[V13C5] A Disciple's Most Important Job

Monica had defeated the Black Dragon of Sazandol, and returned home to where Lana was waiting for her. The following morning, right after Lana and Karina left, she was visited by the Fourth Thorn Witch, Melissa Roseberg.

“Hey, Moni-Moni. Little One. You recognize me now, right?”

Melissa entered through the door with a broad smile. However, Monica sensed something ominous in that smile, so she lowered her head and apologized on instinct.

“Y-Yes. Um, I’m sorry for any inconvenience I may have… Pugyah!”

Without giving Monica a chance to finish her sentence, Melissa pinched both of her cheeks. Then, she lifted Monica’s head back to eye level and put on a grin.

She was the splitting image of a wicked witch.

“Monica-chan, you lost your memories, right? So why did you suddenly show up at the harbor and defeat the black dragon? Well?”

“W-Well, um, t-that’s because…”

As Monica could do nothing but whimper through her pinched cheeks, Isaac intervened, pausing his preparation of lunch in the kitchen.

“Lady Melissa, may I ask that you stop tormenting my esteemed master?”

Isaac was currently wearing an apron over his usual shirt and vest. He had adjusted his mana level to return to his original face, but there was no eyepatch covering his right eye.

Melissa stared at the scar above Isaac’s right eye for a few seconds, before scoffing and turning back to Monica.

“Little One, you need to kick this deadbeat out right now.”

“Eh? Uh? Um, excuse me…?”

Monica had heard about what happened from Isaac yesterday. Apparently, he was the first to realize Theodore’s identity as a black dragon. Then, he offered this information to Melissa and was allowed to participate in the Gluttonous Zoe retrieval operation.

Isaac had introduced himself to Melissa as the Silent Witch’s disciple. Yet for some reason, Melissa seemed strangely hostile to him.

Either way, Melissa ignored Isaac and continued pinching Monica’s cheeks.

“This guy is the heinous criminal who caused catastrophic damage to my skin,” Melissa explained, gesturing towards Isaac with her chin.

“I apologize for any unintentional harm I may have caused. Please allow me to make amends. I will prepare some herbal tea effective against acne.”

“…Your thoughtfulness only makes you even more annoying.”

Melissa sat back into her chair with a thud, then crossed her arms.

Nero had been curled up and sleeping under the table in cat form, but the noise made him meow disapprovingly and leave the room. Melissa paid him no attention.

“Dragon Slayer said you two were there until the end, right? Then why didn’t this lackey come over and report to me? That’s supposed to be his job.”

Of course, Melissa glared at Isaac when she spat out the word ‘lackey’.

Isaac tilted his head slightly as he continued his tea preparations.

“Hmm? Did you not receive an explanation from Cyril?”

“Cyril-sama? You mean the guy with a fever who got carried in unconscious?”

“Eh!? Really!?”

Monica let out an involuntary shout.

Come to think of it, Cyril had fallen into the mana-contaminated sea, then flew through the skies on Thule for a while afterwards.

Monica had forgotten all about it after seeing Cyril shouting so energetically, but that would leave anyone with a fever.

“My idiot brother didn’t see anything and those airheaded weasels suck at explaining things,” Melissa ranted. “Basically, I don’t know anything about how you guys defeated the black dragon. I have to send a report to the capital soon, you know?”

Apparently, Melissa had originally intended to contact Monica yesterday, but the Mage Association was so busy with the aftermath that they didn’t have anyone to send.

Monica shrank down into her chair, feeling sorry that she had left them in the dark. Meanwhile, Isaac placed cups of herbal tea in front of both Melissa and Monica.

“If you are interested,” Isaac said. “I have prepared a rough summary of the events leading to the black dragon’s defeat and the closing of the summoning gate.”

“Then hand it over already.”

“Of course. But one thing first…”

Isaac gave a brief glance at Monica, who nodded and began explaining.

“Um, so I investigated the settling rate for when the things taken by Gluttonous Zoe are returned.”

Monica and Isaac did not simply rest all of yesterday.

After departing the hideout of the Imperial spy Yuan, the two had returned to Monica’s house and verified the details behind how the ‘precious things’ taken by Gluttonous Zoe are returned.

Monica had lost her memories, while Isaac had lost the body manipulation magic cast on him.

Memories and magic were two very different things, and the duration they had been lost was different as well.

Thus, Monica performed an experiment by writing down her memories at various mana levels, checking to see if there was any difference.

In the meantime, Isaac worked with his spirit Wildianu to determine the exact mana level at which his body manipulation magic peeled off.

They compiled their findings into a joint report, though of course, many of the details had to be excluded, as body manipulation magic was considered a forbidden art in Ridill.

The conclusion they reached was as follows…

“The more tangible the item taken, the lower the settling rate…” Monica explained. “Physical body parts seem to be particularly difficult…”

“If I remember correctly, some noble lady had her skin taken, right?” Melissa asked with a frown.

“…Yes.”

Melissa poked at a pimple on her chin, muttering, “…then she’s doomed.”

