The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 155

‘I don’t have much time to talk in detail. I’m currently being monitored by Jihan, so if the call gets too long, I’ll be 100% suspected. I barely managed to make time for this…’

‘…Ugh. Speak of the devil. My brother’s here. Sorry. I’ll contact you again later.’

My sister left those words as her last and hung up the phone.

There was no chance to ask anything more.

She rattled off words like someone being chased, and then hung up the phone.

‘What’s going on?’

I put my phone on the table and held my head.

I couldn’t understand this situation.

‘Shin Jihan is trying to kill me by using my sister?’

It was something I had never imagined, and something I had never even thought of.

‘How is he planning to kill me by using Se-ah?’

And what does it mean that both my sister and I will die if this continues?

‘No, more than that, how did Se-ah realize that Shin Jihan was trying to use her?’

Shin Jihan is meticulous and cunning.

The fact that he hasn’t left any evidence even after targeting me three times is proof of that.

Did Shin Jihan leave evidence that Se-ah could notice?

It was hard to believe.

‘…No. The two are in a cooperative relationship. Since they were close, it’s possible she noticed.’

The density and quality of information that I, the enemy, and Se-ah, the ally, can obtain are different.

Since they were close, it’s possible she noticed.

Shin Jihan must be in a hurry now, so there’s a high probability that he made a mistake.

It’s not strange that Se-ah noticed Shin Jihan’s dark intentions.

‘But, why did she tell me that information?’

Let’s say Se-ah noticed Shin Jihan’s scheme.

She realized that Shin Jihan was trying to kill me by using her, and then trying to kill her as well.

Then what choice would she usually make?

Would she choose to call her younger brother?

No way.

‘Usually, she would contact our father, not her younger brother.’

It’s more certain to ask for help from our father than to call me for help.

‘Nevertheless, she left a note for me and contacted me. Why?’

Why?

What’s the reason she specifically contacted me?

Numerous hypotheses flashed through my mind.

But I couldn’t come to a conclusion.

There was too little information to draw a conclusion.

‘…I need more information.’

To understand how the situation is unfolding, I need to gather additional information.

I immediately got up from my seat and headed out.

I was planning to call Mr. Seok-hyun, who would be waiting outside the door, and ask him to conduct an additional investigation.

Just as I grabbed the doorknob and was about to open the door.

‘…Wait a minute.’

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Isn’t it possible that my sister didn’t ask for help from our father because she couldn’t?’

When Shin Jihan plans and executes a plan to deal with me using my sister, what would he have to be most careful about?

Of course, it’s the movements of my father and Mr. Seok-hyun.

‘There’s no way Shin Jihan wouldn’t observe the movements of my father or Mr. Seok-hyun while making such a plan.’

If I were Shin Jihan, I would definitely observe the movements of my father and Mr. Seok-hyun. And if I saw any suspicious movements, I would immediately stop the operation.

‘…Then, asking Mr. Seok-hyun to investigate here is a bad idea.’

If this were Korea, there would be no problem.

In Korea, no matter what Mr. Seok-hyun did, Shin Jihan wouldn’t be able to detect it.

‘But this is America. It’s almost impossible to carry out a mission without being detected by anyone.’

No matter how skilled Shadow or Mr. Seok-hyun is, their movements will inevitably be visible to some extent.

Especially now that all personnel are gathered at the hotel to carry out the mission of escorting me, it would be even easier to observe their movements.

If I ask Mr. Seok-hyun to investigate now, there’s a high probability that Shin Jihan will notice.

And he’ll quickly back out.

‘He could put all the blame on Se-ah and slip away.’

Se-ah said that Shin Jihan would use her to kill me.

And that she would die afterward.

‘If you think about it the other way around, it means that he’s already finished preparing to put all the blame on Se-ah.’

Now the question is solved.

Why did Se-ah ask me for help?

‘If she asked for help from our father, Se-ah herself would be in a situation of ruin.’

