New Era of Xin, Year -21
Northern Countries · Lant Region
"Hmm?"
Serie, lying on the carriage bench, gave a soft hum, her eyelashes beginning to flutter faintly.
Thinking Teacher Serie was about to wake up, Guter set down the Magic Book in his hands and prepared to step forward and greet her.
Who would have thought that this Archmage would not open her eyes? Instead, she reached around, found the Magic Book she had only read halfway through yesterday, opened it, and laid it over her face as an eye mask to block the glaring sunlight pouring in through the window, then continued sleeping.
Well, how should he put it?
If she was an elf, this sort of behavior was not particularly surprising.
After musing over it for a moment, Guter rose and walked to the carriage window. He lowered the rolled-up curtain, returning the interior to darkness.
Then Guter went over to his teacher, took the "eye mask" off her face, closed it, and placed it on the nearby table. He also tugged up the blanket he had draped over her after she had fallen asleep last night.
"Mm~"
Half-asleep, Serie gave a satisfied hum. After curling up a few times, she leaned slightly to one side and happily resumed her plan for a second round of sleep.
"Teacher, you really have it easy."
Seeing Serie like this, Guter's eye twitched.
But before long, Guter's attention shifted to something else: the ear exposed after his teacher had turned onto her side to sleep.
"Come to think of it, what do an elf's ears feel like?"
Guter had entertained the thought long ago. Looking at his teacher, who was currently asleep, the mischievous urge he had suppressed began pounding wildly in his chest.
"Should I... try it?"
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Just one touch. Maybe Teacher Serie would be too focused on sleeping to care about such small movements.
Besides, hadn't Hutalk touched Frieren's cheek with his cold hand while she was asleep in the story?
The startled elf had merely shuddered, cried out "Yamete yo (Don't)," and then gone right back to sleep.
Then, as fellow elves, Teacher Serie's reaction should not be too different from Frieren's, right?
With that thought, Guter's fingers unconsciously reached Serie's pointed ear.
Feeling the pleasant texture against his fingertips, Guter even gave it a gentle pinch, fully savoring the sensation.
But in the next instant, Serie, already drowsy, was jolted into a full-body shudder by Guter's light pinch.
"Get lost!"
Serie glanced back at him. Her icy tone and simple words fully conveyed her resistance.
Unlike the aloof yet fairly gentle Frieren, Serie was straightforward and had a temper when woken up. Guter now fully understood a principle from his previous life's textbooks.
Do not elevate an individual's behavior into a group characteristic.
Fortunately, Serie merely drove Guter away. She made no further move and continued lying on the bench for her second round of sleep.
Before long, faint snores could be heard.
Only after hearing that sound did Guter finally let out a breath, the unease in his heart fading away.
After returning to his seat, Guter considered what he could do to deal with the boring time on the journey.
Given how dim the carriage was right now, studying the Magic Book was certainly out of the question.
There was too little space to exercise properly. He could cultivate the Body Tempering Method, but the magical fluctuations produced during cultivation might disturb his teacher.
So, he might as well meditate for a while and burn off some of his excessive energy.
This was different from yesterday's rare state of enlightenment.
Meditating in that state allowed one's consciousness to dive deep. It greatly expanded the upper limit of magical power while also giving the mind a thorough rest.
Ordinary meditation, however, was ultimately only a method of slowly expanding one's magical power limit through the expenditure of mental energy. It did not have such effects.
Afterward, one would not feel refreshed. Instead, the prolonged, intense concentration of mental energy would bring about fatigue.
Although this "fatigue" recovered quickly, it was still a form of depletion.
But for Guter right now, expending some excess mental energy was not a bad thing.
With that in mind, Guter calmed himself and slowly closed his eyes.
After entering the state, Guter first tried to see whether he could dive his consciousness deep like yesterday. But after several failed attempts, he could not help sighing at his own greed before continuing with ordinary meditation.
The atmosphere inside the carriage returned to silence, and time passed second by second in that quiet stillness.
Noon.
The steadily moving carriage suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The jolt interrupted both Guter's meditation and Serie's rest.
"An emergency?"
Startled awake, Guter immediately leaped down from his seat. With a roll, he reached Serie's side and gathered himself, ready to face battle.
But.
Guter released his magical senses, and the feedback from his magic did not seem to indicate an enemy attack.
Just then, the coachman knocked on the wooden panel behind the carriage and informed the two employers that they had arrived at a town. Should they stop beside the city gate and get out to look around, or head straight to an inn to rest?
Guter pulled back the curtain. The scene outside was indeed as the coachman had said: they were just beside the city gate.
The stop just now had also been made so the driver could ask for their opinion.
"Thanks for your hard work, Uncle." Guter took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over. "Please find us an inn somewhere in town."
"Sure thing."
Smiling broadly, the coachman accepted the cigarettes and agreed to his employer's request. With a light tug on the reins, the horses began slowly making their way through the town.
Once the carriage started moving, Guter ducked back inside and lowered the door curtain.
Inside the carriage, Serie was now awake. She sat cross-legged on the bench, wrapped in her blanket as she watched Guter.
"You're awake, Teacher."
Under Serie's gaze, Guter spoke with a hint of guilt.
"Mm."
Serie nodded, acknowledging her disciple's greeting. Since she had only just woken up, she was still slightly dazed.
After several breaths, life returned to Serie's eyes. Looking at the disciple beside her, who was somewhat avoiding her gaze, she said,
"Don't disturb me when I'm trying to sleep in the future. Understood?"
"Understood, Teacher. I won't do it again."
"Mm, good that you understand."
Having received her disciple's promise, Serie nodded.
But on second thought, getting angry at her disciple over her own sleeping habits seemed a little wrong as well.
Serie thought for a moment, then reached out and beckoned Guter over.
"Didn't you want to touch my ears? Come here. Until the carriage reaches the inn, do whatever you want."
"Though I don't think this is particularly interesting."
"After all, just in terms of their structure, elf ears do not have much difference from human ears aside from their shape—"
"Hmm~?"
Before Serie could finish speaking, Guter's hand was already on her elf ear.
He gently kneaded it, slowly working his fingers along it in circling motions.
Before long, Serie's expression looked as blissful as Nǎilóng's.
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