The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 198

The 17th branch of the Black Magic Tower was located near Italy.

Shadow frowned.

‘Why isn’t there a reply?’

The current time was 2 PM.

There were less than 4 hours left until the time he had promised Shin Hayul.

Despite this, Shin Hayul still hadn’t replied to Shadow’s message.

It was no wonder Shadow was in a bad mood.

‘Did something happen?’

Shadow’s mind became troubled at the lack of contact from Shin Hayul.

Whatever the case, Shin Hayul was currently in the same place as Parade.

It wouldn’t be strange if something had happened to her because of Parade.

‘Considering Parade’s unpredictable personality, there’s a chance she got tired of waiting for me and acted first.’

Shadow’s expression became even more serious.

Shin Hayul’s death would mean despair for Shadow.

Just the thought that Shin Hayul might be dead made his heart race.

‘No. If Parade had started acting, she should have contacted me by now. She wouldn’t need to call me and owe me a favor since the goal has already been achieved.’

Parade didn’t like owing anyone a favor. Given that, if the matter was settled, she would have contacted Shadow first.

She would have sent a message like, ‘I took care of it myself, so you don’t need to come.’

‘Then, is it just that the mana instability within Mount Baekdu is preventing contact?’

The mana instability within Mount Baekdu is among the top three in the world.

Since Shin Hayul’s goal was to reach the top of Mount Baekdu, there was a good chance that signals wouldn’t reach her.

Especially since secret line terminals mostly operate through mana, unlike regular cell phones.

‘That seems to be it.’

Shadow let out a sigh of relief. Thinking of Shin Hayul’s safety calmed his mind.

‘…Still, just in case, I need to move to the site a bit faster.’

Whether he moved quickly or not, he was confident he wouldn’t be detected by Parade.

Considering the cooldown time relative to the travel distance of Shadow Movement… he would arrive around 5 PM.

He could observe the situation for about an hour.

Having finished organizing his thoughts, Shadow immediately got up from his seat.

‘Is Russia a suitable stopover?’

Just as he was slowly fading into the shadows.

“Shadow.”

A voice was heard.

A high-pitched voice unique to women.

“Where are you going?”

A beautiful voice that 100 out of 100 people would call beautiful if asked.

Shadow’s brow furrowed at the voice.

“Do I have to report every place I go?”

Shadow gathered the shadows again and turned his gaze toward the owner of the voice.

A small stature of only about 150cm [approximately 4’11”]. Silver hair reaching her waist and red eyes. Skin much whiter than a Caucasian.

A woman with the unique whiteness of someone with albinism.

“Hermes.”

Hermes.

She stood before Shadow with a bright smile.

“Well. We don’t really need to do that between executives, but…”

Hermes put her hand on her cheek and smiled wryly with a troubled expression.

“I’m disappointed. Can’t you tell me even this much between us?”

“….”

Shadow’s brow furrowed again. Indeed, Shadow owed Hermes quite a lot.

If Hermes asked for something, he had to follow her request without question, as long as it didn’t endanger his life.

“…I thought I heard you say you’d get it all back at once later.”

“Yes. Originally, I was planning to get a lot back…”

No, it wasn’t just Shadow who owed Hermes.

“But I changed my mind after seeing Tkish. You can only repay a debt if you’re alive; if you die, it’s all for nothing, right?”

All the executives belonging to the Black Magic Tower, except for one, owed Hermes a debt.

It was a natural thing.

Hermes’s ability was excellent at gathering information.

Knowing the importance of information, the other executives’ requests for support continued endlessly.

Each time she provided information, the debt grew.

This was why no one could refuse if Hermes demanded repayment in earnest.

“…Parade requested support. I’m planning to go there to provide support now.”

Shadow answered as if he couldn’t help it.

“Hmm. Parade’s support… You, who hardly ever accept any requests except for the Black Magic King’s orders, are going to provide support?”

Hermes smiled meaningfully. Shadow’s spine tingled.

It felt like a mouse in front of a cat.

“…I’m partly responsible for using up all of Parade’s forces. I’m just going to make up for it.”

“Making up for it. That’s a solid reason on the surface.”

Hermes’s smile deepened. The more she smiled, the more Shadow’s cold sweat grew.

‘Did she catch on?’

Hermes was the best in the world when it came to information.

As such, it wouldn’t be strange if she had noticed Shadow’s infidelity.

“Shall I go instead?”

“…You’re going?”

Even that.

That Hermes was offering to go and provide support herself.

It was certain.

Hermes had noticed something.

“If you do that, I’d be happy.”

Shadow hid his panic and answered as calmly as possible.

‘Considering the plan, I absolutely have to go…’

But now was not the time to say, ‘I’ll go.’

Considering the image Shadow had shown within the Black Magic Tower so far, saying ‘I’ll go’ here would plant a huge seed of suspicion.

This was the only way to answer here.

In the first place, Hermes had no intention of going herself.

“Hmm.”

Hermes smiled as if amused and stared at Shadow.

“I’m just kidding. It seems like you’ve been working hard, running around all over the place lately, so I just wanted to lighten your load a little… but I have my own mission.”

Hermes stuck out her tongue slightly and smiled.

“I don’t have a way to move to Mount Baekdu as quickly as you do… and more than anything, I can’t go outside.”

Hermes twisted her silver hair.

Hermes had albinism.

For her, sunlight was poison.

Therefore, she couldn’t go outside unless absolutely necessary.

“Hmm. I thought you were saying you’d go for a walk, but it was a joke. I got excited for nothing.”

Shadow answered calmly again.

As expected, Hermes was just trying to test Shadow’s intentions. She had no intention of actually going from the start.

