Great Teacher in a Defense Game

#20 Please Praise Me

The riotous revelry stretched late into the night.

Somewhere along the way, common sense seemed to vanish from their actions.

Ringing the golden bell at the diner, donating tips as if throwing them away.

They eventually spiraled into drinking more alcohol just to cure their hangovers.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Are you alright? You seemed to be pushing yourself too hard.”

Jane moaned, leaning against Enoch for support.

Exhausted, she reached out, requesting a drink.

“A, Bloody Mary. Get me a Bloody Mary…”

A Bloody Mary was a drink made with vodka and tomato juice, often used to cure a hangover.

‘I don’t understand. Why try to cure alcohol with more alcohol?’

Enoch, though perplexed, ordered a Bloody Mary and handed it to her.

After taking a sip of the alcohol-infused tomato juice, Jane’s complexion belatedly improved, just a bit.

“Ah… I feel a little better now.”

“I’m glad to hear it. You’re not thinking of drinking more here, are you?”

“No… I think I should stop for today.”

Jane shook her head.

Enoch secretly felt relieved.

He, too, was reaching his limit.

“Let’s go.”

“Support, just a bit of support…”

Enoch, offering his arm, guided Jayne out of the pub.

Moments later, their steps halted near a bench nestled close by.

“Let’s rest here a spell.”

Enoch settled Jayne onto the weathered wood.

Too late now to secure rooms.

Best to simply bide their time here, until the sun made its appearance.

“Autumn’s chill has teeth, it seems. Perhaps a cup of eggnog?”

“No… I’d rather just sit here a while.”

Jayne leaned back against the bench, a pipe finding its place between her lips.

Not the bubbling hookah, but a pipe for burning leaves of tobacco.

Enoch’s own, at that.

‘So that’s where it vanished to. Sneaking it off to smoke.’

Enoch considered retrieving it, then thought better of it.

Easily replaced, after all.

Having spent his coin so freely, a little gift was nothing.

“So, shouldn’t you come to the crux of things?”

“What ever do you mean?”

“A long night this has been to simply pass the time. And rather expensive, too. Surely, there’s a purpose behind it all?”

Jayne inquired, drawing on her smoke.

Enoch had initially suggested this jaunt to simply vent his pent-up feelings.

Jayne had, at first, believed him.

Yet, as the hours wore on, her doubts grew.

Enoch’s spending had grown far too extravagant.

Astonishing, even, to one such as Jayne, a Master of the Tower.

“There is but one reason one spends coin, in the end. Be it kindness or affection, they desire something in return.”

“…”

“Surely, now is the time for revelations? You’ve shown enough courtesy, I would say.”

Jayne exhaled a plume of smoke, a wry smile playing on her lips.

Enoch hesitated, then reached into his pocket.

Intended to light a smoke, he was.

But Enoch’s pipe was presently in Jane’s possession.

“Lend it a moment, would you?”

“This thing? Take it then.”

Jane tilted her chin, offering the pipe as though it were a chore.

Enoch drew on the tobacco Jane had been smoking, holding the smoke within.

-Hah.

A citrus fragrance.

The scent of Jane’s perfume lingered on the pipe.

From his parted lips, voice seeped out alongside the smoke.

“You noticed, I presume? I didn’t think I was being particularly obvious.”

“Of course. One needs a sharp eye to ascend to a position like mine.”

Jane spoke thus, snatching back the pipe and swiftly placing it between her lips once more.

Enoch watched the pipe go with a look of regret.

Then, he delved back into his pocket, producing a gem.

“Recognize this, perhaps?”

“…Just an ordinary gem, isn’t it? Aquamarine, or something of that sort, it would seem.”

Enoch nodded at Jane’s assessment.

“It is, presently. Do you recall the dragon I summoned earlier? This *is* that dragon. Once the matter was concluded, I transformed the fellow back into an object.”

At the ensuing explanation, Jane’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

The three-headed mechanical dragon that had abruptly appeared back in Pancratos.

That a beast of such magnitude could be reduced to the size of a mere fist was rather astonishing.

And then.

Jane belatedly realized what Enoch was about to request.

“I understand now. The mana that abomination absorbed. You’re asking if you can have it, yes?”

“Correct. Concealing it is not in my nature, you see. Seeking permission feels like the appropriate course, according to convention.”

During the commotion, Enoch had absorbed some of Jane’s mana to complete the Ender Dragon Cluster.

And that Ender Dragon was now transformed into a blue-hued aquamarine.

In other words, Jane’s mana remained within the gem.

Enoch was requesting the rights to use it.

“While detailing it is… delicate, I foresee needing to avail myself of it with some frequency. In that vein, I wished to procure your permission beforehand. Would that be permissible?”

“Hmm… Mana, is it…”

Jane pondered for a moment, then exhaled a plume of smoke and spoke with breezy candor.

“It’s fine. Doesn’t really matter.”

“Really?”

“Aye. It’s just a scant portion, you see? Perhaps a cupful from the ocean, that’s all… Not the true, vital essence, so I care little.”

Jane shrugged, pipe clenched between her teeth.

A truly unconcerned demeanor.

Nonetheless, Enoch offered his gratitude.

