“……What a foolish thing to do.”
As soon as I opened my eyes in a daze, that was the sound I heard.
The woman exhaled, and the smoke wavered like a puff of cloud. As I stared blankly at the sight, a memory suddenly flitted through my mind.
Right, I had fainted.
It was something I had managed to complete after several failures. The Archmage was straining and suffering at the time, and I wanted to relieve that pain as quickly as possible.
So I put it in the censer and lit it.
It was a foolish thing to do.
As soon as I inhaled the smoke from the burnt herbs, I had to realize that fact. Wasn’t it a substance used by the Master in the first place?
Its potency couldn’t be weak.
Fortunately, the effect made my body feel numb. Depending on the type, some drugs could make people go into a frenzy.
What if I had completely lost my senses?
It wouldn’t end in ‘a disgrace.’ A warrior who had reached the High Expert level was almost like a tactical weapon and could instantly cause the loss of hundreds of lives.
There would have definitely been a catastrophe.
It seemed that the Archmage was also pointing this out. I had no words to say, even if I had ten mouths.
In the end, I had to bury my head back on the table with a sigh.
“I’m sorry…”
“There’s no need to apologize. If anything, it’s my fault… you must have been surprised when I suddenly collapsed.”
I looked at her with an expression of surprise at her calm voice.
Surprisingly, the Archmage showed no sign of anger or embarrassment.
She was a figure known as the founder and root of the Southern Kingdoms. The weaknesses of such a giant had an infinite value. If I had ill intentions, I could cause chaos in the Southern Kingdoms.
Nevertheless, the Archmage didn’t particularly force me to keep it a secret.
Her attitude was entirely different from before, when she threatened my life to confirm my innocence. I couldn’t help but feel bewildered.
Regardless of that, the Archmage simply asked me in an even tone.
“Do you have any idea why I fainted?”
It seemed she already knew how I would respond.
Feeling a sting of anxiety, I slightly averted the Archmage’s gaze. At that moment, in my hurry, I hadn’t thought about it; the recipe for this drug was knowledge handed to me by ‘myself’ from the future.
It was obvious that I, in this era, couldn’t know about it.
However, not only had I obtained this recipe, but I had even succeeded in compounding it in reality. It was wholly thanks to the skills of ‘myself’ from the future.
How should I explain this?
I couldn’t find an answer at all, so I chose to step back once more.
“I, um…I’m not sure…”
“Don’t lie.”
It was, of course, a futile attempt.
As I hesitated in the face of her cold voice, the Archmage soon let out a sigh. Her expression was tinged with faint annoyance.
“……You still can’t acknowledge it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You, the very essence of it.”
Her tone was resolute as she lay back on the opposite sofa, resting her head on her hand.
It was clear that she couldn’t accept my existence.
“I can’t believe it at all… how can someone like you exist?”
“No, that’s too much…”
“Hmph, from now on, you are under my special care.”
Despite my timid resistance, the Archmage had already decided my future.
With a sharp sound, the Archmage’s pipe struck the ashtray on the table.
“From now on, you will have to take on the heavy responsibility of solving the unusual phenomena alongside me. Additionally, you’ll need to help with my student recruitment as well.”
“Pardon? A student?”
“Yes, a student.”
With a sigh, the Archmage exhaled another puff of smoke, showing a look of disdain.
“Do you think I came here for leisure? I declared I would recruit a student, so I must indeed do so.”
“No, is it really necessary? In this state of emergency, everyone would understand and let it go… Besides, there’s no particular reason to appoint a student right now.”
“Destined intuition.”
It was yet another incomprehensible statement.
I wore a puzzled expression, but the Archmage seemed to have no intention of retracting her decision.
“I feel like it absolutely needs to be done… So, you must serve as my assistant for a while.”
“I’m sorry, but I also have things I need to do…”
“How far have you learned ‘Binding and Unbinding’?”
I fell silent once more.
‘Binding and Unbinding,’ the very essence of the Archmage’s vision. Naturally, the creator of the technique would not fail to recognize it.
I had anticipated this matter.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling, and I hesitated, trying to muster an excuse.
“What do you mean by that…?”
“You’re a pitiful level.”
But the Archmage was not an easy opponent.
Just a single line of critique.
I couldn’t hide my feelings of indignation and shot her a fierce glare.
With a sigh, the smoke curled up into the sky. A dreamy light flickered in the Archmage’s eyes.
“I don’t know how you learned it, but can you stop making me look bad by taking shortcuts? I can barely lift my head in front of swordsmen or heavenly deities.”
“……It was me who stabbed that ‘heavenly deity.’”
