The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 226

After that, four days passed. There were no remarkable events during that time. I spent my time as usual, focusing on magic training and accumulating knowledge. It was quite a meaningful time. My skill in handling the Mobius pattern had also improved somewhat. I had also read almost all the stories related to mythical magic. Looking back, it was a very fulfilling time. As I spent my time like that, the day to enter France finally arrived.

“Please give me your luggage, passport, and ID,” the flight attendant said, receiving the documents from me with a bright smile.

“Your check-in is complete. Thank you.”

The check-in was quickly finished. The flight attendant returned the documents, including my ID.

“Thank you,” I said, slightly bowing my head as I received the various documents. The flight attendant’s expression brightened even more at my response.

“Wow. Your Korean is very fluent?”

I am currently using Vaitener magic to change my appearance. My current appearance is that of a pure French-Korean mix.

“Yes. My mother was Korean.”

“Ah, you learned from your mother.”

“Yes.”

If it were a normal airport, the flight attendant wouldn’t have talked to me like that. But this is not a normal airport; it’s a special airport. It’s a business airport used only by high-level personnel, including magicians. As such, there are not many people. At this airport, as it is less busy, it is common for flight attendants to strike up conversations with customers.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Yes. I also visited my mother’s hometown. It was nice.”

For the record, I’m not just saying that because I’m bored.

“That’s good to hear. But, it seems you came alone? It would have been better if you came with your mother.”

There is a reason why they initiate conversations like this.

“It would have been nice, but unfortunately, she has already passed away.”

“Ah… I’m, I’m sorry.”

This airport is a special airport used only by high-level personnel, so everyone here is quite impressive. If you become friendly with even one of them, it can be a great benefit. The reason they bother to talk is for that reason: to build good connections and gain a reliable backing. In fact, many people become friends this way. It’s a kind of mutual benefit. The flight attendant is happy to gain connections, and the customer is happy to receive preferential treatment.

“You don’t have to worry about it. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”

“…I’m, I’m really sorry.”

The flight attendant bowed her head with a truly apologetic expression. It was such a sincere apology that I felt sorry for her.

“It’s really okay.”

Our conversation went on for quite a while. The flight attendant was mainly the one initiating the topics. I focused on chiming in, while also getting used to my new identity.

“Ah, so you’re going to France for work?”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t mind, may I ask what kind of work you do…?”

My current name on my ID is Luan Palatia. I am 27 years old. My nationality is French. And my occupation is…

“I am a knight.”

A person who pursues the limits of the sword through the mana core [a magical energy center]. A knight.

“A… knight…”

At that moment, the flight attendant’s expression stiffened. I could tell exactly what she was thinking. It was so obvious that I couldn’t miss it.

‘Ah, what a waste of time.’

This flight attendant is regretting the time she spent talking to me.

“…I see. You must be having a hard time.”

She gave a soulless answer with a business smile that was a stark contrast to her bright smile from before. It was such a dramatic change that I could have mistaken her for a different person. Of course, it wasn’t a rude response. It was just that the overflowing kindness had disappeared.

“Ah, the next customer has arrived. Thank you for visiting Korea, and I hope you have only good things happen to you after you return home.”

The flight attendant gave a very soulless word of encouragement and then turned her gaze to the newly arrived customer.

“Ah, magician. Please come this way. I’ll help you with the check-in.”

A man whose appearance screamed, ‘I’m a magician.’ The flight attendant greeted him with a smile as bright as when she greeted me earlier.

‘I expected it, but… it’s really something…’

The reason the flight attendant changed her attitude is because my identity is that of a knight. In this world, knights are treated as a lower substitute for magicians. They are treated as a workforce that can be hired at a lower cost than magicians. They are treated as a kind of service. As such, there are many people who openly ignore them.

‘I heard that even back in the Vaitener Empire era, knights were high-level personnel on par with magicians, just like Aslan and Mimir. Why have they fallen so far?’

In the past, I heard that there were knights who even overwhelmed Aslan. In short, the potential of a knight is comparable to Aslan, a 9-circle magician and space magic user. It didn’t make sense that such people, even if they didn’t receive the benefits of AI, would become so obsolete.

‘I should look into it when I have time later.’

As someone who has acquired a mana core, I was quite curious as to why knights had become so obsolete.

Buzz-!

At that moment, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

[I’ve arrived.]

It was a text message from an unknown sender. Of course, it’s unknown because it’s not registered. I know who sent it.

‘Adela arrived first.’

This text message was from Adela. It was a report that she had just arrived at the Steart family. I didn’t send a reply separately. No, it would be more accurate to say that I couldn’t. The phone I currently have is for receiving only. It is almost invulnerable to external interference, but in return, I cannot contact anyone from my end. Adela knows this fact, so there’s no problem even if I don’t reply separately.

‘It’s good that she arrived safely.’

I was thinking such pointless thoughts when I put the phone in my pocket. No, I was about to.

Thud-!

If someone hadn’t body-checked me so forcefully, I would have done so.

