How to Raise a Dumb Wolf - Chapter 39

The so-called direct passage was simply a flight of stairs that bypassed the public areas of the lower section and climbed straight into the Tower of Magic’s upper section.

Although modern magic had advanced far enough to accomplish large-scale spatial transfers, the tower still preserved the tradition established at its founding and required mages to climb to the upper section one floor at a time. It was one way of carrying the Tower of Magic’s history forward.

To reach the ninth floor of the upper section, Aisha actually had to climb twelve floors in all.

Starting at the third floor, portraits of mages covered the walls on either side of the stairway. Aisha had read the Tower of Magic’s record handbook and knew these were all mages who had once occupied the upper section. The floor on which a portrait hung indicated the highest level that mage had reached.

On the first few floors, the portraits were small and numerous, showing how frequently the occupants changed. Beyond the upper section’s fifth floor, however, the portraits grew larger while their numbers dwindled. Vast stretches of wall stood empty. The emptiness made the corridors look sparse, yet it also awakened an irresistible ambition to fill them.

Aisha’s heart surged at the sight. She did not even notice the fatigue of climbing so high, and before she knew it, she had reached the ninth floor.

Carrying her luggage out from the stairwell, she stopped before an ornate door covered in magical patterns. She swallowed nervously.

Every floor in the Tower of Magic’s upper section served as both residence and research space for its mage, and the mage’s students lived there as well.

Apart from Aisha, Eric Green had another student whom he had accepted three years ago. That student had not yet graduated and should also be living here. Aisha wondered what kind of person he might be…

In truth, she did not know what kind of person Eric Green was either.

Alongside her excitement and anticipation came a trace of unease. Aisha clenched her fist and spent several minutes steadying herself outside the door. Only then did she step forward and knock.

Click!

The door sprang open so suddenly that Aisha jumped and reflexively stepped backward. Before she could finish stepping back, a slightly hoarse male voice came from within.

“Come in.”

Everything happened with surprising speed, almost as though… the person inside had already been waiting for her.

Aisha composed herself before entering.

She found a remarkably bright front hall. Every curtain stood open, allowing the warm afternoon sunlight of spring to pour inside. It clearly illuminated the elegant classical furniture: sofas, low tables, bookcases filling an entire wall, and an assortment of shelves and ornaments.

Like any mage’s home, magical patterns covered the walls, though the abundant sunlight made them difficult to see.

The room was clean, with everything arranged neatly. To some extent, it suggested that the person living here was meticulous and rigorous… though, of course, he might simply have been obsessed with cleanliness.

Aisha looked around. Strangely, she saw no one. The voice that had come through the door seemed almost like an illusion.

Puzzled, she ventured farther inside. Then she turned her head—

A man in black mage’s robes stood before a door in an out-of-sight corner at the back of the sitting room. She had no idea how long he had been there. He had made no sound, merely watched her steadily.

Aisha gasped and retreated two steps before she could see him clearly.

Judging by his age, the gold badge at his chest, and his presence on the ninth floor, this was unquestionably Mr. Eric Green, the mentor who had accepted her.

Yet compared with the other advanced mages Aisha had seen, the man before her was considerably younger. He was definitely under forty. There was not a single strand of white in his dark-brown curls. His deep-blue eyes watched her in silence.

He did not smile. His expression was grave, and he simply continued staring. For one instant… Aisha thought she saw a heartbreaking sorrow in his eyes. But being scrutinized still made her skin crawl. She wondered whether she had unknowingly done something wrong or worn the wrong clothes.

“Um… excuse me…” Aisha could no longer bear the strange silence. “I’m… I’m Aisha Byrd. I received an acceptance letter… Are you my teacher, Mr. Eric Green?”

Honestly, merely asking made her nervous.

At last, the man’s throat moved. But instead of answering her question, he murmured, almost to himself, “…So much alike.”

“What?”

“You look very much like your mother,” he repeated after a pause.

His tone was… inexplicably gentle. Yet his attention did not seem entirely fixed on Aisha herself.

Eric Green was gazing at her with something close to nostalgia. Aisha’s face gave him the illusion that time had tangled and everything could begin again.

He wanted to study her features carefully. But when he realized he was already doing so, he hurriedly looked away, afraid that staring too intensely would frighten her and make her flee from him as so many people had in the past.

The three-month trial period between teacher and student had not even ended.

Fear of being disliked… It had been many years since he last felt such a thing.

Still, that first look had been enough for him to assemble something else in his mind.

The girl’s hair, eyes, and nose all resembled Tina’s. The lips were less alike. The shape of her face was nearly identical, but her chin was unmistakably Hock Byrd’s.

Naturally. She was their child.

“Tch… damn it.”

Eric could not keep himself from muttering the complaint, though it was too quiet to be heard clearly.

