The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 130

About an hour passed.

After Shin Ha-yul returned to his room, Shin In-hyuk was enjoying his contemplation alone, sipping his drink.

Each time he swirled the glass, the ice shifted, creating a clear, crisp sound.

“Heh heh.”

As he kept swirling his glass, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Such a bold one.”

Recalling the conversation he had with Shin Ha-yul, he couldn’t help but smile. A faint smile played on Shin In-hyuk’s lips as he finished the rest of his drink.

The harmony of a subtle, deep bitterness and a delicate sweetness.

‘The liquor is sweet.’

Considering it was a high-proof liquor, the bitterness should have been more pronounced. But for some reason, the sweetness felt more prominent today.

Was it because he was in a good mood?

Shin In-hyuk picked up the bottle with a pleasant expression.

And as he was about to pour more into his empty glass.

‘Did I already finish it?’

He realized the bottle was empty.

Shin In-hyuk, who usually never drank more than half a bottle to maintain his condition, had finished an entire bottle in just one hour.

This showed just how good of a mood Shin In-hyuk was in.

Shin In-hyuk placed the empty bottle back on the table and chuckled.

‘So I’m a father after all. I didn’t know my son’s achievements would make me this happy.’

Was he really such an emotional person? He wondered.

Shin In-hyuk leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.

‘Ray Bell Bytenner…….’

Shin Ha-yul had confidently stated that his magic was Ray Bell Bytenner’s. Without any hesitation, as if there was no reason to hide it. He simply affirmed it calmly.

‘Was he expecting me to catch on soon?’

If someone were to reveal a secret they had kept hidden, their expression would inevitably change.

However, there wasn’t even a hint of surprise on Shin Ha-yul’s face.

In other words, Shin Ha-yul had roughly anticipated what Shin In-hyuk was going to say.

His insight was quite impressive.

Shin In-hyuk closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

His head felt complicated today.

‘I thought he would remain a sore spot forever.’

Was it because he was tipsy?

He felt more emotional than usual.

That must be why these thoughts were filling his head.

‘I didn’t want to think about it, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.’

Before Shin Ha-yul entered the academy, during the time he was called a supernova [a term for a rapidly rising star], the one who believed in Shin Ha-yul the most was none other than Shin In-hyuk.

When the world, when Korea, praised Shin Ha-yul as great, Shin In-hyuk had rated him even higher.

He just didn’t say it, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was showing favoritism.

He even thought about officially passing the family head position to Ha-yul once he graduated from the academy and became an adult.

Shin In-hyuk’s belief, and the belief of the Mado Shin family, ‘free competition,’ was shaken by how much he favored Shin Ha-yul.

That was why Shin In-hyuk had tried to forget about Shin Ha-yul.

His disappointment was as great as his belief had been.

He didn’t want to see his once-brilliant son fall into despair.

He consciously tried not to think about Shin Ha-yul.

But that was impossible.

Shin Ha-yul had filled Shin In-hyuk’s mind for 17 years.

It was impossible to forget such a presence so easily.

Shin In-hyuk’s indifference didn’t even last a month.

About three weeks later, Shin In-hyuk checked on Shin Ha-yul’s condition again.

And he was furious.

It was heartbreaking and infuriating to see his once-brilliant son struggling in the depths of hell.

He resented the heavens for why Shin Ha-yul had to be an unsuitable mage.

He was filled with rage at everything in the world.

That was why Shin In-hyuk told Shin Ha-yul to quit being a mage.

He didn’t want to see his son struggling in vain anymore.

Because Shin In-hyuk himself didn’t want to keep seeing his son like that.

He kept sending letters telling him to quit being a mage and come home.

He only had problems using magic, but his other talents were still there.

If he focused on artificial intelligence magic engineering, he might open up another horizon.

His intelligent and brilliant son might lead the Mado Shin family to a higher plane through a different path.

With that slight hope, he recommended a change of career.

However, Shin Ha-yul was stubborn.

He absolutely refused to give up on his dream.

Even though he knew that the pit he was struggling in was a hopeless abyss, he didn’t stop struggling.

It was more painful to watch that, so he wished he would stop.

That was why he even sent him a pill to destroy his mana circle [the core of a mage’s power].

He thought that such a drastic measure would bring him to his senses.

But in the end, Shin Ha-yul did not give up his beliefs.

It was more painful than anything for Shin In-hyuk to see Shin Ha-yul like that.

