Sorcerer Wants to Enjoy Poya Poya

Chapter 3 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Ricardo submitted the third manuscript to Massimo.

Massimo was praised by Alexander and was also given some money as a reward. Knowing this, Ricardo wished that Massimo would share some of it with him.

But it was foolish of him to even hope for that. Massimo was a stingy man and would not part with any of the money he had in his pocket, even if it was just a single copper.

There were different types of coins in this country—holed copper, copper, holed silver, silver, and gold coins. Each coin had about 10 times the value of the previous one. As the name suggested, the coins with the term ‘hole’ before them had a hole in them just like a Japanese 5 yen coin.

Roughly speaking, a copper coin had about the same value as 100 yen, a silver coin 10,000 yen, and a gold coin 100,000 yen.

(E/N: 1$ = 111 yen)

After submitting the last manuscript to Massimo, he continued to study magic while working as a servant.

He would like to read and learn from the books on magic in the study, but it was unlikely that the sorcerer or his apprentice would allow him to do so.

There were several attributes of magic, the main ones being Fire, Water, Wind and Earth, which were studied by many sorcerers, and therefore, many different types of magic spells for these attributes had been created and were known to the world.

The sorcerers usually learnt the magic that suited them the best and whose catalysts were relatively easier to find.

Some sorcerers studied their own original magic, but most of them who did this usually went to the capital, where large libraries and research facilities were present.

Having succeeded in elementary magic, Ricardo began to study catalysts. He had been using ashes and charcoal as catalysts for [Fire], and charcoal seemed to be more effective. Even with the use of the same ignition magic, the size of flame generated by ashes was different from the one generated with charcoal.

Charcoal produced a flame about 50% larger than ash.

In the book “Theory of Catalysts in Magic”, the nature and history of catalysts were explained.

The catalyst contained an element called [Genko] and the effect of the catalyst seemed to be determined by the amount of [Genko] used.

There was not just one type of Genko, but several different kinds for different attributes of magic. For example, if it’s fire magic, its catalyst contained [Fire Genko], and if it’s water magic attribute, it had [Water Genko].

For example, shells, the catalyst for water, contained Water Genko. However, the ratio of Water Genko in each shell was different.

Sorcerers knew from experience that the shells of shellfish that lived in the deep sea contained more Water Genko, so they collected deep-sea shellfish and used them as catalysts.

High quality catalysts were deemed as strategic supplies in wars, and hence aristocrats and royalty highly sought after them.

The king in power would order his nobles to present him with the best catalysts every six months. It was not only a duty but also a source of pride for the nobles to show off the fact that they had such a good catalyst in their possession.

Even though the royal family’s power had declined over the years, that practice still continued. During spring and autumn, aristocrats went to the royal capital to present the catalysts.

The nobles with seaside estates would kill magical beasts of the sea such as the unicorn fish and dedicate the materials to the king. However, some of the nobles could not kill the sea monsters because of its difficulty, so they crushed the shells of deep-sea shellfish into pieces and offered them to the king.

As an anecdote to show the difficulty, there was a story about a certain count who lost three veteran sorcerers and about a dozen soldiers when trying to kill a unicorn fish. It seemed like it was difficult to defeat a sea magical beast even if it was on land.

On the other hand, Viscount Fabius, whose territory was surrounded by mountains, defeated the magical tree Erbil and smoked its body to make charcoal as an offering.

The tree’s fruits and flowers were the catalysts for life attribute, while its trunk, when smoked, could be made into charcoal, which was a really good catalyst of fire magic. It was a rare magical beast that could produce two types of catalyst.

“I’m not sure what kind of monster it is, but I’d like to see it.”

Twice a year, the castle soldiers and sorcerers went on an expedition to the mountain where the beast lived to hunt it. Many of the sorcerers who took part in these expeditions were young. After all, climbing would get physically difficult as one got older.

Ricardo wondered if Massimo ever participated in an expedition before.

