Book 18 Chapter 38
The youngest Archmage in history,
washing away the blood that stained people's souls,
those who had become Bloodfiends were respectfully buried under the leadership of Fride, the Priestess of the Fire Dragon.
Fride specifically commanded that for any Bloodfiends whose identities could be recognized, their families must be sought out and informed of the obituary.
Among the refugees who had not yet crossed the sea, those who heard the news returned, and seeing their family laid on the cremation pyre, they beat the ground and wept.
“Now, we send them to a place where there is no pain, no sorrow, and not even tears… O Light of Creation, embrace them warmly with Your great love. Dyurshiel.”
As Fride finished her prayer, all the bells in the city rang out simultaneously, announcing the soul's spiritual interment to the heavens.
Wooooong… Wooooong… Wooooong…
Fire purifies the defiled flesh and returns the soul bound to it to heaven; this is the meaning imbued in cremation.
“Cremation, huh…”
Lin, who had been examining the history and origin of cremation in a book borrowed from the city library, nodded.
“Hmm…”
No matter how he thought about it, [The Strongest Mage] seemed to have no need for something like cremation.
[The Strongest Mage] should fear no one. Not even the erosion of the abyss.
If consumed by the abyss, one must be resolved to descend to hell along with it. That is the strongest mindset.
“Kyuoong?!”
Such a crazy mindset quickly formed a smile on Lin's lips, and Sval was horrified!
“By the way… she cries so well. I wonder how many layers of steel she has on her face to be so brazen.”
Lin glared at Fride, who was embracing each of the despondent people, and clicked his tongue.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up.”
Pipi punished such a Lin with its beak! A master!
“Agh, sorry! My bad!”
“Kyuu-ut!”
Sval stepped forward to protect his master!
Behold, Sval Breath!
The icy breath drenched the air in a chilling blue and assailed Pipi, but!
“Too slow, too slow, too slow.”
It was rendered powerless by Pipi's beautifully unfurled wings of flame! A mere mortal!
“Ugh, look at that useless thing. I wish I could trade it for a future where it's a complete punching bag.”
“Right, right, right.”
“Kyuu-ut?!”
Lista stroked Sval's head with her finger, comforting him as he protested with tears.
“Alright, everyone stop. It just means he'll get strong like that someday. Let's wait for now.”
Then she turned her gaze out the window.
This was atop a bell tower, overlooking the plaza where the cremation ceremony was being held.
Lista looked up at the spirits that had turned into smoke in the fire and reached the sky, muttering bitterly.
“How much further do we have to go from here to finally end this tragedy, this farce…?”
At that moment, Kiese was tilting a drink on the triangular roof of the bell tower, gazing distantly at the far-off sky.
* * *
“I have avenged the grudge.”
Muchen Ryuminik had returned to the ruins of the former Ilyangseon Sect (泆陽腺派).
The sect, which had stood loftily as one of the Six Great Sects, had completely sunk into the ground due to the bloody slaughter.
Ryuminik tidied up the ruins and meticulously created graves in the garden for his former family members, whose corpses could no longer be found.
“Since the sect is in this state, it is my mission as the last disciple to restore it to its former glory… but at the same time, I’ve incurred a debt.”
Though there was no way the dead would answer, Ryuminik continued to speak.
“Thanks to those guys, I was able to come this far, so now I, too, intend to go and help them reach the end of their journey.”
Perhaps that was how he, always wearing a relaxed smile, confronted sorrow.
“Why are you going, when you'll only be holding them back? Your words are a bit too harsh, Senior Brother. It's not that bad; I can at least give them a slight push. And as you know, Ryuminik is not the kind of man to live in debt.”
* * *
The envoy from the Mage Alliance arrived on the morning when they were about to resume their journey after handling all the aftermath of the catastrophe caused by the Bloodline.
“Honestly, I might have been a little touched by Fride praying for others. Impossible, of course, because I know Fride's true nature.”
At that moment, Lin was teasing Fride as usual. Kiese nodded in agreement!
[(ㄹ.ㅇ)]
Fride snapped at the provocation.
“What, you punks? Are you done talking now?”
“Fride? Don't worry! I don't think that way.”
“Only Lista understands! These guys reeking of bachelors, I'd just want to—.”
“Yeah, it's not dizzying, but more like a slight nausea? Really slight? Just this much?”
But you have to listen to people to the end! Just like a trusted axe cutting your own foot!
“Eek, eee-eeeek…!”
Fride's face, having received a simultaneous attack from the three, turned red like a beet.
“Hey, you bastards! Lady Fride here is a priestess! One of the republic's top two! So do I have to puff cigarette smoke like I'm with you guys? There's an image people expect!”
“Yes, yes. Lady Fride is right.”
“Hmph, Lin? Are you perhaps jealous? But how can a gloomy kid like you, if you want to be like me, need to cultivate more acting skills than I do? Let's see about that then. I'll really tease you properly.”
