The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 299

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-300

In the middle of the South Sea.

We were leisurely crossing the sea on Behemoth.

“How did you tame Behemoth?”

To control a monster of this level so perfectly.

How could you possibly tame something like this?

“I didn’t use any special taming magic. What I used was just ordinary taming magic.”

“…You tamed Behemoth with ordinary taming magic?”

That’s absurd.

If that were possible, the position of monster tamers would have risen to a level incomparable to what it is now.

The limit of what you can tame with ordinary taming magic is, at best, A-rank.

Unless it’s black magic, it’s absolutely impossible to tame an out-of-standard monster like Behemoth with formal magic.

“You can tame an S-rank monster with ordinary taming magic. It’s just that the conditions are a bit tricky.”

“What are the conditions?”

“First, it has to be a baby. No matter how much of an S-rank monster it is, its mental barrier isn’t that strong when it’s a baby. If you start taming it then, it’ll be tamed just like any other monster.”

“That’s already ridiculously difficult.”

You might think, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal’ for a moment.

But that’s an impossible condition.

Perhaps because of their long lifespan, S-rank monsters don’t easily give birth to offspring.

Even the S-rank monster known to breed the fastest, the Dragon Bee, is said to give birth to offspring every 50 years, so that says it all.

The breeding season of Behemoth hasn’t been revealed, but given that it’s a mammal, it wouldn’t be faster than other monsters.

Wouldn’t Behemoth’s breeding cycle easily exceed hundreds of years?

That’s why it’s so hard to capture a baby.

Even if you raid the habitat of an S-rank monster aiming for a baby, the probability of there being no baby is extremely high.

“And you have to cast taming magic on it every single day from when it’s a baby. So that it will obey us even when it becomes an adult. Continuously for hundreds of years.”

“…Hundreds of years?”

“Yeah. Hundreds of years.”

Terun stroked the skin of the Behemoth we were currently riding on.

“It actually took nearly 500 years just to completely tame it.”

“Even considering that it’s a mammal that’s hard to tame, 500 years is…”

That’s way too long.

“No, more than that, does that mean at least six generations continued the taming?”

“That’s right. It’s a collaborative work of the eight heads of the Sitrea family. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Whether I should call it amazing… it’s an incredible obsession.”

Taming for 500 years over eight generations.

“Originally, the Sitrea family was a tamer lineage that pursued the ultimate in taming. It’s understandable that they would develop such an obsession.”

“The Sitrea family was a tamer lineage. That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

A baby Behemoth obtained by chance.

If it’s a tamer lineage, it’s natural that they would develop an obsession.

“Well, of course, now the family and everything else is ruined.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask why that happened?”

Looking at the current situation, it seems that the Sitrea family succeeded in taming Behemoth.

The complete taming of an S-rank monster, which is like a dream for tamers.

Why did a family that achieved such a great feat disappear into the annals of history without leaving any records?

I was purely curious.

“It’s simple. 160 years ago. Terun Sitrea, the 23rd head of the family, refused to live as a tamer.”

“Refused…”

Considering Terun Sitrea’s achievements, it’s easy to guess.

I guess he refused to become a tamer, saying he would become a researcher.

“At that time, the other members of the family rebelled against Terun, and it turned into a civil war within the family. They couldn’t stop the civil war, and it ended like that. Behemoth was also lost during that civil war. The Sitrea family disappeared into the annals of history.”

“…I see.”

An incident that caused a family to be completely destroyed.

I can’t even imagine how big the battle must have been.

“But. If that’s the case, what happened to Behemoth now? You said you lost Behemoth? Then, even if you managed to find Behemoth again, Behemoth should have completely regained its wild nature and become a normal monster, right?”

“Hmm. I thought so too? But, maybe it’s because of the taming magic that was cast repeatedly for 500 years, but even after being abandoned for decades, the taming wasn’t undone. The Behemoth, which we happened to meet again, followed the previous Terun without any hostility.”

“…Is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I’m amazed too. But I have to believe it, what else can I do? It’s obeying not only the previous Terun but also me like this.”

“That’s… true, but.”

It was a very complicated story.

Even though it had been abandoned for decades, it was following people…

“Does that mean that monsters also have emotions like affection?”

“Well. I don’t know. The heart and emotions are not an area that can be figured out through research.”

Terun smiled with a subtle expression and stroked Behemoth’s skin again.

“But. I believe it exists.”

A warm gaze full of affection.

“Our kid. He’s really gentle and very kind. Right?”

Water gushed powerfully from Behemoth’s back.

It was as if it was expressing its agreement with Terun’s words.

“But. If you had him, when you came over from Japan. Couldn’t you have just ridden him over?”

“Would that work? How thorough is the security? It would be a miracle if they didn’t issue a Jindo Dog One alert [A high-level national alert] when a huge mass of mana was approaching from Japan.”

“Ah. That’s right. It’s because this is the South Sea that you can roam around so freely.”

This place is the South Sea, centered around the Abyss Sea.

Since it’s a place where many monsters are abundant, the radar doesn’t work properly.

That’s why there’s no reaction even though we’re leisurely roaming around on Behemoth like this.

In the South Sea, this level of mana reaction is common.

“Well, I actually used it a lot when I was running away from debt.”

“Running away from debt… I don’t think that’s something you should say in front of an investor.”

“Hey. What’s between us? We already know each other. Do you think I’d run away?”

Terun joked.

“Ah. Or is it because you’re worried about problems that might arise later? If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry. In the first place, when I took out those debts, it wasn’t under my name, but under a pseudonym. So, there’s no chance that they’ll come to you later and say, ‘Give us Terun. If you don’t want to give him up, pay the money instead.’ Don’t worry.”

