The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 48

After Shin Ha-yul left, Kim Kang-in was in his study, drinking tea with Jung Soo-ah, discussing the upcoming projects.

“Then, let’s send these ten engineers as the delegation to the World Academy Olympiad.”

“Okay, let’s do that. I can leave the proposal writing and submission to you, right?”

“Yes. I will have it perfectly handled by tomorrow.”

“Then, all that’s left is to coordinate with other companies so that it doesn’t interfere with other projects.”

“Shall I schedule a meeting?”

“Yeah, please do.”

“Yes. I’ll arrange the schedule right away.”

Jung Soo-ah took out her phone and quickly scanned Kim Kang-in’s schedule.

What could be postponed? If nothing could be postponed, what could be canceled with the least impact?

She quickly adjusted the schedule while calculating these things.

“Soo-ah, what do you think?”

“Please use a subject and an object,” Jung Soo-ah replied, her mind still focused on the schedule.

“About this Olympiad. Do you think we can actually win a gold medal?”

Jung Soo-ah’s hand, which was flipping through the schedule, slowed down a bit.

She was thinking about Kim Kang-in’s question.

“…It doesn’t seem entirely impossible.”

Kim Kang-in raised his eyebrows and smiled slyly.

It was a clear look of teasing.

“Really? Until yesterday, you said that winning even a bronze medal was impossible.”

“…The situation is different today than it was yesterday.”

Jung Soo-ah looked up from the schedule and stared at Kim Kang-in.

“After seeing that, how can I say it’s impossible?”

Shin Ha-yul’s battle today was amazing.

If she were to say that winning a gold medal was impossible after seeing that, it would just be stubbornness.

“You thought it was amazing too?”

“I don’t think there’s a need to say it, but… Yes, it was amazing.”

“It seemed like you were so engrossed in the match that you forgot you were a judge?”

“……”

Jung Soo-ah’s cheeks flushed slightly.

It was a reaction to being caught off guard.

“Oh my, how cute. Is this gap why our kids are so crazy about you?”

“…Don’t tease me. I’ll get angry.”

Jung Soo-ah glared at Kim Kang-in.

“Oops. I shouldn’t make our Soo-ah angry. Hmm.”

“……”

Jung Soo-ah’s gaze intensified at Kim Kang-in’s exaggerated gesture. It was a look that said, ‘If you open your mouth one more time, you’re on your own.’

Kim Kang-in smiled with an unconcerned expression, readily accepting Jung Soo-ah’s glare.

“Haa.”

Jung Soo-ah sighed deeply.

She looked like she was thinking, ‘I have to endure it because I’m a secretary.’

“More importantly, what kind of magic is Ha-yul’s magic anyway?”

Jung Soo-ah changed the subject.

“I don’t know. I have no idea either.”

Kim Kang-in shrugged slightly.

“…Weren’t you observing him with the Ruby Eye from beginning to end?”

“I was observing him.”

“And yet you say you don’t know?”

“Yeah. I don’t understand it even after watching.”

Kim Kang-in’s smile deepened.

“I know that the magic he used at the end shattered the magic formula of Inferno, but I don’t know how he broke the magic formula.”

“Magic that even the Ruby Eye can’t grasp…”

The Ruby Eye.

Among the existing detection-type magic eyes, it was one of the top three.

If even that eye couldn’t grasp it, it meant that no one in this world could understand Shin Ha-yul’s magic.

“I was so curious that I even asked him directly…”

‘You said before that mages have the right to keep their magic a secret.’

‘I cannot disclose information about my magic.’

“He refused, saying it was a secret. He told me to find out myself.”

Shin Ha-yul did not reveal any information about his magic.

“…Surely he didn’t do anything illegal, did he?”

“No, it’s not that. The purity and structure of his mana were too clean to be considered illegal. It’s definitely not an abnormal method.”

“I see.”

The seed of doubt that had briefly sprouted in Jung Soo-ah’s mind quickly disappeared.

If Kim Kang-in said it wasn’t, then it wasn’t.

