CH 87

It was Benjamin's turn next, but Sarah didn't have time to explain it to Ethan. It was because Veron had reported that Oliven was making a fuss in the secret room because he was hungry.

'So embarrassing......'

The disciples’ shameful conduct had already been seen by a lot of people when they caused the accident in the Imperial Palace, but nevertheless, her face heated up.

"I have to go and see him."

She got up from her seat and hurried out to the door that Veron had opened. Ethan, who was watching until he couldn't see her back, asked Veron.

"What is Claude doing right now?"

"He's preparing for class now."

"I'll have a look"

Veron opened his eyes wide at the statement of him going to see Claude. Seeing Veron like that, Ethan said in a meaningful voice.

"I have something to discuss with my son."

* * *

'What's wrong with him?'

When Sarah went down to the secret room with food, Oliven was lying on the floor, unmoving. He even wrote his dying message on the floor with mana.

[The culprit is Benjamin.]

She swallowed a sigh inwardly as she read the words clearly written with olive glowing mana.

"Oliven."

"Masteeer."

At Sarah's voice, Oliven raised his trembling head and looked up at her eagerly. He then reached out his hand with a pitiful face.

"I'm hungry......"

Then he dropped his hand helplessly and hit his head on the floor again as if he had fainted.

"Ha."

Sarah sighed briefly and put down the light soup in front of Olive.

"Whoa, it's food!"

Then Oliven, who raised his head, grabbed the bowl of soup, threw the spoon away, and began to gulp it down. He seemed to have starved for a few days. Of course, it was true that I really starved. Still, Sarah, who steadily had used recovery magic once a day on her disciples while they were asleep, was dumbfounded.

"What on earth were you thinking of dropping that magic stone into the Imperial Palace?"

"Cough, cough!"

When Sarah suddenly asked, Olive coughed continuously. All the shows he had shown so far were to avoid that one question, but he had been hit to the nail.

"That’s......"

"Don't use your brain and be honest, Oliven."

His body involuntarily flinched and trembled at her stern voice. Oliven looked at Sarah with tears in his eyes and said in a crawling voice.

"But, Master. If you wear a robe, can't you just express what you want to say through writing? It's so scary and unfamiliar."

"If you miss your master, go back to the magic tower."

"Master!"

He spoke in a trembling voice as if he had been shocked.

"You weren't this cold before. You were always sweet to me. But why......"

"It was a story when I was proud of you."

"Aren't I Master's pride right now?"

At Oliven's words, Sarah slowly bent her knees and met his gaze. She looked into Oliven's trembling eyes, then reached out and stroked his cheek with her hand, she said affectionately.

"You were my first disciple and my most cherished disciple. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I know."

Oliven closed his eyes, rubbing his cheek against her hand. At his master's touch, which he felt after a long time, he felt good and his stiff face relaxed.

"So, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment."

Sarah retreated her hand coldly. As the master's warmth disappeared in an instant, Oliven looked at her like a stray puppy.

"How did you feel when you approached the First Prince and discovered that power?"

"Master......"

"Were you happy to use it to find the hidden me?"

"......"

As Sarah's questions continued, Oliven's eyes, which had been shaking violently, gradually subsided.

"You weren't interested in being strangely strong. You were different from Benjamin and Belluna."

Contrary to Belluna and Benjamin, who had been deluded into becoming insanely strong, Oliven had no interest in such things. His interest was in various studies that could only be done by magic. How to go farther with space movement magic. How to put enormous magic in the magic stone. The magic of hiding your track secretly. The magic that made the voice disappear. Oliven had a pathological side to such things. Sarah once asked Oliven why he was only interested in such things. At that time, Oliven said this.

'What I want doesn't come into my hands easily. In that case, I can increase the means and methods.'

The face of Oliven, whose eyes were shining at that time, was still vividly in front of her eyes. So, the face of Oliven in front of her right now seemed unfamiliar to her.

"If I had known sooner that your means and methods were harming others, I wouldn’t have spared you."

"Master!"

Oliven hurriedly grabbed Sarah's hem. He then began to gibberish and make excuses.

"No, no, Master. I never meant to hurt you. The reason I dropped the magic stone in the Imperial Palace was because I thought Master would be there. If Master finds it, you will try to remove it, so I think we can find out who Master is......!"

"Then why did you drop it in front of the Third Prince?"

At Sarah's question, Oliven's face turned white in an instant.

"While you were convinced through the First Prince that your master was Sarah Millen, you dared to take advantage of the time when I was in the lounge. It was me who had to check the magic stone."

"......"

She could see Oliven's tightly shut lips trembling slightly. Sarah knew when that child had a face like that. Afraid of being abandoned, afraid of being thrown away. He was born in a group of gypsies and was abandoned in a deserted forest when his parents died. He was a child who had survived by memorizing and studying the characteristics of the beasts, sometimes meeting as friends and sometimes as enemies. He was so smart and had a lot of talent. To the extent that Sarah was drawn to the forest by the talent that was sleeping inside that child. Oliven, who had been living in the magic tower with Sarah, had a face like that the whole time until he was completely relieved.

"Are you going to be honest if I say it with my own mouth? Oliven."

At Sarah's urging, Oliven answered with difficulty, just like when he spat out human language after a very long time.

"Master who disappeared silently is bad. Master who pushed us away is bad."

He had noticed from the beginning that the power his master was studying was for someone else. A way to seal, suppress, and gradually erase the power so that it did not strain the body anymore. It was a study to protect those with this power.

'I'm jealous. I'm jealous. I'm jealous. Who has this power? Who needs Master?'

Watching his master continue to listen to the news outside the magic tower, he could tell even if he didn't like it. Someday, she would leave the magic tower with the results of studying this power. Oliven did his best to help his master so that she would need him. He studied that power with his master with all his might. So that he could be helpful when the time for the results of this study to be used someday came. So that his existence could be necessary. However, his master left without taking anyone with her. So, there was no way that Oliven could stay sane.

"I wanted that power to be known to the world. If the prince of the Empire dies, I can achieve that goal in an instant, the news will be spread throughout the continent. Then Master would have no choice but to show up, and it would be difficult on your own, so I thought we would be needed again."

"Oliven."

"But I didn't know that Master, Master, would get hurt. I didn't mean to hurt Master. I'm sorry.……."

At Oliven's words, Sarah shook her head with a gloomy face. That child was now firmly mistaken.

"Do you really think I'm mad because I'm hurt?"

"......It's not?"

He looked innocent and tilted his head. There was no sign of guilt for releasing a dangerous power that could have killed many people. He didn't even think in the slightest that Sarah would be mad about it.

"Ha."

Sarah, who noticed too late what the problem was with that child, sighed deeply.