“No. Why would I?”
“How disappointed would people be if the hero party's mage was timid, didn't laugh much, and only spoke harshly? They'd ask if he was an imposter, wouldn't they?”
After joining the hero party, Lin often laughed, though not frequently.
His hero party companions often saw Lin laughing and joking, but to others, the boy's first impression was always that of a poker face, just absorbed in books.
Lin tended to be shy around strangers, perhaps due to lingering wariness of others after living only in the slums and the magic tower.
“Acting… how do you do that? Do I need to be as brazen as Fride? But that's impossible for me since I don't have a broad face like Fride.”
“Damn! Get over here, you're really dead!”
While Kiese was restraining Fride, who was howling like a beast and throwing punches and kicks, Lista approached.
“What book is that?”
“Gren Benevelt's 『History of the Dragonkind - II』”
He had really wanted to read volume 2 after reading volume 1 a while ago, so it was incredibly lucky that it was in this tiny library.
“Lin, there's no need to act. Fride's case is special.”
“Special?”
“Lin, you just need to be Lin. Of course, I'd like it if you became a little brighter and more confident, but? There's no need to force yourself to change. You're fine just the way you are.”
Lista met Lin's gaze and smiled brightly.
That smile…
Perhaps because it resembled the Dean's smile, Lin avoided her gaze, overwhelmed by the same stubborn shyness he felt as a child.
“Tch, even if you didn't say that, I wouldn't act. Because I don't want to.”
But…
It was an unfinished thought, but Lista, sensing his hesitation, widened her eyes and urged him for an answer.
“But? Hmm? Hmm-hmm?”
If he could change… he wanted to change like that.
Like you all.
Bright in everything, confident, and kind… into an adult who could make the Dean smile similarly.
- Lin, will you promise me?
Because he had promised the Dean that. Of course, congenital personality couldn't be changed, but…
Still, someday.
Before returning to the magic tower, it might be good if he could become such an adult, even just a little bit…
“Lord Lin.”
An envoy from the Mage Alliance, draped majestically in a wizard's robe, was waiting for them at the city gate.
Judging by their attire, they were mages from Special Operations Division 2 (Special Operations Division 1 is responsible for maintaining order on the Akrad Continent) deployed to frontline combat, and they immediately prostrated themselves before Lin, showing their respect.
It was not surprising, as Lin was a Gladus (4-star) rank mage, placing him in a position to guide all mages.
“A month ago, the Dean of the Rivendell School, Artishan Carine, died on the front lines, leaving six out of the ten Gladus mages currently vacant.”
“Eh.”
“Currently, the only ones still alive are Lord Ullan Page, the Alliance Leader, Lady Silviet Kepel, the Archmage, Lord Kern, who volunteered for the Harvadonia surveillance mission, and Lord Lin, who is present here.”
He had little interest in the Mage Alliance or his fellow Gladus mages, so this was new information to him.
Of course…
It had already been conveyed several times, but he had just been reading a book each time and hadn't known!
- Hmph.
- Heh.
- Hmm.
Each time, he had presented the mages with a wave of misconception and emotion with a smile that said, 'Why all this fuss when I'm perfectly fine?'
“The Alliance Leader, judging that what the collapsing magical world needs is a strong pillar, and considering Lord Lin's achievements and magic reported so far…”
As the story progressed to that point, the hero party members realized what was coming next and exchanged blank stares with their mouths agape.
“Considering…? What?”
Lin tilted his head in confusion.
“After exchanging letters with Lady Silviet and Lord Kern, he commanded us to convey this to Lord Lin: that they have unanimously decided on Lord Lin's promotion to Aquizard (5-star) rank!”
The mages of Special Operations Division 2, with extreme emotion that made their voices tremble, bowed their foreheads to their respectfully clasped hands on the sandy ground.
“We, your unworthy servants, greet the 11th Archmage.”
Year 1105 of the Era.
Lin of the Osarius School.
Age 16 at the time, achieving Aquizard (5-star) rank, the youngest in history.
“Ar- Archmage?! Lin? Lin, congratulations! Really, congratulations! Of course, it was bound to happen eventually, but looking at Lin's skill!”
Lista, with an incredibly joyful expression, clasped both of Lin's hands.
“Link, Link, Link!”
Link repeatedly threw Lin's body high into the air and caught him again! What a crazy celebratory toss! He would truly die if he fell!
“What, this insolent little brat is now 'the Archmage of the Hero Party'?”
Fride took a puff from her pipe, and laughed, “Ha!”
“Well, well, that's faster than Niels Blanc becoming a Meister, he's truly an amazing fellow.”
As his companions awkwardly heaped praises, only Lin couldn't comprehend the situation itself, merely tilting his head exactly 90 degrees.
“Eh?”