The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 262

The autobiography left by the First Sol Lunari, like any other autobiography, primarily detailed his life story.

There wasn’t any information that was particularly helpful to me.

The main difference from other autobiographies was that about half of the content focused not on himself, but on ‘Ray Bell Vaitener’.

“Sol Lunari. A lineage favored by mana. A family born with a mana body…” Adela muttered, her expression serious.

Indeed, this autobiography didn’t contain information directly helpful ‘to me’.

But that was only in relation to ‘me’.

Adela was a different case.

“Perhaps because they are closer than anyone to the great power of mana, those born in the Sol Lunari family usually die before the age of 30,” she said.

The autobiography meticulously recorded the characteristics of the Sol Lunari family.

This information was invaluable to Adela.

“Most of the past heads of the Steart family died young, right?” I asked.

“Yes. Many of them passed away between the ages of 30 and 40,” she confirmed.

Adela’s eyes lit up, as if a long-standing question had finally been answered.

“I only knew that the people of the Steart family were born with weak constitutions… There was a reason for this,” she mused.

The cause of death for most of the past heads of the Steart family was ‘debility’.

It was said that they slowly lost their life force, as if their lifespan had run out, and then passed away peacefully, as if falling asleep.

“If the heads of the family hadn’t died young, the Steart family would have become the most powerful family in the world, not just a prestigious one in France. This means that the premise itself was flawed from the start. It’s not that geniuses died young due to bad luck, but that they were geniuses because they were destined to die young…” Adela explained.

If the past heads of the family hadn’t died young, they wouldn’t have possessed that level of talent either.

Therefore, the premise of ‘if they hadn’t died young’ was inherently incorrect.

That’s what she meant.

“But the current head of the Steart family is 50 years old and still healthy, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I heard that the previous head of the family also lived a very long life,” I added.

“Yes,” she confirmed again.

“Then isn’t that different from what’s written in this autobiography? It says here that all mages born in Sol Lunari die young,” I pointed out.

“That’s what I’m wondering too. There have been people who lived long lives before, but they were all people who didn’t have talent as mages, so according to this autobiography, it can be seen that they didn’t ‘die young’ because they didn’t receive ‘talent’…” Adela explained.

“Both the current head of the family and the previous head of the family are 8-circle mages [a very high level of magic]. There’s no way they don’t have talent,” I countered.

“Yes. That’s the question. Why are those two the only exceptions…” she pondered.

The reason why only the current head of the family and the previous head of the family were able to escape the ‘short life’ curse of the Sol Lunari constitution.

What could it be?

“Could it be that the previous head of the family and my uncle also overcame the curse with overwhelming talent, like the First Sol Lunari?” I suggested.

According to the autobiography, the only one in the Sol Lunari family who did not die young was the First Sol Lunari.

It was said that his overwhelming talent was at a level that could completely suppress and control the toxins of mana.

“No. That wouldn’t be it,” Adela replied.

“I don’t know exactly what level of mage the First Sol Lunari was, but both of them were so outstanding that they were described as being the best ever. If it were those two, they might have been able to overcome the curse like the First Sol Lunari…” I said.

“It’s not that their talents are lacking,” Adela stated.

This was a problem that went beyond talent.

“It’s true that the First Sol Lunari’s outstanding talent was the basis for overcoming the curse of a short life. But that’s just the foundation, right? That’s not the decisive reason why he was able to overcome the curse,” she said.

“Ah,” I exclaimed.

Adela’s eyes widened. It seemed she had realized something.

“My life began at the age of 19, with my meeting with my lord…” I read from the book.

“That’s right. The reason why the First Sol Lunari was able to avoid a short life was because of his master’s help,” Adela concluded.

Even if the talents of the previous and current heads of the Steart family reached the level of the First Sol Lunari, it was impossible to escape the curse of a short life without Ray Bell Vaitener.

“Then why…” Adela’s expression became even more serious.

The short life of the Steart family. This problem was directly related to Adela’s life.

It was natural for her to become serious.