A rebuttal I had blurted out without realizing it.
Then the Archmage took another drag of her smoke and sighed, twisting her lips upwards.
A soft laugh escaped the woman’s lips.
“Seems like you have a bit of a temper, don’t you?”
“Well, of course, if you’re a warrior.”
“Hmph, you can’t refute that you learned it through shortcuts…”
I had no suitable response.
In truth, I was not the one who received the vision from the Archmage. The techniques I handled were mostly things I had sneakily observed from her memories.
Perhaps that point had not sat well with me.
Maybe that was why I felt particularly irritable.
The fact that the Archmage did not recognize me weighed heavily on my heart.
I looked away with an unpleasant feeling, as if I had swallowed a fishbone.
“I want to dig deeper into the story immediately, but be thankful. For now, we need to resolve the immediate issue.”
It was a declaration that allowed me to sigh in relief.
I didn’t know what change of heart she had, but the Archmage seemed to have no particular desire to interrogate me. She must have judged it was better to seek my cooperation first.
Conversely, that also meant the situation had worsened.
Seeing the questioning look in my eyes, the Archmage feigned helplessness.
“It seems that a ‘vampire’ is targeting the Academy.”
“Well, of course, isn’t it? They’ve already witnessed the retinue.”
“It’s not just a matter of retinue… the main body is coming here.”
Before I could continue my questions, the Archmage blew out another puff of smoke.
The smoke she expelled did not disperse as quickly as before. The translucent vapor rising formed a picture in the void.
It depicted a bat trapped within a circle.
“This is the general structure of the barrier that confines the vampire. This vast barrier exists solely to hold one Mage. Furthermore, this barrier is directly connected to my body, and these days it’s become strangely…”
The Archmage trailed off as she snapped her fingers.
Then the bat inside the circle began moving energetically. As it flapped against the circle, the smoke slightly dispersed.
“…It’s going into convulsions. The reason I suddenly collapsed in front of you was because of that.”
“In that case, isn’t the main body still within the barrier?”
“Yeah, it should be, but…”
The Archmage’s expression showed a shadow of despair. It was a face that looked displeased, as if recalling the first murder.
A sharp sound echoed once more.
Soon after, the bat made of smoke began to split into two.
“I don’t know what method they used, but it seems a vessel containing the consciousness of the main body has escaped. While most of the powerful flesh remains trapped within the barrier.”
I crossed my arms and remained silent.
From what I had heard, there seemed to be a flaw in the barrier, but it was a technique created by the Archmage while exhausting most of her power.
It couldn’t be breached so simply.
If it could, the vampire would have been out and about long ago.
Thus, a few questions still remained in the case.
However, there was one thing we had to clarify.
“… You need to find it.”
With a sigh, the Archmage exhaled smoke again, and the circle and the bat’s image blurred.
Beyond that appeared the figure of a woman with an unusually weary face.
“Surely they must have a reason for risking everything to disturb the barrier. It must be because they are wary of me… But you should have no problem. After all, you must have a lot of acquaintances at the Academy that will help you.”
“All the people I knew have likely been taken by now.”
“Surely not all of them… No matter how much a vampire can be formidable, there are limits. It won’t work on someone outside of their usual caliber.”
As I listened to her words, I swallowed a dry chuckle.
‘Outside their usual caliber,’ huh.
It was easy to say, but at least one had to be a ‘High Expert’ or an ‘Archmage’ to use such expressions. In other words, that meant Professor Derek was the only one among my acquaintances.
Just as I was about to voice that rebuttal.
“No, there’s one person, isn’t there?”
Could she possibly know about Professor Derek’s existence?
As I showed a look of surprise, the Archmage’s cunning smile deepened.
“Someone very strong, and beneficial to you.”
And a little while later.
Sitting across from me was a middle-aged man with graying hair. If we met at the Martial Arts Festival, one might mistake him for an elderly gentleman, but his stature was extraordinary.
Solid muscles and the relaxed demeanor typical of a powerful person.
It was dark inside since the curtains were drawn. Yet, the fierce blue light in his eyes shimmered without being absorbed by the darkness.
The Empire’s Swordmaster.
I swallowed hard in front of the singular absolute being on the continent and spoke.
“…… The Archmage wishes to take me as her student.”
And silence.
How much time passed? Finally, the lips of the seated Swordmaster slowly parted.
“That old hag?! How dare she try to steal our nation’s treasure… Has she really become senile from aging…!”
With a bang, he slammed his hand on the table.
Seeing the Swordmaster’s face flushed with anger, I couldn’t help but close my eyes tightly.
Was this truly the best course of action?
I pondered that question.
