The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 45

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-46

Obelisk Academy Main Building.

Two figures, an unlikely pair, walked side by side.

‘I never expected Head of Family Shin In-hyuk to attend in person.’

One was Kim Kang-in, and the other was Shin In-hyuk.

These two had both participated in the World Academy Olympiad selection meeting held earlier today.

The meeting had just concluded, and they were now walking out together.

‘That’s what I should be saying. You, the Blue Magic Tower Lord, have no reason to attend this meeting.’

The primary reason Shin In-hyuk attended today’s meeting was to ensure Shin Ha-yul’s selection.

Even though Shin Ha-yul was currently ranked first, his first-year grades were so poor that there was a real chance he would be dropped from the selection if Shin In-hyuk didn’t exert some influence.

To eliminate that possibility, Shin In-hyuk made the effort to participate in the meeting himself.

In addition, he also had to address the request to select Ji Soon-chan as a member of the team.

‘I only participated as a sponsor.’

‘……A sponsor?’

‘Yes. To be precise, I should say a prospective sponsor.’

‘Are you saying the Blue Magic Tower will dispatch artifact artisans as engineers?’

‘I’m still considering it. As I said, I’m a ‘prospective’ sponsor.’

Kim Kang-in smiled faintly.

Shin In-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.

‘It’s surprising that you’re even thinking of dispatching them. The Blue Magic Tower isn’t in a position to spare artisans right now.’

Shin In-hyuk had a rough idea of the project the Blue Magic Tower was currently undertaking.

The Blue Magic Tower couldn’t afford to send out its artisans for two months.

‘Luckily, things worked out well. If we tighten our belts, I think we can manage somehow. Haha.’

Thanks to Shin Ha-yul refining the element mana light, the project the Blue Magic Tower was preparing was accelerated significantly.

They could somehow manage a schedule for about two months.

‘Is there a reason to force a dispatch even if it means tightening your belt?’

Even if you exclude the project, there was no logical reason for the Blue Magic Tower to dispatch artifact artisans to the Olympiad.

‘Not right now.’

Not right now.

It was a very telling statement.

‘But who knows? Maybe a miracle will happen at this year’s Olympiad, and Korea will win the gold medal.’

‘……’

Gold medal.

And that sly smile.

Shin In-hyuk’s eyes lit up as if he understood the whole situation.

‘……I see. It’s about Ha-yul.’

‘Haha. You caught on right away.’

Korea was a weak Olympiad nation that had never even made it to the finals since Kim Kang-in’s silver medal.

Unless someone was confident that they could win a gold medal for Kim Kang-in, there was no way they would suddenly talk about a gold medal.

And as far as Shin In-hyuk knew, the only person who could boldly tell Kim Kang-in that they would win a gold medal was Shin Ha-yul.

‘That means you also received a similar proposal from Ha-yul, Head of Family Shin In-hyuk, right?’

Kim Kang-in’s smile deepened.

Just by the short keyword of gold medal, he immediately thought of Shin Ha-yul, so it was clear that Shin In-hyuk had heard something similar from Shin Ha-yul.

‘……’

‘……’

A strange tension passed between the two.

‘What did Ha-yul say?’

‘He said that Korea would win the gold medal this year, so please feel free to dispatch engineers. That’s what he said.’

It was an interesting proposal, even thinking about it again.

‘What did he say to you, Head of Family Shin In-hyuk?’

‘He said he would win the gold medal at this year’s Olympiad, so please provide as much convenience as possible until then. That’s what he said.’

It was practically the same thing.

‘Did you accept that absurd proposal without any conditions?’

‘Yes. Providing convenience isn’t that difficult.’

He had also gained a lot recently thanks to Shin Ha-yul. He could easily provide this much convenience.

‘Then, Blue Magic Tower Lord, are you considering dispatching artifact artisans just because of Ha-yul’s childish words?’

‘Yes. If Ha-yul achieves the condition I presented, I’m willing to invest.’

‘……You set a condition?’

‘Yes.’

‘What condition did you set?’

Kim Kang-in smiled faintly.

