The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 352

“…No way.”
Mimir kept chuckling in disbelief, her face saying, ‘This has to be a dream. It has to be a dream.’

“That nutjob is giving me a passing certificate so easily…? There’s, there’s no way…”

Was she that shocked that Tei-nim passed me without any test?

The level of her astonishment is beyond imagination.

It’s not just the level of shock of seeing a ghost, but more like seeing a ghost doing cartwheels and headspins.

“What on earth did you do before that made her like that?”

I glanced at Mimir and asked Tei-nim.

Even though she saw with her own eyes that the books after the 8th Circle were unlocked, she still couldn’t believe it.

Just how big is her distrust of Tei-nim to react like that?

“Hmm. It’s not like I showed her some grand dream.”

Tei-nim openly stared at Mimir and replied quietly.

“I just slightly stimulated her trauma.”

“…Excuse me?”

Stimulating trauma, you say?

It’s obviously something grand.

“Back then, there were many battles going on. I thought I could mentally break down the opponent by stimulating their trauma.”

“…Don’t tell me you experimented on Mimir?”

“Not much. About three times.”

“….”

Goodness.

Not once, but three times.

‘No wonder Mimir is so hostile towards him.’

It’s understandable why Mimir calls Tei-nim a nutjob and is so hostile towards him.

“I think you’re misunderstanding, Princess… Your Highness. The trauma stimulation I tested on her was very low intensity.”

“…What? Low intensity?”

At that moment, Mimir, who had been escaping reality, reacted.

Reality escape or not, she couldn’t tolerate that nonsense!

“Don’t talk crap. How is that a low-intensity trauma stimulation! I was so…”

“It was just falling into a swamp of bugs, wasn’t it?”

“I fell into a swamp of bugs with my fingers unable to move! The sensation of the bugs crawling all over my body was just… Ugh.”

Mimir shuddered as she spoke.

Her trauma must have resurfaced.

“Come on. It’s just bugs. Don’t make such a fuss.”

A vein popped out on Mimir’s forehead.

“…Ah, I really want to kill you.”

The person who created her lifelong trauma is answering so nonchalantly.

It’s understandable that she can’t hold back her anger.

Actually, I think I would feel the same way.

‘And it wasn’t even once, but three times…’

Besides the swamp of bugs, there were two more trauma-inducing dreams.

I understand Mimir’s feelings.

It’s amazing that she’s not throwing a punch right now.

She’s practically a Buddha.

“But thanks to that, I got a sense of trauma stimulation, and we won a great victory in the war.”

“…If it weren’t for that, you would have been dead by my hands a long time ago.”

Mimir clenched her fist and smiled sweetly.

It was the scariest smile I had ever seen from Mimir.

“…Hoo.”

Mimir released the tension in her hand and took a deep breath.

She can’t keep getting caught up in Tei’s pace.

Let’s calm down for now.

That was the expression and reaction she seemed to be showing.

“Hoo-oop. Hoo-ooo… Hoo-oop. Hoo-ooo…”

After about 30 breaths.

“Whatever, does this mean I really passed the seventh trial page?”

Mimir, who had regained some composure, looked at Tei-nim and asked.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“….”

Cracks appeared again on Mimir’s face, which had just calmed down.

Such a fierce reaction to such a light taunt.

She really must hate him.

“…Okay. I can tell by looking. Yes. I can tell by looking.”

Mimir gritted her teeth and said, trying her best to appear calm.

“Mimir. Relax. Calm down.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Successor?”

Mimir smiled sweetly and turned her gaze towards me.

“Do I look like I’m excited? I’m very calm.”

Her expression was about 3.2 billion light-years away from calm.

She’s pretending to smile, but the emotions within are as sharp as blades.

Is that what a murderous smile looks like?

“Hoo…”

Mimir repeated deep breaths as if trying to suppress her anger.

“Tsk. Anyway, what I don’t like is what I don’t like, and the significance is that I passed the seventh trial…”

At that moment, Tei-nim interrupted Mimir and stepped between me and Mimir.

“Successor. Here. Read this book first.”

Then, he handed me a book related to the 8th Circle.

“Th…”

Mimir’s face turned red again.

She was probably feeling angry at Tei for interrupting her.

“Hey! Tei Rovaine!”

Mimir’s expression became more and more intense.

“Why are you recommending a book to the Successor!”

…Huh?

That’s a little different from what I expected.

“Supporting the Successor is my role! Don’t interfere!”

I thought she was angry because he interrupted her.

It seems that wasn’t the case.

“The Dante Roa library is under my jurisdiction. Your Highness’s jurisdiction is Mimir’s library.”

“Dante Roa library or whatever. Backing up the Successor is all my role!”

Mimir glared at Tei-nim with genuine murderous intent.

“Even if you’re backing her up, Your Highness doesn’t even know what books are in the Dante Roa library.”

“I’ll learn from now on.”

“There are 382 books, you know?”

“One day is enough!”

Mimir shouted confidently.

“Your Highness. You’re exaggerating.”

“Wanna bet?”

Mimir’s eyes narrowed.

“If I understand all 382 books in one day, I win. If I don’t, you win.”

“Hmm… That’s an interesting bet.”

The corners of Tei-nim’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.

“What do each of us get if we win?”

“If I win, you can’t interfere in my conversations with the Successor anymore. And you’re also banned from supporting the Successor altogether.”

“Hmm. Then what are the conditions if I win?”

“You can do whatever you want.”

“You’ll do whatever I tell you to do?”

