The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 188

Time flew by quickly.

It was Tuesday.

“As I said before, today’s training will be replaced with individual autonomous training.”

After all the classes were over, on the way back to the dormitory.

I re-informed Adela and Soonchan that there would be no training today.

“Hmm. I’m really, really, really happy, but is it okay?”

“Well, what can I do? I have a prior engagement.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Soonchan’s expression brightened at my answer. His smiling face was quite displeasing.

“Ugh. That’s a shame. I thought I was finally getting the hang of it. Don’t worry. I’ll train hard even without you.”

His face clearly showed that he would be slacking off.

“Training schedule. You can handle it properly on your own, right?”

“Of course.”

“…….”

I’m suspicious.

Seeing my expression, Soonchan snorted.

“What’s with that look? Don’t you trust me? I’m Ji Soonchan, Ji Soonchan. I’m a man of action. I’m hurt.”

He was putting on a confident face, but his eyes were slightly trembling.

It’s certain.

He’s lying.

He wouldn’t slack off completely, but he wouldn’t push himself to his limits either.

It seems like it would be good to have a supervisor.

“Adela. Could you supervise Soonchan?”

“…….”

Soonchan’s expression turned sour.

It wasn’t obvious, but he was clearly thinking, ‘I’m screwed.’

I knew it. He was planning to slack off.

No way.

Even if the world were to end tomorrow, I couldn’t tolerate Soonchan’s training intensity weakening.

‘Well, Adela is too soft-hearted to push him too hard, but it’ll still be better than him training alone.’

Whatever the case, it would be much more effective than Soonchan training alone.

I waited for Adela’s answer while thinking that.

“…….”

However, Adela didn’t answer. She just walked blankly, looking lost in thought.

“Adela?”

“……Yes, yes?”

She answered, startled, as if she had just noticed.

“What were you thinking so deeply about?”

“Ah. Just, thinking about this and that…….”

“What, did you read an interesting paper or something?”

The only thing that would make Adela so lost in thought would be a paper.

“……Yes.”

As expected.

My guess was right.

“What kind of paper is it?”

She must have read a pretty fresh and interesting paper.

To be so deeply immersed in thought that she couldn’t hear me.

“I’ll show you later. I want to think about it on my own for now…….”

A magic paper is like mathematics, so it’s more effective to contemplate it alone than to just look at the answer sheet.

That’s why she’s saying that.

She must think that if I see the paper first, I’ll immediately come up with the answer.

‘I always feel it, but her expectations of me are so high…….’

Adela’s overestimation of me seems to be growing day by day.

It’s strangely burdensome.

“Okay. Then I’ll wait.”

I answered appropriately.

Adela nodded slightly.

“So…… why did you call me?”

At Adela’s words, Soonchan, who had been quietly holding his breath, flinched.

He must have hoped to pass by quietly, but no way.

“It’s nothing much, but today is autonomous training, right? I was just asking you to supervise Soonchan to make sure he follows my instructions well.”

“……Oh, God.”

Soonchan looked up to the heavens with a desperate expression. It was the same expression as someone praying for a miracle.

Does he hate training that much?

Once he starts training, he follows along well until he’s about to die.

Is he a tsundere [a person who is initially cold or hostile but later shows affection] who says he hates it but actually likes it?

Whatever the case, the thought of Soonchan pushing himself to the limit today made me feel relieved.

“Ah. I’m sorry. I also have a prior engagement today…….”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Soonchan and I asked at the same time.

It was a question with different emotions and meanings.

“A prior engagement?”

“Yes. You told us in advance, right? That today is autonomous training. So…….”

“Hallelujah!”

Soonchan’s eyes were filled with hope.

“…….”

I can’t be sure without a mirror, but my expression must be incredibly sour.

Ah, Soonchan training comfortably. That shouldn’t happen.

“Hehehe. Don’t worry, my friend. I will do my best to pursue the extreme today.”

Soonchan patted my shoulder, using a strangely irritating historical drama tone.

His smirking lips were very displeasing.

“See you tomorrow…….”

“Hmph. I’m not scared? I know you can’t increase the training intensity any further.”

As if to say that he’s already pushing himself to the limit, so there’s nothing more to squeeze out.

