Chapter 50 - Contact (1)

The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 50 – Contact (1)

Translator: Seven

Editor: Ana_Banana

Crackle…

In the spot where Lukes and Mikel once were, there were only flames.

The smell of burning flesh in the air was strong enough to make one’s stomach twist. 

Frey sighed as he looked at the black residue that was once flesh and blood. There was nothing more to see.

The two of them had died instantly, without even leaving complete corpses. 

Mikel had been in a bad position. Had he been any closer, Frey might have been able to save him.

“H-, he blew himself up?”

“Such horrific power.”

There wasn’t even much of the body that they could retrieve. 

Frey sighed again.

“He couldn’t accept Lukes betrayal till the end.”

“So it seems.”

After a moment, Frey shook his head and turned around.

“Wait. There should be a crystal.”

“Right. It’s said that if you kill an Apostle…”

Liamson walked to the spot that Lukes had self-destructed. Then he began rummaging through the charred pieces with his hand.

It would’ve been normal for him to receive burns on his bare hand, but seeing that his facial expression was fine, he must have protected his hand with mana.

Soon he found something and took it out.

“This is it.”

“Hm…”

Frey’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the crystal in Liamson’s hand. 

At first glance, it appeared to be a simple white jewel. It was more transparent than a diamond and there seemed to be a mysterious light shining within it.

It was more beautiful than the finest jewelry, but what Frey paid attention to wasn’t the shell.

‘Is that a power source? That must be why Lukes was able to use divine power.’

Frey looked at Liamson.

“What is this crystal used for?”

“I don’t know either. But the chief said that it was very valuable and important.”

Then he turned to look at Camille.

Would she know something about this?

“Liamson’s right. It’s something helpful, it’s not dangerous. Frey, you are the one who defeated the Apostle, so you should take it.”

Frey decided to accept her words and put the crystal into his bag. 

Then he looked around.

“It was an intense fight.”

There was no place around them that was untouched.

The entire area had been destroyed by Frey’s spells and Lukes’ thunderbolts. 

“That’s what I said. But what the hell are you?”

“What do you mean?”

Liamson was looking at him as though he was looking at a monster. 

“Your magic. I’ve seen 7 star wizards a few times before but none of them displayed such tremendous power. Are you an 8 star wizard?”

Frey shook his head.

“Of course not. I’m just better at fire and water magic than others.”

He couldn’t call himself an 8 star wizard with just that. 

Liamson nodded in realisation.

“Hm…that’s true. If you could use powerful wind spells then you wouldn’t have needed to ask for our help.”

“Frey, you haven’t joined a circle yet right?”

Camille suddenly spoke out in a friendly tone, which caused Frey to let out a short laugh at how strange it was.

“You’d like me to join Blacktooth?”

“We are small in number, but we treat each other like family.”

“I’ll have to politely decline.”

Camille shrugged as if it had only been a half-hearted invitation. It seemed like she had done it to soften the ice cold atmosphere.

“But what do we do about this? It feels weird to just leave everything like this.”

“The circle will clean up the mess. First, let’s get back to the tower and report this incident. It’s a huge achievement to take down an Apostle.”

Camille had a curious expression on her face.

“One of the Phisfounder Armlet’s hideouts should be…nearby. We’d better go and report it to them directly.”

“Are you going to go, teacher?”

“I can’t let you go.”

“I don’t mind.”

“No way. If I sent an inexperienced guy like you, our entire tribe would become a laughing stock.”

“You are so harsh…”

Camille let out a laugh.

“I’m just kidding. It’ll be faster if I go and maybe I’ll see someone I know.”

Frey nodded as the plan was finalised.

“Then let’s head back to the 3rd Magic Tower first.

* * *

When they returned to the magic tower, the sky had already become dark. 

Camille seemed to be planning to leave early tomorrow morning after taking a short break in the tower for the night.

Frey suddenly tilted his head.

“I’m sure the Tower Master here must be incredibly powerful. Does he not have anything to do with the Circle?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t have much information concerning the human situation.”

“But since the Deputy Tower Master and a Floor Master were members of the Circle then he should know of its existence. There are actually quite a few people like that. They are powerful enough to be executives within the circles, but they choose to not get involved.”

“…”

Frey washed away his fatigue and fell asleep soon after.

The next day, just after he woke up, he heard a knock on his door.

As he opened the door and stepped out, he saw Adelia standing there.

She stood there, absentmindedly twisting her hair.

“Old man Julian is requesting to meet you.”

“Who is Julian?”

“The 3rd Magic Tower’s Master.”

He was initiating contact?

Frey had also been feeling the need to speak with him at least once.

Adelia gave Frey a once over before saying.

“I guess you just woke up. Wash up and eat first, then come to the 10th floor.”

Suddenly, he realised that she had not looked him in the eyes even once.

