When the little girl finally ran back on her own, Aura lifted her head again.
She glanced at the plain homespun dress on her body. Pawning away her mage's robe had not pained her in the slightest.
Aura never cared much about appearances or decorations. Of all the things she brought from Kribi, only her axe held any true value to her. Everything else was dispensable.
When she pawned away her robe and the tall mage's hat, Sheila had tried to stop her. Sheila even offered money from her own purse, begging Aura to use that instead. But once Sheila's attention was turned, Aura still went straight to the pawnshop and sold both robe and hat.
After all, she had long been displeased with the academy's canteen situation. Since she had the means to improve it, why shouldn't she?
What she hadn't expected was that the robe Zanze had tailored for her, together with the purple hat she'd scavenged from the ruins, would fetch such a high price.
Had she known earlier, she would've sold them long ago.
As for replacement clothing, Aura did own other underlayers. She had considered pawning those as well, but it turned out that only the robe and hat had real value. So in the end, she let it be.
During a home visit to a poor student's family, the mother noticed that Aura was wearing an out-of-season undershirt. Since the woman lived by mending cloth and had spare fabric, she made an extra garment and gifted it to Aura.
Aura never cared for fashion; so long as clothing covered her body, she was satisfied. She accepted it gratefully.
Although Aura knew that pawning her mage robe could only solve the problem temporarily, she didn't care. The next time she was short of money, she could just go to Kribi and ask Serie or Zanze for money... She could even ask Flamme if she mustered up the courage.
No matter the difficulty, Aura believed she would always find a way.
Money, truth be told, was not what she truly lacked.
"Dean, I've brought gifts back! A fortune! From now on, the academy's expenses can all be covered by me! I'll leave it all here—for you!"
Andro's voice shook with excitement as he looked at his dean dressed in rough linen. He froze a moment, then, as though struck by realization, turned and hurriedly commanded his servants to unload all the gold and jewels from the carriage.
Overjoyed, he opened a chest before Aura, scooping up a cluster of pearls and gems, holding them out with both hands, looking to her expectantly.
But Aura did not take them. She only gave a fleeting glance at the carriage behind him, his servants, and the ill-fitting courtly garments choking his thin frame.
"Are these riches yours?"
"I…"
Her tone suddenly sharpened, and Andro was struck dumb.
"Why don't you go to Kribi? When you left here, didn't you say you wanted to pursue the pinnacle of magic?"
"The pinnacle of magic… I…"
Andro was stunned for a long time. He didn't expect that the dean still remembered the joke he made casually in the academy.
No, it couldn't be said to be a joke. At least he was serious at that time. He really went to Kribi in pursuit of the pinnacle of magic.
It was after those words that the dean had begun paying him special attention.
But—but… wasn't his desire to leave the mountains precisely so he could one day return laden with wealth and honor to Hohenburg? Now he had gained it all with ease—why should he continue down that grueling path?
"Dean Aura, I—I discovered that even without reaching the pinnacle of magic, I can still achieve my dream! Look! These jewels, these treasures—they can change Hohenburg itself! They can support the Academy! They can ease your burdens!"
"I ask you again. Are these riches truly yours?"
"I…"
"I do not recall ever teaching you to spend half your life studying magic, honing your path—only to sell that path for a price."
"I didn't sell it! I was recognized by the Großherzog for my magic!"
"Recognition? Recognition bought by abandoning the pinnacle of magic? Recognition purchased by selling away the rest of your life? Recognition that makes you a caged bird, a gilded canary locked in a palace?"
"It's not… not as shameful as you make it sound…"
"Andro—when did you, once so independent, so unyielding, so strong as a mage, become someone who lives only by another's approval?"
"…Forgive me, Dean Aura."
"Don't call me Dean! I never taught a student as worthless as you!!!"
Andro lowered his head. Aura glared, fury rising within her.
This time, she was truly angry.
She could never understand why? Why? For demons, magic was the supreme treasure, priceless beyond all else!! Yet among humans, it was treated so lightly, abandoned again and again!
How could one who had never stood upon the pinnacle of magic comprehend that vision! That glory which surpasses every worldly desire, that truth so near to eternity itself? And yet humans cast it aside so easily.
Though Aura could not fully grasp human desires, she had observed enough to know: whether for wealth or power, if one reached the pinnacle of magic, what could not be obtained?
Magic should be the answer to every desire, the end of every pursuit.
She herself believed she already stood among those at the summit.
Although, she doesn't think she is living a good life now——
But she was an exception.
She was a demon, shackled and trapped in the world of humans.
Humans had no such chains. For them, as long as they advanced to the level of a great mage—no, even to a mere first-class mage—was there any land in the human kingdoms they could not walk? Any royal court that would not seat them as an honored guest? Wealth and privilege would come without effort—
Why, then, should they surrender freedom? Dignity? Their one true chance to chase the path of magic?!
Aura, too, was convinced that all her current misfortunes—being ordered about by Serie, beaten and scolded by Flamme, deceived by Frieren, imprisoned by Zanze—stemmed from but one cause: she was not yet strong enough in magic.
The day she surpassed Serie, she would make Serie weep as she licked her toes. She would lock Flamme away in eternal darkness. She would enslave Frieren, bending her to servitude. She would lock up Zanze by her side to serve her in everything from eating and drinking to defecating and urinating.
Such was the confidence magic gave Aura.
She would one day achieve every desire through magic.
Until then, she would endure humiliation, bow her head, sell even her own pride if need be—
but never, never would she abandon magic.
Even if she was a test subject. Even if treated as a slave. Even if crawling, bloodied and broken, in the shadows of the human world—
she would never stop her climb along the path of magic.