Western sorcerers sometimes call bindings a geas.
A means of equivalent exchange that imposes restrictions on the practitioner and obtains a commensurate price.
I placed a restriction on myself: for ten years, I could not use sorcery.
Those ten years belonged to me—a prodigy said to appear once in a millennium.
You can imagine that the price I obtained would differ in scope from that of ordinary people.
“…More unstable than I thought.”
I looked down at the scorched traces on the ground and assessed myself.
A spot where corpses had burned, leaving not even ash.
The sorcerers who had reached for me were erased cleanly without a trace, yet I wasn’t particularly satisfied.
Unstable output, excessive consumption of spell power.
Like having forgotten how to walk, the ten-year gap couldn’t be filled in an instant after all.
Click.
I snapped my fingers without concern.
Unstable or not, it wasn’t as though I couldn’t use sorcery.
Ziiiik—.
A new fissure was carved into the empty air, as if a zipper were opening.
Through the gap of that fissure, the scenery of a mystical forest peeked through, and a familiar scent of grass wafted out.
The scenery before me was the price for having sealed my sorcery for ten years through a binding, having shouldered all the risks.
Innate Sorcery, Dimension Crossing.
It was on a completely different level from secret sorceries passed down through bloodlines.
A sorcery that was mine alone.
The pinnacle of sorcery that manifested a sorcerer’s individuality.
The theory of spatial sorcery based on a ten-year binding and Void Resonance Sorcery.
And with the peculiar nature of being a reincarnator added to the mix, I completed an innate sorcery that transcended dimensions.
“It’s not like I completed this for nothing, even while becoming powerless.”
Though I was hiding my strength, the side effect of the binding that rendered me powerless was excessive.
The reason I had forced it through despite that was to obtain the greatest advantage: dimensional movement.
With this alone, even the realm of Special Grade—the pinnacle of sorcery—was no dream.
The effect of Dimension Crossing was singular: a round trip across dimensions.
Considering the rarity of an innate technique, it was an effect that couldn’t be more mundane.
But the simpler something is without restrictions, the higher its utility.
The cursed tools they didn’t recognize. What was called an “artifact” in that world.
Magical knowledge such as Fireball, or the makeshift method of converting spell power into mana.
Everything I possessed aside from sorcery had been obtained within the otherworld fantasy before my eyes.
I had monopolized otherworld resources of a caliber far removed from minor clans like the Gongmyeongdang.
“I’ll have to go into hiding for a while. If I stay here, I’ll just keep dealing with trackers.”
I gazed at the scenery beyond the fissure and calmly reconsidered the situation.
Most paths to a comfortable life in this modern world had been blocked.
Disowned by the Gongmyeongdang, and behind them, a prestigious sorcerer clan. The fact that the Hwanseong Group was involved.
To leave no loose ends, they would send assassins without rest.
I wasn’t enough of a saint to take it lying down.
With my very life targeted, we had crossed a river from which neither side could turn back.
“They should’ve just placed a ban and kicked me out. What do they think they’re doing….”
The Gongmyeongdang, which had been gasping in the middle ranks despite dealing with the higher concept of space, had reached a level where it could vie for a prestigious clan’s seat purely thanks to me.
It was a clan I had been set to become the head of before long.
With my sorcery sealed for ten years, I had planned to start by building up the clan’s strength.
I never imagined that would be the fatal mistake. The tightrope balance must have been off.
When comparing a clever orphan who couldn’t use sorcery with a mad dog from a prestigious sorcerer clan, Gong Jincheol had raised Choe Taeseong’s hand.
I had never imagined the ecology of sorcerers could be this filthy.
Isn’t it supposed to go like, “To think you improved sorcery! Gong Siu is amazing~!” Something like that?
In the end, this wretched modern world was all about capital and power.
There were neither dreams nor hope.
“…Rehabilitation comes first no matter what I do. Wasn’t the Academy entrance ceremony exactly two months from now?”
With the binding undone, what I could do had increased dramatically, so I needed time to adjust.
