The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 79

79.

Lilian Karাইন opened her eyes. The sharp smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, and she saw a ceiling with intricately layered woodwork.

‘My head……’

Her head was still throbbing. The magic’s impact had been negated, but the shock from the backlash lingered.

‘Why did I do that back then……’

She heard a lazy yawn and sensed someone nearby.

“You’re finally awake? I was about to leave if you hadn’t woken up in the next five minutes.”

Instantly, her body tensed, and mana surged within her core. Lilian’s eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?”

In the dim light, she saw black hair shimmering like silk. Through the gaps, red eyes, the symbol of their clan, glowed faintly.

Ludwick, Rain Ludwick.

The very person who had left Lilian in such a miserable state was stretching and rising from the bed across the room. He looked like he had just woken up.

“You seem fine. Still as fierce and spirited as ever.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I just came to check on you at someone’s request, but it seems I worried for nothing. Never mind. I’m leaving.”

His irresponsibly innocent tone and languid gestures made her blood boil.

“If you came to mock me, go ahead and laugh all you want!”

She blurted out the moment Rain placed his hand on the infirmary door. Rain’s hand stopped.

“Is it fun? Is it amusing? Look at me. I’ve been completely ruined since I heard those words from you. Isn’t that what you came to see?”

“?”

“I’ve been living only to get revenge on that bastard Dadan… but now I don’t know what to do anymore…”

As she poured out the feelings she had kept bottled up, tears she hadn’t shed since she was five years old flowed freely.

Rain had asked if she respected her father. If not, why was she following the same path? It was an undeniable point. The moment she heard those words, her mind went blank.

‘I hated my father so much, but am I becoming like him?’

What outcome could she expect at the end of that road? Wouldn’t she just become a second Dadan?

“Oh, geez…”

Watching Lilian wipe away her tears, Rain sighed, at a loss.

‘I’m not good at this kind of thing.’

If it were Listana Friede, she would have offered words of comfort and encouragement, but I wasn’t that kind of person.

I don’t know how to comfort.

I can’t give encouragement.

However, I could offer the experience I gained from living one more life than these juniors.

“Humans can’t choose the past, so we can’t do anything about it. How we are born, what family we have… it’s all fate.”

“But─!”

“But the future is different.”

Future… At that empty statement, something heavy surged within Lilian’s chest, constricting her breath.

“Stop talking nonsense! The future? Creating the future I want? Do you, born into a harmonious family, even know my circumstances?”

“……”

“I wanted to live like that too… I wanted a normal, simple life, creating my future! Do you think I wanted this?”

Her hand, clutching her chest, trembled. The sorrow accumulated over a dozen years was vivid.

“But the blood I was born with… the fate of this cursed lineage will never let me go… I can never escape until I tie up all the loose ends… You wouldn’t understand, but…”

Why? It was the first time she had lamented her fate to someone. Why did she say it?

Her life was one where she shouldn’t seek sympathy. Her life was a ritual dedicated to atonement and revenge.

But why did she say these things? What answer was she hoping for, what situation was she expecting… Then she heard an unexpected voice.

“I know it well. I was similar to you, too.”

What could the eldest son of a wealthy, prominent family know? She raised her head to retort, glaring in protest.

But then.

The moment her eyes met his, she was struck speechless.

“Maybe even more miserable.”

Why?

How?

In the boy’s eyes, as he smiled bitterly at her, was a sorrow she couldn’t comprehend.

“If it’s just a painful past, so what? That just means there’s more room to fill it with a joyful future.”

She doubted her eyes. No one except her mother had ever looked at her like that.

It was a look that understood her, a voice that knew her pain, the warmth only a human with a heart could show.

That was why she didn’t want to accept it. That look, that voice…

“When it’s too hard, don’t just look ahead, but look to the side or behind you once in a while. That’s my advice for my junior.”

She couldn’t ask about the meaning of that smile, or the word ‘junior.’ The door burst open, and a crowd of six or seven people poured in.

“Lilian!”

“Lilian, Senior!”

Robes with a red dragon embroidered on a white background… fellow students from the Rivendell faction [a group or house within the academy]. Young, promising mages.

“We were late because we had to get permission from the Dean.”

“That baldy wouldn’t even let us visit the infirmary…!”