“What happened to those two…” she wondered.

“…Hmm,” I hummed.

Silence fell. In that silence, Adela and I were engrossed in thinking about this matter.

“One thing. Something came to mind,” I said, breaking the silence.

“What is it?” Adela asked.

“About the previous head of the family. He was born in the magical transitional era after the magic revolution, right?” I asked.

The magic revolution. That’s what they called the event that drastically changed the magic system with the development of AI 101 years ago.

“Yes. He was born after the magic revolution, when AI began to be commercialized,” she confirmed.

“As expected,” I muttered.

“But why are you asking that… Ah,” Adela’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

“Could it be… because of AI?” she asked.

I nodded.

Mana body. A constitution that was as vulnerable to the toxins of mana as it was close to mana.

“That’s right. I think AI acted as a filter in the middle, neutralizing the toxins of mana,” I explained.

Since the toxins of mana were toxins that acted on the brain, there was a high possibility that the toxins were neutralized by the development of AI.

* * *

After arriving at the hotel, as soon as I reached the room that had been reserved in Shin Hayul’s name, I immediately headed to Mimir’s room.

And I told Mimir exactly what Adela and I had talked about on the way.

“AI acted as a neutralizer in the middle… Hmm. That’s quite possible,” Mimir said, her eyes lighting up with interest.

“Of course, if that happens, it’s the same as the mana body constitution losing its meaning, so the innate talent of the Sol Lunari family would have declined quite a bit, but it’s better to lose some talent than to die,” I said.

“So, it also affects magical talent,” I added.

“Of course, it has an effect. Why is it called a mana body? It’s because they are closer to mana than anyone else, but if AI acts as a primary filter, what’s the point?” Mimir explained.

That’s right.

“But even so, the previous head of the Steart family and the current head of the family are both famous for their exceptional talents?” I asked.

“Isn’t that because you’re comparing before and after AI was developed?” Mimir countered.

“Ah. That could be it,” I realized.

The overall skill of mages had increased with the development of AI.

If you compared mages who were born before AI was developed with mages who were born after, the mages after the development were bound to be overwhelmingly stronger.

To make an analogy, it was like comparing a talented archer and a gunner with ordinary talent.

“Then, Adela has nothing to do with the short life of Sol Lunari, right?” I asked.

If AI solved the short life of Sol Lunari, then the short life of Adela, who had AI, had also been solved.

“Hmm? No. That can’t be,” Mimir said, shaking her head as if I was talking nonsense.

“Adela Steart. That woman is a separate case. She heard the voice of mana, right?” Mimir asked.

“…Ah,” I exclaimed.

Being able to hear the voice of mana meant that she was that close to mana.

In other words, even though Adela had AI, her mana body constitution was working normally.

“For reference, even the First Sol Lunari, who was called the greatest genius of the Sol Lunari family, couldn’t hear the voice of mana,” Mimir added.

“Adela is closer to mana than the First Sol Lunari?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah. Much more,” Mimir confirmed.

Mimir opened her notebook and started scribbling something.

“At that level, she should be poisoned by the toxins of mana and die before she turns 20,” Mimir stated.

“…” I was speechless.

20 years old. There were less than two years left.

My expression naturally frowned.

“Ah, but that doesn’t mean Adela Steart will die before she turns 20, so don’t misunderstand,” Mimir quickly added.

My brow furrowed. She said she would die, and then suddenly she wouldn’t.

What did that mean?

“What I mean is that she would have died if things were normal,” Mimir clarified.

“If things were normal?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

Mimir stopped writing with her pen, checked the notes she had written, and then smiled with satisfaction.

“If things were normal, she wouldn’t have lived more than two years, but that woman ate the ‘Grace of God’ [a rare elixir], right?” Mimir asked.

Come to think of it, my master also said something about the Grace of God to Adela.

“The Grace of God is a rare elixir that transforms the body of the person who consumes it into the body of a perfect mage,” Mimir explained.

Mimir showed me what she had written.