“…Aren’t you too much of a gangster?”

“What gangster? The gangsters are the ones who lent me the money, not me. No matter how desperate I am for money, I don’t live by taking advantage of good people. I only took it from gangster-like guys, so don’t worry.”

Terun smiled wickedly.

“And, you know, isn’t it legal to take money from gangsters?”

“…How is that legal?”

“Morally legal.”

“That’s a novel law.”

Whatever it is, he says there’s no problem.

I guess I should just go with it.

“How’s the research going?”

“It’s going great. It’s progressing as well as it could possibly be.”

Terun licked her lips and her eyes sparkled.

“There’s no way there could be a problem in the first place. How could there be a problem when the theory is so perfect? If there’s a researcher here who’s just fumbling around, they should just put down their pen. They’re unqualified.”

“If that’s the case, there wouldn’t be even 10 researchers left in this world, would there?”

As I’ve said repeatedly, just understanding and realizing Mimir’s theory 100% is amazing.

“Is that so? Well, yeah. The riffraff wouldn’t even know what this is about.”

Terun’s expression instantly turned to annoyance.

“Especially those old fogies at the association. If those guys saw this… what would they have said? They would have said it’s just ‘an empty shell of a theory’ again, right? Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me want to kill them.”

“…”

Come to think of it, she said she had a big fight with the association.

‘She must have heard the association president say it was just an empty shell of a theory.’

Perhaps Terun presented some new theory, and the association president completely ignored it.

That’s probably why the fight broke out.

“Ah, right. Now that we’re talking about research. The name of the paper is the Mimir Paper, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is the name of the person who wrote this paper Mimir?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I affirmed it casually.

I could have pretended that I wrote it, but.

I didn’t want to do something that felt like stealing Mimir’s achievements.

Mimir’s achievements belong entirely to Mimir.

“Okay. So, it wasn’t your theory after all.”

“Yes. It’s not. Are you disappointed?”

Terun shook her head.

“No. Not at all. I’m actually relieved. To be honest, I was feeling a little frustrated.”

“Frustrated?”

“Yeah. I should say I felt self-loathing. That an 18-year-old came up with something like this. I was wondering what I’ve been doing all this time.”

A researcher who had been researching the complete automation of AI for two generations.

Terun Sitrea.

If you think about it from her perspective, it’s understandable that she would feel self-loathing.

“So, I’m secretly thinking it’s a relief. I don’t know who this Mimir person is, but at least he’s not younger than you, right? Then I’ll feel less self-loathing.”

Come to think of it, I don’t know how old Mimir is.

No, does age even matter?

He must have spent quite a long time alone in Mimir’s book.

In reality, his mental age would be higher than Terun Sitrea’s.

“And… this is a bit awkward to ask, but. Is this Mimir person, by any chance, someone who’s no longer in this world?”

It was a reasonable inference.

If the author of this paper were alive, there would be no reason to entrust the research to her.

They could just do it themselves.

The fact that she entrusted this research to her implies the death of the person named Mimir.

That’s what she must have thought.

“No. He’s not dead.”

“Huh?”

Terun made an unexpected expression.

“He’s just in a deep sleep. He’ll wake up again soon.”

“Ah, um. Uh…”

Terun looked at me with a very complex expression.

An expression that was thinking about what my words meant.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m escaping reality or anything. I’m just stating a fact based on reality. Mimir will wake up soon.”

She probably thought my words were a form of escapism.

She must have worried that I was caught up in a foolish obsession, unable to accept death, and believing that he would wake up again someday.

“Is that so? Then that’s a relief. For you too…”

Terun trailed off.

The next words were probably ‘for me too…’

“If that Mimir person wakes up again, please let me meet him. There are many things I want to ask him.”

To Terun Sitrea, Mimir is a messiah.

She must be happy that Mimir is alive.

“Yes. Of course.”

“Okay. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Terun’s eyes lit up brightly.

It seemed that her heart was pounding at the thought of meeting a researcher who was superior to her for the first time in her life.

“I have to work hard for that day. If I make a mistake here, I won’t be able to hold my head up properly when I meet that Mimir person later.”

“Hmm. He’s not that kind of person, so you don’t have to worry.”

“It’s not about him. I’m saying I’ll be too embarrassed to hold my head up.”

“Ah.”

That’s what it was.

“So, please get me the materials quickly. So I can speed up the progress.”

The materials needed for the research are a bit rare.

It’s taking some time to get them.

So, the research is practically at a standstill right now.

“They should all be ready by the time you return to Seoul.”

Seokhyun is running around everywhere collecting the materials.

He should have them all by the day after tomorrow at the latest.

“I hope so.”

Terun replied with an expression that was half anticipation and half anxiety.

Kugugugugung-!

At that moment, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck from the clear sky.

“We’re getting close to that area.”

It was proof that we were starting to enter the Abyss Sea.

“Be careful. There probably aren’t any monsters brave enough to pick a fight with Behemoth… but still, you never know.”

“Yes.”

I subtly activated my Divine Eye.

It was to grasp the surrounding situation.

‘This is…’

And at the same time as the Divine Eye was activated, goosebumps rose all over my body.

‘Thousands… no, tens of thousands?’

The presence of monsters felt around me easily exceeds tens of thousands.

No, I only checked up to a certain depth. If you consider the monsters in the deep sea, it’s at least tens of thousands.

If necessary, a hundred thousand.

That means that monsters of that level are nesting here.

“…It’s strange.”

“What is?”

“There are too many monsters.”

According to the survey I did a year ago, there were about 8,000 monsters in the Abyss Sea.

It was definitely not at this level.

‘What’s going on in the Abyss Sea?’

A strange unease brushed past my back.