All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 297

Time passed once more.

A child became a young man, the young man became middle-aged, and the middle-aged man became an old man.

However, those living in Keltued’s house experienced no external changes.

“Master, your meal is ready.”

“Hmm.”

Keltued, engrossed in his book, remained unchanged.

He was as young as when they first met, and his soul remained unaltered.

But Kirke was different.

Her appearance was still that of a woman in her twenties.

However, her soul was rapidly wearing away.

It was because she had been connected to the Truth for too long.

“Why don’t you give up soon? When I go outside these days, people mistake you for my mother.”

“Haha. But outwardly, we look to be about the same age, don’t we?”

“I’ve said it before, but youth magic only makes you *look* younger, not affect your soul. And they aren’t wrong, either.”

Keltued pointed to the dishes laid out on the table.

“I feed you, put you to bed, and these days, I even make clothes for you. I try to take care of you whenever you go out.”

“Um… that’s…”

“Isn’t this enough? Why don’t you give up soon and live your own life?”

“I’m fine.”

In truth, it was difficult.

She couldn’t even sleep well these days.

She felt like she was gradually breaking free from the mold of the witch species.

“I think I even had an out-of-body experience yesterday.”

“…Did you notice?”

It was as he said.

Unable to sleep, her soul had left her body while she was meditating.

She was almost absorbed into the Truth as it was, and she felt embarrassed.

“If you stay like that, you’ll become a slave to the Truth and only be able to protect this world.”

“Even so…”

“You might as well stop the youth magic. Not changing even as you age only increases the sense of incongruity.”

“…Would that be better?”

Kirke lowered her head slightly.

To her, Keltued said firmly,

“The best thing would be to disconnect from the Truth.”

“I don’t like that.”

Keltued chuckled at her pouting lips.

As he said, she released the youth magic.

As a result, the aging of her body was gradually catching up.

But she didn’t care.

Because the side effects of being connected to the Truth were alleviated that much.

“In a few more years, I’ll be a grandmother, not a mother.”

Snow was falling outside the window.

Perhaps when that snow stopped, aging would begin in earnest.

“Christmas is coming up.”

“So it is.”

As Keltued said, looking out the snowy window, Kirke rummaged through a drawer and took something out.

“What’s that?”

“I knitted it in my spare time.”

It was a well-made scarf.

Keltued smiled as he looked at it.

“Thank you.”

“I’m more grateful, Master.”

She gazed at Keltued, who was wearing the scarf, with warm and very pitiful eyes.

“Merry Christmas… I heard this is an event from another dimension?”

“That’s right.”

“…How many more days will I have to say these words to you, Master? How much longer until you take this world into your hands? How much longer… until the day you leave?”

Keltued couldn’t say anything to her.

Even after releasing the youth magic to continue connecting to the Truth, Kirke’s life did not change.

She tries to understand Keltued and lives with him.

However, now that she had released the youth magic, his time and hers were not the same.

“Let’s buy that.”

“Yes.”

When Keltued, who had stopped in front of a vegetable store, picked up a large radish, an old man came out from inside.

“Oh my… Sage…”

Kirke’s expression clouded over for a moment when she saw him.

“It’s been a while, Johanne. How have you been?”

“Thanks to the Great Witch and the Sage, I can still move around vigorously even at this age. Hehe.”

A long time ago.

The young man who had spoken to her had grown so old.

As Kirke smiled awkwardly at him, Keltued said calmly.

“Johanne, you have half a year left, right?”

“…Ah. Is that so?”

“Should I extend your lifespan a bit?”

With his hands in his pockets, Keltued said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Isn’t it a shame to die after only living 80 years?”

At Keltued’s words, he shook his head.

Then, he approached him and gently grabbed his hand with his wrinkled hand.

“Sage… people die someday. What’s the point of postponing that death?”

“I don’t like dying.”

“Even so, I will face the death that is natural for me.”

“If that’s how you want to live, I can’t say anything. But still…”

Keltued placed his hand on Johanne’s knee.

With just that, the throbbing knee had completely disappeared.

“Thank you, Sage.”

“It’s okay. Are we not close enough for that?”

“Hahaha…”

Johanne gave a bitter smile.

He used to have drinks with him whenever he came to the village.

That connection has continued until now, and he is receiving help like this.

Of course, Johanne was not the only one receiving this kind of help.

Everyone in this village was receiving help from Keltued and respecting him.

“Keltued-nim really doesn’t change… I’m so envious and so sorry.”

“Who’s feeling sorry for whom? Geez. Kirke, let’s go.”

Keltued, who had scolded him, turned around.

As Kirke greeted him and followed him, Johanne gripped his cane tightly.

Kirke, who he thought would not age like Keltued, was also accepting the flow of time.

Those who used to look like sisters now only looked like mother and child.

No, to put it a bit harshly, they looked like a young grandmother and grandson.

That was a pity.

“The Sage is a person who lives for eternity. I’m really worried that there will be no one by the Sage’s side…”

He sighed deeply and slowly entered the store.

Even so, he kept glancing at the two who were moving away.

“Master, are we going straight back?”

“No. I have something to do.”

“Yes? Did you have something to do in the village today?”

“I didn’t, but I will.”

It was then.

