The Absolute Beings Obsessed with My Defeat Addiction

I had just finished tidying up the interior after a busy day of magic work when I examined the glasses that Helen had given me as a gift.

The shiny silver frame was imbued with a subtle magical power.

“There’s mana in this? Could it be…?”

“That’s right. It’s a pair of glasses made from Siranda silver mined from the Siranda mines.”

It was a material that naturally contained mana and was used as a high-grade mineral in alchemy.

For wizards, it was a treasure worth more than gold of the same weight.

The same went for spirit mages.

A pair of glasses embedded with such a high-grade mineral.

The glasses themselves required considerable craftsmanship, making them an expensive luxury, and on top of that, they were adorned with Siranda silver.

“The price must have been quite high.”

“It’s fine. It’s a token of my gratitude for your teachings.”

As she handed me the glasses, she blushed shyly and cleared her throat.

It was a look I often saw in illusions, but in reality, it felt quite unfamiliar.

A bit awkward.

“…When will you change that way of speaking?”

“W-What way of speaking? W-What do you mean I’ve changed my way of speaking?”

Helen, who responded in a flustered tone, shot back.

“Nothing.”

“Anyway, since you said there’s no problem with your eyesight, I didn’t make separate lenses.”

“True. There are no lenses.”

The glasses were empty, lacking lenses.

“I-I’ll make lenses for you later when I get the chance.”

“Please tell me you didn’t spend all your pocket money on these glasses?”

“W-What are you talking about? Do you think I would spend all my money on something like this? I just thought that if I gave you too extravagant a gift at once, it might put you in a difficult position, so I kept it moderate.”

Her sulking demeanor was cute.

“Understood. So, will you be leaving now?”

“Yeah.”

“I will wear these glasses well. I guess I should only wear them in front of you, Helen.”

“…Of course. Never wear them in front of other women.”

Did my words stir a strange possessiveness in her?

After finishing her sentence, she put on her coat and stepped outside.

“By the way, today’s events are a secret between you and me. Don’t tell anyone else.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not that loose-lipped.”

“…Okay.”

Helen opened the door and left in a hurry.

“I-I’ll come again next time.”

“You’re always welcome.”

I saw Helen off as she ran down the sunlit streets of the capital.

With the help of spirits, her disappearing figure resembled that of a master.

“Glasses, huh.”

Was it because I had experienced the illusion of the teacher wearing glasses?

Helen seemed to have a peculiar obsession with my appearance in glasses.

From now on, I was to wear glasses when using magic.

‘It seems like she has a preference for the look of glasses.’

Do I really match well with glasses?

I stood in front of the mirror.

I put on the lensless glasses that Helen had gifted me.

As I placed the sparkling silver-rimmed glasses on my face, my reflection exuded a scholarly vibe.

“Hmm… Do I look good?”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

Having never worn glasses before, I couldn’t gauge whether they suited me or not.

However, one thing was certain: this look hit the sweet spot for Helen.

“You should do what you like.”

Even if she was a bit of a fussy customer, she was still a customer.

‘Recently, I haven’t had anything that genuinely annoyed me.’

In fact, the instances of annoyance were few and far between.

Even those were just her getting angry on purpose to provoke me.

Just as I was about to take off the glasses, there was a knock, knock, knock.

Someone was knocking on the shop door at this late hour.

“Who is it?”

“It’s a delivery.”

A delivery at this hour?

Usually, civil servants finish their deliveries during the day and hardly work in the evening. What could this be about?

When I opened the door, the postman I saw every day was standing there with a large box.

“It’s a delivery for the wizard.”

“Do you usually work at this hour?”

“No. I don’t work at night when the grace of the Emperor doesn’t reach. However, this is a special case.”

“Is that so?”

I looked at the package he was holding.

It was a small wooden box, and a familiar symbol was drawn on its surface.

The purple curtain, the symbol of the Illusion Magic School.

“Did my master send this?”

“That’s right. You’ve got a keen eye. Your master urgently requested that I deliver something.”

He was truly an unpredictable person.

To send something like this without any prior notice.

Should I say it was typical of my master to persuade the postman at this hour?

“He insisted that it be delivered today without fail. I had no choice. Haha. I also received a decent amount of money for it.”

As I reached out to take the wooden box he was offering, he looked at me and asked.

“By the way, what’s with the glasses?”

“Oh, I received them as a gift.”

“Hmm, they don’t really suit you, do they?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. With the glasses on, your impression seems too striking.”

“…I see.”

I lowered my hand that was reaching for the wooden box and looked at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s stop the jokes here, Master.”

“……”

At my words, the postman grinned.

“Where did you catch on?”

“The fact that such a meticulous civil servant came at this hour.”

“Is that all it took?”

“The fact that you, who have never handed over money in advance, paid this friend the postage upfront.”

“……”

“Also, the unnecessary compliment about my appearance. This friend never mentioned anything about looks. It was just a casual greeting.”

“That’s something I can’t help but overlook.”

The postman’s demeanor changed after he finished speaking.

The tired young postman disappeared, and in his place stood a beautiful woman with blue hair.

A woman full of playful charm.

