The true price

Realizing that emotions might not be the only price the boy had to pay to gain this amount of Roh, Rising Blade started to ponder over what the boy had said and began asking him a series of questions.

'So, Wind, what are your thoughts about magic overall?'

'I do not understand,'

the boy replied with a straight face.

'Well, what do you think magic is used for?'

Rising Blade asked.

'Beheading, poisoning, crushing, destroying, also making potions and remedies. Oh, as well as making buildings.'

Rising Blade was lost in thought after Wind's answer and didn't know where to start regarding the way this boy's mind worked.

Is it an influence from his parents? Was there a factor to his amount of Roh that I haven't accounted for? And by any curse, is he going to make a building out of Roh? That should be impossible.

'Say, Wind, why do you think these are the uses of magic?'

'That is what I saw in the pictures.'

'Where were those pictures?'

'I don't know. I just remember seeing them.'

Rising Blade was curious, afraid, but also cautious about what he might trigger if he pushed for more—especially the part regarding being able to build. No one can build using Roh.

'Well, if you recall anything about these pictures, tell me more. However, for now, keep these thoughts while trying to use the scroll. The leaves would rustle, the tree might get a scratch, the rocks will remain motionless. With that in mind, how about you give it another try?'

Rising passed the scroll to Wind again.

Wind held the scroll and did as he had done the last time.

He took a deep breath, raised one hand as he held the scroll in the other, and started to pour Roh into the scroll containing the formula.

Rising Blade watched intently as the Roh left Wind's body and attached itself to the scroll, but the magic still did not activate. Instead, the scroll started to vibrate violently in Wind's hand and began to cut deep into his skin. At first, the blood started to drip; in an instant, it began to gush. In the next second, Rising was holding Wind's hand as the sound of something huge falling slowly echoed with a reverberating shake from the ground.

The magic had activated. The effect was that the scratch ended up cutting the top part of the tree, and the price was two fingers from Wind's right hand.

Rising Blade stopped the bleeding using a heat scroll, but the way Wind's fingers were torn made it impossible to find them. Rising did not know what to think at this point. The kid in front of him, who acted indifferent to almost anything and everything, had just lost two fingers, and all he was doing was looking at the broken tree... with a smile?

A few years went by.

'The applicants for the fourth aren't as prominent as the ones who applied for the older three.'

'Well, what did you think would happen? She is the youngest and a girl too. Of course, there won't be any interest from big families to invest in her.'

'Yeah, you have a point, but still, the lady should at least be able to have a decent guard like her siblings. If we can get just one decent guard... All the applicants we've seen so far are below average and seem more interested in striking a partnership with the lady than being guards.'

'It's going to be difficult to tell the elder about this.'

'Anyhow, who is the next applicant?'

Two guards with a tattered box insignia carved into their plate armor were talking as they sat in an open field next to a large mansion. The field was divided into different shapes, but most of the partitions were rectangular. Some of these partitions had guards training with swords, while others had sorcerers practicing their magic.

'I'm not sure. It seems like they're going to be a student of a named sorcerer?'

'What! That might be good for the lady. At least that would cover her safety while she figures out her position in the world. Do you know who the named sorcerer is?'

'Apparently, they're called Rising Blade. At least, that's what's written here.'

'Oh... never heard of that name.'

'Idiots, that's one of Crescent Gale of the royal court's students,'

a third guard said while walking toward them to take a seat. He continued,

'Anyhow, don't raise your hopes too much. This applicant seems to be a lost cause. He has three fingers on each hand, bandages all over his body—you can hardly see his features. I don't think we can hire him to take care of the horses, even if he might be connected to Crescent Gale somehow. That student of hers, Rising Blade, was one she took before becoming a royal court sorceress.'

A short youth, who didn't seem to have reached 12 years of age, with black hair and eyes that didn't hold any reflection, and bandages covering every part of his body not hidden by clothes, was walking toward the guards...