When they heard about a magical pet transforming into a nightmare demon, Layden, who had been fiddling with the campfire with his head lowered, stopped what he was doing.
Ruger took in every detail of their expressions and immediately felt that the waters here ran deep. Quite a few wizard apprentices had already arrived one after another, and now there was even a magical pet undergoing nightmare demonification. He could be said to have no experience whatsoever with such matters, so from the very start of the conversation, he had been carefully watching the subtle shifts in the expressions of the two men by the fire.
Layden and Vito began chatting at an unhurried pace.
Meanwhile, Ruger sat beside the fire, turning those few tufts of fur over in his hands as he blinked and listened quietly.
"Lord Ruger, what is your goal?" Seeing that Ruger had been silent for a long while, Vito turned toward him, his eyes glittering.
Ruger smiled. The movement of his hands playing with the fur paused slightly, then resumed.
"Of course, to become an official wizard," Ruger said.
"No, no, beyond that. Everyone wants to become a wizard, but I think... becoming a wizard—becoming a powerful wizard—is merely a means of achieving one's own goal, not the ultimate purpose. Some might say they enjoy studying the mysteries of spells. Then I would say their goal is to explore those mysteries; becoming a wizard is merely the staircase they use to reach them. Others may believe they simply want to become wizards, but in truth, they are pursuing their own strength. If a bartender could become incomparably powerful, they would certainly abandon wizardry and become bartenders instead... And some become wizards because, deep down, they merely want to live longer. As they pursue the path