The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 62

62.

“To be honest, with your current skills, I don’t think you’ll be able to walk even after decades.”

Six weeks into being a tutor.

As usual, after lightly finishing the magic lesson, Kasena Page, who was about to look into the telescope, turned around, startled.

“What?! How can that be!”

“It is here.”

“No, that can’t be. I’ll work harder from today. I’ll do more as you say. So—”

“—This isn’t something that can be achieved by working hard. I think I overestimated your talent too much.”

“Then what! Am I, am I, just supposed to live like this for the rest of my life? Liar! You said you’d make me walk.”

Rain paused to gauge Kasena’s reaction. She seemed headstrong, but it wasn’t that she lacked a tender heart; she already looked like she was about to cry.

“Please hear me out until the end. I’m only saying ‘with your current skills’.”

“……?”

“From now on, I’ll give you some help. First, take off that skirt.”

Before I could even react, a book flew and hit my forehead. It was an outstanding display of telekinesis.

“You show up wrapped in bandages and start spouting nonsense, you crazy bastard!”

“With this level of telekinetic skill, you’ll master it even faster than I did.”

“What?”

I showed Kasena the bottom of my pants leg. Kasena looked back and forth between the curse mark etched on my leg and my eyes with a bewildered expression.

“What is this…….”

“I promised you, didn’t I? That I would make you walk again.”

At that moment, Kasena’s eyes trembled. No sound came out; only a faint breath escaped her lips.

“If you’re joking, you’re dead.”

“I’m serious.”

“What is it……?”

“It’s called a curse mark. It’s etched on the body to control the power of the magic inflicted on it.”

Yoon (奫) [meaning ‘deep and vast’]: Makes the flow of magic inflicted on the body as smooth as water.

Ha (霞) [meaning ‘rosy clouds’]: Relieves or nullifies central commands that can overload the body.

Ju (柱) [meaning ‘pillar’]: Converts magic inflicted on the body into a conditional, constant state.

These are the curse marks I experimentally etched on both of my legs. It took quite a long time to research and understand these runes.

‘Etching curse marks on the body is like getting stabbed with a knife, so it was incredibly painful…….’

But if it succeeded in completely eliminating the risk, it was pain worth enduring.

“The shape of the central magic circle is a pentagon, and the rune to be etched is Loe (擂) [likely referring to a grinding stone or mill]. It gives the property of rubbing against electric magic.”

The only task was this: could she move all the joints in her lower body, those joints that needed the most delicate adjustments?

“Try moving your hand.”

“?”

“The sensation of moving your hand, that’s the command you send through the nervous system.”

“Uh…… but?”

“You’re replacing that with magic. The rune you’ll use is Loe (擂). It’s a rune that only gives electrical stimulation, less dangerous than a simple current.”

A magic circle suddenly appeared on my palm. When I broke it, my left foot bent in order from the big toe to the little toe.

“Like this. I stimulated the nerves with magic to move it.”

Kasena’s face turned pale.

Barely moving her tongue, she squeezed out a voice as if chewing on her lips.

“If I do that, I, I…… can I walk?”

“Of course. Why else would my whole body be covered in scars like this?”

Assuming the caster was disabled, I also tried moving my hand with telekinetic waves after blocking the nerves coming from the central nervous system. It was possible.

“Even the most complicated fingers can all move, so legs won’t be a problem.”

Kasena seemed half in doubt, but…… the corners of her lips kept twitching with a smile born of hope.

“So…… you’re saying to take off my skirt?”

“It’s a delicate job, so it’ll take about two or three hours. It’ll be dangerous if you twist your body unnecessarily, so I’ll tie you up with magic for my convenience.”

Kasena stared at me intently before clenching her fist.

“That’s not going to happen! I’m still uneasy! I’ll stay still!”

“It’s not like I’m going to get excited seeing you naked anyway.”

“What?!”

Hmm, what’s with that expression? I don’t know if she’s relieved or angry at my words.

“I have to look at the body’s circuits through Bell Siderius [likely a magical viewing technique], so all I’ll see are magic circuits anyway.”

“Ugh…….”

“Are you feeling less worried now?”

“Shut up! If you do anything weird, I’ll cut your balls off right away!”

After a moment of hesitation, Kasena blushed and carefully began to take off her skirt.

“Look…… over there…….”

She used to need a maid for even this kind of thing, but now that she can use telekinesis, it’s not a problem since she can lift her legs with telekinesis.

“You’re not going to etch it on my butt too…… are you?”

“I’ll do it from the hip joint to the ankle. And finally, I’ll draw a magic circle near the spine.”

“Okay…….”

I heated the steel pen with fire.

Sitting on the right side of Kasena, who was sitting on the chair, I grabbed her emaciated leg and focused my mind.

I have to be careful and calm. There can’t be even the slightest mistake in the curse mark.

“Ah……!”

“Don’t make strange noises.”

“It’s, it’s your fault for doing it so hard!”

Kasena’s hot breath reached all the way over here.

Does it hurt that much?

But from experience, itching is harder to endure than this kind of pain. It’s better to do it hard.

“Aah……!”

“Don’t twist your body.”

“It, it hurts……!”

“Endure it.”

“J, just a little softer……!”

“Like this? Is it good?”

“Ugh, yes…… this is perfect now…….”

There’s a saying called ‘Obee Yirak’ (烏飛梨落) [a Korean proverb]. It’s a proverb that says, ‘As the crow flies, the pear falls,’ and it’s often the case that it applies [meaning coincidence can lead to suspicion].

“Miss, what is this sound?”

It was Kasena’s nanny. One of the four people who could enter this room.

That’s why the middle-aged woman who opened the door and entered could see it right away.

