169. Farewell (2)
“please·····. I hope to see you again. I will come to you with an image that I am not ashamed of.”
The basement of Merlin’s mansion.
Rothburn yells at Oliver and enters the aid-activated portal.
“Thank you for listening to my request.”
Merlin next to the portal was talking to a wizard.
Apparently, he was a member of the Elemental School branch where the children were staying.
He was quite old and had a lot of magical power, so he could have expected him to have a rather high status, but he kept his head slightly bowed all the time, listening to Merlin’s words, and nodding his head.
His emotions shone with a complex mixture of respect, fear, difficulty, and longing.
“·····no. It is an honor to have called you here. I will gladly accept the work entrusted to you.”
Oliver watched the conversation between Merlin and the wizard as they saw the children off.
It was pretty fresh.
All of the wizards Oliver met were full of confidence and pride, and always maintained a high-pressure attitude, but seeing them bowed down was even unfamiliar.
Is the hierarchy among wizards strict?
I thought there was no such thing as a warlock, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
“By the way, Gran-”
“-I’m just a retired old man now. Just call me Merlin.”
“Yes? How dare I.”
“Well, you call me that old man. It was nice to hear that word.”
“Old man. They say there’s something wrong with the School of Life lately-“
“-Can you give me a brief summary? Portal maintenance is no joke. I am a poor old man.”
“Ah, sorry. Then, when will you come back?”
“Let me talk about it a little bit later.”
“Oh, yes. sorry. then···.”
After the unknown conversation, the wizard bowed his head politely, glanced at Oliver, and entered the portal.
When he saw Oliver, his emotions were a mixture of wonder, doubt, jealousy, and anger, and it wasn’t something that could be called a good one.
I wondered if this would harm the kids, but I decided not to care.
There was nothing Oliver could do anyway, so from then on, the children had to take care of themselves. like it or not.
As the wizard entered the roaring purple portal, the portal’s entrance got smaller and smaller, becoming a small mass of magic, and then disappeared from the air.
It flickered and went out like a light bulb.
“Are you worried about the children?”
Merlin asked Oliver, who was staring at the place where the portal had disappeared.
“no.”
“okay?”
“Yeah, it’s not going to help me to worry anyway. Given the opportunity, it is up to them from now on.”
“You are cool.”
“is that so?”
“But that’s a good attitude. Because you are the only one who can save yourself… By the way, what do you see?”
“ah····. I was looking at the portal assistant. It also looks convenient.”
“Not convenient. There is no good reason that the Spatial School is currently the most promising school even though it lacks in scale and history compared to other schools.”
“is that so?”
Oliver asked, surprised.
Even though he worked as a solver for a long time, he didn’t know anything about the wizards yet.
So far, on this floor, the wizards are valuable manpower, so they are not divided into details, but are treated as a group.
“Sure. As always, mankind is at war with time, space and distance. However, the Spatial School uses magic to put an end to that fight. Of course, there is a lot of room for improvement.”
“If there is an improvement point, what specifically are you talking about?”
Merlin raised his hands and said.
“The procedure is too complicated and difficult. True magic is a corporation that must be activated with the magician’s natural magic and ability without such auxiliary tools, but in reality it is not.”
Merlin said, pointing to the portal aid in the basement of the mansion.
Come to think of it, there was a Spatial School wizard even when he was protecting Murphy’s Sorcerer’s Factory. Perhaps I remember using an auxiliary tool such as an arrow.
“There are not many wizards who can use portals without auxiliary tools, even within the Spatial School. 3 out of 10? From there, considering the distance and the amount it can move, it gets even smaller.”
Even though they are spatial studies, there are those who can use them properly. It was pretty shocking.
“So that’s why it’s so difficult. It requires not only the ability to control mana, but also an enormous amount of mana. Contrary to the delicate image.”
“What’s the magic power?”
“Just because the portal is open doesn’t mean you can move around. As the weight, mass, energy, etc., passing between the portals increase, it requires a tremendous amount of mana to maintain the portal. In that industry, they call it ‘service fee’.”
It’s a fee… I didn’t know the details, but I understood what he was trying to say.
Portal was not an all-around technology that could easily move anything if it was increased in size.
Apart from increasing the size of the passage, there were a lot of factors that needed to be taken care of, such as the amount of movement and distance, and there were many demands such as adjustment ability and the amount of horsepower.
“I didn’t know about that. It’s more complex and amazing than I thought.”
“You’re talking as if you’ve ever used it.”
“················ogue.”
“Have you tried it?”
“uh····. Yes, didn’t I tell you?”
***
Oliver pulled out an extra piece of paper he had made.
One in the right hand and the other in the left hand.
Woo…
Two portals formed on paper.
Merlin observed the portal silently.
Merlin’s emotions were blocked by a wall of magic and could not be read, but looking at his expression, he looked quite serious.
“·······Hmm.”
While observing for a while, Merlin gathered magical power like a bead in his fingertips and flicked it.
It was just a ball of magical power, and it wasn’t dangerous.
The magic orb that flew slowly entered Oliver’s portal and came out the other side.
Woo woo woo-pak.
The portal’s magical power ran out, and after a small contraction, it disappeared.
“How did you come to make it?”
Oliver folded the used paper and put it in his arms and spoke again.
