The Patient Wizard Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Calculation (7)

I tried to gather my composure and went downstairs to the first floor. And there I ran into Alex.

Of all days, why did I have to run into him today?

My gloomy mood became even gloomier.

“What brings you here?”

“Is it strange for me to come to my own dormitory?”

“It is strange since you’re coming after two weeks.”

“I don’t see Mark. Where is he?”

Is the prince your friend? You ill-mannered bastard.

I kept the curse to myself and said.

“He’s probably at the training grounds.”

“I’m asking you because he’s not there, you pathetic fool. Where is Mark?”

Chris replied nonchalantly.

“I suppose he went down to the village.”

“What a pathetic guy. With his lack of talent, he should be working harder, but instead, he goes out playing every day. No wonder he won’t succeed.”

Prince Mark had been absent from his post frequently lately. However, Chris didn’t think Mark was going out to play. He was only worried.

“Why are you looking for the prince?”

“It’s almost been a year. I wanted to give him some advice.”

Advice? You just want to rub salt in his wounds.

Observing Alex’s behavior carefully, it seemed like whenever things weren’t going well for him, he would come to the Lion Hall to vent his frustrations on innocent people.

Is the Lion Hall, is the prince your emotional garbage can? You vile bastard.

Chris continued cursing inside while smiling on the outside.

“Advice, give it to me instead.”

Then with exaggerated movements, he clasped his hands together.

“I am truly desperate for advice.”

“I have no advice to give to a slave like you.”

Alex spat and left the place. I thought nobles didn’t spit on the streets, but this guy spit even inside the house.

“You damn son of a bitch.”

After cursing freely in his absence, Chris went outside. Chris moved to the place where Alice was meditating.

“Do you know where the prince is?”

“No, I don’t. Why do you ask about the prince?”

Chris pointed to the spot where Mark usually meditated.

“He’s been absent too often lately.”

Then he lowered his voice.

“I’m worried.”

“It’s almost been a year. He must be anxious.”

Alice sighed and continued.

“I’m anxious too.”

The sigh was contagious. Chris sighed and placed his hand on his chest to touch the stone inside his clothes. The stone necklace Donna gave him didn’t bring good luck, but it did calm his mind.

“Good work.”

As Chris began to walk away, she asked.

“Where are you going without meditating?”

“To Stan’s general store.”

“You just picked up the laundry the day before yesterday. Why are you going today?”

“To ask about a job.”

“Ah.”

Alice sighed.

“Chris, so you’ve finally given up.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go together.”

“You too?”

“I should look for a job too.”

“I heard they don’t kick you out of the dormitory right after a year passes. They give you about three months. Try a little more.”

“It’s fine. I’ve tried enough.”

“It’s a shame to give up now.”

“What about you?”

“Me? I’m a bit…”

“A bit? What?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Tell your big sister.”

“We’re the same age, what big sister?”

She had previously claimed to Smith that she was one year older. Later she confessed that they were actually the same age.

“My birthday is earlier than yours.”

“I told you I’m an orphan and don’t know when my birthday is. So how do you know yours is earlier?”

No one remembers their own date of birth. Everyone knows because their family tells them. Chris, who had no one to care for him with affection since childhood, did not know his birthday.

Alice pointed at herself with her thumb, showing off.

“I’m a January baby. My birthday is in January. My birthday is definitely earlier than yours.”

“Which day in January?”

“January 5th.”

“Then I’m your big brother. It’s January 1st.”

“I thought you didn’t know your birthday?”

“I just remembered.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

The two continued to bicker about birthdays as they headed to the village. After a while, as they walked along a quiet mountain path, a strange sound came from the ridge.

Chris said.

“What’s that sound?”

“I don’t know. What is it…”

“Let’s go see.”

Alice grabbed Chris’s sleeve as he started climbing up the mountain.

“Haven’t you heard about the apprentice who was caught loitering around a wizard’s residence and was dissected?”

“That’s just a tower legend. It’s all nonsense.”

“You think so?”

“There’s no way a distinguished mage would set up residence near the humble apprentice dormitory.”

The two walked as quietly as possible.

“It sounds like a person, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s coming from over there.”

As the sound got closer, they laid flat on the ground and moved like crawling.

“There’s a sharp rock below. Be careful.”

“Whoa!”

“I told you to be careful.”

They hid behind the bushes and peeked out slightly. The person making the noise wasn’t a wizard. Alice was surprised to see an unexpected person and said.

“It’s Mark!”

Chris quickly interjected.

“Lower your voice.”

“That…!”

Mark was wearing a strange-looking helmet and flailing about like someone drowning. Chris muttered while looking at the helmet.

“It’s a magic helmet from the Brian’s magic store.”

There were magic stones attached to the protruding parts like an antennae. The magic stones swung along every time Mark nodded his head while chanting spells.

Alice nodded,

“So the prince bought a magic helmet.”

“You knew about the magic helmet?”

“Yes. Grandma Donna recommended I buy one.”

“I had begged her to keep it for me until I saved up money, but it seems she advertised it to everyone.”

Alice opened her eyes wide.

“You were going to buy it?”

“Yes.”

“How were you going to save that much money?”

“I was going to pool money with my classmates for a group purchase. But now it’s in the prince’s hands.”

Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Eleven months ago, those who entered the Magic Tower were merely aspiring wizards. It was questionable whether they could become wizards or not. Even for nobles, 100 gold coins was a burdensome amount. Unless they were among the richest in the kingdom, they wouldn’t send 100 gold coins as pocket money without a guarantee of becoming a wizard.

Only someone at the level of a prince would be able to handle that kind of pocket money.

Now it made sense why he didn’t haggle over the laundry fee.

With that much money, haggling over laundry fees would be petty. Our prince might have shown off a bit initially, but at least he’s not stingy.

Suddenly Alice started crying. Chris asked in surprise.

“Why are you crying?”

“Look there. It’s sad, isn’t it?”

After hearing Alice’s words, the prince seemed pitiful. The prince was wearing a ridiculous-looking helmet and struggling with the sole determination to sense magic. He was secretly clinging to the helmet like a drowning man clutching at straws, afraid of being ridiculed by others. If someone who didn’t know the situation saw him, they would have laughed at him for being mentally deficient.

“Hiyah, hiyah!”

The prince was even shouting battle cries beyond chanting spells. His body swayed back and forth, then side to side.

“Let’s go.”

Alice pulled Chris.

“I can’t bear to watch, it’s too pathetic.”

At that moment, Mark tripped over a tree root protruding from the ground and fell.

“Agh!”

He screamed in pain as his ankle twisted, then took off the helmet and threw it away. Then he walked on all fours like a four-legged animal using his hands and knees. He caught the rolling helmet, hugged it to his chest, and sobbed. The crying sound grew louder. Eventually, there were even choking sounds like someone gasping for breath.

Chris’s eyes welled up with tears too, and he rubbed them with his palm.

“Let’s go.”

The two came down the mountain with tear stains like buttons on their faces. Their hearts felt heavy.

*    *    *

They stopped by Stan’s General store to ask about job opportunities. Scott stared at them for a while and then sighed.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay at the Magic Tower?”

“We can’t stay, can we?”

“Stay as a tower worker like Juan.”

Chris imagined doing chores ordered by Alex and shook his head. It seemed it would be extremely miserable to be bossed around by that guy.

“I’d rather work outside.”

Scott said to Alice.

“What about you?”

“I think the tower would be fine for me.”

Chris said,

“You might have to wash Alex’s underwear. Are you still okay with that?”

“I’m fine with it.”

“You have a stronger stomach than you look.”

Scott said,

“Then Alice, you should talk to David.”

“Wizard David?”

“He’s kind, so if you ask him for a job, he’ll introduce you to a good position. If you can’t secure a job at the tower, come back and let me know. I’ll look into it. Chris, you should also ask David first.”

Then he added,

“You still have a month left, right? Don’t give up and keep trying during that time. You might sense magic at the last moment.”

Chris asked,

“Are there people who succeeded close to the deadline?”

“There are.”

Chris’s eyes sparkled at Scott’s answer. But his shoulders slumped at the next words.

“I’ve seen three people in 20 years.”

“Damn, we’re done for.”

Alice said,

“I hope the prince succeeds.”

Stan came out from the back of the store.

“It’s not laundry day, what brings you here?”

Scott answered for them.

“They came to look for jobs.”

“Why didn’t you speak to David first? He’s unnecessarily kind and will go out of his way to help as if it’s his own business.”

“I already advised them to do so.”

Chris and Alice said goodbye and left the general store.

Alice asked.

“Does Wizard David seem kind to you?”

“No, he’s not a kind person. It’s just that there are so many wizards with terrible personalities that to Stan and Scott, someone like him might seem kind.”

Alice said she wanted to look at the  wands one last time, so they briefly stopped by Brian Magic Store before leaving.

Chris said,

“Let’s eat lunch before we go. My treat.”

This was the first time he had offered to buy something. Alice’s brow furrowed with questions.

“Why so suddenly?”

“I just felt like it.”

“But why so suddenly?”

“I saved money so desperately to buy a magic helmet, but now I have nowhere to use it. It’s not like I have family to look after like you do.”

Then he pointed to the sky.

“The sun looks nice today.”

“Alright, let’s eat.”

The two ate lunch leisurely and headed to the village. Their stomachs were full and bloated, but the fullness disappeared during the mountain walk.

Chris said,

“I was planning not to eat dinner because I was full, but now I’ll have to eat.”

“I can’t eat anymore. You must be growing taller because you eat so well.”

“Have I gotten taller?”

“You’ve grown about a hand taller since I first saw you.”

When he was a slave in the Baron’s estate, he was smaller than his peers due to malnutrition, but at the Magic Tower, he caught up to the average because he ate well.

“I wish I could grow another span taller.”

The two were talking about height as they entered the Lion Hall entrance. At that moment, a scream was heard.

“Ahhh!”

The two froze at the scream that shook the Lion Hall. Their hearts shriveled and their legs felt weak.

Faye came into the entrance and shouted.

“What was that sound?”

“A scream from the second floor…”

Finally breaking free from the shock, Chris ran to the second floor.

“Ahh, ahh.”

The diminished scream, smaller than before, filled the corridor and rushed in.

“It’s from the prince’s room.”

Chris ran into Mark’s room. Tony was sitting on the floor, thrashing his limbs.

“What happened?”

“Ah, ah, the prince… The prince…”

His finger, shaking as if he had malaria, pointed to where the prince was sitting. With a dagger stuck in his chest. Wrinkles formed around his tightly closed eyes.