The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 240

After that,

I brushed off Stella’s unease, saying it was just a feeling.

My internal mana had become isolated, causing it to feel stale overall. I attributed that lingering sensation to the unease.

I made up something like that.

Perhaps because it was a plausible excuse, she didn’t suspect anything.

Far from suspecting, she was just amazed.

‘You can sense the mana’s energy in such detail? Wow…’

Her eyes sparkled as if she were a devotee looking at their god.

The already burdensome gaze became even more so.

Looking back, that excuse was a mistake.

Reading the atmosphere of mana.

Only Sophia and I can do something like that.

Adela’s Mind’s Eye or Kim Kang-in’s Ruby Eyes can read the characteristics of mana to some extent.

But reading subtle qualities like a stale feeling is impossible.

Stella was bound to be surprised when I said I could do that.

Thinking about it again, my excuse was clumsy.

I forgot I was Ruan Palatia and made an excuse like Shin Ha-yul would.

‘Well, my identity won’t be suspected just by this…’

If these things pile up, I don’t know what will happen later.

I need to be more careful from now on.

Considering Stella’s brainpower and perceptiveness, I really need to be careful.

If I make a mistake a couple more times, my identity might be exposed.

‘I need to be careful starting with today’s gathering.’

The current time is 7 PM.

Twenty minutes before the tea party hosted by Saint was scheduled to begin.

I calmed myself again in front of the Vino Sugar mansion, the meeting place.

‘Considering Saint’s unpredictable personality and Lillian’s playfulness, I absolutely can’t let my guard down.’

I don’t know when Shin Ha-yul’s persona might pop out again.

I need to brace myself.

If I don’t stay focused, I’ll be devoured.

“Hoo.”

I took one last deep breath and entered the building.

* * *

7:20 PM.

The tea party hosted by Saint Vino Sugar began.

The attendees were the two mothers and daughters from the Vino Sugar and Steart families, and Ruan Palatia, making five in total.

One person sat in the middle of the rectangular table, with two people on each side.

Needless to say, the center was the seat of honor.

“…Is this arrangement really correct?”

Normally, Saint, as the host, should sit in the middle, the seat of honor.

Even without being the host, she is the highest-ranking person socially.

She is also the owner of this house.

Even if Sophia Anecheff were in this place, Saint Vino Sugar should have sat in the seat of honor.

That’s the normal arrangement.

“For an outsider like me to be in the seat of honor.”

However, Saint’s bouncy personality rejects normal judgment.

Currently, Ruan Palatia, that is, Shin Ha-yul, is sitting in the seat of honor.

The mothers and daughters of the two families are seated on either side in order.

“There’s no need to attach meaning to seats. I’m just sitting here because this is comfortable for me.”

Saint observed Shin Ha-yul with an expression that said the world was fun.

She looked like she found his fidgeting very cute.

It was clear to anyone that she had put him in that seat to tease him.

“And you’d better get used to it. You’ll be sitting there often in the future.”

“What does that mean…”

What does it mean that I’ll be sitting there often? Does it mean that this tea party will be held often?

“If you become my son-in-law, you’ll be sitting there often, won’t you?”

“Mom!”

Stella, who had been listening with an uneasy expression, stood up and shouted.

I had a hunch, and it was as I expected.

“Calm down. In terms of skill, it’s right for Ruan to become the head of the family. Letting him rot as a son-in-law is a loss for humanity. Even if you wanted to sit in that position…”

“No, that’s not what I mean!”

“Hmm. Isn’t the problem that we’re handing over the family headship to a son-in-law? Then what’s the problem?”

Saint smiled slyly.

Stella muttered, ‘Oh, really,’ with an expression that said she was about to explode.

“It’s the problem before that.”

“The problem before that?”

“Yes!”

Saint stroked her chin and raised the corners of her mouth.

“I see. So you want to get engaged before getting married. I think there’s no need to get engaged in this day and age. But if you really want to, I won’t oppose it.”

Stella was speechless.

She never imagined such words would come out.

“Okay, Ruan. She’s a daughter who only dreams such girlish dreams, but is that okay? If it’s okay, let’s start with the engagement…”

“Mooommm!!”

Stella shouted.

Her cheeks and ears were flushed red.

She looked like she was dying of embarrassment.

Saint smiled brightly as she looked at Stella.

She looked so happy.

“Just kidding. Just kidding. Why are you taking it so seriously? Serious people aren’t popular.”

