The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 15 (Part 1):

Let’s think carefully. I definitely intensified the fire yesterday.

“Blub. Blub. Aaah. Blub.”

I used psychokinesis in a way that felt like I was just throwing it.

“Aaah. Blub. Blub.”

How did the fire get bigger?

“Aah. Blub. Blub. Aah. Blub.”

Ah, I really can’t concentrate.

“Hey. Can’t you just give up and come down? I can’t concentrate because of the noise.”

The red-haired mage, struggling inside the water prison, spoke with sharp eyes fixed on me even in that state.

“Ab-absolutely not. Blub. Blub. Ap-apprentice, blub.”

There’s no way I can study psychokinesis while listening to that sound continuously.

I strode into the cabin and flung open the door to my master’s room.

“Master!”

Master, who was sleeping face down on the bed, opened her eyes groggily.

“Yawn. What is it? So suddenly.”

“Please release that girl. I can’t concentrate because of the noise.”

Master’s eyes widened at those words.

“Ah, right! Is it morning already? She’s not dead, is she?”

Judging by her worry about death, the water prison must be more dangerous than I thought.

“I don’t know. She seemed fine to me.”

Master jumped up from her spot and hurried out to the clearing. I followed her.

As I opened the main door and went out, Master was already lowering the water prison with her staff.

The water forming the prison was sucked into the cabin, leaving only the red-haired mage, soaked from head to toe, collapsed on the ground.

“Cough. Cough. Gasp.”

She kept spitting out water endlessly from her mouth.

It seemed to be the water she had swallowed while trapped in the water prison, but it kept coming out no matter how much she spat.

Master slowly approached and tapped her back with the staff. The mage spewed out an enormous amount at once and then collapsed as if she had fainted.

Master Abana glanced at me.

“She’ll be fine, right? It’d be a big problem if she dies.”

If she dies, even Kalasta, who had retreated while maintaining some formality, would probably come to settle the score.

I might even die too.

“No way. She won’t die.”

I approached the red-haired mage and placed my fingers on her neck.

Fortunately, there was a pulse.

Suddenly, her hand moved abruptly and grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t… touch me.”

Though it was a faint and weak voice, the will behind it was intense.

I pulled my hand away.

“I was just checking to see if you were dead.”

“K-kill me.”

“…”

“I said kill me.”

The red-haired mage’s eyes were swollen after spitting out everything inside. Not only that, but her eyelids were half-closed as if she didn’t have the strength to open them fully.

But the look in her eyes showed a strong will that would never be broken.

Master Abana spoke.

“If you become our guest even now, I won’t kill you.”

The red-haired mage gritted her teeth.

“You mean you can’t kill me. If you kill me, Master will turn you to ashes.”

At this point, words like pride or stubbornness seem inadequate to describe this.

Master Abana sat down, leveling her eyes with the red-haired mage.

“I’m sorry, but you attacked my castle first. Even so, I offered you to become a guest. You refused. In this situation, there would be no problem if I killed you.”

The red-haired mage took a few deep breaths and spoke in a more articulate voice than before.

“It doesn’t matter. If you kill me, you’ll die too.”

Master Abana stood up, scrutinizing the mage as if trying to gauge her true intentions.

The red-haired mage stared intently at Master.

After keeping silent for a while, Master spoke.

“It seems you’ve already crossed a river of no return. You’ve harbored ill will towards me anyway, and you have no intention of letting it go. If I’m going to become enemies with Kalasta anyway, I might as well buy some time to escape.”

Master was about to raise her staff, and I immediately grabbed it with both hands.

“Master Abana, wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

“Are you really going to kill her?”

Those round eyes devoid of any emotion.

Because there was no anger or rage in them, it was more certain.

I knew those eyes well.

If someone tries to kill out of emotional judgment, you just need to calm those emotions.

But if someone tries to kill based on rational judgment, you need to persuade them with valid reasons.

The latter is more difficult compared to the former.

I glanced back slightly. Even the red-haired mage, now facing a real threat of death, was shrinking in fear.

Well, it would be strange if she wasn’t afraid of death, being in her late teens with little experience.

But it’s quite remarkable that she still maintains her pride despite being so scared.

Master Abana said,

“Why? Do you have a better idea?”

I swallowed hard.

Then I turned to face Master.

“Let’s take her as a hostage.”

“…”

“Kalasta can cross the ocean in a day, right? No matter how much we run, we’ll eventually be caught. Given the situation, it’s better to keep her as a hostage.”

“…”

“When Kalasta comes, we can explain the circumstances and why we had no choice but to do this.”

Fortunately, Master’s grip on the staff loosened, seeming to agree with my words.

“Hmm, your point makes sense. In fact, even if we kill this kid here and run away, there’s no guarantee we’d survive.”

“Exactly. Let’s just keep her as a hostage. Who knows, maybe misunderstandings will be cleared up in the process. Don’t you think?”

Master Abana pondered a bit more.

Then, for a moment, her eyes changed slightly.

I’m not sure what change of heart she had, but it seems she’ll listen to my suggestion.

“Alright. I’ll follow your advice, Ran. But from now on, you’ll be in charge of managing this girl. If you fail in managing her, I’ll kill her then. Understand?”

“M-me?”

“Don’t you already know about the water herbs? You need to feed her about half the amount I ate daily. If you don’t, the fire magic will revive inside that kid’s body.”

“…”

“I don’t know if she’ll eat it though.”

With those words, Master Abana turned around and went back into the cabin.

Dangun

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