Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Reunion(?) (2)
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"Teacher Pamon!"
The faces of those who had coveted Rishir's position as her disciple were unknown to them.
It was a face that would have made their heads burn with jealousy if they had seen it.
A long-awaited reunion with his teacher.
Rishir's face broke into a wide smile as he expressed his joy.
Pamon, too, clasped her dainty arms together before spreading them wide to show her delight.
Soft and gentle. Sweet and beaming.
Her already vibrant smile bloomed even brighter.
"My disciple Rishir~"
Pamon kept her arms spread wide.
It was a gesture meaning, come here and let me hug you.
"Aw."
Rishir chuckled awkwardly and shook his head.
"Don't be like that~"
Pamon let out a cute whine, 'Euuung~', prodding her adorable disciple.
"No. Thinking about it, this doesn't feel like the kind of touching moment that calls for a hug."
Rishir's face turned stern and serious.
"Huh?"
"Anyone seeing this might think we were forcibly separated and dramatically reunited. Like a reunion between an abandoner and the abandoned."
"Abandoner and abandoned? What do I do, Duran~ Rishir's gotten all gloomy~"
-Well, wouldn't anyone turn out like that after being abandoned by the abandoner after just a week?
"Is my title set in stone as the abandoner? Nooo~"
Pamon covered her face with both hands and let out a playful wail.
-Anyway, well said, Rishir. Never play along with this one's antics. It'll just spoil her.
"Leave it to me. Separately, it's good to see you too, Duran. Hearing your voice after so long... it feels really nice. Yes. This must be the emotion of a reunion. Thanks to you, I'm feeling this warmth. How have you been?"
-Good to see you too, Rishir. Seeing you're doing well puts my mind at ease.
"It's all thanks to the teachings of Duran, who is like a teacher to me."
-Hm? Have I taught you enough to deserve such words?
"The same goes for you, Teacher."
-That's so annoyingly logical! You clever little punk! How'd you get even smarter while we were apart? You pretty thing! Maybe I should just squeeze you tight!
Even though I'm a book!
The talking grimoire added cheerfully.
"Nooo~ My disciple and the grimoire are hitting it off~ Duran, you're a book and all, but still."
The lively, playful atmosphere continued for a moment.
"...Well, enough joking around."
Rishir soon turned serious as he addressed Pamon.
"Good to see you, Teacher. I hope you've been well."
Rishir felt his heart pounding.
He wanted to show his teacher his growth as soon as possible.
And if possible—
"Heh heh."
Rishir's eyes gleamed slyly.
It was the gaze of a stray dog returned from hell.
The dark elf sensed the murderous intent(?) and her vibrant smile twitched.
"My disciple... you're okay, right~?"
-I don't know the details, but your disciple seems to have grown incredibly strong. Excessively so. Someone might need to get nervous.
"Nervous~?"
-Anyway, never mind that. Tell her about that first. She clearly thinks this is a 'real' reunion with us. I can already feel a twinge of guilt starting to creep in.
Rishir tilted his head at Duran's words.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh. Well~ Rishir. See, the me and Duran you're looking at right now... How should I put it..."
An illusion?
Pamon pondered, tapping her cheek with her index finger, before the word slipped from her mouth.
"An illusion?"
"Hm~ Actually, 'memory' might be a better way to describe it."
"...Ah, I see. So this place is a space created by your magic, Teacher. And the you and Duran here are like—clones made from your memories or egos from the time the magic was created—"
"Oh my~ My disciple. So clever. Tell you one thing, and you get ten, huh?"
-The more I see, the more ridiculous it is. What crime did this clever kid commit to end up as your disciple?
Rishir watched the two converse so vividly, fascinated.
It felt exactly like having the real people in front of him, yet it was all an illusion.
"To think you can use magic like this. You're amazing, Teacher."
"Right? Right? Teacher's amazing, isn't she? Lucky you, having me as your teacher?"
-See? It'll spoil her rotten.
"Then..."
Rishir observed Pamon closely.
Mainly her outfit and the length of her hair.
Soon, he nodded as if understanding.
"So, the you two talking to me now are the you two from when we parted ways."
Right now.
The teacher was meeting her future disciple—
And the disciple was meeting his past teacher.
As the disciple felt a strange thrill from that special experience,
"Curious why I prepared this, aren't you?"
A sly playfulness underlay her vibrant expression.
