Although Ash could easily travel back and forth between the two places, he also had to consider the distance between them. Appearing too frequently would be suspicious.
Moreover, he often wanted to study magic on his own, so he only appeared at Sylphie's home from time to time.
But while he was out on the street looking for something to eat, he suddenly remembered that when he had first come to this world, he had decided not to become too involved with the people of this world.
Although pretending to be a demon was already quite difficult, he also felt that it was about time for him to set out for the Land of the Sword Saint. He couldn't keep staying here and needed to move somewhere else, otherwise, what if he accidentally ended up supporting Roxy and Sylphie in their old age?
So, after worrying about it for a long time, he simply decided to buy them a farewell gift. Considering Sylphie's family situation, although the harvest had been good, with Roxy being hired, they naturally couldn't afford to buy new clothes. So clothes were his first choice.
The day after making his decision, Ash prepared the gift and then arrived at Sylphie's home without anyone noticing.
As usual, he walked into the house as if he knew the place by heart, casually placed the carefully chosen dress on the table in the living room, and then used his magic to investigate. He easily found out that Roxy was currently helping weed the fields.
Sylphie was on a nearby hillside. She seemed to have worked for a while and was taking a temporary break there.
Sylphie had been sitting there with her chin propped on her hand, apparently thinking about something on her mind. When she heard footsteps, she subconsciously turned her head.
The moment she saw who it was, she immediately stood up with a delighted smile.
"Mr. Ash, you came again today?"
"Well.... I just came to take a look," Ash smiled. Seeing how excited Sylphie was, her little face even slightly flushed, he hurriedly gestured for her to calm down first.
Sylphie obediently nodded before slowly sitting back down against the tree. However, she seemed to have something troubling her, as even her smile toward him carried a hint of worry.
Even so, compared with when Ash had first met her, this little girl had already changed quite a lot.
Her emerald-green hair was considerably longer than when they had first met. It hung smoothly down behind her head, and if it grew a little longer, it would probably reach her slender shoulders.
This made her look more gentle and girlish than she had at first.
There was also more innocence and shyness in her smile, as if she were an elf who knew nothing of the world, giving off an air that made people want to protect her.
If some creepy old man saw her, he would probably be captivated in an instant and lock her up in his house.
'Fortunately, I've always been upright, serious, and normal,' He looked at her a couple more times. This mixed-blood little girl under the shade of the tree was quite something. He sat down beside her as well and casually rubbed her head.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Actually... yesterday Master said that when I'm a little older, I can go to some kind of magic university in Ranoa, so I won't waste my talent..."
"Ranoa University of Magic? Roxy told me about it before too. What's wrong?"
Normal magic schools had a high status. As a demon, Roxy could only attend a magic university, and Ranoa University of Magic, which accepted various races, didn't discriminate against demons... at least not on the surface.
"My family probably can't afford the tuition there. But Teacher Roxy and Dad said they were willing to sponsor me," Although this should have been a good thing, the troubled expression on Sylphie's face was very obvious. She continued, "I don't think that's a good idea. Dad and Mom also think Master shouldn't have to pay for me."
"She came here to make money, yet she still does this sort of thing. She really does like making things harder for herself."
"Mm, because Master and Lord Ash are both very kind and good people," Sylphie smiled deeply in agreement, then continued seriously, "But actually, I'm not interested in school or anything like that."
"Don't say that. You can't stay in the village for your entire life, can you?"
"Why can't I? Ah! Come to think of it, I can go to Roa with Lord Ash! Since you're so amazing and have stayed in Roa for so long, I can definitely do it too, right?", Expectation sparkled in Sylphie's wine-red eyes.
"No, no, I was only traveling through and staying there temporarily..."
"Traveling?", Sylphie blinked in confusion, apparently unable to understand. If he was traveling, why had he stayed there for so long?
"Let's put that aside for now," He didn't answer. Instead, he cleared his throat before telling her the information he had learned from Roxy.
"On average, only one person out of four hundred is a mage, and only one out of a hundred mages becomes an advanced mage. That's one in forty thousand. You already know intermediate magic, so becoming a Saint-level mage is definitely only a matter of time."
"And what about that?"
"In other words, you have a very promising future. You can think about what you want to do with your future. You shouldn't limit yourself to this area."
"The future..."
"Well, you can think about that slowly when you're a little older," Seeing Sylphie's confused expression, Ash smiled and gently rubbed her head again, speaking gently.
"What I mean is, you have a lot of potential. You can seriously think about your future. You can go to that magic university too. If money is a problem, I'll pay for you. Although this might sound a little unpleasant to say, I'm much richer than Roxy, you know?"
"How could you..."
"Of course I can. Aren't I your father's older brother? That means I'm your uncle~ So don't be polite. Money is nothing to me anyway. If you really care about it, you can repay me properly in the future."
Although Ash said this, whether he would ever see her again in the future was still unknown. But he hadn't thought about that at all. At this moment, he simply couldn't help wanting to give Sylphie a hand.
Hearing this, Sylphie's eyes immediately filled with admiration as she looked at Ash.
"Really? Lord Ash... You really are an amazing person?"
"Of course!", Ash said with a proud smile.
Although the person in front of him was only a little girl, being admired like this still felt pretty good. It was as if he were petting a well-behaved puppy, and he happily continued rubbing Sylphie's head.
Sylphie also narrowed her eyes in enjoyment, her little head gently swaying along with his hand. She looked extremely cute.
But not long afterward, she seemed to remember something else. Her eyes were full of curiosity as she leaned forward and lay across Ash's legs, looking up at him.
"Speaking of which~ Lord Ash, you just said you're traveling? Then where are you actually from? And what do you want to do when you grow up?"
"Save the world."
"Ohh~ Amazing! As expected of Lord Ash! You want to become a hero," Sylphie first looked at him with admiration, but then tilted her head, "But what's wrong with the world right now?"
"There probably isn't anything wrong with it, right? I'm not really sure myself. So let's put that aside for now. I need to find a way home first."
"Is Lord Ash's home very far away? I want to go see it too~ Can I?"
"It's very far. Would you be willing to leave your father and mother?", Ash smiled and asked in return, reaching out to gently pinch Sylphie's nose.
Sylphie wrinkled her nose and fell into thought, clearly struggling with the difficult question.
Ash continued chatting idly with Sylphie.
Meanwhile, Roxy, who was helping out in the fields not far away, happened to look up. When she saw the little girl shaking her head and talking to Ash with an expectant expression, complicated feelings inevitably surfaced in her heart.
She sighed slightly, but an exasperated yet somewhat heartwarming smile appeared on her face.
Although her old disciple had stolen her new disciple, the fact that they could get along peacefully wasn't necessarily a bad thing, right? As long as Ash didn't actually kidnap Sylphie, she could let him do whatever else he wanted.
———
Once the farm work was finally finished, the setting sun cast its afterglow over the country road as Ash, Roxy, and Sylphie's parents walked home together.
Their voices could be heard laughing and chatting along the way, and the atmosphere was especially harmonious.
But as soon as they entered the house, Sylphie's attention was drawn to the dress sitting on the table in the living room.
She was confused at first, then walked over curiously and circled around the dress twice, carefully examining it. Yet she seemed hesitant and didn't dare reach out to pick it up. Instead, she turned back in confusion and looked at the three people behind her.
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