Chapter 22
...What on earth is going through your head, Moli?! Just you wait, I'm definitely confiscating your webnovel account!
Oh, speaking of the internet, it would definitely be dark by the time I got home. I needed to have Moli help me find a replay of this afternoon's summit online. I still had to hear Mel give his report!
"All right, let's go!" I said, grabbing Moli and teleporting straight into the car. I ordered my new apprentice to get moving.
"...Teacher, even the expressway has a speed limit."
"Don't worry," I said. "I'll put an illusion on your license plate so the cameras can't get a clear shot."
"...Wow... Teacher, what got into you? My teacher from the Age of Legends actually figured out how to fool surveillance cameras all on her own!"
"Enough with the smart mouth, Moli," I scolded her.
"Yes, Teacher." She obediently started the hovercar and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The lovely vehicle let out an earth-shaking roar, like the bellow of an evil dragon before it spread its wings and took flight.
Chapter 22
That evening, I returned to my studio apartment. I opened the window and sat comfortably in a chair, enjoying the spring evening breeze. On the table were two exquisite dinners, a large box of desserts, and a plate of fruit. I covered the dishes with warming and preservation spells to keep them from getting cold or going bad. I wasn't all that hungry yet, so I picked up my milk tea and started drinking.
The food Moli had ordered was exactly to my taste. The milk tea was just sweet enough, full of milky fragrance, and the taste of tea wasn't too faint. It was delicious.
I glanced at the light screen again. This was Moli's computer. She said it was the latest model with the highest specs, that the display had especially great colors, and that it even came with built-in 3D holographic projection. Hmm, watching videos on this screen, the color distortion really was much less noticeable than on the television in my apartment.
The summit replay wouldn't start until after the news. It would be on television too, but since Moli's machine was better, I decided to watch it on this instead. My old television had always had color distortion, which had made me think Mel's hair was platinum blond. Only after meeting him in person did I realize it was the same light flaxen color as mine.
I looked down at my own hair, which fell to my chest. Any longer and it would be hard to care for, and combing it myself every day would be a hassle. After all, I didn't have much time to spend on it. Mel's hair, though, fell to his waist. It was soft and smooth, and its color looked warm in the sunlight, making it very pleasant to look at.
...Long hair really did look better.
Moli stood in front of me, looking aggrieved, her eyes fixed longingly on me... or rather, mostly on the dinner beside me.
Her stomach growled incredibly loudly, no less conspicuous than when she herself was making a racket.
"No." I glared at her. "I told you, no dinner unless you can recite them, and if you sneak food, I have ways of finding out."
Moli had no choice but to continue memorizing the incantations dejectedly.
I was testing Moli. Testing an apprentice was definitely the first thing any mage did upon taking one in, though in ancient times, the test came before accepting them. Since I had no other options now, even if Moli did terribly, all I would do was give her some extra homework. I had already decided to accept her, and her results wouldn't change that. Now it seemed I really did need to supervise her studies more closely. This girl had spent far too much time reading novels. Even her fire magic had regressed, let alone her other spells. I suspected she'd forgotten how to cast the Ice Needle she had worked so hard to learn.
"Recite the incantations for a hundred fire spells, but don't let the spells take effect." I repeated the test question. "I didn't even specify their levels, so I didn't say anything when you padded the count with spells like the Fireball Spell and Flame Explosion Spell."
"Teacher... the hard part is saying them without letting them take effect!" Moli said with a pout. "I've never taken a test like this! At the academy, we're always tested on whether our spells are powerful enough..."
"For a mage to master a spell means more than knowing how to cast it. You also have to learn control, and learn how not to cast it," I replied. "That's an essential quality for a mage. If a spell always takes effect when you say its incantation, are you a machine that starts up when given a command? A spell should take effect only when you need it to. Think back to when I explained spells to you before. Did one ever suddenly hit you in the face while I was talking?"
"Yes, I know." Moli bit her lip, clenched her fists, and resigned herself to reciting. I watched the girl strain until her face turned red.
A tiny light of Magic Power appeared at my fingertip. "Be careful. This is my apartment, and I can't just let you set it on fire. So if you fail to control an incantation, I'll put it out with a water spell. But my spell won't go out of its way to avoid you."
Moli said tearfully, "If I'd known, I would've put on waterproof makeup today."
A moment later, whoosh-a tongue of flame shot out. Moli shrieked. I glanced up and continued holding my milk tea as a great bucketful of cold water appeared in midair and came pouring down. Not only did the flame vanish, but Moli was drenched from head to toe. Hmm... I raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. Luckily, Moli didn't see... I'd used a bit too much force. Mel was right. After being in a magic-suppressed state for so long, it was a little hard to hold back right after it was lifted. It was like running with a huge rock on your back: suddenly shedding the weight would make you feel as light as a swallow.
It seemed I needed to keep working on my control too.
"Waaah!" Moli cried out miserably and wiped her face with her hand. Sure enough, her hand came away pitch-black.
"Focus," I said calmly, casting a drying spell on the floor.
Even as I said that, I quietly fixed my gaze on the screen and pretended to concentrate on the web page. Because... I'd discovered that a girl whose smoky eye makeup had been smeared all over her face by water was every bit as revolting as a green-skinned goblin wearing smoky eye makeup.
...Uh, this was my own apprentice. I shouldn't find her revolting.
After a while, a wall of fire appeared in front of me. This time I wouldn't lose control again... This time, I deliberately threw a big water ball.
"Teacher! You just wanted to wash the makeup off my face, didn't you?!" Moli wailed and promptly used a Cleaning Spell on her face and hands. I watched with some relief as her Cleaning Spell took effect without a hitch. Good, she hadn't accidentally gotten rid of her nose. It seemed she hadn't fallen too far behind in her studies.
The black color vanished completely. I then took a good look at Moli...
"Are you using a disguise spell?" I asked seriously. "Or are you actually a shapeshifter?"
"Teacher, it's not that extreme... Of course a girl doesn't look as good without makeup as she does with it!" Moli covered her face. "Oh no, I've embarrassed myself in front of you!"
"No." My mood was very grave now. To be precise, after she protested, I felt even graver. I even stood up, walked over to Moli, and asked with great concern, "Moli, do you get regular physicals? Have you had your eyesight checked?"
Was the fresh-faced, delicate, sweet and adorable girl in front of me, with two sweet little dimples at the corners of her mouth, really Moli? Was she really the same girl as that unknown creature from before, with a deathly pale face, black eye sockets, pure black lips, and a face that glittered?
Still very worried, I pulled Moli over and cast a dozen diagnostic spells on her, including disease detection, a physical condition check, an eyesight test, a mental health assessment, and a whole series of others. But every spell reported that Moli was in excellent health.
Then I checked her for malicious spells.
...She had no eye problems, nor was she blinded by a Confusion Spell or anything of the sort. So... this was simply a gap in aesthetic taste between the two of us.
What should I do? I propped up my chin in worry. I would probably have to go to the library tomorrow and borrow a couple of books on aesthetics to read. As her teacher, I ought to take responsibility for my apprentice. If I let an apprentice who made herself up like a devil and thought it made her prettier go out like that, people would question my competence as a teacher!
Apparently seeing the deeper meaning behind my worried expression, Moli couldn't help defending herself.
"Teacher, it's called death metal makeup. Young people all like it nowadays," Moli muttered. "You really don't know the first thing about anything outside magic... Your aesthetic sense is probably still stuck in the Age of Legends."