“Tsk…”

Stella’s lips pouted like a duck’s.

“You always say everything is a joke…”

Then she grumbled with a very annoyed expression.

“The mother-daughter relationship is nice to see.”

Lillian covered her mouth and chuckled, as if she found the scene quite cute.

“I’m envious of a relationship that seems so close.”

Then she glanced at Adela, who was blankly staring with a meaningful expression.

“My child is like this… No matter what I say, she hardly ever reacts.”

“That’s the same with my child.”

Saint chuckled and looked at Stella, who was still huffing.

“You wouldn’t think so, but she’s called the Ice Queen at school. She’s naturally gifted at managing her expressions and controlling her emotions.”

“You give me a disease and then the cure. You play both the drum and the flute. It’s always the same…”

Stella muttered, still sulking.

She looked completely sulky.

“To make these kinds of kids react, you have to choose the topic well. If you poke their weak spot, the emotions they’ve been suppressing will burst out.”

“Ah.”

Lillian was genuinely impressed.

“Don’t teach them such things seriously…”

Stella still grumbled.

“Your child seems similar to ours in that regard. It would be good to try that approach. It seems like you also have a topic that will make him react right away.”

“Ah. Ha-yul?”

Adela’s shoulders twitched.

Just the mention of Shin Ha-yul’s name caused a very intense reaction.

Seeing that, Saint licked her lips.

She looked like a child who had found a new toy.

“She’s already reacting.”

Lillian’s smile also deepened.

“Thanks for the good tip. I’ll use that tip well when I go back to Korea, in a place where I’m with Ha-yul.”

“Mom…”

Adela cried out in a low voice, with an expression that begged her not to do that.

Lillian’s smile deepened further.

She had an expression that said she would definitely use it.

“Okay. Use it and give me a review.”

“Of course.”

They were in perfect agreement.

Shin Ha-yul silently wished them both good luck.

At the same time, he was impressed.

‘That’s how you tease people.’

He had a new realization.

He resolved to use the realization he gained today on Ji Soon-chan when he returned. He made that resolution.

“By the way, are you going back to Korea?”

“Yes. I can’t leave Adela alone.”

Lillian’s face was clouded with gloom. The thought of Wi Sang-cheol’s death brought back the sadness.

Adela was the same.

Her expression darkened rapidly.

“…I see.”

Saint’s expression also darkened somewhat. No matter how self-willed a woman she was, she knew how to mourn a person’s death.

A dark atmosphere settled in the room for a moment.

“Ahaha. Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Let’s stop talking about this. We should talk about good things in a nice place like this.”

Lillian quickly changed the atmosphere.

No, she tried to change it.

“…”

“…”

However, it’s not easy to return a once-depressed atmosphere to its original state.

Something is needed to trigger it.

Then, Saint smiled with an expression that said she had thought of something.

“Then, to change the gloomy atmosphere, how about we have a sparring match before the refreshments are served?”

A sparring match.

The four of them showed different reactions to those words.

Among them, the most intense reaction was undoubtedly Stella’s.

As if she had never been sulking, she looked at Saint with sparkling eyes, sending out signals that said, ‘Can we really do it?’ ‘Can we do it right now?’

“Ruan. Is it okay with you?”

“Yes, it’s good to move my body before eating something.”

Shin Ha-yul stood up from his seat.

“If the three of you are okay with it, I’m fine with it too.”

Saint nodded slightly and asked Lillian and Adela with her eyes.

It was a question of whether they were okay with it.

“I’m more than happy to.”

Lillian smiled and agreed, and Adela nodded silently in affirmation.

With that, all five of them had given their consent.

Stella stood up from her seat and let out a silent cheer.

‘Finally…!’

A sparring match with Ruan Palatia, which she had dreamed of.

Stella’s heart pounded with anticipation.

* * *

The sparring match lasted about 20 minutes.

Considering that the previous sparring match with Saint ended in about 5 minutes, it was quite a long time.

“As an instructor, he’s better than me.”

The sparring match wasn’t long because it was a close match.

If Shin Ha-yul had gone all out, the sparring match would have ended within a minute.

That’s only natural.

Shin Ha-yul is a skilled swordsman who can exchange about 20 blows with Saint.

He’s not someone that a promising young talent of only 19 years old can withstand.

The reason the current sparring match is long is simply because Shin Ha-yul is holding back.

“I’m sorry to say this, but as an instructor, he’s on a different level.”

