The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 275

The Book of Mimir disappears.

Mimir disappears.

It was something I had never imagined.

I always thought the Book of Mimir would continue to impart new knowledge to me.

And that Mimir would always be my partner.

I naturally assumed that would be the case.

“Mimir? Is it true?”

Perhaps it’s because it’s a future I’ve never imagined.

The shock was greater than I could have ever conceived.

“……”

Mimir lowered her head even further.

As if she was ashamed.

As if she didn’t know what to say.

She just kept her head down, her clenched fists trembling.

“It’s… true.”

There was no need to ask again if what my master said was true. If she was really disappearing.

Today was the last day.

Every single action of Mimir’s was saying so.

“One day. No, is it 23 hours now? That much time should be enough for the two of you to say your final goodbyes.”

My master looked at me and Mimir once each.

“Share the stories you haven’t been able to share, the stories you wanted to share… It’s certainly not enough time, but it should be enough to say goodbye with a smile.”

My master gave a bitter smile.

His eyes, looking at Mimir, were filled with a sense of apology.

“This is… the last gift a useless father can give to his daughter.”

“Last… gift?”

Mimir clenched her fists even tighter.

As if she was angry, as if she was upset.

“If you… if you thought of me… !”

As if venting her resentment, she slowly poured out the words she had kept inside.

“I wish… I wish you had just let me go.”

A trembling voice.

Water droplets dripped down from under Mimir’s lowered head.

“I wish… I wish you had just let me disappear quietly… alone…”

Mimir’s head lowered even further.

Was it that she didn’t want to show her face, even if it meant death?

“I’ve already finished preparing my heart…”

Mimir’s words suddenly came to mind.

Before coming here.

The expression Mimir had when she said the sixth trial page had opened came to mind.

Even though it was something to celebrate, her eyes looked strangely empty.

Why hadn’t I noticed?

“I even… wrote a letter…”

Mimir, who had congratulated me in advance, came to mind.

Mimir, who had smiled bitterly when I told her to properly congratulate me next time, came to mind.

Mimir’s face, as she jokingly smiled, saying she would write a short letter, so I wouldn’t cry later, came to mind.

“Father… you’re cruel.”

My past encounters with Mimir came to mind.

Mimir’s first greeting, when she suddenly told me to speak comfortably.

The advice she gave me.

How she worried about me, believed in me, and cared for me.

The time I spent with Mimir in the Book of Mimir flowed like a panorama.

“Cruel… you say.”

My master looked at Mimir with eyes filled with regret.

“You might see me as cruel. If I had let you disappear quietly, without any fuss, there would have been no more pain than that. Why. I think you might be harboring such resentment.”

“……”

“But daughter. You are just as cruel.”

My master looked into my eyes.

His eyes were filled with apology.

“The regret… the sadness… of a person who couldn’t even say a proper goodbye and had to let go of a loved one is greater than you can imagine.”

If.

If.

What would have happened if my master hadn’t appeared like this?

If Veil Stoll hadn’t done something to my master, and my master hadn’t appeared.

If I had just passed the sixth trial page.

If I had tried to return to the Book of Mimir after passing the trial, but the Book of Mimir had already finished its role and returned to being an ordinary book.

What would my heart have been like?

“I don’t want the successor to feel the sadness I felt.”

My master slowly approached Mimir.

“I don’t want you to say goodbye as if you’re running away.”

Then, he knelt down on one knee. He met the eyes of Mimir, who had her head down.

“I’m a useless father who couldn’t even protect your last moments, a bad father who never even told you that I loved you properly…”

He raised his hand and gently stroked Mimir’s cheek.

“I’m a useless father who can only give you a mere 23 hours…”

He wiped away the tears flowing down her cheek with his thumb, and then met Mimir’s eyes.

“Unlike me, you have nothing to be ashamed of. I wanted you to be a wonderful daughter until the very end, so that your last moments wouldn’t be remembered by the successor with resentment and regret.”

“Father…”

Mimir slowly raised her head.

Her eyes were red.

She looked at my master with teary eyes.

My heart ached.

That Mimir was making such an expression.

That I couldn’t say anything to Mimir, who was making such an expression.

“I’m sorry. For giving you such a heavy responsibility.”

Mimir’s lips trembled.

As if her sadness had grown.

Tears were flowing more and more fiercely.

“I’m sorry for making you taste this sadness twice.”

My master slowly rose from his spot. He held Mimir’s cheek and lifted her head.

“Really…”

Mimir suddenly hugged my master. She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

“Sob.”

And then, just like that.

“Waaaaaah!”

She cried out loud.

My heart ached as if it was being torn apart.

“I resented you, Father.”

“…I know.”

“For a long time, alone… I was so lonely. I missed the warmth of people. There were times when I wanted to die.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“But… but still.”

