I have to hypnotize you, Aura!

"Grandma...mother-in-law...just focus on making your soup, I'll pay you." Fingel's smile was more like a grimace, her words carrying a hint of reminder, "You'd better not worry about anything else."

He suppressed his anger and tried his best not to appear aggressive.

"Hehe, I'm not making this for you."

The old woman gave a cold laugh, her cheeks puffed out, and brought over the warmed stewed pig's trotters, placing them in front of Awula.

"You're quite a good old woman! Hahaha, Fingel is just like that, he's completely unreasonable."

Aura nodded happily. In her opinion, it was true. This person was completely unreasonable.

Even though I clearly said we couldn't win, they still insist on blaming me for not going to rescue people.

[Fingal should respect me more! Be more loyal! He's too rebellious!]

[Seriously, it's always the same; I get angry for no reason!]

Thinking this, while drinking pig's trotter soup at the dinner table, Aura used her long legs wrapped in stockings under the table to kick Fingel, expressing her dissatisfaction.

Fingel, of course, didn't tolerate it at all and kicked back, almost sending Aura flying.

"Hahaha..."

The old woman next to her didn't say anything, but seemed very happy... Thinking back, she too had such wonderful times when she was young.

Well, at least she thought that Fingel and Aura's relationship was probably good, something like the kind where they fight in bed and then make up in bed—unfortunately, she didn't know that was unlikely.

If they actually start fighting, it would be a bit too explicit for adults.

So they really did have a 'fight' that night, taking advantage of Aura's current special period when she was suppressed, and Fingel severely punished this damned female demon.

Awula's cheeks were very sore that night.

And so, Fingel settled the caravan in the village and paid them enough to support them for more than half a year.

As for Fingel, he returned to Celia with a carriage and three or four soldiers, and then instructed the soldiers to deliver supplies once a week until winter was over.

Winters in the north are long, sometimes lasting for several months. Fortunately, Fingel has always been generous with his rewards, and the soldiers, believing that they could not disobey the nobles' orders and that they could earn a year's worth of profit from a single job, had no complaints.

It's okay!

As long as the money is made, that's all that matters.

Moreover, everyone cares a lot about going on long trips. For most villagers who have never left the village in their entire lives, being able to go on a long trip can become a topic of conversation for several years to come.

Although it is a magical plane, the civilization is still similar to the medieval world. Moreover, magic is not used to benefit ordinary people, so the common people are still similar to those in medieval Earth.

...

One day... two days... time flies by.

Fingel came to Celia in search of magic—but not knowing what he wanted, he could only resort to a clumsy method.

Seria has a saying that magic is based on imagination and will. If you just think someone else's magic is useful and try to learn it, the efficiency will be very low and the chances of learning it are slim.

But the more it aligns with your imagination and will, the less likely you are to succeed in learning (censorship) and the less time it will take... So the dumbest way is to learn magic!

To be precise, it means learning one book at a time. Those magic spells that seem like gibberish and impossible to learn even if you understand them are passed over. Then you try them one by one!

This is a considerable amount of work... Fingel had no choice but to try to categorize the magic books to make it easier for him to select them. For example, he could divide the magic books into several categories according to various methods such as elemental, combat, support, etc., and then try them one by one.

And so, a month passed.

"Holy crap... How come this is even more absurd than a calculus problem?"

Fingel spent an entire day studying a book on 'Gravity Magic'—and the result was: he couldn't learn it!

It makes absolutely no sense. I can understand it, but I just can't learn it.

That's roughly it:

This is offense, this is defense. When facing a god, all you need to do is make full use of your rolling skill. After 999 rolls, you can defeat the god.

Okay, I understand, but I can't learn it.

"Damn it! I'm not studying anymore!"

In a fit of anger, Fingel slammed the book shut. "I'm giving up today!"

He originally planned to learn gravity magic, a powerful spell symbolizing fundamental forces, but found he couldn't learn it at all, and neither could magnetism... He had tried to learn more than a hundred spells, and the only ones he could barely manage to learn were the spells to 'control the wind' and 'control the iron'—two elemental spells.

However, according to his estimate, even if he learned it, it would take ten years. This was definitely not the most suitable magic for him. He could only say that he had some talent for it, but not much.

"What kind of magic am I good at...?"

Just as Fingel was frowning in worry, a familiar voice came from inside.

"Huh... Fingel? What are you doing here?"

-----

Chapter 81: Illusion? No, Tsukuyomi? No! It's the Dark Dungeon!

"Huh... Fingel? What are you doing here?"

kindness?

Familiar voice.

Fingel turned his head with some doubt. This was Celia's territory, and basically no one would come here. Celia rarely took on apprentices, and it seemed that she only had Flame as her apprentice.

"Oh...Frilian, it's been a long time! You're still as beautiful as ever."

Oh, Sassi!

He raised his eyebrows in delight, stood up to greet her, and looked Frillie up and down... She seemed to have bought new clothes, a down jacket of mediocre quality, but clearly very warm, finally a change from that linen tuxedo.

Her long, silvery-white hair cascaded down to her waist, showing that she usually took care of it—but Fingel preferred to believe that Flame had forcibly dragged some lazy elf to wash her hair.

"Has it been a long time? It feels like only a few days have passed... But what are you doing here? Celia actually let you stay here."

