The Great Sage Who Did not Remain in Legend - 29.2

The captain cried, remembering those days.

“Isn’t it good? She’s grown up safely now.”

“Yeah, it’s all thanks to the amulet.”

“Amulet?”

“When Rikka collapsed with a high fever, a traveler who happened to come to the capital gave us an amulet. They didn’t have any money, so they asked to pay with it.”

“And then?”

“Desperate, I gave the amulet to Rikka, and she really calmed down. Her fever gradually went down, and she recovered.”

“Do you still have that amulet?”

“No, I let her hold it every time she got a fever until she was ten, and it eventually broke.”

Could it be…

Mergin checked Rikka’s stats.

Name: Rikka
Magic Value: 883

Whoa, her magic value is insanely high. So, her high fevers were because of magic overload.

“Captain, are you going to let Rikka become a hunter when she comes of age?”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m not letting her do such a dangerous job. She’s seen enough wannabe hunters around here to swear she’ll never become one.”

Then it’s better to keep her high magic value a secret. It’d be more useful in the diner.

“I didn’t know you were such a crybaby, Captain.”

“Everyone gets like this when they get older.”

“How old are you, Captain?”

“I’m around 41 or 42 this year.”

“When did you first notice you were getting weaker?”

“Weaker, me?”

“No, compared to your prime, I mean.”

“Compared to my prime… I retired from active duty around 25 or 26, so I guess that was when I was at my peak physically. After that, I retired, but I think I noticed the change when I was over 30.”

So he started to decline at 30. I woke up from petrification about three years ago. Wasn’t I petrified at 26? That would make me effectively around 30. I don’t feel any decline, so maybe it’s still to come, or…

“Mergin, how old are you? Around 22 or 23?”

“How old am I? I think I’m over 1,000 years old.”

“No, your effective age.”

“How old am I? Probably between 26 and 30.”

“Really? You look much younger.”

“People from my birthplace all look young. Our appearance and age don’t match.”

“Is that so? The world is vast.”

“Indeed.”

“Changing the subject, what were you doing in the noble district?”