“Oops!” A man bumped into me, intentionally hitting the phone in my hand.

Thump, thud, roll…

My phone spun around on the floor. I usually wouldn’t have dropped it, but it seems I was too careless.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry,” the man who bumped into me said with a sneering smile. He had his hands in his pockets, with a blurry smile on his face. Behind the man, a man with a sharp impression quickly ran up.

“I told you to slow down,” the man’s companion, who followed behind, glared at the man and me alternately with a nagging expression.

“I’m sorry. He’s just immature…”

For a moment, it looked like an immature friend and a sensible young man trying to stop him. But it wasn’t.

“How can you do that to a knight who’s using such an old phone?”

He was pretending to be sorry, but he was smiling. Birds of a feather flock together, and his companion was the same.

“Sorry. I didn’t know a knight would be so weak.”

“Of course, knights are weak. You idiot.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The two of them chuckled and laughed. It was quite a sight.

‘I guess they heard me say I was a knight when I was talking to the flight attendant.’

Without even using my mind’s eye, I could tell that these two were magicians. About 5 circles, maybe?

‘I’ve heard that magicians often pick fights with knights. I didn’t think I’d be the one to experience it.’

Magicians hate knights. In the past, there was a great war between magicians and knights just before AI became commercialized. This war made magicians and knights bitter enemies. Even before that, there were records of frequent conflicts. In such a situation, with the knights having fallen, it was only natural for magicians to go wild.

‘…Tsk. They’re disgracing all magicians.’

I wanted to teach them a lesson, but given the situation, there was no need to do anything that would draw attention. Especially since I have a fake identity. I pulled the equipment mask I was wearing back up to my nose and picked up the phone that had fallen on the floor. Being a high-end model, it was fine after that kind of impact.

“You have no pride.”

“I know, right?”

The two of them clicked their tongues as if they were bored. They needed me to get angry and lash out to have an excuse to act rough. My calmness seemed to have made them even more annoyed.

“This is boring. Let’s go,” the man who had body-checked me turned around first. He looked like he was saying that there was no point in sneering at a wooden doll that didn’t respond or react.

“I thought the knights in France might be different. But they’re the same here?”

“I told you. In this age of magic, there’s no way a knight’s honor would remain. Heh heh.”

Just as the two of them were walking away.

“Stop.”

A girl stepped in front of the two men.

‘This woman is…’

It was a face I knew.

* * *

“Could you repeat that? What did you say about the knight’s honor?”

A girl who looked to be about 20 years old. I couldn’t say for sure because she was wearing boots, but she looked to be about 160cm tall. She was wearing formal attire, and her hair seemed to be tucked into her hat, but strands of blue hair peeked out from under the hat.

“What’s it to you?”

“I think I asked first. What did you just say?”

And lastly, she had a sword at her waist. It was a rapier that looked expensive at first glance.

“Ah, you’re a knight too?” The man smiled when he saw the rapier at the girl’s waist.

“Come to think of it, that formal attire. It’s the formal attire of the French National Knight School?”

“Heh heh. Why? Did our words bother you?”

The two of them smiled with amusement.

“Okay. If our elite knight wants to hear it again, we’ll tell you.”

Then, he approached the girl, looked her in the eye, and licked his lips.

“The knight’s honor has been on the ground for a long time.”

“…”

The girl grabbed the rapier at her waist. Touching a knight’s honor is like touching a magician’s circle. If you can stand that, you’re not a knight.

“I’ll take that as a challenge to a duel.”

“Oh. A duel. How scary.”

“I’m so scared I’m shaking.”

The two of them laughed loudly and pretended to tremble. They looked like they were having a lot of fun with the situation.

“But, what should we do? We’ve already checked in our equipment. We’re unarmed.”

“If you fight us unarmed, we might agree to it.”

The two of them licked their lips and smiled.

“…”

The girl frowned. Modern magicians can use magic without any restrictions as long as they have AI, even without equipment. But knights are not like that. Knights cannot exert their full power without a sword.

“How cowardly…”

“Isn’t it more cowardly for a knight to try to fight an unarmed magician with a sword?”

The girl bit her lip.

“Well, if you don’t want to.”

“If you don’t want to, we’ll go. Let’s see each other again sometime. Fallen knight.”

“You…”

A cross appeared on the girl’s forehead.

‘I was trying to let it go peacefully…’

The girl took her hand off her sword and raised her hand. It was a gesture to call someone who had come with her.

“You guys are hopeless. It seems…”

At that moment.

“Apologize.”

The man who had been oppressed by the two men earlier, Shin Hayul, moved.

“Apologize? For what?”

“Heh heh. Are you trying to look cool in front of a girl? You’re a knight, after all…”

The man couldn’t finish his sneer.

Thud-!

“Ugh!” Shin Hayul, who had moved to the two men’s faces in an instant, grabbed the man’s mouth. The man, whose cheeks were pressed together, making his mouth look like a duck’s, groaned.

“I’ll say it again. Apologize.”

