The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 276

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-277

When I opened my eyes next,

I was collapsed in the middle of the hotel room.

Next to me, lying on the floor, I saw the Book of Mimir.

The faded Book of Mimir.

I could tell without even opening it.

The Book of Mimir had completely lost its power.

Having lost its power, it had become an ordinary book.

With trembling hands, I picked up the Book of Mimir.

And slowly, I opened it.

I knew it wouldn’t be, but just in case. Just in case a miracle had happened.

“……”

But as expected.

There was no miracle.

Even when I opened the Book of Mimir, it didn’t react at all.

“……Mimir.”

She really disappeared.

That realization hit me.

Sadness weighed down on my head.

My head lowered on its own.

Was parting with a partner this heartbreaking?

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.

Thump-!

At that moment, a small white ball of fur jumped into my chest.

A warm ball of fur.

A fox with six charming tails.

It was Miho.

Mee-

Miho cried sadly.

Was Miho also sad about parting with Mimir?

Or was it because she was heartbroken that I was sad?

Or maybe, both?

“……Miho.”

I hugged Miho tightly and buried my face in her fur. Miho’s warmth seemed to reassure me, even if just a little.

Even though I hugged her quite tightly, Miho didn’t show any signs of dislike.

She just acted cute as usual, licking my cheek.

Miho’s kindness was a great comfort.

Mee-

Miho cried again.

Was it because my condition had improved a little?

This time, it wasn’t the same sad cry as before, but a cry that felt full of strength.

It was like a cry urging me on.

“……Right. This isn’t the time to be like this.”

I pulled my face away from Miho, hugged her, and then got up from my spot.

Maybe it was because I was holding the Book of Mimir, but she twisted her body this way and that, as if her posture was uncomfortable.

Then, as if she had somehow found a comfortable position, she leaned against my chest, with her front paws on the Book of Mimir.

I stroked Miho and looked around.

The surroundings were full of all sorts of books.

Among them, the piles of manga stood out in particular.

The manga I had brought for Mimir to read before.

Even a rough count showed there were over 200 volumes.

Besides that, there were also many academic books and papers.

All of them were books I had gotten for her.

“……So it ended up like this.”

As the Book of Mimir disappeared, the foreign objects inside were ejected out.

That’s why these books were scattered around the hotel room.

I organized the books as I looked through them.

The manga were really tattered.

How many times had she read them?

At this point, it seemed like she had reread them at least ten times.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have brought more.”

She liked them so much.

What was so hard about getting her some manga?

I could have bought a thousand volumes, no, I could have bought an entire library and brought it to her.

I regret it.

What’s even more upsetting is that it wasn’t just the manga that were worn out.

From the academic books to the papers.

All the books I had gotten for her were old and worn, no different from used books.

Among them, one particularly worn academic book caught my eye.

The title of the book was [The Development of AI and the Future of Humanity].

I slowly opened the book.

The first thing that caught my eye was the handwritten notes that Mimir had written in the introduction to the subheadings.

[The data from 3-4 to 3-6 seems to have some errors! Be careful when rechecking!]

[The hypothesis from 8-1 onwards shows considerable similarities with the C paper. In the future, it would be good to cross-analyze the two data sets!]

└[It’s a mess! Just a trashy study with a plausible theory! Discard! Who made such nonsense into a paper?]

She set up her own hypotheses, denied her own hypotheses, reconsidered the denied hypotheses, and matched the reconsidered hypotheses with other things.

This book was filled with Mimir’s efforts.

The notes were densely written without any blank space.

I read each note carefully and turned the pages.

[Big trouble! Not enough time! Today, my father’s soul entered the Successor’s body! Looking at the state, it seems like the day to enter the sixth trial page is not far away!]

★★★[There is a need to hurry a little more!]

Next page.

[Thank goodness! Some results have come out!]

[It’s not perfect yet, but if I use these research results, I can definitely forge Umbra’s shadow into a Mythic magic!]

[The answer was in AI after all!]

[The scholars of this era had the wrong approach to AI itself.]

[They’re all idiots. Me too. How could I not have thought of such a simple thing until now?]

Mimir’s excitement seemed to be conveyed even through the notes.

[Now all that’s left is the detailed adjustments…]

Next page.

Right after the first note written at the top, there was a red bloodstain.

It was a stain as if a nosebleed had occurred.

[Wow. I’m getting a nosebleed even in this state. Amazing. Is my body still functioning properly? Just how far does my father’s power reach?]

[No, in the first place, what kind of structure is this magic made of? I heard it’s a magic that replicates the soul and places it here. Then does that mean my soul is fake?]

[Fake… I don’t like that…]

Even while having a nosebleed, she was still contemplating, that was so like Mimir.

Why?

My heart ached a little.

[Today, the sixth trial page opened. It seems the Successor has overcome the final hurdle.]

[Originally, I should tell them to go straight into the sixth trial page, but let’s just be quiet for a bit.]

[Just until my research is complete. 3 days. No, 4 days… if possible, a week.]

[It’s almost complete… but still, verification is necessary. Yes. Just one week. Let’s just delay it for a week.]

[This much… should be okay, right?]

A week.

I felt like I was going to cry at the emotion contained in that sentence.

[It’s complete. Yes. It’s me after all. To have accomplished what even my father couldn’t do.]

[I’m glad. I’m glad I can leave behind such a gift, even at the very end.]

[Yes. I’m really glad.]

[Really……]

The page with the last two sentences was crumpled.

As if it had been soaked in water.

As if tears had fallen on it.

[Then, finally, if I organize all the research results and write them down in a way that’s easy for the Successor to understand, that’s it. With this, my work is all done.]

[Now I can disappear with peace of mind.]

Mimir’s notes ended there.

I closed the book and closed my eyes.