‘To defeat a 5-circle mage in a 1:1 match. That’s the condition I presented.’

‘Hmm. Not a bad condition.’

It was a reasonable condition.

There would be 5-circle users on the academy teams from both the UK and the US. If they were going to talk about a gold medal, they would have to easily defeat a 5-circle mage.

‘Did Ha-yul accept that proposal?’

‘Yes. He accepted it very readily.’

Shin In-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.

‘Is he confident that he can win against a 5-circle mage?’

He was curious about Shin Ha-yul’s intentions.

‘If you’re curious, Head of Family Shin In-hyuk, would you like to come and watch?’

‘Is that okay?’

‘Yes. It doesn’t really matter.’

It didn’t matter if it was Shin In-hyuk.

‘It seemed like Ha-yul was also subtly hoping that you would come and watch.’

Shin Ha-yul had also said that it was okay to talk about this proposal with Shin In-hyuk.

‘……Indeed.’

Shin In-hyuk laughed as if he found it interesting.

He roughly knew what Shin Ha-yul was thinking right now.

‘When is the duel?’

‘Tomorrow at 4:30 PM.’

The day Shin Ha-yul would duel a 5-circle mage was already tomorrow.

* * *

‘I’ll end all training with this. You’ve worked hard.’

‘……You’ve worked hard.’

With Elena’s declaration of the end of training, I collapsed backward.

‘……Ugh.’

I’m exhausted. So exhausted.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been this tired during training.

‘Here. Have some water.’

‘Ah, thank you.’

I suppressed my fatigue and raised my upper body, drinking the water in one gulp.

The well water of Greenwood is always so delicious.

The refreshing feeling is incomparable to other mineral waters.

Whew. I feel a little better now.

‘I think I pushed you too hard at the end.’

Elena smiled wryly, seeing me half-dazed.

‘No, it was good.’

The feeling of being pushed to the limit was very beneficial.

‘If there were any side effects, it would be a problem, but thanks to Master’s robe, there were no side effects like mana exhaustion.’

I highlighted the robe I was wearing.

Thanks to this robe, I was able to safely endure Elena’s hardcore training.

If it weren’t for this, I would have experienced mana exhaustion dozens of times.

‘……In this aspect, you’re different from Ray. Ray hated physically demanding things.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes. Maybe it was because he wasn’t used to it. How often would Ray have had to do something physically demanding?’

‘……That’s true.’

I can’t imagine such a great creator of magic struggling with physical exertion.

‘Anyway, thank you for following along so well. Thanks to you, I had a lot of fun teaching.’

Elena smiled brightly, as if she was genuinely happy.

‘I’m more grateful. If it weren’t for you, Elena, I wouldn’t have been able to master the Dispel before the duel. Thank you.’

The duel with the 5-circle mage that I promised Kim Kang-in was already tomorrow.

Even with Elena’s devoted training, it was this tight, so what would it have been like if I had trained alone?

I wouldn’t have even gotten a proper grasp of the Dispel, let alone mastered it.

‘I’ve mastered the Dispel. It’s definitely something to be happy about, but… it feels bittersweet.’

Elena smiled wryly with a strange expression of half joy and half sadness.

‘It feels like I’m watching the graduation of a cherished student.’

‘……’

The Dispel was mastered.

The third test page was practically passed.

‘Now it’s goodbye.’

‘……Yes.’

That is, it was goodbye with Elena today.

‘I don’t know how much fun I had meeting such a good disciple, crossing the wall of endless time.’

Elena stroked my head with a benevolent smile.

‘I’m glad you’re Ray’s successor.’

Eternal farewell.

I have never experienced it before.

‘The only thing I regret is that I can’t see you grow more.’

Is it because I’ve never experienced it before?

My heart ached.

It was an indescribable pain, as it was a feeling I was experiencing for the first time.

‘Thank you for everything.’

I bowed my head, clutching my aching heart.

Looking at me, Elena smiled brightly.

‘A strong heart that doesn’t hesitate here. I think that’s your greatest strength.’

