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Chapter 79

The magician lost consciousness for an hour after the fire. Despite being slapped several times by a middle-aged woman who urged him to wake up, he couldn't open his eyes at all.

"Poor thing..."

The woman sighed. It felt more pitiful not being able to get up after a slap ceremony.

"Ouch...." It was a painful voice that seemed to instinctively open his eyes just to avoid getting hit more.

"Ah, finally, I can relax now! I'll call the village doctor to take a look. Stay still," the woman said as she left to fetch the village doctor.

The magician, with swollen and even bleeding cheeks, murmured repeatedly,

"Why does it hurt so much? Ouch...."

Sitting next to me, he propped himself up with a walking stick, I discreetly greeted him.

"Hello, magician. I'm the one who requested the teleportation circle today."

"Eh?" 

The magician opened his eyes narrowly and shifted his gaze towards me. His hazy brown eyes seemed to wander in the air for a moment, then cleared up as if remembering something.

"Ah, three times the fee!" 

He vividly remembered the promise of receiving three times the fee.

"Hmm, you're later than I expected. I've been waiting for quite a while!" The magician scolded me with a hoarse voice.

"I'm sorry. Various things happened on the way.... But what about the fire? Can I still teleport today?"

 It was the most crucial question. Despite feeling deeply uncomfortable about bringing up my business to a pitiful man who had lost his home and endured a merciless hour of slaps, I had no choice considering my safety and the urgency of my situation.

The magician paused for a moment at my question but soon provided an answer. "My experiment went wrong... I didn't expect it to explode right in front of me! Well, I had drawn the teleportation discreetly, but with the house in such a state, I'll have to redraw them."

"How long will it take to redraw it?"

Please, please don't take too long. It was already past midnight. If it took ten hours, all hope would vanish.

"About three hours?"

As soon as I heard the magician's answer, the tension in my body eased. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. A sigh of relief escaped me naturally.

"That'll do. Thank you."

"Now, I need to replenish my energy, but... I'll redraw it quickly."

"Don't forget the 150 silver, though."

 The magician bent his thumb and forefinger to form a circle. He was a funny magician. However, there was no thought of blame. I enthusiastically nodded and made a circle with my fingers.

Hold on, male protagonists! I'm coming!

***

The magician and I moved away from the fire scene to a distance. Regardless of my urgent situation, I asked the magician if it was okay for him to draw the teleportation circle so calmly, given that his house burned down and he lost his property. He winked and shouted.

"Well, I still need to earn a little more!"

There was nothing to say to that.

The magician began to carve the teleportation circle with a stick on the clean ground. Originally, he would draw it with ink on a large paper or a surface like a wall or floor, but for now, this was the best option, he said. As long as magic worked, I didn't mind.