The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 101

101

The night in the Third Gymnasium, often used by Snakemasters, was quiet. Only the intermittent chirping of insects from outside the window filled the space.

Without any explicit agreement, the five members of the challenger team gathered there after the match, just as they had for the past ten days.

Lein, opening the door and momentarily taken aback, chuckled, prompting smiles from the others, acknowledging they were all in the same boat.

“Hmm, so it ended up that way after all,” Logan remarked, stroking his chin with a hint of disappointment after hearing the aftermath from Lein. Nora, on the other hand, seemed unsurprised.

“Well, I didn’t really think we could disband the Griffin Valor with just one game, though!”

Suddenly, Hubert pointed a finger at Lein provocatively.

“Let me make this clear so you don’t get the wrong idea. I only helped this time because the Griffin Valor needed to be disbanded. You and I are enemies, so don’t act all friendly just because I helped you this once.”

A moment of silence hung in the air before Logan, Cayden, and Nora shook their heads in amusement.

“Aren’t you tired of that act yet, man?”

[LOL, FR FR – For real, for real]

“It’s so cliché. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

Hubert bristled at their laughter, but Logan casually draped an arm over his shoulder, chuckling, “What’s wrong with it?”

“…”

Lein, who had been watching their banter with a smile, quietly looked down at his carefully bandaged fingers.

The marks of intense training—skin torn and blistered, nails broken—proof of running non-stop for ten days.

Just as he was about to sink into a poignant feeling, Lillian spoke to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just… it really feels like it’s over.”

In fact, this might be the first time he had truly seen the end of a journey so clearly.

Even during his time as the Archmage of the Hero Party, his first and longest journey, he never saw the end.

Unable to end it or see its conclusion, he was merely living in the loneliness and helplessness of not being able to share that end with his comrades.

“We really worked hard.”

Perhaps, just perhaps.

The words he might have shared with the Rista Party—no, the words he should have shared with them first.

“It really feels like it’s all over now.”

What would have happened if he had been able to say those words back then?

Kies would have gotten drunk and hoisted him up on his shoulders, and Friede would have laughed uproariously at his desperate cries to be put down, choking on her cigarette smoke. Serves her right.

Would Rista have patted Friede’s back with concern? Surely, she would have.

Turaina would have clung to Kies’s leg, telling him not to bother her teacher… and Pipi would have flown around his head, teasing him.

If he could have been there then, if he could have enjoyed that ‘moment of ending’ with those hopeless fools….

“It feels like this is what an end is….”

A surge of sorrow rose from the depths of his heart, perhaps from the depths of his soul, and his eyes welled up with tears.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

The disciples of the Eight Great Schools, unaware of Lein’s inner thoughts, exchanged bewildered glances as Lein wiped his eyes with his arm, then elbowed the suspected culprit.

‘Hubert, you ruined the mood with your weird comments.’

‘Nora’s right. You ignorant fool, you have no idea how sensitive our young master is.’

[FR FR, you kinda crossed the line;;; – For real, for real, you kinda crossed the line]

‘What the hell, why is this my fault?’

‘Enough, just apologize. You’re making him cry.’

Eventually, Hubert, subjected to a collective assault from the other four, was pushed forward with a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the world.

“Okay, I get it! Seriously! I might help you out just one more time, so stop acting so pathetic for a noble!”

Lein, who was clueless (since he wasn’t actually hurt by Hubert), blinked, but Logan quickly came to his aid.

“That’s right, young master. There’s no need to be upset! If you’re still not satisfied, how about another disbandment match against Lionheart?”

A moment of silence followed.

Lillian shook her head, pressing her temples as if dealing with something hopeless.

“Can you handle the consequences if I tell Professor Owen exactly what you said?”

“Ah, no, that’s a bit… I mean, this isn’t the end!”

Logan scratched his head sheepishly, and laughter erupted once more. A chuckle escaped Lein’s lips as well.

Yeah, it probably would have been like this back then.

Even without feeling the sense of loss at the end, they would have been envisioning a future together again. That’s right, we decided to go on an adventure together, didn’t we….

* * *

As the Bow Star Kies’s senility deepened and he was unable to leave his sickbed, his relatives and disciples were in a flurry, not knowing what to do.

“Even the priestess says there’s nothing she can do….”

“Has anyone been able to contact Friede yet?”

“No one has known her whereabouts since we heard she left for the south.”

“Then we must bring Turaina here at least!”

“Master has said he will not receive treatment from Turaina.”

Amidst the urgent noises coming from outside the door, the old hero felt not fear of death, but only helplessness and sorrow.

Kies’s gaze, panting with his last ragged breaths, turned to the shelf hanging on the wall. There, he had a companion he had spent his life with.

The White Sky Bow, Serwaybon, where the flower of life bloomed from the bow stave of the World Tree, and the bowstring was woven from its vines.

‘Serwaybon, my soul’s companion.’

Then, the pure white bow stave resonated with its master’s call, exhaling the breath of the World Tree. The familiar, clean scent brought a smile to Kies’s lips.

‘I will now die of old age… but you, a fragment of the World Tree, will enjoy a life close to immortality.’

Woong… A somber light seeped from the cracks in the bow stave. Serwaybon, possessing a will of its own, was grieving for the death of its friend.

‘With that immortal life, guide and teach my foolish disciples… help them become archers as great as I am.’

Woong….

‘When our friend returns, when Lynn needs help… be there to support her.’

Woong, woong, woong… When the name Lynn was mentioned, the scent of the World Tree emanating from Serwaybon carried the scent of autumn. Sad, fleeting, and barren….

‘And when we meet again someday, tell her this.’

