Chapter 126
Author's Note: Came across a long comment while randomly checking, wasn't planning to update originally,
But you know what, today is special, today is my fourteenth birthday (x
Exams are in a few days, really don't have anything to update
Wishing everyone a happy weekend.
When we last wrote a review, only Nan Feng had stock. Welcome everyone to go to Sweetshort to watch.
"The power is depleted, so there is no way to sustain the Fire Lord's expenses in the mortal realm."
"Oh my goodness! I never thought I would have to cook for myself when dining at a wizard's house!"
"How long has it been since you cooked for yourself?"
"Not long, not long. But I usually just bake something. How about we barbecue?"
"Actually, as long as it's edible is fine."
"Instead of that," Virgil's eyes flickered, he glanced around, then lowered his voice, "Sylas was really worried about you. We have already returned to the tower, but she insisted on coming back to save you. She was acting like she was crazy..."
"What do you want to say?" The bald archmage became even colder and sharper as he narrowed his eyes at him.
Virgil raised his hands in fear, as if a fierce beast might charge at him. "... So, have you really never thought about what would happen to Aimekotes and Sylas if something were to happen to you?"
Xerath shook her head honestly. "No, I haven't had time to consider writing a will. But of course, I would leave everything to Sylas. Is there a problem with that?"
"Of course there is!" Virgil explained anxiously about the disadvantages of an underage, non-blood related heir in the inheritance system. Archmage retorted, "You would definitely testify falsely, right?"
"Xerath, how naive can you be?" Virgil lifted the ice chest, and Frostchild, upon seeing that it wasn't Elvis, hesitated and didn't throw the ice ball.
"What about the big firework? Hey?"
"It's not able to work today... Can you hand me that piece of beef? Thank you." Virgil offered a furry smile, while Frostchild was still stunned by the fact that the big firework couldn't come to work, and absentmindedly handed him the beef. "And also that bacon, the milk next door, and... right, how much mana do you need to sustain yourself?"
"You don't need to worry, you'll find out when my mana runs out." It stuffed a bunch of things into Virgil's hands. "Close the door."
After closing the ice chest, Virgil asked Xerath, "Is it still there?"
"Virgil, I'm just running low on mana, not completely without it."
"Why don't you tell the little beast the truth?"
Xerath lowered her eyes and thought, her light-colored eyelashes blinking. Suddenly, she sighed and said, "She's different from you. She worries about me."
"What nonsense! I worry about you too!"
"No, it's different. If I completely lose my magic, you would find a way to help me directly, but Sylas might feel it's her fault."
Virgil paused. "Are you indirectly accusing me of having no guilt?"
"No, of course not. I know there's nothing you can do in that situation."
"Isn't Sylas the same?"
Xerath calmly shook her head, a small vortex of southern wind appeared and thawed the frozen meat. Virgil used a frying pan to melt a puddle of cheese and cream, then took the meat down and cut it into small pieces with a knife. He sprinkled some pepper and salt, gave it a good rub, and put it in the pan to cook.
"It's different. You've seen it too. Sylas might not have the ability to banish the entire storm yet, but the elements are willing to listen to her. Maybe she thinks, 'If I were there, maybe I could defeat the whole storm.' If she thinks like that, of course she would feel guilty."
"But what if she ends up making things worse?" Virgil asked incredulously.
"I also think that having her around might cause me to miss some great opportunities because I'll be busy protecting her. But I don't want to tell her that," he said.
Virgil furrowed his brow and thought for a while before asking, "How long will it take for you to recover?"
Xerath honestly replied, "I don't know. But I can still perform a few small tricks."
"Oh, old friend..." Virgil wiped his hands and then turned around, speaking earnestly and anxiously. "Sylas is really worried about you, more than she is for a foster mother or a guardian, or even a teacher."
Xerath regained her cold attitude and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Virgil touched his nose and quietly started cutting onions. After a while, he started crying while continuing to chop.
Sylas struggled but eventually entered the living room with the door shut. Thankfully, there was nothing she didn't want to see. Xerath was just standing in front of the stove, coldly watching the flickering orange flames.
Those flames were definitely conjured by pure magic, so maybe her previous worries were unfounded. Xerath just wanted to eat Nislan dishes without leaving the house.
Surprisingly, Virgil can actually cook. The free-spirited man lazily greeted her, holding a spoon and stirring the pot, filling the entire living room with the aroma of cream and cheese.
Virgil had already cut two chicken legs, then minced the meat, and wrapped everything with bacon. But the last step puzzled him, "How can we bake it? Don't we have any metal forks or anything like that at home?"
Xerath said, "There is one downstairs specifically for Dvořák."