He snorted with a confident expression.

“…….”

But that was also true, so I had nothing to say.

The training intensity was already beyond the limit, so it was impossible to push him any harder on the day.

Training any harder than that would be torture, not training.

“Hehehe. I won.”

Soonchan clenched his fist and cheered quietly.

“……Okay. Be happy like that.”

I chuckled as I looked at Soonchan.

‘Even though he says that, he’ll still do his best in training.’

Soonchan was born with a nature that couldn’t slack off.

It wouldn’t be as good as me or Adela supervising, but.

He’ll still do his best.

“But, it seems like today’s a very important appointment?”

Soonchan asked me with a beaming smile.

“Why do you think so?”

“No, if I had acted like this, you would have canceled today’s appointment and said you were going to kill me! But you’re being too compliant?”

“……Why? Should I do that?”

“Hey. You shouldn’t think so lightly of appointments. A man should keep his word once he’s made it.”

Soonchan became serious.

It was a truly remarkable change of attitude.

“I’m just kidding. As you said, it’s an important appointment.”

Today is Tuesday.

It’s the day Shadow said he would come again.

It’s not a meeting I can avoid even if I wanted to, and I have no intention of avoiding it.

“Then I’ll go first.”

“Ah, okay. Have a good time.”

“……Have a good day.”

Adela’s expression as she waved goodbye to me was somewhat strange.

* * *

Inside a secluded park nearby.

I was sitting on a bench on the outskirts, surrounded by trees, waiting for Shadow.

“Hoo.”

It’s not like we agreed to meet here.

He just said he would come today, so I just chose a place where we could talk as quietly as possible and waited.

‘I’m nervous.’

In the end, I didn’t tell Charles or my father about Shadow.

I decided to meet him alone, listen to what he had to say, and then tell them if necessary.

No matter how I think about it, this is the right thing to do.

There are some suspicious points, but they are really minor.

It’s a very small suspicion that can be ignored.

That’s why I chose to meet Shadow alone and talk.

Mee-!

“Why? Do you want me to pet you more?”

Of course, it’s not really alone, I didn’t come alone.

No matter what, considering who he is, I had to take some precautions just in case.

As a precaution, I brought Miho with me.

“Good girl. Good girl.”

Miho was acting cute in my arms.

“If he tries to do anything strange, I’m counting on you.”

Miho cried in a solemn manner, as if to say she trusted me.

Of course, she didn’t look solemn at all. She just looked cute.

“Oh, you’re so cute.”

I was petting Miho’s head and cheeks when it happened.

Miho’s aura changed.

‘He’s here.’

The lovely atmosphere disappeared without a trace, and the predatory aura unique to predators took its place.

“You still have a pet with good senses.”

With Shadow’s unique modulated voice, the surroundings were dyed in darkness.

The concentration was much weaker than the barrier he had deployed at Obelisk Academy.

“I’ve only deployed a barrier to the extent that it won’t be caught on CCTV and the voice won’t leak out. If you’re thinking of escaping, you can escape at any time.”

As Shadow said.

The barrier he deployed now was one that I could leave at any time if I wanted to.

The shadows that were engulfing the surroundings were that faint.

“You trust me quite a bit. What if I had my father or the Blue Magic Tower Master waiting nearby?”

“Then that’s that.”

“You’re unexpectedly unprepared.”

“Unprepared, you say…….”

Shadow released the shadows that were covering his body again.

“I’ll return those words to you.”

The shadows disappeared, revealing his true face.

A young boy who looked no older than an elementary school student smiled.

“You seem to trust me quite a bit. Waiting in this remote park instead of Obelisk Academy. What if I had come with other executives?”

“……Well, then that’s that.”

The words I said earlier were repeated in reverse.

“Yes. That’s how it is.”

Shadow approached me step by step.

“In order for a conversation to be established between us, we have no choice but to take some risks. You know that, so you chose to wait here.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s why I’ve returned that trust in my own way.”

A faint barrier.

A face revealed to the world.

Every gesture of Shadow was appealing to me that he had no intention of fighting.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like we have different thoughts. Shin Inhyuk and the other executives aren’t showing up either.”

“Yes. It seems so.”

Shadow approached to within about 3 meters of me.

