The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 53

Dormitory, the Twin Dragon Battle.

As soon as I returned to my room, I considered dropping Toureina’s book on the desk and collapsing, but then I remembered Pipi and went up to the second floor.

Christa Warden occupied the best room on the second floor of the [True] dormitory, essentially the prime real estate for first-year students.

“……What?”

But someone was already in front of Christa’s room. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were acting as a gatekeeper rather than a guest.

The girl with braided hair, Gertrude Fenton, was sitting, leaning against the outer wall, yawning.

“What are you doing there?”

Gertrude offered a jaded smile with her hollow eyes.

“Hmph, I’m keeping watch. By the lady’s order.”

“Why are you keeping watch?”

“To prevent anyone from eavesdropping or accidentally entering the room. It’s corn time.”

“Corn time?”

Rather than explain, Gertrude gestured for me to open the door without knocking. Without giving it much thought, I opened the door…

“Corn, corn.”

First, a familiar voice reached my ears. It was Pipi.

“Corn~ corn~!”

And there was Christa Warden, sitting in front of her, feeding Pipi handfuls of corn kernels. It was a scene I never would have imagined.

At that moment, Christa sensed someone and turned my way… the gazes of the descendants of the two great houses met in the air.

“…….”

“…….”

After clearing my throat slightly, I pretended not to notice and began to close the door. The next moment, I heard tremendous footsteps, and the door burst open.

“You, you, what?! Why are you opening other people’s doors without permission?! Does a scion of a noble house not know basic manners like knocking?!”

Christa’s face was flushed red, as if it would explode, and she unleashed a torrent of words as if she didn’t care what happened. I could even sense a hint of desperation that I rarely saw.

“No, Gertrude told me to open it without knocking…….”

I tried to point out the accomplice, but that tomboy was nowhere to be seen, as if she had already vanished. That little rascal…

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were having such an important event.”

“I, important event? I, I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“There’s no need to play dumb. When I first met Pipi… I mean, Peach, I was so captivated by her cuteness that I lost my mind.”

The moment Rain stroked under his nose, Pipi flew over and landed affectionately next to his shoulder, pecking at his earlobe as if asking why he was so late.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. Something came up.”

Christa watched that enviously, and when her eyes met Rain’s, she suddenly crossed her arms haughtily and turned her head away with a snort.

“Cute? This beast? You’re kidding me! I’m the young lady of the Warden family. Do you even know how much trouble it was because you left this thing and disappeared for the entire holiday?”

Of course, it was a lie.

Christa recalled the fantastic holiday she had with Peach. Memories of exploring the city together and strolling around the campus, laughing and chatting…

Pipi turned to Christa and bowed.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

In that moment, Christa wanted to hug Peach. She wanted to say that she was even more grateful… If only she didn’t have to worry about her rival’s gaze and the dignity she had to maintain as a child of a prestigious family.

“Okay, can you just disappear? I can finally relax and study!”

Christa felt a heart-wrenching pain as she closed the door.

Rain, who had no way of knowing her true feelings, exchanged glances with Pipi and had to scratch his head as if he was in trouble.

“Hmm, I left you with her because she was the most trustworthy… I didn’t know it would be a nuisance.”

“Pipi, nuisance, Pipi, was a nuisance.”

“No, no, you’re not a nuisance, it’s my fault.”

Just as he was about to turn around, the door burst open again, and Christa’s sand soldiers handed Rain the cage and various pet supplies.

“I’ve put all the money on your family’s account.”

Just by looking at the composition, which was full of consideration, I could tell that Pipi had lived in luxury.

But why was she so nice to her, even though she said she was a nuisance? Was it just because she has a clear-cut personality and does everything thoroughly?

“Oh, everything’s good? Thank you.”

“Okay! What are you doing? Get out of here!”

As Rain was pushed down the stairs by Christa’s sand soldiers, Pipi climbed onto Rain’s head and looked back.

As soon as she did, Christa’s face lit up with a look of regret, apology, and sadness as she watched his retreating figure. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching and waved her hands timidly, whispering ‘Good night.’ Just like she had been doing during this holiday.

* * *

A little past midnight… Rain was sitting at his desk with his arms crossed.