After seeing the usefulness of space magic and thinking that it would be good to use it myself, I made this after several attempts.
As Merlin said, it was difficult to create a portal over a long distance without an aid, so he decided to use paper as a medium.
“You pretended to be me?”
“Yes, I was very impressed with the way you use paper. Are you offended by any chance?”
Merlin thought for a moment and shook his head.
“…No, it’s not unpleasant. just curious There’s a difference between trying to imitate and actually imitating it, isn’t it?”
Oliver tilted his head at the unfamiliar words.
Merlin waved his hand from side to side as if not to care, and resumed the conversation.
“I said I’ve used it more than that.”
“Yes, Kell Free Independence Army. At the time of suppression, I moved one corpse doll, and after that, two people, three zombies, and me. Used this 4 times. Luckily, there was no case where the fee mentioned earlier was insufficient.”
“Um, that’s right…. I’m lucky.”
“I think so too. What if the fee is insufficient?”
“The portal could explode or disappear into an unknown space.”
“An unknown space?”
“Yeah, like I said before, space magic has a short history. There is a wide scope for research.”
“ah····. okay.”
“It would be better to refrain from using it in the future.”
“Yes? Why?”
“Why, sorry?”
“Yes, it is very convenient.”
The words were sincere. It was much more advantageous to run away or move while planning.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Not only that, but he also showed considerable surprise in battle.By summoning Duncan, I was able to subdue an enemy who was not good at close combat, and in the case of a war mage, I was caught by a zombie.
“I’m sorry. Still, I advise you to refrain. Mattel… No, I ended up quietly with the School of Life, but the old man there is a bit obsessive. Knowing you’re talented will bother you. It’s not an order, but after seeing me, please refrain from using it.”
“ah····. Okay. But some people see or know what I use, is that ok?”
“Who saw it?”
Oliver talked about Arthur and the war wizard. We didn’t talk about the mission.
“A war mage?”
“Yes. He has dark hair and red skin. You say Elemental School, do you know? My name is Kevin Dunbar.”
“Did he even teach you his name?”
“Do you know each other?”
“Yeah, he’s a guy who joined the Elemental School even though he’s a red man with extraordinary talent…. I’m not usually very proud of myself, so I don’t say my name first, so I guess I really liked you.”
“I don’t think so, but I’m glad if it does.”
“What are you fighting for?”
“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can tell you that due to the nature of the mission.”
“Then, you shouldn’t have talked about it in the first place.”
“I don’t want to lie to an old man. After all, aren’t you my temporary teacher?”
“The provisional teacher, that is a very moving word.”
“That’s fortunate. In that sense, I hope you do not delve into this part too much.”
“It’s not a compliment… If you tell me how the fight went, I’ll do it.”
Merlin said, writing something in his notebook.
Seems pretty serious, Oliver described his battle with the war wizard Kevin, as instructed.
It was a very impressive fight for Oliver in his own way, so he wrote it down properly, and Merlin wrote it down with a serious expression throughout.
“Did you absorb Kevin’s magic?”
“Yes····. To be precise, I was only going to extract it, but Kevin forced it into my body. It makes you overload.”
“It’s the sensible way. But, were you okay?”
“Yes····.”
“A fast heartbeat, a tight neck, dizziness, a rise in body temperature, anything?”
“I didn’t check every single one, but there was nothing like that.”
Merlin was silent and spoke again.
“Take off your jacket and sit back for a moment. I have something to check.”
Oliver took off his jacket neatly, hung it next to him, and sat back down.
Merlin gathered the magical energy in his fingertips and placed it on Oliver’s body.
Magical energy entered Oliver’s body. And it didn’t just come in.
It spread magic like a thread and gave it a special magic, as if looking around, and entered Oliver’s body. It soon disappeared, though.
“·················ogue.”
“·················ogue.”
“Are you old?”
“this.”
“Why?”
“Looks like I am very tired. See you later.”
“Yes?”
“Why is there a law telling me not to fail? I have no mercy on old men.”
“No, I mean-”
“- An adult is talking, so don’t answer. No manners.”
“·················ogue.”
“Uh-huh, you don’t look at adults like that……. Anyway, I’m very tired today. Don’t make it this far today.”
Merlin suddenly ends the story. But Oliver was puzzled and unable to read Merlin’s emotions, so he just nodded.
Aside from being tired, he created a portal in an instant. Without the power of auxiliary tools, purely with his own magic.
It was not easy even within the Spatial School, but I suddenly had a question.
Merlin’s magic was large and large, but above all, there were no boundaries between schools.
Ice, lightning, and space I freely handled the magic of all schools as if it were my own.
“Why but?”
“If it’s not an excuse, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Don’t bother the old people, just go to the store, that’s why young people these days are… Don’t look at me with those eyes.”
Merlin shoved Oliver’s back into the portal, as if chasing a bird out of the yard.
Oliver had no choice but to obey.
When the portal disappeared after Oliver had left, Merlin, contrary to what he said was tired, relaxed and finished the notes he had made while talking to Oliver.
When he finished writing, Merlin stared at the notebook with a subtle expression on his face, left it on the desk, took a bottle of wine from the teacup and poured it.
Two words were prominently written in the notebook.
[Using magic outside the rules]
[Endless Magical Tank]
after-
Merlin muttered as he took a sip.
“It’s scary….”