The two men’s eyes trembled.

‘Huh, when did he get in front of me…’

The two men didn’t even see Shin Hayul’s afterimage.

“And there won’t be a third time.”

The grip was getting stronger and stronger. The force was so strong that the man’s jaw was creaking.

“Hey, here! This crazy knight is going to kill someone!” At that moment, the remaining companion shouted. He was calling the security guards to report Shin Hayul’s coercive behavior. The security guards would probably arrive here within a minute.

“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t particularly intend to do anything to you right now.”

But it wouldn’t be a problem even if the security guards came. Currently, Shin Hayul is only holding the man’s mouth. That alone wouldn’t cause any legal problems.

“At least not now.”

Shin Hayul released the man’s mouth and raised his other hand. He spread his fingers out like a blade and slashed through the air.

Whoosh-!

It sounded like a blade was cutting through the air. Three times in a row. And immediately after that.

“…!!”

The sword pressure grazed past the man’s ears and the top of his head. All three sword pressures grazed his hair.

“You, you…”

That was all, but the man couldn’t say anything.

“Don’t misunderstand. I had no other intentions. There were just some mosquitoes. I heard that mosquitoes are poisonous these days. I just got rid of them.”

Gulp.

The man swallowed hard.

‘This, this man. He’s not an ordinary knight.’

He was a magician who had reached the 5th circle, although his personality was terrible. He knew how to gauge the opponent’s skill to some extent. This speed. This power. This man is not an ordinary knight.

‘I messed with the wrong person!’

Cold sweat ran down the man’s back.

“…I, I apologize.”

You should pick fights according to your opponent. The man immediately changed his attitude. Like a coward, he was willing to grovel before the strong. For two cowards who had lived by bullying the weak and being weak to the strong, bowing their heads was nothing.

“We made a mistake. We retract everything we said and apologize.”

“Not to me. To this lady.”

“…I’m sorry. I apologize.”

The man bowed his head while rolling his eyes. Like a coward who becomes weak before the strong, he didn’t care about his pride.

“Me…? Ah. Yes… The, the apology. Yes. I should accept it… Yes.”

However, the girl’s reaction was strange. Even though she received the apology she wanted, she didn’t seem to be moved at all. No, it would be more accurate to say that she didn’t have the energy to react to the apology itself.

‘A hand blade that was just swung without a sword has that much sharpness and speed…’

The girl was currently mesmerized by the divine skill that Shin Hayul had shown. She didn’t have the time to care about the apologies of those two thugs.

“Okay. Then get lost.”

“Yes, yes.”

The two of them hurriedly left the scene. The airport was silent in an instant.

“Excuse me.”

Shin Hayul bowed his head to the girl and then walked towards gate 14.

“Wait, just a moment…!” He heard a voice calling him from behind, but he ignored it. He didn’t stop walking, but rather increased his speed.

‘That was close.’

As he walked, Shin Hayul sighed in relief.

‘What are the odds of meeting a treasure of the French National Knight School here?’

The girl he had just met was Stella Vinoche. She was a very famous person in France. In Korea, she would naturally be treated as a state guest, and she had considerable power. If he had left her alone, she would have mobilized all her power to punish those two men. The gesture she made when she raised her hand was proof of that. That gesture was like a signal to call her guards. If he had left it alone, her guards would have appeared and beaten the two men like dogs. Then, many problems would have arisen, and the flight itself would have been delayed, or it could have developed into an international issue and the flight could have been canceled altogether. That’s why he stepped in to stop it. He had to mediate before it became a big deal so that he could leave the country safely.

‘…Those trash were the worst of the worst, so they survived.’

Shin Hayul sighed in relief again and continued walking towards gate 14.

“…”

And where Shin Hayul had been standing. The girl stood alone, staring at Shin Hayul as he walked away.

“Who is he?” At the girl’s murmur, a man appeared in the air. He was a middle-aged man wearing a butler’s uniform.

“I don’t know. His face was covered with a mask.”

“Is he a master class?”

“At least a master class. If necessary, he could be on par with the mistress, or even more.”

“…More than my mother?”

“Yes. Only the mistress would be able to unleash that level of sword energy without holding a sword.”

The three consecutive strikes using his hand blade. It was a fast and swift strike that gave the illusion that all three strikes had been unleashed in an instant. He also showed perfect control, grazing the target by the width of a piece of paper while unleashing such a strike. Even thinking about it again, I can only be amazed.

“Where did such a person come from?”

“Well, there are many strong people in the world that we don’t know about. He must be one of them.”

“He’s from the shadows, then. Does that mean he’s evil?”

“He didn’t seem like it. Evil people usually don’t act for others. If he were evil, he wouldn’t have bothered to step in.”

“…That’s true.”

“Above all. That young man’s eyes were very clear.”

Soon, Shin Hayul disappeared into the passage.

“An unknown powerhouse, but not evil.”

The woman’s eyes shone brightly.

“He’s even more intriguing. What is that man’s identity?”