Lillian muttered with a very serious expression.

Lillian’s words were potentially rude.

Usually, people would be displeased or, in severe cases, even angry if they heard such words.

“My level is far below?”

“Yeah.”

However, Saint didn’t seem displeased at all.

“You usually save your words, but you’re so bold at times like this.”

“Bold or whatever, you’re thinking the same thing as me.”

Far from looking displeased, she looked rather refreshed.

“I won’t affirm it because it hurts my pride… Well, I won’t deny it either.”

The two looked at each other and chuckled. Then they focused their attention back on the two sparring.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“What Ruan is doing now. Can you do it too?”

Currently, Ruan Palatia is perfectly imitating and demonstrating Stella’s swordsmanship.

“I can do it. Of course, it’s limited to the swordsmanship of opponents who are somewhat lower in level.”

Saint observed Ruan with sharp eyes.

Ruan was using the swordsmanship of her daughter, whom she had watched for over 10 years.

He said it was his first time sparring, so it must be the first time he’s seen that sword today.

Yet, there was not a single awkwardness in the way he used Stella’s swordsmanship.

Rather, it looked much cleaner and more refined than Stella’s sword.

“Then…”

“It’s impossible.”

Saint answered before Lillian could ask her next question.

“How did you know what I was going to say?”

“Weren’t you going to ask if I could not only imitate the opponent’s sword but also evolve it to the next level?”

“You’re quick-witted.”

“Isn’t it strange if you can’t read the flow of the conversation just now?”

“That’s true.”

Saint chuckled.

“To continue my answer, it’s impossible. No matter how much lower the opponent’s level is. The sword he uses is his own sword, which he has refined for years.”

Even if you learn the same swordsmanship, the form of the swordsmanship changes depending on the person’s physique and type.

People with insufficient strength use a more precise form.

People with insufficient agility use a heavier form.

Even Saint and Stella, who are learning Vino Sugar’s swordsmanship, have the same basic moves, but there are significant differences when you go into the details.

If Saint’s sword is the ‘King’s Sword’ that boasts absolute power, Stella’s sword is the ‘Sword of Extreme Cold’ that freezes everything in the world.

“Only the person himself knows the advantages and disadvantages of a sword that has changed according to his own body structure. Of course, only he knows how to improve it.”

That’s why teaching swordsmanship is difficult.

Swordsmanship can vary in all sorts of ways depending on the physique, the nature of the muscles, and the form of the mana core.

There are many cases where a sword is ruined because an instructor gives strange advice based on his ‘experience’.

That’s how difficult it is to teach swordsmanship to others.

So, of course, it’s impossible to evolve someone else’s swordsmanship.

“Then what is he?”

“…I don’t know.”

But Shin Ha-yul is currently making that impossible thing a reality.

Even though I’m seeing it in real-time, I can’t believe it.

“Not only does he imitate the opponent’s sword, but he also presents the path the opponent should take by reproducing it as a superior version…”

Saint laughed as if she was dumbfounded.

“I’m dumbfounded even as I say it. How can such a fantasy from a dream appear in reality?”

Does Stella even know what she’s gaining right now?

Does she know that she’s holding onto a golden opportunity that all swordsmen desire?

Does she realize how lucky she is right now?

‘She probably doesn’t.’

She’s probably just making that happy face because she doesn’t know.

She’s wielding her sword, staring intently at the sword the man in front of her is wielding, completely lost in the moment.

It’s probably a very happy time for her.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve genuinely envied someone.”

The pleasure of every minute and second turning into growth is indescribable.

Saint had only felt that sensation once, but even thinking back, she had never felt happiness greater than that.

She was genuinely jealous of her daughter, who was feeling that sensation.

“I was already greedy, but I’m even greedier now.”

But the jealousy was only temporary.

Saint’s eyes were filled with greed and desire.

I want to have that man.

I want to raise the family’s position through that man and seize the revival of the existence of knights.

“It’s understandable to be greedy. If it wasn’t for Ha-yul, I might have been a little greedy too.”

“Hmph. Stay out of it.”

“Oh my. Scary. You don’t have to look at me like that, I’ll stay out of it.”

Lillian trembled slightly as she received Saint’s murderous gaze.

Saint erased her murderous intent and looked at Ruan with a gaze full of goodwill.

‘Now… how should I approach him?’

How can I make that coveted swordsman a member of the family?

Saint’s mind was filled with such thoughts.