Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Alicia Wanted Praise

“Well, well, I wish you luck with the eggs. By the way, these are magic beasts or monsters. So, they’ll need mana. I didn’t mention it before since both of you are mages. It shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Magic beasts?” Alicia tilted her head. Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, she vaguely recalled the existence of monsters that Sistielle had mentioned.

If she couldn’t remember it, it probably wasn’t important. That’s what Alicia thought. That's the limit of her brain cells. Nevertheless, she was right as the old lady explained it to her more thoroughly.

“Well, magic beasts or monsters are believed to be summoned from the Nether Realm to this world. But in some cases, they drop eggs,” Anne’s grandmother explained.

“And we can raise them?” Alicia asked.

“The Eastern Althemer did. Once this technique became known ten years ago, people stopped conquering dungeons and destroying spawners. Hehehe,” the old lady chuckled. “Once again, thank you for your patronage. We are certainly pleased to have you, Lady Elidranthia.”

“I certainly hope to avoid merchants as wise and cunning as you, Anne's grandmother,” Elidranthia said with a curtsy. She couldn’t help but lace her words with irritation at how this old woman had managed to swindle two gold coins from her.

“Well, where to next?” Alicia asked cheerfully, skipping as she cradled her green egg like it was her baby. The lady had kindly given her a box to hold on to the egg, so even if the careless Alicia were to drop it, the egg wouldn’t break.

“We are going home. Period,” Eli replied, frowning. She had spent two whole gold coins today.

I hope Father won’t get mad at me… Eli thought. She spent the evening poking around her father, preparing herself to ask for forgiveness.

Of course, her father didn’t get mad. His anger was directed toward the old lady.

“Bah! Those merchants are scams! We need dragons, and they gave us who-knows-what kind of eggs. I bet some of them are goblins or orcs! And why did you take that small egg, Eli? Do you believe a dragon could be inside?”

“Goblins don’t lay eggs, milord. Dungeons and spawners only spawn eggs when they don’t have enough mana to create monsters directly. Goblin and other low-level monster eggs would hatch in days from just the ambient mana in the air,” Rodrique explained.

“I refuse to let some ugly monster become my daughter’s pet, understand? If this turns out to be a dud, we’re going back to that scammer!” Count Shadowstep declared.

“As I said before, milord, only high-level monsters come out of those eggs. Even if orcs hatch from them, they’d be orc lords or ogres. There is no way a goblin egg could last the trip from eastern Althemer to here, in the far west.”

“But… Father, what about the money? Aren’t we struggling right now?” Elidranthia asked cautiously.

“Yes, that is correct, milord. What Lady Elidranthia said is true,” Rodrique added. “Since we didn’t tax any civilians this month due to the celebration of Lady Elidranthia becoming a mage, our revenue has dropped. Two gold coins are still manageable, but twelve coins might be pushing it.”

“Who said I’m going to pay them now? We can just pay that merchant on a yearly basis, can’t we? She’s our subject, right?” Count Shadowstep snorted.

Elidranthia could feel a headache forming. He could certainly do that. This is a medieval era. The count's words were the law here. But acting like that would definitely paint Count Shadowstep as a robber.

“Father… that’s unfair…” Eli said, doing her best to defuse the situation. “I think this egg will turn out beautiful, so you don’t need to buy any more.”

“Well, if that’s what you want, my dear.”

Meanwhile, another reincarnated girl didn’t feel a single iota of guilt for spending a year’s worth of a peasant’s salary on gacha eggs. Alicia skipped to her room humming.

“Dragon… dragon… Will it be Ralph, the feathery white dragon Eli had? I want a dragon that breathes fire though… The dragons in the original novels were lackluster. they can't do anything but fly.” Alicia mused as she ate her dinner, in the staff room, already lost in fantasies of her future mount.

She imagined herself as a majestic female dragon rider, soaring through the sky, her white hair fluttering in the wind as her powerful white dragon let out a thunderous roar of loyalty and fire.

A sharp bone magically appeared in her soup as if it was punishment from heaven. And as she drank it, it got stuck in her throat.

coughcough

“Don’t play with your food. Eat, then sleep. Tomorrow, you’ll attend another lesson with Mr. Alexandraine,” Elena, her fellow maid, scolded.

