The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 224

That night.

I was having a conversation with Adela.

Well, it was more like I was talking by myself.

Adela was mostly just listening.

With a serious expression, she was mulling over my words, again and again.

“That’s how it led to this incident.”

And so, a total of three hours passed.

My story was finally over.

The story between me and the Black Magic Tower was so complex that even after trying to condense it as much as possible, it still took three hours.

It’s amazing that it took this long, even though I only told her as much as Commander Charles knew.

If I had told her everything, even the things I hadn’t told Commander Charles, how long would it have taken?

It would have taken at least five hours, if not more.

“Is there anything you don’t understand? Or anything you’re curious about?”

“Curious about…”

Adela’s expression didn’t change at all. She still looked dazed.

Did she get overloaded because she heard too much at once?

“…I, I don’t know. My head is too complicated…”

She looked like she didn’t even know what she didn’t understand.

It seems her head is really complicated.

“Think about it slowly. There’s still plenty of time.”

“…Yes.”

Adela answered with a dazed expression.

“Um, can I go back for today?”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes. I think I need some time alone.”

It’s true that when your head is complicated, it’s best to be alone.

Just having someone nearby can make it hard to think clearly.

“Okay, then.”

I got up from my seat.

Then, I took out the coat that Adela had worn.

Even though I had gotten up, Adela, who had been sitting there blankly, finally got up in a hurry.

Seeing how dazed she was, if I hadn’t taken out her coat, she probably would have gone back in that state.

“Thank you.”

Adela, who received the coat, quickly put it on and bowed her head.

“If you think about it and there’s anything you don’t understand or are curious about, contact me anytime. It doesn’t matter if it’s late or anything.”

“…Yes. I’ll be rude then.”

Normally, she would have said, ‘I can’t be rude, so I’ll contact you tomorrow morning,’ no matter what.

That means she has a lot on her mind about this matter.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She was even sure that we would meet again tomorrow.

She’ll probably spend all night organizing her thoughts, write down all the things she’s wondering about, and then come to me tomorrow to bombard me with questions.

I can already picture Adela asking questions.

“Oh, and please let me meet Miho tomorrow too.”

As I said, I told her everything that Commander Charles knew.

Of course, she also knows that Miho is in the subspace [a pocket dimension or alternate space].

That’s why she’s saying that.

“Okay.”

Adela smiled faintly at my answer.

And then, she bowed her head one last time and left my room.

* * *

The next morning.

As usual, I was reading a book in Mimir’s study.

The alarm magic linked to my room’s doorbell went off.

Someone had pressed my room’s doorbell.

‘Is it Adela?’

It’s probably Adela.

She must have finished organizing her thoughts all night and come back to me as soon as the sun rose.

I opened the door, half-expecting it to be Adela.

“Hi.”

But what do you know.

The visitor wasn’t Adela.

“…Commander?”

“Why are you so surprised? Do you have a girlfriend hidden inside?”

The visitor was Commander Charles.

I really didn’t expect that.

“What is it? You said you were going to talk yesterday. Did you just let her sleep here?”

Commander Charles lowered her voice.

She really seems to think Adela is inside.

“No. It’s not like that. She went back yesterday. There’s no one inside.”

“…Aww. What? She’s not there?”

Commander Charles looked disappointed, as if her energy had been drained.

“How could you just send her back in that situation? You’re not a man, are you?”

Then, she gave me a sly look. Her expression was clearly playful.

“I told you, we’re not like that. And frankly, how can that kind of atmosphere happen when we’re having such a serious conversation?”

“How can it happen? A woman with a wounded heart. A man who believes in that woman and tells her the truth. A bond of trust that forms between them. And that trust combines with the affection they’ve built up to become passion and love…”

She had a dreamy look on her face.

“Commander, have you been watching a lot of dramas lately?”

“…”

Commander Charles was momentarily speechless. It was the reaction of someone who had been caught off guard.

“I guess so.”

Until recently, she was singing about how there was nothing to do in Korea.

I thought she had stopped saying that at some point.

So, she’s been watching dramas.

Then, is her recent change in fashion also due to the influence of dramas?

If so, then Commander Charles is quite deeply immersed in dramas.

“Commander, I’m saying this because I’m worried. Dramas aren’t reality. They’re all fiction. Koreans don’t date like that either.”

And those types usually have a subtle confusion between fantasy and reality.

Commander Charles, with her lack of common sense due to her long mercenary life, might have misunderstood even more.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“They don’t do things like candy kisses?”

“They don’t.”

“They don’t say things like, ‘Do you like me?’ either?”

“Absolutely not.”

“That can’t be…”

Commander Charles was frustrated.

She looked like she had been betrayed by someone she trusted.

She really seems to have fallen deeply into dramas.

“I, I told our guys that Koreans date like this, like it was a real story…”

“You didn’t say it was from a drama, and you said it like it was real?”

“Well… I’m the commander of a mercenary group, so it’s a bit weird to say I watch dramas… So, when they asked me about Korea, I said that people here date in a unique way…”

Commander Charles was fidgeting.

“Isn’t there anything wrong with that?”

Isn’t there anything wrong with saying a drama was real?

If the other mercenaries have similar common sense as Commander Charles, they wouldn’t find out.

Even if they did, it wouldn’t be a flaw to have watched a drama.

There’s nothing wrong with it.

“Anything wrong? There’s a lot. A lot. A crazy amount…”

“What’s the problem?”

“First of all… one of our guys is Korean. He came over at the age of 20 and started his mercenary life… Anyway, he knows a lot about Korea, right?”

“…Ah. Then he must have found out.”

That person would have immediately noticed that the commander was talking nonsense.

“And he… he was always singing about how Korean dramas are so fun, you know?”