“S, Sage!! Great Witch!! H, help me! Please help me!”

A little boy ran up, pale and sobbing.

Kirke was puzzled when she saw him.

“Wina, what’s wrong?”

“Mom! Mom!”

“Let’s go.”

When they went to Wina’s house, a woman was lying inside.

Her breathing had stopped, and her pulse was not beating.

Looking at her condition, it seemed she was already dead.

“Please save my mom!! Sob sob. Sage! Great Witch! Please! Please… please save my mom…”

Kirke bit her lip tightly as she watched Wina crying.

How could she revive someone who was already dead?

At that moment, Keltued placed his hand on Wina’s mother’s head.

“She’s not dead yet. Her soul remains.”

“Then…”

“Cough! Hack! Hack!”

As Keltued removed his hand, the middle-aged woman who had been lying down coughed and got up.

Those who had come out to see what was going on due to the sudden commotion were shocked.

“G, good heavens…”

“To even revive the dead…”

“Is the Sage a god…”

“I’m not a god, okay?”

Keltued, who had spoken brusquely to them, moved his hand again.

The woman who had been in pain became peaceful.

“Sage…”

Wina sobbed and clung to Keltued.

“I will receive the price for saving your mother with your life. You know what I’m going to say, right?”

“Yes! To always live resisting!”

“Good.”

Keltued, who had stroked his head once, said to Kirke as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s go eat. What’s for dinner today?”

“…Ah. Yes. I’ll make Borș [a sour soup common in Eastern Europe].”

“Sounds delicious.”

As Keltued walked away, those who were watching were amazed.

“Good heavens… as expected of the Sage.”

Those who felt awe at this miracle did not understand Keltued.

But Kirke could understand.

To him, this was just as natural as taking a light breath.

But his naturalness was nothing short of a miracle to others.

‘No one will be able to understand Master’s naturalness.’

An ant cannot understand a lion.

In other words.

Nowhere could he be understood by anyone and he would have to be alone.

She hated that.

And she knew that there was one way to solve it.

Of course, she also knew that he would refuse.

That’s why she decided.

“Master! Let’s go together!”

Kirke quickly chased after him.

As people watched her walking away, they smiled warmly.

“They really… look good together.”

“They look like a friendly mother and child. I wish they would stay like that forever.”

Time passed once more.

Now completely an old woman, Kirke did not stop serving Keltued.

However, her aging body did not move as easily as it used to.

She was taking care of him with telekinesis, but she wondered what the point of it was.

“Stop it now. If you die like this, you will become a guardian of the Truth.”

To Kirke, who was coughing and fighting hallucinations, Keltued urged her to give up as always.

She reached out to him.

She reached out her old, wrinkled, and rough hand and said weakly.

“Ah… Master… what should I do with you…”

“First, disconnect from the Truth.”

“When the collection of this world’s worldview is over, you will leave, Master…”

“Yes.”

“Then you will be alone again… alone… Ah… Master… no one understands you… no one can empathize with you…”

Tears flowed from her wrinkled eyes.

Keltued sighed as he looked at it.

“You were my daughter, my sister, my older sister, my mother, and finally my grandmother.”

Keltued gently held the hand that was stroking his face.

And he gently grabbed the now quite old scarf that she had made for him.

“So how about being satisfied with this?”

Keltued’s voice was sincere.

But Kirke shook her head.

“How can I leave you… alone… Ah… Master… Master…”

Even while being crushed by the pain of connecting to the Truth, Kirke did not give up.

Even in the face of death, she was not afraid, but only worried about Keltued.

She was only worried about him having to be alone for an infinite amount of time.

“Master… I know there is one way. I…”

“No.”

“With only my soul remaining… helping you by your side… becoming someone who understands you… Ah. Master…”

Keltued sighed as he faced the constantly flowing tears.

He liked this side of Kirke.

The way she resisted to the end, the way she tried to fight to the end.

He liked that side of her, but paradoxically, he felt very sorry for her.

Because she was trying to bear the pain herself.

He wanted an infinite life, so it didn’t matter, but Kirke was different.

“It’s just a choice made by a momentary emotion.”

“That’s not true…”

Kirke smiled.

“I am not a daughter, not a younger sister, not an older sister, not a mother, and not a grandmother…”

Just.

Just Keltued’s disciple and the Great Witch who serves the Sage.

As Kirke smiled brightly, Keltued bit his lip slightly.

“Okay. Don’t regret it. This can’t be undone.”

Keltued reached out his hand to her.

As that hand made her close her eyes, Kirke gave her last smile.

Yes.

This is it.

Now she would become his skill and be with him in the Avici [the deepest level of hell in Buddhist cosmology].

She would become someone who understood him and never let him chew on loneliness alone.

The moment Kirke steeled her heart.

Keltued opened his mouth with his eyes closed.

“You will now become my skill and spend an eternity together. Do you agree?”

“Yes…”

At that moment, light burst from Kirke’s body.

When that light disappeared.

Keltued smiled bitterly at the voice he heard from nowhere.

“I will give you an answer to your will. I will never create a situation like yours. I will occasionally be with you, but I will never make you live with me forever like you.”

Kirke was delighted.

Only her soul remained without a body.

From now on, she had to serve him for an eternity, but she was delighted.