The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 171

171. The City of Violet, Aurelianopolis

The dock district of this city, where the bounty of the Velisor River and the sea converged, was bustling with activity even in the dead of night, truly a city that never slept.

With the chaos in the upper river region and the Crimson Mountains, the traffic had increased severalfold due to reconstruction, relief efforts, and the presence of security personnel.

“It’s already midnight. Shouldn’t we just get some sleep and eat tomorrow?”

“What do you think a republic’s metropolis is like? If you think the city quiets down at night, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

The city was indeed teeming with life even at this late hour. It was just as lively as the last time I visited.

The dockside restaurant Miria took us to was a favorite among sailors, so it wasn’t exactly the cleanest place.

But the food was so incredibly delicious that not only Aki but even I was thoroughly impressed.

Quail marinated in honey, freshwater fish grilled with garlic, goose soaked in wine….

To think you could find food fit for a noble’s table in the Empire in a place like this.

Even though the Age of Dragons was over and the Republic was in decline, its power was still considerable, I mused.

“Pipi, you should eat something too. There’s plenty here you’d enjoy.”

But Pipi didn’t touch any of the food. She simply sat on the dock railing, staring blankly at the Mythical Peak of the Crimson Mountains.

‘She’s still grieving. Well, she was with Tureina longer than I was.’

Who could possibly comfort such a wounded heart? It’s hard enough for me to keep my own sadness hidden from Aki.

“Still, you need to eat. You need to take care of your physical health to support your mental health.”

The problem arose when I reached for the last piece of goose liver on the plate.

Just as my fork was about to pierce it, another fork did the same, and when I looked up in annoyance, that bastard on the other side narrowed his eyes defiantly.

“Don’t you know how to respect your elders?”

“This is mine.”

“Miiiiine.”

“Oh my, I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of dragon that baby dragon, who doesn’t understand the concept of sharing, will become.”

Miria, who had been observing our childish squabble, sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Just order another plate.”

“No, I don’t want another plate. I want to finish this one piece of liver and feel satisfied.”

“I agree. You could say this is a battle of wizards’ pride.”

“That’s right, you said it perfectly. Let’s settle this like wizards, you bastard.”

“A wizard’s settlement? You’re going to fight here? Are you crazy?”

Miria tried to intervene, fearing it would escalate, but Valencidith, with a flourish, produced a copper coin from his pocket and caught it in the air.

“It’s tails.”

“I call heads.”

“It’s tails. I’ll go first. 1113 × 148 is…?”

“Is that even a question? It’s 164,724. 1844 × 339 is…?”

“625,116. A very disappointing attack. 9699 × 9611 is…?”

This childish game is a wizard’s fight?

The impromptu multiplication table competition began to draw the attention of everyone in the restaurant, and soon, laughter erupted from all corners.

“Wow, those Empire guys are nuts!”

“Crazy, are they just blurting out the answers?”

“I used an abacus, and they’re all correct!”

Miria (the only sane one) sighed as if the ground was swallowing her whole and continued feeding Aki.

“Aki shouldn’t learn that kind of thing and become a stupid adult.”

“Ah-boot.”

It was a stew made with plump mushrooms seasoned with garlic and cooked in butter, and Aki loved it so much that she was already on her third bowl.

“Pipi, why don’t you come and eat something too?”

It must have been around that time that a female knight, wearing armor similar to Miria’s, approached from behind, masking her presence perfectly, and spoke as she passed by.

“Dur-Morris, Slime Slayer. Where have you been hiding? The Slayers are looking for you. They say you ran away.”

The moment she heard the word ‘Slayers,’ Miria’s face turned grim.

A cold silence seemed to descend on that spot alone. It was as if this area was isolated from the noisy atmosphere of the restaurant-cum-bar.

After a suffocating silence, Miria briefly buried her face in Aki’s hair, as if to memorize that warmth for the last time.

After what felt like an eternity, Miria raised her head with a deep sigh.

“I’ll go back today.”

* * *

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

It was when my consciousness was drifting into sleep, lulled by the pleasant fullness in my stomach and Aki’s warm body.

“Like last time, there’s a reason why I can’t let you speak. It’s because I can’t answer questions. If the manifestation time gets too long, they’ll notice.”

Suddenly, the dreamlike state was abruptly dispelled, and I found myself in a space filled with a dimly flickering, unknown mist.

And in the center of that space, a ‘god’ in strange attire, wearing white robes, was sitting at a table made of graphite, looking at me.

The moment I recognized him, a burning heat emanated from my neck. A sensation that shouldn’t exist if this was a dream, and Black Yanglin….

“Do you resent Haraderiman?”

The Black Sun Karenden waited for me to grasp the situation before asking that question out of the blue. Of course, he didn’t wait for an answer.

“If you’re going to resent someone, resent me, not Haraderiman. That child felt so sorry for you that she even begged me to tell your disciple that I revived you.”

The only being in this world who could refer to one of the Three Divine Dragons, the Light Dragon Haraderiman, in such a familiar way was probably that god alone.

“But at that time, your disciple had already been corrupted by the Abyss, and I couldn’t allow that. Your information leaking to the Abyss would cause a fatal problem in my plan.”

I understand, I thought.

With a trace of sadness in my heart that a god, a Divine Dragon, might have been able to reverse such a problem.

The god, who had been staring at me with my head bowed, spoke again.

“I don’t know if it will be comforting, but I’ll tell you two things for now.”

As Karenden rose from the formless table, the black mist that composed it flickered and transformed into the shape of a baby dragon.

It wasn’t Akilea.

It wasn’t Mirngardia either.

That form, which radiated a much more noble and powerful aura… could it be the juvenile form of the Water Dragon Yeriserica?

As if answering my unspoken question, Karenden scratched the baby dragon’s chin and said.