I had to completely overhaul the combat style I’d relied on cursed tools for until now, and I could finally try my hand at sorcery and magic I hadn’t been able to attempt before.
Without hesitation, I stepped one foot into the dimensional rift.
***
Unlike the modern world where it had been the dead of night, sunlight poured down warmly.
Blocking half of that sunlight was a single tree larger than a skyscraper.
Was it thanks to the mana permeating the entire world?
With the fresh scent of the forest, the purified sensation I felt seemed to cleanse both mind and body.
This was the place I had settled down in while adventuring in the other world.
The forest where elves lived: Eldrasil.
“You’ve returned, Master. Your homecoming is quite early.”
A familiar voice welcomed me as I returned.
Turning my gaze, I saw a woman sitting astride a tree root as if it were a chair.
Long pointed ears, snow-white hair without a speck of dirt, and blue irises shining with clarity.
My magic teacher, and the guardian who protected this Eldrasil.
The High Elf, Estella.
She gave a faint smile and waved her hand in welcome.
“So much has happened, Teacher Estella. My head still hurts.”
“Hehe. For Master Siu to be troubled. Shall I lend an ear?”
We had built a peculiar relationship where we called each other master.
She in magic, I in sorcery.
A relationship where we shared otherworld knowledge and sought mutual benefit.
It was a great step forward compared to the past when I’d nearly been killed as a human intruder.
“More importantly, it seems the seal has finally been lifted? I sense a different air about you than when you came before.”
“…That’s the good news. There’s bad news too.”
I plopped down beside her and immediately began to vent my complaints.
Stress that threatened to drive me mad made my mouth run light.
It wasn’t particularly something to hide, and we were in different dimensions; I just wanted someone to listen to my story.
I had suspected Gong Jincheol, but I had only assumed the worst of the worst.
Hadn’t we lived under the same roof for fifteen years?
Hiding my strength might have been a factor, but I had complacently judged that they’d do nothing more than place a ban and exile me.
I hadn’t bothered learning about the dirty reality of sorcerers, only rummaging through sorcery books in a back room.
A sorcerer’s life was far cheaper than I’d thought.
“…Hmm.”
“What? No, get your hand off my head.”
“Stay still. Even if you pretend to be fine, Master is still young. Your wounds must run deep….”
Mid-sentence, Estella had begun slowly stroking my head as if to comfort me.
The kindness in her careful hand motions.
But was it my imagination that her touch felt subtly sticky?
“Disowned… that’s a shame. That means you’ve broken off your engagement with your fiancée as well, hasn’t it?”
“Why is that the part you’re focusing on?”
“You would refuse even if I wished to help. Rather than that, I am more interested in Master’s romantic circumstances?”
It had been a relationship of considerable length; she knew my disposition well.
There was no way I’d drag her into personal vengeance.
Even so, having her focus on my romantic situation rather than the fact that my life had been targeted was a rather complicated feeling.
“Have you no thoughts of a new family? I could become your mother in their stead, you know? Hehe.”
“I’m an adult now. What do I need a stepmother for? I don’t need one.”
“Oh, come now. Don’t be like that. I’ve failed to find a husband even at my age; surely I can have a son at least.”
Estella, who had been nonchalantly spouting absurdities, gently pulled my head down onto her lap.
The soft sensation enveloping the back of my head. Together with her warm body heat, a faint floral scent dizzied my mind.
Looking up at the sky, a massive presence filled my vision like the World Tree blocking the sunlight above.
The hand adjusting my position paused for a moment, and suddenly a faint, troubled sigh tickled my ear.
“Hmm… at this rate, I can’t see your face properly.”
‘…How am I supposed to see a woman like this as a mother?’
A High Elf whose age was impossible to guess.
Depending on how one looked at it, her appearance was even younger than me, who had just turned twenty.
Yet the atmosphere she gave off was warm and peaceful.
From her desire for the position of stepmother, I even felt a maternal nature that had no place being there.
Someone around twenty must be like a newborn to an elf.
