The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 239

239

“You’re Friede’s disciple?”

The pain that surged in my chest at that name… for a moment, I was breathless, able to manage only a faint gasp.

‘There’s no way he’s Friede’s disciple.’

That guy is dead.

How could he be alive and raising disciples? I suppressed the absurd fantasy that kept rearing its head in my mind.

“Pipi, do you recognize him?”

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”

I was surprised at how coldly my mind was working, but with Aki and Setsunen present, I didn’t want to show my anger.

“Then I’ll tell you a truth too. I’m actually the reincarnation of the Great Mage Lin, and this Pipi is the real Friede’s pet parrot, Pipi.”

“Authentic, authentic, authentic.”

Miria’s shoulders twitched.

What is he saying….

But Shirin’s reaction was not what Rain expected; she nodded as if she knew it all along.

“Ah, the Great Mage and the righteous Sun Parrot Pipi that my master always talked about… it’s truly an honor to meet you!”

Shirin prostrated herself on the ground, bowing repeatedly, causing Pipi to tilt its head in confusion.

“And Bart outside is the villainous Dragon Slayer from 500 years ago. You can tell by that spear, right?”

“A, a, a villain! Why are you traveling with someone like that?!”

“And Rem over there is a descendant of the Kiasse of the Royal Palace and a murderer who killed the successor of the White Bow Serwebon and stole the bow.”

“A, a murderer?!”

“And Miria here is a Goblin Slayer who became a Silver-rank adventurer just by hunting goblins.”

A moment of silence flowed.

Setsunen sneezed, “Achoo.”

The climax of the escalating explanation felt somewhat off, and Shirin couldn’t properly respond.

“Goblins… ah, um, I see. That’s also one way to carry out justice. So, um.”

At that moment, Miria’s eyes blazed fiercely as she grabbed Rain by the collar.

“Why are you only describing me as I am? I feel like there should be some other descriptive element, but why did you make this distinction?”

“No, that’s, well, to tell a proper lie, you have to mix in a little truth, so….”

The source was Valensid.

Looking back, it seems I only learned bad things from that guy. I’m somewhat relieved that I isolated him from Aki early on.

It was strange that Miria didn’t understand this intention, but what was even stranger was Shirin’s attitude.

“Traveling with villains… I can’t understand it, but there must have been some circumstances! You don’t have to tell me!”

This isn’t the situation I wanted.

I wanted Shirin to question me and tell me not to lie, but what is this absolute trust in me? Is she just a trusting person?

As Rain bit his lip in frustration, Miria stepped forward.

“Stop with the jokes, who are you really? If you’re a mage impersonating a witch, I might just let it go, but that was too much.”

“It’s not a joke. Lies are evil in themselves! I never do evil!”

“Then what is it? Friede disappeared 200 years ago. Are you saying Friede is alive? It’s not like you’ve lived for over 200 years.”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I answered the first question now… but the second one is correct. I have lived for over 200 years.”

Rain, who had been listening to the conversation with his arms crossed, snorted.

“You’re kidding me. Even if I give you the benefit of the doubt, you don’t look even twenty.”

“Ah, why are you so distrustful? Distrusting people is also evil!”

“You should believe what’s believable, you idiot.”

“This body was created with a spell given to me by my master! I separated only my spirit from my body to create a clone. Because my power is lacking, I retained the appearance and intelligence of my childhood….”

This is a lie that won’t work at all… With a deep sigh, Rain opened his eyes to a red vision.

Bell Siderius.

But no? There was no substance to this girl’s body. Surprisingly, it was truly a body created by magic.

“What, you? You can handle such high-level magic? How?”

“It’s magic I learned from my master! I’ve been practicing magic for over 200 years. I should be able to do this much. Though not as perfectly as my master.”

Rem, who was sitting on top of a defeated bandit listening to the story, handed Serwebon to Shirin.

As Serwebon emitted a clear wave, greenery sprouted from the ground.

