Of course, he only wanted to study and understand the magic of this world.
But if he acted too strong while also studying magic, it felt a little strange. So he kept a smile on his face, making himself look like nothing more than a pure and fragile healer.
Seeing how harmless he looked, even Ghislaine started wondering if the pressure she'd felt when she sensed his hostility that day had just been her imagination. Without thinking too much about it, she scratched her head and agreed.
"Haah... fine. I heard the young lady I'm supposed to teach keeps driving away her tutors. I'll keep an eye out for you."
"Then I'll leave it to you~ I'll go get some money to buy a house."
With that, he prepared to leave for the time being, but Ghislaine couldn't help asking curiously, "Treating sick people?"
"That would take too long. I'm planning to borrow some from a friend."
"Didn't you say you didn't know anyone here?"
"Why are you a beastfolk and still so old-fashioned?", Ash shook his head helplessly, looking disappointed, "You have to understand, there are no strangers in this world, only friends you haven't had the chance to meet yet."
"O-Oh... is that so? I feel like... I learned something."
Ghislaine half understood and half didn't, frowning hard while pretending she did.
No matter how she thought about it, would someone really lend that much money to a person they'd just met?
Of course, Ash wasn't planning to borrow it the proper way. He also didn't like robbery, so... what he needed was an unsecured, interest-free loan with no repayment deadline.
Ordinary people definitely wouldn't do. They were poor to begin with, and he didn't want to target innocent civilians. Besides, this was a chaotic medieval world.
He casually found a place, closed his eyes, and let his mana spread across the entire city.
He kept searching until night fell...
Unexpectedly, the only criminals he found were a few groups of petty thieves.
After asking around about the situation, he left the city in annoyance.
When he returned, there was an extra chest of money in his hands.
And the world had three fewer bands of mountain bandits.
———
Three days after Ash bought a large house with a spacious courtyard in the wealthy district, on a fresh morning with crisp air, he was lying across a table in the sun, quietly studying magic on his own.
"Ash, I'm here. I found the person you wanted. Take a look and see if she's good enough."
The tall, muscular swordswoman with beast-like ears and a tail, bronze skin, and revealing leather armor, an Amazon warrior... no, a female swordswoman, Ghislaine shoved open the gate without ceremony and walked into the courtyard.
Behind her followed a girl who looked nothing like the experienced mage Ash had imagined.
She was very small, and looked very young as well.
———
It should have been a wonderful morning.
The sunlight filtered gently through the thin clouds, softly covering the earth.
But the moment Ash looked toward the gate and saw Ghislaine, half of his good mood disappeared.
It couldn't be helped.
In his eyes, Ghislaine was... a little hard on them.
With weather this nice, he just wanted to spend the morning studying magic in peace.
Yet this walking mountain of muscle stood there like an iron tower, completely out of place in the fresh morning atmosphere.
Although they'd become something like friends after spending some time together, probably.
That overwhelming first impression from when they first met was simply too strong. Every time he saw Ghislaine, those memories resurfaced, and the emotional scars she left behind still hadn't healed.
However, when his gaze moved past Ghislaine and landed on the blue-haired girl behind her, his eyes lit up.
The girl looked to be around eighteen.
She was exceptionally short, as though a slightly stronger breeze might blow her away.
On her head sat a black pointed witch's hat, and she wore a brown robe that looked every bit like a mage's.
Her light blue hair had been carefully braided into two twin braids that rested over her shoulders, swaying gently as she moved with a lively charm.
Her skin was as white and smooth as fresh winter snow.
Her blue eyes looked a little sleepy, lacking energy, as if she hadn't completely woken up yet.
Her lips were tightly closed, giving her a rather aloof impression.
Overall, she looked like the type of quiet literature girl who spent all year buried in a library, rarely interacting with the outside world, carrying an air of calm scholarly elegance.
Petite, well-proportioned, adorable... to put it more simply, she was a beautiful blue-haired girl who seemed a little cold.
Normally, Ash had no particular fondness for girls like her.
But seeing such an adorable girl at this moment was incredibly refreshing. He was so moved that he almost felt healed.
After all, everyone he'd met in this world had been one strange person after another. Now there was finally a perfectly normal, cute girl. How could he not be touched? He even had the urge to hug her tightly and pet her, just to experience what it felt like to be home again and appreciate one of the few genuinely wonderful things this ridiculous world had to offer.
But...
'Could such a small kid really know any magic?'
Just as Ash suppressed both his emotion and his doubts, the girl removed her hat, stood before him, watched him quietly close his book, and gave a slight polite bow.
In a cool, pleasant voice, she introduced herself, "Hello. My name is Roxy Migurdia. Nice to meet you."
"Roxy? I'm Ash. But... wait a second."
Ash smiled and nodded. After introducing himself, however, he stood up and immediately dragged Ghislaine off to one side.
Sneaking a glance back at the bewildered girl still standing where she was, he deliberately lowered his voice.
"Look, Ghislaine. If I remember right, I asked you to find the strongest teacher you could, not find me a wife."
"Why would you think she's your wife?"
Ghislaine looked equally confused by the question.
Ash sighed helplessly, "If she isn't capable enough, then why introduce such a cute girl? What else could it be? Don't tell me you brought her here to make friends with me."
"Couldn't she be your lover?"
After briefly crossing her arms and thinking about it, Ghislaine somehow came up with an even worse answer.
Ash rubbed his forehead, "Let's leave that discussion for later. I was just making a joke... Didn't I say I wanted someone as strong as possible? Why did you bring a kid who hasn't even finished growing?"
"You can't tell? She's from the Migurd Tribe. She's already thirty... something? I forgot."
Ghislaine looked surprised.
Since Ash wasn't interested enough to read other people's memories in detail, she explained that the Migurd were one branch of this world's demon race.
Their lifespan reached two hundred years.
However, once they reached around fourteen years old, their appearance basically stopped changing.
Hearing that, Ash couldn't help blurting out, "A race like that actually exists? That's pretty nice!"
"Nice?"
"Uh, I mean... it's pretty interesting."
"Were you some noble young master who never left home or something?"
Ghislaine frowned and complained, though she didn't dwell on it.
"For a race like that, they don't weaken too much when they get old, but their bodies can never develop to their physical peak. As warriors, they're completely unsuited."
"But that girl's a mage, so it doesn't matter."
"Weren't you just complaining?"
"I still am. I'm just discussing it objectively."
He answered without thinking.
After all, no matter how he looked at it, someone only a little over thirty couldn't possibly meet his expectations.
But Ghislaine had a different opinion, "The current tutor for the young lady is still hanging on. This one's a backup candidate. She was rejected during the interview, but..."
"If she got rejected... doesn't that just mean she wasn't good enough?"
"Listen first. She wasn't accepted because she's a demon. She's actually a Saint-tier Water Mage. She's far stronger than you think, and around here she's considered quite a rare talent."
"Is that so?"
Ash wasn't entirely convinced.