My heart was heavy.

I remembered Mimir’s appearance from before, when she cried out that she didn’t want to leave, and my heart ached.

What was this idiot thinking when she left these notes?

What was she thinking as she carried out her research?

While crying, while having nosebleeds.

What did I do to deserve this?

My hands were shaking.

My head was blank.

My heart ached so much.

I couldn’t think of anything else.

All I could do was look at the books Mimir had left behind.

Then, suddenly, I found a new, crisp notebook among the old books.

[Dear Successor.]

That was the name of the notebook.

I slowly picked up the notebook and opened it.

[Hello. I wrote a letter as promised.]

“Ah……”

Unlike her usual neat writing style, the writing was crooked.

A letter written in Korean, not in the Runic script of the Bytenner Empire that Mimir usually used.

[Korean. I tried to study it a bit. I don’t know if the meaning will be conveyed properly.]

[You might ask why I’m suddenly writing a letter in Korean. Just. For some reason. I wanted to say goodbye in the Successor’s native language, at least for the last time.]

[Even if there are some strange points, I hope you’ll find it cute.]

The letters were crooked, but the grammar was perfect.

That was strangely odd.

Strangely like Mimir.

It felt strange.

[First of all. What should I say first? There are so many things I want to say. I don’t know what to say first.]

[If I keep going on, I feel like I’ll fill this notebook and still have more to say.]

[So… I’m just going to say a few words with all my heart.]

[I could list a lot of touching sentences, but then the Successor would cry, right?]

[How about it? I’m considerate even until the end, right?]

[Did you fall for me again?]

Below this sentence, the next page was blank.

I slowly turned the page.

[Thank you. I’m sorry. I was happy.]

On the next page, four large sentences were written.

[Goodbye.]

And below that.

A small ps. was attached like a footnote.

[ps. The research information is well organized next to it, so please check it carefully.]

[It will definitely be a great help to the Successor.]

[ps2. And raise Adela Steart well. She will be a great help.]

[ps3. Oh, and the swordsmen too! If they properly master the sword, they will become a stronger force than most magicians.]

[ps4. Ah, and also……]

The next page too.

The page after that too.

There were ps footnotes attached to the letter continuously.

For 4 pages, 5 pages, even over 10 pages.

They were all just nagging.

“She said she’d only say a few words, but she’s saying everything she wants to say……”

Footnotes that spanned a whopping 5 pages.

After reading all the footnotes, I slowly closed the notebook.

“Really… until the very end……”

It’s so like Mimir.

Even the fact that she nags so much.

Even the fact that she nags so much that I want to complain.

Everything from head to toe was so like Mimir.

“Where do you think you’re going, just nagging and running away?”

I placed the notebook containing Mimir’s last letter on one side of the bed, and picked up another notebook next to it.

“If you’re going to leave, you have to listen to all my complaints.”

It was a notebook containing Mimir’s research results.

“It’s unfair. Don’t you think so, Miho?”

Miho cried loudly as if she agreed.

“Just you wait. I’ll make you regret leaving after saying all those embarrassing things, crying and wailing.”

Mimir writhing in embarrassment over her dark history.

That sight would be quite a spectacle.

[AI is a magic support tool that acts on the brain. Therefore, the Successor cannot use AI. The Successor’s brain has the property of blocking all external interference.]

Mimir researched AI, and researched how to apply modern magic technology to past technology.

This is the same as my idea of using future knowledge to turn past impossibilities into possibilities.

If my guess is correct, there will be a hint here.

[However, this is a wrong proposition.]

[The Successor can also implant AI.]

[It’s not the Successor’s brain that’s wrong, it’s the AI.]

[It’s just that the structure of the AI itself was not adapted to the Successor’s brain structure.]

A research result that overturned my common sense.

It was indeed a content worthy of being called a gift.

[If I create an AI according to my calculations, the Successor can also fully benefit from AI.]

[You can benefit from AI’s proxy calculations.]

[You can overcome the only disadvantage of Mythic magic, which is that the incantation is long.]

Accelerating the incantation of Mythic magic through AI’s proxy calculations.

Ignis’s incantationless magic.

The thought alone sent shivers down my spine.

[I think this is the homework that Bytenner needs to solve, the future that it needs to move towards.]

Wouldn’t this be the most suitable research result for Bytenner, which symbolizes evolution and the future?

That thought naturally came to mind.

[Then, next is the most important method of creating an AI suitable for the Successor.]

[Honestly, I can’t say that this is complete yet. This is just an uncertain hypothesis based on a theoretical approach. The details should be adjusted by the Successor through direct experimentation.]

[You can do that much, right?]

I turned the page as if possessed.

[An AI suitable for the Successor means an AI that has another core in the AI itself, not one that directly acts on the brain.]

“……Another core?”

[Should I call it a dual core? Separate from the Successor’s brain, forming another brain in the AI. In that form, the AI is entrusted with proxy calculations.]

[That way, there will be no conflict between the Successor’s brain and the AI.]

Dual core.

Saying it like that, it really hits home.

[However, to do this, a dramatic evolution in the performance of AI is necessary. Not an AI that is simply a calculator that calculates the input values like now. A fully autonomous AI that is no less than another brain is needed.]

“Fully autonomous AI……?”

At that moment, lightning struck my head.

Finally.

The knowledge I received from my master on the sixth trial page flashed through my mind like a panorama.

“Mythic magic. The embodiment of the soul using Persona [a magical construct representing one’s personality]. That’s the secret of the birth of the Book of Mimir and the Book of Idred……”

And the Mythic magic Persona is a magic that condenses the personality itself into one core.

In other words.

“If I combine the knowledge of the structure of Persona that I received from my master with Mimir’s research results……”

A possibility began to appear.