Chapter 342
Chris answered slowly.
“…He didn’t say anything special.”
“I see. Good work.”
The Archmage Prime Minister didn’t press further, but Chris sensed something.
He knew everything.
‘…What’s the Archmage Prime Minister’s angle? Why did he arrange for me to meet Mahu?’
Everything was a mystery.
The trip to the capital ended, leaving only questions behind, and Chris returned to the Dark Mage District.
[Oh ho ho, welcome back, young master. Seeing you again after so long, I’m even more excited. Why do you keep getting sexier every time I see you?]
Chris kept his mouth firmly shut at Mari’s unchanged teasing tone.
The atmosphere was completely different.
Yet, it felt like facing the same presence.
Confusion churned in his mind.
He couldn’t tell what the truth was.
When Chris just stared quietly at her, Mari tilted her head.
[Why are you looking at me so intensely? Oh my, could it be you have… feelings for a girl? How thrilling. Shall we head straight to the bed? Of course, anywhere is fine by me.]
“…It’s not like that, okay? Don’t just start trying to strip me right away.”
Chris was startled when Mari, a ghost, made a gesture as if to undress.
Hearing Mari’s crude joke, his mind cleared.
‘Right, the most important thing isn’t Mari’s true identity.’
He pulled out a piece of jewelry wrapped in a silk pouch.
“Found this on the way here. Take it or leave it, your call.”
[…Wow.]
Mari’s face lit up with delight.
She bounced around the room, flying here and there, and Chris chuckled softly.
“Thank you. There’s no one like you, young master. I’m glad to serve you.”
“Really? Do you truly mean that?”
Mari looked puzzled, then broke into a sly smile.
[Of course. You’re my only master.]
Chris nodded.
Yes.
The most important fact was that Mari was his ghost.
No matter what her true nature was, that wouldn’t change.
‘I need to learn more about the capital.’
The horrifying scene he witnessed there.
The real meaning behind the Demon King.
The relationship between Mahu and Mari.
There was so much to uncover.
‘Why did Mahu order me killed? And what happens to Mari if Mahu dies?’
Chris’s gaze darkened.
‘…And above all, I have to get stronger.’
He was growing insanely powerful already, but it wasn’t enough.
It was clear now he would have to face the capital head-on.
He needed power surpassing the Demon King of the Azure Sky, the Archmage Prime Minister, and even the Demon King himself.
‘First, I have to master the power of light at the Kainfer Training Institute.’
It wasn’t just to prevent his vessel from breaking down.
It was time to gain the strength worthy of the name “Mahwi.”
The Kainfer Training Institute sat at the Round Table.
In the southwest of the Union.
Between the Golden Cross and the Holy Empire lay the alliance of noble houses.
Because the Round Table was dominated by a few noble bloodlines monopolizing all power, there was a social class unseen elsewhere.
The ‘Mano.’
A servant class that attended to the noble bloodlines.
Not slaves, but bound to their noble houses, treated as inferior to commoners.
No matter how talented, they were tools wielded by the noble families.
But there was one exception.
Lanya, a member of the hero’s party.
She was born a Mano of a magical noble house.
The magic noble house controlled the Sky Tower, the most powerful family at the Round Table.
As such, it was extremely closed off, and even talented Manos had no chance of rising.
But Lanya was the first exception.
“Hmph, it’s all thanks to my genius.”
Lanya held her head high.
The Sky Tower’s master, recognizing her talent, had adopted her as a foster daughter.
Of course, becoming the master’s foster daughter didn’t erase her hardships.
Even now, as the next Sky Tower master, eyes followed her every step.
Gazes mixed with suspicion, envy, and contempt.
She was used to it.
Since becoming a foster daughter, she had never escaped such looks.
But Lanya refused to be broken.
Instead, she held her head higher and worked harder, determined that no one would look down on her.
Not just in magic, but in every way.
Her proud, haughty demeanor was a shield against others’ scorn.
It wasn’t easy.
She had nearly broken countless times, but she endured.
Because she had a reason she had to.
Lanya stopped before a single door.
“Master of the Sky Tower.”
“Come in.”
The door creaked open, revealing a sharp-featured old man.
He was Hephelman, the Sky Tower Master, ‘Seeker of Truth.’
A transcendent being at the pinnacle of the nine-star realm, representing the Union.
Like most top magicians of the Sky Tower, he came from a noble magic family.
As his sharp features suggested, he was feared by the tower’s magicians, but to Lanya, he showed a gentle smile.
“It’s been a while. I hear you’ve made recent progress.”
His warm voice brought a smile to Lanya’s face.
He was the only one in the tower who showed her kindness in a place full of enemies.
Without his protection, no matter how gifted she was, she wouldn’t have survived.
“Thank you. I’ve had some realizations lately.”
Thanks to Chris.
