Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”The reason you need to master this knowledge to learn Magic is actually quite simple: Magic doesn’t just appear out of thin air. Although the Three Goddesses of Magic govern the operation and rules of Magic in this world, not believing in them doesn’t affect your ability to use it.”

”The rules of Magic are a form of natural law, and its specific applications draw from history and religion—like Divine Magic or sacrificial rites. Understanding these things means understanding the fundamental principles of Magic. Only by understanding those principles can you use it more effectively.”

With that said, Silvia took Ron’s Weaving Introduction and began inspecting it after he granted her access. ”You see, your current incantations are in all sorts of languages. The symbols and activation phrases you’ve created yourself are a bizarre mix—though I can tell you’ve worked very hard to organize them.”

”This is mostly the result of you just copying what you’ve seen. It might not seem like a problem now, but what will you do once you start learning more and more Magic? Trying to memorize everything by rote is too much of a burden for one person.”

Ron didn’t have the heart to tell her that the Weaving Introduction helped him memorize things. ’There’s no harm in studying more,’ he thought. ’And with the Spellbook’s power, it won’t be too difficult for me to learn this stuff.’

The team took a full week to rest. During that time, Ron and Silvia barely left their room, holed up together and dedicating every waking moment to his remedial studies.

The experience brought Ron right back to his thesis defense days, when he practically lived in the lab and the adjacent office. If it hadn’t been against the rules to eat or sleep in the lab, he would have moved his bedroll right in.

’High-intensity studying? I’m used to it. Besides, there’s no one grading me this time, no impact factor to worry about. I’m the only one who needs to know if I’ve learned enough, so the mental pressure is much lower.’

The best part was that Vampire Descendants, like their relatives in the Blood Race, didn’t need to sleep. They only required four hours of meditation each day to restore their Energy, which meant he could pester Silvia with questions anytime, anywhere.

A week later, Silvia was about to lose her mind.

”I... I have nothing left to teach you,” Silvia said, her gaze vacant as she stared at the calculation sheets and rough drafts covering the floor. ”You’re about to drain me dry of more than a decade’s worth of knowledge.”

’This man’s learning speed is simply astonishing,’ she thought. ’And he doesn’t even need to review or reinforce what he’s learned!’

’Tomorrow. By tomorrow at the latest, the only thing I’ll have left to teach him will be bedtime stories. This is horrifying!’

’Normally, she was the Vampire Descendant who did the ”draining”!’

”So, I guess that means I’ll have to go find those other Casters?” Ron asked, a hint of regret in his voice as he gathered the papers from the desk and bed.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and his body was pushed to the brink of exhaustion, but his mind was incredibly wired. He wasn’t the least bit sleepy.

He’d spent the entire previous night deriving the complete theory behind Mirror Image Magic and had already imprinted it onto his Weaving Introduction. ’At this rate,’ Ron optimistically estimated, ’I’ll be able to truly learn Lightning Bolt in another two weeks, without needing that Gemstone!’

”It’d be useless to go to them,” Silvia replied weakly. ”I’m the best. If I can’t teach you, they don’t stand a chance.”

”If you still want to improve, your only option is probably to find an academy in a city-state or some kingdom or empire to study at.”

”That’s a shame.” He obviously couldn’t get away right now.

”Yes, a real shame—” ’Then I wouldn’t have to go through this torture,’ she thought.

When Ron and Silvia finally reappeared before the others, everyone was shocked.

”Ron, my man, you’re really something else!” Seymour said with a wicked grin, giving him a thumbs-up. ”And Silvia, not so tough after all, huh? Letting the boss wear you out like this?”

Silvia rolled her eyes, not even deigning to respond.

”Ron,” Klade said, hurrying over. ”Are you all right?”

”I’m great,” Ron said, full of spirit. ”What’s up?”

”Just reporting on the construction progress,” Klade said. ”A new village has been completed twenty-five kilometers away. As the project moves forward, some merchants have started shifting their business over to our area. After one heard we were preparing to develop the Delusional Land, he offered to set up a permanent post in the village. He’ll provide us with supplies from the southern part of the Delusional Land—as long as we agree to waive his taxes.”

”That’s good news.”

”Yes,” Klade hesitated, then added, ”but there’s another piece of news, and I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. An Undead Creature claiming to be a servant of the Black Dragon Aiksuuri came by earlier. When she heard you were studying, she left for the new village and said you should go see her when you’re free.”

”That Ghost Fire?” Ron noticed Klade had used ”she” instead of ”it.” ’Can he really tell someone’s gender just by looking at their skull?’ he wondered.

”Ghost Fire?” Klade looked surprised. ”I don’t think so. Maybe you’ll understand if you go see for yourself. I don’t really know much about these things.”

Ron immediately gathered his team, planning to visit the new village to meet You before heading to the mine.

”Are you sure it’s okay to leave like this?” Aive asked, looking from Ron to Silvia. ”You two look like you’ve been... well...”

’Damn it! Is it because that woman’s... bigger? What’s so great about Vampires, anyway!’

”It’s fine,” Ron said, shaking his head. The excitement was wearing off, and the exhaustion from lack of sleep was starting to catch up with him. But it would be all right. He just needed to hold out until they reached the new village. A good night’s rest after meeting You would fix him right up.

’It’s just dawn now. We’ll get there in the early afternoon, which leaves plenty of time to recover.’

Seeing that they couldn’t change Ron’s mind, the rest of the team stopped insisting. Once they were ready, they set off for the newly established village.

”I’ve spent the last few days negotiating with some horse traders,” Victoria said as they walked along a dirt road that was still being leveled. ”If they’re willing to drop the price by another ten percent, we can get some carriages for travel between the trading post and the villages.”

”I doubt that’ll happen,” said Aive. ”I bought them a drink last night. They said they absolutely won’t lower the price unless you agree to buy three more horses.”

”What would we do with that many!” Victoria frowned. ”Their pack horses won’t sell in Fromm Town anyway. They might as well sell them to me for cheap!”

”See? I knew it,” Aive said with a shrug. ”But I already handled it. We’ll buy five more horses. They’ll give us a ten percent discount and throw in a full set of tack for free. We won’t use the extra horses ourselves; we’ll lease them out to passing merchants and travelers for a security deposit.”

”Given our location and the fact that we’ll be leasing to travelers, there’s a high probability the horses will never be returned. So, in effect, we’re selling them for a much higher price. I saw this business model in Rose City. They’ll go for it.”