Frey found it odd, but as she’d suggested, he washed his face and headed to the 10th floor of the tower after having breakfast.

It was his first time going to the 10th floor.

Two wizards were guarding the entrance, they did not say anything and simply let him enter, probably because they had been given instructions already.

When he opened the door, he saw an old man.

Frey immediately realised that this man was a wizard who wasn’t inferior to Shepard.

“Are you Frey?”

“Nice to meet you. I am Frey Blake.”

Adelia was standing beside this man.

She still had a lazy expression, but she was acting much more politely than usual.

“This is my first time seeing you in person. I am Julian Montolivo, the Master of the 3rd Magic Tower.”

“I’ve heard of your great name before.”

Adelia let out a low laugh as she knew that he definitely had not heard of his name before that moment.

“I don’t want to take a lot of your time, so I’ll get straight to the point. Four days ago. Mikel left to complete a job for the circle. Accompanied by you and two Dark Elves.”

“That’s right.”

“What happened to Mikel?”

“He died.”

Adelia shuddered.

Julian closed his eyes for a moment before speaking.

“…I see.”

Frey wondered if he should tell him about Lukes, but he decided to wait in silence for the moment.

“And his body?”

“I’m sorry. There wasn’t anything to bring back.”

“It must have been a terrible fight.”

Julian sighed.

“That was all I wanted to know. Sorry for taking your time. You may leave.”

The fact that Lukes had betrayed them would probably be better for Camille to reveal when she came back from the circle hideout. 

Frey got up and left the room.

Adelia followed him.

“Is Mikel really dead?”

“Yes.”

“Who did it?”

“An Apostle.”

“Apostle…”

Adelia bit her lip. 

“He should’ve waited for Tower Master Lukes.”

“…”

Frey once again wondered if he should reveal that they had been betrayed, but there was something that he wanted to know first.

“Is professor also a member of the circle?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s your affiliation?”

Adelia scratched her cheek before saying in a low voice.

“Traumen Rings.”

“…isn’t that almost destroyed? If it’s the professor then you must have received invitations from better places.”

Adelia’s talent was fearsome. 

Aside from her level, she was so smart that it would not be strange for the other circles to scramble to get her to join them.

“There’s nothing that I need. So shouldn’t I go to a place I like instead?… Well, I’m only a member in name in the first place, I rarely interact with the other circle members.”

At that moment, Peran came to Frey’s mind.

Frey wondered why these incredibly talented people were so interested in the collapsing Traumen Rings.

At the same time, he grew concerned about the situation that the Traumen Rings was in.

How many members did they have, who was their leader, and what was the current situation that they faced?

But Frey knew that circle members were usually very reserved when revealing information about their own groups.

Mikel was like that and so was Shepard. 

Maybe Adelia was like that too. 

Frey decided not to speak about it anymore. 

As he looked back at Adelia, Frey suddenly remembered the Apostle’s crystal that he had in his bag. 

“Professor, do you know how this is used?”

“Huh?”

Adelia’s eyes narrowed as she observed the crystal.

Then.

Shock spread across her face.

“H-, huk…”

Frey felt that she was even more surprised than when he’d shown her Torkunta’s heart.

“Th-, is this an Apostle’s crystal? D-, did you defeat the Apostle?”

“Didn’t I say that?”

“You didn’t say anything! I thought that when Uncle Mikel died, you all managed to escape!”

…now that he thought about it, it was easy to understand her reasoning. 

As far as she knew, several 7 star Archmages were required to defeat a single Apostle. 

Adelia knew that Frey must be astonishingly powerful, but not even in her wildest dreams would she have thought that he’d reached 7 stars. 

She took a few breaths to calm herself then invited him to her room so that they could talk about it.

Adelia’s room was much cleaner than before.

“This is a pure crystal that holds Divine power. It’s useless in this state, but if you process it then it would transform into an incredible elixir!”

“Elixir?”

“Maybe one even better than the Drake’s heart that you gave me. H-, hehehe.”

Adelia laughed in a similar way to that day.

“Then can I ask the professor to make it?”

“This crystal is yours?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Adelia looked at Frey as though she was looking at a monster before shrugging.

“It doesn’t matter but…I felt it last time, but don’t you trust people too easily?”

“I do?”

“That’s right! The Drake heart before and this crystal now, what if I took them and ran away?”

Adelia inspected the crystal with one eye closed.

“An average wizard would even sell their soul for stuff like this.”

“It’s not that I’m not worried.”

“Then-”

“But I have my own way of looking at people.”

“Huh?”

“I trust you, professor.”

Then Adelia trembled.

“…you, you. If you say that one more time then I won’t accept your request!”

“Yes?”

“Shut up!”

Adelia quickly disappeared into her room. 

“It’ll only take a month! I’ve done it a few times before!”

Frey burst into laughter.