THE OLD MAN TAKES AN APPRENTICE

The town wall and gates have crumbled to the ground.

Soldiers rush about, trying to fix it.

I look on, not at them but at the field beyond them.

An army of white spiders attacked this town, but someone miraculously drove them back.

And that someone was me.

At least, that’s what everyone else believes.

The massive Inferno Magic spell I invoked, Scorched Earth, burned up not only the spiders inside the town but those outside its walls as well.

The wall and gates within its range were destroyed, too, but that’s a small price to pay for protecting the rest of the town.

If my spell really did destroy those spiders, that is.

I stare out at the field.

It’s been burned into a wasteland, with nothing else remaining.

But I know what I saw.

Beyond the flames, I saw the master, far in the distance.

A white spider, now with the upper half of a young woman.

Though her form may have changed, I would recognize that great being anywhere.

As well as the signs of the master’s magic, which she activated as if timed to match my own.

No, my magic didn’t vanquish those spiders.

That master took care of it before I had the chance.

I was in a hazy state of duress as my MP ran low, so I do not know exactly what magic the master used.

But I have no doubt that she moved them out of the way of my spell.

Otherwise, there’s no way I could have won against that army of spiders, especially their nine leaders.

When I last met the master, it was as enemies, and I nearly lost my life.

But this time, it appears my life has been saved instead.

I still have so much to learn.

Why have I been striving to reach the pinnacle of magic power?

In order to be saved?

No, surely it was in order to save others.

When I was young, I had to use magic to dispel the fiery sparks that were attempting to descend on the Empire or else be burned alive.

For at the time, the desperate battle against the demons was underway.

But then the Demon Lord was replaced, and around the same time, the hero and previous sword-king both disappeared, so the war settled into an almost eerie stillness.

Perhaps it is because it has been so long since that war that I’d forgotten the fervor I once felt.

Striving for the pinnacle of magic.

That was only supposed to be the means, not the end, but somewhere along the way, it ended up becoming my main goal.

I am weak.

After my encounter with that great being, I became painfully aware of my own weakness.

And I have aged.

So many years have passed that I forgot my original goal.

If a weak old man like me strives for the pinnacle of magic, just how much strength might I gain in the process?

If I’ve gained strength, how much can I do for others with it?

“Oh, there he is, dammit. Hey, geezer!”

“Aurel. I am your master, you know, for all intents and purposes. Is that really any way to address me?”

“If you ask me, ‘geezer’ is damn well good enough for any jerk who’d leave a cute little girl like me all alone and run off to who-the-hell-knows-where.”

Urgh!

I can’t argue with her there!

“Oh yeah. Sir Hero wants to talk to you, geezer.”

Aurel pushes forward the boy next to her.

Oh yes. I knew I recognized him from somewhere. It’s the boy hero.

The one who stood bravely against that spider army despite his youth.

“Um, thank you very much for saving me before.”

The boy hero bows his head deeply.

“If you wish to thank anyone, thank Aurel there. I only saved you because she came crying to me, begging me to do it.”

“Wha—?!” Aurel’s face turns bright red.

Is she embarrassed that I let slip how she cried, or is it something else?

The boy hero, too, fidgets bashfully at her reaction.

Ah, youth.

They’re nothing more than infants, really.

“Um! You are the famous mage Master Ronandt, aren’t you?”

Working up his courage, the young hero changes the subject.

“I am indeed.”

“Erm, then, um… Please make me your apprentice!”

Oh?

An apprentice, eh?

I raise my eyebrows, but Aurel looks even more surprised.

“What’re you saying, guy? This geezer’s a total weirdo! If you become his apprentice, you’ll turn into a weirdo, too, y’know!”

How very rude!

Perhaps I should fire her already?

“E-even if he is a weirdo, he’s shown that he really is powerful. He defeated all those spiders, after all. I want to become stronger, too. So please help me get stronger. I’m begging you!”

Wh-why has it already been decided that I’m a weirdo?

Still, an apprentice…

“Won’t you please?”

I consider it for a moment.

I thought my goal was to reach the pinnacle of magic.

But that was only ever a means to an end.

My real goal was to help people.

But I am weak and old, with little time left.

I cannot lie to myself any longer.

Ever since my encounter with those three earth dragons, deep down, I have known.

I am not strong enough to contend against the truly powerful, and I never will be, no matter how much hellish training and effort I might undertake now.

So how can I be of the most help to people going forward?

An apprentice, eh?

“Very well, then. I shall make you my first apprentice.”

“You mean it?!”

“I do indeed.”

I doubt I shall ever reach the pinnacle of magic.

So instead, perhaps I should take on an apprentice to teach everything I know.

If that apprentice can be of help to others in the future, so much the better.

And this boy is the hero.

They say the person chosen as hero is always one of righteous heart.

From what Aurel has said, this boy is courageous and true.

If I help him to be strong, he will surely use that power for good as well.

“But my training will not be easy, you know.”

“Yes, sir!”

And thus, I took on my first apprentice.

To think, I set out to become that great being’s apprentice, yet wound up becoming master to an apprentice of my own instead.

Truly, one never knows what turns one’s life will take.