The sight of her precious young lady in her underwear in front of a strange man…….

“Uh…….”

The nanny’s eyes spun, and the next moment, she tried to bring the lamp she was holding down on Rain’s head.

“W, wait a minute!”

“It’s not like that, don’t do it!”

“Miss?!”

“This is, well, let’s close the door and talk first!”

“……?”

“You have to protect me. This is a secret just for the three of us.”

After hearing a brief explanation from Kasena, the nanny covered her mouth with both hands. Tears glistened in her eyes.

“The young lady can…… walk again?”

“Yes. So please help me.”

“Of course, of course! Really, how can I ever thank you enough…….”

“Then, if anyone sees this scene, please insist on my innocence and tell the young lady some old stories or something.”

“Old stories?”

“I mean, distract her. Oh, and keep wiping away the blood.”

The nanny held Kasena’s hand tightly, as tears welled up in her eyes from the constant pain.

“Young lady, you must go again…… you used to run around so happily in the , didn’t you?”

“Yeah…….”

“Let’s go together again, with the young lady walking on her own feet. And we’ll go to too……!”

The nanny’s various past stories made the work much easier. And it was also a time to learn about Kasena’s various pasts.

How long had it been?

When I wiped the sweat from my forehead, Kasena’s legs were covered with curse marks like tattoos, and the floor was soaked with sweat and blood.

“Please bring me some disinfectant.”

While the nanny took out the disinfectant, I looked at Kasena. Her eyes were filled with tears as if she was enduring the pain.

“Did it hurt?”

“Hmph! It didn’t hurt at all?!”

Unnecessary pride…….

A child is a child.

“I’m glad to hear that. Now, activate the curse mark magic circle on your spine with your hand.”

Just as Logan lightly activated the secret techniques of the Chaihark School with magic, this magic circle that I created can also be activated by injecting magic power.

“I’ve controlled the range of magic with curse marks, so no matter what you do, only your legs will move. So you won’t get hurt.”

Kasena nodded.

The hope of being able to walk seemed to have pushed away the fear in an instant.

Soon, she closes her eyes, places her hand on the magic circle, and activates the magic power.

‘I hope it doesn’t fail…….’

A dry gulp went down.

The runes drawn on Kasena’s body began to flicker blue.

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

All three of us opened our mouths blankly. Because nothing happened.

The legs didn’t move.

Instead, my legs gave out. Was it a failure? As I blankly swallowed a gasp, tears streamed down Kasena’s eyes.

“…….”

I felt truly sorry. I gave her hope and then took it away; I didn’t know how to apologize. This was the first time this had happened. It was then.

“It moved…….”

“Yes?”

“It moved, it moved, Rain! My little toe, my toe moved……!”

What……?

Kasena was definitely crying.

Yes, her eyes were crying while shedding tears…… but her expression was smiling.

“Look, look at this!”

It was true. Was she giving the weakest stimulation because she wasn’t confident? The nanny hugged Kasena while wailing.

“Young lady, young lady……!”

“I, now, I can walk again soon, I can walk……!”

“Yes, you will!”

“So until then…… don’t tell Mom or Dad! Okay?”

“Yes, yes!”

She’ll be able to walk soon. Because I put a telekinetic assist function in the curse mark technique.

Of course, it will take a tremendous amount of rehabilitation to get the muscles back in her legs and walk like a normal person.

‘But whatever. Let’s worry about that later.’

For now, let’s sincerely applaud my achievement and Kasena’s future and leave this place.

“Rain!”

Just as I was about to turn around and leave to give the nanny and her some time alone, Kasena shouted.

As I tilted my head and turned around, I could only blankly watch Kasena, blushing and hesitant, say this.

“Really, really…… thank you…….”

Ah, she smiled. With a dazzling smile, even more dazzling than on the first day.

Maybe it’s because of that expression.

When I first learned and used magic from the headmaster, I was told that I had that kind of expression too. Toureina was the same.

‘Did I want to see that expression on others again?’

Was it because the headmaster told me to become that kind of person?

No, that’s not it.

Rain didn’t smile on purpose.

Because he didn’t think this was something to laugh or celebrate together. This was just part of the contract; he gave because he received.

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s because I contracted with the headmaster to do this.”

Still, even so, I couldn’t deny the feeling that the fatigue from about a month of hard labor seemed to melt away with just that one smile.

“For reference, I won’t be coming anymore. My work is done.”

“Huh? What? Why, wait a minute!”

“To maintain that power constantly, you need to accumulate a lot of magic power, so it will be a stimulus for yourself. And it’s much better for you to learn directly from the headmaster than from me.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Just as I learned more from my aunt and grandfather than from any other tutor, it is right for Kasena to learn from Madelia.

I can consider the deal with the headmaster and the promise with Kasena to be over with this much. It’s time to use my time for myself again.

“And I hate taking care of kids.”

“What? Hey!”

Rain lightly brushed off Kasena, who was about to retort, and came down the tower’s long stairs.

‘Well, it was just part of the deal…… but it’s okay to be a little happy at times like this, right, Auntie?’

Without realizing it himself, the boy took another step closer to the truth today.

Socrafres.

– You can inherit the progress of ‘unique magic’ research from the surrounding environment.

– Progress 45.3% → 47.9%.

Without knowing why his steps back to the dormitory were so light, without remembering the memory of the day he left the Magic Tower.

– I’ll come back as a wonderful adult who can share the light of magic with others.

Then his steps stopped for a moment.

Come to think of it, where did it go?

The bamboo hat that the headmaster gave me as a gift…… Toureina always cherished it, but now that he’s gone, where is it being kept?

‘If I can get it, I’ll definitely get it.’