The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 121

121

The youth, who had been sitting cross-legged inside a magic barrier erected around him, collapsed, vomiting blood in agony.

Simultaneously, the barrier that had shielded him from the surrounding noise and attention dissipated.

Despite it being midsummer, the chill of early winter permeated the air in this northern territory of the Holy Human Empire.

‘Bell Curios…’

He deciphered the Possession Art [a type of magic that allows one to control another’s body] created by the Archmage Zernys with those eyes? In that short amount of time?

‘It would be impossible unless their level is equal to or above mine, right?’

No, it definitely couldn’t be above.

No matter what anyone said, there wasn’t a mage in this era who could compare to Archmage Zernys.

The position of the Empire’s Archmage had remained vacant ever since the death of the 12th Archmage Obeck, the last successor.

‘That brat, Lynn, had as much potential as I did, so I wanted to let her grow more before taking her body… Alas, this one will die before he grows up too.’

Having attacked the Commander-in-Chief at the White Wolves’ base, regardless of status, he would be beheaded according to the Law of the Wall.

I wanted to take that body whole, as I’ve desired those eyes ever since Ryuken developed them, but it’s a shame…

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Zernys, who had risen, took off the tattered eyepatch with seven eyes drawn inside a triangle, which he always wore, and stretched with a refreshed feeling.

“Yes, mission accomplished, no need to control those smelly old men’s bodies anymore!”

Having driven a wedge between the beastmen and wolves to the extreme until one of the five lieutenants of the Spider Lord awakens, there was nothing more to do here.

“Shall I watch Baek Do-ryeong massacre the beastmen?”

No, never mind. Perhaps it was because he had been in the north for hundreds of years, but he was now sick of this place. Except for briefly going down to the south to release the Lizard Lord’s seal…

Was the next mission towards the Antarctic?

On the way down, he should eat delicious food and enjoy the company of women. Women from the Republic were the best, after all. Their tanned skin was so appealing.

Wasn’t this why he had been resurrected and granted eternal youth, to enjoy such things?

“Hehe, shall I go and personally dote on that girl Toureina after a long time?”

* * *

“Execution! Behead him immediately and kick that head over the Wall! So his precious beastmen friends can see it!”

While the Vice Commander, who had served at the Wall for 38 years, was raging, Kiran Wolf Blado checked the basket securely fastened to the back of the collapsed Rain.

No, this is…?

He gasped inwardly and quickly closed the lid. He cautiously looked around, but it seemed he was the only witness.

“If it’s really Ludwig Wijak, how are you going to handle the aftermath later?”

Kiran warned as he subtly picked up the basket, and the Vice Commander frowned.

“This is the Wall, you know very well that the law of the wolf takes precedence over the law of the Empire, right? And you just saw what he did! He tried to assassinate the Commander-in-Chief!”

“…Surely you didn’t hear it?”

“Hear what?”

So he didn’t hear it after all…

Kiran had clearly heard the strange voice that seemed to scatter in the air before the Commander-in-Chief collapsed.

But would these people, who were so agitated right now, believe it if he explained it? Everyone was already on edge due to the disastrous failure of the expedition.

“In any case, many members saw the Page’s young lady come here. A beheading is too hasty a decision.”

“The wolves don’t care about the eyes of the Empire’s nobles.”

“I’m not saying we should care. I’m just saying we should proceed a little more calmly. Let’s imprison him for now. I’ll interrogate him when he comes to his senses.”

* * *

At the Ludwig family’s mansion in Bellewein, a traditional funeral was quietly held.

As the head of the family, Caveon Ludwig, refused to receive mourners, the other noble families—the Ten Great Clans and the Eight Great Sixteen Medium Families—sent formal condolences and monetary gifts in letters.

Whether they were unaware of this fact, or whether they came knowing it.

The territory residents from Giritten in Sias Tullica came up and followed the funeral procession, weeping bitterly.

“…”

The wave of sorrow that lingered around the mansion swept emptily through the hearts of not only the family members but also the butlers, maids, and soldiers.

The young master had never treated anyone harshly, had never discriminated against anyone, had been kind to everyone, and had treated everyone, regardless of status, like a friend.

