The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 259

While Shadow went to call Commander Charles, Adela woke up.

“Are you feeling any better?” Her voice was calm, and her eyes were clear. It seemed she had been awake for quite some time. Well, Shadow and I weren’t exactly quiet. It’s no wonder she woke up.

“I’m fine.”

“…That’s a relief.” Adela let out a sigh of relief. She looked genuinely worried. Judging by her expression, my condition must have been quite serious.

“What exactly happened?”

“…” Adela was silent for a moment. She wasn’t silent because she didn’t understand my question. She had been pretending to sleep and listening to Shadow and me, so there was no way she didn’t understand the context of my question. She was just trying to figure out where to start.

“Do you not remember anything at all?”

“Until a little while ago, I really didn’t remember anything. But I’ve just recovered some of my memory.”

“When you say ‘some’?”

“That another person’s soul entered my body.” I deliberately left out the name Ray Bell Bytenner. I didn’t know how much Adela knew, so I was being cautious.

“If you remember that much, you probably have a rough idea of how things went.” Adela looked at me with clear eyes. There wasn’t a hint of doubt in her expression. It was a clear expression that showed she had no questions about this incident. It seemed Adela knew who had entered my body.

“As you might have guessed, Ray Bell Bytenner, who possessed your body, resolved everything.” As I thought. Adela knew everything.

“You’ve been asleep for two days due to the aftereffects.”

“Aftereffects?”

“The aftereffects of your body not being able to fully withstand the power of the great mage, Ray Bell Bytenner.”

“Ah.” Come to think of it, that was true. Even if my master’s soul had possessed my body, my body was still my own. It was just the body of a clumsy mage who had just entered the 6th Circle [a level of magical power]. ‘Using magic powerful enough to completely obliterate Carius with such a body…’ It was only natural that my body would suffer aftereffects.

“But my body feels too refreshed for that.” A disproportionate soul in an inadequate body. Just looking at it, it wouldn’t have been strange if my body had exploded. Yet, I had only fainted for two days. How was I able to recover so quickly?

“Did my master do something to my body before he disappeared?” Right before the possession ended. Did he cast some kind of stabilization magic on my body?

“No. He didn’t do anything.” Adela shook her head firmly. It didn’t seem like my master had done anything.

“If my master didn’t do anything… then what did you do?” In that situation, the only people who could help me were my master and Adela. If it wasn’t my master, then by process of elimination, it was Adela.

“Yes. I absorbed the mana that was overflowing from your body.”

“Absorbed? You’re saying you absorbed all the mana that was overflowing from my body and managed to contain it?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Well… I was just holding your hand, and it flowed in on its own.”

“…?” I didn’t understand what she was saying. No, I understood what she was saying, but I couldn’t accept it.

“You’re saying that just by holding my hand, my mana was absorbed by you on its own, and my rampage subsided?”

“Yes.”

“Does that even make sense?” It was already surprising that she had absorbed mana with a different nature. To absorb mana that was even rampaging. How was that even possible?

“I don’t know either.” Adela shook her head, looking genuinely confused.

“I just did what he told me to do…”

“My master told you to hold my hand?”

“Yes. He told me not to let go until you woke up…”

“…I see. So that’s why you’ve been here like this until now.”

“Yes.” I understood why Adela had risked staying here. Of course. There was no way Adela would have been stubborn for no reason.

“Have you tried to guess why that was possible? You’ve had plenty of time to think about it for two days.”

“I have, but I don’t know. I’ve never even thought that something like this was possible…” Adela shook her head with a wry smile. Judging by how much Adela was struggling, it seemed she really hadn’t come up with any hypotheses.

“All I know is that it has something to do with my constitution.”

“Your constitution?”

“Yes. That’s what he implied.”

“…My master did.” Adela’s constitution. What kind of constitution was she talking about?

“He also said that my ancestors’ family name was Sol Lunari… I think there might be a hint there.”

“Sol Lunari?”

“Yes. He also told me to tell you this. He said it would be helpful to both of us…”

“Sol Lunari. Sol Lunari, huh? Okay. I’ll look into it separately.” Mimir would know something. When I have time to go to Mimir’s library, I should ask right away.

“Oh, and one more thing. How did you get back to the lab? The flames were blocking the way. No, how did you even know I was in danger in the first place?” That was the biggest question. How was Adela able to get through Ignis’s flames to the lab? Furthermore, why did she take the risk of entering the lab?

“You might not believe it, but the mana called me.”

“…What?” Adela said something completely unexpected.

