The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 182

182

“What are you talking about? Miria is dying?”

The female knight answered my question.

“I am, Slime Slayer… Rinkleland, well, Miria’s childhood friend….”

Originally, I should have found an inn or a hospital to lay her down in a bed, but with Zernique’s magic appearing, I couldn’t leave Aki behind.

Still, the Teritos spectator seats were a cauldron of cheers and chatter, so I didn’t have to worry about this story leaking out.

Instead, I wrapped Seresia around her, and Seresia transformed into a bed, allowing her to lean comfortably against the railing.

“I ran away from there all the way here… I was attacked for having a change of heart along the way… Ha, I know the sewers of Terbenople like the back of my hand because of slime extermination….”

“Ran away, why? You said it was your hometown.”

“It was my hometown… ever since our ancestor, the Demon Slayer, settled on that island….”

The descendants of Demon Slayer, Kassel Ringkan, and their hometown….

Meeting them in person felt truly strange.

Once again, the fact that I alone was abandoned 300 years in the future was keenly felt.

“Not anymore?”

“The demons have taken it over….”

“Demons?”

“Demons.”

Pipi repeated the word ominously.

“Demons, demons, demons, demons.”

“Those guys, 10 years… no, it’s been 11 years now… suddenly appeared on our island… Can you believe it? The Slayers from 500 years ago….”

Slayers…?

As someone who lived 300 years ago, I know their story better than modern people.

“Slayers, there’s only one Slayers I know.”

The strongest mercenary group of all time.

And the worst adventure group of all time.

Arthur Brius, who gained both fame and infamy under the alias Uruk Slayer.

The Slayers were founded when he subjugated the eight strongest mercenaries of the time and gave them the title of Slayer.

Then, after gathering a hundred more lower-ranked mercenaries, they swept through the border battlefields with just 109 people.

But they weren’t satisfied with just killing demons; they often picked fights with other mercenary groups or republican armies for various reasons.

‘Everything was as they pleased.’

If they were paid more, if fighting this side seemed more fun, if there was someone they wanted to fight over there….

When the border battles subsided, they went up to the small kingdoms, taking commissions from kings and ‘legally’ plundering other kingdoms.

But their evil deeds were so atrocious that the Papal State issued a subjugation order about three years later.

‘But they hunted down more than a dozen wyverns that were dispatched by the subjugation order….’

They did such a thing in an era when the age of dragons was at its peak, not like today.

The subjugation order was issued before was established, in an era when the power of those fighting demons in the borderlands was desperately needed.

Rumor has it that if they were paid enough, and if there seemed to be a lot to plunder, they would side with the demons and antagonize their own kind.

‘So before the title of Dragon Slayer was attached, they were called Uruk Slayer or Kinslayer.’

The Slayers, who committed terrible atrocities against their own kind, were finally subjugated by an unprecedented measure in which all three of the contemporary Payqueliers [powerful holy warriors] and even a cardinal personally stepped forward.

But Arthur Brius would be the only warrior in history who, though not a Payquielier, possessed the martial prowess to hunt dragons with a mortal body.

So, secretly, there is said to be a warrior group that worships him like a religion.

This is why they were called the strongest mercenary group in their time, and why they are now called the worst adventure group in modern times.

“Besides the Slayers from 500 years ago, a new Slayers has emerged?”

“It’s the same Slayers.”

“That’s absurd….”

“I couldn’t explain it because the bell rang earlier. The reason I wanted to avoid the Tersh Islands is because the Slayers conquered them.”

“What?”

At that moment, cheers erupted from the stadium. It seemed Celine’s fist had knocked out her opponent in one blow.

“I told you. He even resurrects the spirits and uses them as his limbs. From the beginning, he himself is a spirit.”

“……!

“The Slayers, like Luzaihen, are one of the top nine organizations of the Black Church. In terms of power alone, they are the strongest of the nine.”

I momentarily fell silent.

A terrible imagination wriggled and spread throughout my brain.

“So, they took over the Demon Slayer’s base and control the entire Tersh Islands?”

What were the Papal States and the witches doing?

Then, the voice that Valencidith had given me before echoed in my ears. Would you believe that there are spies of his in the Papal States?

“They control the entire green city in the underworld of the islands… My people are now their slaves….”

“Slaves? Slaves? Slaves? Slaves.”

I couldn’t believe it.

But if Zernique has been revived, doesn’t acknowledging the resurrection of the Slayers solve all the mysteries at once?

Why Miria had such sad eyes.

