047 The Brilliant Starry Sky

Roland lifted the covering at the front of the grass hut and saw his mentor lying on the weeds. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her face was even paler than before.

Apparently, she had not finished treating her wounds before exhausting the last of her strength.

Roland sighed inwardly. She had taken plenty of potions earlier, but both her body and spirit were utterly exhausted. At present, she probably could not even cast a cantrip properly, yet she was still forcing herself to put on a brave front.

When she saw Roland approach, the mentor clutched the clothing covering her chest tightly and said, “I’ll teach you a few spells.”

These spells were all cantrips. They could be used for local anesthesia, removing the iron fragments lodged inside a wound, and healing injuries.

She had just tried to use them to treat herself, but as Roland had predicted, she could not manage it alone. Or rather, she could not make the wounds look presentable afterward.

“Do you understand?” the mentor asked.

Roland nodded to indicate that he had learned them.

The mentor stared at him with a flushed face for a while before suddenly asking a foolish question. “You—you really won’t open your eyes?”

Roland was silent for a moment. “I won’t.”

Upon hearing this, the mentor’s face turned crimson. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. “J-just make the wounds look… look a little better…”

Katherine knew perfectly well whether Roland could treat the wounds with his eyes closed. After all, she had called him here precisely because she could not see them clearly herself.

“What are you waiting for?” Mentor Katherine urged him with her eyes shut. “Hurry up and pull my clothes—clothes open…”

“I need to prepare some tools first,” Roland replied.

Katherine opened her eyes and saw Roland take tweezers and other instruments from his pack. He arranged them by type, then disinfected them with potions.

Seeing how meticulous he was, the mentor felt somewhat reassured. She thought, Roland used to be a sword-bearing squire, and treating battlefield wounds was a compulsory lesson for a knight’s squire. He should have some basic surgical knowledge, and he is very careful.

Having finally been granted a second life, Katherine treasured her body dearly.

The wounds across her chest were not particularly serious, but there were many of them, and their condition was complicated. If treated properly, they could heal perfectly. But if they were handled badly, she would be left with a chest full of ugly scars!

“Close your eyes, Mentor,” Roland said.

A blush appeared on Katherine’s face. She obediently closed her eyes and turned her head aside.

She said coyly, “D-don’t do anything strange…”

Before she could finish, Roland roughly cut her clothing open with a loud tearing sound, then casually draped her outer robe over her face.

Katherine’s thoughts: “%￥￥*@”

“Don’t worry, Senior. My eyes are closed,” Roland said as he examined Katherine’s chest.

No wonder she couldn’t treat herself. A person standing directly before a mountain peak could not see the ravines behind it—the wounds.

Roland thought to himself, She cannot see the wounds at all. Even when she walks and looks down, she probably cannot see the tops of her own feet.

After examining her for a while, Roland shook his head and sighed. “Senior, don’t move around later. If I fail to treat any spot properly… don’t blame me.”

The mentor weakly unclenched her fists, and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. Inside, she screamed, If you fail to heal me properly, I swear I’ll kill you!

Roland, free of distracting thoughts, picked up his wand and began casting. As he recited the spell, fragments of the broken sword slowly flew out of the wounds and into the wand.

The situation was more complicated than Roland had imagined. Most of the fragments left the wounds and were collected by the wand, but some could only be removed after he carefully pried the wounds open with tiny instruments.

The entire process was no less demanding than surgery.

If Roland had not possessed superhuman eyesight, dexterity, and control over his own body, then even with the convenience of magic, he would have found such work extremely difficult to complete.

By the time he had cleaned the wounds, Roland’s forehead was covered in sweat.

He forced himself to stay alert, then began reciting a healing spell and carefully treated his senior’s injuries.

When the final wound had been restored to perfection, Roland gazed at the perfect shape before him and came up with two thoughts.

The first was: At last, the task is complete. Senior should not have to worry about this anymore.

The second was… The shape really is perfect.

Roland suppressed his scattered thoughts, fastened his senior’s undergarments, and moved the robe covering her face back over her chest.

Katherine seemed to have fallen asleep. A tear had left a track down her cheek.

Heh. You make it look as though I bullied you.

Roland reached out and wiped away the tear. In a low voice, he said, “Sleep peacefully. Your wounds have healed perfectly. You won’t have to secretly wipe away tears while looking in the mirror anymore.”

After putting everything away, Roland left two bottles of restorative potion behind, then quietly stepped out of the little grass hut.

