Chapter 36 (continued)

I...

"Teacher, I knew it! Even though you've had boyfriends, you're still incredibly naive and innocent!"

What nonsense! Is "naive and innocent" a word an apprentice can use to describe their teacher?

I chanted a spell to her expressionlessly—a spell I rarely used, so I was quite unfamiliar with and needed to say it aloud, but I figured I wouldn't make a mistake. As a result, Moli lowered her head and let out a high-pitched, loud scream. Luckily, I cast a Silence Spell on her in time, otherwise the neighbors would report her for disturbing the peace. Now, Moli is stretching her neck and letting out a silent scream.

I used illusion magic to turn her breasts into two rotting, maggot-infested dead heads.

When she finished screaming, I dispelled the spell. Unexpectedly, Moli pounced on me, hugged my waist, and shouted with her eyes closed, "Teacher! Even though I'm screaming, I know it's your illusion. You can't scare me!"

Wow, this kid has improved!

Maintaining clear judgment in any unexpected situation is an essential quality for becoming a qualified monk.

But I found Moli with her eyes closed, quietly crying in my arms—my robe was soaked. I have many layers of robes, and she cried so much that even my innermost shirt got wet. It seems I really went too far and frightened the child quite a bit. Well, even if I were to educate an apprentice, I shouldn't have conjured up such overly explicit images. I felt guilty for this.

I don't have much experience in comforting girls, so I'm a little anxious. Although I know I was wrong, I'm not very good at making her happy again. If I buy her some lipsticks next time, will she be happy? But I can't make lipstick right now!

"I'm sorry." I quickly hugged her, stroking her head nestled in my arms, and gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid, you know it was fake now, don't cry, don't cry, it's my fault, I won't scare you like that again."

"No!" Moli cried, panting, but immediately looked up, grabbed my arm, and cried out, "Teacher, illusion magic relies on the caster's imagination to achieve its effect. You taught me before that illusion magic is difficult to practice, not because the incantations are hard to master, but because of how to make the illusion effect realistic. So you told me that illusion magic mostly needs to be combined with one's own memories to appear real... That thing was so realistic, teacher... What have you been through? Why do you have such a deep impression of the maggot-infested dead man's head?" She cried and hugged me so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

I was slightly surprised and somewhat taken aback as I hugged her, unsure how to respond.

... She... she's crying for me?

Moli wiped her face as she spoke, but surprisingly, her makeup didn't smudge even after crying today. It seems that when I splashed water on her last time, she had to switch to waterproof makeup.

We remained silent for a long time. Moli quickly stopped sobbing, stood obediently in place, and said, "Teacher, I won't go to the nightclub anymore. Please don't be angry with me, okay? I'll stay home and study magic!"

"..." I sighed. "No, I'm not angry. Go have fun, it's okay. I didn't object to you participating in activities that young people like. People your age should have lively gatherings, I don't object at all, on the contrary, I think it's great."

Yes, that's great. Children this age should have a rich and colorful life, unrealistic fantasies, and all sorts of strange and wonderful interests that they love. They should travel around, play everywhere, and broaden their horizons. This is very good for young children.

Moli sobbed as she raised her head and looked at me. "Teacher... were you around my age...?"

Hmm...

I chuckled and said, "That was a long time ago."

"Here we go again... You talk like you're three hundred years old!" Moli said, displeased. "You're not even thirty yet, can you please not multiply your age by ten?"

Hmm, yes, I am indeed only twenty-eight, but I'm not sure if that number is reliable. I also have some doubts about the results of the magic detection equipment. Firstly, I don't remember much about my time in the orphanage—this isn't my fault; normal human children don't remember things from their infancy, right? Only elves can remember everything from birth, but usually, they selectively forget things that are completely unimportant. And while my first teacher was a dedicated employee of the Federation, his job was simply to select and adopt children with magical talent. He was 100% certain of my talent, but he neglected to also confirm my age.

Secondly, at Moli's age... I did live a period I'd rather not recall, and during that time I didn't have a clock on me, so I had no idea how many years I lived there. That's why Moli always says I act old-fashioned, which is very much in line with human psychology, because generally speaking, uncomfortable days always seem to last a very long time, and that continued until I regained my freedom from my second teacher.

I wouldn't mind being an apprentice to a dark mage, but I did mind being an apprentice to a dark mage who was determined to do evil, so I killed him.

It's that simple. The probability of a potential demon king emerging from among dark mages is indeed higher than among other types of mages. Therefore, their apprentices, while imitating them, aren't necessarily all obedient. Furthermore, my teacher maintained the ancient dark mage custom of descending from the sky, grabbing children, and running away. It's understandable that, as his apprentice, I didn't choose the same ideal as him. Dark mages killing their apprentices or apprentices defeating their teachers in retaliation are commonplace and nothing to be surprised about!

Seeing Moli crying like this, I'm starting to wonder if I'm hiding some extraordinary talent within myself.

But I think those are completely insignificant!

Life always moves forward. Now that I've met Mel, I have an obedient and sensible apprentice. I can pursue my academic ideals to my heart's content. I no longer need to constantly prepare protective spells to prevent my teacher from taking my soul to feed the devil, nor do I have to be on the wanted list to become a great demon king or anything like that. I am extremely satisfied with this kind of life!

So let's not keep bringing up the past. Besides, I suspect that Moli will overreact and cry like Keweite if she hears it! This child is always overly sensitive about things related to me. Does she really think her teacher is so weak and vulnerable?

"Go ahead, have fun," I said. "That's an order. Have fun!"

"Oh... then teacher, you can rest here tonight!" Moli wiped away her tears, quickly regaining her calm and obedient... uh, cannibalistic demeanor.

"No!" Moli walked to the door, and I suddenly remembered what I'd been interrupted about. "You can go, but you have to learn this spell first. This spell is specifically for detecting STDs. If you meet someone you really want to sleep with, remember to use it on them first. Oh, and this... this is Abyss creature detection spell, in case your sleeping partner is a disguised devil..."

"By the God of Light! This continent hasn't seen a demon in a long time! Teacher, who in modern society would be so foolish as to summon a demon for fun?! That thing is to modern people what the God of Light has athlete's foot—who knows if it even exists!" Moli screamed again.

Yes! I'm not talking about the athlete's foot of the God of Light, I'm referring to the devil...

I shut my mouth because I've recently come to realize that some of the common sense I learned from my second teacher is probably not suitable for a modern metropolis governed by the rule of law and civilization. After all, our mage tower was back then in a remote mountain where even birds wouldn't lay their eggs.

"Okay," I said, "But you'll have to learn how to detect STDs."

"Teacher... have you ever heard of condoms?" Moli asked desperately. "Besides, your student isn't just thinking about sex. You came to my house in the middle of the night and started talking to me about these kinds of inappropriate topics. Your student really just went out to drink, sing, and party with old classmates!"

I...

So, it turns out that the person with the chaotic life and filthy thoughts was actually me???

"Go ahead, have fun." That was all I could say in the end.