◈ Episode 211. This Is No Situation for Exchanging Pleasantries (2)『Space-Time』, or the [Old-Timer Community].
There was a gap between reality and the Arcana Continent. I had already confirmed that as the old-timer community, which had only existed as a setting, became realized as Space-Time, several elements had been added.
From the community being embodied as a social hall, to duels in Space-Time taking place in the Colosseum. Of course, even amid such changes, there was one principle that did not change.
Space-Time was a place solely for Transcendents.
Whether it was a Circle.
Or Swift Swordsmanship.
Or, if not that, someone like me, who had thrown Gamigin into hell.
Someone who had achieved a feat so astonishing that anyone would be shocked.
A Transcendent, in the truest sense of the word.
One had to possess the “standing” to be called an old-timer.
It feels awkward to say this with my own mouth, but.‘In other words, one has to be exceptional.’I had no way of knowing how long Space-Time had existed on the Arcana Continent. But considering even the demanding qualification test, the number of Transcendents could not be large.‘The ones I witnessed numbered roughly a dozen or so.’Considering the long history of the Arcana Continent, that truly meant.
Only those who had left their mark on an era could enter Space-Time.‘It feels like I’m gilding my own face.’But what is my specialty? Knowing my place.
I know.
The fact that I came to possess the standing of a Transcendent.
Was not due to my ability alone.
The special circumstances of the Demon King Battle, which had opened the gates of hell. On top of that, through [Akshan’s Legacy],
it had been possible because I had the cooperation of the Akshan seniors summoned from hell.
That was why I could say with certainty.
At the present point in time, among players, excluding myself, there should be no one capable of entering Space-Time. Even taking into account that level is nothing but a number, or the variable of a hidden class.
At the present point in time, Space-Time was not a realm that players could dare to covet.
Click─That was why I moved my feet.
The social hall of Space-Time, where players could not enter.
Truly out of nowhere.
Toward the “pointed hat” that had appeared at a table.
A large pointed hat.
Its face was hidden, so I could not see it.
But the flowing blond hair was unmistakable.
It was Jesse Heinness.
I opened my mouth.
“Reveal your identity.”
Clack─At my words, someone in Jesse’s appearance put down the teacup they were holding.‘……
Wait.’At times like this, Grandfell’s madness for tea proved useful.
Because I could tell from the wafting aroma that it was black tea.
Yes, that was precisely.
Another reason both I and Grandfell could be certain.
Jesse had been the only one.
-“I’m sorry! As expected, tea really doesn’t taste good!”
The person who had left behind the green tea I served.
It was not because the tea bag green tea was cheap.
According to Jesse’s excuse that was not quite an excuse, from coffee to black tea.
She confessed that, in truth, she could not even bring herself to drink any kind of tea.
She had said it with her own mouth.
“Could it be that you have already forgotten my name?”
So that kind of acting will not work.
And if you are going to act, do it properly.
At that point, you should end your words with an exclamation point, not a question mark.
“I will ask one last time.”
“……?”
“Reveal your identity.”
I felt it anew, but my voice was truly cold.
Thanks to that, Jesse too…….
No, not Jesse.
The one acting as Jesse, too.
Seemed to have given up early on pretending not to know.
Slide─The pointed hat moved slowly.
A face was revealed beneath the pointed hat.
An unfamiliar manner of speech reached my ears.
“What could it be? How did you notice? Nothing changed.”
Nothing changed, you say.
The fact that there are no exclamation points in your pupils.
Makes it obvious at a glance that you are not Jesse.‘No way.’Still, I suppose there was no helping this occupational disease of mine.
The outward appearance was Jesse Heinness, but the mind was not Jesse Heinness.
The first thing that came to mind was the possibility of demonic possession.‘No, there is no smell.’Moreover, [Natural Enemy Relationship]
had not activated either.
So this time, it was not another case of everything beginning and ending with demons?
Was that why? It only made me even more curious.
Who are you?
“I wasn’t particularly trying to deceive you. I just wanted to play a little prank. If I could pull out what’s inside my head and show it to you, you would understand my playfulness right away.”
Once the clumsy acting was cast aside, the atmosphere changed completely.
The drawn-out voice here and there was brimming with composure.
Should I say it carried the seasoned air of someone who had weathered every hardship?
In this situation.
You could tell just from the way they sat with their legs crossed.
Fortunately for me, however.
