Episode 969

The Yaksha King paid no heed to Lee Han’s words.

Because what he said was only natural.

It’s not difficult, disciple of Osu. If the world has summoned you, then it is self-evident.

“What…?”

As I said, self-evident. Judging by the stage you’re at, it’s time to begin your entry into the Small World. Given your lineage… the Small World of Osu would suit you well.

“That seems a bit much. Isn’t there something easier?”

As soon as he spoke, Lee Han felt a sense of déjà vu.

Why did this conversation feel like it had happened before?

Disciple of Osu, I have lived for countless ages, enough to forget how many, meeting innumerable magicians and hearing secrets of magic. For you to so casually doubt my wisdom… Rashness is natural, but you must also learn control.

“…Now I remember.”

Remember what?

“You said almost the same thing during the Star Contract!”

Lee Han ground his teeth, struggling to quell the rising anger.

He’d thought it felt familiar—and that’s because he’d been tricked once before.

Promised help for his exam if he believed, then the Yaksha King had recommended a completely unrelated star contract.

He was starting to suspect all his hardships since then had stemmed from that contract with a random star.

That damned “guest star” nonsense…!

But the Yaksha King was unflappable—even regal. Without changing his expression, he blinked his golden eyes and spoke.

Disciple of Osu, it would be foolish to judge that matter in such a way. Seen from on high, an outstretched finger is but a dot. Thus…

‘He is disgustingly shameless.’

The Yaksha King argued that the truth of things cannot be known if seen only in the short term.

Imagine, for instance, a boy wishing to cross a river to a neighboring village. Floods have swollen the river, the bridge is about to collapse, and the boy would certainly have been swept away.

Knowing the future, the Yaksha King transformed into a rat to steal the boy’s luggage and run off.

Of course, the boy raged at losing his things, but later, seeing the bridge swept away, realized his fortune in having been delayed.

“……”

Lee Han didn’t buy it.

The awe-inspiring figure from his first encounter with the Yaksha King was long gone. At this point, the Yaksha King was nearly at Professor Verdus’s level.

“So you’re saying the contract to the star was preemptive preparation for a future trial?”

At last, a measure of wisdom.

‘If I go at him, I’ll lose, right?’

Lee Han checked his surroundings.

It really didn’t look winnable to pick a fight in someone else’s palace.

And, disciple of Osu, think carefully. Say the king’s prediction is wrong. Then must all subsequent predictions also be wrong?

“…Not necessarily.”

Do you have some other guess as to what magic you should learn now?

“No.”

Then you have no reason to disparage the king’s prediction, right?

Lee Han fell silent.

The only thing more annoying than Professor Verdus was Professor Verdus when she was right.

The Yaksha King was little different.

A Small World was magic on a completely different scale from anything Lee Han had yet learned.

Even more so if it was the Skeletal Headmaster’s Small World.

For someone like Lee Han, having a transcendent being like the Yaksha King as a mentor was invaluable.

It wouldn’t do to lose out on help just by being impudent.

“…I’d like to receive your teachings.”

Lee Han silently prayed he’d wake from this dream before it was over.

• * *

For a typical magician, progress ends with a single Small World.

The Yaksha King sat Lee Han down and began a magic lecture.

Unlike a Personal World, a Small World can be inherited from master to disciple, and yet—why do you think that is, disciple of Osu?

“Because complete understanding and mastery is difficult, isn’t it?”

Compared to a Personal World, the scope is narrower and the requirements lower, but a Small World is still an esoteric method that alters the laws of the world.

Its logic is fundamentally different from magic that only utilizes the laws of the world.

At first, Lee Han hadn’t fully understood what this meant. Now, he got it somewhat.

Just as some spells couldn’t be cast by mere rote memorization and practice, Small World magic was of the same kind.

A world unto itself.

To use a Small World, one must completely understand and accept the true purpose of the magician who made it.

You couldn’t force yourself to use a Small World that doesn’t fit you. For example, if there was a Small World called -Golden Coin Squanderer-, Lee Han would probably never master it in his life.

That’s right. At least, with Small Worlds inherited from master to disciple, there is a higher chance for success.

Because master and disciple tend to resemble each other in thinking, inheritance was more likely.

“That’s unfortunate. My master and I are pretty different in thinking, so it might be hard for me.”

The Yaksha King ignored Lee Han’s comment as though a dog were barking.

During his countless years, even he, the king, had seen that Osu possessed the qualities of a celestial being. That was how Osu had created and inherited so many Small Worlds. Disciple of Osu, first, tell me what Small Worlds you have seen.

“Hmm.”

Lee Han fell into thought.

First, there were Small World Dendrobium and Small World Basilios.

The black book had (forcibly) shown him those two powerful Small World spells.

Each is symbolized by a giant tree or an austere crown. Both were still not fully understood by Lee Han.

With Dendrobium, it seemed the governing law changed with the color of the flowers at the branch tips. Basilios seemed to require some additional premise…

“And Small World Huidor—I saw that in the past. It wiped out demons with a single water droplet.”