“The mana asked for help. It said you were in danger and that I needed to come right away…”

“So you heard the voice of mana?”

“Yes.” Adela said with a slightly flustered expression.

“I know it might be hard to believe that mana spoke, but it really did…”

“No. I believe you.” It wasn’t that I couldn’t believe that mana spoke.

“I can hear it too. The voice of mana.”

“…Huh?” What surprised me was that there was someone other than me who could hear the voice of mana. …According to Elena, the only people who could hear the voice of mana so far were me and my master. How could Adela hear the voice of mana?

“Ignis… How were you able to get through the flames?”

“I don’t know. I just did what the mana told me to do…”

“What the mana told you to do?”

“Yes. It said that the flames wouldn’t harm me… that I could just go through…”

“Without knowing why?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I’ve been thinking about it…” Adela lowered her head slightly, looking apologetic.

“Why are you apologizing?” Regardless of the situation, Adela had saved my life. There was no reason for Adela to apologize.

“If anyone should apologize, it’s me. No, before that, I should thank you.” I bowed my head to Adela.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

“No. I just did what was natural…” Adela turned her head slightly, looking embarrassed. It seemed Adela was still awkward with such direct expressions of gratitude.

“Anything else? Was there anything else?”

“Anything else?”

“Anything at all. Like what kind of magic my master used with my body, or what else he said.”

“Um. Well…”

“No. Just explain everything from the beginning. That’ll be faster.”

“Everything from the beginning?”

“Yeah. From when you heard the voice of mana and entered the flames.”

“It’s going to be a very long story…”

“It’s okay. I have time…” That’s when it happened. Bang! With the sound of the door being roughly opened, a silver wolf flew in.

“Hey, Shin Hayul! I heard you woke up!” It was Commander Charles. He looked at me with a very happy expression and examined my body.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

“I, I’m fine. Nothing hurts at all…”

“Are you really okay? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m really fine. I don’t look good because I haven’t eaten.” I answered Commander Charles’s words appropriately and gave Adela a look. ‘Let’s talk about this later when we’re alone.’ Adela seemed to have read my look and nodded.

* * *

After that, I heard the story of what happened after the incident from Commander Charles. That all the flames that were pouring out of the three secret passages had been successfully blocked. That the incident had been successfully concluded. And that, as planned, the person named ‘Luan Palatia’ had been declared dead. I heard everything that had happened in the past two days in about 10 minutes.

“We found a list of people who helped establish the lab in the files we obtained from the lab. They’re all under arrest now. We’re going to interrogate them and conduct further investigations to see if there are any other people involved.” The existence of the lab was also publicly revealed. This was a bit unexpected. It was an international disgrace that such an illegal research facility existed in the Paris underground and that they didn’t know about it at all. I thought they would hide the existence of the lab itself. To reveal it openly in the news. Is the French government less corrupt than the Korean government?

“If it weren’t for Sein Vinoche, this incident would have been buried. It’s the same everywhere, the government is rotten to the core.” …Or so I thought. It didn’t seem like it. I see. Sein had used his power. That made sense.

“It seems like Sein was very angry. To openly defy the government’s orders like that.”

“Well, it’s a little different. The reason he stepped in wasn’t because he was angry, but…” Commander Charles trailed off with a strange expression. He stared at me intently. He looked like he was thinking a lot.

“It was because of you.”

“…Because of me?” What did he mean?

“I mean, if they were to cover up this incident, the achievements of the hero who solved it would also disappear, right?” My eyes slowly widened. No way…

“Sein Vinoche. It seems he didn’t like that. So he rebelled against the government’s orders and made the incident bigger.” Commander Charles scratched his cheek with a strange expression.

“To make you a hero.”

“…” Commander Charles shrugged.

“Thanks to that, Luan Palatia is now called the hero of Paris. A national hero who saved the country by sacrificing his own body…”

“…Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true. Why would it be fake?” Commander Charles took out his phone and fiddled with it. I could see that he was looking through news portals.

“Here. Do you recognize this place?” A street with only burn marks left. The color of the road looked familiar.

“Could that be the secret passage near the shopping district?”

“Oh. You know? That’s right. In this empty lot…” Commander Charles took his phone back and started looking for the next news.

“Um. It doesn’t seem to be public yet.” He couldn’t find the article he was looking for, so he put his phone back in his pocket.

“What is it?”

“They said they’re going to build a statue of you here.”

“…What?”

“They’re going to build a statue of Luan Palatia.”

“Why?”