“Yeah.”

“What if I ask you to do something?”

“What you ask me to do is none of my business?”

Mimir laughed as if it was ridiculous.

“I’m going to win anyway.”

Tei-nim’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

According to my big data of his facial expressions over the past two and a half years, that’s an expression of interest.

“…Interesting.”

See? That’s an expression of interest.

“It’s a bet where I have nothing to lose. There’s no reason to refuse.”

“You know it well.”

Mimir chuckled.

“Then I’ll take it as the bet is established.”

“But.”

Tei-nim also grinned.

It was the most vivid smile I had seen in two and a half years.

“I don’t want to.”

“…What?”

It was a smile like a spider looking at its prey caught in its web.

“Seeing Your Highness being so assertive makes me not want to do it.”

“….”

“I also have a mission given to me by my lord…”

Mimir’s expression twisted.

She must have realized what Tei-nim was about to say.

“I’m not going to bet. As the manager of the Dante Roa library, I will continue to focus on supporting the Successor.”

“You…”

Mimir’s expression turned fierce.

“Ah, but don’t worry, I’m not going to stop Your Highness from supporting her. The more support, the better.”

The more he said that, the more vivid Tei-nim’s expression became.

“From now until we pass the eighth trial page, let’s all work hard together.”

“…All… together?”

Mimir’s expression died.

It was an expression that said she didn’t want to live anymore.

“It’ll be fun. Right?”

The more he said that, the more vivid Tei-nim’s expression became.

* * *

After that.

Mimir regained her senses after about 30 minutes of wandering.

“Successor. I’ll study separately today.”

It’s no use just escaping reality like this.

Having come to that conclusion, she said she was going to read the 382 books with a face full of motivation.

“I’m counting on you.”

Knowing that it was studying for me, I said that I was counting on her.

Mimir nodded with a face that said she would take care of it.

“Tei Rovaine.”

Then, she turned her gaze and called out to Tei-nim with a face that said she was completely displeased.

“Really. I really, really don’t like you. But for today, you can support me.”

“Just for today?”

“Yeah. Just for today.”

Tei-nim smiled faintly.

It was a smile that implied, ‘I’ll do it not just today, but after today too.’

As if she read the meaning behind that smile, Mimir chuckled.

“Well, it’s okay if you support me after today too…”

It was a confident smile.

“It probably won’t matter. You won’t have anything to do after today. My support will be too perfect.”

“Hmm.”

Tei-nim’s eyes narrowed.

According to my big data, that’s a very happy expression.

“I’ve been thinking about it since earlier. Your Highness. Your face has gotten much better.”

“My face?”

Mimir touched her face.

Does her face look different?

That was the expression she had.

“You used to be very ugly. But now you’re a bit prettier.”

Mimir’s brow furrowed.

“This is really…”

It was as if she couldn’t tolerate those words, no matter what. She clenched her fist and swung it.

Of course, Mimir’s fist didn’t even touch a hair on Tei-nim’s head.

“Agh.”

Mimir clenched her fist and trembled.

She was praying desperately for a divine punishment to befall that damned guy.

“…Hoo.”

That expression was only for a moment.

She quickly calmed her anger and regained her composure.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Mimir, who had regained her peace, greeted me.

“Successor, you too, do your best.”

Then, she waved her hand once and walked deep into the Dante Roa library.

For the next 24 hours.

Mimir will be holed up there, filling herself with knowledge she had never known before.

“She really did get prettier.”

Tei-nim muttered casually, watching Mimir walk away.

“Is there, is there a change in her appearance?”

Since I’m using a persona, her appearance shouldn’t be different from her previous life.

“Her appearance is the same.”

Tei-nim turned his gaze to me.

“What I meant was her inner self.”

“Ah. You weren’t talking about her appearance.”

She said ugly, then pretty.

So I naturally thought she was talking about her appearance.

“The previous Princess… Your Highness was completely rotten inside. You could say she was like an ugly witch.”

Tei-nim’s way of expressing things was different from the norm, so it was hard to understand 100%, but the nuance was fully conveyed.

“But now she’s like a princess who defeated the Demon King and succeeded in marrying the hero.”

Knowing Mimir’s past.

And knowing her current changes.

It was an expression that I couldn’t help but relate to.

“So that’s what kind of person she was.”

Tei-nim licked his lips.

“It’s a shame. If only I had known she was that kind of person a little sooner…”

I don’t know what he’s thinking.

But it was clear that he was thinking something bad.

“But oh well. It’s good that I know now.”

It was an expression like a lion looking at a rabbit.

I think I should offer my condolences to Mimir.

“Then, Successor. Let’s weave the eighth Infinity Circle right away.”

Tei-nim, who had been staring blankly, refocused his gaze on me.

“We’re weaving it right away? I don’t know anything about the 8th Circle yet.”

“It’s okay. If you just do as I say, you’ll be able to imitate it.”

Tei-nim grabbed my shoulder and pushed me down.

It was an action that meant, ‘Just sit down already.’

I sat down without resisting his strength.

“Close your eyes. Concentrate.”

Tei-nim’s voice was more serious than ever before.

“The trick itself isn’t that different from what we’ve been doing for the past two and a half years.”

I slowly closed my eyes.

Tei-nim placed his hand on my back.

“Complete neutrality. Make the paradox at the end of it completely your own.”

Forward and reverse.

The fusion of two opposing concepts.

Complete neutrality.

“Then the eighth Infinity Circle, the ring of nothingness, will take its place in your body on its own.”