It was an indescribable pain to keep seeing his precious diamond stained with filth.

That was why he was a sore spot.

A finger that couldn’t be cut off, but also couldn’t be cured, a finger with an incurable disease.

That was Shin Ha-yul.

Therefore, Shin In-hyuk slowly began to forget about Shin Ha-yul.

He consciously tried not to see him.

“But…….”

What about now?

The sore spot that he thought would never heal was now completely healed.

As if the mud that had stained it was a process of refinement to make it even more beautiful, it had turned into an even more beautiful diamond.

That fact made Shin In-hyuk’s head complicated.

He didn’t know what to call this feeling.

It was a sensation he had never experienced before, so he couldn’t understand it even more.

“Head of the family.”

Kim Seok-hyun appeared next to Shin In-hyuk, who was staring blankly at the ceiling.

“……Seok-hyun, is that you?”

“Yes.”

He sat across the table, holding a bottle of liquor in one hand and another glass in the other.

“Excuse me.”

Then, with a precise movement, he poured liquor into Shin In-hyuk’s glass.

He didn’t forget to prepare new ice using magic.

Pouring sound-

The sound of liquor filling the glass was particularly loud.

Shin In-hyuk looked at Kim Seok-hyun with a strange expression.

“You seemed to have a lot on your mind… Was it a pointless gesture?”

Kim Seok-hyun said that as he made ice in his own cup.

And as he was about to pour liquor into his own glass.

“Give it here.”

Suddenly, Shin In-hyuk snatched the liquor bottle.

And he brought the bottle to Kim Seok-hyun’s glass.

“You don’t pour liquor alone.”

“……Thank you.”

Kim Seok-hyun held the liquor glass with both hands.

Pouring sound-

The sound of liquor flowing over the ice in the glass was particularly loud.

“By the way… If you’ve come out like this, my expression must have been quite something.”

“……No, it wasn’t.”

Shin In-hyuk chuckled at Kim Seok-hyun’s denial. It was so like Kim Seok-hyun to deny it there.

“Alright. If you say it’s not, then it’s not.”

He finished pouring the liquor and picked up his glass.

“Come to think of it, is this the first time we’re drinking together?”

“Yes.”

Kim Seok-hyun carefully held his glass with both hands.

The two glasses lightly clinked, making a very faint sound.

Kim Seok-hyun immediately turned his head and downed his glass.

It was a hearty one-shot.

“Ugh.”

Kim Seok-hyun’s expression instantly contorted. The liquor was so high-proof that his head went blank for a moment.

“You still don’t know much about liquor. That’s not a liquor you drink in one go.”

Shin In-hyuk took a moderate sip of his liquor and placed it on the table.

“You’re so versatile, yet you’re so ignorant about things like this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not blaming you. It just makes me think I’ve been too harsh on you, to the point where you don’t even know such obvious things.”

At those words, Kim Seok-hyun’s eyes widened.

“……Head of the family. Are you drunk?”

He looked genuinely surprised at Shin In-hyuk’s uncharacteristic emotional words.

“Yeah. I think I am.”

Shin In-hyuk picked up his glass again, swirled it around, and then brought it to his mouth.

“Did things not go well with Master Ha-yul?”

“No. The conversation went well. My predictions were all correct.”

“It seems Master Ha-yul answered everything without hiding anything.”

“Yeah.”

“Then why…?”

Why was Shin In-hyuk showing such an emotional side?

“I don’t know. I don’t know the reason either.”

Shin In-hyuk swirled his glass again. The color of the liquor moving around the large ice cube was quite beautiful.

“For some reason. It’s just… a complicated night.”

Shin In-hyuk thought about Shin Ha-yul as he took another sip of his drink.

* * *

After finishing the conversation with my father, I headed straight to Mimir’s study.

“Welcome. You’re late?”

Mimir greeted me.

“The results?”

“Why ask? Of course, I won.”

I answered as I sat down in my usual seat next to Mimir.

“I even broke the record with ease.”

“Wow~ That’s amazing~? As expected of the successor!”

Mimir exclaimed with exaggerated gestures and exclamations.

It was quite amusing to see her pretending to be surprised with an expression that clearly showed she wasn’t.

“Thanks for the praise that doesn’t contain even a speck of sincerity.”

I said, emphasizing one joint of my index finger. I really couldn’t feel even a speck of sincerity.

“Heh heh.”