By studying the questions Chris had thrown at her, her skills had recently skyrocketed.
“I hear you’re going to the Kainfer Training Institute?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I believe you’ll do well. You’re my daughter, after all.”
Warm encouragement as always.
Lanya bowed her head.
“Yes, I will earn the top rank. To live up to your name, Father.”
Though she was already at seven stars, the institute’s rankings meant little to her.
But she always had to be the best.
As a lowly Mano, she couldn’t afford any blemish if she wanted to become the next Sky Tower master.
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
“Father… I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
With a gentle gaze, Lanya clenched her fist tightly.
“When the training ends, could you tell me the truth about what happened in Argos?”
“……”
Argos.
The place where Lanya’s biological parents were murdered by unknown assailants.
Hephelman knew the culprit but had delayed revealing it.
He looked at Lanya silently.
His eyes were colder than usual, devoid of warmth, and Lanya flinched.
Strangely, whenever she asked about her parents, Hephelman’s gaze turned icy like that.
Before, she had been too afraid to press further, but now she stood firm.
“Please.”
Hephelman remained silent.
After a moment thick with tension,
“Very well. But on one condition. You must reach the eight-star realm at the Kainfer Training Institute.”
“!!”
Lanya’s face showed surprise.
He was asking her to become an eight-star.
Even for her, it was a tall order.
But—
“I will show you a way to help you.”
A magic tome appeared, flying before Lanya.
“What’s this?”
“It’s an unpublished grimoire I wrote. It contains the truths I’ve realized in my lifetime. It will greatly aid your progress.”
Lanya’s face lit up with deep gratitude.
Hoarding knowledge was a vice among magicians, who rarely passed on their true insights even to their own children.
This was a great favor.
“Thank you. I will achieve it without fail.”
Lanya grasped Hephelman’s hand firmly, her voice resolute.
After she left, Hephelman’s expression turned cold.
He looked down at his hand—the one Lanya had held.
“Filthy.”
The day Chris was to depart for the Kainfer Training Institute was approaching.
Unexpectedly, some notable figures were talking about him.
The heads of the Round Table’s noble houses.
“Have you heard? The hero is coming to teach at the Kainfer Training Institute.”
“Of course we have. How dare the Karn Empire treat our Round Table with such disrespect?”
The Round Table was a council of seven noble houses.
Six of the heads, excluding the magic noble house’s leader, gathered with displeased expressions.
“Calling him a hero so casually is offensive enough.”
“Indeed. The prophecy says the hero should come from our Round Table.”
They had many reasons to dislike Chris.
The main one: he was the hero.
The Round Table believed the hero of this generation would come from among them.
Because of the prophecy from the constellations.
—The hero will be born from the House of the Lions.
Of course, this prophecy originally referred to the swordsmanship noble house of Evan, the original hero.
But the Round Table naturally assumed it meant them.
After all, the House of the Lions was theirs.
“On top of that, he’s pressuring us by virtue of being royalty from the Karn Empire. How dare he look down on us?”
Chris had become a temporary professor at Kainfer thanks to the influence of the Karn Empire’s royal family.
The Round Table couldn’t ignore the strongest nation in the Union.
They had no choice but to comply, but their resentment was deep.
“We can’t just stand by.”
“I doubt he’s even the real hero.”
“Exactly. His achievements don’t add up. Defeating the Ghost Sword King in a duel, capturing a demon descended to the surface? A green kid like that becoming a transcendent being?”
They belittled all of Chris’s accomplishments in the Union out of spite.
Boom!
“The Kainfer Training Institute is our pride. We can’t let him sully its honor.”
They all nodded in agreement.
At that moment, a large, imposing middle-aged man spoke in a meaningful tone.
He was the head of the ‘Martial Arts Noble House.’
“Don’t worry too much. This time’s academy cohort includes our very own ‘Rising Star of the Round Table.’”
The other heads of the families looked surprised at that.
“Really? Has it already come to that?”
“Two years have passed just like that.”
As the title suggests, the ‘Rising Star of the Round Table’ was given to the strongest among the next generation of the Round Table.
This generation’s Rising Star was especially favored by the Round Table, believed to be the prophesied hero.
And for good reason.
Aiden Paesaechu.
The young head of the renowned martial arts family, a prodigy who had reached the seventh rank by his early thirties.
Even in the Mage Empire, where powerful figures were as numerous as stars, his rapid progress was rare—his talent rivaled the best of the alliance, like Evan and Lanya.
In the past two years, he had even secluded himself for intense training to push his limits.
The head of the martial arts family spoke with pride.
“It seems he made great strides during his seclusion. Honestly, even I’m finding it hard to keep up with him now.”
“Impressive! Congratulations.”
“There’s no doubt that Aiden is the true hero.”
The family head twisted the corner of his mouth.
“Once he meets him, that guy will realize for himself who the real hero is.”