Mimir bit her lip, holding back her tears.

“The last half year… I was happy.”

My vision blurred.

Tears clouded my vision.

“The successor I met after a long wait… Shin Ha-yul, that man… he was as wonderful as I had imagined…”

It was an indescribable pain in my heart.

“I was happy that the defective princess, who had always been called a half-wit, was able to help someone…”

“…I know.”

My master’s voice trembled.

“Because of that, I became grateful. My resentment towards you, Father, disappeared like snow melting. I’m so selfish, aren’t I?”

My master buried his face in Mimir’s hair.

“So… so…”

Mimir’s voice trembled.

She wanted to say more, but tears blocked her words.

“I don’t want to…”

A trembling voice.

A cry filled with tears, an indescribable cry.

“I don’t want to say goodbye.”

The hand that was holding Mimir’s head, my master’s hand, tightened.

“I’ve only just found my life. Every day was enjoyable…”

“……”

“Why. Why can’t the Book of Mimir exist forever? Why… why…”

“……”

Mimir cried.

As if she was venting all her pent-up emotions.

As if she was throwing up everything she had kept in her heart.

She cried so much that there was no room for regret.

“So, please, I beg you.”

Mimir spoke slowly.

“Please… let me go like this.”

“Mimir…”

My master’s expression darkened.

“I know that my actions, that leaving quietly like this, is cruel to the successor. I know, but…”

Mimir took her face off my master’s chest and slowly raised her head.

“I… I don’t have the confidence to endure it.”

Mimir smiled.

With a face covered in tears, she forced a smile.

“I’ll want to live more. I won’t want to say goodbye. The more we talk… the more my heart will ache. So…”

Mimir put on a bright smile.

“Please. Let me disappear like this. It’s my first and last act of childishness as your daughter.”

“……”

My master couldn’t say anything.

There was no father cruel enough to tell Mimir that it was impossible.

“And please…”

Mimir slowly turned her gaze to me.

Mimir’s face crumpled.

“Please use the rest of your time, Father, not for my last farewell… but entirely for the successor.”

A sad smile.

A heartbreaking expression.

“Because of my grumbling, 10 minutes have already disappeared… but still, 20 minutes is a long time. These 20 minutes… will surely be a great help to the successor’s future. So…”

“Mimir…”

My master lowered his head.

A complex feeling was conveyed through his eyes.

“Successor. I have a request for you too.”

Mimir looked me straight in the eye.

“Please, for my sake… for your sake… use Father’s 20 minutes for you.”

“……”

“That’s my… last request.”

Mimir smiled and cried.

“If…”

My lips trembled.

“If you say that… I can’t refuse…”

Mimir smiled.

“Thank you.”

It was a smile like a fragile baby bird.

“I really, so much. I had so much fun, more than words can express…”

Mimir, with that smile, turned her gaze to my master.

“I’m counting on you.”

“…I understand.”

My master lowered his head.

Then, he focused mana on the hand he had placed on Mimir’s head.

Mimir’s body slowly began to disappear.

She was returning to her original place.

To the Book of Mimir.

Mimir’s body was disappearing quickly.

Looking at her own body, Mimir smiled faintly.

Smiling, she looked at me.

“…Goodbye.”

With that smile, she said goodbye to me.

“You have to be happy.”

Perhaps it was because it was the last face I would see.

Mimir’s smile was brighter and more cheerful than any smile I had ever seen.

So much so that it made me sad.

* * *

“There’s no time. Let’s start right away.”

After Mimir disappeared.

I immediately opened the topic.

Now, there were about 19 minutes left.

I had to use these 19 minutes effectively.

“You’re cold.”

My master gave a bitter smile, as if he was a little surprised.

It was a good virtue to judge the situation calmly, but.

It was an expression that seemed to say that it was sad as a father that I was so easily letting go of my farewell with Mimir.

“It was Mimir’s request to use the remaining time effectively for Mimir and me.”

“…Right. It was.”

My master closed his eyes and took a short breath.

“Alright. What are you most curious about?”

When he opened his eyes again, all the confusion had disappeared from my master’s eyes.

“Is it the story of the birth of the Vaitern system? The story between Veil Stoll and me? Or do you need advice on future achievements?”

They were all topics that made my mouth water.

If there was enough time, I would have wanted to hear them all.

“Time is limited. Think carefully and decide what information you need most right now. I’ll give you 30 seconds.”

My master could have arbitrarily divided the importance and explained the most important things in order.

But the fact that he was giving me the choice was just like my master.

I guess that’s what you’d expect from the person who created the Vaitern system, which symbolizes freedom.

“It’s okay. I’ve thought about it enough. I’ve been thinking non-stop since Mimir hugged you and started crying.”