“And the body of a perfect mage means a body similar to Ray Bell Vaitener. Like my father,” she added.

Ray Bell Vaitener. A constitution similar to my master.

“That means…” I started to say.

“Yes. A constitution that is completely immune to the toxins of mana,” Mimir finished.

Mimir smiled brightly.

“Not as good as my father or the successor, but a constitution that is close to their level,” she said.

At the end of the calculation formula in Mimir’s notes, this sentence was written.

“The current Adela Steart is completely immune to the toxins of mana.”

[Sol Lunari + Grace of God = Invincible]

* * *

The next morning, I headed to the agreed place.

‘I can’t believe I’m coming back here.’

The agreed place was none other than the Vinoche family’s mansion.

It was a place I had visited more than a dozen times when I was active as ‘Luan Palatia’.

I couldn’t believe I was coming back here again.

I stood at the entrance of the mansion and stared blankly at it.

‘Surely, they haven’t noticed, have they?’ I thought.

The one who called me was none other than Sein Vinoche.

To suddenly call a complete stranger like me to meet.

Something felt fishy.

‘Surely not? It’s just a light tea party, so they called me, right?’ I tried to reassure myself.

Lilian had been talking about me several times before.

Considering Sein’s curiosity, it was highly likely that he called me because he was curious about me.

‘Yeah. How many people know about this? There’s no way they noticed,’ I concluded.

“Why aren’t you going in and just standing here?” a voice asked.

“You arrived early?” I replied.

While I was standing there blankly, the Steart mother and daughter arrived.

They approached me, who was standing blankly at the entrance.

“Are you nervous? Or are you scared?” Lilian asked, poking my cheek and laughing playfully.

“No, I’m not,” I replied.

“You are. If that’s not the case, there’s no reason for you to be standing here blankly,” Lilian said.

Lilian looked at me with warm eyes, as if she were looking at her son.

“Don’t worry. Sein. He’s known to have a scary image in the world, but he’s not that scary in reality. Just act normal,” she advised.

“…Yes,” I agreed.

That wasn’t the reason why I was hesitating, but I didn’t think there was a need to bother refuting it, so I agreed.

“You’ll know when you meet him. Let’s go in,” Lilian said.

“Yes,” I replied.

Lilian poked my cheek again and then entered the mansion.

“Welcome,” a maid greeted us.

“Hello. Is Sein awake?” Lilian asked.

“Yes. He woke up a while ago. He’s waiting in the tea room now,” the maid replied.

“Really? That’s unexpected. I thought he wouldn’t be awake at this time,” Lilian said.

The current time was 1 PM. It was like dawn for Sein.

“Then we can go straight to the tea room, right?” Lilian asked.

“Yes,” the maid replied.

“Okay. I understand,” Lilian said.

“I’ll guide you,” the maid offered.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I don’t know the way. You seem very tired. Rest,” Lilian said.

“No. I’m not tired at all…” the maid protested.

Lilian smiled. It was a smile that seemed to force the maid to say, ‘It’s okay, so rest.’

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration,” the maid said, bowing her head.

“Let’s go,” Lilian said.

“Yes,” I replied.

Lilian looked at me and Adela and smiled, then headed upstairs.

I passed through the stairs and corridors that I had passed several times when I was active as Luan, and arrived at the familiar tea room.

“Sein. We’re coming in?” Lilian said, opening the door to the tea room without even waiting for an answer.

And the moment I tried to enter the tea room.

“…!”

“…!”

An aura of killing intent emanated from inside the tea room. A thick killing intent that evoked death.

My survival instinct reacted to that killing intent.

I immediately lowered my posture and prepared to respond to the attack.

However, no one attacked us.

“Sein. Even so, isn’t this prank too much?” Lilian asked.

The killing intent quickly subsided.

In the center of the tea room, which had returned to its usual leisurely atmosphere, Sein Vinoche was smiling like a beast.

As if he couldn’t see Lilian or Adela.

“Hmm,” he hummed.

He was looking only at me and giving a meaningful smile.