“Yes, Miss Elena, There was a bone inside,” Alicia answered as she felt the desperate itch come from inside her throat.

Elena sighed but smiled nonetheless. "How could there be bone inside a vegetable soup."

Dawn broke. Carrying her precious dragon egg, Alicia attended her lesson with Mr. Alexandraine. Alongside Elidranthia, Anne was also present.

“Hm? Greetings, Lady Elidranthia, Miss Alicia. May I ask who this little girl is?” the instructor inquired.

“Greetings, Mr. Alexandraine. This girl is Anne. She might be a mage,” Eli replied, then turned toward Alicia.

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“Yes! During the exam, I saw the ball light up for a second. The priest said she was either a level two or level one mage. But since she was not a level three, she was not recognized as a mage,” Alicia added eagerly.

“I see. Well, I’m sure the priest already told you that your mana is too little to be of use to society, correct?” Alexandraine asked, his tone neutral but firm.

“Yes. But I still want to learn… Even though I know real mages like Alicia or Lord Elidranthia are leagues above me, I want to use magic!” Anne said, her fists clenched with determination.

“Tsk! Tsk! It’s Lady Elidranthia, Anne. You need to learn etiquette later,” Alicia said, mimicking Miss Laura’s scolding tone. Both Alexandraine and Elidranthia ignored her remark—they had gotten used to it by now.

“Mr. Alexandraine, could we perhaps let her try? Shadowstep territory needs every mage we can find, right? Even if she's a little subpar, maybe she can still be of help,” Eli suggested.

“Well, you certainly bring surprise after surprise, Lady Elidranthia. In the mage academy, we were taught that level ones and twos couldn’t truly be called mages due to their extremely limited mana reserves. But I’ve never personally examined someone at that level. Since both of you have nearly completed your curriculum, I suppose we can spare some time to teach young Miss Anne here,” Alexandraine said with a smile—a glint of mad enthusiasm shining in his eyes.

In the imperial capital where Alexandraine had trained, level ones and twos were often called “Dreamers”. They dreamed of becoming mages, but were unable to. Alexandraine had known peers who once tutored these Dreamers.

The government wouldn’t pay for their tuition, so the Dreamers had to take out loans to hire a graduate mage to tutor them. In the end, they could barely fill one or two arcane stones each week—just enough to power an oven or a water fountain. Since they were rejected by the academies, they couldn’t cast spells either. Saddled with massive debt and no prospects, most went bankrupt.

But since he had free time, he decided to entertain his pupils. he had yet to see these dreamers himself either.

“Anyway, Miss Alicia, was that a magic beast egg?” Alexandraine said, shifting the topic as his eyes drifted to the box she carried. He had heard about the fad from his colleagues in the capital, though he had no personal interest in raising magical creatures.

“Yes. Do you know how to take care of it?”

“Yes. The easiest way is to place an arcane stone nearby. It will absorb the mana inside at its own pace. When it’s fully matured, the egg will hatch,” Alexandraine explained.

“I see. Does any arcane stone work?”

“Any arcane stone should work. But whether the type of stone affects the offspring is still debated. There’s no concrete proof that using a variety of stones makes the creature stronger.”

“I see,” Alicia nodded thoughtfully.

“Well, this is good practice. Why don’t you charge these stones while I teach Miss Anne the basics of magic? Then you can put them into the box.”

“Yay!” Alicia cheered and eagerly grabbed an arcane stone, while Elidranthia picked up another. Since their affinities were different, there was no chance of confusion.

Dark-affinity arcane stones were rare on the market, so Alexandraine had needed to ask around to acquire even a few. Earth-affinity stones, on the other hand, were usually exclusive to mines or major construction companies—and Shadowstep had neither. So, he offered Elidranthia Light arcane stone.

Now that Alicia and Elidranthia had already experienced channeling mana into the device, they could easily emulate that sensation. Alicia, in particular, had a smoother time since she could already cast a beginner-level fire spell. Thanks to Sistielle’s blessing, she could summon a small flame effortlessly, dancing at her fingertips.

