The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 337

After seeing Stella back to her mansion, I immediately left.

Stella seemed a little disappointed that I was leaving without even having a cup of tea.

But when I told her I had a prior engagement, she immediately dropped the disappointed look.

Well, she probably wasn’t genuinely disappointed in the first place.

Stella is in a position where she needs to take immediate action to prepare for the Mana Disaster, so she wouldn’t have had time for tea anyway.

She was just making a silent appeal, like, ‘I’m a little sad~.’

‘It feels like she’s getting more blatant.’

It’s been about two and a half years since I took over looking after Stella after Sein passed away.

As time goes by, Stella’s advances are becoming more and more obvious.

It’s been giving me a bit of a headache lately.

If she were to come on to me directly, I could just reject her outright.

But she’s taking this ambiguous stance that’s both blatant and not, so it’s hard to reject her outright, and it’s also a bit awkward to respond as usual.

It’s an ambiguous situation in many ways.

‘Where did the innocent Stella go…? All that’s left is Sein Vinoche Jr….’

It’s a rather strange feeling.

I’m happy to see traces of Sein in Stella, but I also feel a little sad for some reason.

“What are you so deep in thought about?”

At that moment, a woman appeared in front of me.

Long silver hair that reached her waist.

And red eyes that contrasted with the silver.

An exotic appearance that seemed to be carved with mystery.

A woman wearing mercenary clothes that emphasized comfort, contrasting with her mysterious aura.

“You’ve arrived.”

Charles.

She smiled with both hands in her pockets.

“Well, I promised, so would I not come?”

She took one hand out of her pocket, sat roughly next to me on the bench, and put her arm around my shoulder.

“More importantly, what are you worrying about?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Today, Commander Charles’s mood is quite lively.

It’s been two and a half years since Sophia went missing.

And a year and a half since it was determined that Sophia was likely dead.

In that time, Commander Charles’s complexion was like that of a dying zombie.

The reason her hair is so long now isn’t because she wanted to style it, but because she was too lazy to cut it and just left it like that.

That’s how serious her condition was.

“It’s nothing much? Anyone can tell it’s something.”

Of course, she recovered to some extent about half a year ago, after a certain incident.

But she still wasn’t this cheerful.

Did something good happen?

“Ah. I see.”

Commander Charles smiled playfully with her eyes raised.

She clearly took my silence to mean something else.

She’s definitely barking up the wrong tree.

“It’s a woman problem, isn’t it?”

…She got it right?

“Since you’re not answering, it must be. A woman problem. My intuition is something else, I tell you.”

It’s clear she just got lucky, but the answer is the answer, so I had nothing to say.

“Let’s see. If you’re worried about a woman problem right now…”

The commander smiled slyly.

“Stella Vinoche. Am I right?”

“……”

She got it right again.

‘Her intuition is really something…’

She always had good intuition, but it’s gotten even better lately.

It’s like, before, it felt like raw, untamed intuition.

Now, it’s more like a refined, almost precognitive sense.

Her intuition is so good that I even suspected, ‘Is she secretly watching me?’

“Hmm. A relationship with Stella Vinoche, huh? That’s a really difficult problem.”

“…Yes.”

Since she’s already figured it out, there’s no reason to hide it.

“A normal guy would be like, ‘Yes!’ and snatch her up, but you’re not a guy who falls into the category of normal.”

Commander Charles scanned my whole body with narrowed eyes.

“No, should I just say you’re not a guy?”

“Not a guy? Even so, that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Harsh my foot. If you’re going to say it’s harsh, at least have a speck of interest in women first.”

“You’re mistaken. I have as much interest as anyone else.”

“Bullshit.”

Commander Charles scoffed.

“You. Tell me what the three basic human desires are.”

“Why so suddenly?”

“Just tell me.”

“Isn’t it sexual desire, sleep, and appetite?”

“Then what are your three desires?”

“Why would my three desires be different? They’re the same.”

“No. They’re different.”

Commander Charles took one hand out of her pocket, leaving only her index finger extended, and clicked her finger while making a tsking sound.

“Your three desires are the desire for achievement, the desire for progress, and the desire for knowledge.”

