How to Raise a Dumb Wolf - Chapter 83

The Tower of Magic became extraordinarily busy during the examination period. After joining the healing team, Aisha rarely had a chance to rest.

Combat examinations naturally produced the most injuries. Yet a surprising number of mages also hurt themselves in other events by failing a spell or casting the wrong one. Many apparently risked advanced magic they had not mastered in the hope of earning better results.

“Aisha! Can you take care of this patient?”

Another injured mage was wheeled inside. A teammate several years older than Aisha raised her head, sweat pouring from her brow, and shouted across the room.

Aisha agreed and hurried over with her wand.

“Don’t be afraid. You’ll feel better soon.”

She first used basic magic to assess the patient, offering reassurance as she worked. The beastfolk woman nodded weakly. Her foreleg was terribly injured, and to lessen the pain, she had kept only that limb in beast form. She held her wand in the other, human hand.

Beyond the bloodied paw, however, injuries covered much of her human body as well. The sight was horrifying.

Once she confirmed the wounds, Aisha closed her eyes. She intended to begin with her innate magic, healing everything it could reach, then use the professional techniques Eric had taught her and the spells she learned in the Kingdom of Micks to address each remaining injury.

She quickly summoned the magic within her and called upon her most familiar, natural power.

At some point, Aisha had discovered that drawing on her innate magic filled her body with a gentle warmth. It was not unpleasant. On the contrary, it felt deeply familiar. The perfectly measured heat relaxed her and sharpened her concentration, making the spell itself feel easier to control.

A golden healing glow appeared in her hands. To Aisha’s awareness, it consisted of golden threads she could direct at will.

She stitched torn wounds back together. Bruised blood that could not be restored was absorbed into golden light and returned to its essence. With painstaking care, she rejoined vessels, nerves, skin, and flesh—one injury after another.

Building upon her months of study in Micks, Aisha had incorporated the principles of ordinary healing spells into her innate magic. She now used her innate power in the same structured manner as conventional healing magic.

She had already experimented with this approach in Micks on plants, animals, and herself. Eric examined the results and found no problems. The technique was faster and produced more complete healing.

Innate magic required neither fixed casting gestures nor incantations. In theory, combining it with ordinary magic was entirely possible. The operation simply became more complicated, demanded greater concentration, and consumed more magical power. Aisha had practiced for a long time.

The enormous cost of magic and the rapid exhaustion caused by repeated use remained problems she had not solved. For that reason, this was the first time she had used the combined technique in a treatment center where many injured mages required rapid aid. If the beastfolk woman had not been in obvious agony and such urgent condition, Aisha might have chosen a more conservative approach.

At last, the golden threads in Aisha’s mind failed to appear. Her power could sustain no more. At the same time, the patient’s moans gradually faded, replaced by the unsteady breaths of someone who had survived a disaster.

Aisha released a breath and opened her eyes. She steadied the disordered breathing caused by such complex magic, then rapidly selected medicine, bandages, and gauze from the case beside her. Raising her wand again, she used several conventional healing spells with practiced precision on the most important areas.

More than ten minutes later, the beastfolk woman’s paw—previously too painful to return to human shape—successfully transformed back into a hand. Wounds and bruises remained and required bandaging, but the result fell within the expected range.

Aisha wiped away her sweat and exhaled. She asked volunteers without healing expertise to escort the patient away.

“Thank you.”

Before leaving, the beastfolk woman placed her hand against her chest and nodded gratefully.

“I only joined the Tower of Magic last month as a junior mage, so I’m not familiar with everyone here. I don’t think I’ve seen you before… Are you an intermediate mage in the Tower?”

“No. I’m only an apprentice.”

Aisha smiled sheepishly. Being mistaken for an intermediate mage surprised her as well.

At the answer, the beastfolk woman’s eyes widened. Her brown gaze carried the wild quality distinctive to her people. Aisha had handled the treatment with such calm expertise that her skill had seemed well above a graduate’s level. The woman had not heard the incantation clearly, but the effect was unlike any healing spell she knew and far surpassed ordinary magic. As a junior mage, she certainly could not reproduce it.

Part of the confusion came from Aisha blending ordinary healing magic with her innate ability, preventing the other woman from recognizing it for what it was. Even so, Aisha’s skill genuinely astonished her.

At the patient’s disbelief, Aisha smiled helplessly and produced her volunteer identification from beneath her protective clothing. Only then did the injured beastfolk mage accept the truth, still visibly shocked.

In any event, having her ability recognized was a delight. No one had ever mistaken Aisha for an intermediate mage before. In some sense, that must mean she had improved.

She pressed her lips together happily, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and returned to the next patient with renewed energy.

