Dominic looked at me with glass-like eyes as if he could see through my thoughts, then nodded again.
"Yes. I'm worried about you. You… Sincerely. You can be alone, right?"
Come to think of it, after meeting Dominic, I think it was the first time I would be separated from him. I stuck out the tip of my tongue, wet my lips, and looked at him.
"I don't want to be separated."
In my previous life, I didn't have an orphan family. Then I possessed Meldenik's body, but I didn't have any family. For me, Dominic was like a family member I met for the first time. A strangely sad feeling surged in like a river wave. I twitched and hid my raw emotions.
"…Still, I'm not a six-year-old. And I'll see you again in a few days."
"It's a curse or something, it's annoying too. I don't know when your enemies will come here, so that's also infuriating."
I tried to say that I would speak like an older brother, but I swallowed hard. If I said that, I would have been met with worried nagging. After all, Dominic lived to be over a thousand years old, so maybe it's natural for him to worry about me.
I patted Dominic on the shoulder and continued speaking coolly. "It's okay. There are people who will protect me for the time being."
I slowly pulled out a model bird made of wood carvings from the inner pocket of my dress. It was handed to me by a man who said I was on the same side as him.
Can I really trust Isaac completely?
He wasn't a blood relative, and he wasn't tied to a contractual relationship like Dominic. But there was no other alternative. Dominic, my only close aide, had to go to the territory.
"Don't worry."
"…"
"My closest aide, Hero, take care of yourself."
Dominic looked somewhat unhappy at my words. "The person who said he would protect you was the one who came to the stationery store a while ago, right?"
"Yes."
"…Not good." Dominic's expression hardened bluntly. "I hate him because his skin is dark."
Dominic shook his head unevenly and then stopped. "…Do you like dark skin?"
I blinked and smiled. "I just like being handsome." It was best if he was in good shape.
Dominic looked at me with disdain and stated firmly, "But I don't know, so don't get too close to that boast, okay?"
I nodded at Dominic's pouting words. "Yes, I'm just going to ask you to teach me about alchemy."
"…I'm going to gather all your blood relatives, so I'm just waiting for you."
"Okay!" I simply agreed with Dominic's words. After all, Isaac and I were just a strategic cooperative relationship. I thought.
After Dominic left that day, Isaac came to visit me. He rebuilt the first floor of the stationery store that seemed to have been completely struck by lightning and carefully checked it.
"I'm going to get the money from the Duke of Babyloa, but I'll give it to this man as a wage."
I looked at his muscles, visible on both arms of his shirt, and seriously admired him.
But can you be by my side every day?
Is the Master of the Magic Tower a hidden honey office worker (meaning, someone with a surprisingly easy or pleasant job)? Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to come in the morning and help with the stationery store.
I asked him with a suspicious face. "Have you given up your position as the Master of the Tower?"
"I'm thinking of letting go soon." He grinned and looked at me.
Oh, is that so?
It may be half a joke, but I couldn't imagine this man being obsessed with one title. It wouldn't be a bad idea to flatter him hard and then sign a lifetime contract with my master. If you learn alchemy from this man, you may not be able to become the strongest alchemist in the world.
The left, Master of the Magic Tower; the right, demon sword. It seemed that the scale was growing, so the pressure was a little gone. However, this was all a big picture to mock the adulterous man and spread the word about my stationery store in all academies.
"Okay. Tell me about alchemy!" He nodded. I sat at the round table at the stationery store and tapped my legs on the floor. So, to express my opinion more specifically, it was as follows: "I want to expand my mana barrel!"
After a while.
Isaac held the book on the round table and faced Meldenik. Seeing Meldenik's ambitious eyes suddenly made him feel better. She continued to pout sincerely. It was clear that he was trying to figure out his alchemy abilities by looking at me as well as possible. It was a very snobbish attitude.
"First of all, you need to know yourself well."
"My name is Meldenik, and I originally belonged to the Babyloa family, but now I have separated. I seem to be about 167 centimeters tall, and my hair is blonde, as you know, but I took care of it diligently… What else do you want?"
…That's not what I said. I asked him to tell me about his mana, but he seemed to have misunderstood. But it didn't feel bad to hear her story, so Isaac asked again.
"What else?" He replied lightly and coolly, flipping through a few books on alchemy that he had brought from the Mage Tower.
"Oh, I can't tell you where my money is or what kind of brilliant ideas I'm overflowing with."
Isaac's hand slowed down as he flipped through the pages. "So what exactly can Meldenik give me?"
Meldenik looked at him and said with a forced smile, "Uh, um, my small and precious heart?"
Isaac turned his head. It was to hold back the laughter. She bounced like a squirrel. He didn't know where she would bounce next.
"You're really cute."
He once felt sympathy when he saw something small and delicate. However, he had never felt cute when he saw small animals such as cats or dogs, or small children. Meldenik resembled a pure white snow rabbit, even though it had white fur and no red eyes. It felt like a rabbit living in the wild without being touched by humans.
When he was with her, who was as warm and cheerful as the sun, his mood naturally rose and fell according to her emotions.
'If I feel like it, I just follow it and try everything I like.'
'Yes, do it!'
Meldenik's bright and cheerful answer floated in his ears. He was always bothered by the movement of his heart. Because he had experienced constant emotional ups and downs since he was very young. Naturally, he had no choice but to prefer a calm situation.
I let everything go according to natural reason.
If you live, you will live, and if you die, you will die. That's right…
He looked towards Meldenik, who was smiling.
This time, I will really follow it as I want.
Her inner thoughts were transparently read in her green eyes, which reflected kindness and anticipation.
"I'm going to work really hard today! Handsome Master!"
He knew that it was a kind of lip service. When he was told that he was handsome, he used to dismiss it without much expectation.
"Yes." In the afternoon sun, when the light was shattering, he lowered his eyes. A person who spoke without hesitation about his dreams and got what he wanted. When he saw her, strangely, for the first time today, he didn't think of anything. In his head, where something was constantly coming to mind, a calm stillness came to the lake of thoughts. All the noise that interfered with his peaceful daily life had subsided, and he just felt calm.
At this first feeling, he clenched his jaw and looked at her. When he looked at her, his eyes were drawn to her, and at night when he didn't see her, it felt strange.
Meldenik, who did not know his heart, shouted loudly, cheering him up.
"Master, let's get started!"
He planned to start his practice and get to know her gradually. If that happened, the emotional wave would naturally decrease. He wasn't curious about Meldenik itself.
But wait.
"…What did you just say, Master?"
"Oh, 'Master' is the abbreviation of 'Master of the Magic Tower'! How's that? Now that we have a strategic partnership, we need to decide on a nickname."
I've already decided on a nickname. Laughter erupted from his unpredictable, ball-like attitude.