The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 269

Without fully understanding how the situation was unfolding, I was kicked out of the Imperial Princess’s palace.

‘If you want to hear the next part, go to the Greenwood Forest, meet Elena, and get her recognition.’

That’s all she said before issuing a flat dismissal.

She was so firm that I couldn’t even argue.

What could I do? Mimir held all the cards now. I had to do as she said.

“…Still, she should have told me where to go.”

Shouldn’t she have at least told me how to get to the Greenwood Forest?

How could she just tell me to go without any directions?

I didn’t know anything about the geography here.

‘What should I do?’

How should I get to the Greenwood Forest?

Should I start by exploring the surroundings?

But would anything come of exploring the surroundings?

…Probably not.

“This is a headache…”

Should I go back to the Imperial Princess’s palace and ask?

Maybe they would at least tell me the location.

‘No. Given her firm attitude, she probably wouldn’t tell me.’

And it felt a bit awkward to ask for help from someone who had just so resolutely kicked me out.

It was a matter of pride, I suppose.

‘What should I do?’

My worries deepened.

‘If Miho were here, this would have been solved already.’

If Miho were by my side right now, she would have sensed Elena’s soul and guided me to the Greenwood Forest in detail.

Not bringing Miho was a huge mistake.

‘Well, there was no way to bring her in the first place.’

Mimir said that only I could enter the trial page.

Even Miho, who was bound by ‘Factio’ [a magical contract], couldn’t enter this place.

It’s a real shame.

‘…But just in case, should I try calling her?’

There’s always a chance.

What if I activated Factio and Miho suddenly appeared?

Even Mimir wouldn’t know everything about mythical magic.

‘Let’s try it. It’s worth a shot.’

There was nothing to lose by trying.

I immediately activated Factio using the necklace I wore, the medium for Factio.

The mana gathered in the necklace turned crimson, emitting a soft glow.

‘…It’s activating?’

The fact that a red glow was being emitted meant that Factio had been successfully activated.

In other words, contrary to Mimir’s words, Miho was being summoned here.

‘What? It’s working fine.’

As expected. Even Mimir couldn’t know everything about the extraordinary power of mythical magic.

‘This changes things.’

It seemed like getting to the Greenwood Forest was somehow resolved.

‘The problem is Elena in the Greenwood Forest…’

Mimir didn’t remember me.

That meant that the Mimir in this world was the Mimir before she met me.

Which meant that the Elena in this world was also likely to not know me.

‘She’s likely in the same state as when I met her in the third trial page… before she met me.’

If this world was structured like the previous trial page, then the Elena in this world was a replica of Elena before she met me.

She wouldn’t remember me.

‘That’s a bit of a headache…’

Considering Elena’s personality, she wouldn’t turn me away at the door.

But it would still be a headache. It would feel strangely sad.

No, not strangely, it would feel really sad.

To think that someone who was like a mentor to me wouldn’t remember me.

If she suddenly asked, ‘Who are you?’ my heart might drop on the spot.

It might be better to prepare myself mentally.

I smiled wryly at the thought.

‘But what’s the purpose of this trial page?’

I really didn’t understand.

I had thought about it several times, but there was no purpose that I could deduce.

It was strange to make me meet Elena again.

It was also strange that Mimir, who didn’t remember me, was the examiner.

Why did my teacher make such a world into a trial page?

I didn’t know.

I couldn’t even guess.

‘And why isn’t Miho reacting?’

She should have been summoned a long time ago.

Yet, Miho still hadn’t appeared.

‘It definitely activated normally.’

The necklace was still emitting a red glow.

Factio had definitely been activated.

‘But why?’

Yet, Miho wasn’t being summoned. What was the reason?

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

My already aching head hurt even more.

Nothing was going as expected.

‘Ah, whatever. Let’s cancel it for now…’

Just as I was about to cancel Factio and look for another way.

Clang!

Suddenly, something shattered.

A sound a bit sharper than glass breaking.

It was a sound that felt familiar.

“Hmm. I didn’t hear about this.”

A male voice cut through the sound of shattering glass.

This voice also felt familiar.

No, beyond familiar, it was definitely a voice I knew well.

I widened my eyes and turned towards the direction of the voice.

I saw the void, shattered like broken glass.

A man slowly walked out from within.

Starting with his feet, then his thighs, torso, and neck. The man’s figure slowly began to appear in the sunlight.

“You’ve changed noticeably in the five minutes I haven’t seen you.”

“Aslan!”

Aslan Polohamruin.

A 9th-circle mage and the only mage besides my teacher who could wield space magic.

He smiled as if he found the situation quite amusing.

“That expression… I see. It seems quite a bit of time has passed outside.”

He chuckled, resting his chin on his index finger and thumb, lost in thought.

From his expression, it seemed that Aslan also didn’t know how the situation was unfolding.

“Um, you do remember me, right?”

From his first words, it seemed clear that he remembered me, but just in case.

It was better to be sure.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

Aslan frowned, as if I was saying something absurd.

It was certain. The Aslan Polohamruin in front of me was the Aslan Polohamruin I knew, the one who taught me in the trial page.

“More than that, what about this situation…”

Just as Aslan was about to say something,

His body suddenly tilted forward.

And above him, a giant fox with attractive white fur appeared.

“You…”

Miho.

No, should I call her a Gumiho [a nine-tailed fox spirit] now?

The complete Gumiho I had met in the previous trial page approached me.

And then, she affectionately rubbed her face against me.

