chapter 33
Episode 33
I felt nothing.
“Tsk.”
To the boy in front of me, the sage felt truly nothing.
Someone might say,
If you face an unbeatable strongman, you will feel tremendous pressure.
That statement is half true and half false. If the strongman intends, it could happen.
But think about it.
Displaying dominance is ultimately to show one’s strength.
Those who are strong enough do not need to do so.
And that kind of strongman was the boy in front of me.
The sage, the pinnacle of all wizards.
“No, not just a boy.”
He is simply referred to as a boy for convenience, as his exact gender is not known for certain.
“Welcome.”
I smiled politely and asked the boy,
“You didn’t come directly as yourself, did you? Is this an illusion?”
The sage did not answer.
He just stared at me as if trying to confirm something from me.
And in that moment.
“Ha.”
Something began to squeeze me, pushing against me.
I couldn’t identify it, but it started from my ankles and squeezed me.
It’s an unpleasant feeling.
It feels like sinking into an endless abyss.
Is this it?
The Abyssal Eye.
Eyes of transcendental beings who have reached a level that ordinary humans dare not even think of.
Certainly, the sage had such eyes.
His eyes were like an approaching sea, swallowing the opponent’s soul in an instant and glimpsing its essence.
Even an ordinary person would completely expose their inner thoughts to the sage without a chance to intervene.
Thud, thud.
Nothing happened in reality, but it felt like seawater was rising from below.
“Tsk.”
Even if the opponent has no ill will, it’s still unpleasant.
With my eyes closed, I took a step forward. The sage’s Abyssal Eye tried to suppress my struggle.
But what can I do?
“In terms of the intensity of the soul alone, there is no reason for me to be intimidated.”
No, I might even consider myself superior.
The sensation I am feeling now is nothing more than an illusion.
I need to see the essence more clearly.
Then, there is only one thing I need to do.
Insight Eye.
A talent developed in the process of dealing with the fox’s mischief.
It’s a bit different, but ultimately, both are the same in that they allow me to see through and understand the essence of others.
Thud!
In that moment, I felt more comfortable.
No, not just comfortable. I felt the sage’s domain receding and giving way.
Another step there.
Thud!
That step left a mark on the floor with a loud noise.
And at the same time.
Whaack!
A gust of wind swept around, fundamentally blocking the interference of the sage’s Abyssal Eye.
“Huh…?”
For the first time, doubt flickered in the sage’s eyes as he saw it.
I looked at the sage and clicked my tongue.
“What a ridiculous farce.”
Suddenly, everything was back to normal. The sea and the abyss that were gradually eroding were gone.
There was only the sage staring at me with wide eyes.
“Even if it’s a basic habit to understand others’ essence, it’s quite unpleasant to do so without permission.”
“What have you done?”
The sage asked, surprised.
Then he approached me and began to inspect me closely.
“Strange? Really strange. It’s incredible how the soul and body are playing separately.”
“…”
“Could you be a possessor? There is no magical proof yet, but I am also considering the possibility of such existence.”
“…”
“Or maybe a half-god? With divine bloodlines mixed in. Or maybe it’s just a young body and you’re actually a lich who has prolonged their life… No, no, that wouldn’t make sense. A lich wouldn’t have skin. That’s too far-fetched. Even my ‘secret’ was seen through, so it’s not just a young one, but how…?”
“…”
I realized.
Waiting like this, his soliloquy would never end.
So I decided to stop him firmly.
“Stop.”
“…”
At my words, the sage stopped moving. Then he raised his head and looked at me absent-mindedly.
“I don’t like it.”
“…”
“There is still much I haven’t confirmed. Stopping at your words would be unreasonable. There are many things you’re curious about.”
The words almost choked him, but he held them back. After all, the sage wasn’t unaware of the existence of such beings.
Being swayed by such an attitude would only harm him.
“Even up to the point where the world was about to fall apart, he was eager to fill his thirst for knowledge.”
When the sage moves for the world, it’s not because he has some grand justice in mind.
It’s just more interesting that way.
Because it fulfills the sage’s curiosity.
Or perhaps, the growth of Jormungand is what hinders the sage’s curiosity…
That’s the kind of being the sage is.
It’s not easy to perceive his presence, as if he were more of a natural phenomenon than a living being, with nothing revealed about how long he has lived, what gender he is, or what race he is.
That’s why it’s not easy to notice his presence.
Because he’s “such a being” from the start.
There’s no need to understand, and even if you do, it’s useless.
“If you continue to act as you please, you won’t be able to satisfy your ‘curiosity.'”
“… Hmm.”
“Just remember that it’s me who’s holding the knife.”
“Understood.”
The sage quickly changed his attitude at these words.
With an expressionless face that showed no emotion, the sage nodded his head.
“I came here because you told me to.”
