'Oh, by the way, I haven't had dinner yet...'

　I think I'll invite Lucy to stop at a tavern somewhere.
　With an empty stomach, I head to the Great Sage-sama's mansion.
　I open the large door of the gleaming ice mansion and walk down the dimly lit corridor.

''Good day........
　As I entered the back room, I saw many flames flickering and flickering.
　I could see it in her rear view, her red hair unmatched by the flames.
'Lucy?'
　He realized that the flames floating around Lucy were not magical flames, but candlelight.
　With a pop, a small spark bursts out.
　With a pop, a new candle is lit.

Hmmm, one minute and ten seconds. That's quite something.
　The Great Sage said with satisfaction.
'True!'
　Whoops, he hugged me.
　You're still warm as ever.
'Look, this is all set on fire by me with my uncensored magic!　
　I look at Lucy's smile and the 20+ candles around her.
　Heh, a minute and a bit of this and no chanting.

"Way to go, Lucy. Have you reached the 50 mark in proficiency?
　No chanting should be proficient: 50+.
"Hmm, just barely. "Hmm, just in time. Using the 'Fire Magic King Grade' skill without increasing your proficiency level is ridiculous.
　The Great Sage Master said without a care in the world.
　Essentially, it seems that proficiency is more important for powerful skills.
　Well, the stronger the weapon, the more you have to follow the rules of use.

That's great, Lucy!
　Lucy's efforts are definitely genuine.
'Yes!　But what's going on?　Did you come to see me?
'Yeah, I thought I'd ask the Great Sage to watch my training too.
　After all, the Great Sage is the strongest wizard in the continent.
　It would be a shame if he didn't at least train a little.

Good. I hope you know what you're doing.
　Nibbling, and being invited with a finger.
　....hah.
"Come in.
　Giving up, I offer my neck to the Great Sage Master.
　He bites me with a capri, and I feel a dull pain from the Great Sage's sharp teeth.
　My body heats up every time my blood is sucked.
''........How does it taste?　Great Sage.
　No reply.
　Instead, he popped me and tapped me on the back of the head.
　Does that mean it's good?

　Then, he offered his blood for 10 seconds.
'Phew~'
　The Great Sage Master raised his face in satisfaction and licked off his red wet lips with his tongue.
　It's a lewd atmosphere, unbecoming of her young appearance.
　Or rather, it's erotic.

　I'm going to be able to have my bite healed by the recovery magic and turn around again.
I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about it.
Yeah.
　And Lucy seems to be growing fast, in a matter of days. Let's hope.

Now, let's see what you can do with your magic, Spirit Master. You can use a magic-free spell to put out the fire the redhead set earlier.
The truth is, your magic is fast. Great Sage!
What?　That would be fun.
　Great Sage-sama grinning.
　Lucy-san, you don't have to raise the bar........

'Then I'll give you a signal. Do it.
　At the same(ish) time(ish) as the Great Sage Master's signal(ish), I froze the wicks of all the candles.
　The candle light went out and the room went dark at once.
　Hmmm, it took about two seconds.

'How's it going?'
Huh, the same as always - your crazy magic activation rate.
　Lucy, who is used to seeing my magic, made a noise of interest.
　I looked at the Great Sage-sama.
''........''
　There was the Great Sage Master with his mouth half open.

''You ... how did you just do that?''
"?　It's just uncensored magic, though.
Did I miss anything?　Great Sage.
　'I'm not sure why you're surprised,' me and Lucy asked.

'Hey, red-haired wizard. How do you target your magic when you do un-casting magic?
'What?　That is, of course, when you look at your target... Huh?　The truth is, just before...
'The Spirit Master was putting out the flames behind him at the same time.
　Oh, that.

"It's a skill. I can change my perspective as I please.
The ability to change your perspective in the RPG Player Skill.
　It's not suitable for combat, but it's a useful skill in that it doesn't create blind spots.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. It's a clever one. And the accuracy of the magic is outstanding.
　As he said this, the Great Sage snapped his fingers.
　Dimly, the flames burst and all the candles were re-lit.
　The room lit up again.

"Great Sage, indeed.
　As much magic as I can do, it's like I can afford it.
'Ugh it took me more than a minute to do it.
　Lucy is depressed.
　You know what? It used to take her three minutes to shoot a spell.
　It's a big improvement.

"Don't be discouraged, redhead. It's taken me a hundred years to reach this level.
"What?
How long has the wizard learned his magic?
Well, less than two years.
....
　Great Sage-sama's dumbfounded gaze and Lucy's stare gathered.
　What is it?　Even if you're complaining.

No, I can only use elementary water magic.
　You can't use any other attributes, and you can't increase the power.
　The only thing you can do is to increase your proficiency level.
But there's a limit to what you can do.... No, if you train without worrying about the limit, this is what happens if you train without worrying about the limit... by the way, your proficiency level is... you... are you saying your proficiency level is 200?
What?　You said 150 the other day!
　The Great Sage Master gave away my status with my appraisal skills.

''It's gone up again since then.
What, I can't catch up with you forever...

This is a bad idea. There's nothing I can teach you. As much as I wish you could tell me, what could you do to become so skilled?
Yeah, tell me what's going on.
　I think you're missing out on some blood.

Well, you could say that. You got any weapons you want?　They may not be national treasures, but there are plenty of valuable weapons around.
Hmmm, I don't have any muscle power, so I can only handle a dagger.
　He appealed to Noah-sama's dagger as he dangled it around.
　This dagger, Fujiyan said it was a national treasure level, so there would be no better weapon than this one.

