I Was Abandoned Because I Was Told I Had No Talent, but Four Incredibly Strong Yet Clumsy Older Sisters Took Me In. Even the Sword Saint and the Great Sorcerer Insisted on Me Being Their Top Disciple. As a Result of Raising Me in Such an Overprotective Way, My Ultimate Talent Finally Awoke. - Chapter 6

The Second Master Has a Scary Smile

On the road during our journey.

Behind me and Master Reizel, a red-haired girl with a grumpy look on her face was walking along.

“…It’s not like I’m following you guys or anything, okay? Our directions just happen to be the same, that’s all.”

Riene said that with her arms crossed and her face turned away. Ever since I managed to hit the target yesterday, she had been following us from a little distance for some reason.

“But it’s more fun when you’re with us, Riene.”

“Wha…! Don’t say weird stuff like that! Are you stupid!?”

Seeing Riene’s face turn bright red as she yelled, I couldn’t help smiling a little. Master Reizel kept facing forward and didn’t say a word.

We reached our destination in the early afternoon.

Deep in the forest, half-buried among the trees, stood an old moss-covered tower. There was no door at the entrance—instead, a thin blue membrane, a magical barrier, was stretched across it.

“Hey, come out. We’ve got business with you.”

Master called out through the barrier. No response.

Master let out a sigh, drew the long sword at her waist, and struck the surface of the barrier hard with the pommel. The blue membrane rippled like water.

『—How violent♪』

A calm, drawn-out voice echoed from deep inside the barrier.

The blue light cleared away smoothly, and a woman appeared from within the ruined tower.

She had soft, wavy flax-colored hair and wore a loose white robe. Her purple eyes were narrowed into thin slits, and a gentle, flower-like smile bloomed on her lips.

“My, my, Reizel. It’s been quite a while. …And who are those children behind you?”

The woman’s gaze brushed over me and Riene in turn.

Then, the moment she looked at my face—her movements stopped completely.

“…………”

Her purple eyes, which had been narrowed like threads, widened just a little.

“…Cute.”

She murmured it softly, and the next instant—

A sweet scent tickled my nose, and my vision was covered by her white robe.

“Huh?”

Before I knew it, I was buried in the woman’s chest.

It was soft and warm. She stroked my head and rubbed her cheek against me. It happened so fast that I couldn’t even make a sound.

“Let go.”

A cold voice rang out, followed by the sound of metal scraping. Master Reizel had her hand on the hilt of her sword.

“No way♪ Where did you pick up such a tiny, adorable child?”

“He’s my disciple.”

“Oh my! Reizel taking on a disciple? …Hey, what’s your name?”

Stared at from such a close distance by those purple eyes, I answered in a fluster.

“R-Rut.”

“Rut-kun♪ That’s a nice name. I’m Meltya. I used to be a grand mage, you know♪”

“Another old hag showed up…”

Riene muttered poisonously behind us, but Meltya didn’t seem to care at all. She kept hugging me tight and rubbing her cheek against me.

“…I’ll get to the point, Meltya.”

Master sighed as if she was fed up.

“The town to the east has apparently been sealed inside a huge magical barrier. I heard it’s so strong it can’t be broken by physical force. I want you to undo it with your magic.”

At those words, Meltya pulled her face away from me. Still smiling, she tilted her head slightly.

“Undo a barrier? …Sure, I don’t mind. But I have one condition♪”

“A condition?”

“Let me teach this boy too♪”

Meltya clung tightly to my arm.

“…I refuse.”

Master answered instantly.

“I see♪”

Meltya smiled sweetly.

—Right at that moment.

The grass at our feet turned brown in an instant and crumbled away with a dry rustle.

The air grew heavy. It became hard to breathe. Blue magical power leaking from Meltya’s body warped the space around us like heat haze.

Her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

It was a pure, smiling violence.

A single drop of sweat ran down Master Reizel’s forehead.

“…Fine. I permit it.”

“Fufu, thank you♪ Nice to meet you from now on, Rut-kun♪”

The pressure of her magic vanished like it had been a lie, and Meltya happily took my left hand.

Right away, Master Reizel grabbed my right hand and pulled me.

“But I’m first. We’ll do sword training in the mornings.”

“My, my, you should learn magic control with a fresh mind first thing in the morning♪”

“…”

“…♪”

With my arms being tugged from both sides, I looked back and forth between their faces.

“Um… I’ll work hard at both, so…!”

“…What even is this.”

Riene muttered with a completely fed-up look on her face.

—And that’s how I ended up with two masters.

A really beautiful, really kind… and unbelievably scary when she smiles, magic master.

＊

That night.

In a room deep inside the ruined tower, Meltya was sorting through her belongings alone.

As she packed old spellbooks into a wooden box, her hands suddenly stopped.

She stared at her own palm. The feeling of that boy’s small, calloused hand from earlier in the day still lingered.

“…It’s been so long since I felt the warmth of another person.”

Her face as she murmured those words to herself wasn’t her usual smile—it looked terribly lonely.

But she quickly put the gentle smiling mask back on.

“Fufu. Rut-kun was so cute, wasn’t he♪”

—What heavy burdens from the past still clung to her back, burdens she couldn’t tell anyone about yet, Rut and the others still had no idea.