The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 73

Kyle Bentia.

Also known by the moniker, ‘Knight of the Tempest’.

True to his name, he’s a battle mage specializing in speed-focused close combat using wind magic.

“Why should I fight you?”

“Because I want to fight you.”

“……”

He has a very combative personality and is a battle maniac who enjoys fighting strong opponents.

…Or so the investigation said.

‘I didn’t expect him to come out like this right after meeting.’

I didn’t know he’d be this reckless.

“I refuse. There’s no reason for me to fight the ace of the opposing team before the Olympiad.”

Kyle Bentia’s eyes widened as if shocked by my refusal.

“Why!?”

“Who knows if your goal is to injure me?”

Considering Kyle Bentia’s personality, he probably doesn’t have such dark intentions.

But you never know.

“If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be! There’s a suitable sparring arena nearby. If we fight there, nothing bad will happen to our bodies!”

Kyle Bentia smiled brightly.

It was a very innocent smile.

“That’s not the problem……”

I sighed softly, meeting his smile head-on.

“Adela, can you cancel your magic and step back?”

“Yes.”

“Soonchan, you too.”

“……Okay.”

Soonchan and Adela, who were still keeping Kyle in check, deactivated their magic and stepped back.

The other seniors who were on guard also took a step back.

“Even if there’s no chance of getting injured, it’s the same. There’s nothing I can gain from fighting you.”

There’s no reason to fight Kyle Bentia at this timing and provide my information to the British team in advance.

“You can get my information!”

“I don’t need it.”

Kyle Bentia’s information is important, but it’s not information I need to get at the cost of giving away my own.

“That can’t be……”

Kyle’s eyes widened with a shocked expression.

He looks like he didn’t expect to be rejected.

It’s ridiculous that he thought I would accept this absurd proposal.

“You really won’t fight?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I ask like this?”

“Yes.”

“……That’s too much.”

Kyle Bentia’s shoulders slumped. He clearly looked disappointed.

“See? I told you Shin Hayul wouldn’t agree.”

A woman approached Kyle. Maia Nerontia. A member of the British team, and the de facto leader who takes charge of the team, instead of the aggressive and straightforward Kyle Bentia.

She comforted Kyle Bentia in her native British English.

“Don’t be disappointed. We can fight in a week anyway.”

“……Okay.”

Maia patted Kyle on the back and turned her gaze to me.

“I apologize on Kyle’s behalf. Sorry for the sudden intrusion.”

It was, of course, in English.

“Kyle didn’t mean any harm, so I hope you’ll be understanding.”

“I know what kind of personality Kyle Bentia has. I don’t really care.”

I replied in English, casually.

“Thank you for understanding. Then we’ll be going.”

Maia turned around, taking Kyle with her. Kyle glanced at me with a disappointed expression before turning away and walking away from me.

“Oh, and your pronunciation is good. I also like that it’s British, not American.”

Maia turned her gaze back to me and smiled.

“See you next time.”

Maia waved her hand slightly and returned to where they had been.

“Let’s fight with all our might next time!”

Kyle shouted, waving his hand largely.

“……What are those guys?”

Soonchan let out a hollow laugh.

* * *

Inside the bus heading to the accommodation.

We were talking about the British team we had encountered earlier.

“Thinking about it again, they’re crazy. How can they do that right after meeting?”

Jin Heeyoon clicked her tongue.

Kyle Bentia’s battle-maniac side is famous, but she didn’t expect him to be this reckless.

“But don’t they get a penalty if we report them?”

Jin Heeyoon asked cautiously.

“No. They don’t.”

“Why? They used magic in a public place to attack us. Shouldn’t they be punished?”

“The Wind Cutter that Kyle Bentia used was a wind-attribute mana mass with no lethality. Even if you were hit properly, it wouldn’t leave a single scratch on your body.”

“Ah, so that’s why there was no impact.”

Soonchan nodded with an ‘I see’ expression.

“Still, they used magic to attack us, so isn’t that against the law?”

“It might be in Korea, but this is America. Under American law, that level of action isn’t considered a crime.”

“Ah. I’ve heard of that. American law is about self-defense or something……”

Jin Heeyoon nodded as if she understood.

“But, no one can prove that it was a non-lethal magic mass. It must have been caught on CCTV. Can’t we just report them?”