The light flowing from the necklace seeped into the Gumiho.

“Ah. It wasn’t Miho, but you, the one from this world, that was connected.”

It seemed that what Factio was trying to summon wasn’t Miho, but the complete divine beast, the Gumiho, in front of me.

‘…This is fascinating.’

Was it because Miho and she were the same soul?

It was very strange that they were connected by Factio, even though I hadn’t directly contracted with her.

“I have something important to say. Move aside.”

Aslan stood in front of me, cutting across the Gumiho’s path.

The Gumiho frowned as if she didn’t like Aslan.

“Just wait a moment.”

I stroked the Gumiho’s head as if to soothe her.

The Gumiho smiled brightly as if she had never frowned.

Then, she made her body smaller and snuggled into my arms.

‘…Is it because she’s complete? Even when she makes her body smaller, she’s different from Miho.’

Well, there was a change when Miho went from five tails to six tails, so it’s natural that they’re different.

Whatever, they’re both cute, so it doesn’t matter.

I stroked the shrunken Gumiho with all my heart.

“…Tsk. Just five minutes ago, you looked like you were about to die.”

Aslan looked at the Gumiho with a displeased expression.

Then, he turned his gaze away as if he had lost interest and looked at me.

“First, just in case, I’ll ask. Do you know what’s going on right now?”

“No. I don’t know the details either. I just… entered the sixth trial page and was in this state…”

“The sixth trial page? Here?”

Aslan’s eyes narrowed even further.

He seemed to be thinking even more.

“Did you just enter?”

“No. That’s not it. I entered a while ago, and the place wasn’t here…”

I pointed my thumb behind me, indicating the Imperial Princess’s palace.

“There. Inside the Imperial Princess’s palace.”

“The Imperial Princess’s palace?”

Aslan looked at me as if I was talking nonsense.

“What’s behind you?”

“…Huh?”

I quickly turned around.

Where was the Imperial Princess’s palace?

I hadn’t moved a single step since leaving the Imperial Princess’s palace.

It should be right behind me…

“…Huh?”

It wasn’t there.

“…Why?”

The Imperial Princess’s palace, which had been there just a moment ago, had vanished in an instant.

As if it had never been there in the first place.

It had completely disappeared.

“…What is this now?”

My already complicated head became even more complicated.

* * *

After that, to clear my complicated head, I told Aslan everything I had experienced.

How when I entered the sixth trial page, there was a Mimir who identified herself as an Imperial Princess.

How that Mimir didn’t remember me.

And how she suddenly told me it was a test and that I had to go to the Greenwood Forest and get recognition from Elena Ro Greenwood.

I explained everything from start to finish, without missing a single word.

“Mimir is the examiner?”

After hearing everything, Aslan frowned deeply and fell into thought.

I thought Aslan would figure something out.

But even after hearing everything, he didn’t seem to grasp the situation.

“Didn’t the teacher tell you about this?”

“No. There was no mention of this.”

Aslan replied vaguely, still with a complex expression.

“My mission ended a moment ago, when I passed you. I don’t know anything about what happens after that.”

“…I see.”

Even Aslan, one of the examiners, didn’t know.

Then, was this sixth trial page itself top secret?

Or was it that something unexpected had happened that even my teacher hadn’t foreseen?

I didn’t know.

“There’s too little information.”

“Yes.”

Aslan clicked his tongue and took his hand off his chin.

“There’s no point in thinking about it any further. First…”

Then, he used magic to create a rift in the air.

“As Mimir said, it would be best to go to the Greenwood Forest.”

“Yes. That would be better.”

He put his hand into the rift that had opened wide to the left and right and poured mana into it.

It seemed he was setting the destination.

“But… is it possible to go to the Greenwood Forest?”

“Normally, it shouldn’t be possible. The only thing that was materialized in the fifth trial page where I was was the Labyrinth of Desire.”

He adjusted the amount of mana, reducing it and increasing it, as if something wasn’t working well.

“Normally, I shouldn’t have been able to come here either. No, in the first place, this place shouldn’t have been materialized.”

“The fact that this place is materialized is proof that the Greenwood Forest is also materialized.”

“Yes. I don’t know why, but the materialized world has expanded. No, at this rate, we should consider it merged.”

“Merged…”

In short, the third and fifth trial pages were merged.

And if that hypothesis was correct…

“The third, fifth, and sixth trial pages have all merged. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

Aslan’s eyes lit up.

It seemed he had finished adjusting the mana.

“The key is whether the merging of the three trial pages is according to the master’s plan, or if an unforeseen error has occurred. If it’s the former, there’s no problem, but if it’s the latter…”

“It would be difficult.”

“If she also doesn’t know about this situation, there’s a high probability that…”

“Something has gone wrong.”

“That’s right.”

Aslan took his hand out of the rift and gestured to me with his chin.

“Whatever it is, joining up with Elena is the priority. Go in.”

“Yes.”

Holding Miho in my arms, I stepped into the rift, the portal that Aslan had created.

The dark scenery unique to moving through a portal flashed by.

And then, the trees, tens of meters tall, that the Greenwood Forest was famous for came into view.

‘It really is the Greenwood Forest.’

Just as I was lost in thought.

‘…Hostility!!’

Suddenly, a sticky hostility was sensed from behind.

And at the same time.

Corrupted mana filled the sky.

“…You. What’s your relationship with the witch of the forest?”

Several dozen black mages surrounded me, pointing their staffs at me.