“There’s no need to return to that filthy world. Let’s live here together, Master… Do you intend to devote your short life to something like revenge?”
A sense of unease had crept into her normally clear voice.
The hand caressing my bangs stopped, and another hand from near her chest pressed down heavily on me.
Physically it was light pressure, but mentally a very heavy emotion was weighing down on me.
Images of shackles or collars came to mind unbidden.
Not a dark emotion, but a restraint made purely of warmth.
Her proposal to be together was so sweet it could rot every tooth, sweet enough that giving up everything else wouldn’t be a waste.
“No.”
“Ah….”
But I lightly brushed aside her hand and rose from my spot.
A slow life spent in the elven forest wouldn’t be bad, but I had no intention of spending my second life, which I’d grasped by chance, like a retired old man.
Just as I had met Estella by crossing dimensions, I had no regrets about the choices I’d made until now.
But for ten years, I had lived suppressing myself for half of my second life.
I had a premonition that hiding away like this, fleeing, would bring regret instead.
“…Humans are truly heartless. Always at crucial moments. I cared for you ever since you were shorter than me….”
“Stop grumbling and help me train, Master. I’ve nowhere else to go, so I’ll be in your care for a while.”
The rejected Estella cast her eyes down gloomily.
But at the following words, light returned to her eyes.
“For a while? Not just staying a few days as usual?”
“Perhaps a month or two?”
“It’s your first time staying long-term in this world! Hehe. If you call me Mama, I’ll help you?”
Though she wore a bright expression, Estella stubbornly insisted on the word “mama.”
At this point, it didn’t seem like a joke—she genuinely seemed to be aiming for the position of stepmother.
“…Why are you so obsessed with being my mom?”
“My contribution to raising young Master was not insignificant! Call me!”
Even when I tried to ignore her, Estella clung tenaciously.
How many minutes did we tussle like that?
Completely worn out, I finally uttered the word she wanted in a small voice.
Mom.
A word I hadn’t called anyone since my reincarnation.
Calling my unrelated teacher by that title brought a strange sense of shame.
“Kyaaa! So cute! Again! Please call me again!”
An elf’s exceptional hearing reacted even to that small voice.
Estella, who was quite advanced in age, shamelessly shrieked with bliss.
‘What’s cute about a fully grown man?’
Toward her, who coveted the position of stepmother, I wanted to say that I saw her purely as a woman rather than anything like a mother.
Conveying that sentiment was more difficult than I’d thought.
***
March 2nd.
The day of the Academy entrance ceremony.
From martial force to miscellaneous administrative procedures.
Without anyone’s interference, preparations were smoothly completed.
“…Looking back, our son has become quite manly too. Just a few years ago he was only cute, but now I have to look up at him.”
“Wasn’t our first meeting when I was fourteen? I was still growing then. More importantly, don’t slyly call me your son. Estella.”
“Yes, yes. Master Siu. You are truly heartless.”
Estella grumbled but carefully tightened my necktie.
The Academy was an educational institution like a university, so there were no uniforms, but I still needed to dress appropriately.
Since traditional households ran in succession there, there was a tendency to obsess over such pointless formalities, and
there was also my intention to conspicuously display that I was alive and well.
Better than being looked down on for cheap attire.
Money came easily by melting down and selling gold coins from the other world.
“Otherworld attire is truly refined. It makes the kingdom’s nobles look like nouveau riche.”
To the point that she, from a completely different culture, exclaimed in admiration, everything I wore was made of luxury goods.
A perfectly tailored black suit, black tie, and black dress shoes.
Even the accessories I’d newly made into one-time-use artifacts.
If the fallen outcast, who should have been living miserably, was instead living comfortably and well, what reactions would Choe Taeseong and Gong Seoyul show upon seeing me?
“I’ll be back. Now that I don’t have to mind the clan’s gaze, I’ll visit often.”
“…Those are the words I wanted to hear most. I will wait for you forever.”
With her farewell behind me, I activated Dimension Crossing.