“The only thing I found out is that Ha-yul’s hidden magic is not ‘modification magic’?”

“Hmm. What could it be?”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out if we analyze it a bit more.”

Kim Kang-in leaned back, relaxing on the sofa.

“Whatever it is, this year’s Olympiad will be worth watching.”

Kim Kang-in’s face, as he looked up at the ceiling, was gleaming with excitement.

* * *

Soon-chan and Adela barged into my room.

“Hey, I’m really tired today. Can’t I just rest?”

I was tired from using Resonance, and I was planning to rest today.

“What’s this? Do as I say, not as I do? Last time, you said that no matter how tired you are, you have to give feedback on the day’s training on that day?”

Soon-chan smiled slyly, looking like he thought this was his chance.

“Well, if Ha-yul-sensei is such a petty person who is strict with others but lenient with himself, I will gladly step aside.”

“…You little…”

Those were the words I used to say to Soon-chan when he was exhausted after training.

Those words were coming back to me like a boomerang.

“Well, even so, you must be very tired today, so wouldn’t it be better to just rest and do it tomorrow?”

Adela spoke hesitantly, looking worried, as if my face looked tired.

“Uh-uh. Adela. Don’t you remember?”

Soon-chan cleared his throat and said.

“The last training you do when you’re tired is the real training. Not doing it is like throwing away 30% of your training.”

“……”

It was very annoying to hear him imitate my voice and tone.

“Our Ha-yul-sensei has to set an example, right?”

“……”

Annoying.

Should I just kill him?

That impulse surged for a moment.

“…Okay. Let’s do it. Let’s do the feedback.”

I gritted my teeth and answered with a smile.

“Oh yeah!”

Soon-chan smiled wickedly, looking like he had finally gotten one over on this ‘devil’.

I looked at Soon-chan and smiled brightly.

“…Why are you smiling like that? It’s making me nervous.”

Soon-chan flinched for a moment.

“No, it’s nothing. It’s just that now that the team members are confirmed, I thought it would be good to train a bit harder starting tomorrow.”

“……”

Soon-chan’s expression hardened.

He looked like he had made a mistake.

“Hey, sensei? You’re not being petty and holding a grudge, are you? You’re not going to make me work harder than usual tomorrow just because I said these things today, are you?”

Soon-chan wrung his hands like a fly.

“Hey, do I look that petty?”

“Hey, no. It’s a fact that our Ha-yul-sensei is magnanimous, and I know it, Adela knows it, and the whole world knows it.”

“Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll act like the magnanimous person I am.”

I smiled brightly.

What did he feel from my smile?

Soon-chan’s expression twisted as if he had bitten into something sour.

“…Damn it. I shouldn’t have messed with him.”

Then he despaired.

Now that’s a better expression.

“Look forward to it. I’ll make sure you’ll be called a stamina monster in exactly one month.”

“Shhhiiiiiiibaallll.”

Soon-chan stretched out his curse, as if he deeply regretted it.

Whew. I feel a bit better now.

“Then, let’s quickly talk about today’s sparring.”

I turned my gaze to Adela, leaving the dejected Soon-chan behind.

“…Are you really okay? You don’t look so good.”

“Honestly, I’m really tired.”

I was suffering from the aftereffects of Resonance. Maybe it’s because my circle is completely solidified, but I’m more tired than I imagined.

When I’m suffering from the aftereffects of Resonance, I can’t even use my master’s robe.

“If you’re too tired, you should just sleep…”

“That’s right. Did you think I was serious? If you’re tired, sleep, my friend.”

Soon-chan smiled gently and patted my shoulder.

“Yeah. Even if you rest here, your training tomorrow will be hell.”

“Ah. I’m doo~med…”

Soon-chan collapsed into despair again.

Adela watched Soon-chan and chuckled quietly.

She seemed to be quite amused by Soon-chan’s varied reactions.

“Ah.”

Then, as if noticing my gaze, she covered her mouth and cleared her throat.

