Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely - Chapter 121

It was 3 days since one of the Heroes of Legend, the man with the title of the Great Sage, Mr. Riol, came to Flowtier.

Mr. Riol was shaving off his time to sleep to continue teaching Lana as much as he could. Since it was difficult to concentrate at the Bear’s Keg Inn, they borrowed a private meeting room in the Grandes Church.

Cyril: “Is Lana really working that hard?”

Henry: “Yeah. I only caught a glimpse yesterday, but she was completely focused on her studies.”

Teo: “……I knew Lana could do it if she tried.”

And in order to cheer on the two who were working so hard, I took Cyril and Teo along to bring some sweets, and we all arrived at the Church.

And well, I also wanted to introduce my Party members to Mr. Riol as well. Mr. Riol was one person that I was heavily indebted to and took care of me in many ways.

Cyril: “But he’s the Great Sage…..correct?” Henry: “Well, I know the title can sound a bit excessive, but in his case, it’s no exaggeration. That man, if given enough time, can easily decimate the town of Flowtier.”

Cyril: “Hmph.”

?? I’m not sure what’s going on, but Cyril didn’t sound so enthused. I would have expected her to say, “Well, that’s amazing” and act surprised.

Cyril: “…….but having another Hero of Legend arrive in a rural town like this, shouldn’t more people be excited about the news?” Henry: “Well, he did come secretly and hid his identity. Mr. Riol told me that he didn’t want to cause a ruckus on his arrival and that wasn’t his intention. But he did at least let the leader of the Church, Mr. Castello, know about his arrival.”

And since Mr. Riol doesn’t appear in newspapers or have a high publicity among the Heroes of Legend, he was able to push his agenda through. Although, now that I recall, Mr. Castello did have quite the strained smile with the edges of his lips twitching after hearing the news.

…….and yeah, I get it. Unlike Yuu or Ageha who are relatively younger Heroes, beginning with Sir Ezeal, the older Heroes of Legend have a lot of political clout and power. Unlike Ms. Lotte who came on official business, it would be more complicated to know how to handle Mr. Riol who came in secret.

We entered the Church, and we passed by the Church Tavern that was full of people due to the Winter Season as we climbed up the stairs to the second floor.

They should be in the same room as they borrowed yesterday so, I went immediately to the 3rd Meeting Room and opened the door.

Riol: “ーーand so, if your Spell Inscription is getting overly bloated, the standard practice is to use the compressed Spell Construction in order to manage it better. By doing so, you can exceed the Spell Inscriptions secondary criticality. You can also use this kind of control mechanism on other Spell Inscriptions as well.”

Lana: “But Mr. Riol, if you are going to do that, would it not be more efficient to manage the Spell Construction like this from the beginning? If you apply the Nimros Theory to the Inscription Equation, you can formulate it this way like this and this.”

Riol: “Miss Lana, you are very quick to catch on. But in that case, you would see the circle break here, and the Spell would go out of control.”

Lana: “…….then what about doing it this way?” Riol: “Hm? …….hmmmmmmm, I see.”

And I saw the two scribble all over the blackboard with Spell Inscription notes everywhere.

From a glance, I can see a certain part that looks like the Kroseid Style, but I don’t recognize anything else. In fact, it was so messy that I’m certain that only the people who wrote it would understand what was there.

Riol: “ーーHmmm!! There are some aspects that seem less efficient, but it is indeed a new Spell Inscription Formula indeed! Miss Lana, I’ll take note. Please hold while I write this down.”

Lana: “Yes, I’ll take note as well.”

The two took out their notebooks, and began furiously writing inside of it.

And by the time they seemed to be done writing in their notebooks, I hesitatingly called out to them.

Henry: ‘…….umーー hey you two. How’s it going?” Riol: “Hm? Oh, it’s Henry. When did you get here?” I have been here since 5 minutes ago……

Lana: “Oh, it’s true. Mr. Henry, hello. And hello Teo and Miss Cyril.”

Lana, you too?

Henry: “Looks like you were having quite the heated debate.”

Riol: “Yes! It was well worth the trip all the way to Flowtier. Miss Lana has not failed to surprise me with her insights. In fact, I find myself learning from her as well.”

Lana: “Oh no. I’m just saying what comes to mind, and I’m learning so much from Mr. Riol.”

…….and they quickly developed such a solid trustworthy relationship within such a short period of time.

Riol: “It is that imagination and idea that is so invaluable. I’m sure Professor Conrad’s teachings have been going very well.”

Lana: “? Mr. Riol, do you know of Professor Conrad?”

When Lana was invited to visit the Alvenia Central University, we tagged along, and she went to speak to Professor Conrad.

Lana has been communicating via mail with Professor Conrad and learning a lot from him, but I never though Mr. Riol would be connected to him too.

Riol: “For a short period, I was teaching at the Alvenia Central University. At the time, I got to know Professor Conrad, who was an Assistant Professor at the time, very well.”

Lana: “I see.”

Well, before the Demon King’s Coronation 10 years ago, Mr. Riol was mainly teaching in universities as a professor and was an Adventurer on the side, so I guess that’s not surprising to hear.

And as more incidents with High-Tiersーー and somewhere Highest-Tiers appearedーー and just like that, he had to abandon his occupation and go where the emergency occurred.

Riol: “So Henry, did you have some business with me today? If you would like to listen in, I welcome your audience.”

Henry: “…….there’s no way I can follow or understand what you all are saying. I just brought you some food.”

And I lift up the paper box we brought with the sweet snacks inside. This is from one of the more popular dessert stores in Flowtier.

Riol: “Oh, how nice. This is a good opportunity. Miss Lana, let’s take a break.”

Lana: “Oh, yes. That is a good idea. We haven’t stopped working since this morning.”

And currently, it is 3 in the afternoon.

