NOVEL NEXT Episode 12: "Sage"
Episode 12: “Sage”
“I should have enough food for now.”
After traveling through unnoticed areas, I arrived at the southern forest of Arlight in four days. From here, I’ll head south and cross the border. Then, if I can kill Gargain, I’ll make my way to the duchy somehow.
“So, from here on, let’s go at full speed. [Magic Armor].”
From here, I’ll literally go straight ahead. At full speed, I won’t be able to avoid trees, but with [Magic Armor], it won’t be a problem. Let’s just go as far as we can like this.
“Huh!?”
After running for about two hours, knocking down trees along the way, I suddenly sense magical power ahead. It seems I’ve entered someone’s [Magic Detection] range. I activate [Magic Detection] on the spot, but there’s no response. It seems the other party has a wider detection range. There’s no sense of hostility in their magical power, though.
“Is that magic your original?”
“Huh!?”
I’m suddenly spoken to from behind. There was no reaction from [Magic Detection] or [Magic Sense]. I instinctively create distance, but still, I sense neither magical power nor hostility. If they had any ill intentions, I would have been killed by now.
“Hmm… Are you blocking your field of view to increase the accuracy of [Magic Sense]? Then you probably can’t see me.”
“…”
“Even without being cautious, I don’t intend to do anything to you.”
I quickly guessed various things from the voice I heard in my past life. The voice is completely that of a veteran voice actor from my past life. When I release [Magic Armor] as if giving up, sure enough, the “Sage” is right in front of me. Even though he’s in front of me, there’s still no reaction from [Magic Sense]. It seems that such technology is confirmed.
“Why are you here?”
“At your age, being able to manipulate [Magic Armor] and [Magic Sense] to that extent is rare, so I was curious. I didn’t expect there was something more to it. Is that your original magic?”
“Yes, um, I…”
“Hmm?”
“No, nothing…”
Close call. I almost blurted out, “Please don’t steal,” or something like that. Mine-kun seems a bit flustered too. But this person used to blatantly copy original magic from the protagonist and other characters in the original story. He even said it was interesting. And he was able to master new magic spells with a level of proficiency far above the original users. Because of that, some players called him the “Copy Sage.”
Anyway, why did my [Magic Sense] get exposed? There must be a lot of techniques I don’t know about. Or maybe he has [Magic Eyes].
“By the way, are you going to Hartelia?”
“Uh, I’m thinking of going to that western duchy.”
“Hmm. I don’t think you’ll gain anything by going there… Well, it’s your life.”
Handling of the duchy. Well, I agree. It was a completely unremarkable country even in the original story. But that’s okay. Both Mine-kun and I just want to live normally.
Oh, but more importantly, I finally got to meet the “Sage.”
“Um, may I ask you a few things?”
“If I can answer them.”
“Why don’t you get caught by [Magic Sense]?”
“Why do you think?”
“…”
“…”
“…Ah, maybe it’s because you assimilate your magical power with the surrounding magical power like a ‘Spirit’?”
“…How did you come to that conclusion? You, are you crazy?”
“Um…”
“Even if you come up with the idea, you don’t think I’d actually be able to do it right?”
“…Because you’re a ‘Sage’?”
Actually, most things are solved by being a “Sage.” That’s why he’s called the “Official Strongest” in “Alteria Chronicles.” He was even said to be capable of anything related to magic.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about hiding my magical power since the entrance exam. The first idea that came to mind was completely blocking off my magical power. But with that method, there would be a magical void where I am, making me stand out instead. Other methods were more or less the same.
Among those, the idea that came to mind was assimilating magical power. I got the hint from the words in the original, “Spirits are nature itself,” but I gave up in seconds. It’s impossible.
Magical power is constantly moving with the wind, terrain, and people’s movements. In order to assimilate one’s own magical power, you need to constantly grasp the movement of the surrounding magical power, adapt your own magical power accordingly, and keep it moving. And all this without causing any discomfort to others. There’s no way anyone could do that. Even if they have [Magic Eyes].
But this “Sage” does that while even performing [Teleportation].
“Um… you’re crazy.”
“…”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Well, it’s fine. You guessed it, so I’ll answer one more.”
“Oh, then, is it true that blocking your field of view increases the accuracy of [Magic Sense]…?”
“Huh? Weren’t you doing it knowingly?”
“Oh, uh, I just didn’t want to see corpses or anything gross like that.”
“Um… is that so?”
The Sage’s answer was simply that blocking visual information increases the resources available for [Magic Sense]. However, it seems meaningless against opponents skilled at hiding magical power, like the “Sage.” Only a “Sage” could do that. Although I think it’s best to have some countermeasures ready as long as there are opponents like that in reality.
“Well then, I shall take my leave.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Indeed, fare thee well.”
Saying so, the Sage disappeared with [Teleportation]. I realized that the “Official Strongest” was even more dangerous than I had imagined. With him as an opponent, not only winning but even escaping would be impossible.
“…Well, shall I go too?”
Let’s quickly finish what we need to do and make our way to the Duchy.
But before that…
“Mine-kun. This is where we say goodbye to Alteria Kingdom.”
I can sense Mine-kun’s emotions just a bit. It’s a mixture of sadness and longing, but also determination to move forward.
If I had handled things better, we could have left the country more peacefully, so I feel a bit sorry about that. At least I want to take Mine-kun to visit his mother’s grave at some point.
“Well, let’s go then. [Magic Armor].”
Goodbye, Alteria.