“The British side can sufficiently prove that it was a non-lethal mana mass.”

“……How?”

“Among the people watching from behind earlier, did you happen to see anyone holding a camera with a unique shape?”

“Camera? Ah. I think I remember. Was that a camera?”

“Yes. It’s a magic observation camera. The British side was using it to film the Wind Cutter.”

“To submit as evidence if they were reported?”

“Yes.”

If you film with a magic observation camera, it clearly shows whether the magic is lethal or not.

It’s sufficient as evidence.

“……Wow, those guys have such innocent faces, but they even prepared for that?”

Jin Heeyoon muttered, ‘Scary guys……’ and shuddered.

Adela, who had been listening quietly, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Seeing how systematic they are, did they also make such sparring requests to other teams besides us?”

“Probably.”

Considering that Maia Nerontia said that Shin Hayul ‘would’ be difficult, it’s highly likely that we weren’t the first to receive such a reckless sparring request.

Just by the fact that they had a magic observation camera prepared in advance, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.

“Is their goal information gathering?”

“Probably. If they film the sparring match with that magic observation camera, they can get quite a lot of high-quality data.”

If they analyze the opponent’s combat data filmed with it for a week, they’ll get quite useful data.

“But would there be any teams that accept such absurd sparring requests?”

Soonchan asked, looking puzzled.

“Many.”

“Why many?”

He looks like he can’t understand at all.

“Think from the perspective of other teams, not our team. Would they just throw away the opportunity to get information about Kyle Bentia?”

“Ah.”

Information gathering through sparring isn’t exclusive to the British team that made the sparring request.

The opposing team can also gather information through Kyle Bentia’s sparring.

“Even if they have to expose their own information to some extent, it’s a good deal if they can acquire Kyle Bentia’s information. Is that it?”

“That’s right.”

Kyle Bentia’s information is incomparable to the information of most teams.

“Then wouldn’t it have been better for us to spar too?”

“No. Our situation is different from other teams. We have more to lose than to gain.”

“Why?”

“Because my information is more valuable than Kyle Bentia’s.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kyle Bentia’s information is already somewhat public.

On the other hand, what about my information?

Some of my abilities are public, but most are not.

It’s obvious that my information is more valuable.

Our situation is different from other teams.

That’s why I refused the sparring.

“Well, I was thinking of giving them fake information to confuse them, but there’s no need to do that, right? We already have a good plan.”

“I guess so.”

The strategy to face the British team is perfectly planned.

There’s no need to add unnecessary variables in such a situation.

“Are all your questions answered?”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

Soonchan and Jin Heeyoon nodded at the same time.

* * *

We took the bus for a long time and arrived at the accommodation.

“Well, it’s late, and everyone must be tired, so let’s quickly assign rooms.”

It’s 1 AM in the US right now.

It’s not a time to do anything.

I immediately completed the room assignments and key distribution.

“Then, I’ll see you all here again at 9 AM tomorrow. Everyone, get some rest.”

“Good night.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Instructor, you worked hard today.”

“Yeah, you worked hard too.”

The seniors and instructors exchanged light greetings and moved to their respective rooms.

“Then, I’ll go first. Get some rest.”

“Okay. Good night.”

Soonchan went into room 206 first. I went into room 207 next to it.

“The room is nice.”

The interior of the hotel was indeed magnificent.

‘They must have spent a lot of money?’

I thought as I lightly looked around the room.

‘Everything is good. The air and humidity inside are also good.’

There was no need to look at it in detail. As expected, it’s a room made for adjusting the players’ condition.

I’m very satisfied.

I immediately flopped onto the bed.

‘The mattress is also good.’

After checking the bathroom and washroom, I unpacked my suitcase.

‘Ah, I should put on the robe first.’

Before organizing my luggage, I put on my master’s robe first.

A languid feeling, as if I were soaking in a warm hot spring, flowed through my whole body.

I’ve become someone who can’t live without this robe.

I can’t even imagine a life without my master’s robe.

I slowly organized my luggage while having such silly thoughts.

I took out the clothes to change into and changed into them.

I took out the items that needed to be taken out and placed them in the right place.

If it were a short stay, I could have just left it in the suitcase.

But since it’s a place I’ll be staying for a month, it’s better to take everything out and organize it.

“Is this enough?”