Henry: “…….please at least eat proper meals.”

Riol: “Do not worry. As an Adventurer, I always carry around plenty of dried food rations.”

Living off long-preserved food rations even though you’re in the middle of a city……looks like I should check on them more periodically throughout the day. Mr. Riol might be fine, but if Lana passes out from exhaustion, I would feel terrible since I’m the one who essentially called Mr. Riol here.

Riol: “And? Oh, before that. Could you introduce me to the ladies you brought here? Seeing as how you brought them here, are they your rumored Party members?”

Henry: “Yes, I did come here to introduce them to you.” Teo: “I am Teo.” Cyril: “………hello, I am Cyril. Pleased to meet you.” Hmmm～? What’s going on here? I thought so earlier, but there’s something definitely wrong with Cyril. Is she not feeling well or something?

Henry: “Oh, Mr. Riol. I think you already know, but Teo is Ageha’s cousin.”

Riol: “I see……I heard the rumors, but truly, the world can feel small at times.”

That is true, but if Ageha showed more interest in where I was retiring too, I feel like she could have guessed about who I would run into here. ……and it’s not like I wanted everyone to know, but I did tell everyone who I was close to where I was going, but she completely ignored me when I brought up the subject.

Riol: “And Miss Cyril is Henry’s girlfriend……huh. You are fortunate to have caught the attention of such a beautiful lady.”

Cyril: “OーOh, thank you.”

If it was the normal Cyril, she would have said something like, “Oh, Mr. Riol, you have such good tastes! Henry, this is what I’m talking about. Like this!” and got all excited, but I think something is wrong.

Henry: “And we brought cake for you, and there’s a variety of different ones, but which one would you like?” Riol: “Of course, please allow the ladies to choose first. Miss Lana and you two, please feel free to pick the one you want.”

I had no objections to Mr. Riol’s suggestion and let the 3 choose first. Cyril was the oldest out of the 3 so she stepped aside while Lana and Teo chose, and…….for some reason, stood in front of Mr. Riol.

Cyril: “MーMr. Riol.” Riol: “Yes, what is it?” Cyril took in a long, deep breath, and with a sharpened gaze, she looked Mr. Riol right in the eyes.

Cyril: “You’re called the Great Sage right now, but I’ll catch up and exceed you soon enough! Yes, the Great Magic Caster Cyril will!”

And puffing her chest out, I thought I heard sound effects as she made the announcement.

Because she said it so boldly, I thought I even hallucinated seeing burning fire in the background behind her.

Henry: “Idiot.” Cyril: “Ow.”

But putting that aside, I swat her head from behind.

Cyril: “WhーWhy did you do that, Henry?”

Henry: “That’s my line. What nonsense are you spouting to someone you just met for the first time?”

Cyril: “Urgh, it’s not nonsense. I thought you would be proud that I would want to exceed someone who’s called a Hero of Legend.”

Sure, I like the enthusiasm, but don’t try and pick a fight like that. If it was anyone with a shorter temper, they could have been offended.

Henry: “Ohー um, I’m so sorry, Mr. Riol. Please excuse her. C’mon, Cyril. You too.”

Cyril: “Ugh…….um, I’m sorry.”

So that’s what was bothering her this whole time. It’s no wonder why she acted so weird. ……..and it was a pretty simple reason too. I feel dumb for being so worried this whole time.

Riol: “Ha ha ha, now now. What a fun and exciting lady we have here. Besides…….from what I gathered from Henry’s letters, I can’t say that it’s all nonsense, no?” Henry: “I can’t say that there’s no chance of it happening in the future but……”

A Mage or Magic Caster is not just responsible for casting gigantic Spells from the back. They need to coordinate with the vanguard, choose effective Magecraft or Magic Spells, and be able to respond well when targeted by the enemies, etc., etc. There’s plenty of things Cyril still has to learn in that sense.

So from that perspective, Cyril still has a long way to go.

Riol: “Well, the pure human race develops so quickly. I’m sure that it’s not too long in the future before that happens.”

Henry: “Uh huh……..”

It’s hard to understand the thoughts of someone from a race who lives 500 to a 1000 years.

Cyril: “…..oh, but putting that aside, out of the remaining cakes, the Orange Chiffon cake is mine.”

Henry: “Don’t worry. I’m not going to steal it from you.” And I took the cream puff out of the remaining desserts, and Mr. Riol got the chocolate cake.

Teo brought out plates and forks for us in her bag, and as always, the [Dimensional Expansion] enchantment proved to be incredibly useful.

Henry: “Thank you for the food.”

I take the cream puff and carefully take a bite. The cream inside started spilling on the side, so I carefully bit through the thin outer bread.

As soon as I took the bite, a flood of creamy sweetness filled my mouth. Though it was sweet, it was not grossly sweet, and the vanilla and brandy flavors left a strong impression in my mouth afterwards.

………..wow, that’s good.

Cyril: “Oh, Henry, that looks so good. Can I have a bite?” And before I can fully enjoy my bite, Cyril fluidly came asking for a piece of my cream puff.

Henry: “…….no, I don’t wanna. You have your Chiffon cake, right? Your Chiffon cake.”

Cyril: “Then I’ll let you have a bite of mine first.”

And Cyril takes a piece of her cake on her fork and playfully holds it out for me.

I felt myself instantly freeze into a statue, but Cyril just happily held out the fork while smiling.

…..I think it takes a special personality to not feel anything in this situation!

Lana is intensely watching our exchange as any girl her age would, and Teo is looking at us with exasperated eyes that said, “What are you guys doing…” Mr. Riol is saying something like, “Sweets are the taste of society” and is completely unaware of my predicament.

………and after intense contemplation, I decided to take a bite from the fork, and then stuff the cream puff into Cyril’s mouth.