

Ian was quietly shocked.

He didn't realize it himself, but Ian's mind had been slightly twisted due to his magical education.

Studying 100 characters a day?

That's just normal, right?

He had halved the study load for Kira's sake, yet she thought it was still too much.

"Memorize 50 characters in the morning, review in the afternoon, practice writing sentences, and review again in the evening before sleeping. That should be perfect."

Ian muttered mechanically.

Kira looked at the hint of madness in Ian's eyes and was horrified.

What the... Ian! You're a bit weird!

Even when Ian usually said strange things, at least he seemed human.

But when talking about study loads, Ian just seemed crazy!

Seeing Kira's shocked face, Ian felt puzzled.

In his past life, Ian had experienced the insanity of the 'university entrance exams' and didn't find Eredith' education excessive.

Hey, Korean students study from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep. That's common sense!

Ian had ingrained study habits.

He wasn't stupid, having gotten into a decent university.

And with the help of the status window, he managed to breeze through memorization.

For these complex reasons, Ian became a wizard without much hardship.

But Kira, knowing none of this, just saw Ian as a monster...

Ian really was a genius. With a mind that sharp, no wonder he became a wizard!

"Hmm..."

Seeing Kira's dilemma, Ian boldly reduced the amount of material.

Like exercise, studying should start with an amount one can handle. If one overextends out of sheer enthusiasm, they might lose interest later on due to exhaustion.

"How about we study just 30 characters?"

Kira couldn't help but smile genuinely. No student in the world wouldn't be happy to have their study load reduced...!

"Thanks, Ian!"

Ian nodded.

"Alright, it would be great to open a book... but since we don't have one, we'll skip that."

Ian wrote the characters directly on a wooden plank with chalk.

"This is the character for sky, 'Kal.'"

"This is the character for earth, 'Ham.'"

"This is the character for world, 'Uno.'"

Kira watched in a daze as Ian wrote down the characters with ease.

Ian really had memorized the entire Maronius language...

Suddenly, Ian, who had mastered such a language, seemed even more impressive.

But then, Kira snapped back to reality. She had to memorize the entire Maronius language as well. Not just memorizing, but also using it to form sentences and develop enough conversational skill to communicate.

The process of becoming a wizard was tough. That's why students at the Imperial Magic Academy were holed up studying for five or even ten years.

'...But I'll do it!'

Kira was determined. Becoming a wizard had been her long-held dream.

Learning the Maronius language and being able to converse directly with the phoenix...

Her late 'father' would surely be proud.

"Hey! Kira! The floor is burning again!"

"Oh! Oh! Sorry!"

"Haah. Hold on. I'll just draw a magic circle."

Ian drew a magic circle around Kira to ward off the fire.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Kira steadily took that first step.