The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 38: This Is Just Awful

Episode 38: This Is Just Awful 

After successfully tracking down a librarian, we were directed to the section containing books on magic, magical tools, and blacksmithing techniques. We thanked the librarian and headed toward the magic section. Along the way, we were reminded to “keep quiet in the library.” Oops—our bad. 

“This… this is it!?” 

Lilia’s shock was understandable. The entire collection of magic-related books could fit within the span of my outstretched arms. Maybe most of the magic books were restricted and kept in a prohibited section? 

When I suggested this to Lilia, she seemed to agree. 

“That explains why so many spells have been forgotten. If no one teaches them, people just can’t use them anymore.” 

“Yeah, good point. I wonder if there’s anything about everyday magic here?” 

I picked up one of the few books available and flipped through its contents. Lilia peeked over my shoulder. The book only contained the absolute basics of magic, along with vague descriptions like, “Oh, and there are spells like these.” Of course, not a single spell name was mentioned. 

“What… is this…? There’s no way anyone could learn magic from this!” 

Lilia trembled with frustration. She was utterly speechless. It must have been a huge shock to her. Meanwhile, I turned to the book’s disclaimer section. 

“Look at this, Lilia. Just like Matilda-san said, most magic is passed down directly from master to apprentice.” 

“So… what happens if the master dies before passing it on?” 

“It’s lost, I guess?” 

We exchanged glances. Things were starting to make sense. 

There were probably countless spells in this world that no one even knew existed. The reason my Small Light spell drew attention was simply because no one had ever seen it before. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less. People just thought, “Oh, neat, that’s a handy spell.” 

“Fel, does this mean we can use any magic we want?” 

“Looks like it. As long as it’s not one of the ‘rare’ spells listed here, we should be fine.” 

Among the “rare” spells, there was something called Extra Heal—apparently a highly valuable spell that only saint-class individuals could use. It was listed in a “Church-Approved Spells” catalog. 

It seemed that healing magic was made public. It was likely to enhance the church’s authority. However, only the spell names and effects were disclosed—nothing on how to actually use them. It was probably a way for the church to attract donations. Since they needed money to operate, it made sense. 

“I see… So, aside from healing magic, it looks like we can use anything freely. But healing spells are basically off-limits.” 

Lilia nodded, looking convinced. 

“Yeah, looks like only healers or church members are allowed to use them.” 

“Wait… does that mean Anti-Curse was a bad move?” 

“Good thing we played it off as a ‘mysterious healer’.” 

“That noble geezer probably figured it out, though.” 

“Let’s not talk about that.” 

I let out a sigh. Count Hauzinha likely knew my identity. Still, he hadn’t exposed me. So I could only be grateful. 

Now that I thought about it, I had healed the caravan members after we defeated those bandits. That… might have been risky. Not that I could’ve just left them injured. 

“I should avoid using healing magic in public as much as possible. I never intended to be a healer anyway.” 

“Just knowing that is enough,” 

Lilia reassured me. 

She was right—I had to be more careful from now on. 

Next, we moved to the magical tools section. Unlike the magic books, this area was packed with volumes. It seemed that magical tools were a thriving industry. 

I picked up a book on the latest magical devices and flipped through it. 

“All of these can be replicated with magic.” 

“Yeah. And now that we know we can use anything except healing magic, we don’t even need to buy them.” 

“Exactly. If I use everyday magic, people will just assume, ‘Oh, there’s a convenient spell for that,’ and move on.” 

This meant we wouldn’t have to spend much money on magical tools. Though, considering how much wealth I had now, it didn’t really matter. I could still buy them out of curiosity if I wanted. 

Finally, we headed to the blacksmithing section. 

“There are quite a few books here. But none of them explain enchantment techniques.” 

“Yeah… looks like that knowledge isn’t in recent books. Maybe we need something older?”

I pulled out one of the older-looking blacksmithing books. But there was still no mention of enchantment techniques. If enchantment was a skill unique to dwarves, it might be better to search for books written by them instead. 

“It’d be faster to find a book written by dwarves.” 

“Do dwarves even write books? Those bearded folks only care about satisfying themselves… Ah.” 

Lilia suddenly had a realization. True, dwarves gave the impression that they’d rather spend their time smithing than writing books. 

“Dwarven books might be really rare.” 

“I have a bad feeling about this. Why don’t they even try to pass down their skills?” 

Lilia started fuming in frustration. I was beginning to see why enchantment techniques were disappearing. 

That reminded me of something. 

“Hey, Lilia, are there any books written by Fairies?” 

“Of course not. If they had time to write books, they’d use it for pranks instead.” 

She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. So, Fairies didn’t write books either. In that case, Lilia had no right to be mad at the dwarves—but I decided to keep that to myself. No need to sour her mood any further. 

“Well, we’ve learned enough for today. Let’s head back and get some food. Just knowing we can use most magic freely is a big win. If anyone asks about flashy spells, we can just say, ‘Sorry, I can’t teach you.’” 

“Right, except for healing magic. We’ll have to be careful about that.” 

By the time we left the library, the sun had already set. I lit up a lantern-type magic tool, and we started heading toward the Nagomi Inn. 

“Alright, now that we’ve moved on—what should we have for dinner?” 

“I heard there’s a restaurant near the inn that serves Eastern cuisine.” 

“Eastern cuisine? That sounds interesting. Let’s check it out.” 

“I wonder what kind of food they serve!” 

With that, we made our way to the restaurant. Just as Lilia had heard, the place had a similar atmosphere to the inn. It seemed like we’d be sitting on something called a zabuton—a thin cushion, more or less. 

“This is awkward to sit on. It’ll take some getting used to.” 

“Come on, try your best! Oh, here comes the food! They called it Unajuu. It looks like grilled fish on top of white grains.” 

“The white grains are called rice, apparently. I wonder if it’s good?” 

“Let’s try it!” 

I cut the eel into pieces and portioned it onto Lilia’s plate. I was making sure it still resembled the original Unajuu dish. Apparently, it was meant to be eaten with chopsticks. I snapped a toothpick in half to make a pair that Lilia could use. 

“Ugh, this is hard to eat with.” 

“Yeah, maybe because we’re not used to it. But… wow, this is delicious!” 

“It really is! This is amazing!” 

The chopsticks’ awkwardness was quickly forgotten as we got lost in the incredible taste. The combination of rice, eel, and the rich brown sauce was perfect. We could eat this forever. 

Lilia kept asking for more, and I happily shared. 

“Alright, Fel! Let’s eat everything on the menu!” 

“Sounds like you really liked it. I’m on board with that plan. Next, let’s try Oyakodon.” 

“I can’t wait to see what it looks like!” 

It was only our first day in the royal capital, but things were off to a great start.