[V13C13.3] Interlude: The Melancholy of Silas Page

Isaac Walker, the disciple of the Silent Witch, was a very busy man.

Even after the shadow-removal spell discussions with Melissa, he still had a mountain of things to do, such as sending instructions to his domain, writing a thank-you letter to Chairman Anderson, and reviewing the ship leasing contracts.

He had to return to Erin in the near future, especially since he needed to visit other regions and the capital relatively soon.

Currently, Isaac was progressing various miscellaneous tasks in the room he borrowed from the Mage Association. By the time he reached a good stopping point, he found that it was long past lunchtime.

The cafeteria was probably closed at this odd hour, so he decided to head outside for lunch. But right as he stepped into the corridor, he heard a voice calling his name.

He turned to see a man with red curly hair, wearing a robe over his muscular body. It was the Fifth Thorn Witch, Raul Roseberg.

“Hey Isaac! Perfect timing. There’s something I want to ask you about.”

“I’m all ears,” Isaac said, suppressing his hunger and eagerness for lunch.

Raul checked that there was no one around and continued in a lowered voice.

“You see, the other Sages are looking… well, kinda gloomy. When we were eating lunch in the cafeteria earlier, they seemed to be in pretty low spirits.

For Isaac, the first person to come to mind was, of course, his lovable master Monica.

However, he already had an idea of why Monica might be feeling down.

“I saw Monica ripping up a slice of bread and mumbling ‘Split into two, then three, then four with the connection formula…’ with a scary face. Then, she compressed all the scraps of bread into a ball and stuffed it into her mouth! Her, of all people!”

Isaac decided it was best to make a dinner that did not require any division tonight. Perhaps a stew would be good.

“And Ray has said nothing but ‘I want to see my fiancé’ for a while now…”

Honestly, the only solution there was to send him back to the capital.

“Mary-san came to Sazandol right before fully recovering from her coma, so she’s been sleeping all day. And Silas has been acting weird since last night.”

(Did something happen to Silas-niisan?)

Isaac occasionally bumped into Silas at the Mage Association and chatted a bit, but come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Silas since this morning.

Perhaps the confrontation with Black Dragon Theodore had left Silas conflicted.

“Where is the Dragon Slayer Mage right now?” Isaac asked.

“He just finished his rounds and is resting in the break room. Give him a shout if you want. I’ll go cheer Ray up.”

Isaac knew that Ray probably preferred to be left alone, but he simply nodded and headed to the break room.

＊　＊　＊

Isaac spotted Silas at the entrance of the break room. He was sitting slumped at the end of the long table, looking paler than usual.

Isaac greeted him in his usual manner.

“Hey, Silas-niisan. You look tired.”

“…Ike.”

“I heard you’re feeling down.”

They had shared a meal with Monica only a few days ago, and Silas seemed very lively then. Perhaps his worries popped up later, now that he had time to think.

In that case, he should invite Silas for a drink tonight.

Meanwhile, the slumped Silas slowly lifted his head and ruffled his disheveled hair.

“Ike, you know…”

“Yeah?”

“I like women with a beautiful smile and a big chest, especially if they look good in an apron.”

Isaac immediately concluded that whatever Silas was about to say was completely unimportant.

Thus, his lunch now took precedence over Silas’s troubles. His plans shifted towards heading out to fill his own stomach with grilled meat.

But before Isaac could turn on his heel, Silas grabbed his arm. His powerful grip revealed a strong determination to prevent the escape of the only person he could vent to.

“A certain someone was very passionate about flirting with me,” Silas explained.

“Congratulations. I hope you two find happiness together.”

That should have been the end of it, but Silas refused to let go of Isaac’s arm.

Silas put on a grim look and continued, “But she doesn’t have a smile.”

“I see. So she must be more on the cool side.”

“And she has no chest either.”

“It’s not good to judge women by appearance.”

“And the apron… the damn apron… No, it’s impossible. There’s just no way.”

The hand gripping his arm still refused to budge.

At this point, Isaac’s head was only filled with thoughts of lunch.

Should he put the usual sauce on his grilled meat, or try out a sprinkle of nuts instead? Or perhaps he should go for fried chicken instead? Both could be eaten alone or turned into a sandwich. He was also in the mood for a drink.

“Oi, Ike! Are you even listening!”

Of course, Isaac had been tuning Silas out for a while now. He offered no response, only a vague smile.

When people saw Prince Felix with this smile, they would probably think, “Ah, His Highness is listening to me so intently.” But with his current face, it looked more like a mocking smile.

As expected, Silas’s temple started twitching in anger. But suddenly, he widened his eyes and put on an expression of concern.

“Ah, right… I guess you wouldn’t know much about girls with that scary-looking face…”

“…”

“Sorry for bragging about my love troubles.”

“…”

“Well, uh, there’s probably a girl out there who will appreciate your good points. Hang in there.”

“…”

“Have you had lunch yet? If not, I’ll treat you.”

What a wonderful friend he was.

Isaac put on a cold smile, suppressing the urge to kick Silas in the shins.

“Sure, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Since Silas made the offer, Isaac decided to get both the grilled meat and the fried chicken, as well as refills on the drink.

＊　＊　＊

The two departed the Mage Association for the street with food stalls, when suddenly, Silas remembered the question he wanted to ask.

“Oh right. You’re friends with the Barrier Mage’s disciple and the Library Society guy, right?”

Silas seemed to be referring to Glenn and Cyril. He had seen Isaac talking to them during the battle with Black Dragon Theodore.

Isaac nodded in acknowledgment, so Silas continued his question.

“What’s all this ‘President’ and ‘Vice President’ stuff about? The Barrier Mage’s disciple was calling you ‘President’, right?”

“…”

Indeed, Glenn Dudley still referred to Isaac and Cyril by their student council titles, years after graduating from Serendia Academy.

That said, it was much better for Glenn to call him “President” rather than “Prince Felix” in public, so Isaac had accepted the alias as a sort of nickname.

However, Glenn Dudley was the son of a butcher and disciple to the Barrier Mage. Cyril Ashley was the son of Marquis Highown and a member of the Library Society. Isaac was the disciple of the Silent Witch.

How was he supposed to explain their relationship without mentioning Serendia Academy?

“We’re all members of the… Meat Cuisine Club.”

In truth, Isaac and Glenn were indeed research partners in the field of meat cuisine.

“Even the skinny guy from the Library Society?” Silas asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah, he may not look like it, but he loves his food. Most of our research funds come from him.”

Unfortunately for Cyril, this was the easiest excuse to clean up the loose ends.

Meanwhile, Silas put on a half-exasperated smile.

“Come on, Ike… I’m glad that you have so many friends, but all you think about is food. You’ll never get any girls like that.”

“That’s really none of your business. Oh, get me three orders of fried chicken from the stall over there.”

“Huh? Three? How are we dividing them?”

“One to bring home for my hungry Senpai. Two for me to eat right now.”

“There’s nothing for me!?”

After the torn-up bread incident, the Silent Witch cheered herself up by squishing the paw pads of her familiar. There is no need to worry about her.

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