“Why else? Because he achieved so much, that’s why.”

“…” Commander Charles leaned his elbow on the bed and looked at me sideways, resting his chin on his hand.

“Are you happy? To become a hero who will be recorded in French history at such a young age.” His lips were playful, and his eyebrows moved mischievously. His expression and gestures were full of teasing intent.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to come out and say you’re alive now? Then we can put a big ‘Hero’s Return’ headline on the portal…”

“I won’t.” There was no way I would.

“Why? Aren’t you disappointed? If you keep Luan Palatia’s identity as a sub-identity, it would be quite convenient when traveling abroad.”

“It would be convenient if that identity was maintained. But it won’t, will it?” Luan Palatia. A fake identity created through a broker. It was an ID that was made so meticulously that it wouldn’t be easily detected, but if you dug deep enough, it would be exposed nine times out of ten.

“Now that he’s dead, even if it’s revealed that it’s a fake identity, it can be brushed off as a hero who hid his identity. But if he’s alive, there will definitely be people who will dig into it. And there’s a high chance that my real identity will be exposed.” Then it could be revealed that Luan Palatia’s identity was Shin Hayul. That would be problematic in many ways.

“Wow~ You’re so cold-blooded?” Commander Charles patted my head with an admirable expression.

“You’re amazing. You’re amazing. You could have been swayed by the fame of a hero. But you’re holding back.”

“…” I was about to retort, but I stopped myself. Based on my years of experience with Soonchan’s nagging, reacting here would be a bad move. Reacting here would only make the other person more excited.

“How are Sein and Stella doing?” I immediately changed the subject.

“Um. Sein Vinoche. He seemed no different from usual… Stella Vinoche…” Commander Charles trailed off.

“…I see. I understand.” As expected, Stella seemed to be quite sad. Judging by how Commander Charles deliberately trailed off, she seemed to be in a bad state. I felt a pang of guilt for having inflicted an indelible wound on someone’s heart.

“It’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but… please comfort her well.”

“It’s really awkward for you to say that.” Commander Charles clicked his tongue. It was a pointed remark.

“Anyway, okay. It’s not my specialty, but I’ll try my best.” Commander Charles sighed softly and got up from his seat.

“Oh, and I’m sorry, but Adela Steart. I have to take her now. The Steart family is showing signs of dispatching a large search party. We need to take care of it before things get bigger.”

“Ah.” Adela had been hiding for two days to stay with me. In other words, Adela was missing in the eyes of the world. If she didn’t return to her family quickly, things would get serious.

“Now that she’s awake, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“Yes.” Adela glanced at me a few times, then got up from her seat as if she had no choice.

“I’ll be back.” Adela gestured to me with her eyes, saying, ‘Let’s talk about what we couldn’t finish earlier when I come back.’ I nodded.

“Then get some rest. See you later.”

“Yes.” With that, Commander Charles took Adela and left my room.

“…He talks a lot.” In a quiet corner of the room, a shadow slowly gathered, taking the form of Shadow.

“Now that the interlopers are gone, let’s continue what we were talking about earlier. So, when are you going to keep your promise?” Shadow approached me, unraveling his shadow. He was still so young.

“If my condition isn’t bad, as soon as possible…”

“I told you. It’s possible right now.” Shadow’s eyes widened.

“…Were you serious?”

“Yes.” It seemed he thought I was just saying it.

“But, you know. You too…”

“I know. I will share all the information I have about the Black Magic Tower.” Shadow’s expression twisted fiercely.

“Even the last bit of goodwill I had has completely disappeared. I promise to provide all the information, whether it exists or not.” Come to think of it, what happened to the fact that Dr. was the one who put Umbra’s shadow into Shadow? Was it revealed to be true? ‘Judging by his expression, it seems like Dr.’s words were correct.’ Was that information found in the lab? ‘I should ask Commander Charles later.’ It would be better to ask Commander Charles about this than to ask Shadow. There was no need to stir up trouble.

“Good. Then I will remove it right now.” I reached for Aeth, took out Ignis’s medium that I had put inside. ‘…It seems much more stable than it was two days ago.’ If the Ignis from before was like a pair of shoes that I had just started to break in, the Ignis now was like a pair of shoes that had been completely broken in to my feet. Was this also thanks to my master? I didn’t know.

“Come this way.”

“Okay.” I reached out and took Shadow’s hand.

“Let’s begin.”

And a moment later.

“Don’t resist.” The flames that started from Ignis’s medium traveled through my hand and began to attach to Shadow’s body.