Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 103 (Part 2)
The next morning, Rodin took down the tent. He ate breakfast like any ordinary traveler and packed all his belongings into his backpack.
Though his spatial bracelet could significantly reduce the size of his load, he purposely chose to carry a backpack in case he ran into that monster of a magician again.
While traveling with Karis and Jena as his guards, they encountered a merchant caravan heading in the same direction. Although the caravan already had enough mercenaries hired for protection, they didn’t refuse Rodin’s company.
At the moment, Rodin was dressed in fine noble attire, accompanied by two clearly strong bodyguards. It wouldn’t have been easy for the merchants to reject such a guest.
Rodin decided to join them, thinking it would be more natural to travel as part of a group. Blending in with a crowd would attract less attention.
‘It’s taking longer than I expected.’
If he had been traveling alone, the journey wouldn’t have taken more than a day. But traveling with a large caravan meant it took four days to reach the Richmond Marquisate.
Though time was wasted, Rodin didn’t regret it.
The 8th-circle magician could be watching him at any time and in any way. It was worth the delay to ensure his own safety.
Finally, he was home. Time to return to his normal life.
“Big brother Rodin!”
“Have you been well?”
“Yeah, I’ve been studying hard. I can even use magic now!”
“Really? Let’s see.”
Bianca hadn’t been able to use magic just a short while ago. She had formed her circle and understood the three components needed for casting, but she didn’t know how to draw out mana.
It was a rare but not unheard-of situation. Although it hadn’t been seen in the special forces training center, Rodin had read about such cases in books.
‘It happens to about one in every hundred people.’
There was no special solution. People like Bianca simply had to keep practicing until they naturally figured it out.
“Should I show you here?”
“Not here. Let’s go to the training room.”
“Okay.”
Rodin took Bianca down to the training room.
As soon as they arrived, Bianca cast a spell. It was *Light*, a basic 1st-circle magic.
“Oh, that’s quite bright. You didn’t put too much mana into it, did you?”
“No, it’s just my natural mana flow!”
Bianca pouted defensively, her eyes welling up with tears as if she felt wronged by the mild criticism.
“Alright, alright. No need for tears.”
“Hmph. So, how is it? My magic?”
“It’s good. If you keep at it, you’ll become a great magician.”
Rodin patted Bianca’s head, and she smiled happily, closing her eyes.
“Hehe, I’m finally a magician.”
“Not yet. You need to reach the 3rd circle before you can be called a proper magician. Keep working hard.”
“I will! I’ll never give up.”
After encouraging Bianca, Rodin went back upstairs. Bianca stayed behind, eager to continue practicing her magic.
“Ah, boss! You’re back?”
“Margaret, nothing unusual happened while I was gone?”
“Ah, Larry’s been getting hurt a lot lately.”
“Really? Is he badly hurt?”
“Not badly, but he’s covered in bruises in places you can’t see. I think he’s being bullied.”
Rodin hadn’t been aware of that.
Larry had always said that he enjoyed training and was happy with his life as a sword apprentice at Cardos. So Rodin had assumed everything was fine.
“I’ll have to look into it. By the way, it seems like they’re recruiting people in the Marquisate. Did you hear about that?”
“They’re recruiting soldiers to send to the Western Continent. The pay is good, so a lot of people are signing up.”
“Hmm, could Matthew have joined? I hope not.”
Matthew, Margaret’s son, was now in his early thirties. It was the age when a man’s blood burned with ambition. It wouldn’t be surprising if he dreamed of becoming a hero by fighting in the war.
“No, Matthew’s happy with his life now. The pay here is good, and there’s no danger.”
“That’s a relief. From what I heard during my travels, the war isn’t going well. The losses are substantial.”
“Really? I heard the Marquisate’s forces have been winning every battle.”
“Yes, they’ve won, but at a great cost. They’re running out of mercenaries and have to recruit soldiers.”
The central continent had officially joined the war on the Western Continent six months ago, and it had been three months since they’d sent troops to fight.
But the central continent’s goal wasn’t for the Alliance of Thirteen Nations to win the war. The aim was to prevent the Ingram Empire from uniting the Western Continent by creating a stalemate on the front lines.
From that perspective, the central continent’s involvement had been successful. With the participation of five central continent nations, the war on the Western Continent had become deadlocked, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
However, the damage suffered by the five central nations was immense.
In the case of the Lenox Kingdom, more than half of the mercenaries they had hired were dead, and even among their elite soldiers, 20% had been casualties. And that was considered one of the lighter tolls.
The casualties for the Kingdom of Tevia were even worse, with 20% of their soldiers dead and nearly 50% of their troops injured. The mercenaries they had hired had been wiped out long ago, and the few remaining had scattered to the winds.
“Don’t worry. Matthew is content with his life now.”
“Oh, by the way, does Matthew know how to take care of horses?”
“Horses? Hmm, give me a moment.”
Margaret left to find Matthew, who soon came in holding a broom—he had been cleaning when she called him.
“Ah, sir! It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has, Matthew. Do you know how to care for horses?”
“I can take care of them, though I’m not skilled in training them.”
“That’s fine. They won’t be warhorses or anything. Larry and Bianca just need to practice riding them.”
Rodin also needed horses for himself. After traveling around the Richmond estate a few times, he realized how inconvenient it was to be without one.
He could use magic, of course, but he couldn’t recklessly flaunt it in front of others.
“I can handle that.”
“We should also raise a horse to pull a carriage for Margaret and Matthew. Let’s see, three for us, plus a carriage horse… We’ll need about five horses in total.”
“I’ll look into what we need.”
“Thanks, Matthew.”
“No problem.”
Although they had decided to get horses, they couldn’t start right away. They needed to build a stable and prepare other necessary equipment before bringing the horses in.
In the meantime, Rodin returned to his usual routine.
He continued attending Professor Frouval’s lessons, and in his spare time, he read the books he’d brought back from the communal quarters. He didn’t neglect his training either, regularly practicing his 6th-circle magic.
‘It’s about time I solved the issue with Larry.’
(T/N: Hello, everyone! This is Hyung Otaku. I’m excited to announce that I’ve launched a Patreon for Embracing Magic! If you’d like to support the novel and help it grow, I invite you to join the Patreon community. Your support means a lot and will help bring even more content to life! Here!)