On the neatly cleared desk, only 『The Life and Achievements of Toureina, Disciple of Lynn and Friede, the Shaman of Cinder』 was placed.

For some reason, I didn’t have the courage to open the book. Why, really why?

“Pipi, do you remember Toureina?”

“Toureina, Pipi’s friend. Lynn’s friend.”

“How was she? ……After I disappeared.”

Pipi, who had been flapping her wings vigorously at the welcome name, turned away from Rain and didn’t say anything.

“Why? Did you fight in her final years?”

“…….”

“Pipi?”

She remained silent, as if something had really happened.

Oh, Toureina, you little rascal. How can you make people worry like this even after 300 years?

After taking a short, deep breath to calm myself, I opened the first page of the book. I traced the path of the disciple’s life through the letters.

[Childhood]

The content recorded in childhood was all the content that Lynn knew… and it was the same content recorded in the biographies of other colleagues.

[After the war ended, Friede, the Shaman of the Fire Dragon, decided to take Toureina as her disciple, and a full-fledged witch training began.]

There was nothing new about it. Toureina was a genius among geniuses, showing tremendous talent not only in magic but also in sorcery.

‘By the way, Friede’s disciple… I wonder if she knew how great that was.’

Unlike wizards who use the academic system, for witches who always train talents through the master-disciple system, who you have as a teacher is a great asset.

And Friede is a shaman [a spiritual leader or healer].

She was one of the two top figures who oversaw the republic’s rites, and her status reached not only the republic but also the empire.

The fact that the Fire Dragon Bel’dakidun personally bestowed the title of ‘Witch of the Fire Dragon (later Shaman)’ is enough to explain her position.

「At the age of thirteen, she was appointed as a formal witch, becoming the youngest witch in history.」

Amazing… I heard that the country was turned upside down when Friede became a witch at the age of fourteen, but she’s a year faster.

[At that time, she received the title (號) [a formal, often honorific, name] from her teacher as Cinder, so she became known as the Witch of Cinder.]

The reason for giving her the title was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing loudly in the middle of the night.

[It is said that she was given the title to remind her not to forget to clean her ashtray even after becoming a formal witch…….]

As Rain, who knew Friede’s psycho tendencies well, was not surprised, but others must have been quite embarrassed.

‘Ha, the Witch of Cinder…….’

I wonder what it would have been like if I had lived in that era. I would have teased her a lot, laughing and holding my stomach every time I met her and calling her by that title.

– Master, please scold Master. She gave me a strange title. I can’t even change it…….

– Why, it’s good. It rolls off the tongue. Who would forget it once they hear it? Pu, pu ha ha! Keyes, Cinder, Cinder.

– Lynn! Won’t you stop? Toureina is crying! Okay, okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. Stop crying. It’s okay.

While Lista was comforting Toureina, Keyes would have chuckled with me, and Friede would have waved her pipe and shouted like this.

– Hey, hey, hey! I worked hard to come up with a good nickname, but what, is it strange? Life is fleeting, really~. These days, kids don’t know the grace of their teachers at all.

– I don’t like it, I don’t like it! Master has a cool title called the Shaman of the Fire Dragon……!

– Sigh, cool titles are really useless. In the end, it’s just embarrassing when you introduce yourself later? Funny nicknames are several times better at staying in people’s memories, and they can create a sea of laughter when you introduce yourself, so how good is that?

If all my colleagues were alive in that world, I would be confident that I could really enjoy every moment of my life.

It’s just a letter engraved on a piece of paper, but why does its weight feel as heavy as a lead weight in my hand?

In the torment of illusions that flashed before my eyes like a daydream, I suppressed the pain that sharply pierced my heart with a bitter smile and turned the page.

[Adulthood]

The achievements Toureina showed in her adulthood were quite remarkable.

「At the age of 29, Toureina, who was the first in the history of the continent to master both magic and sorcery, began to travel around the world, treating the weak and poor without charge.」

From this time on, Toureina became known as a saint… I was just amazed by the years that made that little girl like this.

Wasn’t the reason why she wasn’t immediately subjected to heresy interrogation because she was a disciple of Nana and Friede, but because she had this background?

