The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 340

“We found someone who saw Sophia,” Adela announced, taking over from Elena.

“…A witness?” I questioned.

Did someone who erased their tracks so meticulously make a mistake by being seen? It seemed unlikely.

“Are you sure they saw her?” I pressed.

“Yes. I’m certain,” Adela replied with a confident nod.

“They know her appearance exactly.”

She meant they knew the appearance of the person resembling Sophia from the CCTV footage.

“They knew not only the blue robe but also the cross-shaped emblem on it.”

“If they knew the emblem, then they really saw her,” I acknowledged.

“Yes.”

Knowing such details meant they were a genuine witness.

“What’s the possibility of it being a trap?” I asked, considering all angles.

“I can’t rule it out, but the probability is low,” Elena answered this time.

“If this information is false, it means the person who gave it to us is a villain trying to lure us, likely a black magician, right?” I reasoned.

“That’s highly likely.”

“That’s why it’s not. The man who gave us this information wasn’t a black magician, and…” Adela continued.

“He was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was declared dead,” Adela finished.

“A terminal illness?”

“Yes. They said it’s stage 4 Mana Unresponsiveness.”

“Mana Unresponsiveness…” I paused to gather my thoughts.

“It’s unlikely a villain sent to deceive us would have such a disease,” I concluded.

It was a condition caused by the body’s inability to absorb mana. The mana within, especially the innate energy that gives life, slowly leaked out. At stage 4, there would be almost no mana left.

There was almost no chance such a person would be connected to black magicians.

“Hey, Successor. Sorry for interrupting, but what exactly is Mana Unresponsiveness?” Mimir asked, having listened quietly while Elena held him.

“Hmm. To put it simply…” I explained the symptoms and causes of Mana Unresponsiveness in detail.

“Ah, that disease,” Mimir said, nodding in understanding.

“You know it?”

“Yeah. There were people suffering from it even during the Vaitener Empire [a historical empire in this world],” Mimir explained.

I was surprised at how quickly he understood, but they had researched it before.

“It’s such a rare condition, and it hasn’t been properly analyzed yet, so we couldn’t even give it a proper name. Mana Unresponsiveness, huh? Yeah. I think it’s a perfect name,” Mimir said, smiling slightly as if he approved of the name.

“If the witness has Mana Unresponsiveness, it makes sense that the unidentified person missed them.”

“Right. If it’s around stage 4, it becomes impossible to sense mana at all.”

Stage 4 Mana Unresponsiveness. A severe condition where it was no exaggeration to say all the mana in the body had escaped. No matter how skilled Sophia was, it was nearly impossible to sense a person without mana. If it was a fake and not Sophia, they would have been even less likely to notice.

“What about the witness’s background? Did you investigate it?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve already investigated it,” Adela replied, handing me a memo.

“They were born in this village and have never left it.”

The memo contained the man’s personal information.

“You can assume there’s no chance they’re connected to the Villain Alliance or black magicians.”

Born in this village, always living in this village. A man with Mana Unresponsiveness, who had never been outside the village. The probability of him being a villain was almost zero.

“What do you think, Elena? Did you notice anything suspicious about the man? Anything at all?”

“No. I think that man is definitely a ‘white’ [meaning innocent],” Elena stated.

“I see.”

Adding to that, Elena’s conviction. The possibility of the witness being a villain converged to 0%.

“I understand. It’s safe to say they’re a real witness.”

“Yes. I think so too,” Adela agreed.

Elena looked at me with sharp eyes.

“If you’re convinced, I’ll continue.”

Elena gestured for Mimir to move away for a moment, then positioned herself directly in front of me.

“Ah, before that, here. I’ve recorded the man’s testimony separately. Read it while you listen,” she said, displaying a hologram monitor in the air. It was the same program as the memo application Mimir had used earlier.

“That day, the witness said they were taking a walk as usual,” Elena began. I quickly scanned the memo while listening.