Kora gave a cynical smile in pain.

“We earn money like mercenaries… to show that there is nothing wrong with Rinkleland….”

“…….”

“And above all, to make it look like we are using the name Slayers….”

When I came here, I remembered the captain of the merchant ship saying that the Slayers were taking advantage of the situation these days.

Miria, that bitch….

Why didn’t you tell me anything? If you had somehow told me the situation, I wouldn’t have been dawdling in the Velisor River.

“It’s because of the mark.”

Valencidith answered my question.

“Even if you just think about telling the secret about the Slayers, that mark exerts its power. The one you erased.”

The bitten lips cracked.

Zernique… I felt like anger, like smoldering embers, was slowly burning my heart.

– I’m just working for money. I’m only hunting goblins because no one else is doing it, so the pay is surprisingly good. Don’t you get it? I’m just saying things that sound good. Forget it all.

Miria’s mark, which I erased in , was such a shackle of life….

“To sum up, I erased Miria’s mark, and now she’s in mortal danger?”

“No, that’s not it… We’ve built up trust so far, so we’ve somehow gotten over it… The reason Miria is in danger is….”

“Was it Miria who told you to find me?”

“No, it was someone else… It was a wizard who helped me, his name was, Zer, yeah, he said you would understand if I said Zer….”

Zer?

At that name, Valencidith raised both eyebrows and turned to me.

“It’s a trap. We shouldn’t have gone to the Tersh Islands after all. He’s deliberately letting this woman go to lure you in. With the Slayers and Zernique together, the odds are zero.”

“…….”

“Do you know? Dragon Slayer is a monster with power beyond Payquielier.”

Since the system of adventurers and adventure groups did not exist 500 years ago, the ranking system did not exist either.

The current ranking system used by adventurers, such as Diamond and Platinum, was originally a system used by old mercenaries that was absorbed and subdivided.

Unlike today’s adventurers, who value personality and contribution, old mercenaries ranked their positions based solely on strength and merit.

“I know. Dragon Slayer was a Diamond-ranked mercenary 500 years ago.”

The Diamond rank, which only one person in an era can have, means only one thing in the age of mercenaries or the age of adventurers.

The Supreme.

Even the other eight members of the Slayers were all Platinum-ranked, so there is no need to explain their potential any further.

“But so what?”

I am the Archmage of the Hero Party.

And I am the dragon incarnate with the Orb of Azure in my soul. In both my past and present lives, I have lived with a power that is on a different level from mercenaries.

And, I have fought alongside people of a different level.

– Link, here.

300 years ago, it was probably the day we were preparing for the final battle.

I had worked with Chief Tinker Nils Blantz to create a magical tool for Link.

It was in the form of a hood, and when magic was injected into it, the magical tool would send electrical signals to the language-related areas of the frontal lobe to treat aphasia [speech disorder].

– I was originally researching it to make it for Toureina, but that tomboy got better on her own. There’s no one to give it to, so I’ll give it to Link.

If Keyes had a brain disorder instead of a severed tongue, I would have tried to treat him in this way.

– Hey, you arrogant bastard, who’s skipping out on Nils Blantz’s achievements? What about my heart? What about my skills?

– Ouch! I’m not done talking yet, so stop it!

While I was wrestling with Nils, who hit me on the crown of my head with a tool, Link, who had put on the hood, began to speak.

– Li, Lin, Ni, Ni, Nils, Tha, Thank, Thank you.

The laughter that burst out of me and Nils, who were staring blankly at each other at that moment….

But celebrating the success was only temporary. Perhaps because the equipment and techniques were insufficient, he could only say syllables intermittently.

I felt sorry for him, so before the battle began, I said to Link.

– Later, when Link gets married and has children, well, I’ll teach them how to read. It’ll be hard to teach Link.

– A, Child, Teach, Lin?

– Yeah, and as the Archmage of the Hero Party, I’ll tell them stories. That this big, gentle giant was a real Demon Slayer. Of course, only until that hood is completed.

When I said that, Link smiled innocently and promised to have a lot of children.

– A, Child, Have, Many, Lin, Always, Be, Together. Teach, Reading, Must, Do.

And Link kept that promise. So many descendants that they formed a clan. So now it’s time for me to keep that promise.

Even if I can’t teach them how to read.

Even if I can’t tell them that story.

I can create an environment where they can learn to read to their heart’s content and encounter such stories in peace.

– If you really want to save Aki, you’ll need my help. I know the terrain of the Red Mountains like the back of my hand.

