In the quiet park, Serie squatted on the grass, a faint light of casting Magic swirling in her hands.
Beneath her palms, clusters of flowers birthed by Magic emerged from the green grass, forming a small flower field in the park.
Gazing at the vibrant flowers before her, Serie extended her hand, her fingertips gently tracing the petals.
Under the soft touch, in a trance, Serie felt as if she had once again touched the fingertips of her Disciple, Flamme, and her lips unconsciously curved into a slight smile at some point.
Flamme.
In her memory, this human Disciple of hers was just a Little girl who loved to laugh, her height just reaching her waist.
The little human Disciple's favorite thing was to hold her hand and walk through the flower field, then stand at the end of the field with hands on her hips, proudly telling her about her ideals.
This child wanted to establish an era where everyone could cultivate Magic.
What a childish and uninteresting idea.
Just like her favorite [Magic to create a flower field], a boring Magic with no practical use whatsoever.
Yet even at the end of her life, in the will delivered to her by her Disciple, written like a report, she still expected her to take over her work and teach humans to cultivate Magic.
How laughable.
Indeed, in the end, Flamme was just a human Disciple she had casually nurtured on a whim.
Even until the end of her life, she couldn't achieve mutual understanding with her.
An era where anyone can use Magic?
Magic should be special. As a great Magic User who has survived since the age of myths, I, Serie, have no intention of teaching Magic to those without talent.
It's just.....
Although she had never been optimistic about it, the child Flamme truly realized her ideal.
In the lifespan of humans, which is so short it's almost non-existent for elves, she persuaded the human emperor to approve a nationwide Magic research plan, making the study of Magic no longer a taboo; she found over a hundred principles of Magic theory, providing a basis for humans to cultivate and create Magic.
The era where anyone could use Magic indeed arrived as she wished, not long after her death.
To this day, humans have become an indispensable part of the chronicles of Magic.
Brilliant human Magic Users, vast folk Magic, even Serie herself was surprised by them several times.
Undeniably, the era of Magic belonging to humans has arrived.
Even the long-lived elf race will be surpassed by humans.
It's just, there's still a bit of annoyance.
When Flamme's Disciple, Frieren, handed over the will to her, she immediately refused the dying wish that she expected her to teach humans Magic.
Yet, in the end, she still had thoughts about this.
How ironic.
Forget it, let's just consider it agreeing to the Disciple's dying wish, it's only a thousand years late anyway.
I believe Disciple Flamme can understand as well.
For some reason, Serie couldn't help but chuckle twice.
After all, the one you're entrusting is an elf.
Postponing a decision for a thousand years doesn't seem like such an excessive thing for an elf.
And, Flamme.
Although [Magic to create a flower field] is an utterly boring and terrible Magic, even after a thousand years, I still remember it.
.....
He wondered if he had just experienced an illusion.
When Gut detected a faint Magic fluctuation in the park and followed it to see the figure suspected to be Serie, before Gut could step forward to speak, a few wisps of thin mist uncharacteristically rose in the noon park.
After this mist was dispersed by the breeze, nothing was left before Gut's eyes.
Neither the faint Magic fluctuation nor Serie's back, nor even the few clusters of flowers that had just bloomed on the park's green grass, everything had vanished.
Only a patch of neat green grass remained, swaying with the breeze.
It was as if everything he had seen before was merely Gut's illusion.
However, Gut knew in his heart that the figure just now must have been Serie.
Combining the previously sensed [Flower Field Magic], Gut guessed that this "Magic Oldie" was likely reminiscing about her Disciple and didn't want to be disturbed by strangers, thus she had set up some means to conceal herself.
Perhaps, Serie was still standing there at this moment, it was just that Gut's eyes couldn't see the scene.
Thinking this, Gut bowed towards the spot where Serie had appeared, then turned around and left the park the way he came, no longer disturbing the "Magic Oldie", Serie.
After Gut had gone far away.
Just as he had guessed, a Barrier, set up at some unknown time, quietly dispersed, and Serie, who was within it, was indeed still standing in the same spot.
However, Serie, who was bending down to touch the flowers, couldn't help but divert a trace of her attention to Gut's retreating back.
"Heh, a human Magic User....."
"How interesting."
.....
Inn in the city.
"Eh, how could this be?"
Gut let out a sigh. In the end, he still missed the inn's lunch and couldn't get a bite of fresh, hot food.
It was just after the mealtime, the time for the kitchen staff to wash the cooking utensils.
Although the front desk attendant smiled and told Gut it was okay, even if it was slightly past mealtime, if a guest needed it, the kitchen staff could still light the fire and cook.
Gut's mouth twitched twice, and he waved his hand at the attendant, refusing this "kindness."
Although he had never worked in a restaurant kitchen, Gut could understand the immense resentment the kitchen staff, who were about to finish their shift and had likely already washed their utensils, would feel upon suddenly being told to light the fire and cook again.
Although Gut wasn't exactly a good person, he didn't have such malicious pleasure.
What's more, an angry chef in such a state might add some "mysterious ingredients" to your meal.
There was no need to deliberately sicken diners with something dirty; sometimes, just a spoonful more salt could significantly affect the deliciousness of the food.
Gut always felt that enjoying delicious food was best when both parties were willing.
The chef cooking with dedication, the diner wholeheartedly enjoying the taste and ingenuity – this was the "you are willing, I am willing" that should exist when enjoying delicious food.
After going to the bakery next to the inn and casually picking out a few freshly baked loaves for lunch, Gut went straight to his room.
While having lunch at the table, he summoned the [System Interface], intending to first draw the reward for the daily quest [Lakukan satu perbuatan baik setiap hari].
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest: Lakukan satu perbuatan baik setiap hari Completed]
[Random Reward Drawing...]
[Drawing Complete]
[Magic Inheritance Scroll: Stealing Magic]
"Huh???"
"This is... a big haul?!!!"
Gut's expression changed, and he quickly put down the half-eaten bread in his hand, opening the [system space] interface to check.
This was the first time. He hadn't expected there to be Magic in the [Lakukan satu perbuatan baik setiap hari] reward pool.
And looking at the name [Magic Inheritance Scroll], this seemed to be the type of item that allowed one to directly master the Magic without needing to learn it.
This was great. Gut was just worried about having too few Magic spells and lacking any hidden trump cards, and then he got this.
It's just....
The smile on Gut's face didn't last long.
Gut, who read the detailed information about the item in the [system space], had an extremely complicated expression.
This was because on the details page, after the Magic recorded on the Inheritance Scroll, there was an additional restrictive modifier.
Namely [Stealing Magic (and True Lock-On Skill)].