Then she returned to her expressionless face as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway. I’m tired, but it’s not like I can’t handle it. It’s just a light explanation of today’s sparring…”

I chuckled and turned my gaze to Soon-chan, who was regretting his actions.

“Like Soon-chan said, I have to keep my word.”

When Adela or Soon-chan were tired, I forced them to do feedback.

There’s no way I can rest just because I’m tired, right?

“Instead, let’s make it quick.”

I set my phone to hologram projection mode and played the video of today’s sparring.

“First, here. The first move. Do you understand why I attacked like this here?”

And so, the feedback on my sparring continued for about 30 minutes.

* * *

30 minutes later.

After all the feedback was finished.

“Then, get some rest.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“You both go in safely.”

Adela and Ji Soon-chan left Shin Ha-yul’s room and headed to the convenience store.

They had both skipped dinner today, so they were planning to buy something light to eat and return to their rooms.

“…He’s my friend, but he’s really something else.”

On the way to the convenience store.

Ji Soon-chan casually opened the topic.

“Yes. He’s amazing.”

Adela agreed, as if she was in agreement with that opinion.

“Honestly, who else could do that? To hear that the opponent would concede the first move, and then to scrap all the plans and make new ones on the spot.”

“…That’s right.”

Almost all of Shin Ha-yul’s strategy today was ad-libbed [improvised].

Compared to the strategy that was given to Adela and Ji Soon-chan beforehand, the only thing that was the same was the ending.

“Excluding the Absolute Shield in the first move. Blocking close combat with the second move. Then creating a chaotic battle and pressuring him. And then creating a situation where he had no choice but to use Inferno and finishing with a counter. It’s easy to say, right?”

“…Yes.”

It’s amazing to come up with such a strategy, but it’s even more amazing to actually make that strategy work.

“Was Ha-yul like that when he was younger?”

“Hmm. He was a bit younger than he is now.”

“I’m not talking about his appearance. You mean his thinking was younger?”

“Yes.”

“How so?”

“I’d say he was a bit more optimistic. He also had a bit of an overconfident side.”

Adela added quietly, ‘I was like that too…’

“That guy, who’s like the epitome of thoroughness, had a time like that?”

“Yes. He was like that until before he entered the Obelisk Academy.”

Before being deemed unsuitable, Shin Ha-yul was full of confidence, both in a good and bad way.

Even though it didn’t reach the level of arrogance and conceit, he had a feeling close to self-conceit, like he could do anything.

“It’s a bit much to say this, but… then the unsuitable label was a blessing, not a curse, for Ha-yul.”

“Pardon?”

Adela asked back, surprised.

Ji Soon-chan waved his hand as if to say not to misunderstand.

“Ah. Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean it in a weird way. It’s just, well, how should I explain it? You know, the arrogance that geniuses have. I think that’s the worst flaw that slows down their growth, right?”

“…Yes.”

Adela agreed.

As someone who had been arrogant as a genius, Adela could deeply empathize with those words.

“But Ha-yul doesn’t have that arrogance at all.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“And from what you’re saying, the event that erased that arrogance was the unsuitable label incident.”

The unsuitable label incident was enough to break Shin Ha-yul’s pride.

“So, he became perfect now because he stumbled once in that incident. Is that what you mean?”

“Right. It’s something Ha-yul might get angry about if he heard it…”

Soon-chan smiled wryly.

“Well, it’s something we can say because Ha-yul found his own path. And as a result, he was able to spread his wings even further.”

“That’s right.”

If Shin Ha-yul had failed to find his own path and had fallen, it would have been something that could never be said.

“……”

“……”

After that, there was a moment of silence.

It was an inevitable silence that came because of the heavy topic of being unsuitable.

“…Let’s work hard.”

Breaking through the silence, Ji Soon-chan casually said a word.

“Pardon?”

Adela tilted her head, confused by the sudden encouragement.

“Let’s work hard for the Olympiad preparation.”

“Ah, I see.”

Adela nodded as if she understood.

“Yes. We have to work harder.”

The gold medal at the Olympiad.

That word, which had felt so distant, didn’t feel so distant now.