“Serwebon is saying that’s not a lie?”

As Rain twitched his eyebrows, Bart asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“Then why is she wandering around as a clone instead of her main body? Where is her main body?”

“The witches in the region are disappearing in a series of incidents, causing chaos in the security.”

“To protect them?”

“Yes, it’s easier to use multiple clones than to move one main body.”

“But witches are disappearing?”

“Not only that, but contact with my sisters is also──”

Shirin let out a silent scream, and her face twisted in pain. Soon, her body scattered into countless strings of text.

“──?!”

Someone eliminated the clone?

No, that’s not it. There’s a problem with the main body. Concern for Shirin didn’t even last a moment.

[Oh, who do we have here.]

Cold sweat….

Cold sweat runs from my forehead to the bridge of my nose.

[I never thought I’d meet the great Banryong [a powerful dragon] while chasing after a pretty maiden.]

The bandits foamed at the mouth and collapsed one by one, the clear sky suddenly turned black, and the surrounding forests withered horribly.

“A, a, it’s evil.”

Setsunen went into Seresia’s arms and hid, and Aki, who had been fast asleep, jumped up and instinctively took a fighting stance.

[It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Hehehe. Good work. Thanks for coming to the land where my spirit can travel.]

In the middle of the suddenly exploded poison, a man with an eye patch stood.

[Where did Valensid go? Ah, did Elamas kill him? Did you swallow your tears and bury your comrade?]

The many eyes drawn on the eye patch laugh, cry, frown, or tear their eyes.

The eyes on the eye patch are incredibly realistic, but strangely, the overall shape is translucent, and you can vaguely see through it.

It’s not a real body.

‘What is this unpleasant presence, like countless tentacles licking my whole body….’

‘Can just a spirit emit such a terrible presence…?’

Rem and Bart took deep breaths, while Miria also drew her Demon Sword.

‘He’s several levels above Elamas, I can tell just by his presence….’

Why?

It remains somewhere in my memory.

Serwebon is also emitting a heavy and threatening light. Yes, that guy is….

[That little whelp has grown up quite a bit too. At this rate, she’ll become a beauty that suits my taste.]

As the magic circle shattered in Rain’s grasp, intense flames covered Zerniks, burning away the enormous poison in an instant.

[That’s excellent magic power. It’s several times more refined than when I saw it last time. It makes me feel like it was worth raising you without killing you, Rain Ludwig.]

“Shut your mouth.”

[No need to rush. We’ll meet soon. I’ll be waiting for you in the ‘City of Beginning and End.’]

That place will be your end as well as my beginning.

[Then I’ll give you a reward for all the errands you’ve done so far. Hehehehahahahaha!]

As the poison was swept away by the dragon’s flames, the sky began to clear again, and the intangible tentacles that scanned the souls of all beings disappeared.

“Is that guy the mastermind behind everything?”

Miria asked.

It was that guy, of all people?

“Yeah. And he’s plotting something right now. Even Elamas was just a delaying tactic.”

Rain answered, soothing Setsunen, who had only poked her face out from Seresia’s embrace.

Aki, still tense, bared her fangs and looked around.

‘The mastermind who killed Alakish, the one who shattered the happiness of the two mothers and daughters….’

Rain felt a deep sadness and placed his hand on Aki’s head.

“It’s okay, Aki, it’s okay.”

“Aboo.”

“Aboo, aboo, aboo.”

Pipi also rubbed its head against Aki’s face as if to calm her down. Bart slung the Dragon Bone Spear over his shoulder and said.

“Does that mean everything that guy said is true? What that 200-year-old kid said earlier.”

“That witches are disappearing?”

“Besides that, this and that.”

Rain stroked his chin.

Certainly, it’s a bit strange for a ‘pillar’ like Zerniks to step in to hunt down a mere witch.

But according to Valensid, he’s a guy whose actions can’t be read, so he might have come to meet me on purpose.

