Chapter 151
Chapter 151
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 151
>Chapter Title: Did You Burn Incense by Any Chance?
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
That solemn atmosphere didn’t last long.
“……Here it is.”
Pen No. 1 guided me to a door and turned away.
For a split second, his glance back seemed laced with killing intent, but that was probably just my imagination. No way, between fellow mages.
Anyway, I opened the door and stepped in. There sat Parun at a massive desk.
“Don’t you know what knocking is?”
“I did it.”
“Who do you take for an idiot?”
Parun shot me a cold glare and closed the documents he’d been holding.
Then he claimed the prime seat on the reception sofa.
‘……What a shame.’
Smacking my lips in regret at losing the best spot, I plopped down on the floor opposite him.
“By the way, how many days has it been, and you’re already right at home?”
I’d heard he’d given me an empty office, but he looked perfectly comfortable here, like it was his own.
That was when my gaze landed on Parun’s forehead.
“Cut the nonsense and get to the point…… What are you staring at?”
“By any chance, did you build a nest…… No, a lid. Hmm, not that either. That thing on your head…… Eh. Never mind.”
I chose silence.
They say speaking out takes courage, but misguided courage only brings disaster.
This was exactly that situation.
Ignoring Parun’s icy stare, I changed the subject.
“I’ve got a question.”
“About the Infinite Chain?”
“Well, sort of, but not really.”
Truth be told, I hadn’t come to see Parun about the Infinite Chain.
But how to put it.
“Perfect timing. The Infinite Chain is truly fascinating.”
Parun looked itching to talk.
I hadn’t realized he had this side to him, but if I didn’t ask, it felt like his contempt for me would tick up by one notch.
So I did.
“What’s so fascinating?”
“Weren’t you curious? The one and only artifact known to possess absolute tracking. Lortel had it but never used it. Why do you think that was?”
“Tricky to use?”
That was the common guess for why Lortel didn’t utilize the Infinite Chain.
If it were simple, there’d be no reason for Lortel not to use it.
But apparently, my answer fell short.
“And?”
Parun asked again.
I pondered deeply.
Then answered.
“Because it’s an artifact with a tricky usage method?”
It was a witty response, if I do say so myself.
A nice play on words.
But Parun was the type who didn’t get wordplay.
“A so-called mage like you. That magic from the other day…… Sigh.”
What, so what? Mages aren’t a big deal. Make a core, cast spells, done.
‘I mean, come on. I pierced Transcendence, right? I did it all!’
But what answer was he looking for?
He provided it himself.
“You really think it’s just tricky to use? Even if it’s a famed swordsmanship house, do you believe the great Lortel left this precious artifact gathering dust just because of a tricky method?”
“……”
Now that he mentioned it, that made sense.
‘Yeah, someone like Lortel could rope in renowned mages somehow.’
Even if using the Infinite Chain required heaps of rare materials, Lortel would’ve made it work.
Even if those materials were a one-of-a-kind gem, usable only once……
‘That one use would’ve tracked down something massive and claimed it.’
But Lortel hadn’t.
Occasionally used it when a family secret went missing, and even then, instances of extra gains from absolute tracking were rare.
Like, for example…… yeah.
‘Stuff like the magic armor Kallium, whose existence is known but whereabouts unknown. Could’ve found those too.’
But hold on.
A doubt crept in as I thought that far.
‘Then what about me in my past life?’
Lortel and I, our memories now erased. Just the two of us.
In those memories, I ran, Lortel pursued.
On moonlit nights, we exchanged sword and spell in quiet hillsides, and at dawn, we bantered—you’re the dog, no you’re the dog—puppy, calf, asking after each other’s parents, trading blessings.
How many friendship stabs did I eat back then!
I’d never been stabbed that much since.
But why couldn’t I shake Lortel’s pursuit then?
‘……Absolute tracking.’
Right, the Infinite Chain.
If comrades hadn’t rescued me midway, and if Lortel hadn’t withdrawn for some unknowable reason.
She probably would’ve chased me to the continent’s edge and taken my head.
Back then, I just shrugged it off, but now a question arose.
‘If it’s trickier than tricky…… how did she use the Infinite Chain back then?’
The tracking was near-instant.
Bad luck? No, that wasn’t it. I hadn’t eaten the wyvern yet then.
Just as a sense of injustice started bubbling up, Parun’s voice rang in my ear.
“There’s something Lortel never revealed publicly.”
“No way……!”
“Got a hunch? Then this’ll be quick……”
“Sorry. I just wanted to try that once.”
“……”
Parun’s contempt for me rose by one. Or maybe more.
Before, it was trash-level gaze; now it was food waste in an instant.
Anyway, Parun wrinkled his nose like he smelled something foul and continued.
“The Infinite Chain was an unusable item.”
“……?”
What, was he saying I got scammed?