In the fleeting moment of death, as his eyelids grew heavy, the flower garden of that day flashed before Kies’s eyes.

The flower garden where birds sang and flowers danced, Lynn being dragged along by Rista’s hand, and himself and Friede watching from afar, laughing.

After once again painting that scene, which he had longed for, yearned for, and missed throughout his life, in his heart for the last time, the Bow Star quietly fell beyond the night sky.

‘There has not been a single day in my life that I have forgotten you.’

* * *

As soon as he returned to the dorm, Pipi gave him a warm welcome. He poured a handful of corn from the sack, and Pipi danced excitedly.

He immediately grabbed his toiletries and headed to the bathhouse. As he took off his clothes, soaked and saturated with sweat, his left palm suddenly caught his eye.

Oh my, it looks like the lines have gotten darker… Come to think of it, it suddenly hurt when I was playing volleyball. Did it happen then?

“Hmm…?”

He had originally planned to soak in the hot tub and space out until lights out, but his curiosity surged, so he quickly washed off the sweat and came out.

Thanks to Magic-Protein, the muscles visible in the mirror of the locker room were quite defined and had a good weight to them, but there was no time to be intoxicated by this.

It was enough to know that his body could move comfortably as he wanted. Falling in love with muscles was something only the Chaihark School would do.

“Rudian, come out.”

Towel-drying his hair, Lein opened his notebook, and as if waiting for it, a deep blue cluster of light in the shape of a butterfly popped out and landed on his shoulder.

Socrafres.

– Can inherit the progress of ‘Unique Magic’ research from the surrounding environment.

– Progress 49.8% -> 50%.

– ‘Unique Magic’ understanding, achieved 50%.

>>>

Brante.

– Changes in the mana circuit have been identified: Flowing Worldly One => Flowing Worldly One – Alert (流量世尊 – 警).

The Flowing Worldly One has changed?

Flowing Worldly One – Alert?

But that rune… He paused for a moment, then spread out his left palm.

“Analyze the circuit.”

Rudian landed on his left palm and lightly fluttered its wings, and particles of mana scattered and merged into a string of characters before his eyes.

>>>

Camitishia.

Analyzing the circuit….

ㆍ When the circuit is opened, a ‘Mental Barrier: Flowing Worldly One – Alert’ is deployed within a 20-meter radius of the caster.

ㆍ Within the ‘Mental Barrier: Flowing Worldly One – Alert’, the success rate of magic combinations using ‘Unique Runes’ and ‘Unique Mathematical Formulas’ is amplified by 38 -> 43%, and the power is amplified by 71 -> 76%.

Except for the 5% increase in success rate and power, it was not much different from the Flowing Worldly One.

Still, where else can you get 5%?

He was about to clench his fist in excitement when he saw another option added below.

>>>

Camitishia.

ㆍ By forming the hand seal of Alert (警) within the ‘Mental Barrier: Flowing Worldly One – Alert’, you can activate ‘Jesueseo Ranoeon (制誓鎖攔鍊)’ [Chains of Alert].

Jesueseo Ranoeon… For a moment, he couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Is this right? Is this even possible?

What is Jesueseo Ranoeon? You can think of it as the real name of the 5-star magic ‘Chains of Alert’ that I created.

Or rather, it’s a list of the five runes used in it. Anyway, it’s the same technique that Rivadin used to corner me.

‘I did steal it and use it with Bell Curios, but I thought I still had a long way to go before I could use it directly.’

It was such a powerful magic, so it’s no wonder it became Lynn’s main magic.

But the world of magic is always give & take, and of course, there weren’t only pleasant things.

ㆍ Mana required for casting: 37,000 (Warning – Current caster’s mana: 39,943).

As expected, the amount of mana required for mental construction nearly doubled.

It used to be 20,000, but now it has changed to the point where you have to pour out almost all of the mana you have now to make it possible.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing… No, of course it’s a good thing, but I still feel bad for some reason. Would it hurt to just give it to me?

“Heh heh.”

While making such ridiculous happy complaints, he flopped onto the bed, and Pipi turned off the light and flew down to land on his forehead.

“Heh heh, heh heh, heh heh, heh heh.”

“Pipi, you know what?”

“Pipi, don’t know. Heh heh, heh heh, heh heh.”

“I’m already halfway to 6-star magic! Aren’t you jealous? Aren’t you jealous jealous jealous?”

“Pipi, jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous.”

“Hehehehehe.”

“Hehe, hehe, hehe.”

He was so happy to have Pipi, who always matched his childish antics.

Anyway, he was so happy that he had reached 50% of 6-star magic that he rolled around on the bed, kicking up dust, until Pipi pecked him hard on the forehead and he stopped.

As drowsiness slowly crept in, he pulled the blanket up to his chest, and Pipi settled next to Lein’s face, sharing the warmth of the sun.

“Good night, Pipi.”

“Pipi, good night. Good night, Lynn.”

The boy’s consciousness, his eyes slowly closing, quickly fell into darkness….

Once the sound of his soft breathing began to be heard, Pipi quietly flew up and took its place on the highest point in the dorm, the bookshelf.

And with its eyes shining, it guarded the boy from the dangers that might come from the darkness of the night. Just as it had done during the days of the long journey, just as it had done ever since coming here.

– Protect that child, Pipi.

Because that was the promise he made with Friede.

Unlike Lynn’s thoughts, Pipi hadn’t become more sleepy. It just didn’t sleep at night.

In the summer night breeze flowing through the open window, the Sun Parakeet, preening every corner of its wings with its beak, looked up at the moon.

The four moons that were no different from the day the journey ended 300 years ago.