I finished organizing all the clothes I brought in about 10 minutes.

With this, unpacking is all done.

Now, all that’s left is to decide where to store the ‘Book of Idred’ and the ‘Book of Mimir’.

‘Where should I put these?’

Unlike the time at Baekryeong Island, I brought both the Book of Mimir and the Book of Idred this time.

This stay in the US is about a month.

I couldn’t leave these important books in an empty dormitory room for a month.

It was also a bit of a shame that I couldn’t read the Book of Mimir or the Book of Idred for a month.

‘Ah. There’s a magic vault here.’

A magic vault that operates with individual mana patterns.

It’s even the VVIP magic vault of Repel Corporation, which is famous for being the most secure vault in existence.

If I put it in here, I can be sure that it won’t be stolen or lost.

I registered my magic pattern in the magic vault and put only the Book of Idred in it for now.

Then, I sat on the bed with the Book of Mimir and opened it as it was.

My vision went slightly dark as I felt my body being sucked into the book.

It’s a sensation I’m used to now, having experienced it several times.

“Mimir. I’m here.”

I greeted Mimir, who was lying face down on the central sofa, reading a book, as usual, in the center of the now quite large library.

“What, you’re here early?”

Mimir turned her body and looked at me.

“Did you arrive at the accommodation?”

“Yeah. I just arrived and unpacked my luggage.”

I moved and sat next to Mimir.

“Did anything happen during the move?”

“Of course, something happened.”

“Already? The successor is really a troublemaker.”

Mimir’s eyes lit up as she got up from her seat.

“So, what happened?”

Then she looked at me as if telling me to speak quickly.

“Well. First, I met the British team at the airport……”

I explained to Mimir what had happened today, in order.

Starting with what happened with Kyle Bentia at the airport,

I told her everything, even the trivial things.

“Kyle Bentia, you said? He’s a real nutcase. Those kinds of guys who seem like they have a screw loose are usually difficult to deal with.”

Even though it wasn’t a big deal, Mimir seemed very happy.

Her reaction was so good that I unknowingly talked for a long time.

“And I talked to Kim Kangin about the Black Mana Tower on the plane, you know?”

And finally, I started talking about the most important thing, the Black Mana Tower.

As the story continued, Mimir’s expression turned cold.

“……Well, that’s roughly the situation.”

By the time the story was over, her expression had changed to a fierce one, as if she had never laughed.

“Those trashy bastards really haven’t changed.”

Mimir took a deep breath.

It was a hot breath, heated by anger.

“Ugh. They’re really disgusting.”

Mimir sighed again and got up from her seat.

“Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“Where else? I’m going to get the book for the successor.”

“A book for me?”

“Yeah.”

Mimir took a book from the shelf and threw it to me.

I caught the flying book and checked the title.

“This is……”

It was a book about the 4th circle master.

“Here’s more. Catch.”

Mimir then threw three more books.

All of them were books about the 4th circle master.

After throwing a total of five books, Mimir approached me with the last one.

“Mimir, this is……?”

“You were going to ask for it, weren’t you?”

Mimir handed me the sixth book and sat next to me.

“Wasn’t it?”

“It was, but how did you know?”

“How would I know? Have I only seen the successor for a day or two? I can tell just by looking.”

Mimir crossed her legs and started acting strangely.

“The British team was smarter than I thought. The probability of fighting the Black Mana Tower has also increased. So, to prepare for the worst-case scenario, I need to improve my skills even a little bit.”

It seems like she’s imitating me, but it’s not the same at all.

It’s worse than Adela. She shouldn’t act.

“So, Mimir. Go and get me some books about the 4th circle master. I think I need to become a 4th circle master as soon as possible. That was the build-up, right? Just now in that conversation.”

“……”

Putting aside her terrible acting skills, what she said was exactly what I was going to say.

It’s as if she looked into my mind.

“Am I right?”

“……Are you using mind-reading or something?”

“Ahem. Everything is visible to me.”

Mimir smiled, pretending to be solemn.

“……I won’t be able to hide anything from you now.”

To have this build-up read.

I feel embarrassed.

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll read them well.”

“Yeah. Call me if you need anything else.”

“Okay.”

I opened the first book that Mimir had thrown.

[About the 4th Circle Master Realm, Fusion (融和)].