“What kind of novel three desires are those?”

“They’re Shin Hayul’s three desires, okay?”

Commander Charles continued, unfolding her fingers one by one.

“First of all, you don’t sleep, do you?”

“…That’s true.”

“Which means you don’t have a desire for sleep.”

“……”

Come to think of it, that’s right.

“And then appetite. You don’t really have a favorite dish, do you? No, before that, you skip meals because you think it’s a waste of time and just eat nutritional supplements.”

“……”

“Someone with an appetite wouldn’t give up taste for the sake of time. Which means you don’t have an appetite either.”

It was an irrefutable argument.

“And the last one, sexual desire… well, I don’t need to say it, do I? You can tell just by what happened a year ago.”

“That time was just because I was worried about Commander Charles…”

“Worried about me my foot.”

Commander Charles scoffed.

“Do you know how much that hurt my pride as a woman?”

“How would I know that?”

One year and three months ago.

The day I forced myself to visit Charles, who had become a wreck after Sophia’s death was virtually confirmed.

There was a slightly impure incident.

…It’s a past I don’t want to think about.

“Even if we put aside what happened with me, it’s clear that you don’t have any desires as a man. The fact that there hasn’t been any incident with all those glamorous women around you is proof of that.”

Commander Charles said with the expression of a detective who had completed all the evidence.

“No, that’s…”

For a moment, I was about to retort, but I held back.

“…Haa. No, it’s fine. Let’s just say that’s the case.”

It’s like, no matter what I say, she doesn’t seem to be listening.

I should just let it go.

…Well, it’s not wrong to say that the desire for achievement, progress, and knowledge are more important to me than the three basic human desires.

Honestly, filling in the gaps in my knowledge is the most fun thing in the world.

“Okay. It’s good to see you admit it.”

Commander Charles patted me on the back.

“Oh, right, I heard about Project Mimir. It went well, right?”

“Yes. It went well.”

“I heard that you used Shadow’s magic to move here today.”

“Yes. You’re well-informed.”

“Does that mean the distance restriction is gone?”

“Yes. Now, with Mimir’s assistance, I can go anywhere regardless of distance.”

“…Wow. That’s amazing. So, like Shadow, you can now move to any place you want, anytime?”

“I wish that were the case, but unfortunately, I can’t use it anytime.”

I smiled wryly.

“As I mentioned before, Umbra isn’t completely forged into mythical magic yet.”

“Ah, right. You said you haven’t subdued the Goddess of Shadows yet, right?”

“When did I say that? I said I haven’t suppressed her.”

“Suppressed or subdued, it’s the same thing.”

“Subdued sounds like it could be misunderstood.”

“Hey. Who’s listening? Don’t worry about such trivial things.”

Commander Charles waved her hand with a hearty laugh.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is right, isn’t it? You haven’t completely subdued her, so there’s a problem with handling shadow magic. That’s it, right?”

“I said it’s not subdued, but…”

…Okay.

There’s no point in saying more.

“Yes. When I used Umbra, shadow magic, at low output, there was no problem, but when I forcibly increased the output with Mimir’s help, it became like this…”

I rolled up my left sleeve and showed my forearm.

A forearm that was dyed black, as if stained by shadows.

“Umbra’s ego started to leak out.”

Commander Charles’s expression became serious.

“…Is that also a curse?”

She must have been reminded of Sophia’s curse by the black-stained body.

“It’s not really a curse. It’s just that the shadows that escaped my control have clung to my body. As long as it doesn’t expand any further, there’s no problem. It’ll fall off within a few days if I leave it alone.”

Fortunately, it was the first time I used it, so there weren’t any major aftereffects.

“Of course, if I use shadow magic again in the meantime, it’ll get worse.”

“Ah~”

At my words, Commander Charles nodded, understanding what I meant.

“So, that shadow is like a mana overload? Once you use it, you can’t use it for a certain period of time.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

I lowered my sleeve again.

“According to Mimir’s calculations, it’ll take about three days for this shadow to completely disappear. Long-distance travel using shadows can only be used once every three days.”

“Is it just long-distance travel that you can’t do? Or…”

“The latter. I can’t use Umbra itself at all during that time.”