The bier [a stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed] of the young master, who had died a hundred days ago, led a long procession up the summer ridge where tulips bloomed profusely.

As the body could not be recovered, the bier was empty. As only a few mementos could be placed inside, the bier was tearfully light.

Skalz and Caveon, the current and former heads of the family, walked on either side of the bier in full attire, followed by the boy’s mother, Brim, his aunt, Elin, his sister, Seri, and his brother, Bran, all dressed in mourning clothes.

Finally, as the trumpeter at the front blew a long blast, the procession stopped amidst the mournful sound of the trumpet.

This place, where tombstones weathered by time stretched to the end of the horizon, was the land where the family members took their eternal rest.

It was the final resting place where the world of tulips and the Bellewein mansion could be seen at a glance, where the new green shoots of spring sprouted and the white snow of winter covered.

As the soldiers who had been waiting to dig the boy’s grave respectfully took the bier and tried to put it in the pit, Brim Ludwig finally burst into tears and clung to the bier.

“Madam…”

“Oh, Madam…”

The sorrow of one who had to send her son to a place she could not follow was long and heavy. Seri hugged her mother and cried with her.

Only young Bran Ludwig, unable to enter this world of sorrow, tilted his head with an innocent face.

After a long while, Brim and Seri were separated from the bier, and the bier could be pushed into the pit. The old priest who presided over the funeral opened the Bible.

“The gods have said that this parting on earth is not an eternal parting… Therefore, there is no reason to grieve, but only to rejoice…”

It is said that Emitsa Page also said this to her descendants on the day she closed her eyes.

“I die now, but the gods will surely watch over you and guide your end, leading you to the land of eternal life.”

“…”

“As Karen Den promised me, we will meet again there, so strive to run the race of life so that you will not be ashamed on the day you meet me again. Only spread the light and do good… Dursiel.”

“”Dursiel (May it be so).””

As Skalz nodded, the family guards began to fill the pit with shovels, but their movements, dropping tears onto the soil, were slow.

“He would have become a truly great lord.”

Swan, the guardian knight, offered his condolences with difficulty to Caveon, who had come out to listen to the weeping of the Giritten territory residents, unable to watch the soil being covered over his son’s bier.

“Even at his young age, all the guards trusted and followed the young master with all their hearts… As did I.”

The smile that Caveon gave weakly was heartbreaking and bitter, as if it would break at any moment.

“Yes, thank you.”

And Caveon, who had passed Swan and seemed to be returning to the ridge, placed his hand on the young guardian knight’s shoulder.

“Make sure to give them plenty to eat. So they don’t get tired on the way. They are the ones who came to mourn my son’s death, so be considerate and act accordingly.”

“I will obey your command, Your Excellency.”

Elin Ludwig did not cry.

Instead, she forcibly picked up Seri, who was still crying endlessly even as the soil was being covered, and dragged her down from the ridge.

When Seri tried to resist, she grabbed her shoulder tightly as if to tell her to come to her senses.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry! The successor of Ludwig doesn’t show tears in front of others! Neither your grandfather nor Madelia Page cried when they mourned their father’s death?!”

“…?”

“Rain Ludwig is dead now. Do you know what this means? You are the rightful heir to the family. Seri Ludwig, you must lead our family!”

On the ridge where flower petals rustled in the wind, Seri tried to swallow her tears, but the tears kept coming, and her voice broke thinly.

“I don’t want to… I don’t want to be the heir to the family… I, I just… I miss my brother, I miss my brother…”

“Rain is gone!”

It sounded like a sharp shout, but Elin’s voice, kneeling in front of her niece and meeting her gaze, was also faint, as if scattering into the air.

“Are you just going to show this pathetic appearance when you meet him again later? You have to meet him in a more wonderful form so that that idiot will be happy too…”

As Seri painfully nodded, repeating those words in her head, Elin hugged her niece and stroked her back, tears streaming down her face.

“Now there’s no one to carry the weight of the family for you… Be strong, you have to become as strong as your idiotic brother…”

* * *

What pulled my consciousness, which had been submerged in deep darkness, to the surface was hearing and touch.

