Songstress of Schwarzwald: The Secret of Zoe, the Exiled Music Mage Chapter 51 : I’m Ten Years Old Now!

Three years have passed since the rain-summoning incident.

The season’s first snow is dancing through the air, and I’ve turned ten.

That storm really shook , but thanks to Selina smashing my harp, the damage was mostly limited to the bean poles in Maggie’s garden. There might’ve been other damage, too, but I don’t know about that.

All this ti, I couldn’t stop blaming myself—for forgetting the barrier stones and letting rry and Ben get attacked.

But one day, Selina ca ho with a mother cow and her calf, and sohow... that helped. I bounced back.

“I’m not gonna na them this ti!” I declared.

The calf was adorable, but we got them for milk.

rry and Ben had been family. These two are livestock.

I’m never naming livestock again.

To make us less dependent on Lang Village, I expanded the barrier and started growing wheat and corn. The cows need straw bedding, after all.

We’ve got more chickens now too, so I can eat eggs every day.

Maggie and I are still friends, but I’ve learned how risky it is to get too involved with the village. I try not to go unless I have to.

The one exception is cooking class once a month. That was Selina’s idea, actually—we’re both completely sick of porridge.

Maggie turned ten at New Year’s, so she’s working full-ti now and doesn’t have ti to play.

After cooking class, we eat together, clean up, and chat a little—that’s about it.

Starting this winter, she’s apprenticing at a grocery store in Carlton for six months.

Over the last three years, Selina has put through the wringer.

Especially with mana absorption and magical control. That training was slow, dull, and exhausting.

But now I can use magic pretty well. Expanding the barrier for the fields wasn’t even hard.

Selina told —very sarcastically—that the Great Forest is overflowing with mana, which is the only reason I managed it.

My ho’s still in these deep woods, sa as always.

Selina teleports to the royal capital sotis to buy new books. And Troubadour sheet music.

“It doesn’t have to be Troubadour music! Just take to the capital with you!”

Honestly, I’d be happy with any kind of sheet music.

As a replacent for the harp that got destroyed in the rain-summoning, Selina brought back a slightly smaller harp—but I still wish I’d gotten to choose it myself.

“If you’re going to buy a harp, I’d rather have one that’s portable!”

This one’s about two-thirds the size of the last, and since it’s not magical, I have to channel my own power into it.

“Wouldn’t a larger harp be better?” she says.

Sure, it has fewer strings, but the weight is more of a problem.

I’d hate to lug a huge instrunt around.

“It’d be a pain to keep pulling it in and out of Storage when I beco an adventurer, don’t you think?”

That’s right! I’m ten now—I can register with the Adventurers’ Guild!

Hmph! Matthew registered with Carlton’s Guild at New Year’s. Maggie told about it… as always.

I was born the sa year as them, but Selina refused to let “age up” at New Year’s like they did. So with my late-autumn birthday, I’m nearly a full year behind.

“You’re really going to beco an adventurer?” Selina asks, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s the only way I know to make a living.”

“You could serve a noble house as a mage. I could pull so strings.”

“I’ve thought about it. But I don’t think I could stand being ordered around.”

After all, I was raised by Selina, the freest spirit in the Great Forest.

I have absolutely no faith in my ability to work with people.

If soone started acting all superior, I’d probably want to turn them into a swamp frog. And honestly? I don’t trust myself not to do it.

Heh. I even tested it out once. Not on a person, of course.

Turned an Almiraj into a frog!

Selina just laughed and said she’s better at turning things into pigs.

Apparently, when she fled the Kingdom of Sarina, she left a certain noble with a parting gift: pig ears and a curly tail.

Like teacher, like student—I definitely shouldn’t be working under anyone.

“Well, adventurers are full of idiots too… Just make enough to get by, I say.”

That sounds like permission!

“You’ve beco a full-fledged... well, half-fledged witch, so wear this.”

A birthday present! How rare!

I was thrilled—until I saw it.

“Do I really have to wear this?”

A black robe. Very witchy. Very... bleh.

“What are you talking about? If a witch doesn’t wear black, what should she wear?”

Uh-oh. Lecture incoming.

Well... it is silk. And waterproofed, too. I suppose I’ll wear it.

My wardrobe’s improved a lot these past three years.

No more hand--downs of hand--downs. Though I still wear the old stuff for farm work.

I hand Selina magic stones and pelts, she buys fabric in the capital, and I sew my own clothes.

It’s tricky, especially since I keep growing.

Wearing the black robe and carrying my harp in its basket, I prepare to teleport to Carlton.

Selina never taught how to make Waymarks, so I had to figure it out on my own—bit by bit—until I could make the jump all at once.

If I’m going to be commuting, I really should just set up a Waymark near Carlton.

But Selina definitely already has one and just won’t tell . It’s so irritating I’ve been stubborn about making one myself.

“Well then! Ti to go register as an adventurer!”

I step out of the Great Forest and head for Carlton.