Before returning(2)

After some moments of silence

[Um, so Mr. Brick was a bad person after all.]

[It looks like you were able to recall the memories. Yes, he was a bad person.]

[But why is he doing this?]

[Hmm. I don't know much about things in this world, but in my world, there was a time when near settlements, forests were abundant, and it was common for animals to attack humans.]

[Um, magic beasts sometimes came to our village too, so my dad and the guards went to protect people.]

[I see. So why do you think they are attacking people?]

They were talking about Mr. Brick, but the conversation turned towards wild animals. But Ethan knew his teacher, and there was always a reason behind his teacher's questions. So Ethan started to ponder.

[There's no need to think about it deeply because the reason is simple. Humans without weapons are easy prey for animals.]

Ethan's eyes started to widen with realization.

[Then are you saying that Mr. Brick is like those animals and he did it because it was easy?]

[Yes, you got the gist of my story right. Of course, my story only tells why he chose you as his prey, not why he became a criminal.]

[But why did he become a criminal? Isn't it easier if he works honestly?]

[There isn't a universal answer to your question. People commit crimes for different reasons. But with my knowledge, I can tell that one of the major factors is the social structure. The Holly Lumen Empire has a class structure in society. And at the bottom of this structure are commoners. Some of them can live relatively good lives working honestly, but not all of them. Of course, as a commoner, you can find a good job if you know how to read and write. And there are Sunday schools. But when every day you need to work to get food, there isn't time for learning. Take, for example, Lena, your maid. She has a pretty good head on her shoulders, but even with that, she wasn't sure she would find a job. Luckily, she was accepted as the maid of the Anselm family mansion and became your personal maid. Thanks to that, she was able to learn how to read and write and even learn magic. But I'm sure that such a smart and hardworking girl might be successful in life even if she didn't become a maid, though not as successful as now. But Brick is different from her. He's greedy and wants everything right now, so he found an easy way to success by robbing wealthy people—or, to be precise, their kids.]

Ethan carefully thought about his teacher's words. It took him some time to digest all that information.

[Um, I understand. And, um, it sounds like you are somewhat biased towards Lena.]

[You weren't mistaken. She's smart. And I'm really curious about how far she can go in this world. It would be great if I could teach her.]

'It would be great if you were nice to me.'

[Are you thinking something rude about me?]

'Shit...'

[Don't be so obvious next time.]

[Um, okay.]

Ethan hung his head low in resignation.

[Heh, I was only joking, but your reaction tells me that I was right.]

[Uhh, teacher, you are soo mean.]

Ethan wasn't angry with his teacher. You can say that he was happy with it. After all, at first his teacher was cold with him, but Ethan felt that with time, his teacher became slightly warmer. He even started to tease him from time to time. So, Ethan thought, it wouldn't be bad if he asked one question he was curious about.

[Um, teacher, do you even now want to die?]

[I'm already dead if you forget; only my soul remains.]

Ethan wanted to say that it wasn't what he meant by his question, but there wasn't a need for it.

[Of course, it's not about what you were curious about. At first, I wanted to free my soul from this cage, but there are many things in this world about which I became curious. I want to learn more about magic and mana, about artifacts and potion crafting, about dungeons, where adventurers can find treasures, about souls, about gods and holly power, about dark mages and demons, and more about this world. We also need to find your parents, and I really want to see how far you, Ethan, my student, can reach in this world.]

Ethan was slightly overwhelmed by his teacher's words, but he was also happy to hear them.

[I'm happy to hear it. And, um, thank you.]

[If you are really thankful, you should help me with my research.]

[Um, how? I don't know much about research.]

[Of course, you need to learn more before helping me directly. You can help me gather the necessary ingredients and reagents. But they cost money, judging by how much you spent on buying mithril, so your first job is going to be finding money.]

[Um, how? Should I ask my uncle? But he's already helping me, so I shouldn't bother him asking for money.]

[Even if you feel guilty about it, I don't think he would mind. Though families should help their members, it's good that you understand that you shouldn't impose your financial problems on them. Because if you do so, you can expect that your relations with them might worsen.]

[Um, then how can I find money?]

[Do you forget how your mother was making money?]

[No, but I don't have experience in artifact creation and the necessary spells for it, and I know nothing about potions and pills crafting.]

[I, too, don't know much about potions and pills crafting. But we can start with artifact crafting after you can handle your increased mana and I teach you the necessary spells for it. And you should ask me if you don't understand in the course of crafting.]

[Um, okay, I talk with my uncle about it when I better my control over my increased mana and learn necessary spells.]

[Good. It looks like we have some time before that maid returns, so let's look closer at that bronze cube.]

Ethan took out the cube that he bought from Mr. Brick.

[Um, isn't it just a bronze cube with strange symbols?]

[It might be, but we need to check it ourselves. So why don't we start with the 'Analyses' spell?]

[Um, okay.]

Ethan took out a wand with the 'Analyses' spell and sent his mana into it, pointing the wand at the cube.

[Um, it's just a bronze cube.]

[Hmm, let me try.]

[Um, okay.]

Ethan sent his mana to the cage, and after some moments, his feeling of his right hand disappeared, and mana started to flow towards it.

The spell was cast, but strangely, the result window didn't appear right away, and after some time, strange and unknown symbols started to run before his eyes.

The result appeared.

[Heh, jackpot. I knew that something was wrong with this cube, but I didn't expect that it would be so much. Haha, how exciting!]

But Ethan didn't understand why his teacher was so excited.

[Um, we weren't able to learn anything about this cube, so why are you so happy, teacher?]

[Why shouldn't I be happy? We find something unknown. Something that even with 'Analyses' spell based on my knowledge can't be judged. Heh, it looks like I need to modify this spell sooner.]

[Um, then what should we do with this cube?]

[Hmm, though the 'Analyses' spell is useless, we can, at least, take a closer look at this cube's symbols. Maybe we manage to find something.]

[Um, okay.]

His teacher returned control of Ethan's right hand to his owner. And after putting the wand back inside his ring, Ethan took a closer look at this strange cube.

He was skeptical at first, but with each passing second, Ethan became more and more interested in this cube. And his mind became so focused that he didn't even notice the passage of time when sudden drowsiness assaulted him.

Yawn.

Ethan snapped back to reality.

[Huh, my mana is depleted.]

[Hmm, not only yours. All my mana was depleted too. What a strange thing. You should put this thing away.]

Ethan placed the cube near him for the time being and waited for his depleted mana to recover a little. It didn't take long, thanks to the mana-restoring pill that his teacher took earlier. So Ethan took the mana-restoring potion from his ring, gulped it down, and put this cube inside the ring.

[It looks like it might be dangerous for us to research this cube for now. Before that, we need to become stronger, so our mana increases, or I need to find a way to supply this cube without using our mana.]

[Okay.]

Ethan yawned again.

There was a knock on the carriage door before it was opened. It was Leta.

"Um, have you finished your job?"

"Yes, young master. Should we return?"

"Yes."

And Leta, after telling that they can return to the young knight and old coachman, climbed up into the carriage. The carriage started to move. And Ethan yawned again.