“Ah, this is easy. It’s similar to how I cast my candle flame,” Alicia muttered. Deep down, she felt a little disheartened. Why had she worked so hard to learn those spells a few days ago, only to be properly taught now?

Moreover, now that she could sense mana, she realized how inefficient her earlier attempts had been. Her mana had been leaking like a broken pipe whenever she cast those floating flames.

“Hm? You can cast spells?” Alexandraine raised an eyebrow.

“Yes!” Alicia answered proudly and demonstrated her talent. A small flame lit up at the tip of her forefinger.

“Well, that’s quite amazing,” Alexandraine said. He then turned to Elidranthia. A pen beside her was rising slightly, as if lifted by some invisible force. “Be careful there, Lady Elidranthia. When you channel your mana, you may cause unintended phenomena.”

“Hm? What do you mean?” Eli asked.

“The pen was floating,” Alicia murmured. Eli snapped her attention to the pen next to her book. The moment she cut off her mana, the pen dropped to the table.

Eli stared at the pen in surprise. “Did I do that?”

“Yes. Earth-affinity mages can manipulate objects to a certain extent. They also have the ability to purify harvested minerals. In the mines, workers use magical tools powered by earth-affinity arcane stones to separate iron from ores,” Alexandraine explained.

“I see.”

“Well, Light and Earth arcane stones may seem to have fewer flashy uses, but mages with those affinities are extremely important. If you want to build stone walls, castles, or stone houses, you’ll definitely need earth mages,” Alexandraine continued. “That’s why earth mages often travel abroad. Without them, it’s impossible to make cement—and without cement, stones can’t stick together.”

“Well, I need to build my territory first,” Elidranthia said.

“That’s a good goal. Now, Miss Anne, Are you done? Can you feel the mana? Hm… this stone is about a tenth—no, a fifth—full.” Alex said as he examined the stone charged by Anne through the mana scale.

“Is it hopeless after all?” Anne asked. Her face was a little pale from exhaustion, and her breathing was ragged as if she had run a few miles.

“No, not yet. If you can charge one arcane stone every day, you can contribute to the territory. Don’t give up yet,” Elidranthia said.

“Miss Anne, when the priest examined your mana, what color was the spark that came out of the glass ball?” Alex asked.

“It was golden, I think?”

“Well then, we shall move on toward healing. If you continue to serve Lady Elidranthia, you might become her assistant one day. Light magic is very important—without it, injuries can be fatal,” Alexandraine said. Eli nodded. "But, your mana might only limit you to heal one person a day..."

Light mages were the doctors of this fantasy world. Without them, they couldn’t cure poison, treat diseases, or heal injuries. Eli also knew that their abilities even surpassed the technology on Earth. After all, they could grow limbs.

“We should start working in the Mage Guild!” Alicia said eagerly since she could charge arcane stone now, she couldn’t wait to receive her first paycheck as a mage. She wanted everyone to fawn over her.

“Great idea, Alicia! Can we do that, Mr. Alexandraine?” Eli asked, excited at the thought of helping others. Arcane stones were vital to the economy. This time, instead of killing people, Eli could actually help them.

Somehow, though their motives were different, their goals aligned. Alexandraine smiled.

“Very well. It’s earlier than I expected, but you’re certainly qualified to begin filling arcane stones. I’ll verify it with the Mage Guild tomorrow.”

“I… I think I’ll pass,” Anne said quietly. She had finally accepted reality, and her shoulders sagged in defeat.

Eli nodded in understanding. Anne couldn’t even fill one arcane stone, and her face was pale with exhaustion. This world separated mages and non-mages in a cruel, unforgiving way.

At the very least, Anne had come to terms with the fact that she was not truly a mage—despite having mana. She now realized that a mage’s life wasn’t for her.

But no one knew that Anne wasn’t the only one who would be faced with harsh reality.

Alicia, too, would soon have to confront it on her own.

Would she act maturely, like Anne? Only time would tell.

If one were to read the webnovel closely, one would know: Alicia’s life hadn’t been all rosy, even after becoming a mage.

However, that reality had long slipped Alicia’s mind.

It had been over two years, after all. She no longer remembered the details.