“Then I’ll go inside and lie down first,” Miaoyue sighed, accepting her fate as she stepped toward the carriage.
However, Sophie reached out and stopped her with a grin. “As Teacher can see, our Luxury Alchemy Carriage doesn’t have a horse yet.”
“…Then where is the horse?” Miaoyue had an extremely ominous premonition.
“They were too expensive, so I didn’t buy one,” Sophie said righteously.
“And so?” Miaoyue’s eyes slowly widened.
“And so, for the rest of the journey, I’ll have to ask Teacher to act as our engine. I’ll sit in the carriage and cheer you on!” Sophie pumped her fists in a cheering gesture.
Miaoyue: “...”
What a hateful Saintess! Damn it, how could she treat a goddess like a common beast of burden?!
Miaoyue turned around in a huff and pointed her delicate, white finger at the Luxury Alchemy Carriage. A vast and pure surge of mana instantly poured out, enveloping the entire carriage.
“Crack.”
An extremely crisp and rather unpleasant sound of snapping came from the bottom of the carriage.
Miaoyue’s finger froze mid-air.
A Traction Rune at the base of the carriage had been lifted by her mana, but because the force was uneven, it shifted slightly. The entire carriage tilted half an inch to the side, its wheels grinding against the roadside stones with a suspicious crunch.
Sophie looked down at the bottom of the carriage.
Miaoyue also looked down at the bottom of the carriage.
A deathly silence followed.
“I… I can’t lift it!” Miaoyue shouted, her voice full of grievance as she preemptively withdrew her mana.
“It’s only been a second!”
“I can’t control the carriage’s movement with such precision,” Miaoyue argued. “Lifting an entire carriage with pure mana isn’t the same as scooping pudding with a spoon. It’s so heavy, and it’s packed with lead tiles, rune arrays, preservation boxes, dessert boxes, and all that junk you stuffed inside. My mana will break it in no time.”
Crack.
The carriage made another sound.
Miaoyue immediately retracted all her mana.
Sophie stared blankly. “Then use a summoning spell! You surely know Summon Celestial Being, right? Just summon a Pegasus to pull the carriage!”
While she had indeed intended to trick Miaoyue into being free labor, she didn’t actually expect her to pull the carriage with her bare hands.
Any magical creature would have sufficed.
Hearing the words “Summon Celestial Being,” Miaoyue looked up and seriously tried to recall the structure of that spell. Then, she shook her head with certainty.
“No, that’s not a Forbidden Spell.”
Sophie was baffled. “Exactly! It’s just an ordinary spell! Any Mid-tier Mage can cast it. How could you not know it?”
“That’s why I don’t know how.”
“Why wouldn’t the… ahem, why wouldn’t the Great Goddess know it?”
“Someone once told me that for my combat style, I just need to use Forbidden Spells,” Miaoyue said. “I have no use for other magic.”
“And so?”
“And so, to save brain capacity, I forgot all the other magic.”
Sophie: “...”
Miaoyue looked at her with a perfectly composed expression.
Sophie took a deep breath.
This idiot whose head is only filled with sweets and shipping couples!!!
Back then, how many days and nights did I spend teaching you basic magic just to light up your Skill Tree?!
How many precious consumable magic books did I feed you?!
I did say “just use Forbidden Spells in battle,” but I never goddamn told you to treat ordinary magic like trash and empty the Recycle Bin!!!
You use Forbidden Spells in combat because they’re efficient, but I never said to throw everything else away!
Did you really forget every single thing?!
Are you really down to just auto-attacks and nukes?!
Did you return everything your teacher taught you back to the teacher?!
“Ah… ah…” Sophie stood frozen in the wind, her mouth agape as she let out a sound of pure despair. “Gugu gaga…”
Did they really have to leave the carriage here and just head straight to the mission site?
That would be so boring. The entire essence of the Open World would be wasted.
She had already modified the carriage, laid out the bed, and packed the snacks. Was she really going to give up before they even started?
Seeing her disciple looking like she was about to break, Miaoyue stepped forward with pity. She stood on her tiptoes and affectionately patted Sophie’s head.
“There, there, my dear disciple. Don’t be sad. Even if I don’t remember those useless carriage-pulling spells, I can still teach you plenty of romance knowledge.”
Sophie: “...”
It’s not the magic that’s useless! It’s you! You Useless Goddess!
Filled with grief and indignation, Sophie slammed her head into Miaoyue’s chest.
【Log: You used [Unarmed Attack], dealing -28 physical damage to the target.】
“There, there, don’t be angry.” Miaoyue, sensing no actual aggression, cradled Sophie’s head and gently stroked her hair.
So big… No, wait, mine is still better.
Sophie remained buried in that soft yet incredibly defensive chest for a while before her muffled voice drifted out.
“Forget it… I have another idea.”
Rate on N.U.