Frilian nodded somewhat coldly; a few months was just a blink of an eye for an elf.

“Ah, I’ve become your apprentice.” Fingel’s smile widened. “So I’m now your senior apprentice, Frilian. Shouldn’t you show some respect to your senior apprentice?”

Frillie has doubts about your words.

Frillie has doubts about the veracity of your claim of 'becoming Celie's apprentice'.

[Favorability-enhancing keywords...Insertion successful!]

[Affection Level: 81 (Indifferent)]

"Become her apprentice? Celia is actually willing to take you as her disciple... Your magical talent is clearly far inferior to Celia's." Frilian's big, bright eyes widened, seemingly finding it somewhat unbelievable. "Has Celia lowered her standards recently?"

?

Fingel's magnetic field darkened. ...What are you saying, you idiot?

Am I a bad person?

"Hey, hey, hey, show some respect to your martial uncle!" He walked up to her, grabbed Frillie's head, and gave it a good rub. He had to admit, it felt really good. "From now on, you have to call me 'Martial Uncle'! Even elves should know how to be filial!"

[Frilian has doubts about your so-called 'filial piety']

[Generate physiological terms....]

[Implantation successful.]

"What... I don't want to! You're definitely lying again, aren't you?" Frilian slapped his hand away in annoyance. "And don't let me touch my head. Flame said it will stunt my growth."

???

"No way, you're an old lady who's a thousand or two thousand years old and you're still going through puberty?" Fingel was shocked. Someone really is pretending to be young, huh?

So he looked at Frillie with a somewhat pitying gaze and continued to stroke her head.

"But let's not keep fantasizing about such pathetic things, okay? Frillie isn't a child anymore."

[Frilian is puzzled by your use of the word 'old aunt']

【Frilian's Affection Level -1】

[Affection level keyword generated... Successfully implanted, affection level +1]

[favorability level 81]

"Don't you dare call me old! I'm not an old auntie!" Frillie suddenly turned her head and glared at him. "Third time's the charm, this is the second time already!"

ha?

What is this guy saying?

"That kind of thing doesn't matter, okay? I was just joking." Fingel was a little surprised; someone really does keep a secret. "Besides, when did I ever say anything like that before?"

For the first time, he felt that this elf really seemed to enjoy being petty and calculating!

Thinking about it this way, it seems like I'm that stingy female elf from an anime I watched in my past life.

"There is!"

Frillie was adamant, staring at him intently as if he were a thief who had stolen her lollipop.

“No,” Fingel waved his hand, refusing to take the blame. “You must be mistaken.”

"It definitely exists! You don't remember, but I do!"

"Huh? I don't even know where the end of the universe is, why should I remember something like this..." Fingel was speechless. "Can you please stop worrying about such trivial things? Or should I apologize to you?"

"Apologize!"

Frillian stared at him seriously, her gaze like that of a judge interrogating a criminal—Fingal, feeling uneasy under her gaze, decided not to bother arguing with the old man; he was a young man after all.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll never say you're old again."

"Damn it...you must be cursing me in your heart, right?" Frillian pouted, a little unhappy. "Anyway, you just remember this: if there's a next time, it'll be the third time!"

"Huh? What happens the third time?"

Fingel paused, then smiled wryly... Wait, what can you do? Go ahead and beat me up?

He wasn't bragging, but he knew people who could beat him, and the most mild-mannered of them all was Frilian. As for Flame, he could at least retaliate in some ways when she was angry, but Fingel was genuinely worried about his kidneys... But Frilian?

Frillie is a good girl! So good girls can be bullied all they want.

"Your hair feels so soft! Is all elf hair this soft?" Fingel stroked Frilian's hair, finding it as smooth as Dove chocolate. "Remember to wash your hair every day from now on!"

Frillie was much better-tempered than Celie. That blonde old loli had quite a temper. He had only touched her leg under the guise of asking for magic advice. Was that so wrong? As a result, Celie attacked him with magic!

That's so violent!

That's unreasonable!

In short, Fingel felt that Celia was somewhat dissatisfied and that Frilian was better.

His eyes gradually softened; it would be quite interesting to raise this little thing.

Frillie is suspicious of your words.

[Keywords for generating favorability... 0]

【Favorability +1】

"You little brat, are you underestimating me?" Frillian was genuinely angry, clenching her fists slightly in a threatening tone. "Anyway, if there's a next time, I'll show you what I'm capable of!"

hateful.....

"Hahaha! Excellent, excellent, you're absolutely amazing, Lady Frillien!"

Fingel patted her head nonchalantly—unsurprisingly, Frilian snapped slightly, unable to resist punching his chest with her fist, but it didn't hurt.

...

After the farce, Fingel continued studying the spellbook without asking about Flame's whereabouts... since she couldn't escape anyway.

"So what are you doing here? If you peek at the spellbook, Celie will really be angry, and you might even die!"

Although she was annoyed, Frillie was still somewhat concerned and exaggerated her warning.

In reality, she still didn't believe that Fingel had become Celia's apprentice—because it was simply impossible.

Not to brag, but Celie basically only recruits geniuses... like herself and Celie, but as for someone like Fingel, well, forget it.

"I really am Celie's apprentice... Otherwise, do you think I could be learning magic here safely?" Fingel, who was sitting on the ground reading a book, was also convinced. Why didn't anyone believe him? How pathetic.