…

The day’s ranking-tournament matches continued until dusk, and the healing team remained at work until the sky turned orange-red. Aisha said goodbye to her companions, removed her protective clothing, changed into her Tower of Magic uniform, and began straightening her sleeves and hem.

She checked her mana flower. The baby’s breath that reflected her mental state bloomed more profusely than it had a year ago, its tiny sparkling flowers decorating her cuff. Today, however, the physical strain of so much healing had left them looking somewhat listless.

She needed to return and rest.

Aisha turned aside and tapped her shoulder. Just as she prepared to close her case and leave, three knocks sounded at the changing-room door.

The voice of a middle-aged mage from the Tower administration came from outside. “Aisha, are you still there?”

“Yes! Is something wrong?”

“Excellent, you haven’t left. Someone is waiting for you outside. Go and see.”

“Huh?”

The administrative mage never liked wasting time on matters like this. Before Aisha could ask for details, the voice disappeared, replaced by a rapid series of receding footsteps.

For an instant, Aisha wondered who might be looking for her at this hour.

Then an impossible thought entered her mind, and she came fully awake.

Powerful expectation shot through her body in a single second. Aisha desperately suppressed the joy threatening to burst free and told herself it might not be him, but she could not control her thoughts.

She slammed the case shut, locked it, and ran outside.

The Tower of Magic ranking examinations occupied several arenas and experimental grounds on the first floor of the Tower of Magic’s lower public section. The treatment center had also been established there. Aisha hurried through the public area toward the entrance.

At first, she merely walked quickly. But the desire to discover who was waiting grew stronger and stronger. Her steps became a jog, and at last she ran through the doors of the Tower of Magic.

At some point, night had fallen completely. Wold lay beneath streetlamps and a dark sky. Yet as the prosperous Heart of the World, especially during the crucial Tower of Magic examinations, its streets remained crowded and bright.

The moment Aisha emerged, her gaze searched through the people. Very quickly, she found a tall, straight figure standing near the main entrance of the Tower of Magic.

The darkness hid his features, leaving only an indistinct silhouette. Even so, she recognized him at once.

The figure moved. At the exact moment Aisha’s gaze reached him, he happened to turn.

Then he swept the running Aisha into his arms.

…

At the same moment, in the Kingdom of Ryan of the Helman Federation, at the Killott residence…

“That completes the agreement with the beastfolk, correct?”

Seated in the study, Tina placed a thick stack of documents on the desk, squared the pages, and released a long breath.

“I must admit, I never expected the beastfolk to send a military officer as a diplomat.”

Hock accepted the documents and checked them for her. He knew his wife disliked repetitive, meticulous work. After confirming that everything was correct, he nodded and considered her remark.

“Yes. But Major General Wolf occupies an unusual position in Beast. He was raised personally by the Beast Emperor. Sending him was probably meant to show the importance of the occasion.”

At this stage, sending a prince or princess directly might have been inappropriate. An ordinary diplomat could have done the work, but their presence would not have conveyed as much sincerity as Major General Wolf’s. Because Beast had sent a soldier of such special standing, the Federation assigned negotiations to Tina. Both parties were represented by unusual military figures, and the match proved successful.

Truthfully, Tina rather liked Major General Wolf’s soldierly manner: formal, direct, and concise. Compared with professional diplomats whose every sentence carried three meanings and left people guessing, he saved her considerable time.

And though the major general appeared cold, he was unexpectedly easy to work with. He treated Tina and Hock with a strange degree of respect—perhaps because he considered them his elders.

Knowing that beastfolk were particularly skilled at training and caring for animals, and that Major General Wolf himself belonged to a rare breed of giant wolf, Tina had tentatively mentioned during casual conversation that her daughter kept an unusually large wolf but could not find suitable information on its care. She asked whether he had any insight or advice.

Major General Wolf’s expression had become peculiar. Tina assumed she had said something offensive by beastfolk standards and was about to apologize, but to her surprise, he answered with great seriousness.

People always liked modest, courteous young men.

What a fine young man!

Tina had been deeply moved.

“If only ordinary beastfolk were all that friendly.”

She offered the casual observation, set the matter aside, and looked back at Hock.

“By the way, did Aisha write today?”

Hock paused. “There is a letter, but I haven’t had time to read it. It seems she has already returned to Wold…”

As he spoke, he drew the letter from his pocket and handed it to Tina. Then he rose, moved behind her chair, and prepared to read it with her.

Tina opened the letter with practiced ease and spread the pages flat.

“When we reply, remind me to include Major General Wolf’s advice on caring for wolves—”

Her voice stopped abruptly.

Tina went completely rigid in her chair.

…

“Oh, I told my parents about our relationship a few days ago.”

Under the gentle moonlight, Aisha held Major General Wolf’s hand and smiled shyly.

“I calculated the timing and waited to send it until I thought you had already left…”