“Of course, it must be difficult to accept, yes? If I am to explain the whole story behind this situation, I think it will become rather lengthy…….”
There was no edge to their attitude.
Soon, their gaze turned toward the chair opposite them.
Of course, that did not mean I was the sort of great man who would obediently follow someone else’s words. When I ignored the silent suggestion and stood upright, staring at them, the someone wearing Jesse’s face murmured slyly.
“Ah, right. Formality. The most important thing, and I forgot.”
Then they brought up the menu of the social hall.
“I will at least treat you to some tea, so may we talk?”
Live by formality, die by formality.
At the polite speech, I sat down in the seat across from them.
Unfortunately.‘My original purpose was the Transcendent riding a broom, but…….’At present, her figure was nowhere to be seen in the social hall.
And now that I had realized Jesse was not Jesse.
This was not something I could simply let pass either.
Why?
Whoever it was that had taken over Jesse’s body.
On this side, every single person was precious.‘Jesse Heinness is one of humanity’s key forces.’Her class was none other than Archmage.
I had heard that Jesse’s potential had been famous since the days when Arcana was nothing more than a game.
NPCs that ordinary players would not even be able to speak to were friendly toward Jesse. She had even been acquainted with Harkon, after all.
So let us hear this whole story.
“Shall I order the same black tea as mine for you?”
At those words, I looked at the teacup on the table.
Regrettably, green tea did not exist in the social hall of Space-Time.
Knowing that fact.
Had I not already finished sufficient doping with green tea before coming here?
Thanks to that, I spoke without lingering attachment.
“Skip the idle talk and get to the point.”
I continued in an even colder voice.
“We are not on terms where we can leisurely enjoy teatime together.”
When in truth, black tea simply was not to your taste.
If it had been green tea, you would have happily accepted and drunk it.
Do not add such plausible-sounding reasons, Grandfell…….
*
Who was the greatest mage of the current age?
Before the Cataclysm.
Such a question would often drift about the Arcana Continent.
It could not be helped.
To ordinary people, mages could only be objects of admiration.
Fire Dragon, Karimjeva.
Eternal Snow, Senios.
The Gentle Giant, Yugwid, and so on…….
Moreover, magic was something in which mutually devouring affinities existed.
Just as rock-paper-scissors without a correct answer is the most fun.
There was no correct answer to the question of who the greatest mage of the age was, but it was a good question to chatter about.
Then a question naturally followed.
If there was no clear strongest.
Why, then, was the Archmage called the Archmage?
Some mages had said this.
“Leaving ability aside, Archmage is closer to an epithet.”
“Their nature is different from ordinary mages.”
“They cannot become a subject of comparison, that side.”
“How could one compare a unique existence to others?”
Yes, Archmage was not a position one seized.
One was merely chosen as the Archmage.
That the adventurer Jesse Heinness was chosen as such an Archmage.
Was something no one had expected.
Not even the Emperor of the Empire.
“Perhaps this, too, is the grace of the goddess.”
For the Empire, which had always had to watch the Magic Tower’s mood, it was an unparalleled opportunity.
If they could bring Jesse, the Archmage, to their side.
They would no longer have to tremble forever before the unstable factor that was the Magic Tower.
However.
“A variable upon a variable.”
The Magic Tower did not remain still either.
Perhaps that was why.
As an exception, they permitted Jesse, an adventurer, to enter the Magic Tower.
They skipped the qualification verification process and granted her the rank of apprentice mage.
Who was it that made such a bold decision?
Not the Chief, of course.
Not even the Elder Mages could make such a decision.
That is right, everything was the will of the Tower Master.
Just before the Tower Master lost consciousness.
And floated within the sphere of mana.
The sole message in the letter he had written concerned the handling of Jesse Heinness.
Up to this point was the Archmage as known to the public.
And the current Archmage.
That was the information regarding Jesse Heinness.
“But was that really the end of it?”
Jesse’s shell twitched.
“Mages are fundamentally arrogant beings. As the Chief of the Magic Tower, do you not know that better than anyone? That there is no such thing as a master-and-disciple relationship among mages.”
Elder, Chief, Senior, Adept, Apprentice.
The mages of the Magic Tower were divided into five ranks.
However, no rank could be called master and disciple.
Even Senior and Adept mages, who could be considered relatively close, were merely in a cooperative relationship; during the period of Senior selection, depending on the case, they often became competitors.
