Episode 914
by CristaeEven so, the boy of the Wardanaz family did not stop his attacks.
The threat of being docked points for his assignment carried a destructive power on par with word magic.
-Can’t you take it easy, you maniac!
“Aren’t you the one who made a mistake? Why are you getting angry at me instead?”
Lee Han was appalled.
No wonder he was a magic criminal—the sheer shamelessness wasn’t normal.
He messed up and responded like that?
-If you have time for this, spend it thinking of ways to deal with the tyrant.
“I am thinking about it. And if you’re going to say things like that, you should at least have a good idea to offer.”
-I just remembered one.
“!”
Lee Han looked at the hamster in surprise (not that he could really see him, buried deep in the sawdust).
As expected of a veteran archmage, he had a good suggestion ready.
“Of course! I was counting on you.”
-……
“So, what’s the method?”
The hamster nearly cursed but managed to hold back.
-Regrettably, the tyrant’s secret arts are deep and ancient. It’s hard for mere modern mortals like us to predict. In the end, to return him to his original state, we must obtain his secret art.
Right now the tyrant was sealed by the Yaksha King from another dimension.
If it were the original state, the hamster would have tried to read the tyrant’s secrets and knowledge himself, but now, having lost all powers as a hamster, he was willing to teach the method to Lee Han and make him handle it.
-This magic is -Mirror of Mnemosyne-. It’s a powerful spell from the Three Kingdoms era.
-Mirror of Mnemosyne- was a spell that summoned a magic bronze mirror in midair, linking to the target.
What was special about summoning a mirror? But the summoner could use questions and answers to draw the information they wanted from the mirror.
Normally, interrogating someone with magical defense meant it was hard to get anything, but this magic could pierce through such defenses.
-You need skill and efficiency since you only get a few questions and answers, but I’ll give instructions from the side.
“Amazing. I didn’t know such magic existed.”
Lee Han was genuinely impressed.
That honest admiration softened the hamster’s anger a bit, and he squeaked in a calmed tone.
-The horizon of magic is always wider than you expect. We mages are nothing but petty insects before it. To become even slightly bigger bugs, we have to gather up the secrets.
‘That’s a disturbing analogy.’
Still, since the other had come up with such a good solution, Lee Han kept any objections to himself.
“Wait a second. If I need to draw information from my master, wouldn’t it work to just directly witness and experience his past?”
-That is the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve heard in ages. Why not wish on a star to become the only god on the continent and use that power to reverse-summon the tyrant?
The hamster squeaked, full of exasperation.
Of course, what the Wardanaz boy just said wasn’t strictly impossible.
But magic isn’t some tool that does anything a wizard asks.
To make such a thing possible, who knows how many spells and secret arts you’d need.
“I just wondered if it might exist.”
-The horizon of magic may be broad, but that doesn’t mean you can just babble nonsense.
For the first time in a while, the hamster squeaked—no, scolded—with archmage dignity.
- * *
“Lee Han, this is an ancient artifact called the -Scepter of Kairos-. We’ll use it to directly experience the Headmaster’s past.”
“……”
-……
Lee Han stared intently at the hamster. The hamster was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even speak.
Who could have guessed they actually had a cheat-level artifact like that?
-That’s not a spell; it’s a Three Kingdoms era ancient artifact…!
“It’s fine.”
Before the hamster could make excuses, Lee Han spoke first.
“Professor Garcia is just that amazing; it’s not that you aren’t, Mage. Isn’t that right?”
People often imagined magic criminals as mighty monsters who pursued magic, disregarding imperial law and morals, and pressing one step ahead of others.
But Lee Han thought differently.
Those wizards with the oldest magical lineage in the empire, supported with the largest resources, were surely ahead of the magic criminals.
The criminals, after all, spent their lives evading pursuit in cold wildernesses, hardly able to focus on research.
‘Unauthorized researchers rarely live up to the hype.’
Lee Han’s gentle courtesy did little for the hamster.
Realizing what sounded like condescending comfort from this brat, the hamster was more furious than if he’d been mocked.
-$%*&$@^&!@!
‘What era’s language is that?’
Unfortunately, Lee Han hadn’t yet learned many of the ancient tongues and couldn’t understand the hamster.
“Lee Han, I’d like to give you more time to prepare, but it’s an urgent matter. Is that okay?”
“Oh, yes. We can start right away. I’m ready.”
At Professor Garcia’s prompt, Lee Han nodded and looked up.
And was startled.
“Uh… Professor?”
“What’s wrong, Lee Han?”
“A-ah, nothing.”
At some point, Professor Garcia had donned an ancient, ornate suit of plate armor. Lee Han was caught off-guard.
Rather than looking natural, he looked like someone who’d never worn armor before in his life, clumsily forcing it on.
“Professor. Professor.”
Lee Han called to Professor Voladi.
Surely a professional would know best about these things.
“I think Professor Garcia is nervous. Will he be alright?”
