Frieren: Serie's Apprentice

In the end, both candidates chose to stay. Under Gut and the association staff's guidance, they went to the archive room for identity registration.

Looking at the gradually enriching personnel files in the archive room, Gut thought that as staff increased, the examination mechanism for mages would become increasingly standardized.

Great mages like teacher Serie personally conducting examinations was ultimately just a special situation during a special period.

After the two candidates registered, they could be considered their own people. Gut personally escorted them out as usual.

Meanwhile, Serie in the hall, after providing detailed guidance for each disciple's cultivation, also announced dismissal.

The lively girl cheered and walked out of the hall with light steps, leading the way.

After sweetly saying goodbye to Mr. Gut, who had just returned from escorting the candidates, at the plaza in front of the hall, she climbed into a luxurious carriage that had been parked at the plaza's edge.

The few people behind the girl walked out unhurriedly.

The timid little shota Zenn, after reaching the plaza, said an almost inaudible "goodbye" and slipped away with his head down.

Hafka on the other side was obviously much more outgoing, chatting gracefully with his teacher beside him about various topics. However, judging from the elf's sporadic responses, she probably had little interest in this.

As a noble who had specially trained in reading facial expressions, Hafka quickly caught the uninterested look on his teacher's face.

He immediately quieted down, no longer bothering his teacher with words.

After parting at the plaza, Hafka, who had just boarded the carriage compartment, was pulled to the compartment window by his sister grabbing his arm.

The girl pointed in a direction with her finger and whispered in her brother's ear.

"Brother, look, Mr. Gut seems to walk back with Lady Serie every day, and they always walk shoulder to shoulder. Could they be..."

"Shh!"

Before the girl could finish speaking, her brother pinched her lips shut from above and below.

"Stop thinking nonsense. Mr. Vichi, please start the carriage."

"Yes, Lord Hafka."

The coachman in front of the compartment promptly responded, pulling the reins and raising the whip, making the horses run quickly.

Since there were noble insignia hanging outside the carriage, there was no need to restrain speed at all. As long as no traffic accidents occurred, the patrolling city defense would never come forward to bother them.

Only after the carriage had traveled quite a distance did Hafka release the two fingers pinching his sister's lips. Looking at the two red marks on the girl's upper and lower lips, Hafka couldn't help but laugh.

Sola dissatisfiedly hammered her brother's chest twice with her small fists. "Stop laughing, it's all brother's fault."

"Brother, you must take responsibility!"

"Oh?" Hafka asked with interest, "How do you want brother to take responsibility?"

"Of course it's... tell me brother's thoughts about Lady Serie and Mr. Gut."

"Must we discuss this topic?" Hafka smiled bitterly, his expression quite helpless.

"Of course, I always feel that Mr. Gut's attitude toward teacher is quite..."

"Ambiguous?" Hafka voiced what his sister was thinking.

"Yes! That's exactly the feeling!" Sola confirmed. "Brother thinks so too?"

"Perhaps." Hafka replied in a bland voice.

"Sola, this is others' private matter after all, and it involves teacher-disciple status, which is truly too sensitive."

"As outsiders, we shouldn't speculate carelessly."

"Alright then." The girl dejectedly laid her head on the table, obediently no longer pursuing the matter.

Hafka reached out to stroke the girl's hair, and after thinking for a moment, remembered a suitable place to compensate his sister.

"Sola, I heard there's a handmade doll workshop in the Holy Capital that's quite famous."

"Moreover, its location doesn't seem far from us..."

"Hm?" The girl lying on the table immediately perked up. After straightening up, she said seriously:

"Brother, I want it!"

"Mm, I'll satisfy you." Hafka gazed tenderly at the girl, picked up the water pitcher for a sip, then confirmed again.

"As long as you like it, I'll buy you however many you want."

"Brother is the best."

The girl happily grabbed Hafka's arm and shook it. "I hope my future husband can be as considerate as brother."

"Eh, how about I marry brother instead?"

"Pffft—!"

Hafka, who was drinking water, sprayed it out. He hurriedly set down the water pitcher, coughing while taking out a handkerchief from his chest to wipe the wet spots on his body.

"Haha!"

Seeing her joke make her brother so flustered, the girl covered her stomach and laughed beautifully.

"Mmm..."

After an unknown amount of time, Hafka finally coughed out the water that had choked him. He wiped his body with the silk handkerchief, though no one could distinguish whether these water stains were actually water or cold sweat from guilt.

"Sola, we're not children anymore. Don't make such jokes in the future."

"What's wrong? I really do like brother."

The mischievous girl blinked her eyes, still teasing Hafka beside her.

Hafka sighed and turned his head away, no longer paying attention to his sister beside him.

Sola mistakenly thought her brother was angry and bumped his shoulder with hers, apologizing for her earlier words.

However, only Hafka himself knew that he turned his head away not because he was angry. Rather, it was extreme guilt - the self-reproach of not daring to meet his sister's eyes again.

After all, what the girl said was just a joke;

But he was truly thinking that way.

On the other side.

Gut and the elf walked shoulder to shoulder on the town's streets.

The reason they weren't taking a carriage back was because the elf, who had been cooped up in her room all day, said she wanted to stroll the streets.

To see if there were any fresh things, while also getting some sunlight.

Though the elf's move to go out at dusk to get sunlight was somewhat hard to take seriously, Gut didn't resist this opportunity to be alone with his teacher. He even started humming a tune.

"Walking with her on the streets of the Holy Capital, oh-oh-oh-oh."

"Until all the lights go out..."

However, Gut's singing voice hadn't been showcased for long before the elf ordered him to shut up for being "too terrible."

Helplessly, he could only discuss cultivation issues related to Reparo magic with his teacher along the way.

For her disciple's serious inquiry, Serie as a teacher was very responsible in her explanation.

A few concise words not only answered her disciple's confusion from shallow to deep, but also extended from this to describe the mutual evolution between these two different magical systems.

After this explanation, Gut could be said to have gained considerably.

However, the elf became interested in her disciple's cultivation direction and said somewhat surprisingly:

"You're actually truly cultivating this special magic. I thought you would focus day and night on Curse Reversal Magic cultivation for that one-year agreement."

"Could it be you've finally changed your mind and no longer have your sights set on me?"

Gut: ...

"Teacher, is there any possibility that I've already mastered Curse Reversal Magic..."

"What a coincidence to encounter you two here!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from not far away, interrupting the teacher-disciple conversation.

Gut looked toward the sound and found the person was the middle-aged hero Himmel, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

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Powerstones?

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