She sighed as if disappointed, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

“You’ve become sharper than I expected!”

Contrary to her fresh appearance, her tone was very mature, and the younger master smiled slyly as she tapped her fingers.

“How disappointing. To be honest, I thought I could completely deceive you with the illusion magic I researched this time.”

“Didn’t you intentionally leave clues?”

“Did I do that?”

Meiko shrugged her shoulders as if she knew nothing.

It was obvious that she had deliberately created a flaw for me to notice.

“You didn’t just play around.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“…Are you still researching that shameless magic circle?”

“Yes.”

“Confronting desire directly goes against the teachings of the Goddess Church.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say that the saintess was also enjoying that shameless magic circle.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the repercussions of saying that to a devout follower of the Goddess Church.

Moreover.

‘It’s not just about showing it.’

I couldn’t say that either.

Because I would be closing the magic circle right away.

“I’m managing it well.”

“…I see. I trust that you, my capable disciple, understood my words well.”

The younger master sighed deeply with her arms crossed behind her back.

‘How cute.’

To avoid being looked down upon by the heads and professors of other schools because of her young age, she spoke and acted maturely, which made her seem like an old soul.

Though she was a few years younger than me, the gap between her actions and her age was quite endearing.

It was as if she desperately wanted to appear grown-up.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Meiko shook her head.

“No. I couldn’t find it. I searched all the way to the jungle located behind the Witch’s Forest for the Bretilia flower, a catalyst that can enhance illusion magic, but it was nowhere to be found.”

The Bretilia flower.

It was a legendary purple flower said to exert physical power just by combining it with a magic circle.

It was a flower that all wizards of the Illusion Magic School, who were disregarded for lacking physical power, were eager to find.

Having heard rumors that it was located in the jungle beyond the Witch’s Forest at the southeastern edge of the Empire, Meiko had also headed to the jungle in search of this flower.

That was the reason she hadn’t returned for several months.

Finally, Meiko let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

“By the way, why are you looking for that flower?”

“…To avoid being looked down upon as an illusion wizard. If I have that flower, I can exert physical power even with illusion magic.”

Perhaps it was due to her sense of responsibility as the head of the Illusion Magic School.

She was particularly conscious of how people viewed her.

Even now, she was working hard to improve the perception of illusion wizards.

‘There are only two official illusion wizards, me and my master.’

I was quite fond of being an illusion wizard at the moment.

What does it matter if I lack physical power?

When creating a daughter, the physical power of the magic circle was unnecessary.

Depending on how the caster applies it, indirect physical power can be exerted in abundance.

Of course, the difference in perspective arose because Meiko and I were looking in different directions.

Meiko was thinking of creating elements that would be useful in combat and everyday life using illusion magic.

“Are you still concerned about how others see you?”

“Of course. The budget provided by the government as a subsidy is so meager that all we can do is this.”

It was a poor magic school that could barely send a letter without the arrival of a delivery.

The reason I was running a shop while doing alchemy on the side was that the budget for the Illusion School was practically nonexistent.

A shabby illusion school.

“Wouldn’t it be better to find ways to apply illusion magic instead?”

“Max, don’t you know how we are treated by other wizards? I don’t want to leave the illusion magic I love as it is. It has the utmost potential compared to any other magic.”

“……”

There was determination in Meiko’s face.

“Let’s stop talking about dark things for now. I don’t have much time to stay here.”

“Are you leaving again?”

“Yeah. I have to find that flower no matter what. Now that I’ve properly set up research facilities there, the next task will be much easier.”

Wait a minute.

“You’ve set up research facilities? Where?”

“Of course, in the village near the jungle.”

“Where did you get the money for that?”

“……”

Meiko averted her gaze at my question.

“Master, you didn’t spend all the research funds I gave you, did you?”

“Cough, cough… I-I didn’t spend it all. I left a little.”

“…How much is left?”

“1, 1…”

“Excuse me?”

“1 gold.”

“……”

What is this?

The amount I had supported Meiko with was 40 gold.

With that much, even if she bought alchemy materials extravagantly, she could have researched for a year without any issues.

And yet, to return in less than a few months with only 1 gold left?

“W-Well, the truth is, I also used the subsidy.”

“You used the subsidy too? Oh my goodness.”

“I-I didn’t spend much! About 3, 3 gold?”

4 gold would be within the realm of common sense.

Considering that 1 gold is close to a farmer’s monthly wage, spending 4 months’ worth of a farmer’s salary is a bit much, but still within reason…

“You spent 40 gold.”

“You used 50% of the annual budget that comes from the subsidy.”

“…I’m sorry.”

When I had complained about the meager subsidy for the Illusion School, I had thought it was somewhat cool.

Cancel that.

“Please give me the remaining subsidy. I need to manage the subsidy myself.”

“Cough, cough… I left it in the forest.”

“Did you get it pawned somewhere?”

“N-No, it’s not like that.”

“……”

Meiko, who was hesitating and fidgeting with her fingers, looked around and asked.

“S-So, is there any way I can get some money?”

“Is that why you came here?”

“…Yeah.” 

What am I going to do with this irresponsible master?