“Since then? You’re really cold. It’s a little scary…”

“No. I’m not cold. I’m rushing like this because I can’t be cold.”

It might seem cold that I was thinking about the future when Mimir was crying so sadly.

But it’s not.

I’m not cold.

Because I’m not cold, I was able to immediately fall into thought while watching that scene.

“I don’t want to let Mimir go like this.”

“That’s…”

My master looked at me with eyes full of sadness.

It was unfortunate, but impossible.

My master’s eyes were saying that.

“I know that there’s no way for you either, Master. If it was possible, you would have already done it.”

I wasn’t exactly looking for an answer from my master.

“What I want is not the answer, but a hint.”

“A hint?”

“Yes. A hint. A hint to find a way for Mimir not to disappear like this. A hint to create a way that this doesn’t have to be the end.”

“A hint. A hint…”

My master looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Do you know? No one has ever asked me for a hint, not an answer. Everyone asked me for the answer.”

Ray Bell Vaitern.

He was already a being no different from a god.

As a god, everyone would have sought the answer from him.

Because a god knows everything.

Because what a god thinks is more accurate than what they think.

“But you’re asking me for a hint… you’re asking for my knowledge. You’re using my knowledge as information to come to a new conclusion yourself.”

“Do you think I’m arrogant?”

“No. Not at all.”

A different light flowed from my master’s eyes.

It was a look that said he was sincerely impressed.

“Those who want someone else to find the answer for them settle for that answer. However, those who try to find the answer themselves wander in search of new answers and grow endlessly.”

My master placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Excellent. You were born with the destiny to become the official successor of the Vaitern system.”

He looked genuinely happy.

“Alright. What can I help you with? What do you want from me?”

“I want to know the structure of magic.”

“What kind of magic are you referring to?”

“The magic that bound Mimir… and Elena, and Aslan here. I want to know the structure, definition, laws, and everything else about that magic.”

My master smiled slightly.

“Why?”

“As I said before. To prevent Mimir from leaving like this.”

“I created it, it’s my magic. Knowing the structure of this magic won’t change anything. There’s nothing you can do. Maybe in the future, after you surpass me, but it’s impossible now.”

“No.”

I shook my head firmly.

“I know that I’m infinitely lacking compared to you, Master. I also know that my achievements in the Vaitern system are nothing compared to yours. But…”

My master’s smile began to deepen.

“I have knowledge of the future. Knowledge of the magic system that has been refined and newly established over 18,000 years, knowledge of an advanced magic system that didn’t exist in your time.”

It was 18,000 years ago that Ray Bell Vaitern couldn’t find a way.

If it’s now.

If I use the knowledge of the modern magic system, which has made innovative progress, and add Ray Bell Vaitern’s original magic knowledge to it.

There’s still hope.

“Mimir said that the Vaitern system is a power for the future. A power that evolves, a power that grows by accepting the future. I believe in those words. That’s why I’m asking you.”

My master laughed.

He laughed out loud as if he couldn’t be more cheerful.

“So, you’re already going to surpass me. Is that what you’re saying?”

“If that’s the only way, then I have no choice but to do so.”

“You, who are only at the 6th Circle now, are already…”

“Even if I was at the 5th Circle, the 4th Circle, I would have made this choice.”

“…Haha! Hahahaha!”

My master’s laughter grew louder and louder.

“Alright. I think I understand a little why Mimir gave you her heart so deeply. You certainly have a charm that captivates people.”

The strength I felt from my master’s hand on my shoulder grew even stronger.

Beyond that grip, I felt my master’s will being fully conveyed.

“I understand. If you say so, if that’s the last hope…”

My master moved his hand from my shoulder to the top of my head.

“I’ll put my hope in that too. I’ll do as you wish. I’ll convey the structure of the magic I used when I created the Book of Idred and the Book of Mimir.”

Mana began to concentrate on my master’s hand, which was placed on my head.

“However, there’s not enough time to explain it verbally. I’ll have to push myself to some extent to explain the structure of the magic.”

“…Yes. I expected that.”

What my master was probably about to do was a direct injection of knowledge.

He was going to use magic to directly hammer information into my brain.

“I won’t ask if you can endure it. If it’s you, there’s no way you can’t endure it.”

“Yes.”

My master’s body became blurry.

He was probably pouring all of his remaining mana into using this magic.

“Finally, I’ll ask you not as a predecessor, but as a father of a child. Please.”

My master’s face was blurring.

That figure was like a flower petal scattering in the wind.

“I’m entrusting Mimir to you. Please save that child.”

“Yes.”

Mana concentrated on my head.

My head began to ache, and my mind began to blur, as if the inflow of knowledge was about to begin.

“Leave it to me.”

With those words, my master’s knowledge began to flow into my head.