Chapter 21

"Maribeth, what should I do?" Wilhelm was lost in his thoughts about whether he finally starts to face his feelings for Celestine.

"Have you thought about it?" The old lady asked, concerned about him.

"Yes, I thought of it."

"Then go for it."

After a few weeks, the summoned heroes will attend the academy and it's a good chance for him to experience jealousy, hoping that the man is enough to make Wilhelm jealous that is, she'll have a talk with Celestine about it. The thought of seeing a jealous face from Wilhelm made Maribeth giggle.

That made Maribeth smile, he can be really honest sometimes, if only he could exclude using logic with solid reasonings would have made things easier for him. He doesn't want to say that he loves someone without proof and evidence that he feels that way.

He could be a little honest around Maribeth but he was still keeping some things from her, like how his desires skyrocket when they are alone or how he likes the idea of her being around him.

"Now, don't tell me you came all the way here to talk about this."

Wilhelm raised a brow, "That is all the reason why I came here."

Maribeth almost laughed after hearing that. She couldn't believe it but knowing Wilhelm she knew that he didn't lie. "Oh, now that I remembered. I would like to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"When the semester begins, can you watch over Runa? After all, she might get discriminated."

"Because she's a commoner?"

"You do know how some nobles act, I don't want to use my authority to warn them."

"It's not like we could fully watch over students but I'll do everything that I can."

"Also, please keep her being my student a secret."

"All right. I'll also tell the others about it."

"That is appreciated, thank you, Maribeth"

Maribeth was indeed surprised about his request, Runa melted some barriers between them, she was indeed a lovely child and had great potential. If she were to become a love rival then Celestine would have it difficult considering that Wilhelm and Runa live inside the same house and are spending time together everyday.

Although that idea would come to pass, Wilhelm doesn't see her in a romantic way. Wilhelm left the old lady and walked outside the academy, looking for something to eat for dinner he went to search for a store. It was the city he had to visit, it was a bit crowded the last time he went there. As he walked by the streets a store had taken his interest. It sells everything a magician needs, recalling about Runa attending school made him reach for the door.

The employee welcomed him. "Welcome to Terris Magic shop, we have everything you need for magic" The store was mainly selling novice items, it was a good choice to build it near the academy.

Wilhelm started looking around, everything they sold inside the store was all in good quality. It was a good store but not something that passed his standard but still, he decided to buy them. He wasn't sure if Runa would prefer to use a wand, a staff, or a book thus he bought one for each of them.

Magicians uses either of those three. A wand is handy as it is small and easy to carry. A staff is great for transportation since it can levitate with enough flying lessons and it can store more mana than that of a wand. A book is best for beginners since it can store spells that the magician is practicing, it is a great guide for using magic.

Although each of them had strengths and weakness it all depends with the magician as to which he or she is most comfortable with.

On his way back from shopping, a thief was running his way.

"The thief is running this way!"

"Stop right there thief!"

Shouted by guards that was chasing him.

Wilhelm cast Earth Magic and softened a specific part of the ground making the thief's leg sink as it step and hardened it the moment the leg sunk making the thief unable to run. And just like that the thief was caught and Wilhelm walked like nothing happened. "There are still thieves around the area?"

The thief was from the slums, located at the edge of the city. He never got to visit the slums thus he has little idea of the situation around that place. The only thing that was great in the city was the academy and the nearby stores. Wilhelm expected some cases of robbery to happen but never near the academy.

Runa was sleeping outside, she was cuddling with York when he arrived. He took off his cloak and covered her body, she looked very comfy sleeping on the wolf's fluffy fur. York didn't react and let him do what he wanted, one look at Wilhelm's eyes then he knew for sure that he wouldn't cause Runa harm.

There was still about an hour before getting dark. Runa was exhausted from the summoning ritual and from cleaning the house, she could have rested but instead, she finished her remaining chores and played with her summon. Wilhelm left her to sleep for a few more minutes then began to lightly tap her shoulder and call her name to wake her up.

"You could have gone inside the study and used the sofa. You might catch a cold sleeping outside you know." It was windy being above the sky.