“More precisely…… it’s an item that’s always active.”
“Always active?”
“Yeah, hold on.”
Parun fished a paper from the stacks of documents—the research papers penned by the academy’s Pen staff.
“Look at this paper…… Nah. Forget it. I’ll just explain. Simple enough for a goblin to get.”
Good call.
But as I listened, I thought:
‘Professor, this lecture gets an F.’
No goblin, not even academy assistants, could follow this.
Mana flowing from the Infinite Chain this, ambient mana reactions that.
Dozens of theories just to explain one phenomenon, four or five mage-scholars namedropped.
Anyway.
“So, to sum up……”
“Yeah, go on.”
“The Infinite Chain, from the moment it was found, was continuously tracking ‘something,’ right?”
“Hm, a step above goblin.”
What did Parun think of academy students? If this was his goblin benchmark……
Whew, tragic.
But wait.
“……So we got scammed?”
“……”
What.
“It’s unusable, right? Sounds like a total scam.”
“……Do you never consider there might be another way?”
“……Is there?”
“Your distrust of humanity is impressive.”
“……”
Am I the problem?
Think about it. After slaving away like hell to get it, turns out it’s defective.
Knowing full well the original owner used it.
What would anyone think?
‘Did I get played for a sucker?’
Yeah, scam’s the natural conclusion.
But Parun thought differently.
“It’s absolute tracking. Yet there’s an item under absolute tracking that evades detection.”
“And?”
“I’ve said this much and…… sigh.”
Ah, now I got what Parun was driving at.
He was talking about the ‘target’ the Infinite Chain was pursuing.
Catching on, Parun finally smirked coldly, satisfied.
“Looks like even you get it now.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded proudly.
“An item that evades absolute tracking…… not your average artifact, huh?”
“Right. And moreover……”
“Super expensive, I bet.”
“……”
Parun’s lips clamped shut like a clam again.
The silence didn’t last.
“Don’t you think we could discover a way to counter ‘absolute tracking’? Do you have any idea how massive a breakthrough that’d be for mage history?”
“Why would I think that?”
“You really a mage?”
“……”
That was harsh.
I’m a transcendence-piercing mage, you know.
Halfway there……
‘Pretty sure I’ve got some chops.’
Grand mage material.
Parun’s gaze at me was no different from one at a goblin.
* * *
“What am I even saying to you.”
Parun shook his head in exasperation and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lighting up.
Did Parun smoke? A fleeting doubt, but mages who didn’t were the rarity.
“I’ll explain how to use it. Practical usage, devoid of any academic value—that’s what interests you, right?”
Resigned, Parun spat out the usage he’d grasped, words barbed.
“According to the paper, derived from Bebshup theory……”
……And so on, omitted.
My brain rejects knowledge.
Anyway, a slightly smarter-than-goblin me summed it up like this.
‘So, we tweak the artifact’s target a bit.’
For example.
Say there’s Person A and Person B.
Infinite Chain tracks ‘Person A.’ But we want to track ‘Person B’?
Disrupt the Infinite Chain’s magic tracking ‘A,’ erase ‘A’ subtly, insert ‘B.’
Simple, right?
‘Simple my ass.’
Sure, like swapping one letter in theory, but reality was vastly more complex and arcane.
Of course, I understood it all, but Parun already explained details, so no need to dwell.
Back to the point.
What if we want ‘Goblin C’ instead of ‘Person A’?
Yeah.
‘That’s where it goes insane.’
A and B share species at least; Goblin C is a whole other lifeform.
That’s why Lortel never fully leveraged the Infinite Chain.
But hold on.
A sudden thought made my eyes twitch.
“……So we didn’t need to go through all that hell?”
Why the hell in Lortel?
Decullan goons hunting Heavenly Origin Art or its thesis.
But now it sounded like a non-issue from the start……
“No. We absolutely had to get the Infinite Chain.”
“……?”
I tilted my head.
Parun calmly dispelled my doubt.
“Lortel’s analysis: the Infinite Chain is pursuing a ‘book’ or ‘something containing text.’”
Ah, got it.
I sighed in relief—our struggles weren’t for nothing.
And it explained my past-life pursuit by Lortel. I’d swiped their secret back then.
How she activated it so instantly? Whatever, their secret—they’d have a way.
But wait.
“‘A book or something containing text’?”
“That’s right.”
“When was the Infinite Chain discovered?”
“No idea. It wandered the continent before Lortel claimed it.”
“So it’s ancient, and the target never changed once?”
“At least, if Lortel’s investigation holds.”
Smells fishy. Really fishy.
“Did you burn incense by any chance?”
“……?”
Joking.
But the suspicion was real.
‘An item under absolute tracking yet undiscovered. A book or text-bearer……’
Could it be?
Only one such thing came to mind.
Yeah. A grimoire.