And then, he moved the shadows to create a small chair that fit his body.

“Have you thought carefully about my proposal for the past three days?”

Shadow sat on the chair and crossed his legs.

“Yes. I’ve thought about it dozens, hundreds of times.”

“The conclusion?”

“Isn’t the fact that I came out so defenseless the answer?”

Shadow smiled.

“You’ll accept my proposal?”

“Yes.”

Shadow clapped his hands.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Exactly three times.

“As I thought. You’re very smart.”

“I don’t know. Isn’t accepting a proposal from someone like you more foolish than smart?”

“No. It’s smart.”

Shadow uncrossed his legs and stared at me with sharp eyes.

“You perfectly grasped the signal I sent and read that my proposal was sincere. Someone who is only moderately smart would never have been able to grasp it.”

Shadow clapped his hands twice again.

“I’ll say it again. You’re smart. You’re probably the second smartest person I’ve ever seen.”

“……Second. That’s a strangely pride-hurting thing to say. Who’s the first?”

“Who do you think it is?”

“Is it you?”

“Wrong. I don’t have narcissism like that.”

Shadow twisted one corner of his mouth.

“The first is the Black Magic King. His brain is something that far surpasses the realm of humans. It can’t even be compared to you.”

“Can’t even be compared…… That’s a bit insulting.”

“I’m just telling the truth. You may not want to admit it.”

“Since you’re so sure, it makes me want to prove you wrong. What exactly is different that makes you so sure?”

Intelligence. More broadly, a person’s intellect.

It’s very difficult to determine superiority in this area. There is no objective way to confirm a person’s intelligence.

However, Shadow is convinced that I am below the Black Magic King.

What standard is he using to be so sure?

“Because on the day I joined the Black Magic Tower, I made the same proposal to the Black Magic King as I did to you.”

“……The same proposal?”

“Yes. I proposed that in exchange for working for the Black Magic Tower, he would find a way to eliminate my shadow.”

Shadow’s eyes flashed.

“What do you think the Black Magic King answered to my proposal?”

Shadow smirked.

You can’t even imagine it.

That was the expression he had.

It was an expression that was sure I would never guess it.

But.

“Did he see through the identity of that shadow?”

How could he not notice?

“Or did he know that the shadow that absorbs everything in the world is even absorbing your life force?”

“……You.”

Shadow’s eyes widened.

He looked genuinely surprised.

“I guess so. It would have been impressive if he had given that answer on the first meeting.”

The Black Magic King saw through the identity of the shadow on the spot in response to Shadow’s proposal.

On the other hand, I was clueless.

Just looking at this, it was clear that the Black Magic King was one step ahead.

“……You knew too?”

“Yes. Of course, I knew.”

Actually, I didn’t know at the time, but it would be better to say it like this.

“Not only that your shadow is eating away at your lifespan…….”

I observed Shadow’s expression.

He was looking straight at me, but if you looked closely, his focus was off.

It was very subtle, but if you were conscious of it, it wasn’t impossible to figure out.

“Even that it’s taking away your five senses.”

“……!”

Shadow stood up from his seat.

He looked utterly bewildered.

I could tell from that reaction.

“That reaction. It seems the Black Magic King didn’t know that you were losing your five senses.”

The Black Magic King only knew that Shadow’s shadow was absorbing the life force of its target.

“Well, since he was using the shadow to replace his sight and hearing, it’s natural that he wouldn’t know if you didn’t tell him.”

“You, you…… do you know what this shadow is……?”

Shadow’s eyes and lips trembled. It was a strange expression mixed with anticipation and a hint of anxiety.

“I think I answered that a little while ago. I know it very accurately.”

Shadow leaned his face towards me.

“How your shadow was born. What name it’s called. And…….”

I answered, looking him straight in the eye.

“I know everything, even how to get rid of it.”

“……!”

I looked at the shocked Shadow and placed my hand on his shoulder.

Then I pressed down slightly and made him sit back in his chair.

“Now that you know, shall we start the deal in earnest?”

Shadow was speechless.

I looked at him and slowly crossed my legs.

“Let’s start with the information about the Black Magic Tower that you proposed.”

“…….”

It was the moment when the roles of the buyer and seller in this deal were decided.