And anticipation for his reaction.
Rishir realized the meaning of the situation from her look.
It was a gift.
A surprise gift his teacher had prepared for him.
"Yes, Teacher. I'm so curious I can barely breathe."
"Oh no~ Then I have to help my disciple breathe soon."
Clap clap.
Elegant applause, like a noblewoman summoning her butler.
The surroundings began to change in response.
Color and form were added to the space that had only void and pure white.
"This is..."
Rishir looked around.
He was suddenly standing in the middle of the Bendel mansion.
"Your teacher found something fun in the Bendel vault, you know?"
A memory stone.
That was the item Pamon mentioned.
"A memory stone?"
"Yep. Just like the name, it's a stone that remembers everything around it. Absorbs information, you could say? The objects and people in that environment, their states and actions, even their behaviors. The magic making up this space we're in now? It was made using that memory stone."
Pamon approached Rishir and took his hand in hers.
"What do you think? Vivid, right?"
"I've been thinking that since earlier. For an illusion made through magic... it's too lifelike."
"Exactly. This illusion created with the memory stone isn't just a simple illusion."
Hm.
How to put it.
As Pamon fiddled with Rishir's hand in thought,
-Think simply, Rishir. You're in the past right now.
"Ah..."
After hearing Duran, the surroundings started to look entirely different.
"Over there!"
"Yes! The intruder's at that spot—"
The Bendel mansion knights were moving busily.
Rishir racked his memory.
Back then.
Right before parting with his teacher.
What event around that time would make the mansion this chaotic?
"No way. Am I right now at the moment Teacher 'visited' the Bendel mansion?"
Poke.
Pamon tapped the tip of Rishir's nose.
"Correct~"
Pamon pinched Rishir's cheek with her fingers as she continued.
"This magic activates when Rishir meets certain conditions and reaches a specific realm."
"A specific realm meaning—"
"Have you ever thought, my disciple? About showing off your majestic side to those nasty Bendel folks who looked down on you, making them regret it—"
-Rishir. I'm warning you ahead of time: I tried to stop her.
Ignoring Duran's weary voice, Pamon drew close and gazed at Rishir.
"Don't you think the current you could do it?"
Her vibrant expression seemed somehow excited.
Like an adolescent boy entertaining dark but thrilling fantasies.
It was an expression she could make because she knew her beloved disciple's circumstances and backstory.
In other words, Pamon was saying,
"Are you telling me to go and topple the Bendel Family?"
This magic was a gift from teacher to disciple upon reaching a certain realm.
A chance for self-actualization given to the bastard who gained enough power to stage a fun little rebellion in the family.
Of course, all under the assumption that the bastard wanted that.
"Yeah. Sound fun?"
The teacher checked her disciple's reaction with her signature vibrant smile.
And soon.
A similar smile spread across the disciple's face.
"Does it ever."
He grinned playfully as he looked around the mansion.
"That does sound fun."
-My god, like teacher, like disciple.
Ignore the book's lament.
The teacher, thrilled, grabbed Rishir's hand tightly.
"Right? Right~ It'll be fun~ So, shall we get started?"
Pamon.
Mana rose at her gesture.
Just as Pamon was about to provide magical assistance to Rishir—
No matter how much the disciple had grown,
He still seemed immature in his teacher's eyes.
"Ah, Teacher. Could you wait a moment?"
"Hm? Nervous? Worried? Don't be. Put all those negative feelings aside. Your teacher will be right here helping you."
"It's not that—"
Rishir checked his body.
The teacher talking to him.
The environment around him.
All of it was stuck in the past, but he was not.
Rishir looked down at his hand and focused his mind.
A blue lotus blade appeared in his grasp.
"Huh?"
-Hm? Rishir. What's with the sword?
Pamon and Duran voiced their confusion.
"Yes? Oh."
Rishir confidently held up the sword.
"Truth is, I've made some pretty impressive achievements with the sword. Even got recognition from some great figures."
-Great figures? What, did a sword master acknowledge you or something?
Duran meant it as light teasing for abandoning magic for another path.
'This kid. Still hung up on not getting his father's recognition? That's why he's obsessing over the sword needlessly—'
By his standards.
The common standards, pursuing both magic and sword was impossible.
"Oh, how'd you know?"
-?
But Rishir's response.
"As expected of you, Duran. Did you see through it?"
-No, did I... Rishir. You serious?