Looks like I’ll have to camp here tonight.

Roland sat down on the ground with his back against the hut and began meditating while keeping watch.

A short while later, a faint rustling came from inside the hut. It seemed that a certain young lady who had been pretending to sleep was secretly getting dressed.

Roland wore a strange expression. He stood up and moved away from the hut, then went into the woods to gather some firewood. While he was there, he also relieved himself.

Afterward, Roland built a campfire and used the dried rations and jerky in his bag to make a pot of witch’s stew.

The meat will be ready soon. There’s food in Mentor’s pack, so there’s no need to disturb her.

Oh, right. I nearly forgot about Anna.

Roland took out the wizard’s hat and checked inside. Anna had already fallen asleep.

Most of the injuries on Anna’s body have already healed… That girl really is a monster.

I’ll let her stay in the wizard’s hat for now. That way, she won’t start causing trouble again if she wakes up.

After eating, Roland sat by the campfire and read for a while. He recorded the spells he had learned that day, the uses of various magical objects, magic-circle techniques, and other knowledge.

Once he had finished his studies, Roland stared absently at the starry sky.

“What are you planning to do next?” a voice came from inside the hut behind him.

“Return to the academy,” Roland replied.

The person inside the hut was silent for a moment before asking, “You’re not planning to return to the town first?”

“There’s nothing left to see.” Roland knew that his mentor would be going to the castle, so he said, “Baron Hall is still alive. I don’t need to go back and see anyone else.”

Katherine hesitated inside the hut for a moment before saying, “I plan to return to my family for a while. It may be some time before I can return to the academy.”

Roland’s eyes suddenly lit up. He very much wanted to return to the academy alone, and he very much wanted his mentor to give him some personal space.

He wrestled with his thoughts for a while, but chose not to respond. Instead, he remained silent and waited for his mentor to decide.

After a moment, the person inside the hut said irritably, “I’ll be very busy for some time! I don’t have time to take you back with me! Go back on your own tomorrow!”

Roland was overjoyed. “As you command.”

“Hmph!”

Inside the hut, Katherine turned away angrily, presenting her back to Roland. She no longer wanted to look at him, nor did she want to speak to him.

But before long, she could not resist talking to him again. “You still remember where the teleportation circle is, don’t you?”

Roland nodded. “I remember. There’s one near Fernwood. Wallace and I can reach the academy tomorrow.”

Katherine said, “It’s good for you to return early. Classes have already begun, and most people have enrolled. If there’s anything you don’t understand on the way, ask Wallace.”

“Mm.”

At that moment, an invisible force spread outward from the hut, covering an area with a radius of one hundred meters.

Katherine said, “With this barrier in place, you don’t need to stand watch tonight. Meditate properly instead… The core content of the Aleye Manuscript concerns contact with the lower world. After meditating today, you should gain a great deal.”

After giving him several thoughtful instructions, Katherine went to sleep.

Roland shut out all distracting thoughts and entered a state of selfless meditation.

Three hours later, that smooth sensation of meditation gradually faded. The growth of his magical power and his progress in cultivation became extremely slow.

Roland opened his eyes, examined his body, then opened the Aleye Manuscript to review his condition. He discovered that his realm had already advanced to forty-five percent.

If I keep courting death every day, will I never have to sit around meditating again? No, better not. I would rather spend an extra year on hard cultivation.

Roland still could not use meditation as a substitute for sleep. He lay down on the dry grass beside the campfire and gazed up at the river of stars before falling asleep.

That withered hand is gone, and the sky has returned to normal… The town of Valeria should be peaceful for some time.

Roland could not help imagining what life at the academy would be like.

Does this count as going through middle and high school all over again, or going to university all over again?

The Black Abyss Academy is actually called the Alexandra Arcane Academy… Since it is an arcane academy, surely not everyone there is a black wizard? I want to properly study a few forms of white magic and become a good arcane mage… At the very least, let me disguise myself as a white wizard!

I heard that a group of pure white wizards recently moved into the academy… There should be plenty of opportunities to go on practical outings—missions—with white-wizard classmates. Once I reach a certain level, I can even be stationed in a city and become an official! After advancing to the rank of formal wizard, I might even be able to possess land of my own and become a wizard lord!

Tomorrow I’ll leave this impoverished backwater and set out to become a wizard.

With a blade of dry grass between his teeth, Roland gazed at the river of stars and thought, The night sky in this world is so magnificent.