“It seems that Yeri scared you more than necessary, but most of the threats on the Akrad continent have disappeared now, thanks to your efforts. Even if there are any remaining, they pose no real danger to you.”

Certainly…….

Unlike my fight against Shar’kas, I felt that my body moved with the power befitting a Transcendent when I fought Nariaduke this time.

It might seem ridiculous from Karenden’s perspective that I’m thinking this.

“So there’s no need to rush your journey. In fact, you shouldn’t rush it. If you go to the Adrion continent right now, your and Akilea’s lives will be in danger.”

My life is in danger?

Is there such a powerful enemy on the Adrion continent?

“Shar’kas, whom you fought, was only able to exert about 20% of his original power because Alakish had inflicted a fatal wound on him, and Nariaduke was only able to exert about 40% of his power because he was borrowing a human body.”

So it’s thanks to Alakish.

If Shar’kas had been able to shoot spider webs with his other hand instead of being one-armed, and had unleashed twice as many attacks….

Just thinking about it makes me shudder. I would have been killed before I could bind him with Jesseo Swirl and hit him with Cremation Bloodletting.

“But that guy you might encounter on the Adrion continent right now… it’s hard to explain. You should travel south, retracing the past.”

The past? What past?

Karenden snapped his fingers instead of answering.

Then the black mist this time… created vivid images of longing figures, and my mouth fell open. Rista, Kies, Friede….

“True Dragons need happy memories in their juvenile years. They need that memory as nourishment to live an immortal life.”

It was a story Alakish had told me.

But I didn’t know how to give them happy memories.

“Is there anything difficult to understand? Just do something similar to what your old companions did for you. And I’m not sure if it’s right to say this, but I should say it anyway.”

When Karenden snapped his fingers again, I suddenly felt a weight on my arm.

I had no idea what was happening, but an egg was nestled in my arms.

A dazzlingly white dragon egg, Mirngardia, which Yeriserica had entrusted to me.

Karenden, approaching with a cozy yet absolute sense of oppression, stroked the dragon egg with a kind gesture and said.

“The reason why Yeri’s last egg still hasn’t hatched is because there aren’t enough fragments of the soul that should be dwelling there.”

Fragments of the soul?

I didn’t understand what he meant.

“That’s why I ordered you to create the World Tree so that I could interfere with the world.”

So, when the other Divine Dragons created the Five True Dragons with fragments of their souls, the Water Dragon created the World Tree with one of those fragments?

“As expected of the child I chose. Excellent understanding. Since there’s no time, let’s get back to the main point. That egg will hatch soon. Why do you think that is?”

When Karenden told me the reason, I doubted my hearing, or in this case, the information that directly reached my consciousness.

“It’s because your disciple, Tureina’s soul, entered there and filled in the missing fragments.”

Tureina….

It was a name buried deep in my heart. A name I had now sent far away. A name to be longed for, but not to be longed for.

“She won’t have any memories of you. Even if the memories of the soul remain vaguely, it’s impossible to recall them clearly. The combination of souls is structured that way.”

It wasn’t even a space where I could speak in the first place, but I felt speechless at the hot emotion surging from the depths of my soul.

Tureina.

Tureina is becoming a dragon.

It’s okay if you don’t have any memories; if we can be together again, that’s enough….

“But the feelings and affection for you will remain in the soul, so she will follow you well even if you don’t make any special efforts to build a bond.”

Karenden suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder.

Like the day we first met, his face was obscured by the sacred radiance, but I felt like he was wearing a somewhat sad smile.

“This is the only consolation I can offer for your sad relationship.”

Thank you.

I said that and bowed repeatedly.

Even if Karenden had allowed me to speak, I wouldn’t have been able to utter a sound at that moment, except for stifled sobs.

“I don’t need to order you, but please cherish her a lot. But don’t discriminate against Akilea. Alakish was the child I truly cherished.”

Wait, just a minute.

If it’s possible to put in a new soul, could Miria also have Rista──

“───?!”

That was when I was about to reach out and ask a question.

Suddenly, the dark space vanished, replaced by a familiar ceiling—the ceiling of the inn.

‘I guess you’re really not taking any questions….’

I still stroked the Black Yanglin [a magical artifact], which was burning hot on my neck. That meant it wasn’t a dream.

Carefully getting up so as not to wake Aki, I retrieved the pure white dragon egg from Seresia’s subspace [a personal storage dimension], which I had been covering like a blanket.

I put my ear to the surface of the egg. I could definitely feel a more powerful pulsation than when I received it from Yeriserica.

‘Ha…….’

I immediately moved to the window frame and beckoned to Pipi, who was staring at the Mythical Peak.

My throat was completely hoarse, and I couldn’t make a sound, but Pipi immediately flew over and rubbed her head against my cheek.

‘Tureina is in here.’

I whispered a precious secret.

Pipi tilted her head as if she didn’t understand what I was saying.

‘Tureina’s soul went into this dragon’s body and was reborn. Lord Karenden said so.’

Of course, she’s not being completely reborn, but becoming a part of the whole… that alone was enough.

That alone is more than enough.

As if she shared my thoughts, Pipi pecked at the dragon egg and then settled on it as if to keep it warm, shaking her head back and forth.

‘It’s our little secret.’

I smiled foolishly and pressed my forehead against Pipi’s head, and Pipi rubbed her head against me.

‘Don’t tell anyone. Okay? Even when this egg hatches. It’s just us who know.’

I lay back on the bed. This time, the pure white dragon egg and Pipi sitting on it were with me.

The young man, holding a red-haired baby dragon in one arm and a pure white dragon egg containing the soul of his disciple in the other, drifted into a happy dream, tears streaming down his face.

In that constellation in his heart, he felt that the star he had buried in tears was rising again, although its light was still small and faint.