Chapter 324: Mentor and Protg (3)
Epherene’s life cast away from time made me wonder what she lived for, which values she held onto, and what meaning she never relinquished, as her mental strength must have been utterly insufficient and her suffering immeasurable.
... The mages were the most exclusive group on the continent—the magic of their house was preserved as a vision, permitted only to their own bloodline, and not even a trace of it was ever revealed to outsiders.
They blocked the influx of commoners with an expensive system of copyrights while claiming a hollow equality, yet acted as if they were the chosen ones, although in truth those who were chosen possessed far more brilliant talent.
"What... did you just say?" Epherene asked.
However, a mentor and protégé relationship clearly existed even among them, where one mage became the mentor and another the protégé, with the mentor teaching and the protégé learning.
Their relationship was strangely alien compared to the customs of the Magical Realm because the mentor and protégé were neither of the same blood nor members of the same house, and they shared no common denominator.
Nevertheless, a mentor and protégé relationship was an established custom in this field, and a successful mage was always searching for the talent of a protégé, teaching without hesitation when one was found.
Even if their relationship soured in the distant future and they became sworn enemies, neither the mentor would regret taking on the protégé, nor would the protégé feel shame for the teachings received from their mentor.
That was precisely why the title given to protégés who killed their mentors was not rare and why it was not unusual for a protégé to proudly carry on their mentor's school of thought even after taking their life, and it led me to wonder if I, too, viewed this in the same light.
"... Trust me? You?"
Epherene, who responded in a daze, was in fact a protégé with a talent far too great to belong to anyone else, and a vessel too vast to remain merely the successor of Deculein—making her, without a doubt, a mage chosen as the result of such brilliant talent.
Therefore, Epherene had struck a nerve in Deculein.