Shukadi, a mage belonging to the Krofl Mercenary Group, wore a slightly sour expression.
A constitution that resists magic is rare.
Generally, since mana accumulates in the body just by breathing, Ren’s constitution was particularly rare. The reason magic didn’t work on him seemed to be because his body was already filled with energy other than mana, making it unable to accept any additional energy.
“So in the end, you’re saying it’s better for me to keep my distance at least when Master is sleeping.”
Despite being informed of this possibility, Ren showed no signs of welcoming the news.
Rather, he seemed displeased, appearing quite disheartened.
“You’re telling me that even though no magic was cast directly on me, gaps in the protective spell appeared because of my constitution? The Tower Master’s magic seems full of flaws.”
Not only that, he grumbled, was difficult, prickly, and even sarcastic.
Shukadi just kept her mouth shut tight, anxiously watching Ren’s reactions.
‘Magic isn’t omnipotent! Of course, I also find it strange that the Tower Master made a mistake! Anyway, he’s so disrespectful in front of a mage. Yet he’s perfectly polite to the doctor!’
Ren didn’t hesitate to speak ill of the Krofl Mercenary Group and the Tower Master.
He would only shut his mouth when Sharti intervened. Shukadi complained bitterly to herself, wishing that someone would cover his eyes as well as his mouth, when suddenly she tilted her head in realization.
‘Wait, is he acting like this because he can’t be near the doctor?’
Shukadi let out a short sigh with an incredulous expression.
Only then did she notice that Ren’s gaze was fixed solely on Sharti. All his disappointment and trouble revolved around Sharti.
‘At first I thought he was a bodyguard knight, but he’s more like an assistant—or rather, practically a slave.’
Wasn’t he acting like Sharti’s guardian?
“I’ll stay nearby. Being cautious can’t hurt. Even the Tower Master’s magic was breached, so what difference would mercenaries’ magic make? Nothing is more important to me than Master’s safety. Should I endure the feeling of my blood running cold with worry for Master again?”
To others, Ren’s behavior seemed excessively dramatic.
And that smooth-talking manner of his.
‘Are they dating or something?’
Could it be? Shukadi carefully observed Ren and Sharti again.
Even with a face hidden by a hood, certain emotions were conveyed. And the atmosphere flowing between a man and a woman was something one naturally sensed.
Shukadi covered her wryly upturned lips with her sleeve.
“Ahem, that won’t be necessary.”
Shukadi gestured for Sharti to extend her hand. With a simple casting, she poked Sharti’s palm with her staff.
Whoosh—pale green mana enveloped Sharti’s body and then disappeared.
“What did you do now?”
As expected, Ren displayed obvious wariness toward Shukadi. Though he used polite language for Sharti’s sake, his tone remained unchanged.
Hmph, Shukadi lifted her chin with a confident expression.
“I cast a protection spell on the doctor personally. If anyone unauthorized touches her, they’ll be repelled.”
“Won’t the spell weaken again if I’m nearby?”
Since learning about his constitution, Ren had been more openly expressing his distrust of magic.
Shukadi pouted her lips.
“That would be true for textbook magic used by Magic Tower mages, but I used a slight workaround, so it doesn’t matter. I set the protection spell to activate only for people excluding the assistant.”
“Excluding me?”
Ren looked surprised, then nodded.
“That’s fine then.”
Though she had expected it, his quick change of attitude was irritatingly swift.
“Thank you.”
Ren bowed his head without showing any displeasure.
It meant that a protective spell for Sharti was worth bowing his head for.
Surprised by the much more dramatic change in attitude than expected, Shukadi cleared her throat with a cough.
“I know a magic that could be helpful for you as an assistant.”
“Didn’t you say magic doesn’t work on me?”
“I’m not offering to cast it, but to teach you about it.”
Ren raised an eyebrow.
He didn’t seem particularly interested.
But Shukadi was confident.
“Besides face-altering magic, there is a way to achieve a similar effect with something that’s not magic, in a semi-permanent form.”
<Are you talking about magic tools?>
“Yes! As expected, doctor, you know about them.”
