He hesitated before answering. “If the situation in Livadon grows dire, then Sir Riftan would have to get involved. It would be difficult for him to stay if King Reuben commands him to lead the Remdragon Knights. And as you know, the knights have their extremely annoying principles,” Ruth said, and began listing the factors on his fingers. “They must protect the weak, obey their lord, and fulfill all obligations as wielders of the sword. Riftan privately might not be a firm adherent of the knights’ code…but he cannot afford to ignore it publicly. If he did, it would tarnish the honor he has worked so hard to gain.”
“I s-see.”
Agnes said that the king harbored doubts about Riftan’s loyalty, and Maxi’s face fell as she realized His Majesty might command Riftan to lead his knights as a test. The Armistice of the Seven Kingdoms was signed to ensure the peace of the continent. It would not be easy to disobey a command to uphold such a treaty.
Maxi stared down at the illustration of the hideous creature and bit her lip until it hurt. Her stomach twistedat the thought of Riftan facing a massive monster army. No matter how extraordinary the knight, safety could never be guaranteed on a battlefield. She had heard much about Riftan’s recklessness; she was certain he would not look out for himself, choosing instead to charge into the front lines.
A flame of anger suddenly flared within Maxi. Riftan was almost obsessive about her well-being, but he did not care at all when it came to his own. Her thoughts were mired in the unfairness of it all when Ruth’s placid voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
“I, on the other hand, will have to join the knights leaving for the campaign.”
Maxi’s head snapped up.
Ruth, who was staring at the ceiling with his arms crossed, added calmly, “Since the journey to Livadon is a long one, there must be a mage in the party. We do not yet know who will be taking command, but it is certain that I shall have to go. Since I cannot stay, Anatol will need your magical abilities more than ever.”
“M-me?” she said, nerves strangling her voice.
Ruth nodded, his face serious. “Of course, I am not trying to force you, my lady. There are many mercenaries staying in Anatol, and certainly some mages among them. It would be great if we could hire at least one, but it is exceedingly difficult to convince mercenaries to settle in one place. If we fail to hire a decent mage, then you would be the only healer in Anatol who could tend to injuries like you did yesterday.” His tone was flat, but he paused before adding gently, “I know that something terrible could have happened to you at the construction site. The fault lies entirely with mefor not warning you about using too much mana. I wanted to apologize to you sooner, but I did not dare call on you with Riftan so furious at me….”
“You do not have to apologize. You c-couldn’t have known…that the wyverns would suddenly go on a rampage.”
“Actually, I did. I knew the camp was vulnerable to monster attacks. What I didn’t expect was for you to overexert yourself like that to tend to the wounded.”
Maxi was momentarily lost for words at his candor.
“B-But that was the reason why I learned magic in the first place. W-Wasn’t that why you agreed to teach me? So that I could be of h-help if accidents occurred?”
“Yes, but…I did not think you would take to the task so earnestly,” he confessed with a nonchalant shrug. Maxi opened and closed her mouth before her expression hardened. Discovering that the man who had encouraged her to learn magic had not, in fact, expected much from her filled her with the sting of betrayal.
When she glared at him, Ruth held up his hands in apology and said quickly, “Clearly I underestimated your sense of righteousness. You do not know how much I regret my halfhearted teaching. When I heard that you collapsed, I was so plagued with guilt that I was unable to sleep.”
“There was room for g-guilt…in that cold heart of yours?”
“I think that is uncalled for, my lady. I truly did feel bad.”
Maxi simply narrowed her eyes at him.
Ruth sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “I have learned that there is nothing more dangerous thanincomplete knowledge. If you would allow me, I would like to train you properly, starting with the fundamentals of how to respond in emergencies.”
“You just said…that you do not expect much from me.”
“You misunderstand, my lady. What I meant was that you easily exceeded my expectations. The way you handled the crisis that day was commendable, if excessive. But I know that you did your best to help with the limited knowledge you had at the time.” She remained doubtful, but Ruth met her gaze as he calmly tried to convince her. “If the previous incident has not made you shun magic completely, I would like to resume your lessons. It would bring me peace of mind if your abilities were to improve.”
The weight of this new expectation settled heavily on her shoulders. She did agree, though, that she needed to hone her abilities. Although it had not been a full year since she had arrived in Anatol, there had already been two serious incidents. First, the lumber camp that had been devastated by werewolves, and then the wyvern attack at the construction site. There was no guarantee that more confrontations were not coming.
Would she be able to handle it? After objectively assessing her current abilities, Maxi shook her head. Healing four or five people had been enough to drain her; it would be an impossible feat for her to heal a myriad of people should the need arise now. She knew she could not hope to fill Ruth’s place even if she practiced for months.
Still, it is better than doing nothing.
Her confidence was draining away like sand, and Maxi barely managed to gather it to give her response. “Iunderstand. I-If you would teach me…I shall do my best. Riftan would not be pleased…b-but I still wish to learn.”
“Good. Please come to the library whenever you have the time. Unless there is something that requires me to be elsewhere, I shall strive to make myself available here.”
Ruth gave Maxi a satisfied grin and patted her on the shoulder.
—
Although Maxi wanted tostart practicing right away, Ruth still had other matters to attend to, so they decided to begin their lessons the following morning. He selected a few suitable books for her before leaving the library with his own armful of parchment. Now all alone, Maxi dove into the yellowed pages of the thick tomes that detailed the complexities of advanced geometry. The concepts were complicated, and soon Maxi’s head began to ache and her eyes stung.