''Uh-huh. I see........
　I folded my arms and thought about it, Great Sage.
　Did I embarrass you?
　I didn't expect you to be so conscientious.

"If you ever need help with anything, I'll consult with you.
I'm sorry.
No.
　I greeted the Great Sage Master and left the mansion with Lucy.


　◇


Hey, Lucy. Let's get a bite to eat.
Yeah. You haven't had dinner yet?
Did Lucy eat?
Great Sage's place is full of food. The best chefs in the world cook for you.　
　Moreover, I heard that the Great Sage is a small eater, so he leaves most of it behind.
　There is no staff to eat the rest of the food.
　Thanks to that, Lucy can eat as much as she wants.
　What's that?　That's great.

I should have gotten something too...
　Instead, I've just become a snack for the Great Sage.
　d*mn.
'Oh well, true. Let's go have dinner somewhere.

　We walked into a posh little tavern on Sixth Ward Street.
　We ordered a sandwich with lamb and vegetables and a dish that looked like pasta with lots of fish and shellfish in it.
"You're eating a lot today.
I'm tired of all this.
Yeah, what's going on?　Let me hear it.

　Lucy, who is sitting next to me at the counter, leans in close to me.
　Close.........
　I tried not to let it bother me and told her what happened today.


'What?　.... in the Ninth Ward, to the orphanage where Jean and Emily grew up, to explore the underground waterways, to fight the undead, to meet the young mafia heads, and finally to go to the summit of the Land of the Sun (Highland)?
'Ooh, you put it all together nicely.'
　That's a summary of today's events up to the point where the Great Sage-sama sucked the blood out of me at the end.

"Wow, while I'm gone, Makoto and Aya keep advancing their adventure...
It'll be fine. Fujiyan found the culprit of the rebellion after all.
I mean really, that guy is amazing.
　I'm a friend of a classmate with my prized cheat skills.

'How's Lucy's training going?
'Yes!　After all, Great Sage-sama has a lot of knowledge of magic. He's also very good at teaching them!
Wow.
　I love it.
I've heard that the "Great Magic Way" has a "Fire Magic, Royal Grade" skill, and that the best wizard on the continent can teach it to you.

But just like you said, it's good that I learned the 'calm' skill and 'concentration' skill.
That's good.
　I listen to him as he munches on a sandwich.
　These days, he's been practicing chantless spells for a long time now.
　It seems that in the Dark Ages when the Great Demon King was around, there wasn't a single wizard who took his time chanting spells.
　As expected of a person with experience from a thousand years ago.

''It's been a long time since I've felt anything like this.
Why?　We see each other every day.
"Hmm, yeah, but... It's been a while since we've had a drink together like this, hasn't it?
Oh, maybe.

　Lately, I've been spending a lot of time with Sa-san, Fujiyan, and whoever else is with me.
　The only time I've been alone with Lucy was when we first had a party at McAllen's?
　That was a long time ago.
　Did I remember the first time we had friends and I didn't know what to say to them?

　At first, I was nervous about the beautiful Lucy.
　But now I can talk to her easily.
　But....

"Hey, Lucy. We're pretty close today.
　I don't know what it is, but he's leaning on my left shoulder and Lucy's fingers have been crawling up my left arm for a while now.
　It tickles.
　It's not enough to take my breath away, but it's also close enough to my face.
'Are you horny?'
a**h*le.
　I don't know what you're talking about, Lucy.
　I can't take it anymore.

'Oh, that's funny. A noblewoman in the Sun Country told me about it.
'What are they teaching you...'
This will put every man to shame.
　After all, do aristocratic women use women's weapons all the time?
　I heard that Chris was making a lot of moves on Fujiyan until they got engaged.
　Is it the darkness of the aristocratic society?


　--Khan, Khan, Khan, Khan, Khan.


　The sound of bells ringing could be heard from afar.

'Lucy, what is this bell?'
The Peace Bell?　I've heard that it's sounded from the four gates of the King's Capital Symphonia when there's nothing out of the ordinary.
But?
In fact, it seems to be a signal for the Temple Knights guarding King's Landing to take over.
Huh, I see.
　So that's the signal for the day and night shifts.
　That's very practical.
　The sun has completely set, but it never gets dark in King's Landing with so many lights.

"Hey, we can have more drinks today.
　With a click, the glass is held to me.
　With a grin, he peers at me challengingly.
　I look away from the cleavage I can see when I look down at her and warn her, "You won't be able to get up tomorrow if you drink too much.

'I'll be fine. I've been getting better at drinking lately.
That kind of carelessness...
　Oh, well.
　I've worked a lot today, maybe I'll have a drink too.


　


Ah, Takatsuki and Lucy are home in the morning.
Sir, your voice doesn't match your face.
　His voice is refreshing, but his eyes are scary.
　And by the way, please put that giant hammer down.

'It looks like you've been having fun, brave man, Makoto.
　The cold-voiced Princess Sophia.
　So this is what his default is.
　As it should be, you're there.

'Does this look like fun?'
　Lucy had fallen asleep and I had to piggyback on her.
　Eventually, Lucy drank too much and was crushed.
　Heavier than it looks........no, I won't tell you this.

'Lord Tuckey!　It's a big deal.
Look at this!
　Fujiyan and Chris called me.
　Fujiyan handed me a letter.

　It was an invitation from Peter Castor, the young head of the Castor Family of the Ninth Ward Street mafia.