Ren glanced at Sharti. Of course, having had to cover her face for five years, she would have looked into various methods besides hoods. However, with a financial situation where even buying a single magic stone was difficult, magic tools were completely out of reach.
Unlike magic stones, magic tools required multiple complex formulas, making them expensive.
“So what about it?” Ren asked indifferently after Sharti looked disappointed.
“We have magic tools in our mercenary group. We don’t sell them, but we lend them to fellow group members.”
Sharti nodded. She was aware of this.
Borrowing wasn’t free, and for Vireta, who had to earn enough for four people’s living expenses including Sharti, who wasn’t even blood-related, even the rental fee was a burden.
“Would you consider working? Instead of wages, you could borrow magic tools!”
From a mercenary perspective, Ren’s magic-resistant constitution was highly valuable.
He could certainly qualify for joining the mercenary group.
But Ren answered immediately without even considering it.
“I was rejected, actually.”
“…What?”
Shukadi blinked blankly.
“I was already rejected.”
Ren’s expression looked sulky as he folded his arms.
Confused, Shukadi carefully attempted to guess the reason for the rejection.
“Perhaps the reason was your personality…”
“…”
“Ah, never mind.”
As Ren’s brow narrowed slightly, Shukadi quietly closed her mouth and lowered her gaze.
“Um, but when you say you were rejected, does that mean you approached our mercenary group first?”
“I didn’t specifically ask about any particular mercenary group.”
Ren had simply been looking for work, and unable to find talents other than physical labor, he had asked Vireta about mercenary requirements. More precisely, he didn’t care about the type of job as long as it could earn money.
However, like Sharti, he needed to keep his face covered, making the barriers to reality high. As Vireta had advised, there was nothing he could do besides being Sharti’s assistant.
“I was confident in my strength, but having no experience with weapons, I figured I could only qualify for a porter position at best.”
“A porter? That’s really hard work.”
“Master also works hard to earn money,”
“Of course, but…”
Ren tilted his head sideways.
“Master wakes up at dawn to climb mountains gathering herbs, then washes, dries, trims, and grinds those herbs for storage. After that, she cuts her meal times short to treat patients seeking medical attention, and even after returning home, she records and organizes information about herbs and symptoms. And…!”
“…!!”
Sharti immediately covered Ren’s mouth.
The glimpse of her delicate white fingertips appeared reddened.
Shukadi, who had been listening blankly to the suddenly started praise of Sharti, smiled broadly.
‘He’s like the doctor’s spokesperson.’
It also sounded like someone bragging about their lover.
Either way, it was equally annoying, so Shukadi struggled to maintain her expression as she looked at Sharti.
“Doctor certainly works very hard.”
“…”
Unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, Sharti abruptly stood up.
Then she hastily wrote a note.
<I’ll go to the next room. Please continue your conversation.>
****
Ren didn’t insist on staying by Sharti’s side.
There was the protection spell, and it was well past midnight, so Sharti needed to get some sleep.
Instead, he signaled to Shukadi on behalf of Sharti, who had difficulty moving. Fortunately, Shukadi wasn’t completely oblivious and comfortably transported Sharti to the adjacent room using a levitation spell.
“…”
A brief silence fell over the room where only Ren and Shukadi remained.
Ren leaned casually against the wall with an impassive face.
“Do you have something else to say?”
The implication was why she was still here instead of being more vigilant about possible intruders.
“If something happens, I’ll be notified through communication magic.”
Ren looked at Shukadi with eyes that seemed to say it was a poor excuse
There was definitely a noticeable difference in his eyes depending on whether Sharti was present or not. His expressionless face created a solemn atmosphere as if all emotions had settled, and his teal eyes appeared darker as if shadowed.
Alone, Ren seemed overall lonely.
More precisely, he looked like someone who had cut off all interest in others.
“Just state your business briefly.”
“Don’t you want to become a mercenary?”
Feeling that dragging this out would only make things awkward, Shukadi spoke directly.
“For a mage, a constitution that resists magic has high research value. For mercenary mages like me, a colleague with your constitution is most needed.”