For a mage, mana was more vital than the blood coursing through their veins.

And she had surrendered such a thing willingly; he couldn’t simply brush it aside.

“Thank you for saying so. I shall not forget this.”

“Enough of that. No need to sound like stiff-necked Vergo. Just keep being yourself. That seems to suit you best.”

With those words, Jane rose from the bench.

Then, she pressed the pipe she had been smoking to Enoch’s lips.

“…?”

“You’ve been wearing the face of a man itching for a puff since moments past, haven’t you.”

Jane smiled knowingly, as if privy to a secret.

The faint scent of spirits wafted from her proximity.

After a moment, she removed her fingers from Enoch’s lips and promptly turned her back.

“I had a good time today. And the pipe served well.”

Turning away, Jane stretched, waving a hand in farewell.

“The sun’s threatening to peek out soon, so this elder sister shall take her leave.”

“Ha, ‘elder sister’…”

Enoch chuckled, incredulous, and took a draw from the pipe.

He exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke.

Through the dissipating haze, he addressed Jane’s retreating back.

“Farewell. Elder sister. Contact me if anything arises.”

“Arise? What business would we have to begin with?”

“Then pass along greetings. Your adorable younger brother shall visit anon; so await him with a warm welcome, lest you be chagrined.”

“Madman.”

Jane erupted in a peal of laughter.

That very instant, dawn broke across the sea.

A crimson ray, cleaving the air, and at once, Jane’s entire being seemed to melt away.

“…That much, at least, I envy.”

Enoch said this, tapping out the embers of his pipe.

Precious little leaf remained within.

Once lit, a single filling could last for hours, yet…

Just how much had that sister of his sucked down?

‘Should I head home, perhaps?’

Enoch tucked the pipe into his pocket.

Then, he belatedly began to walk.

Across the sea, the sun was slowly raising its head.

The capital’s streets were also stirring, becoming gradually more bustling.

*

The return journey was much the same as before.

From Acroteon, capital of the Valderich Empire, a ride aboard an airship, then south to Magnusra, and that was it.

‘Two days, all told, perhaps. Glad it didn’t take long.’

The airship landed on the ground a few hours later.

Enoch alighted, then summoned transport.

His own carriage, the one he usually used, remained parked in the vicinity of the Fish Pub.

It was quite impossible to walk all the way from here.

Enoch reluctantly hailed a taxi and returned to the pub.

‘Two days. I wonder if Lacrina has been diligent?’

Enoch thought of his one and only student, waiting at the inn.

Her core seemed fairly steadfast, but she was still so young.

It wouldn’t be unusual if she succumbed to sloth in her master’s absence.

‘No major problems, I hope. She would have lived a busy life, even at the orphanage. What’s two days, anyway?’

The taxi pulled to a stop in front of the pub a short while later.

Enoch settled the fare and stepped out of the vehicle.

“Keep the change.”

-Thank you! Thank you!

The driver kept repeating his thanks.

Enoch himself wasn’t quite sure how much he’d given.

He’d simply given him whatever his hand had grasped.

Leaving the commotion behind, Enoch pulled open the pub’s door.

He stepped inside, following after.

It was in that very instant that he noticed the oddity.

-Shiver shiver shiver

“…Master?”

“…E, Enoch?”

“Just what are you doing there?”

Enoch asked, his tone thick with bewilderment.

He was sitting at the counter bar, wrapped in blankets, trembling.

“E, Enoch! Quickly, go upstairs! Your disciple has lost her mind!”

“Disciple? Are you referring to Lacrima?”

“Yes! Whatever you do, hurry! Perhaps you’ll understand something!”

The master exclaimed urgently, pointing a finger at the second floor.

Enoch ascended the stairs without delay.

‘This is… a chill?’

What he discovered next was a cold air and a frozen space.

From the outside, it had seemed perfectly normal.

The reality was quite different.

Everywhere he looked, only cold ice was visible.

Currently, nearly the entirety of the Crooked Fish pub’s second floor was frozen solid.

-Screech

At that moment, the sound of a door opening reached his ears.

“Teacher.”

Lacrima’s voice accompanied it.

However, the tone carried within her voice was markedly different from before.

The warm, emotion-laden voice was gone, replaced by a frigid, scentless tone that whispered in his ear.

“Lacrina.”

Enoch turned his head slowly.

Across the hallway, framed by the crack of an open door, Lacrina stood silently as a ghost, her silver hair gleaming.

“What in the world is going on? What have you done in the last two days?”

“Teacher.”

Instead of answering, Lacrina held out her palm.

Within the pale expanse, fragments of blue crystal rapidly coalesced.

A flawless display of ice magic.

“Teacher. I completed the spell all by myself.”

“…”

“What are you doing? You should praise me.”

Lacrina smiled faintly.

Enoch remained silently observant.

He could more or less guess at the cause of her transformation.

Lacrina, conversely, was puzzled by Enoch’s reaction.

She had worked hard, and shown him the fruits of her labor.

Why, then, did her teacher, who should be showering her with praise, simply stand there like that?

She tilted her head, muttering, a note of bewilderment in her voice.

“…Strange? Why isn’t he saying anything…”

“…”

“I worked so hard.”