That’s why Se-ah contacted me.

She must have thought that she could join forces with me, who is being targeted by Shin Jihan.

I let go of the doorknob and returned to where I was sitting.

‘Okay. For now, she said she’d contact me again. Let’s wait until then.’

It wouldn’t be too late to tell Mr. Seok-hyun or my father about this after I hear the details from my sister.

‘Without leaving the hotel, I’ll observe the situation as safely as possible.’

I don’t know what Shin Jihan is aiming for, but as long as I’m in the hotel, there’s no way he can do anything to me.

I decided to quietly wait at the hotel and wait for my sister’s call.

If Se-ah has some information or evidence that can catch Shin Jihan…

‘Then I can really finish off Shin Jihan for good.’

It’s worth the wait.

* * *

That night.

After a light dinner.

I immediately took Adela back to my room.

“Isn’t Soonchan coming?”

“I asked him, but he said he had a prior engagement.”

“Ah.”

“But it’s probably an excuse.”

“An excuse?”

“Yeah. Given the situation, he made an excuse to get out of it somehow. Because it’s burdensome.”

The reason I called Adela to my room today wasn’t exactly to socialize with her.

There’s another reason.

“Is there a reason to feel burdened?”

“If you say you’re having a tea party with the Blue Tower Master, most people feel burdened.”

It wasn’t exactly me who called Adela, but the Blue Tower Master.

He said he wanted to have some tea and talk this evening.

I just invited Adela as requested by the Blue Tower Master.

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. Besides, he hasn’t been discharged from the hospital for long. How burdensome would it be?”

The Blue Tower Master was discharged from the hospital around noon today.

The doctor said he still needed to rest, but he said he couldn’t stand it anymore and forced his discharge.

In other words, there’s a possibility that his injury could worsen.

It’s understandable that it would be burdensome.

“Now that you say that, I understand a little.”

Adela nodded a couple of times with an expression that clearly said, ‘I should be careful.’

Adela seems to have forgotten the feeling of being burdened.

Did she exchange it for her magical talent?

“Anyway, since Soonchan refused, I should remove one teacup.”

I had invited him because the Blue Tower Master said he wanted to talk to Soonchan separately.

I didn’t expect him to refuse like this.

‘I should say that I’ll arrange a time to have a one-on-one meeting with Soonchan later.’

Let’s see how much more burdened he can be.

I smiled wickedly inside and removed the teacup prepared for Soonchan.

At the same time, I took out the teapot that I had prepared on one side.

“Shall I help you?”

“It’s okay. It’s nothing much. Just sit there.”

I told Adela to stay still and opened the teapot.

Then, I took out the Laphtelia tea leaves that I had prepared in advance.

“I’ll help you.”

Adela got up from her seat and approached me. She had an expression that said she wanted to help with something.

“Um. Then here. Peel these and put them in the bowl.”

I pointed to the pile of snacks next to the teapot with my chin.

“Yes.”

Adela took the snacks in her hand and began to peel them one by one and put them in the bowl.

In the meantime, I put the tea leaves in the teapot, poured hot water, and started brewing the tea.

The most important temperature control was perfectly controlled through magic.

‘Okay.’

Now, I just need to leave it like this for about 3 minutes. I moved the teapot to the center of the table.

Knock knock-

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

It seems he’s here.

I immediately opened the door.

“I apologize for intruding late at night.”

The Blue Tower Master greeted me with a smile.

“It’s no intrusion. Please come in.”

The bandages on his arm and the band-aids on his face.

It seemed that his injuries hadn’t fully healed.

‘…I feel sorry for no reason.’

I’m partly responsible for Kim Kang-in getting hurt like that.

He wasn’t even fully healed, but he pushed himself further to save us.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. I was just doing what I had to do. As I said, it’s a senior’s role to protect their juniors.”

As if he had read my thoughts through my expression, Kim Kang-in said with a bright smile.

“If you feel indebted to me, please repay it to other juniors in the future.”