The sound of someone sobbing, and something warm falling on my face…

When I struggled to lift my eyelids, the first thing that came into view was a pair of light purple eyes. Those clear eyes, endlessly filled with dew that dripped down, had a bewitching aspect.

“…Young Lady?”

Why was Cassena Page crying?

As I tried to lift my heavily drooping body, a dizzying storm of memories raged like lightning through my hazy mind.

Beastmen and wolves, a splitting headache, griffions and Barlgen, the Commander-in-Chief and Possession Art, Alakish, and…

“Dragon Egg.”

The most important thing, the treasure that Alakish trusted me with.

As I gasped for breath and tried to get up in a hurry, a heavy clanging sound roughly pulled at both hands.

My eyes widened in astonishment.

“…Handcuffs?”

Yes, they were handcuffs.

These metal restraints, shaped to prevent a mage from using magic, were handcuffs exclusively for mages.

The Bargante type cannot use magic unless they form a bond with a beast.

The Yorghen type, which uses mental arithmetic, cannot activate magic unless they break the magic circle constructed on their palms.

The Remedier type cannot use magic without a book in the first place…

In this place, where a dim lamp was the only source of light, only the stench of cold dust and mold filled the air, and even the lamp was beyond the iron bars.

“A prison…”

The situation I was in was so unbelievably desperate that I staggered powerlessly and leaned blankly against the outer wall.

I don’t have time to be doing this.

Alakish must still be fighting, and even if it was possible to shake him off, if that guy goes to Lavenfell…

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Cassena pitifully hugged her knees and repeatedly shed fragile tears.

“Because of me, because of me…”

“It’s not the Young Lady’s fault. It’s all because I was too impatient that things turned out this way.”

I should have approached it a little more carefully.

To think that everything would be resolved if I removed the possession spirit from the Commander-in-Chief there… My thinking was too short-sighted.

As I painfully sighed, Cassena suddenly raised her red, bloodshot eyes and shouted.

“No… I, I know everything too! Before that! From before!”

“Yes?”

“I, I’m always holding you back… During the Papal State, and this time too, Rain couldn’t help Alakish because of me…!”

“…”

“So, so I studied so hard, next time, instead of holding you back, I wanted to be a strength, a strength, but, but…”

For a moment, she was speechless.

I thought she didn’t remember because she didn’t talk about it, but she remembered everything. I wondered why she was learning so enthusiastically…

Was it possible because she had such an admirable mindset inside?

“So that’s what you were thinking.”

If it were Rista at times like this, she would have approached and patted her shoulder, offering gentle comfort. If it were Friede, she would have encouraged her by quoting famous biblical passages.

Unfortunately, I can’t act like those guys. It’s not in my personality, and I don’t know how to speak that way.

But I know better than anyone what kind of mindset I should act with at times like this, having seen, felt, and experienced it firsthand.

“I think differently.”

To convey sincerity, sincerity.

Without even a hint of pretense, only, if the other person has conveyed sincerity, then to respond with sincerity from this side as well.

“If it weren’t for the Young Lady, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far.”

“What?”

“It was the Young Lady who completely persuaded the Durancus tribe. And even in Lavenfell, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to the griffion if it weren’t for the Young Lady.”

It wasn’t a word fabricated with difficulty for the sake of comfort, but rather a piece of sincerity that I felt during this journey.

I wonder if that sincerity was conveyed, Cassena, who was looking at me with widened eyes, bit her lip and turned her head coyly.

“…Liar.”

“I’m serious. I’m more honest than I look, so if I thought you were a burden, I would have told you a long time ago.”

“Then, then what’s the point… Alakish, Alakish died because of me…”

“No, Alakish is still alive.”

The one who answered that wasn’t me, but a young man who entered, leading the sound of leather boots heavily brushing against the floor.

And finally, when he stopped in front of the prison, I and Cassena stood up abruptly for different reasons.

I saw the basket of dragon eggs that the young man with crimson hair was carefully holding with both hands, while Cassena’s gaze was fixed on his face.

“It’s been 10 years, Cassena.”