Virgil expressed his dislike for this idea. Sylas suggested, "Why not use that oven?"
"None of us knows how to control the temperature of fire, right? Only the Fire Lord does."
"Why don't we call Elvis out?" Sylas stared at Xerath.
After this question was asked, Virgil couldn't even hold his breath. She sure dared to ask!
But the archmage calmly replied, "That way, Elvis will become stubborn and throw a tantrum for not letting it cook. Plus, with it around, we all have to leave the kitchen."
Xerath sighed, took out the boiling potatoes from the pot, peeled them with a blade of wind, mashed them with a spoon. Virgil cut three eggs and mixed them in, poured in some melted cheese sauce, and added something that Dvořák couldn't get: shelled peas and finely diced carrots.
"Let's just roast it." She threw the fire starter into the oven, along with those two chicken legs, a bunch of ground meat wrapped in bacon, and said with a hint of resignation, "If it burns, we still have mashed potatoes and cheese stewed beef."
Sylas whispered, "I don't think I've been helpful at all..."
"That's great, you can help me light the fire." Xerath couldn't wait and extinguished the flames, allowing Sylas to take her place. After the fire was extinguished, Virgil immediately protested loudly, until Sylas lit the fire again, only then did he keep quiet.
This will probably take until the sun completely sets before we can have dinner. Although it smells good, the food made by two people who rarely cook and one who has never cooked before can't compare to a Fire Lord. Fortunately, everyone has been hungry all day, and their food requirements have dropped to an all-time low. When Sylas cut into the meat, even the archmage couldn't help but stretch his neck.
The aroma of meat filled the air, the different flavors of ground beef, chicken legs, and bacon intertwined due to the smoldering flame, quickly eliminating hunger. The mashed potatoes tasted just right, leaving Sylas unable to resist savoring the taste lingering on her tongue.
However, she had been paying attention to Xerath's situation the whole time. As a result, there was always one side's progress that stagnated, and the gaze left on Xerath's face was discovered. She smiled gently and suggested, "If you don't mind eating after me, I still have a bit here."
Sylas blushed and refused, saying, "Aren't you hungry too, teacher? I'll go take some from Titus."
The footstool under the table raised its head alertly, shielding the food bowl beneath its body.
Xerath certainly needed food. Magic doesn't appear out of thin air, and throughout history, everyone has believed that the restoration and growth of magic are deeply connected to food. Especially when magic is depleted, if one doesn't eat, the recovery speed is quite slow, as proven by an ancient and inhumane experiment. Although subsequent centuries of research and statistics haven't found any correlation between food preferences and the amount of magic, there's no doubt that Xerath needs to eat more.
After eating, Xerath left the table and went back to her room. Sylas tried to ask Virgil some questions, but Virgil was too clever to answer anything.
Since she didn't want to disturb Xerath who needed rest, Sylas disappointedly returned to her own room. She covered her head and remembered how Xerath had rejected her hug, and how it hurt her so much not to be able to even lean on or get close to Xerath.
Leunen flew around her in the air, saying, "My dear lady, don't be sad. Didn't she tease you later? And she even said she would share food with you."
"But I don't understand if I did something to upset her. I feel like there is always a limit that I don't comprehend. Once I touch it, she pushes me away without any mercy."
"Isn't that normal? Everyone has boundaries, including you."
"But there weren't any before. For example..." She remembered the sweet goodnight kisses, the feel of being so close while Xerath was tidying up her clothes. Her heart trembled slightly with each memory of their closeness.
She couldn't say the rest of her words; each one only deepened her frustration.
Very frustrated.
She just wanted things to be like they used to be, why couldn't they? Angrily clutching her blanket, she knew that whether she acted spoiled or cried, it would be useless in front of Xerath. This made her even more frustrated, and she buried herself in her blanket.
But Xerath couldn't sleep. She lay on her side and hugged her blanket tightly. A rare expression of sadness appeared on her cold and calm face as she stared at the deep blue sky.
The water lord couldn't reach the mortal realm yet. She had no one to confide in, so she chose to remain silent.
The shimmering light gathered at her fingertips, but soon extinguished like a candle in the wind. The archmage sighed deeply. Several times, she thought of getting up and going downstairs to find Sylas. Whether it was a hug or a kiss, she just needed to give her some affection in exchange. It was a privilege for a teacher, as mistakes were so easily made due to the simplicity of the process and the abundant rewards obtained.
Fortunately, her heavy physical body stopped her. Laziness always seemed to have disadvantages in the past, but now the archmage was extremely grateful for her laziness.
The lights in the mage tower were extinguished unusually early today, but both the owner of the mage tower and the designated inheritor of the tower, stayed up past midnight without sleeping.