‘But why? Was there information that he specifically wanted to block by showing up? This almost… seems to be urging me on.’

At that time, Rem was struggling to calm the wave of anger that Serwebon was fiercely emitting.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Serwebon so enraged….”

“Hmm? Why is it so natural?”

Miria left a meaningful answer to Rem’s mutterings but didn’t answer the question. She just clenched her fist again and trembled.

“It would be best to go straight to , Rain.”

Bart continued to talk to Rain.

“There’s a rumor that is ruled by three sisters called ‘Descendants of the Dragon.’”

“Descendants of the Dragon?”

“No one knows their faces or their names, but under their protection, the Red City has prospered as a key point in the Southern Republic for many years, according to rumors.”

As expected of a seasoned adventurer, he knew everything that wasn’t written in books and was only passed down as rumors.

“I’ve heard that too. And there’s also a rumor that those three sisters are immortal. That they’ve lived for over 200 years.”

Miria, the most knowledgeable about the Adrion continent among the companions, added.

“Doesn’t the setup overlap a bit too much? With that Shirin kid from earlier.”

I certainly can’t deny it.

Many other questions remain. What is Zerniks, whom we finally encountered, plotting here now?

And what did Shirin mean when she said, ‘You wouldn’t believe me even if I answered the first question’?

And if the disciples have achieved immortality, why did their master, Friede, disappear 200 years ago?

“I know. Even I think it’s best to go straight to .”

Either way, I need to prepare this and that in that city to go to . I have to pass through that infamous ‘Flowing Desert’.

“Much sooner than planned.”

* * *

The prayer that had been resonating reverently throughout the vast grounds stopped in an instant.

A chill that felt like it would cut the skin flowed in, tearing through the paper sliding door, and the candles that had been lighting the inside of the chapel began to go out one by one.

However, the candle at the altar of the chapel, where a witch was kneeling and praying, did not go out.

“How dare you set your dirty feet in the sacred chapel of the gods.”

Rather, a powerful barrier of flames rose, scattering the foreign chill.

“Oh, you’re definitely stronger than the bitches I’ve killed so far.”

“Zerniks said so. That there are disciples raised by the priestess of the hero party 300 years ago. I guess that was true?”

“I don’t care if it’s true or not. I just need that bitch’s blood.”

What appeared, blowing away half of the chapel, was a pair of men and women.

Abyssal worms crawled all over the woman’s body and feet, and four or five grotesque birds were attached to the man.

Deep wrinkles formed on the brow of the witch glaring at the two.

“More than 70% of the witches in the city area have disappeared in a week. Was that all your doing?”

“What if it is, you old hag who’s lived for 200 years? Why don’t you just die quietly now?”

“Knowing that things like you would appear someday, my master entrusted us with ‘power’.”

As the witch said that, she placed her hand on the pendant hanging from her chest.

The pendant that the legendary priestess had personally hung 200 years ago had faded in the course of time, but its shape was intact.

And the smile her master had on the day she received it, and her own determination, were clear in her mind.

“Receive it.”

The invaders had to feel a kind of awe and thrill at the same time.

The witch’s body began to change in a frenzy of flames. Her body swelled greatly, her body was covered with scales… and the skeleton itself changed.

When the fierce momentum of the fire, which was so intense that all the moisture in the atmosphere was blown away, subsided, what was in front of them was not a witch.

「The Dragon’s Judgment.」

It was a serpent that failed to become a dragon, a being later called an Imoogi [a proto-dragon or dragon-serpent in Korean mythology].

It had the jaws and scales of a dragon, but its wings had not sprouted and were twisted grotesquely.

The legs were also deformed, so it seemed it would have to crawl on the ground, and the jaws lacked the dignity of the dragon race and were somewhat distorted.

“Ha, look at that ugly sight.”

But its transcendental power was comparable to that of a dragon, but the invaders standing in front of it wore relaxed smiles on their faces.

“In this case, you can’t tell who the bad guy is just by looking at the outside, you old hag!”