This is Umbra’s new restriction.

“Hmm. It’s not that big to be considered major, but it’s also not small… It’s a strange restriction.”

“Yes. That’s exactly how it feels.”

“That goddess. Can’t you suppress her now?”

“Well, I don’t think it’ll be easy until I find a way.”

It’s no longer possible to take away her share through Ignis [Fire magic].

If I don’t find a new way, it’s impossible to suppress Umbra.

“Well, I’m going to leave it as it is for now. Being able to use it once every three days is still a big deal.”

“That’s true. The three-day restriction doesn’t seem like it’ll have a big impact.”

“Yes.”

As long as nothing major happens in a row within three days, there’s no problem.

“Besides, Umbra is just a side thing.”

In fact, even if major incidents happen in a row within three days, it’s not a big deal.

I don’t just have Umbra.

“A side thing?”

“Umbra isn’t the only thing that evolved with Mimir’s assistance.”

“…Ah!”

Commander Charles’s eyes widened.

“Don’t tell me… you actually succeeded in casting mythical magic without incantation?”

“Yes. I succeeded.”

All other mythical magic except Umbra can be used without incantation, without any restrictions.

“Even Ignis?”

“Of course.”

“…You crazy bastard.”

Commander Charles uttered a curse of surprise.

“You… you’ve really become a monster?”

“Hmm… I would have denied it before. But I can’t now.”

I haven’t actually used my power in combat yet, so I can’t say for sure, but…

I’m definitely in the category of a monster.

“I want to see it.”

“See what?”

“You using Ignis without incantation. Judging by the Umbra thing, the output must have increased too.”

“Yes. It’s not as much as Umbra, but Ignis’s output has also increased slightly.”

“…Heh.”

Commander Charles chuckled and looked around.

It was as if she was looking for someone invisible.

“You’re really amazing. Amazing. Mimir, was it? She’s definitely worth you bragging about so much.”

“She’s a wonderful partner, almost too good for me.”

She seemed to be looking for Mimir.

“Is she nearby right now?”

“Yes. She’s here.”

“Then let me say hello. We’ll be seeing each other often, so we should at least say hello.”

“Uh… um…”

I turned my gaze to where Mimir was, above Commander Charles’s head.

“I’m sorry to say this, but Mimir is busy focusing on something else right now. She won’t have time to say hello.”

“What do you mean she’s focusing on something else?”

“She suddenly said she had a new direction for Project Mimir to go, and after saying she needed to organize her thoughts, she’s been lost in her own world.”

Mimir is currently using a memo application to write down various formulas and organize her thoughts.

“A new direction? Already? How long has it been since she woke up?”

“I know, right? I was surprised too.”

“…Wow.”

She said she realized something before coming to France.

It seems it wasn’t a small realization.

I’m already looking forward to what kind of result Mimir’s realization will lead to.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Commander Charles smiled regretfully.

“Don’t be too disappointed. I’ll arrange a proper place with facilities next time. It’s better to say hello in person, right?”

“That’s right.”

The regret disappeared from Commander Charles’s face, and she returned to her usual expression.

Then, she stretched out her arms and legs while sitting on the bench.

“Haa. I got carried away with the small talk. Sorry. You must be busy.”

“No. The project is over for now, so I’m not particularly busy.”

“That’s good then.”

The commander put her hands back in her pockets and turned her gaze to me.

The soft atmosphere from just a moment ago disappeared in an instant, leaving only the sharp aura unique to a mercenary.

“The reason I called you here today is not for anything else…”

She took out a communication device from her pocket and handed it to me.

“There’s something I want to show you.”

“Something you want to show me?”

“Yeah.”

I took the communication device.

A video was displayed on the screen of the communication device.

“Here. You’ll know when you see it.”

I pressed the play button and played the video.

“… !”

And as soon as I confirmed the person in the video, I was shocked.

“Commander… is that person in the blue robe… by any chance…”

“You see it too, right?”

A CCTV video from a convenience store in a quiet rural village.

A woman was captured there.

A face that no one living in this era could possibly not know.

“Is that… Sophia?”

Sophia Anetschepri.

The face of Sophia, who was thought to be dead, filled the screen.