Mimir laughed playfully.

“How was the incantation? It was your first time using it in a real battle. Did it activate well?”

“Yeah. The incantation time was much longer than expected… but the activation itself went well.”

I had expected an incantation time of about 30 seconds, but it took a whopping 41 seconds.

Thanks to that, Sunchan and Senior Shinwoo almost got into trouble.

It was something I needed to reflect on.

“That’s great for your first activation. You did well. You’re amazing.”

Mimir stroked my head. It didn’t feel good to be treated like a child.

“How were the aftereffects?”

“Hmm. They were okay? It’s not like all the circles are paralyzed like with resonance [a magical phenomenon]. Only the Ring of Truth is paralyzed.”

If a normal spell is a rifle, then incantation is a cannon. Once you use one shot, you need a cooldown before the next use.

During this cooldown period, the ‘Ring of Truth’ is paralyzed.

In other words, after using incantation, you can’t use 5th circle magic for a certain period.

But well, this isn’t even a penalty. It’s not like the entire circle is paralyzed like with resonance.

It’s a very cheap price to pay for using magic of this power.

“Hmm. So only the Ring of Truth was paralyzed?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there really wasn’t any problem using the incantation.”

“Yeah. Like I said, the activation itself went well. Only the activation time was a bit of a problem.”

Incantation is a particularly sensitive technique, even among the already sensitive magic.

As such, if you make even a slight mistake, the aftereffects are immeasurable.

The fact that the only aftereffect was the paralysis of the Ring of Truth was proof that I had used the incantation safely.

“As expected. You’re truly Ray’s successor, overflowing with talent. You’re cool. You’re cool.”

Mimir stroked my head again. It felt very strange.

“Was there anything else unusual?”

“Of course, there was.”

Mimir nodded a couple of times with an expression that said, ‘I knew it.’

“Alright. What kind of trouble did you cause this time, Mr. Troublemaker?”

Troublemaker.

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t.

It was true that all sorts of things were constantly happening around me.

“It’s not like I caused anything.”

I paused for a moment and said.

“My father noticed.”

“Noticed what?”

“That my magic is Bytenner style.”

“……Suddenly?”

“Yeah. The permafrost was a bit too much, I guess.”

“Did he say it outright, ‘Bytenner style’?”

“Yeah.”

“How? There shouldn’t be any information about Ray left in this era. How did he notice that the successor’s magic is Bytenner style?”

“Remember when I got Ray Bell Bytenner’s robe from somewhere?”

“Yeah.”

“My father was the one who gave me that robe. I think he figured out that my magic was related to Ray Bell Bytenner because of that.”

“Just from that?”

“Besides that, he also figured out that the magic I use is from the old era, and that my magic is too overpowered, so he connected it to my teacher.”

“It’s a reasonable deduction… He has quite the insight. So what did you answer?”

“I just said it was true.”

My father was almost certain. There was no point in denying it, so I just affirmed it.

Well, it’s not like there would be any problems if I revealed that my magic was Bytenner style.

“Alright. You told the truth.”

“I’m sorry for ignoring your warning. But I thought it was better to reveal it this time.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s okay. It’s just that it would be a problem if your father went around blabbing about it.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Then it’s fine. I just told you to hide it because it would be more likely to cause trouble if it became widely known.”

Mimir had told me in the past to hide the fact that my magic was Bytenner style as much as possible. I don’t know the reason.

She refused to answer, saying she would tell me later because of some restriction or something.

“You still can’t tell me the reason?”

“Yeah. I can’t say anything until the successor passes the fifth trial page.”

Passing the fifth trial page.

That is, 5th circle master [a mage who has mastered the fifth circle of magic].

This restriction also seemed to be tied to the 5th circle master.

“Alright. Then there’s no helping it.”

It’s a shame, but let’s be patient a little longer.

Passing the fifth trial page wasn’t that far away.

I just had to be patient until then.

“But the restriction on speaking is only on me.”

“What do you mean?”

That sounded like there was someone other than Mimir who could answer my questions.

“I mean that Ray’s vassal, who will be waiting on the fifth trial page, has no restrictions.”

“Ray’s vassal… waiting on the fifth trial page?”

Suddenly, the third trial page came to mind.

“Then does that mean the fifth trial page has the same structure as the third trial page?”

“That’s right.”

Mimir said with a serious look.

“The fifth trial page, like the third trial page, is a copy world that has recreated past records.”