Chapter 221: From Now On, I Will Put an End to Everything (3)
“If this world is destroyed, who will bear the responsibility? The gods, who are at the highest place, above all metaphysical things. Even those high beings cannot escape the blame. However, the problems they must take responsibility for are as high as their position, so it only seems like they bear no responsibility at all.”
I didn’t want to talk about theology, but I had to keep my mouth shut at those words. It’s true that I had nothing to say.
Those in higher positions must bear greater responsibility with a higher sense of duty. It’s the same even for gods.
However, looking at it as a rational problem…… the sacrifice is too great.
I slumped down as if leaning against my seat and pressed my fingers between my eyes. And I calmed my mind and thought deeply.
But unfortunately, whenever I have time to think deeply, an uninvited guest always appears. It appeared, roughly flipping the tent’s curtain as if to tear it off.
“Risel, we have a big problem!”
“What is it, Aila?”
I immediately recalled the big problems she usually shouted about, such as running out of snacks, being hungry, or starting her period.
Then, I was able to naturally let go of my serious thoughts and reveal my indifference to the outside world. It’s like magic.
Despite my indifferent reaction, Aila didn’t lose her urgent expression. She shouted really urgently.
“Sir Lucy is dying!”
“What?!”
I jumped up from my seat. No, why? He had a fever, but Namias treated him today, so he should be fine?!
“Hurry! It’s urgent!”
“Ah, alright!”
I quickly ran to the tent where Lucy was.
What the hell happened!
In front of Aila, who was cowering, I crossed my arms and spoke solemnly as if a father was disciplining his daughter.
“Repeat after me. From now on, I will say it’s a figurative meaning first.”
“Ah, from now on, I will say it’s a figurative meaning first.”
Aila, who was greatly disciplined and cowering, finished her words in a hesitant tone. Only then did I turn to the non-mage who was watching us with amusement.
Uh…… so.
“Mage Madsan Ast. I apologize for showing you an unpleasant scene. I am Arisein Uck Herduke, the Grand General of the Herduke Kingdom Army.”
“No, it was entertaining. I should be the one apologizing for my incompetent disciple causing trouble, Grand General.”
It was quite difficult to suppress the urge to accept that apology. Lucy’s master, the mage named Madsan Ast, was in the middle of disciplining Lucy to the point of almost killing him when I arrived.
Indeed, he was Lucy’s master. He seemed quite old, almost the same age as High Priest Damachi Ir. However, unlike that old High Priest, he had broad shoulders and a straight back. That’s probably why he was still able to beat his disciple so well.
Lucy’s saying that mages speak with their bodies probably came from his master.
“But Mage Ast, what brings you here?”
“Ah, that big oaf of a thief wouldn’t come back. He went out to help a friend for a bit and hasn’t returned for over half a year, so I went out to find him myself. And I had some business here as well.”
Lucy, you went AWOL?
My friend, the bulky mage, who I was ashamed to call my friend, was sprawled on the ground, only his back moving as he breathed. Perhaps Madsan has an educational philosophy that believes education is more effective when the head and body are disciplined together.
Madsan, as if he had no interest in Lucy, placed his palm on his eyebrow and looked towards the Imperial Capital in the distance.
“Tsk. I came here just in case, but as expected. Grand General, do you know what that light coming from there is?”
“Yes. It’s a sign that the world is about to be destroyed.”
“Oh, you knew. Well, it seems my incompetent disciple was of some help after all. Even though his brain is filled with muscles, I crammed some knowledge into him since he’s a mage, and he seems to have remembered it.”
“As you said, he’s a great help when needed.”
And a good companion to joke around with when I’m bored. The old mage smiled, wrinkles forming around his eyes, then hardened his expression again. He tapped his staff on the ground and said.
“So, Grand General, what are you planning to do? If you know what that is, you must also know why it appeared.”
It’s a natural question, but he’s not a mage of the Herduke Kingdom, he has no special relationship with me, he’s just my friend’s master.
I have no obligation to tell him the whole story, but I could see the light of endless knowledge and wisdom in the old mage’s eyes.
Someone like this would definitely be helpful.
“The initial plan was to attack the Imperial Capital and confront the root cause of all this at the Imperial Palace while everyone on the battlefield was suffering from the fever. However, they came up with an unexpected move, and we are currently retreating like this. And we are currently searching for countermeasures.”
“Hmm, I see. I came and saw, but it was certainly after a major defeat. And everyone is groaning. Just so you know, I’m also under magical protection right now. I could explain it in a complicated way, but it would just be bragging about my knowledge, so I’ll stop. Anyway, no one will be able to move if the fever progresses, right?”
“I have a rather unique constitution. And I judged that I wouldn’t need that many people to attack the Imperial Palace. We also have the High Priest of Lynin here.”
“Indeed. Rational. It would have been a much better operation if it had proceeded as planned. But things in the world don’t always go your way, huh, huh.”
I nodded slightly at his words. Literally, things in the world really don’t go my way. That obvious fact sometimes leads to results that make me want to be terribly angry.
Madsan stroked his chin. His moderately grown beard moved under his hand.
“It would be troublesome if the world was destroyed. Of course, it would be the same for everyone, but the association is in chaos right now. There’s no prophecy prepared for times like this, so there’s no data to rely on, and everyone is in a state of panic. I came here for preliminary investigation to prevent that, but it’s quite serious. Because if the Herduke Kingdom doesn’t win this war, the world will be destroyed.”
“What is the association preparing?”
“We’ll have to decide that from now on. I was dispatched as the one with the authority to make that decision. If necessary, I’ll have to prepare a large-scale magic with my disciple here after a long time.”
“Large-scale magic?”
