Medea Misery

"How fascinating, a heroic spirit manifested thanks to this holy grail that could grant a wish?" Serie expressed her fascination.

"Indeed milady." Caster wasn't kneeling like she did before but she's still very polite toward Serie for some reason.

No matter how I look at it, compared to how she treated me indifferently, it's definitely strange.

While I get that she's an elf, her attitude toward her was over the top, she's acting like she's her servant or something.

Isn't she like my servant? Why does it feel like she's Serie's servant instead?

Either way, I already knew about the content of their conversation since Caster already told me about it earlier.

There's no point in listening any longer and decided to prepare the books and a meal for Serie.

No need to ask what meal she wanted. It was fairly obvious what she's going to order anyway, in fact she orders the same thing every time she visited.

—

-Serie-

What a surprise, to think she would encounter a new form of magic in her visit, while it is unexpected it was a welcome one.

If she recalled correctly the owner said that his world doesn't have magic, but it was clear that it's false.

However she could tell that he wasn't lying to her either back then, therefore she concluded that he simply doesn't know about it's existence and the magic of his world is hidden from the eyes of ordinary people.

That would be likely the case, but still how fascinating this spirit is in front of her, a being that was hailed and worshiped as a hero in a distant era, immortalized by the people and ascended to this place called the throne of heroes.

Truly fascinating, she wonders how it works and what kind of magic system it's made of, if possible she would like to replicate it back in her world.

"Girl, do you know how this holy grail works?" Serie truly wanted to know how.

The girl wasn't expecting her to ask such a thing, but despite that she answered. "I admit milady, that I don't know how it works but maybe if I take a closer look I may learn about it."

"Oh? Quite the confidence." She was amused by this girl, it was clear that she feared her.

However, she could see that this girl also took pride in her skills as a mage, she couldn't help but wonder if she could learn the magic or magecraft as this girl told her about.

She was very clear about the difference between magecraft and magic, she empathized with her quite a few times despite her fear.

Serie wonders why she fears her, it wasn't like she's going to do anything malicious toward her being. It wasn't like she's an enemy.

If she was a demon, now that's different but clearly she isn't one of those savage animals.

"I have my pride as a mage."

Serie took a liking to this otherworldly mage, she liked her confidence and wasn't afraid of showing it to her.

Despite the difference of their magic system, she's interested in taking her as a disciple as she had a good feeling about this one.

And also the fact that this girl isn't quite human, she could see beneath that hood of hers a ear similar to her, albeit shorter.

It was clear that she's a half-breed, a mix between an elf and a human.

Or whatever her kind is called in this world.

To be honest this isn't the first time she has seen a mixed breed, although it was rare, she did meet a few but in ancient times.

It was really rare to find someone like that, mainly because elves usually don't consider mating with a human.

Mostly due to the lack of understanding, but also the fact that they're simply incompatible.

Humans die after a few decades and from an elf perspective that's equivalent to an entire season.

That's why it rarely happens, and even if it did most elves treat their human mates as pets of sorts.

A passing curiosity.

And some rare ones, however, don't live long because they couldn't bear the crippling loneliness without their human mates.

It wasn't like couldn't understand, after all she lived with humans and understood them to some extent.

But she never thought of participating in such a relationship because there's no point, it never really crossed her mind.

Either way, she would be willing to try to teach this one because she clearly got talent and motivation for learning magic, and the fact that she's a half-breed makes her lifespan several times higher than humans.

Although it's nothing compared to a pure elf like her, it's still way better than teaching a human.

She wouldn't ask her directly for now, there's no rush, maybe after knowing her a bit better after all she didn't make a mistake teaching the wrong person.

"That's a good attitude to have." Serie smiled as she rested her cheeks into her right fist.

"Thank you for your kind words."

Serie rolled her eyes at her. "Enough with that formal speech, it would be better if you would talk informally toward me."

"How could I…" The half-breed girl was clearly uncomfortable with that idea.

She let out a sigh. "Fine, feel free to talk in a way you're comfortable with."

The girl didn't say anything and also bowed to her.

Then Serie remembered that she hadn't asked for the girl's name. "What's your name girl?"

The girl hesitated for a bit, but eventually she answered. "Medea."

Serie imprinted that name into the depths of her mind as a person of interest.

In exchange for her name, she told her. Her name. "Serie, that's my name, remember that."

Medea looked confused as to why she told her name, but regardless she nodded. "I will lady Serie."

She was completely fine without the last part, but didn't say anything. It was better to make the girl more comfortable with her presence because she will visit more often from now on.

Then a familiar smell assaulted her nostrils, making not only her to look at the origin of the smell but also Medea.

"Here's your usual dish, I'll bring the books after you finish your meal." He said with a knowing smile.

Serie appreciates this, she doesn't need to tell him anything which is convenient.

She couldn't be more pleased by this service. "Thank you."

He only nodded and left the scene.

Before she tried to eat her favorite dish, she saw the girl's jaw drop from her face, confused by this unusual reaction. "What is it Medea?"

The woman flinched upon hearing her name, but quickly returned to her normal-self or at least close to it.

With a trembling tone, she pointed shakily at the food on the table. "What kind of phantasm species is that? It's mana is overflowing!"

Serie doesn't know what she meant by phantasm species, but she does know this dish emits some mana, but she couldn't understand what's to be surprised about.

After all, in her perspective there's simply nothing out of ordinary, this wyvern pig only emits a decent amount of it, nothing special.

So what's with this overreaction?

She saw stronger animals that emit more mana than this.

"So? It's nothing special."

—

-Medea-

Hearing that casual answer, she almost wanted to tear her hair out of frustration, she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Nothing special..? Nothing special?!

That's literally a top grade phantasm species!

It's mana is overflowing that at first she thought it was a freaking dragon!

If it was anyone else she would have already slapped them silly, but considering who said those words.

A fae who claimed to be lady Vivian's disciple, she couldn't do anything, after all she's on another league then her.

No matter how good she is at magecraft, she can't beat a pure blooded fae who could use spells similar to magic.

And the most shocking thing was that it was her master who brought the dish!

She thought he was an ordinary person who doesn't have any knowledge about the supernatural, however after experiencing this she would have to reevaluate her impression of him.

After all, you just don't bring a dish that is made out of a top grade phantasm species like it was some common occurrence.

There's something different going on about this new master of hers, like the fact that he could talk equally toward the fae called Serie.

There's so many things she wanted answers to, but right now she could only look at the dish in front of her with great pain.

Thinking how many precious materials she could get from this top grade phantasm species, and to think it was made into a mere dish!

Medea felt like the world was way too unfair, she wanted to cry out of bitterness.

Then suddenly lady Serie noticed her expression and said. "Do you want a bite?"

Medea's face cramped and showed a smile that was filled with pain. "N-no, thank you for the offer lady Serie…"

Although confused by the expression she showed, the fae didn't think much of it and continued to dig in. "If you change your mind you can ask me later."

Yep, she definitely won't be changing her mind anytime soon because she would wallow in misery instead.

—

A/N - Poor Medea, feeling miserable because of the cultural difference.

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