Even as he asked, Lee Han felt a little embarrassed.
Who was worrying about whom?
True, he may not have trained in combat magic, but Garcia was a genius who’d mastered all the imperial schools and was a master of time, space, and fist magic.
Wasn’t it presumptuous for Lee Han to worry about someone like him?
‘Still, worrying is unavoidable.’
“He seems a little in danger.”
“!”
At Voladi’s words, Lee Han’s heart dropped.
Apparently, even to a professional, Garcia looked nervous.
“Then what should we do?”
“Protect him.”
“?”
Lee Han immediately glanced around behind him.
Hearing Professor Voladi, he wondered if there was someone else there to guard Professor Garcia.
Of course, there was no one.
“…Oh, you mean me??”
“?”
Professor Voladi looked at his disciple as if mildly surprised.
He didn’t say it aloud, but Lee Han could almost hear, “Well, who else but you?”
“I’m not sure I’d be much use as Professor Garcia’s bodyguard.”
At this humility, Professor Voladi again looked Lee Han up and down and answered simply.
“You’re enough.”
‘No matter what, if Professor Garcia can’t handle it, I’m probably doomed, too.’
Reluctantly, Lee Han accepted.
In truth, with Professor Garcia along, it benefited Lee Han as well if they ended up somewhere dangerous.
If Voladi ever gave any insane commands, someone would be there to help rein him in.
If Professor Garcia wasn’t there…
-There are ten of the greatest ancient mages. Go cut off their heads.
-Professor!
…That could conceivably happen.
While Lee Han and Professor Voladi spoke, Professor Garcia finished the magical preparations with the Scepter.
“Everyone, gather around.”
The aura from the scepter split into sixty branches, then another sixty, then finally into twenty-four.
Professor Garcia entered a state of pure concentration, with no distracting thoughts.
No matter how powerful the artifact, it couldn’t be left to do everything itself.
More power meant a double-edged sword: if you lost control, it could harm the wielder.
The -Scepter of Kairos- was precious enough to be specially secured even at Einrogard, but it was not omnipotent.
You couldn’t just casually jump to three days ago at sunrise, or two days ago at noon.
Only moments of powerful intent could be entered.
You had to deeply experience that moment, then allow the scepter to rest and recharge.
‘Scepter, send us to the time when the clue to this problem lies!’
Wooooong—
An indescribably deep hum and a glow enveloped the mages.
As everything finished, Professor Garcia couldn’t help but have another thought.
‘With Lee Han here, recharging shouldn’t be so hard, I suppose…’
- * *
Pop!
“Gasp. Gasp. Gasp. Gasp.”
Professor Garcia, his face blanched, panted for breath.
Even with all preparations made, he’d allowed his guard to drop while using an artifact!
An unforgivable mistake for a mage who studied ancient relics.
Lee Han watched and was amazed.
‘That’s no ordinary artifact. For Professor Garcia to be this drained…’
Sure, using a powerful ancient artifact is never easy, but he hadn’t thought Garcia would tire to that extent.
“Thank you, Professor. For using such a dangerous artifact for me.”
“…???”
Professor Garcia wondered what his student was talking about.
This scepter wasn’t that dangerous.
“What are you— Oh. Look there!”
He pointed behind them.
A landscape unlike anything in the present imperial continent came into view.
From buildings to people’s clothes, nothing was like today. Lee Han realized he truly was in the distant past.
Obey, all you races. I am Esadojikwa, chief lieutenant of the Duke of Wrath and his supreme herald!
“…Gasp!”
Professor Garcia wasn’t just surprised by the changed scenery.
In one corner of his vision, a giant demon, leading an army, was laying siege.
The demon looked like a minotaur and, with each stomp, broke down parapets; with each swing, shattered a city gate.
Lee Han, used to seeing demons bullied by mages, was shocked by the sheer brute force of these legendary demon armies.
People in a nearby city activated magical barriers and towers to block the attack, but anyone could tell the power gap was huge.
-Demon! How dare you invade the territory of the Kingdom of Margada. How insolent!
Thankfully, reinforcements soon arrived.
Hundreds of magical golems raced across the plain, making Lee Han gape all over again.
He’d known there were fierce battles, but not to this degree.
“They’re moving. The demons will spot us soon.”
With Professor Voladi’s words, the group snapped back to attention.
Seeing the demon armies in retreat, it looked all too likely they’d soon be discovered—best to move to avoid unnecessary combat.
“We need to ask for the Headmaster’s location. Think we can get into the city?”
“Tough call, Lee Han. Who knows how the people here will see us…”
Professor Garcia was cautious.
He’d read up on customs of the time, but only to some extent.
The party boasted skilled mages, and in those days, mages were highly respected, so things might yet go their way.
“Oh!”
Patrolmen from the city appeared. Professor Garcia greeted them cautiously.
“Hello? We’re…”
“Judging by your clothes, you must be runaway slaves?”
“……”