“Could the Archmage have suppressed that nature?”
The corners of their eyes curved.
That unfamiliar smiling gaze reminded me once more.
That this was not Jesse.
But another person wearing Jesse’s shell.
“Master and disciple, huh……. There may have been one or two who thought that way. Well, I would say the majority, including myself, were not like that.”
Tap─A finger touched the brim of the pointed hat.
“If I have said this much, have you understood?”
To summarize, it was like this.
The former Archmages existed as consciousnesses dwelling within the “pointed hat.”
Their purpose was to witness the extreme that lay beyond the realm of magic.
The optimal method to reach that extreme was precisely.
The single-successor inheritance that the Archmages had passed down.
“Why are you saying nothing? Is it because the true nature of the Archmage is completely different from what you thought? Chief Lee, you are also a mage, after all, so I thought you would understand my heart.”
Those eyes narrowed even further, like crescent moons.
“They say the shackles called the body narrow one’s insight. Then what would the world look like through a new body? Beyond that, what would the world look like through the body of an adventurer born in another world, not the Arcana Continent?”
That was right.
That was the reason Jesse Heinness had been chosen as the vessel of the Archmage.
It was the decision of the Archmage “s” wearing Jesse’s face.
“Of course, it was possible because the person concerned understood everything and agreed. I do not know what change of heart she had, but recently, this child had been trying quite hard. Then she collapsed from mana exhaustion.”
The Archmage shrugged and said so.
“It means I can only pop out like this when this child loses consciousness, as she has now. Which consciousness manifests is purely luck. In that sense, was it heavenly luck for me?”
How long has it been since I last got to see the outside?
Their banter lasted only a moment.
One of the Archmages whispered.
“By the way, the gold coins allotted to me have run out……”
They lifted the emptied teacup.
“Could you buy me just one cup? No, could you please?”
At that, Hoyeol, who had finally remained silent until then, opened his mouth.
“Was it simply for the sake of witnessing the extreme of magic?”
“That’s right. In the Magic Tower’s terms, it is ‘truth.’ In fact, even without that, thanks to this child’s efforts, I feel that this truth is slowly coming into sight. Strangely enough, she understands that difficult concept, you see? [『Anomaly』].”
Of course, her understanding of magic is terrible.
But since we are here, that is nothing to worry about.
The Archmage added one final remark.
“This child was a vessel from the very beginning.”
That was clearly superfluous, and a mistake.
“Then that is regrettable.”
“……Regrettable?”
“The path toward Anomaly.”
That was neither arrogance nor indulgence.
They were words that could be spoken boldly because one possessed the qualifications to do so.
A voice full of certainty continued toward the Archmage.
“Because you will not be on that path.”...
Since she had cherished it so much.
I had guessed it was no ordinary pointed hat.
But I had never imagined that the consciousnesses of Archmages dwelled within it. And not just one or two, but so many I could not count them on my fingers……!
Of course, I did not flinch at the reason.
Eternal Snow, Elder Mage Senios.
It was thanks to him shattering my fantasies about mages properly long ago. I had seen with my own eyes and knew very well that mages were originally hopeless beings.
Moreover, Jesse herself must have known.
Jesse had been carrying out the Archmage class quest.
As long as the system, a privilege of players, existed, Jesse too would have grasped through the system window what result her actions were leading toward.
Suddenly, the Archmage’s words came to mind.
-“……I do not know what change of heart she had, but recently, this child had been trying quite hard.”
The Great Evil, the Demon King, and even the Zero Mountains.
A succession of situations in which one could not help but feel powerless.
Even so, Jesse must have overcome that powerlessness and stood up again.
Just as other players had sought out the Zero Mountains for growth. Jesse, too, must have been progressing through the Archmage class quest for the sake of growth.
Yes, that must have been Jesse’s pride.
But you know.
What, she was nothing more than a vessel?
To look down on another’s pride before Grandfell.
Archmages, you made a grave mistake.
“We will not be on that path?”
They seemed not to know what I was talking about.
Of course they would not.
That I was the founder of that [『Anomaly』].
And at the present point in time.
The one closest to the extreme of magic.
They could not possibly imagine it.
“From this moment forth.”
“……?”
So I am telling you not to misunderstand.
“I, the founder of Anomaly.”
“……What?”
I will make you know your place.
“Do not permit your approach toward Anomaly.”
“!!!”