The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 372

The presidential palace in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.

I was having a private meeting with the president in the VIP room.

“I really don’t know how to thank you.”

Well, it’s hard to call it a private meeting.

Because Mimir is always with me.

“You sure talk a good game. Ugh.”

Mimir looked down at the president and clicked his tongue.

He looked very displeased.

“I really want to punch him.”

He clenched his fist and pretended to punch the president’s head.

“When I asked for an entry permit, saying I had business in Egypt, you refused with all sorts of excuses. Now you’re thanking me? What a joke.”

Mimir’s reaction was understandable.

That’s because the Egyptian president was so uncooperative.

He was so uncooperative that he didn’t even issue an entry permit properly.

If the United States hadn’t helped, it would have been impossible to officially enter Egypt.

And now, this person who was so uncooperative is bowing his head and thanking me.

It’s just ridiculous.

“The thanks are unnecessary. I was just doing what I had to do.”

Honestly, I feel the same way as Mimir.

If he had been cooperative from the start, wouldn’t it have been better?

Why did he make things so complicated by being so uncooperative?

I can’t understand it at all.

“…Ahem.”

The president smiled awkwardly.

He seems to know that what he’s saying is shameless.

“About the delay in issuing the entry permit…”

The president started making excuses, using hand gestures and body language.

“It wasn’t because of any particular reason, it’s just that the legal procedures took a long time…”

“You don’t have to try so hard to make excuses.”

I cut off the president’s excuses firmly.

“I know what name I’m being called these days.”

“…”

The president shut his mouth tightly.

His face slowly turning red.

He looked like he wanted to hide if there was a hole.

“I understand. Most of the people deeply involved with me have met with bad ends.”

A week ago.

I was called a little hero and received praise from people all over the world.

But that warm atmosphere didn’t last even three days.

Starting from the point when the dragon’s rampage restarted, the way I was called began to change.

“A bringer of death. A grim reaper. It’s understandable that people would be reluctant to have such a being come.”

On the internet, I’m now called the ‘Grim Reaper’.

It’s a nickname given because most of the people associated with me die.

Sophia Anetschepri.

Seine Vinoche.

France.

And so on.

Most of the people related to me have died.

That’s why I’m called the Grim Reaper.

A bringer of death.

“That’s not it…”

Cold sweat dripped from the Egyptian president’s forehead.

“You don’t have to deny it. As expected, something bad happened to Kyle recently… It’s understandable that you’d be anxious.”

The event that put the final nail in the coffin of my nickname happened four days ago.

Kyle Bentia, a promising young talent from the UK and the next head of the Green Magic Tower.

He died in battle with a dragon four days ago.

After that incident, my nickname became ‘Grim Reaper’.

It was said that Kyle Bentia died because he was connected to me.

That if you get involved with me, you die.

That rumor spread like wildfire.

“Really… I’m so ashamed. To be swayed by such a ridiculous rumor…”

The Egyptian president covered his face with his right hand and bowed his head deeply.

He looked like he was dying of embarrassment.

His ears were bright red.

“I formally apologize. I’m sorry.”

The Egyptian president bowed his head again in that state.

“And. I would like to thank you again formally. Thank you for protecting Cairo. Thank you for protecting the people.”

The president raised his head and looked me straight in the eye.

His eyes were full of sincerity.

His gaze was full of sincerity.

“…Um. Yes.”

I sighed briefly inside and answered with a bitter smile.

How could I say anything more to someone who apologized with such sincerity?

“If you are truly grateful to me, I would appreciate it if you could easily issue an entry permit next time.”

That’s the extent of my sarcasm.

“…Haha. That’s a loaded statement. I’ll keep it in mind.”

The president replied with a wry smile.

“Then, I’ll be on my way.”

I made brief eye contact with the president and got up from my seat.

“Are you leaving already? How about having a meal before you go…”

“I’ll eat on the way.”

“On the way…? Are you going far?”

“Yes. I’m going to Saudi Arabia.”

“You just had a fierce battle. You’re not even resting properly…”

The Egyptian president’s eyes were full of worry.

He looked genuinely worried about me.

Is this really the same person who was uncooperative with me just three hours ago?

“You don’t have to worry about my condition.”

“Still… after using such great magic, moving right away…”

His eyes were not only full of worry but also respect.

He must have been genuinely impressed by my magic.

That’s understandable.

Even I think my magic is on a cheat-like level.

The Egyptian president is a magician before he is a president.

If he witnessed that scene with his own eyes, he would react like that.

“It’s really okay.”

I made eye contact with the Egyptian president and smiled calmly.

“I didn’t overdo it too much. I’ve already recovered.”

“…Huh?”

The Egyptian president’s eyes widened.

“Y-you’ve already recovered?”

“Yes.”

“That’s… that’s…”

He looked as surprised as he could possibly be.

A textbook example of surprise was right in front of me.

“How…?”

How could that be?

That’s what he’s asking.

I made eye contact with the president again and smiled slightly.

“Anyway… I’m really going now.”

The president still stared at me with wide eyes.

His gaze didn’t disappear until I turned around and left the room.

“That unlikeable guy. His expressions are quite funny.”

Right after leaving the room. Mimir chuckled, looking at the closed door.

“He’s reacting like that to this? I wonder what kind of expression he’d make if he saw the successor’s full power.”

The dragon that appeared in Cairo this time had only 7% of its mana charged.

It wasn’t a level that required me to use my full power.

The barrier-type defense magic I set up in Cairo was the closest thing to my full power.

“Wouldn’t he faint?”