"Yes?"
-No, I mean... what about magic? Is this some kind of protest? About Pamon abandoning you after a week—
"My disciple~ Is it true~? Did my Rishir go astray because of his teacher~?"
"Ah. No way. How could I abandon magic? It's the turning point of my life and the link between me and Teacher. I've been diligently training in it too."
"Oh my~ So poetic. Teacher's moved~"
Pamon, ecstatic, kidnapped Rishir into her embrace.
Mmff.
As the bound Rishir stayed muffled, Duran spoke.
-Is that so? Good to hear...
Hm?
He tilted his head midway.
Book or not.
-Did I hear wrong? Rishir, did you just say magic too?
"Mmff... Mm! Y-yes, but?"
-...?
Was it his imagination?
Rishir felt Duran's dazed stare.
-You... what the hell have you been up to?
"A lot happened in the past few months."
-Well, it's been quite a while since we parted, so... Wait. A few months?
"Yes?"
-So you're saying this magic activated less than a year after we parted? In just a few months?
"Yeah?"
-You reached that realm in a few months?
"Luck was on my side in many ways."
-No...
That wasn't something luck could explain.
Not even chugging spirit elixirs like water could justify it.
Duran swallowed his confusion.
-Pamon, say something.
"But I'm confused too~ I knew Rishir was talented, but I never imagined this much."
Pamon crossed her arms, deep in thought.
She tried to accept Rishir's words, his changes,
But it wasn't easy.
"Well, whatever."
She shrugged eventually.
"That's not what's important now. Right, Rishir?"
"Exactly, Teacher."
-Damn it. I give up.
Their gazes converged on one spot.
The head of the Bendel Family.
Idor Bendel.
He was charging toward them at tremendous speed from the opposite side.
To subdue the intruder who had breached the family.
"Rishir. You sure you don't need help?"
"Your presence alone is all the support and backup I need, Teacher."
"Eek~"
Pamon clutched her chest like she'd been shot with an arrow of happiness, pretending to collapse blissfully.
Leaving her behind, Rishir stepped forward.
"...!"
Idor's body halted abruptly in place.
"Rishir...?"
The ruthless family head's eyes shook as he looked at the bastard.
"Why are you here..."
The bastard had defied the family head's will and fled the family.
Taking the Bendel lady, the family's pride, with him.
Upon learning this, the head had moved to take immediate action when the intrusion occurred, leading to the current situation.
Idor gathered his thoughts briefly before speaking.
"Rishir. Are you the one behind this intrusion?"
"Whoa. Look at that expression. So realistic."
"What?"
"Ah, no. Just talking to myself. Ignore it. Anyway, what did you say? That I'm leading this intrusion?"
Hm.
Rishir pondered, then gave a wry smile.
"Well, you could say that. In several ways."
"..."
The ruthless head stared silently at the bastard before speaking.
"Who are you? Reveal your identity."
The man before him was so different from the bastard he knew.
"My god. You forgot my face in the meantime too?"
That relaxed aura.
Above all, that immeasurable realm.
Idor's sense of wrongness peaked.
His body was already moving.
The Bendel sword.
The hero's sword unfolded from the high knight's hand.
The distance between them closed in an instant. Then the slash.
It was a speed and power the bastard Idor knew could never match in a lifetime.
Clang!
But a fierce metallic clash erupted.
"...!"
Astonishment crossed Idor's face.
The bastard had parried his slash with a relaxed motion.
It was impossible in his mind.
And intolerable to his pride.
Idor pushed back the sword and created distance from Rishir.
"That power. Did you sell your soul to a demon?"
"What do you think? Do you see me as the type?"
"It seems I indulged you far too much."
"I agree. You left me be for far too long."
Idor steadied his stance and glared at Rishir.
"I'll teach you. How meaningless power gained the wrong way is. Make you realize it yourself."
Come.
Show me your full power.
Idor intoned arrogantly.
"Full power..."
Rishir nodded.
"Understood."
As Idor braced for the incoming sword strike,
Whoosh!
A curtain of gray-white flames enclosed them.
Whoooosh!
A fierce sandstorm swallowed Idor.
"Here I go."
Rishir gripped his sword firmly.
"Wait...!"
Idor cried out unwittingly.
The same moment.
"Hm?"
A dark elf tilted her head.
Her soft brows furrowed.
Soon, she murmured softly.
"No way... already...?"