The missions coming to mercenaries essentially required combat. And in those situations, mages could only retreat to the rear at best.
If asked whether swordsmanship or magic is stronger, one could say without hesitation that it’s magic, but mages couldn’t use magic infinitely. If the mana in the body, which is squeezed out as magic power, was depleted, the reality was that they couldn’t even block a paper knife.
“I’ve never held anything that could be called a weapon.”
“That can’t be true.”
Shukadi scanned Ren’s arms, legs, and body.
“Those muscles of yours couldn’t have been built with farm tools or chopping wood, could they? That’s a body that can’t be made without years of swordsmanship. Even the calluses on your palms match the shape of holding a sword.”
Shukadi was just a mage, not particularly perceptive enough to distinguish between a swordsman and an ordinary person.
However, since more than half of her colleagues were swordsmen, she had seen and heard a lot.
“I don’t understand why you hide being a swordsman in front of the doctor, but if you join the Krofl Mercenary Group and become our colleague to protect mages including myself—”
“I refuse.”
“…Pardon?”
“I have no intention of becoming a mercenary.”
When Ren flatly refused, Shukadi was taken aback.
He had applied for the porter position in the mercenary group, which was considered an extreme occupation, but rejected being a mercenary with better pay and treatment. Shukadi couldn’t understand.
“We’ll lend you magic tools, and the pay is better than a porter’s.”
Ren shook his head, indicating he had no intention of changing his decision.
Shukadi rolled her eyes. A constitution resistant to magic was helpful not only for research but also for developing attack magic. For her, Ren’s cooperation was absolutely necessary.
“Are you perhaps concerned about risking your life?”
Ren let out a deep sigh.
“I can’t leave my master alone.”
“…?”
“And I have no intention of leaving her side.”
“…Ah, I see…”
It was an unyielding attitude showing that persuasion wouldn’t work.
But Shukadi had learned early on how to deal with stubborn lovers during her time with the Krofl Mercenary Group.
“Still, magic tools would be useful to you.”
“I can cover my face well enough like this.”
“Then neither the doctor nor you will be able to see each other’s faces.”
“…”
Ren, at a loss for words, narrowed his eyes.
“There’s a magic tool used by couples. It can’t transform your face itself, but it interferes with people’s facial recognition.”
“…Couples use such things?”
“Some couples have different social standings or want to share their love away from the eyes of the world.”
In fact, it was a magic tool that mercenaries wore in sets for undercover operations, but the reason for use was the same.
“Most importantly, when lovers wear them together, they can see each other’s true faces.”
“…!”
Finally, an interested response came from Ren.
“Even with a constitution that resists magic, this magic tool doesn’t directly cast magic on the wearer, and touching it doesn’t nullify the magic.”
Shukadi drove in the final nail.
“The magic tools come in the form of a pair of rings.”
Ren’s Adam’s apple moved up and down noticeably.
Shukadi waited with a confident face for Ren to speak.
“I… can’t become a mercenary.”
“What?”
Ren frowned with a disappointed face and bit his lip.
It was a face filled with frustration beyond mere regret.
“I cannot reveal my identity.”
For Ren, having no memories meant he didn’t know his identity to reveal it.
Instead of confessing that he suffered from amnesia, Ren simply explained to Shukadi that it was impossible because he was a runaway slave.
This time, Shukadi’s shoulders drooped with a face that had lost all enthusiasm.
If the registration itself was an obstacle, there was no solution.
“…”
The two lapsed into silence.
Then, the one with greater regret spoke first.
“…If you’re proposing I become a mercenary because my constitution has research value, couldn’t I just personally become a subject for your research until my master leaves this village?”
“S-subject?”
“Surely you wouldn’t conduct inhumane experiments on me while I’m alive.”
“Of course not!”
Shukadi’s eyes sparkled.
This was a research opportunity that wouldn’t be given even at the Magic Tower.
“And there’s something I want to ask.”
After hesitating briefly, Ren looked at Shukadi with resolute eyes.
“Are there also magic tools that can recover lost memories?”