It’s admirable that she mastered 5-star magic at the age of twenty-nine, but she even became a Three Treasures Witch who mastered all three stages of the Dragon Scripture (龍經) [a scripture written in dragon language that forms the basis of the incantation used by witches], namely the Vinaya Pitaka (律藏) [the collection of rules for monastic life], Sutra Pitaka (經藏) [the collection of teachings], and Abhidhamma Pitaka (論藏) [the collection of philosophical and psychological analyses].

Toureina was a monster who inherited all of Lynn and Friede’s skills.

[After healing countless people for 7 years, Friede, the Shaman of the Fire Dragon, nominated Toureina as her successor, and the Republic’s Assembly unanimously approved her to become the ‘Shaman of Cinder’.]

The following actions were a list of extremely biographical contents of Toureina serving the dragon race and guiding humans as a shaman.

After serving as a shaman for a whopping 80 years, the record ended with her stepping down from her position amidst praise and descending into the secular world.

A slightly interesting part is that even at the age of over 100, her appearance was the same as when she was appointed as a shaman in her youth.

“So it’s strange. Why is this a forbidden book? There’s nothing wrong with it?”

As I muttered that, I inadvertently smiled broadly when I saw the portrait of unparalleled beauty on the next page.

[▲The Shaman of Cinder, Toureina]

ㆍShe always cherished the bamboo hat Lynn left as a memento and the pipe Friede passed down.

That little girl grew up to be such a beauty… Unless she bribed the painter, it’s really amazing.

Men must have been swarming around her, but why didn’t she get married? Did Friede preach that great ‘all men are wolves’ singleism?

“Pipi, look at this. She really took that old and smelly thing as a memento and carried it around?”

Pipi, who was dozing off while looking at the wall as if she was sulking, checked the portrait and then vigorously flapped her wings and circled around the book as if she was very happy.

“Toureina, always wore Lynn’s hat. Toureina, didn’t let anyone touch the hat.”

That hat was a special item to me.

It was a gift from the headmistress when I left the magic tower.

She said that the sun is strong in the south, so I wouldn’t get sunburned… But it wouldn’t have meant much to Toureina, so I was a little happy that she cherished it.

“Oh my, gee. I’m honored, I’m honored.”

I chuckled as if I was trying to hide my happy feelings, then leaned back deeply in my chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘The youngest witch in history and the longest-serving shaman in history…….’

She just monopolized all kinds of genius titles. Did she learn the magic of immortality with the knowledge she gained during her journey?

I suddenly became curious. What kind of abilities did this girl create?

The first half of the book dealt with Toureina’s actions, while the second half listed the abilities Toureina created.

‘Typically, Ice Spin Evasion (氷旋由矯) and Scorching Cold Union (燏寒聯)?’

Most of them involve freezing the body and then amplifying the healing power through healing orbs and amplification magic… I was thinking it was interesting when my eyes suddenly widened.

‘These, aren’t they similar to the Lesser Sun’s Great Return (주여소계대반)?’

5-star magic that I created for the first and last time with Friede’s help because I didn’t want to die. The magic that sent me to this era 300 years later.

‘Kid, was it that impressive?’

It was strange that she seemed to be obsessed with it rather than just being impressed.

There’s more than one way to use healing orbs using the incantation-type Altigma, but all of them are only similar to the Lesser Sun’s Great Return.

Was she trying to research the Lesser Sun’s Great Return? No, there’s no need to do that. It’s an era of peace…….

‘That’s only meaningful in urgent situations like war, hmm, I don’t know.’

What I could say for sure was that Toureina’s life was nothing short of great, and there was no element that would subject her to heresy interrogation.

That’s only when I looked at this book… but I just wanted to believe that.

I just wanted to remember that the disciple I taught for the first time, the little girl who bothered me, calling me Master, had become such a respected figure.

‘Yeah, she lived hard…….’

By the time I blankly closed the book, dawn was rising. The light of dawn was reflected in the dew on my eyes, scattering pathetically in rainbow colors.

‘Well done, kid.’

And I’m sorry.

I said I’d come back, but I couldn’t…….