“Sorry. Then, good luck with your mission.”

Hermes smiled brightly and approached Shadow.

And then, she placed her hand on Shadow’s shoulder.

“You’re really small.”

Although Hermes was only 150cm tall, Shadow, whose growth had stopped around the age of 9 or 10, was much smaller than her.

“…Are you picking a fight?”

Shadow’s atmosphere instantly became heavy.

“Of course not. It’s just… I feel a strange sense of kinship, so I like you. Is that why? You’re my favorite among the executives.”

Hermes patted Shadow’s shoulder a couple of times.

“So, I’ll give you a piece of advice.”

Hermes brought her face close to Shadow’s ear.

“Just as you can exist anywhere in this world, my eyes and ears also exist anywhere in this world. Always remember that.”

It was as if she knew Shadow’s betrayal perfectly.

Shadow’s heart trembled slightly.

But it was only his heart that trembled.

There was no change in his expression or gestures.

“…I don’t know what you mean, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

Shadow answered with a still calm expression and gestures.

“Yes. Please do keep it in mind.”

Hermes smiled brightly, patted Shadow’s shoulder twice again, and then stepped back.

“Then, I’ll see you later.”

Shadow watched Hermes walk away for a long time.

* * *

Mount Baekdu summit, Cheonji [Heaven Lake].

It took us a total of 10 hours to reach the summit.

“Wow, I actually got to see Cheonji.”

Charles exclaimed in genuine amazement.

“Is this your first time coming to Cheonji?”

“Of course, it’s my first time. Last time, I only got to the middle of the mountain. In the first place, there aren’t many people who have come this far. The mana of Mount Baekdu is so bizarre.”

The mana collapse of Mount Baekdu was enough to turn the mountain into a maze.

You could be climbing the mountain, and suddenly you’d be going down.

You could be walking, and suddenly a flat area would appear. And if you noticed, you’d be back at the foot of the mountain.

Because of Mount Baekdu’s nature, very few people had reached Cheonji.

As far as I knew, it was less than three people.

“She’s really something. When we were just going around in circles for 7 hours at the entrance, I honestly had a lot of doubts.”

Charles clicked his tongue, looking at Miho at my feet.

He even gave a thumbs up, as if impressed by Miho’s guidance.

Miho, as if she had no interest in Charles’s thumbs up, was just rubbing her body against my feet.

“She’s so aloof…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, there’s no need to be sorry. I’m just a little envious.”

Charles squatted down and looked at Miho as closely as possible.

He didn’t try to touch her.

He understood that Miho was sensitive to the touch of others and was being considerate.

He was a good person after all.

“The Path of Souls… It seems like it has a lot of versatility.”

The reason we were able to get here safely was thanks to Miho’s ability.

‘Path of Souls.’

The effect was roughly to forge the soul and create the shortest route to the destination.

“Isn’t it not that versatile?”

It was a great ability, but it wasn’t very versatile.

First of all, there was no need to use it unless it was a place where both mana and souls were collapsing, like Mount Baekdu.

Since the places where it could be used were limited, it couldn’t be said to be versatile.

“Not versatile? It’s almost like a cheat code on the battlefield.”

“Ah.”

Battlefield.

A place where groups and groups fight frequently, a place where mana and souls are constantly twisted.

In such a place, Miho’s ‘Path of Souls’ would be a great help.

It was true that it was versatile on the battlefield.

“Well, how often would you go to the battlefield? If you look at it that way, it’s true that it’s not versatile.”

Charles took his eyes off Miho and stood up, focusing his gaze on me.

“Anyway, we’ve come to Cheonji. But where is the important herb… Laplace?”

Then he looked around.

“There’s no Laplace, and I don’t see anything that looks like an herb?”

The surroundings were very barren.

Beyond the level of not having herbs, there was simply no life.

It was truly a land of death, not even a single tree or blade of grass could be found.

“Laplace is over there.”

I slowly raised my hand and pointed in the direction where Laplace was.

“…In the sky?”

“Yes.”

The place where Laplace was, was in the sky.

In the atmosphere.

“Laplace is a flower that blooms in the air.”

“That’s what kind of herb it was? I just thought it was an expensive, useless herb… It’s a crazy herb.”

Charles looked in the direction I was pointing with a blank expression.

“…What? There’s nothing there? I don’t sense any mana either.”

“You won’t see it. As I said, Laplace is a flower that blooms in the air. Like air, it’s invisible and can’t be felt.”

“…It really is a crazy herb? How are you supposed to harvest something like that? It seems impossible to even pinpoint its location.”

“Fortunately, Laplace reacts when you get within 1 meter of it.”

“Get within 1 meter…?”

Charles looked down again at Cheonji, the natural lake at the top of Mount Baekdu.

Cheonji, which used to boast a beautiful blue color, was now just a death lake, stained dark red.

“That’s going to be a bit difficult. You can’t use flight magic or even water-walking magic on Cheonji.”

As I’ve said many times, the mana structure of Mount Baekdu is collapsed.

And Cheonji, which is the center of Mount Baekdu, is much more severely collapsed.

It’s not just that the mana is forming a maze here, the mana is completely frozen.

Because the mana is frozen, it’s impossible to use flight magic.

Not only flight magic, but also water-walking magic and all other magic cannot be used.

The mana near Cheonji is that distorted.

How severe is it that not a single monster lives in this area?

“I can throw you in that direction, but it’s impossible to harvest Laplace in that short amount of time… What should we do…”

Charles was lost in thought with a serious expression.

“You don’t have to worry about harvesting.”

I knelt down on one knee and stroked Miho.

“We can handle it from here.”