“I see.”
“I stopped at five magic experiments to come here. And three of the grade 0 magic tool that stopped production.”
The sage spoke with an expressionless face.
“Each one, if completely discontinued, would make the continent’s rulers sweat a little.”
“I don’t sweat.”
“Except for you.”
The sage quickly corrected the information.
Well, he had to be at that level to be called a sage.
“Anyway, let’s get to the point. I don’t want to waste time with jokes.”
“I have no intention of doing so.”
I said calmly, summoning the table and chairs I had prepared to the spot.
In an instant, the room transformed into a conference room.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Hmm.”
I sat down opposite the sage and calmly opened my mouth.
“You must have come here because of the message I sent last time. Is that correct?”
“That’s right. I tried to invite you in the name of the Tower, but you didn’t respond at all.”
“As an imperial duke, I can’t just come running at your beck and call.”
“…beck and call?”
“There’s that.”
I accidentally used a word I hadn’t used before. There’s no one here who would understand it anyway.
“Anyway, the message I sent to you… well, it’s simple. It may not be simple for you, but it is for me.”
“Origin.”
The sage muttered absentmindedly. Then he looked at me quietly again.
“You said you know the ‘origin’ of existence.”
There was still no change in the sage’s expression. He had lived too long to show emotion over trivial matters.
Since when have you existed?
I don’t know.
The sage has existed long before the Tower existed.
The history of the Tower does not reveal the years the sage has lived. The exact identity of the sage was shrouded in mystery.
“The problem is, the sage himself doesn’t know his own origin.”
He doesn’t know what his original name was, how long he has lived, or what he exists for…
The sage knows none of these.
Although he is called a sage because he has a great deal of knowledge, he has no confidence in himself.
Isn’t that truly contradictory?
“Do you really know?”
The sage looked at me quietly.
“No one has ever said such a thing to me before. There have been many who considered me an object of worship. But none of them ever tried to see me for who I am.”
“I see.”
“In such a situation, you sent such a statement. Without any evidence, you just sent it.”
The sage continued.
“But I decided to believe you. As I said earlier, no one has ever approached me like that.”
That’s probably what happened.
I knew the sage would react like that, so I sent the message.
The message I sent was simple.
“I know you.”
Just one sentence, nothing special.
But it was enough to stimulate the sage, who was thirsty for knowledge about his own identity.
“So I was checking. You may not know, but already…”
“Are you saying you were observing through Dezium ?”
“…!”
“What, Dezium had no awareness. Just the fact that he was a member of the tower meant he was already under your influence.”
Magic powerful enough to not even be recognized by a high-ranking mage like Dezium .
Naturally, it was impossible with ordinary magic, and it had to be at the level of a sage.
It was not difficult for me.
Without even being able to do that, he can’t even rival Jormungand’s opponent.
“So, how far did you see? If you confirmed through Dezium , you could have observed quite a bit.”
“Well…….”
Mumbling such words, the sage who had been clouding his words for a moment.
And scarily so.
“Where.”
Chwaak!
Just as he did a moment ago, the sage’s abyss tried to see through my essence.
Of course, it would be impossible, but somehow I felt creepy, so I rolled back my interference.
“Stop using the abyss that doesn’t work. It won’t work anyway.”
“Um…….”
The sage lowered his head deeply, murmuring in response to my words.
“It’s strange…… Why on earth doesn’t it work……”
“…….”
“To be honest, until just now, I wanted to know the meaning of that message, but now I think differently.”
The sage grinned.
“I can’t analyze your existence at all. I can’t figure out what kind of child you are.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve seen children who transcend masters and whatnot. But those children at least showed some of their essence. But you…… you’re different.”
The sage wrinkled his face.
“You, shows nothing.”
“…….”
“The only thing that shows is that a weak body contains an overly large soul.”
He hit the nail on the head.
I’m a bit out of balance between my soul and body right now.
It’s inevitable, but.
Anyway, what’s important now isn’t about me.
I didn’t even think about revealing myself to the sage at this point.
What’s important now is.
“Let’s get to the point. The real purpose of you lifting your heavy butt and coming here.”
“Um.”
“So, about the information on your ‘essence’ that you so eagerly seek……”
“Speak.”
The sage’s eyes sparkled with interest.
Even in those dull pupils, light returned.
As if unable to bear the anticipation of what words would come out of my mouth.
And I said.
“There isn’t any!”
“……Um?”
The sage chuckled at my words and asked.
“There isn’t any?”
“There isn’t.”
“There wasn’t any?”
“No, there isn’t.”
Not understanding my words, the sage asked again.
“Oh, there was?”
If we continue like this, it seems that the meaningless question and answer will continue.
I decided to speak firmly.
“No, there isn’t. That’s it.”
From the beginning, you were nobody. You were nothing.