He showed such a strong reaction even to that level of magic.

If he saw my full power, wouldn’t he faint on the spot?

“Fainting… that would be interesting to see.”

Mimir’s eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity.

“Well, anyway. With this incident, the countries that were uncooperative might have changed their minds a bit, right?”

“I don’t know about all of them. But it’ll have some effect. Saudi Arabia actually responded right away.”

About 20 countries were reluctant to let me enter.

Saudi Arabia was one of those 20 countries.

And just now, Saudi Arabia contacted me.

They said they would issue an entry permit and everything, so please come quickly.

“Sigh. They’re finally coming to their senses. Right. This is how it should be. Grim Reaper, what a joke.”

Mimir clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He looked like he was saying that this was the right way of the world.

“Assuming that other countries will also be this cooperative… I wonder if I can finish it in about three days.”

“Three days? You can finish it in two days.”

Mimir moved his hand in the air.

Then, a data map appeared in front of him.

It was a dragon search map that Mimir created by combining data from all over the world.

“It’s almost complete. Isn’t it about 70% complete?”

“It’s 72% to be exact. Thanks to Elena and Aslan working hard, it was easy to complete up to this point.”

Once this is completed, it will be possible to eliminate all the dragons at once.

“It’s still amazing. This map. How exactly does it pinpoint the location of the dragons?”

“Ah, this? It’s nothing special. Based on the data obtained by analyzing and calculating the changes in mana at the places where dragons have appeared before, we input the mana change data from all over the world, and added the frequency of dragon appearances and the main distribution points of magic stones…”

From Mimir’s mouth, all sorts of data used in the design of this dragon search map and how to use that data.

And the stories about the calculation formulas derived from that usage poured out.

Honestly, it was hard to understand even half of it.

What is the default value that analyzes the mana properties of the dragon with the Desiaphianto hypothesis?

“The problem was comparing this value with the amount of mana in various parts of the world. Fortunately, there are mana-sensing satellites in this era, right? Thanks to that, it was easy…”

Mimir’s words didn’t stop even after I had completely left the presidential palace.

His words became more and more difficult, and now I couldn’t understand even a quarter of it properly.

“I succeeded in pinpointing the unknown by comparing this value with this value. As a result, this value was derived. So, I substituted this value and combined it with the terrain data of each country. Did you understand?”

Mimir smiled at me.

He looked like he was saying, ‘If you’re the successor, you should be able to understand this easy calculation, right?’

I looked at Mimir and let out a hollow laugh.

‘Is he really… how smart is he?’

I thought he had already reached his peak.

It seems that Mimir’s talent was still in the process of growing.

* * *

About three and a half hours had passed since I left Egypt.

I arrived in Saudi Arabia.

As soon as I arrived in Saudi Arabia, I started collecting the data needed to complete Mimir’s map.

I collected mana, searched for locations where dragons were likely to be hiding, and reviewed magic stone production factories and sales lines.

“Mimir. Here. It’s definitely a bingo, right?”

“Bingo? This isn’t just a bingo, it’s more like a jackpot, right?”

After about 5 hours of searching, we succeeded in finding the place where the dragon was being kept.

“To find a dragon.”

A dragon sleeping in a similar state to the one I found in the basement of the Rid furniture factory in Italy before.

I slowly approached it.

“But… why is no one here?”

There’s no one around.

There should be one or two of Marco’s subordinates.

But I couldn’t find any signs of people in this abandoned facility.

I wondered if they were hiding their presence, so I activated my Divine Eye [a magical ability to perceive hidden things] at maximum output and searched.

But not even an ant was detected.

“Is it an abandoned individual due to a lack of manpower?”

“Abandoned due to lack of manpower… It’s not impossible, but…”

Mimir nodded, saying that he could think that way.

“Wait a minute. I’ll check. If I look at the data logs, I can find out if it’s abandoned.”

Mimir put his hand on the computer near the dragon and started hacking.

For Mimir now, breaking through that level of security is a piece of cake.

“Successor. This computer. There are traces of someone touching it?”

Mimir’s expression became serious.

“There’s a log of someone entering the stabilization code for this dragon 4 hours ago.”

“Not a few days ago, but 4 hours ago?”

“Yeah. Exactly 3 hours and 52 minutes ago.”

“…Really? Then it’s not an abandoned individual, right? Did they just leave for a while?”

“Even if they left for a while, there’s no way they would leave without anyone, right?”

There’s no way they would leave this guy alone.

Even if they had to leave, they should have left at least one person behind.

“Right. Unless they entered the rampage code and ran away… There’s no way they would enter the stabilization code and leave, right?”

It would make sense if they set a timer for a nuclear bomb and ran away.

But they entered the stabilization code and left?

Is there any reason for that?

“Mimir. Is there anything else that could be useful?”

“Wait a minute. I’ll check.”

Just as Mimir was about to connect to the computer again.

“… !”

Suddenly, my spine tingled.

‘A presence?’

I feel a presence.

In a place where there was nothing until just now.

A presence suddenly appeared.

I turned my body towards that direction.

Tap, tap.

In the darkness, someone wearing a blue robe is approaching me.

It was a familiar silhouette, but the way he walked was strangely awkward.

“I don’t have much time, so I’ll be brief. Leave this place right now.”

A woman in a blue robe appeared in front of me, piercing through the darkness.

I knew who this woman was right away.

“You are…”

Sophia Anetschepri.

No.

“The Black Magic King… is that you?”

The Black Magic King.

He glared at me with Sophia’s face, with dark eyes that didn’t seem like Sophia at all.