The next morning, Max ran to the library as soon as she finished grooming herself. Ruth had come back last night and she saw him sleeping next to the brazier. She frowned as she looked down at the man lying like a corpse. There were various rooms where he could sleep comfortably just three floors below the library, but it was too tiring for him to make such an effort, and she felt sorry for the man who slept on the stone-cold floor all the time, looking sad and pathetic.

  Max looked around, picked up a kindling on the wall and poked him on the back.

  Ruth grunted annoyed and turned his back to her, wearing his cape all the way to his head. Max continued to poke his back like a grumpy kid pushing a wiggling caterpillar.

  He squinted his eyes narrowly and looked up at her with a frown.

  Max quickly hid the kindling behind her back. Ruth opened his eyes like he was fully awake and then leapt up to his feet and snapped.

  He looked at her displeasingly and sighed.

  Ruth began to tidy up the parchment and bookshelves on the floor. Max felt a little sorry and quietly helped him clean up. He gathered parchment papers with dense writing, rolled them up, tied them with a leather string, and threw them into a large box.

  He squinted and stroked his chin.

  Max replied with an interested face.

  Ruth shrugged his shoulders.

  Max nodded sullenly as she recalled the wyvern’s attacks. Ruth leaned back and looked at the ceiling with a contemplating face, then snapped his fingers.

  When Max asked with a curious face, Ruth gave a soft ominous smile.

  Max had an anxious expression written on her face. Just what in the world is he up to?

  She glanced at Ruth dubiously as he packed something into a sack he had placed under the desk and walked straight out of the door. Her steps were reluctant as she followed him.

  Ruth hummed and went out of the castle at once.

  Max stopped bombarding him with questions: as Ruth said, she would be seeing it for herself soon. She swallowed the anxiety in her throat as they passed through the long promenade and a wooden building emerged.

  Two elm trees towered on both sides of the antique building like gatekeepers. In front of the building were three boys, including Garrow and Yulysion, sparring with wooden swords. Ruth waved one hand at them and greeted them loudly.

  The apprentice knights laid down their wooden swords and turned their heads towards them.

  Yulysion, who was speaking cheerfully while wiping his sweaty face, found Max standing behind Ruth and his eyes opened wider. He hurried to her and started chatting happily.

  The teenage boy Garrow looked at her as he called out Yulysion for his behavior, then smiled politely and talked with a softer tone.

  Yulysion asked, his eyes shining like lanterns.

  Ruth stated his business on behalf of Max, who found herself in a bind.

  Yulysion quickly jumped into the outbuilding while Max looked bewilderingly at the dark entrance. After a while, he came out with a large bucket in his hands. Ruth, who received the bucket, lifted the cover and nodded with a satisfied expression.

  Just what is that? Max, intrigued by it, looked over his shoulder and into the bucket. Inside the large container was full of something like a reddish piece of flesh. She was terrified and took steps back in response.

  Ruth grinned, reached into the bucket and lifted the thing, which had the size of his palm. It was a large reddish-brown toad with black spots on its back. The dead toad’s black limbs drooped down weakly. Max shuddered at the sight of the creature.

  He shook the dead toad in anticipation. Max’s stomach curled at the sight of its swaying, long, slimy limbs. She stepped back and looked at the path she had come. She wanted to turn back and run away but Yulysion and Garrow were looking so curiously that it was difficult for her to escape from the situation.

  Didn’t you pretend to be bold in front of them the other day and brag with all kinds of stories? Max bit her lips with a calm face and gulped.

  He laughed lightly and turned his head towards the apprentices.

  Garrow looked at him with an excited expression on his face and stepped forward. While he was in the outbuilding getting the water, Ruth counted how many toads were there by placing them on a tree stump one by one. A total of 31 toads were counted. Max was on the verge of throwing up, but the wizard let out a burst of admiration.

  Yulysion explained with a proud voice.

  Ruth struck his palm with his fist and poured out endless compliments. Max murmured deeply, saying she didn’t want to know much about how to catch a swamp toad.

  While they talked about how to collect toads, salamanders, and various poisonous worms, Garrow returned with a bucket of splashing water. Ruth took the bucket and nodded his head with satisfaction.

  Max watched his actions with curiosity. He lowered the bucket by the base of the tree stump and picked up a toad. Then, he took a small knife out of his bag and stabbed it deep into the toad’s back. Black essence flowed from the opening of the toad’s body and fell onto the clear water.

  Max looked down through the bucket. A gooey liquid from the toad’s body spread like ink in the water. As she hesitantly placed her hands over it and increased her magic power, she felt a faint sense of resistance. Max tilted her head. The feeling was obviously different from applying magic to the human body, and it was vague to know where to draw the magic formula. As she struggled for a long time not grasping the sensation, Ruth, who was watching silently, gave her some advice.

  Max followed as he instructed and let her mana flow from the edge of the surface. The blue energy from the palm of her hand slowly began to purify, focusing on the black energy in the water and drawing it into the center, slowly cleansing.

  After a long time, the water that had been contaminated with a cloudy tint returned to its clear color. Ruth nodded as he tasted the water with his fingertips.

  Ruth said firmly and threw the toad’s corpse to the base of the tree stump.

  Max looked at the bucket filled with toads with a pale complexion. Do I have to keep going until they’re all used? Her shoulders drooped unexcitedly while Yulysion, who wasn’t able to read the room, declared proudly.

  Yulysion exclaimed confidently, tapping his chest with his fist and she smiled stiffly. Before Ruth left for the expedition, it really seemed like he was making sure to improve her skill. Without hesitation, he picked up one more toad. A long tongue hung from the dead toad’s mouth. Max barely swallowed the vomit coming up her throat as he chopped off the tongue with a dagger and held it out in front of her.

  Max’s shoulder stiffened, she wanted to shake her head in disagreement, but the apprentices watched her with anticipation so she couldn’t show a sign of disgust. She eventually accepted the wet, slippery toad with tightly closed eyes. The cold, soft, texture made goosebumps travel all over her body. It was the worst texture that she had ever touched in her life. Max flipped the body of the toad, holding back the urge to throw it away. Ruth placed a dagger in her hand and pointed with his fingertip on a spot just under the head of the toad.

  Max hesitated for a while, and then pushed the dagger into the toad’s cold body. Its skin was tougher than she had thought, so she had to exert more strength with her harm for it to budge. As her hands rattled and barely slit the toad’s back, a black, sticky liquid oozed.

  She was in a hurry to throw the toad away and finally reach the end of this experience, but Ruth mercilessly gave the next order.

  The next time she found that wizard sleeping, she swore deeply to her heart that she would poke a hole in his back with a kindling.

  Note –

  : Okay I’m vomiting here. Ruth…… YUCK!