“It’s about blowing this whole area, which is the key to the manifestation of magic, into an Unlocatable Dimension. Magical power cannot cross parallel dimensions, and if it’s blown into a so-called imaginary dimension where the coordinates themselves cannot be specified, the ritual will automatically stop. But now…… it seems like there’s not much time left. Tsk, tsk. What was the association’s observation department doing until now……”
He shook his head and strode over to Lucy, who was lying face down. Lucy still hadn’t moved. Is he unconscious?
Madsan carefully moved his right foot back next to Lucy’s head. It seemed like a careful and calculated movement, like a mage’s consciousness. After pulling his right foot back about a step, Madsan said solemnly.
“If you don’t get up by the time I finish talking, I’ll kick your head with……”
“Yes, Master!”
Lucy sprang up as if he envied Levidian’s speed of drawing her sword. Hmm. He was playing dead.
Madsan, with a warm smile, asked Lucy.
“So. Can you do it?”
“Yes! I can do it!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Trust and leave it to me!”
“But what can you do?”
“I don’t know! But if Master tells me to go, I go, if you tell me to stop, I stop, and if you tell me to jump, I jump!”
I want to show this to the soldiers who are slacking off in their military life. This is what military discipline is. But the problem is that Lucy has the ability to spout nonsense with utmost respect.
Madsan pulled back the foot he was about to kick Lucy’s head and kicked his shin.
“Ugh?!”
To Lucy, who was hopping around with an incomprehensible scream, Madsan said.
“You damn fool! I taught you to ask if you don’t know, and even if you hear the answer and still don’t understand, to research! Is your head made of stone! You lucky bastard who got into a major with good compatibility by chance!”
“Ugh! Master, you brought me here! If it weren’t for that, I would be living the life I wanted right now!”
“Humph! What do you want! How great is that!”
“I was going to build a harem where everyone lives happily without fighting!”
Lucy spouted tremendous nonsense with a very serious attitude. Madsan stared blankly at his disciple and then sighed in resignation. I did the same. The old mage said to his disciple.
“You, you have big ambitions. My eyes were right after all.”
He’s making a rewarding expression! Oh my god!
“Hahaha! Whose disciple am I! Am I not Master’s disciple! Of course, my ambition has to be big!”
No. It’s okay to just break that kind of ambition. I don’t want a cupboard anymore. I feel like I’ll be tainted if he comes inside me.
For a moment, the master and disciple looked at each other with empathetic eyes that only they could share – both are pathetic – and then got to the main point.
Madsan said.
“Can you solve this without my help? You’ve made good friends, and they seem to be strong people. Wouldn’t this be too much for you?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. But what I mean is, with confidence……”
“No, Master. What I mean is that your question is wrong.”
“Huh?”
Madsan tilted his head. Lucy, seeing his master’s expression, smiled pleasantly and said.
“Of course, this is too much for me to handle alone. But I’m not alone. I have friends.”
He looked at me, Aila, and Levidian, who had followed us, in turn. He said with a grin.
“This world, this space has no limits. That’s because countless worlds support each other. It’s the same with people. As long as my friends and I help and support each other, nothing is impossible. Even if we’re facing the destruction of the world, I believe we can solve it.”
“Isn’t that overconfidence?”
“You say that because you don’t know, Master. What was the general assessment of the Herduke Kingdom just three years ago? I think it was discussed even within the association.”
“Hmm, it wasn’t good.”
Madsan stroked his chin. His beard moved back and forth again. Lucy continued.
“Regardless of whether it was favorable or not, they wouldn’t have guaranteed our victory against the Empire. But look at now. Although we retreated from the front yard of the Imperial Capital after being pushed back by the enemy, and although we are suffering from the world’s destruction instigated by someone in that Imperial Palace, no one expected the Herduke Kingdom Army to advance this far. But we did it. It’s the result of the cooperation of my friend Risel over there, other friends, and all the soldiers.”
“So?”
“We retreated for now, but I believe in my friends. They believe in me too. If we join forces, there’s nothing we can’t do. Even if it looks like this, Risel over there is quite capable.”
Madsan’s eyes briefly turned towards me, and I had to scratch the back of my head in embarrassment. Lucy has never sincerely praised someone like this before……
“How capable is he? He’s so capable that he set his eyes on a woman ten years older than him when he was sixteen, and now he can drag her to bed without hesitation. It’s a skill I personally want to learn…… Ugh!”
“Say that again and you’ll die.”
After a long time, Levidian was blushing and angry. Even she tends to be shaken by unexpected attacks. Thanks to that, Madsan, who was listening intently, also had to flinch.
Sigh. Like master, like disciple.
“A-anyway. He’s quite resourceful in many other ways as well. Besides, he’s at the center of all this. In other words, this is the center stage. Having stood here, I want to do everything I can. Yes.”
Although he digressed in the middle, Lucy clearly stated what he wanted to say.
Thanks to that, I felt like I wanted to pat his shoulder hard, with a hammer. If you summarize what he said, it means I only have the skill to pick up women, right?
Madsan stared at Lucy intently and then chuckled lightly.
“You, you seem to have learned a lot in the meantime. Alright. I understand what you mean. In the end, you decided to help your friends instead of helping me, right?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that with your head held high. You shameless flea. Fine. Then I have to make a decision too.”
He rummaged through the sleeves of his baggy robe. Soon, he pulled out a long staff that looked like it could be 2 meters long from inside his sleeve. (It’s really magic.) It was a well-carved silver-white staff that strangely looked neither like wood nor metal.
Madsan handed it to Lucy. Lucy took it and his eyes widened. He looked almost horrified.
“M-Master?!”
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