Huidor is not something you can master now.

“…I didn’t say I wanted to learn it now…”

It isn’t impossible. Didn’t you forge the Lightning Spear of the Slayer of the Heretic and destroy the blasphemer? Huidor is also a Small World crafted on such logic. Only the concepts compressed within are far higher.

“…How do you know all this?!”

Lee Han was shocked.

That Small World Huidor was similar in principle to the Lightning Spear wasn’t all that surprising.

After all, wiping out all foes with a droplet would require the ultimate in elemental magic—it made sense such spells would evolve similarly.

But for the Yaksha King to know about the bloody battle in Granden City—that was surprising.

‘Could Lord Alsicle be an informant??’

Disciple of Osu, never forget: word spreads quickly across dimensions. The undead plane in particular is in uproar over the blasphemer’s humiliation.

“……”

Just as imperial magicians kept tabs on powerful beings from other planes, so too did those beings keep an eye on exceptional imperial magicians.

After what happened, the denizens of the undead realm were very interested in the magician called Lee Han.

‘I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that.’

Lee Han decided on quick denial. He had enough to worry about already.

“And Dynamis… what is this Dynamis? You told me to say it last time, right?”

Last time, when his Mad Clone went berserk, the Yaksha King had advised him to repeat, “I saw new possibility in the secret art of Dynamis, so I’ll try Despotis.”

Lee Han had tried it, half-doubting, and it had worked beautifully: the Mad Clone was ambushed as it popped out.

Dynamis would be dangerous for you to master now.

“……”

Lee Han made a sour face.

Unlike the Yaksha King, Lee Han had already mentioned Dynamis in front of the Mad Clone.

Maybe nothing would come of it, but if someday it asked, “Hey, how’s that Dynamis work going?”…

“So that leaves Dendrobium and Basilios?”

Of those, Basilios. Dendrobium requires a royal sapling—the disciple of Osu cannot yet learn it.

Lee Han nodded.

Special conditions for learning a new spell were nothing new.

“What must I do to begin learning Basilios?”

Think intuitively. Basilios is a crown. To wear a crown, you need qualification.

“You mean the bloodline of an ancient kingdom?”

At Lee Han’s question, the Yaksha King looked pitying.

That might be true for a kingdom on the earth. But, disciple of Osu, how could a magician’s crown be so petty? In the kingdom of the sky, no crown can be worn by bloodline alone. Think carefully.

“?”

Puzzled, Lee Han tilted his head.

“Could you give more of a hint?”

Disciple of Osu, if the king reveals this, it would actually do you harm…

‘What is with this guy?’

Lee Han was exasperated.

He’d sat through this long, pompous lecture because the Yaksha King had remarkable abilities.

Naturally, he’d expected some guidance as to which Small World to start with and how to go about learning it. Now, at the last second, the King tells him to figure it out on his own.

“If I could do that, I’d have figured it out already.”

Exactly. Now do you see why the world summoned you? The world called because you could enter it yourself.

“……”

Who’d have guessed he’d one day long for Enchantment Magic school seniors?

Lee Han shuddered and stood up. He needed to walk and clear his head, or he wouldn’t last.

Casting his gaze afar, he beheld a realm countless times vaster than the continent: the dimension of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

The landscape shifted constantly between light and darkness, changing like mist fading and ice melting.

And in the valley beneath the palace was a forest. Looking closer, all the trees and grass were made of steel and blades, their leaves dripping blood.

That hellish scene could only be described with one term in Lee Han’s mind.

Sword Mountain, Blade Forest.

“What is that place?”

Hmm. A forest where criminals are imprisoned.

“You have that here too?”

Not usually, disciple of Osu. Normally, criminals aren’t locked up. But they’re a little special.

The Yaksha King laughed loudly and explained.

Long ago, when Osu arrived in this dimension, he observed the magician’s trials.

The followers who gathered then—those are the ones below.

Believing a new strongman and new king had arrived, they were a rabble of vagrants and scoundrels.

“…You mean you locked them up because they followed my master?!”

Disciple of Osu, sometimes you have a vivid imagination. I locked them up because they betrayed Osu.

“Ah.”

In his youth, the Skeletal Headmaster had wandered this land in search of secret arts.

He’d suffered attacks and betrayals; it was no easy journey.

It wasn’t strange if among the followers, some betrayed him.

“I see.”

Lee Han put the matter aside and focused again.

What qualification was needed for Basilios…

…Disciple of Osu. Don’t you find those traitors hateful?

“Hm? Not especially, at this point…”

At the abrupt question, Lee Han was confused.

If the betrayal truly weighed on him, wouldn’t the Skeletal Headmaster have come to Einrogard to bring them back himself?

There was no reason for Lee Han to hate people who were already suffering enough.

A good start. This is exactly the direction to proceed.

“……”

Lee Han grew even more bewildered.

A good start?

Was this advice to avoid involvement with anything related to the Skeletal Headmaster?

‘If so, isn’t it already too late?’