Melissa was the type of woman who made a big fuss over a single pimple. She seemed to have mixed feelings about Elianne, the girl whose skin had been taken.

“So, um, based on the settlement of my memories, I compiled the changes in mana arrangement…”

To tell the truth, it was actually based on Isaac’s body manipulation magic, but Monica glossed over that part.

“Also,” Monica continued. “I asked Lana… I mean, President Colette to submit an application for using the medical tools from Ambard.”

“Huh?”

To Melissa, this sounded like an abrupt change of topic. Ambard and Lana seemed completely unrelated to the settlement rate subject Monica was talking about.

Taking over for Monica’s poor explanation, Isaac interjected.

“We believe that it may be possible to stabilize the returned skin by loading the mana arrangement into the magical tools being researched in Ambard. However, their large medical devices are still in the research phase and require multiple applications, so we entrusted Miss Colette with that part.”

“Where in the world does Miss Colette come up in this?” Melissa asked.

“She has dealings with Count Bernie Jones of Ambard, so her cooperation will speed up the process. In addition, we can borrow carriages from the Anderson Trading Company, allowing for smoother transportation of the magical tools.”

“Why are you talking about the Anderson Trading Company now? Aren’t they run by the Transport King or something?”

“Miss Colette’s secretary is Clifford Anderson, who I am good friends with.”

Monica had doubts about that last statement, but other than that, he was telling the truth.

Karina was actually the first one to point out the possibility of using Ambard’s medical tools. Apparently, she had learned a little about them during her training in Ambard.

As a result, Monica came up with the idea of requesting Bernie’s assistance, and asked Lana to handle the application procedure.

Furthermore, Isaac had dealings with Chairman Anderson for his personal research. It wouldn’t be difficult to borrow carriages from the Anderson Trading Company. In fact, they already agreed to lend them to Lana’s company as needed.

Apparently, Isaac and Clifford had made the agreement in advance.

“All of this is summarized in the report. I’ll go and fetch it,” Isaac said, bowing and leaving the room.

Melissa sipped her herbal tea and mumbled, “I guess the tongue-tied master has an eloquent disciple. This is the exact opposite of the situation with the Barrier Mage.”

“Um, Ike helps me a lot. He’s not a, erm… d-deadbeat…”

Monica did her best to defend Isaac, but Melissa only rested her chin on her hand, staring back at Monica with her green eyes.

“Moni-Moni, you know…”

“Y-Yes?”

“You need to put a lock on your bedroom right away. A sturdy one.”

The unexpected suggestion left Monica puzzled. Why did Melissa suddenly start talking about locks?

“Um, I make sure to lock the drawers and shelves with important documents…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Walker lives in your house, right?”

“Yes, he does.”

Melissa was still resting her chin on her hands, but her shoulders grew slumped and a scowl appeared on her face.

“Don’t you ‘yes he does’ me… Okay, you know what. Fine, we’re going to the locksmith right now.”

“Huh? N-Now?”

“You’ll get a lock that looks as big and rugged as possible. That way, the appearance serves as a deterrent.”

A sturdy lock as a deterrent. To Monica, that did sound reasonably effective against thieves.

“A lock on Monica’s bedroom, you say?” Isaac interjected as he returned with the report in his hands. His face twisted into a troubled frown.

“Oh? What’s this?” Melissa scoffed, putting on a nasty grin. “I guess putting a lock on Moni-Moni’s room would be inconvenient to you?”

“No, I don’t mind. It’s just…”

Isaac lowered his gaze and continued with a grim expression.

“Please refrain from locking the door if you’ve been pulling multiple all-nighters, or skipping three meals in a row. Otherwise, I’d have to use an axe as the master key every time I check on your survival.”

Hearing this, Melissa turned toward Monica with a completely vacant expression. Monica remained silent and averted her eyes.

“…What kind of life have you been leading?” Melissa asked.

After continuous all-nighters and forgotten meals, Monica was often found collapsed on the floor. This state was best described as ‘unconscious’ rather than ‘sleeping’.

However, even this was a considerable improvement to before, generally due to Isaac’s presence.

“Um, you see,” Monica stuttered, twiddling her fingers. “I’ve improved lately… I think…”

“The first thing I do when visiting this house is checking to make sure you’re still alive,” Isaac said with complete seriousness.

“Eh?!”

“Remember when you fell asleep with an active fireplace and no ventilation? That’s really dangerous, so please never do that again. Also, the time you nearly drowned when taking a bath while sleep deprived, and…”

Isaac continued his earnest plea about a sad reality. The most important task of the Silent Witch’s disciple was to confirm the survival of his master.

“How many times have I thanked the gods that you’re still alive.”

“Uh, erm, t-that’s…”

By now, Melissa was staring at Monica with exasperation.

“…Monica-chan?”

“Waaah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The conversation between two airheaded weasels:

“Then Monica beat the black dragon.”

“Yeah.”

“With a woosh. That was really pretty, right Pikeh?”

“Right.”

Note: The ‘woosh’ was the Star Arrow.

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