Teacher Serie, Forgive Me

"Hmm?"

Serie glanced in surprise at Lairn standing at the entrance to the great hall. Having this much mana at his age was fairly impressive, so she waved him inside.

After receiving Lord Serie's permission, Lairn first placed a hand over his chest and nodded in thanks. He then quickly walked into the hall, awaiting further examination from the legendary Archmage.

"Human noble etiquette. A Court Mage, perhaps?"

From Lairn's few simple movements, Serie had already roughly guessed his identity.

After all, among her disciples throughout the long river of history, there had been no shortage of nobles. Even the origin of the Court Mage position had come from something her disciple Frieren created a thousand years ago.

"After all, he is among the elite humans have selected from their mages."

Seeing that Lairn had not been frightened by her immense mana and that his determination to pass the test had not wavered, Serie gave a slight nod. She was already inclined to let Lairn pass.

Though his personality was still somewhat timid... it would be interesting enough to see what future a mage like him could reach under my guidance.

"You pass. Go call the next one in."

"And tell the mages still waiting to go home. Today's examinations are over."

After saying that, Serie stretched lazily and gathered back a lock of hair that her disciple Guter had been twirling around his finger.

At that moment, Lairn brought today's final applicant into the hall.

"Disqualified. Go home."

The applicant had barely found his footing before hearing Serie's icy rejection.

"Why, Lord Serie?!"

"Hmm?"

Guter looked at the day's final applicant with interest. His mana was already quite remarkable for his age, and he had not been frightened by Teacher Serie's mana. He even dared question Serie.

Though Guter did not particularly like the man's personality, by Serie's standards, she should not have rejected him so quickly.

The next moment, Serie gave an answer that resolved everyone's doubts.

"Your mana was enhanced by something you found in some ruin in the Northern Countries, wasn't it?"

"Did you really think there would still be room for your power to grow after taking that Secret Potion from the Unified Empire period?"

The interviewing mage's pupils contracted. He hurriedly fell to his knees and poured out the whole story of what had happened to him.

He said that before swallowing the Secret Potion, he had not known taking it would cause such severe aftereffects.

At the time, he had merely found an ancient Treasure Map in an abandoned Monastery on the Empire's frontier.

It marked several suspicious locations in the Etovis Highlands of the Northern Countries, indicating that one of them was certainly a ruin. According to the mapmaker's research, the ruin most likely contained a Secret Potion capable of rapidly increasing mana in a short time. Unfortunately, the mapmaker had been unable to excavate it due to age and physical limitations, so they had drawn the map and left it for a fated descendant.

He had treated it as a priceless treasure. Following the Treasure Map's markings, he found the ruin at the very first location he explored and successfully obtained the Secret Potion.

After taking it, the potion's effects were exactly as the Treasure Map had described. He did not even need to train actively; mana simply poured into his body on its own, and it increased more than ten times faster than through his usual training.

But...

That explosive growth lasted for less than a month. It was then that he heard Lord Serie was planning to take in disciples, so he rushed all the way here, hoping to join Lord Serie's ranks with his recently surging strength.

"You may leave. I will not accept a disciple with no potential."

Serie rejected him again, her intent to drive him away unmistakable.

Yet the mage ignored her completely. Instead, he collapsed to the ground in tears, begging Lord Serie to help him and tell him how to eliminate the potion's aftereffects.

"There is no such way."

By then, Serie had lost her patience. She stepped down from her seat in the hall, intending to throw out the mage who was still wailing.

But before driving him out, Serie ultimately softened a little and asked, "Can you still absorb mana from the outside world?"

"Hmm?"

Hearing Serie's question, the kneeling mage froze for a moment before immediately answering, "I... can't absorb any anymore."

"I can barely sense mana at all anymore," the mage murmured through tears.

Hearing that answer, Guter did not know what to say for a moment.

No wonder Serie's mana had not scared him. He was already close to losing his ability to sense mana entirely.

If he could not sense it, of course he would not fear it.

"There is no saving you anymore."

Serie made her judgment flatly. "It is not just your talent that cannot be saved. Your life cannot be saved either."

"The potion that burns away talent has already burned your potential dry. What it is burning now is your life."

"Hire the fastest carriage you can find and go to the Offen Mountains. There is a tree that grows in remote places there, called the Icicle Cherry."

"Its sap is mildly poisonous, but it can greatly slow the spread of the Secret Potion. It will make your final days more bearable."

"Thank you, Lord Serie."

Having been sentenced to death, the mage rose from the ground in a daze. After thanking Serie once more, he left the hall like a walking corpse.

After thinking for a moment, Guter followed the mage out of the hall.

After telling the mages still waiting to return tomorrow, he took a Hutrall Silver Coin from his robes and asked whether anyone among the remaining mages would accept his commission to escort the rejected mage back to the inn.

A middle-aged male mage in the group raised his hand and accepted Guter's commission. "I only need to escort him back to the inn, right?"

"Mm."

Guter nodded.

"Um... may I ask what happened to him?"

A young female mage in the crowd pointed at the walking corpse-like figure and quietly asked Guter.

"Hmm..." After considering his words, Guter said, "He was probably scared by Lord Serie."

"Huh...?"

After Guter returned from outside the hall and casually shut the great hall's wooden doors behind him,

a faint question drifted over from afar.

"Am I that scary, Guter?"

"Ha ha." Guter scratched his head and chose not to answer.

Fortunately, Serie did not press the matter. Seeing that Guter had shut the doors, she looked at her two disciples and said,

"You have both now been formally accepted as my disciples."

"Before we properly introduce ourselves, show me your magic."

"After all, for mages, the magic they cultivate clearly reveals far more than words ever can."

"Guter, you go first."

"Uh... wouldn't it be better if Junior Disciple went first?"

Guter thought about the magic he currently knew. Aside from a few Goddess Magic spells he had learned from books at the Monastery, all he seemed to have left was that one.

Lairn looked at Teacher Serie, then at Guter, hesitating over whether he should listen to his senior disciple and demonstrate first.

"If I say you start, then you start. Guter, let me see your magic."

Serie spoke somewhat impatiently, staring at her eldest disciple as though she were thinking of something.

"Fine."

After taking a deep breath, Guter said, "Teacher Serie, forgive me."

He raised his left hand toward Serie and shouted, "Steal!"