“Yes. I will definitely do that.”

“Good.”

Kim Kang-in smiled brightly.

“Am I supposed to sit here?”

“Yes.”

Kim Kang-in sat in his seat.

“Oh? There are three teacups?”

“Yes. Soonchan couldn’t come because he had a prior engagement.”

“That’s a shame. I wanted to talk to Soonchan separately. If he had a prior engagement, there’s nothing I can do.”

“I’ll arrange a separate meeting next time.”

“Then I’d appreciate it. I always welcome conversations with promising juniors.”

Okay. The plan to have Soonchan meet one-on-one is cleared with this.

“Here are the snacks.”

Soon, Adela, who had prepared the snacks, placed the snack bowl on the table and bowed her head.

“Adela. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you like this. You’ve become even more beautiful.”

“Th-thank you…”

Adela hesitated and answered, as if she was embarrassed.

Then she sat in her seat.

I picked up the teapot and poured the tea.

“What kind of tea is this?”

“It’s Laphtelia tea.”

“It’s a tea I’ve never heard of before.”

Kim Kang-in picked up the teacup and savored the aroma.

“The aroma is good. Did Adela brew this tea as well?”

“No. Hayul brewed the tea.”

“Ah. Hayul did.”

Kim Kang-in turned his gaze to me.

“You said you had some knowledge of tea ceremonies before. I’ll look forward to it.”

“At least you won’t be disappointed.”

My skills have improved a lot while brewing tea for Mimir these days.

I can confidently say that my skills are not at a level that would disappoint anyone.

“Good. Then, let’s see…”

Kim Kang-in tilted the teacup. He had a dignified appearance befitting the leader of a group.

“Indeed. You have skills that you can be confident in.”

His smile became even brighter, as if he liked the tea.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Kim Kang-in smiled leisurely and put the teacup back on the table.

“Right. Adela, I heard that you became a 5-circle user while I was asleep?”

“Yes. I was lucky.”

“Lucky. That’s a little different from what I heard.”

Kim Kang-in glanced at me with a strangely sly expression.

“I heard that Hayul gave you a huge gift…”

“…Where did you hear that story?”

“I heard it from the head of the Shinbiwi family. He was lamenting that a despicable thief was seducing his daughter with bribes.”

“……”

Adela’s expression hardened.

She seemed embarrassed, biting her upper lip and muttering, ‘Daddy’s a fool…’

She still uses the term ‘daddy’.

I thought that after entering the academy and becoming a polite machine, her title would have changed to ‘father’.

“Haha. I think you’re a very well-matched couple.”

“It’s not like that…”

“Yes. I know. You’ll acknowledge the relationship after you’ve convinced the head of the Shinbiwi family, right?”

“……”

“If there’s anything I can help with, please tell me. Oh, this is a personal request, but can I name the baby…?”

Adela and I could only smile awkwardly with expressions as if we were sitting on pins and needles.

* * *

About two hours passed since then.

The tea party ended safely.

Except for the topic of my relationship with Adela, which was the first topic, it was quite an enjoyable time.

Since all three of us were crazy about magic, the conversation never stopped.

It was called a tea party, but it was almost like an academic conference or a debate.

‘Ah. That was fun.’

Sharing knowledge with someone is as enjoyable as enjoying unknown knowledge.

I sincerely hoped that there would be another opportunity like this.

‘I should arrange another meeting after I return to Korea.’

It would be good to have a full-fledged debate this time.

While I was having such pleasant thoughts.

Buzz!

The phone on the desk vibrated.

[Restricted Number]

There’s only one person who would call with a restricted number at this time.

‘It’s my sister, Se-ah.’

I didn’t expect her to contact me again so soon.

I immediately answered the phone.

“Hello?”

—Huu… haa….

Breathing sounds as if she was out of breath and irregular coughing sounds.

—…Hayul, is… that… you…?

“…Sister?”

It was a voice that sounded like she was dying.