Chapter 23. Medicinal Herbs (3)

Sylverine took him to the warehouse.

She had many personal items there. Extravagant clothes, unique shoes, furniture of various shapes, even an old magic wand.

In one corner was a display case with several trophies. Some trophies were stacked like plates. The trophies came from the Empire, the Magical Society, even the Order of Knights. He wondered what Sylverine had done with her life.

In the warehouse, her enormous past was evident.

He did not know Sylverine’s exact age, but he could deduce that she was in her early twenties.

How is it possible to achieve such accomplishments at such a young age? Or perhaps she had used alchemy to suppress her aging?

He was lost in thought when Sylverine called out to him.

“Come here.”

She, who had her back to him, held a sword in a leather scabbard.

She turned around slowly as he approached. Then she handed him the sword.

“Take it.”

He received the sword, which had a simple decoration. It was light enough to wield with one hand. He also realized that it must have been used a long time ago.

“Whose sword is this?”

“The sword has no owner.”

“Who was the previous owner?”

“My brother.”

“……”

“It’s yours now.”

He looked Sylverine squarely in the eyes. She looked indifferent.

Was she really okay with him using her brother’s things?

Sylverine seemed to read his thoughts.

“I wanted to throw it away. You can use it until it breaks.”

It seemed she didn’t want him to worry, but he felt he shouldn’t use it carelessly.

***

Sylverine, wearing a long gray robe, walked out the front door.

An employee stood in front of the mansion with a horse. That meant he would again be in Sylverine’s arms.

She motioned to him.

“Get on first!”

“……”

He wanted to become strong so they wouldn’t laugh at him at the Academy, but it seemed that he first had to learn horsemanship before swordsmanship.

Sylverine got on after him.

She said to the employee,

“Tell the others not to leave the mansion.”

“Understood.”

She shook the reins so that the horse began to gallop.

They left the mansion immediately. After about 30 minutes of travel, he was able to visualize the town.

They dismounted at the entrance to the town. There were too many people to ride horses, and the roads were crowded with merchants.

The town was much larger than he expected. The town was slowly turning into a small city, or so he thought.

She was much taller than the women of the town. Her elegant features far surpassed the average town woman. She stood out from afar.

She attracted so much attention that he felt like a servant following a noble lady.

He looked at Sylverine’s face. She seemed to be oblivious to it.

Her gaze was fixed on one place.

Dozens of knights were in the middle of the city. Only a lord could command so many knights. It seemed that a lord had sent a strike force when he heard the news about the appearance of the ghouls.

Sylverine approached the knights. They fixed their gaze on her.

A knight on a horse drew his sword.

“Who are you? Reveal your identity!”

Someone suddenly shouted from afar,

“How dare you! What are you doing?”

All eyes turned to him. There stood the knight commander.

The knight commander, who had a long beard, dismounted his horse. Then he knelt before her.

“Great magician, Sylverine.”

Sylverine held out her hand to him.

“It’s been a long time since we last saw each other, Popper.”