This build-up.

I can roughly guess what’s coming.

“You said something about that.”

“…Yeah. I said, ‘What’s so fun about those childish love stories?’… I scolded him a lot… I even called him a kid…”

As expected.

“I was really sarcastic… In that situation, if it gets out that I watched dramas…”

Commander Charles’ face turned pale.

“You’ve built up a lot of karma, haven’t you?”

“…Hahaha.”

Commander Charles covered her eyes with her right hand.

“I’m doomed… The dignity of the commander… My charisma…”

Seeing Commander Charles in despair, I offered a small word of comfort.

“Um, cheer up.”

“I’m doomed…”

But was my comfort rather poisonous?

Commander Charles looked even more desperate.

* * *

After that, Commander Charles briefly explained the reason for her visit and then left immediately.

Normally, she would have stayed a little longer, but today she left right away with an expression that said she wasn’t in the mood to chat.

Her retreating figure looked quite pitiful.

‘…So why did you say those things?’

There are many kinds of karma in this world. Among them, messing with someone’s hobby is one of the highest forms of karma.

There’s no karma as terrible as denying someone’s favorite hobby.

What’s more, if the person who belittled that hobby is later enjoying it?

‘Ugh.’

Just imagining it makes my face flush.

It must be so embarrassing.

‘My condolences.’

I thought of Commander Charles’ pitiful retreating figure and sent a silent word of comfort in my heart.

‘Well, that’s that…’

I checked the report that Commander Charles had given me again.

[Thunder Bird Carcass Disposal Payment Details]

The sale of by-products from the Rank-Out Disaster Species [a monster or creature of immense power] that were processed in Baekdu Mountain and sold through AES is complete.

This is a report detailing how and for how much the by-products were sold.

‘It’s definitely cheaper than the market price. But even this much is a blessing.’

Even though it was smuggling and I only received 70%, this much is still amazing.

If it weren’t for Commander Charles’ connections and reputation, I wouldn’t have received even half of this amount.

Even if I had met a really good broker, it would have been around 60% of this price.

‘She really deserves to be trusted.’

Perhaps because mercenaries and brokers are somewhat closely related.

The brokers seem to have made quite a few concessions.

In the underworld, Commander Charles’ name is almost as high as Sophia’s, so they probably couldn’t mess around.

‘Anyway, with this amount, I can go anywhere.’

My student status, which had been binding me, disappeared yesterday with the passing of the accelerated promotion exam.

Now I’m free to go anywhere.

‘France is definitely a bit expensive.’

I’m thinking of going to France to enjoy that freedom.

For the record, it’s not for travel purposes.

If it were for travel purposes, I wouldn’t have used the money I earned from selling the Thunder Bird carcass this time.

I would have just received support from the family.

‘I’ve already applied for a fake ID… it’ll be ready in four days. And the plane will be ready within three days if I just deposit the money.’

The reason why I’m not receiving support from the family and using the money from selling the Thunder Bird carcass is because this matter isn’t something I can do openly.

I’m planning to illegally enter France.

I’ve already finished all the preparations for that.

‘The key is whether I can get my hands on Ignis within two months…’

The goal is to get my hands on the medium of Ignis that exists in France.

This illegal entry is for that purpose.

‘If I were entering legally, I could definitely find it within two months.’

If I were entering legally, I could go anywhere.

If that were the case, finding Ignis would have been very easy.

But this time, I’m not entering legally, but illegally.

There will be a lot of restrictions on my actions.

‘…If it weren’t for those Black Magic Tower guys.’

It’s all because of the Black Magic Tower.

If they weren’t watching me, I wouldn’t have to spend a lot of money to enter illegally.

‘Hah. What can I do? That’s the situation. I have to endure the inconvenience of being abroad.’

The reason why the Black Magic Tower guys can’t openly target me right now is because I’m in Korea.

Because the country is small, the density of security is incomparably higher than other countries.

The security network of the Mado family is spread all over the metropolitan area.

And because my father and Kim Kang-in, who are huge powers, are located nearby, they can’t easily target me.

But if I go abroad, it’s a different story.

Just like I received countless threats from them in the United States.

The moment I go abroad, I’ll be bitten to death by them.

That’s why I’m trying to enter illegally.

To prevent them from knowing that I’ve gone abroad.

That way, they won’t target me.

For the record, the reason why I didn’t receive support from the family is also here.

There’s a hacker among the executives of the Black Magic Tower.

As such, if I move the family’s money, they might find out that I secretly went abroad.

To prevent that, I used the black money I earned from selling the Thunder Bird carcass to prepare.

This way, there’s no way for a hacker or anyone else to know my whereabouts.

‘I think I’ll need a supporter to help me locally…’

A helper who can somewhat alleviate the inconvenience that I, an illegal immigrant, will experience.

If I have such a helper, the task of finding Ignis’ medium will be much easier.

‘I wonder if Adela would do it.’

And the best person for that helper is none other than Adela.

She knows all my circumstances, so I can trust her.

And as a descendant of the Steart family, a prestigious family in France, she also has considerable power.

That’s why, when we were talking yesterday, I casually mentioned that I would like her to go to France and help me.

I haven’t heard an answer yet, though.

‘If only Adela would help me, I wouldn’t have any worries.’

Seeing that she hasn’t contacted me yet, is she hesitating?

‘Should I call her first?’

I was thinking that while fiddling with my phone.

Buzz-!

Just then, my phone rang.

[Adela]

The three letters of Adela’s name appeared on the screen.

Adela had sent me a text message.

I immediately checked the text message.

[Sorry for being late. It took me a while to sort things out.]

[France. I’ll go. How should we plan the schedule?]

“Bingo.”

The content of the text message was exactly what I wanted.