“Taking a walk at that late hour… Normally, that wouldn’t make sense, but…”

“It’s not unreasonable this time. The witness is a Mana Unresponsive person.”

“Yes. If it’s stage 4, it’s quite possible. The intense mana contained in sunlight is like poison to Mana Unresponsive patients.”

Mana Unresponsive patients cannot go outside during the day. It’s common for them to take walks at night.

“For the same reason, they have to avoid crowded places, so their walking route was fixed to a secluded area near the factory complex.”

A secluded factory complex at night. As a Mana Unresponsive patient, there would be no better walking route. Everything made sense.

“So, the witness discovered a woman who looked like Sophia in the factory complex.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I manipulated the hologram monitor and moved to the next page. It just so happened that the first paragraph read, ‘The sighting location is the factory complex.’ After that, a detailed account of the sighting was described.

“While sitting and resting on an old chair in an alley near the Rid Furniture Factory in the factory complex, they saw a person wearing a bluish robe walking by. That’s what they stated.”

It was quite a vivid account, including the fact that they couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, and that they were sitting on an old chair near the alley. Each detail was too specific to be fabricated.

“Just in case, I went to the location the witness mentioned. There was actually an old chair in the nearby alley. A middle-aged man was sitting there smoking. He was wearing rather shabby clothes.”

“That means someone living nearby placed the chair there for the purpose of smoking.”

“Yes. It was a chair that looked like it had been used for at least a decade.”

The credibility of the witness’s statement was further enhanced. Since the walking route was a factory complex, there wouldn’t be any benches. To rest while sitting, they would have to use such a structure.

“…The testimony is quite detailed. You were convinced the man’s words were true, considering these points.”

“Yes. It’s too real to be a fabricated story,” I agreed, nodding.

“The witness said that while resting there, they discovered an unidentified person and hid, thinking they might be a robber.”

“Normally, whether they hid or not, they would have been discovered, but they weren’t because they were a Mana Unresponsive patient. Is that it?”

“That’s right.”

“Perfect.”

From the fact that they were stage 4 Mana Unresponsive, to the fact that they discovered them while using their usual walking route, to the reason why they weren’t discovered. Everything fit perfectly. As Elena said, it was such a perfect account that it would be strange to doubt it.

“Is that the end of the testimony?” I asked. The memo ended with the man hiding. After that, it was blank. In other words, the witness’s information ended with just ‘they saw them.’

“Just having a witness is enough information. Thank you for your hard work,” I said, closing the hologram monitor and making eye contact with Elena and Adela.

“It’s a big gain just knowing that the CCTV footage isn’t fake or a trap. Then, assuming this person really exists, if we investigate again…”

“Wait a minute,” Elena interrupted with a smile.

“I’m not done yet.” Adela was also smiling with a similar expression.

“Is there anything else left?”

“Of course. If it had ended with just ‘there was a witness,’ I wouldn’t have been dragging it out like this,” Elena paused, then slowly said, “The unidentified person went inside the Rid Furniture Factory.”

“…Not just walked towards the factory, but you saw them go inside?”

“Yes. They said they clearly saw them going over the fence.”

They went all the way inside the Rid Furniture Factory, even going over the fence. This meant…

“That means there’s a high probability that something is inside the Rid Furniture Factory.”

“Yes. I don’t know if that blue robe is really a woman named Sophia Anescheff, but…” Elena continued with a serious look, “There’s a high probability that something is inside that furniture factory.”

* * *

After that, I immediately sent a text message to Soonchan to return.

“I came because you told me to… Why? Did you get any important information?” Soonchan asked, arriving twenty minutes later.

I relayed the information we had obtained to him.

“Rid Furniture Factory…” Aslan trailed off with a meaningful expression.

“Aslan. This is…” Soonchan’s expression was no different. He trailed off with an expression somewhere between meaningful and serious.

“Yeah. It seems that man’s words weren’t just nonsense,” Aslan agreed.