If I only wished, it would be possible to postpone today’s farewell.

I just had to delay the passing of the third test page by one day.

‘……Because I shouldn’t.’

But I shouldn’t.

Farewell with Elena means my growth.

And postponing the farewell with Elena means that I am stagnating.

I shouldn’t be caught up in the sadness of farewell and stop.

Stopping here is an insult to Elena, who taught me.

‘Then, it’s really goodbye now.’

I heard the sound of something collapsing.

As if the paint was falling off the paper that touched the water.

The color of the Greenwood Forest slowly began to fade.

‘Win tomorrow’s duel.’

‘Yes. I will win.’

Elena smiled in the center of the collapsing world.

‘Please take care of Mimir. He gets lonely easily. He might be a little annoying, but please take care of him.’

It was a somewhat sad smile.

‘Yes. I will keep it in mind.’

The world was gradually melting into white.

Elena’s cabin, where I had been staying for the past week, was also slowly fading.

‘No matter what hardships and adversities await you in the future, never give up.’

‘Yes.’

The white soon engulfed Elena’s feet.

The end was coming.

I could tell.

‘Lastly……’

As if she knew it.

Elena smiled.

‘Congratulations on becoming a 3-circle master.’

It was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.

* * *

The training ground for duels located in the basement of the Blue Magic Tower.

Ji Soon-chan was fidgeting in the audience seats with an uncomfortable expression, like someone sitting on pins and needles.

‘……Why am I stuck in the middle of this?’

Ji Soon-chan glanced to his left.

He could see Kim Kang-in. He was looking forward to the duel that would start in five minutes, his eyes shining.

Next, he looked to his right.

He could see Shin In-hyuk. He also seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming duel, though to a lesser degree.

‘Why am I stuck between Kim Kang-in and Shin In-hyuk……’

It was uncomfortable.

It was incredibly uncomfortable.

It would be better if I was next to one of them. Being stuck between these two was so uncomfortable.

It would be better if Adela was here. Adela was currently down on the field to assist Shin Ha-yul.

Thanks to that, it was so awkward and uncomfortable that I was going crazy.

‘What do you think are his chances of winning?’

Breaking the silence, Shin In-hyuk opened his mouth. He was talking to Kim Kang-in.

‘I’d say about 10%.’

‘My thoughts are a little different.’

‘Is that so? Then, what do you think his chances are, Head of Family Shin In-hyuk?’

Shin In-hyuk chuckled.

‘At most, 2%.’

Even that 2% was a win rate assuming the opponent was careless.

If the opponent was not careless, Shin Ha-yul could never win.

If a 3-circle is a rifle, a 5-circle is a tank.

No matter how well you fight with a rifle, you can’t beat a tank.

Unless the opponent is careless and reveals himself outside the tank, he will never lose.

The difference between a 3-circle and a 5-circle is that great.

‘That’s quite a harsh assessment…… Then, what do you think, Soon-chan?’

‘Yes, yes?’

Ji Soon-chan was suddenly called out and answered hastily.

‘Putting aside the fact that he’s your friend, how likely do you think Ha-yul is to win?’

‘Ha-yul’s chances of winning……’

Ji Soon-chan quickly regained his composure.

He quickly forgot the tension of being stuck between two great mages and analyzed the power between Shin Ha-yul and the 5-circle mage.

‘……50%. I think Ha-yul has about a 50% chance of winning.’

‘Fifty-fifty. That’s a more generous assessment than I imagined. May I ask why you think so?’

‘There’s no particular reason. I just think that if Ha-yul goes all out, he might have a 50% chance.’

‘All out?’

Kim Kang-in’s smile deepened.

‘Does that mean Ha-yul hasn’t been going all out until now?’

‘I can’t go into details, but…… Yes. That’s right. Ha-yul has never shown his full power in any official setting.’

‘Hoo.’

Shin In-hyuk’s smile also deepened.

‘Ha-yul’s full power……’

Kim Kang-in stroked his chin with a look of great interest.

‘This is very interesting.’

At that moment, Shin Ha-yul appeared in the duel arena.