Chapter 72 - Volume 2 Chapter 33 (1/2)

—-Raust—

Overwhelmed by the intimidating pressure from the branch chief, I took a step back unconsciously.

However, in contrast to me, Master was calm.

She scowled at the branch chief with an icy gaze and opened her mouth.

「You are going to act like my master now of all times?」

「-!」

I was shaken from what was basically a confirmation of what the Branch Chief said about Master being his disciple.

The best proof of this was Master’s attitude which didn’t deny any of it.

However, now that I knew Master was Branch Chief’s disciple, a question came to my mind.

If that’s the case, what on earth could have caused Master to be so hostile to the Branch Chief?

「It’s quite sad to hear your apprentice say that.」

I thought so while watching Master glaring at the Branch Chief who had a smile that showed no emotion.

If they were master and disciple, it was not normal for her to try to activate magic as soon as they met.

Especially considering that for Master, invoking magic was an action taken because she recognized the opponent as an enemy, it was safe to assume that Master’s resentment towards the Branch Chief was deep.

Now that she had invoked her magic, there was no doubt Master had decided to fight……

「……Huh?」

It was then I noticed something weird in the current situation.

Until now, when Master invoked her magic, that meant she was prepared to fight.

That was why I thought that this time too, she had given up on negotiating and switched to forcing him to listen to her after she invoked her magic.

However, contrary to my expectation, Master hadn’t activated the magic she invoked yet.

Up until she invoked her magic, she negotiated properly and moved cautiously.

As sort of recoil to that, she didn’t hesitate to attack after invoking her magic.

However, for some reason, this time, Master hadn’t yet launched any attack on the Branch Chief.

It was something I had never see before, her intention was lost on me, I couldn’t help but stare at Master in wonder.

It was then Master whispered something to me.

「…Assume everything that man is saying is true.」

While glaring at the Branch Chief with a tense look, she added more words with volume low enough to not reach the Branch Chief.

「Raust, don’t take the words of prejudiced humans that don’t know anything, like how elf is a race not favored by God, at face value. Even without skills, they don’t have any problem because they’re much better at handling magic than humans.」

The knowledge about the Elves Master said matter-of-factly was something that even I, who read quite a few books, didn’t know.

And from that, I drew the conclusion that the knowledge I read in the books was totally useless.

At the very least, the elf in front of me was dozens of times stronger than what I read from books.

As I naturally became more vigilant, Master reminded me.

「You should be vigilant, but don’t show too much hostility. The opponent is an elf with extraordinary magic power who has been alive for 600 years. Think of my magic as a way to escape in case of an emergency.」

「……-!」

It was then I understood why Master didn’t just attack after she left her magic on the verge of activation.

She didn’t activate the magic because she decided to fight the Branch Chief.

It was an action taken because she judged it would be impossible to deal with him unless it was in the current situation where her magic was about to activate.

When I understood that, I recalled the words Master said about the 30% winning chance.