He had just finished cleaning the ground floor and was taking a break when Massimo suddenly called him up. He walked up the stairs to the first floor and was asked to go shopping.

“Go to the charcoal shop and buy the best charcoal you can find. I want to use it as a catalyst.”

“What… Is the best quality charcoal, the charcoal from the Erbil tree?”

“I never expected you to be so foolish. You can’t sell Erbil’s charcoal in a charcoal shop.”

It seemed like the charcoal of the Erbil tree was strictly managed by the Viscount.

He took three pieces of silver and went into town. He had been there several times so he already knew the way. As Ricardo walked along the road trodden by both people and horses, he saw more and more people coming and going.

It was the end of summer, so many people were wearing short-sleeved shirts paired with trousers or skirts. Many of the women were carrying shopping baskets, probably to buy food.

The sound of sellers and customers bargaining was heard everywhere. A stall was selling a fruit that looked like a watermelon.

The charcoal shop was located at the end of the shopping street. It was a big shop, selling charcoal and firewood inside. There were a few customers and shopkeepers in the shop, and they were exchanging orders.

When Ricardo entered the shop, a boy of about twelve years old walked up to him.

“Welcome, are you looking for some firewood?”

Ricardo shook his head.

“The best charcoal for the catalyst, please.”

“Oh, you must be a sorcerer’s apprentice. One moment, please.”

Before Ricardo could correct his words, the shopkeeper retreated into the back of the room and brought out a large box.

The best charcoal, as he said, was made from the Gashigazi tree and was very valuable.

Ricardo handed him three silver coins and in return received a small jar of crushed charcoal powder. He wrapped the jar in a cloth like a furoshiki, which he had brought with him. Having finished his business, he wandered around the shopping street, looking around.

(T/N : Furoshiki is a square-shaped Japanese traditional wrapping cloth which is eco-friendly and mostly used for wrapping gifts.)

There were hardware stores, grocery stores, second-hand clothes shops, tailors, butchers, liquor shops, accessory shops, and so on.

And then there were some stores that never existed in Japan. There was also a mercenary agency, a catalyst shop, a leather shop, and a weapon shop.

“I was told to buy the charcoal for the catalyst at the charcoal shop, but I think the catalyst shop has it too?”

Suddenly, a voice from behind replied to him, “You cannot buy ordinary charcoal in the catalyst shop. They don’t sell ordinary charcoal. They only sell charcoal obtained by burning magical trees.”

“Eh..?”

An old woman with a bent back was standing behind him.

“Come on in.”

With the help of her cane, she went into the catalyst shop. The uncle who was taking care of the store inside raised his voice.

“Where have you been, Mother?”

“Visiting a grave.”

Ricardo followed her inside and noticed that there were a lot of things in the shop. The most common were materials from magical beasts. There was the shell of a flaming tortoise, the feathers and bones of a wind slayer, the beak of a worm, the feathers and bones of a fire-breathing bird, and many other never-seen-before materials from magical beasts lining up in the shelves behind the counter.

The shop was not large, about the size of an old-fashioned candy shop. The old woman walked through a small doorway to the other side of the counter and sat down on a comfortable chair.

“Are you a sorcerer’s apprentice?”

“I work as a servant.”

“Oh… I must have been mistaken. I thought you were one since you had the air of a sorcerer.”

“Perhaps it’s because I’ve studied magic for a while.”

“Who did you learn it from?”

“My uncle teaches magic to the Viscount’s son.”

“Oh, so you’re Alexander’s nephew… That’d be tough.”

What’s wrong? What’s so tough about it? Maybe because he tilted his head and looked at her with confusion, the old lady explained.

“There are three sorcerers under the Viscount’s family. One of them is Alexander, who teaches Viscount’s son all about magic in general. The second one is Flavio, a combat sorcerer who specializes in fire and wind magic, and the last one is Edward, a sorcerer who can read minds and is good at grasping people’s hearts.”