The Rivendell students looked at Rain with puzzled eyes, nodded in courtesy, and turned back to Lilian.

“Why are you guys…?”

Lilian asked, dumbfounded. She had always been cold, but perhaps because of her conversation with Rain, she couldn’t suppress her emotions.

“What do you mean why? We were worried, you hateful brat.”

“You deliberately held back your mana so as not to disgrace the Warden family, right? We know everything! If Senior had used her full power, she could have taken down that golem with one blow!”

Since childhood, Lilian had minimized interaction and avoided forming relationships.

However, she would answer questions about magic from her peers.

Therefore, she had never been on bad terms with anyone, but she had always thought she wasn’t close to anyone either… like Lynn in the past.

“No, I don’t understand. I don’t know why you came to find me, and I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss.”

The students blinked, exchanged glances, and a cheerful kid shouted, even more dumbfounded.

“Senior is our idol, you know? This is natural.”

“Why am I?”

“You’re cool, awesome, and competent! You’re the pride of our faction! When we deal with other factions, they tremble just by mentioning Senior’s name.”

The oldest-looking young man smacked the boy on the head, and the students laughed.

“Use your own abilities when showing off, don’t sell Lilian’s name, you idiot.”

The young man smiled bitterly and turned to Lilian, saying quietly:

“We can’t speak out because of the Dean and the elders, but many in the faction follow you, Lilian.”

“?”

“Most know how you’ve grown up… At first, it might have been sympathy, but now it’s mostly respect.”

Was this a deception? A trap by Dadan to test her?

No, but…

These guys weren’t good at acting, and their expressions…

“So don’t be too impatient. Most of the faction is waiting for the day you return.”

Rain, leaning against the door outside, eavesdropping, felt a chill that shook him.

– We’ll all be waiting for the day you return, Lynn…!

He remembered his senior disciple’s voice, who had turned the magic tower into a sea of tears on the day he left on his journey, along with a pain that pierced his lungs.

‘See, she’s similar to me after all….’

If I had known the faction guys would come, I wouldn’t have given such an embarrassing speech. I did something unnecessary because of that Logan guy.

“That’s right! If you’re not too impatient, the top spot is nothing to Senior!”

There was no need to tell her directly.

Don’t just look ahead, but look around you… She’s talented, she’ll understand. It’s hard if you realize it too late like me.

Rain quietly moved into the darkness of the hallway, hiding his sorrowful smile.

Socrafres.

– You can inherit the progress of ‘Unique Magic’ research from the surrounding environment.

– Progress 48.1% -> 49.2%.

He was unknowingly getting closer to the truth.

* * *

“……How is Mother?”

Lilian, amidst the students’ commotion, spoke carefully. The eldest young man replied.

“She’s getting healthier. Since you’re not there, the Dean doesn’t bother her. He has no interest in her.”

To Dadan, the girl’s mother was just a tool for childbirth and education. He treated her like a tool, not a person.

“Is that so? That’s a relief……”

Although she sighed in relief, she couldn’t relax. She had been deprived of the top spot twice, so she couldn’t know what that madman would do again.

“Oh, and Madam asked me to tell you something in secret from the Dean.”

“Mother did?”

“She said not to worry about her, and that she hopes you make good friends and have a happy school life.”

She pondered her mother’s words.

‘Friends? Happiness? In my life?’

She was bewildered by the words she had never dreamed of, and the young man smiled and patted Lilian on the shoulder.

“We should get going before we hear something we shouldn’t. See you again tomorrow, Lilian.”

After everyone left, Lilian sat alone for a long time.

Outside the window, the four moons shone brightly, bathing the world in silver.

Almost a decade’s worth of self-deprecating laughter formed on her lips.

‘This is absurd……’

If someone else had said the same thing, she would have ignored it.

‘But why……’

Rain’s story was illogical.

Even so.

Rain’s story had an inexplicable persuasiveness, as if plucking a string hidden deep within her heart.

– Don’t just look ahead, but look to the side or behind you once in a while.

– There are many who follow you.

– So what if it was just a painful past? You can fill it with a more joyful future.

From deep within her soul, a lump seemed to melt away. The fog clouding her mind seemed to clear, and the surroundings became clear.

‘I thought I had to subdue everyone with force… Was there another way?’