“I’m sorry… what did you say?”

Aisha plainly had not heard. She blinked. In the span of a few dozen seconds, someone had appeared without warning to stare at her and then abruptly looked away for no apparent reason. She had no idea what was happening.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the giant wolf at the entrance frown and arch his back slightly, taking a guarded stance. Aisha hurriedly waved at him, signaling Les not to become agitated.

From where Les stood, he could not see the mage’s face. If he could, he would have felt no urge to attack.

The gaze was neither insulting nor aggressive. It was… something Aisha could not describe.

After a pause, she looked back at the mage who should be Eric Green and asked carefully, “Sir, do you… know my mother?”

The instant he understood her question, Eric Green went rigid.

For a second, Aisha almost thought he might cry.

“…You don’t know?” he asked in shock. “Tina never mentioned me? Not once?”

His speech was anxious and urgent, almost disbelieving. For an instant, Aisha thought she truly ought to have heard of him and merely forgotten. But after searching her memory carefully, she could only shake her head.

After some thought, she said, “Um… Mother said you were the only person who could guide mages with unusual abilities. She said you were a famous genius and the youngest mage in the upper section. Uh… I didn’t grow up beside my mother, so perhaps… well…”

Aisha trailed off. Eric Green’s already forbidding face had darkened.

He seemed to retreat slightly into the doorway behind him, and shadow swept over half his cheek. Only then did Aisha notice how pale Eric’s skin was. He was probably the sort of person who rarely went outside into the sun.

After an unknown length of time, Eric finally let out a deflated sigh.

“Forget it… perhaps this is better.”

He spoke softly. But as he deflated, the faint gentleness on his face disappeared as well. The hazy spring instantly retreated into winter.

After a pause, he looked straight at Aisha.

“I am indeed Eric Green,” he said, his naturally raised chin carrying an inborn arrogance.

“I will serve as your mentor from this point forward… Claudia has already told me about your name. You had better become confident quickly and change your surname back to Killott. The name Byrd brings back unpleasant memories and irritates me.

“Lessons begin at eight tomorrow morning. I will be in the laboratory whenever I am not teaching, but you are not to disturb me under any circumstances. On the ninth floor of the upper section, no shouting, no running, and no bringing friends inside. Do not be late for class. Do not submit work that displeases me… Curfew? There is none.

“Your room is the second door on the right side of the corridor. If you need anything, ask Thorne. He is the student I took before you, has not yet graduated, and lives in the first room on the right. In short, do not bother me. Good. I have work to continue. If there is anything you still do not understand, have Thorne teach you.”

Eric delivered the entire speech in one breath.

Aisha frantically tried to pull pen and paper from her luggage, but in her panic, the pen fell to the floor. Before she could pick it up, Eric had finished and stepped into the laboratory, preparing to shut the door.

Aisha hurriedly stopped him.

“Wait! Mr. Green! I keep a pet—”

“Keep it in your room. You are responsible for cleaning up its fur.”

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Aisha remained outside in a daze. Honestly, there was a great deal she had not understood… So she was supposed to find her only “senior” fellow student… Thorne?

After a pause, Aisha turned hesitantly, then jumped again.

The first door on the right side of the corridor was already open. A black-haired boy who looked even younger than she was leaned lazily against the frame, watching her.

His face seemed familiar. Aisha stared for a moment before vaguely remembering that they had first met at the Tower of Magic’s briefing session…

“…It’s been a while.” Under her stare, the boy shifted uncomfortably. “Tch… you’ve probably guessed. I’m Thorne. Anyway, come with me first.”

So much information had been thrown at her at once that Aisha remained dazed for a moment. But when the boy moved toward her room, she remembered Les waiting at the entrance for her signal before coming inside and quickly returned to herself.

Only the Tower of Magic’s three public floors explicitly prohibited animals. Creatures with fur could be kept in the upper section. Still, this floor currently belonged to Mr. Green, so it seemed best to confirm.

Eric’s careless answer without so much as a glance had made Aisha seriously doubt whether he understood how astonishingly large her pet was. If Les could not stay here at night, she needed to arrange somewhere for him in the forest as quickly as she had in Philray and Vitas.

After a brief pause, Aisha spoke rapidly. “Um! I have a pet. He’s rather large, with very thick fur…”

“That wolf, right? Don’t worry. Teacher saw him from the window earlier. He only went back to the laboratory and pretended he had just come out when you were almost here.”

Thorne’s tone carried a subtle mixture of resignation and displeasure.

“And this sitting room wasn’t normally like this either. Teacher dislikes bright light, so he almost never opens the curtains… He got up especially early today to rearrange the entire place and clean everything. That includes your room, of course… Never mind. You can see for yourself. You’ll grow accustomed to the way Teacher behaves after a while.”