This meant…

“Did you also have information related to the Rid Furniture Factory, Aslan?”

“Yeah. Among the information I got from the bar, there was information related to the Rid Furniture Factory.”

“Actually, it wasn’t even information, it was just the ramblings of a drunk man. So I just listened with one ear and let it out the other…” Soonchan trailed off.

“If you got information about the Rid Furniture Factory on your side, it’s a different story,” Aslan said.

“That drunk. He definitely knows something.”

“Yes. I think so too,” the two said, nodding with serious expressions.

“Don’t just sympathize with each other, explain it properly to us,” Mimir said, glaring at Aslan with a frustrated expression. It was a forceful look that said not to talk only between themselves and to explain properly.

“Ji Soonchan,” Aslan said, gesturing to Soonchan with his eyes. It was a look and a call that clearly meant for him to explain.

“Uh… So, to put it simply, while we were gathering information, a drunk man started causing a ruckus in a bar, shouting and yelling?” Soonchan began.

Mimir gestured with his chin, signaling him to continue.

“It was a rant close to nonsense, saying that the world was wrong, that he was unlucky… But among them, there was one very strange thing.”

“A strange thing?”

“Yes,” Soonchan said coldly with a serious expression. “‘Let go! You livestock bastards! You idiots who don’t even know what’s going on at Rid…’ he said.”

Soonchan turned his head towards me.

“At the time, I just thought it was the nonsense of a drunkard… But now that you guys are saying that there’s something at the Rid Furniture Factory, it doesn’t sound like nonsense.”

“Since the same name came up, the probability of it being a coincidence is almost zero.”

“Right?” I took a moment to organize my thoughts. Someone who looked like Sophia entering the Rid Furniture Factory. A drunk man who seemed to be claiming that something was happening at that Rid Furniture Factory. It seemed certain there was a connection between the two.

“…We need to meet that drunk first,” I said. We needed to find out what he knew and why he said that.

“Mimir. I’m sorry, but can you go to the virtual space with Aslan and find that man? Aslan knows what he looks like, so if you use that to search the database…” I was about to ask Mimir to find the drunk when…

“Successor. It seems like it’s too late?” Mimir interrupted, his voice serious.

“10 people… No, is it 11?”

“No, there are 4 more 50 meters away. If you add them, it’s a total of 15,” Elena said. Elena, Aslan, Adela, and Soonchan were all on guard, with a murderous aura.

“…I found them,” I said. The next moment, 11 figures appeared around us.

“Yes. It’s certain. A tough-looking Westerner. Just like in the CCTV footage,” Aslan confirmed. Among them, a man emerged from the darkness and appeared in front of us. He had a phone to his ear. It seemed like he was talking to someone.

“Yes. I’ll take care of it for sure, so don’t worry. Leave it to me,” the man said, hanging up the phone and putting it in his pocket. He then looked at us with a sinister smile.

“I’m sorry, but you guys will have to die here.”

The murderous intent of the people around him intensified at the man’s words. It was clear they would attack as soon as he gave the order.

“Are you robbers? If you want money…”

“Money? Hahaha,” the man laughed loudly.

“Money. It’s definitely good. Normally, I might have just taken the money and let you go. I could show that much mercy to travelers who don’t know anything. But…” The man suddenly became serious and glared at us. “Unfortunately, I can’t do that this time. You guys. No, that man over there heard something he shouldn’t have,” he said, glaring specifically at Soonchan.

“If you’re going to resent someone, resent that idiot who was drunk and said something he shouldn’t have.”

The man slowly raised his hand. With that as the starting point, the murderous intent grew even stronger. The moment his hand went down, their attack would begin.

“If you’re wronged, you can go and argue. That guy will be with King Yama [a figure in some Eastern religions who judges the dead] first. You can follow him and argue,” the man said, slowly lowering his hand. At that moment, the men surrounding us all began to move at once.