Above all, I owe Miria a debt. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have been able to save Aki.

“You said it before, Valencidith. If I’m like this, what will Aki learn?”

“Learn, Learn, Learn, Learn.”

“What will they learn from a guardian who doesn’t properly help a friend who helped them? What kind of adult will they become when they grow up?”

Valencidith widened his eyes, then gave a sighing smile of agreement.

“Yeah, you were this kind of guy. I think I made a mistake.”

The Slayers and Zernique are together… oppressing Link’s descendants? As I thought about the meaning of those words, my mind went cold.

Even better.

I’ll have you necks washed and waiting.

This time, I’m going to throw you ghosts into hell together.

“Kora, right? Guide me to your island. I’ll hear the details later.”

* * *

Green City, .

is famous for its cityscape, where beautiful nature and artificial architecture harmonize.

This place, which overlooks the cityscape, is the mayor’s office.

In , the mayor refers to the old magistrate, that is, the top of the Tersh Islands… but now he is surprisingly wearing a humble smile.

“Hmm, the ‘Golden Children’ have arrived?”

To the black-haired pretty boy sitting on his desk, peeling and eating tangerines. The sweetness of the tangerines in the Tersh Islands is world-renowned.

“Yes. They came in a large group. They all came disguised as merchants, so it seems they weren’t caught in the first screening.”

“So you just let them go?”

“Th, that is, they submitted the Papal State’s investigation order for Rinkleland and 17 other islands! You know! If I submit that, there’s no way I can stop it….”

The mayor frantically flapped his arms to assert his innocence.

The boy took a small bite of the last tangerine, and the flesh flowed down his slender lips.

Meanwhile, cold sweat flowed down the mayor’s forehead and back.

Until the boy wiped the flowing flesh with his finger, sucked it, and smiled. The action was strangely obscene.

“Well, I don’t really care. My sisters are always stationed in Rinkleland in pairs. Women are strangely fond of that island.”

The moment the boy grabbed the strangely shaped sword he had leaned against the table and stood up, the mayor trembled and babbled.

“I, I’m really innocent! I, I didn’t do anything!”

“No, who said anything? Why are you so scared? I’m sad~ We’ve been friends for 10 years already.”

“Ha, haha, haha, th, that’s right, that’s right! Hahat, hahahahat.”

The sight of a boy who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old pinching the cheek of a mayor who was old enough to be his father and laughing was truly bizarre.

But if you know the boy’s real name, or rather his alias, you wouldn’t be too surprised.

Boy, Aaron Ludwig.

His alias is Mage Slayer.

A legendary wizard killer who is said to have killed over 100 battle mages 500 years ago, not today.

Although he was removed from the family register due to his terrible personality and behavior, the nobility unique to the Ludwig family, which is revealed in his features, could not be erased.

“C, Captain!”

The door burst open just as Aaron was playfully pinching the mayor’s ear. The man clasped his hands together as soon as the boy looked up.

“Dur-Maurice, Raven Slayer. Death to all crows. We have a big problem.”

“Dur-Maurice, Mage Slayer. What’s the big deal this time? I just heard about the ‘Golden Children’ from the mayor.”

“That’s not it! It’s a runaway! That Slime Slayer bitch… has escaped! The mark has suddenly disappeared too.”

At that moment, a scream erupted from the mayor’s mouth.

“Kk, kyak!”

The ear that the boy was pulling on was half torn, and blood gushed out.

“What Slime Slayer? The original?”

“Yes, I mean the one with the mark, not the brainwashed one. The one we use for show.”

“Pl, please! Kkyaak!”

“Tsk, tsk, these guys are starting to climb up one by one because we’ve been too lenient lately.”

“Mage Slayer! W, we, you said we were fr, friends! Pl, please!”

“Oh? I’m sorry, how did this happen? I was just playing around and got distracted.”

Aaron let go of the mayor just before his ear was torn from his face, making a fuss.

Apologizing as simply as if he had bumped into someone while walking down the street.

The boy’s red eyes were redder than the blood flowing from his ear.

“Don’t worry. If you tell Sister Spiela, she’ll put it back on perfectly. Just tell her I asked you to.”

The boy threw such words of comfort to the mayor, who was rolling painfully on the floor, and scratched his head as if he was annoyed to death.

“So, back then, I told my brothers and sisters to tear that Goblin Slayer bitch apart and show her as an example… Where did the mark disappear?”

“.”

“A~gh, this kind of annoying work is always my responsibility. Prepare the fastest ship and gather the kids.”