The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 4 (Part 1):

“Alright. You should be able to walk properly now.”

As soon as we left the room, the elf tapped my thigh area and said that.

Then the remaining pain actually disappeared, and an inexplicable vigor surged through me.

She truly is a mage.

She was already descending the stairs far ahead, so I hastened my steps to follow her.

By the time we exited the main gate of the New Continent Trading Company, a maid brought her hat.

She put on the hat, pressing it down to just below her eyebrows, and tucked her eyebrows and ears into the hat. The brim was so wide it covered her shoulders.

When I looked at her curiously, the elf pulled up the scarf around her neck to cover her nose area and said:

“I’m Abana. And you?”

“Ran, I’m Ran.”

“Is that so? Alright, Ran. From today on, you’re not a slave but a mage. So if you keep walking with your shoulders hunched like that, I’ll scold you. You know butterflies, right? You need to spread out wide like a butterfly and walk proudly.”

I nodded to show I understood.

So should I try straightening my shoulders?

But strangely, my shoulders just kept going up and down repeatedly.

“Hm hm. How amusing. Come on, try following me. Stretch your arms out in front.”

That’s easy.

“And raise them up.”

Okay.

“Then keeping them stretched, spread them out to the sides.”

Got it.

“And finally, snap them down by your sides.”

Huh?

My chest suddenly puffed out, and my stomach sucked in.

Abana patted my head and said:

“For a mage, the most important thing is… hmm, the term is difficult. Well, in simple terms, you could call it confidence. If you don’t have confidence, even your magic won’t listen to you.”

My magic won’t listen to me?

What does that mean?

Abana seemed to have no intention of explaining further as she lightly touched the main gate.

Then the gate creaked open by itself.

I was wondering how she would open this heavy gate with her light body, but to think she’d open it with magic.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’ll be able to do all this too soon.”

It seemed like she misunderstood something, but I didn’t bother to correct her.

She walked through the streets of the harbor. She refrained from speaking until we left the city, but just looking at her steps, you could see how wary she was.

Come to think of it, Count Furst also seemed more cautious when walking the harbor streets than when on the ship.

Due to her tight leather pants and slender figure, some men whistled at her, but fortunately nothing serious happened. If she had shown her face, it probably wouldn’t have ended with just whistles.

And they would probably all have died from her magic.

Thinking of it that way, Abana is truly kind.

“This way.”

Abana pointed towards the forest where there was no visible path and started walking in that direction.

I was holding her hand, and when I hesitated, she stumbled due to my weight.

“Hm hm. What are you doing? Not going?”

“No, are we going that way? There’s no path there.”

“There might not be a human path. But there’s an elven path. Just trust me and come. You know how to walk in the forest, right?”

“I know how, but…”

“Trust me.”

She started walking ahead, and I gathered my courage to follow her.

It’s a dense forest.

The ground was full of grass, and the air was full of branches, making it seem impossible to pass through.

But following the path Abana walked, strangely, I encountered no obstacles.

Normally, I would have twisted my ankle by stepping on unseen ground, and my whole body would have been covered in scratches from the branches.

With each step, I should have been breaking branches and stepping on fallen leaves, announcing to all the wild animals in the neighborhood that I was walking here.

Flutter.

Squeak. Squeak.

But to be able to hear the sounds of wild animals and insects so closely.

This means we’re moving so stealthily that they don’t notice us.

I lifted my face to feel the breeze.

Indeed, we’re walking with the wind.

This way, we don’t leave any scent either.

“Is this magic too?”

As soon as I spoke, the world suddenly went quiet.

They must all be surprised.

For humans, it would be like a strange animal suddenly appearing in their living room.

Abana paused slightly. Then looking down at me, she put her finger to her lips. It means to be quiet.

As I started following her again, the forest regained its sounds.

They must have thought my voice was just their imagination.

After that, I quietly followed behind her.

Time passed, and we arrived near a cabin. It was a cabin inside a huge tree.

Or you could describe it as a huge tree that grew while swallowing a cabin.

I’m not sure which came first.

She lowered her scarf and took off her hat, shaking out her ears, eyebrows, and hair vigorously.

She must have been quite uncomfortable.

Come to think of it, it’s amazing that she walked through such a dense forest wearing a hat with such a wide brim.

“You walk well for a human. Perhaps because you’re young, you followed my movements quite well.”

“Thank you. But do you always say ‘for a human’ like that?”

“Why?”

“You seem to say it often. Do you perhaps have other human disciples besides me? You seem to know humans well.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then have you walked through the forest with other humans besides me?”

“No. You’re the first.”

“Is that so? Then how do you know whether I walk well for a human or not?”

Abana’s face turned slightly red, and she fiddled with her left ear.

So she fiddles with her ear when she’s embarrassed.

That’s a convenient habit to know.

“Hm hm. You’re right.”

Saying that, she walked ahead again.

She’s not holding my hand anymore, so it seems she won’t be helping me walk anymore. That’s understandable, as there wasn’t even a single weed within about 20 meters around the tree with the cabin.

It couldn’t be helped.

That huge tree must be sucking up all the nutrients around it, so no other plant could compete.

“Just like humans.”

I murmured quietly, then followed Abana.

Dangun

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