There is magic that reads people’s hearts? I have to act more carefully….

“Each trains a number of apprentices. But in the spring, Alexander lost two of his apprentices in the hunt for the Erbil tree.”

There was an empty room on the first floor… Was it the room of the dead apprentices?

“Every spring and autumn, the sorcerer or his apprentice are supposed to participate. Alexander has only allowed his students to participate. If he’s teaching you magic, he might as well make you his apprentice and let you join the hunt.”

The old lady was overthinking things. Alexander didn’t want Ricardo to be his apprentice and wouldn’t want him to join the hunt.

The old lady then started to talk about the catalyst, which she seemed to enjoy very much. Apparently, she had invited Ricardo into the shop to talk about it.

Thanks to her, Ricardo’s knowledge of catalysts had increased.

When he left the catalyst shop and returned to the house, Alexander was unusually spotted relaxing in the living room on the ground floor.

“Hmmm… Did you go shopping, Ricardo?”

“Yes, I had gone to buy charcoal for the catalyst.”

“Massimo must have sent you. Are you ready to start training in magic?”

The sorcerer’s apprentice doesn’t like training. I don’t know if I can go hunting for the Erbil tree just like that.

Massimo came down from upstairs.

“Dad, are you sure you want to go hunting?”

Alexander looked unhappy at his question.

“I think we should discuss it privately. Come to my room.”

They went upstairs and entered Alexander’s private room. Ricardo was curious about what was going on, so he went upstairs too and eavesdropped in front of the room they were in.

He heard Alexander’s voice inside.

“You’re the only apprentice left. You have to go.”

“But my brothers died in the hunt.”

“It was just bad luck.”

“Then you must come with me and protect me. I am your son after all.”

Massimo’s high-pitched voice was laced with fear.

“Don’t be silly, you’ve been spoiled for too long. It’s time for you to take your training seriously.”

“You want me to die hunting?”

Ricardo heard the sound of Alexander banging his desk.

Massimo suggested in a shaky voice.

“Yes, you could have another apprentice. Take someone else as your apprentice and send him for the hunt.”

Alexander let out a heavy sigh.

“Don’t say it like that. Do you know how hard it is to find a talented apprentice?”

“I’d be happy to be replaced… by anyone, even Ricardo.”

When Ricardo heard Massimo’s words, he was stupefied. The boy was making desperate pleas, but the words were said in a low voice.

Alexander would not overlook his words even if Massimo was his own son…. Or so Ricardo thought.

Alexander fell into silence. Ricardo was not sure if he’s considering it for real or not, but he suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Hmmm…. That’s one way of doing it. I will have a track record of sending out apprentices to hunt and you will be happy.”

Hearing his father’s reply, Massimo said in a cheerful voice, “Yes, that’d be great!”

“Yes, that would be.”

Massimo replied in joy, “Yes! So who will be the apprentice? Ricardo?”

Ricardo quietly left the front of the room and went downstairs.

That day, Ricardo was told by Alexander that he would become his apprentice.

Normally, he would have been happy to hear that he was going to become a sorcerer’s apprentice, but he was not happy at all. The reason why Alexander wanted to make him his apprentice was because Alexander was way too selfish.

It was possible to decline, but he was not going to hunt alone. Ricardo thought that the chance of dying was not so high.

After much deliberation, he accepted to become an apprentice.

Alexander told Ricardo with a stern face that he would take him as his official apprentice.

“The tree hunt will take place in two months. By then, you should be able to master at least some elementary magic.”

“I understand. Do you mind if I read some of the magic books from your study?”

“Yes, you may. I want you to learn enough magic not to embarrass me.”

Alexander showed Ricardo the secrets of magic control, which he already knew. He was listening to it while making a weird face.

He also got a small amount of catalyst for water, wind, and earth magic as it was difficult to do magic without a catalyst.