"B-because, I haven't asked if you if York is a-allowed to enter the house"

"He can but you'll have to clean his mess in case he does"

Her smile was lovely as she got up. Wilhelm doesn't mind letting York inside the house, he seems like a well-behaved summon. He did see York act like a child when Runa started to play with him.

Dinner was a bit quieter, Runa noticed it and found it odd. Wilhelm was thinking about Runa's opinion about him enrolling her in the academy, and he one-sidedly decided it. He was unsure if she really wanted to be a magician in the first place but magic is the only thing he had and thus, he offered her the privilege to be a magician.

He recalled the first time Runa saw his magic, the spark in her eyes made him want to teach her magic. Her lifeless eyes started to brighten up as she saw the strokes of lines from the magic circles and how they followed the bubbles as they healed her body, she was enticed by it, wanting it to shine for her for a bit longer.

Ever since then, Runa started to enjoy using magic, and she started to love it. Getting enrolled in a magic academy, her master gave her the opportunity to explore the path of a magician it is one thing she was very grateful at. Now that she started to use magic, she couldn't stop the joy even if it exhausted her.

Runa was not gifted in terms of magical capacity or great comprehension in magical fields but she works diligently for it, day by day she is steadily progressing at her own pace. Even if she works hard she can never catch up to Wilhelm or Celestine because they both are working hard and worked hard for what they are now but she doesn't have any envy or want to compete with anyone, the girl simply enjoys using magic.

Wilhelm is working hard? Yes even if it's difficult to believe, he reviews his knowledge of magic by reading books repeatedly. Tepht and his family handles the papers for his wealth but he can't escape from it though as he still has reports to review and letters to sign.

Since all he needed was to check and sign some letters he let them pile up and finish them in one day, and it was one thing that Celestine nagged about him since he sometimes couldn't finish all of them because of their numbers, it made him look irresponsible but they can't blame him, he has no passion for business, all he did was invent magical tools because it was related to magic and was entertaining.

Now that it crossed his mind, he was curious about what Celestine had been doing ever since he forcefully transported her back to her room. He thought that she deserved it for teasing too much but he considered buying sweets as a peace offering in case she gets a little bit stingy.

"Uhm, Master...?" Runa initiated the conversation. By simply speaking she had already caught his attention and now that his eyes were directed at her she averted.

"I'm sorry, I was caught in my thoughts did you say something?" She still couldn't get used to it, the way Wilhelm treated her. A fine gentle person, calm and very kind. The way he treats her is that of a family member, she is glad about it and thankful.

"Can I go to the c-city tomorrow?"

"Sure."

An instant reply without any hesitations, every time he does that, it makes Runa feel free. A feeling that was stolen from her. The reason why she wanted to go to the city was to buy something for Wilhelm, her savings had reached a fair amount to buy him something as a present.

Wilhelm noticed something about Runa, her mana capacity did not increase today,

"Did you skip training today?" Runa nodded sideways telling him that she trained. He didn't doubted her, "Do you feel stuck?" he asked.

Runa didn't know what he meant by being stuck which is why it took her about a minute to think until she gave him an answer. She did feel stuck this morning when she trained. Her usual training would have a constant increase in duration for her endurance.

"I see, wake me up by tomorrow morning, I'll see it for myself." It was unusual for Wilhelm to ask her to wake him up, especially in the morning. Ever since Runa started to work at Rachel's store the number of times when Wilhelm teaches her magic lessened.

It's not like he was strict enough to force her to train but since he knew that Runa was practicing every morning convinced him to allow her to develop herself since he could see her daily growth and thought that she's doing well practicing by herself. After dinner, they went straight to bed but Runa couldn't sleep while Wilhelm forced himself to sleep.

York was still around and she was curious if summoned creatures could last forever once summoned into their world.

"Spirits can last for as long as the user has mana. But it seems like your a special case. Hm... Now that I think about it... You don't seem to be exhausted despite him staying here the whole day."

Wilhelm was interested as to why that was the case. He inspected Runa's mana and couldn't find any form of depletion. It was stable despite York being around. It would normally drain over time.