The Meaning of a Wand

"Eeeeh?!"

Theresia hopped along beside Galan like an energetic rabbit as they left the alley.

She leaned slightly to one side.

Her beautiful eyes had yet to recover from the shock of what had just happened.

She looked at him in disbelief.

Her gorgeous red hair fell naturally around her,

fluttering freely in the wind blowing from the alley.

The pleasant scent of sandalwood filled Galan's nostrils.

"Did you really just buy it without hesitating?"

"Why hesitate over something I'd already taken a liking to? No matter how long I hesitated, I'd have to buy it sooner or later anyway."

Galan looked at her, a little puzzled.

On his back was a piece of ebony carefully wrapped in white cloth—the unicorn-core Staff.

"Mm..."

Theresia pouted, seemingly unconvinced by Galan's reasoning.

"Just on intuition alone? It cost a whole five gold coins!"

"Not entirely."

"After all, the person I'm giving it to is better at wind-attribute magic, and doesn't this Staff happen to boost that?"

Galan shrugged. As for the five gold coins—admittedly, it was a considerable expense even for him.

But compared with this, he didn't think it amounted to much.

That fire poker was far too much of an eyesore, after all, and he'd wanted to give Lia a new Staff for a long time.

Yet only after everything that had happened had he finally acted on the idea.

Since it was a belated gift,

he had to prepare it properly for her...

A hint of surprise appeared on Theresia's face when she heard that.

She apparently hadn't expected Galan to have paid such careful attention to that, and she promptly changed her attitude and agreed.

The two chatted as they walked down the street, gradually blending into the crowd that had come to the market that afternoon.

Behind them, in the alley they had just left,

a pair of cloudy yet piercing eyes peered through a crack in the door, fixed on the direction they had gone.

"Apothecary Galan... Is he a warrior...? Why wear gloves to hide it? I keep feeling like I've seen him somewhere before."

Oris weighed the five gold coins Galan had paid him in his hand.

His brow furrowed slightly.

After making sure they hadn't been enchanted with [Tracking Magic], he smoothly slipped them into his coat pocket.

The gold coins clinked softly against one another.

Then Oris shut the old firwood door.

Without his muttering, the deserted alley returned to its usual silence.

"Mr. Galan, you must be buying it for someone very important to you, right?"

"Hm? Why do you say that?"

"Huh? You don't know?"

Apparently shocked once again by his lack of understanding, Theresia gave him a strange look.

For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

"Mr. Galan! A Staff is very important to a mage."

"Oh?"

Galan was a little surprised to hear that.

Who would have thought there was so much to giving someone a Staff?

He'd thought it was much the same as giving someone a Christmas present.

"Of course!"

"For a mage, from everyday training to practical use later on, most people will probably only ever own one Staff in their entire lives."

"Usually, a disciple's Staff is given to them by the master who teaches them magic."

"Among nobles, a younger family member's Staff is given to them by a respected elder."

"Even in an ordinary family, receiving a Staff is quite a momentous occasion."

So it was that big a deal...

After hearing Theresia's explanation, Galan immediately felt that he really had been a little hasty.

Fortunately, she had reminded him.

Maybe I should hold some kind of 'wand-giving ceremony' for Lia when I get back?

He stood solemnly before Lia, like the queen of England knighting one of her knights.

Duncan stood solemnly to one side as a witness,

perhaps holding a scripture or something of the sort.

"Mm... From this day forth, Lia, you are an honorable knight... Ah, no... a mage..."

"As the number one apothecary in Rogley, I bestow upon you this Staff, a symbol of supreme glory—"

Then, as she gazed at him expectantly, he solemnly presented the ebony wand to her...

How stupid.

The thought made Galan laugh at himself.

It seemed that after hanging around Glenn for so long, he was getting more and more foolish himself.

"Who are you giving it to, Mr. Galan? A friend?"

Theresia clasped her hands behind her back, bent forward, and turned her face to look at Galan.

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Uh..."

He rubbed his chin and gave his relationship with Lia some careful thought.

Friends?

By now, even a fool could see their relationship was more than that.

Master and disciple?

No, no, no, that's Duncan's relationship with her.

Come to think of it, Duncan was practically raising Lia as his own daughter. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them father and daughter.

Then... lovers?

When the word popped into his head, Galan couldn't hold it in.

He coughed hard several times.

Theresia: (ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

In truth, he had already begun to slowly change his original way of thinking.

Just as Glenn had said, he ought to respond properly to Lia's feelings.

She trusted him so much, and... liked him so much...

What did he have to be so awkward about?

But that was one thing.

Having been single for two lifetimes, a peerless little virgin like him was suddenly faced with a "foe descending from the heavens."

For the moment, it really was still a little hard to accept.

"Could it be... you're giving it to a girl?"

Theresia suddenly sprang the question on him, giving Galan goosebumps for no apparent reason.

"Mm... yeah..."

His voice was quiet, but Theresia still heard him.

"As a token of love? How romantic!"

"No wonder you chose a unicorn core, Mr. Galan. So you put all those wonderful feelings into it!"

Galan: ⊙▽⊙

No, girl, I actually mostly chose it on instinct. I really didn't think that much about it, haha...

But after hearing her say that, giving Lia the Staff seemed to have become even more meaningful.

"I wonder if she'll like it..."

Galan suddenly grew a little worried.

"She definitely will."

"If it's a gift from someone she likes, there's no reason she'd reject it, whatever it is, right?"

Looking at Theresia's smiling face, Galan felt much of his worry fade.

Girls understood other girls better, after all. Surely that was true even for an elf.

"Thanks. You told me so much today."

The two stopped at a fork in the road by the central square.

Galan was heading out of the city, so he and Theresia were going different ways.

"Goodbye, Mr. Galan. I hope you'll be happy."

Apparently still at an age when she loved juicy gossip, she waved a little fist as if cheering Galan on.

"No, honestly, it isn't like you said yet..."

But before he could finish, Theresia ran off.

Watching her run and skip away, as excited as if she'd just heard some juicy gossip,

she really didn't seem like a mature, seasoned adventurer...