The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR) Vol 1 Chapter 191

It was dawn when Frey finished talking to Nix.

He lay on the bed looking down at the peaceful expression of Nix, who had fallen asleep, before subconsciously brushing her hair away from her face.

He was happy that she looked comfortable.

'You've had a hard day.'

Since they separated, she had hardly gotten the opportunity to take a break.

She'd had a very hard time in the past. It was to the extent that she even tried to kill herself to force Agni into hibernation.

When he first heard it, he thought it was an extreme option, but after thinking about it, he realised it wasn't.

Instead, it was a judgement that was quite admirable considering the situation, level of knowledge, and experience that Nix had.

Of course, that didn't mean he wanted to compliment her for it.

Frey pondered for a while before placing the other half of Agni's crystal on the table.

Afterwards, he blew out the candle and left the room.

And so, a long and exhausting day had passed.

Nevertheless, Frey didn't feel very tired.

It wasn't just that.

'My hunger has disappeared, and I don't feel thirsty either.'

A feeling of fullness filled his entire body. As if he could stay in his optimal condition indefinitely.

It was as though he'd returned to his mental world.

Frey realised once again that he had moved even further from being human.

Of course, he could guess the reason.

Divine magic power.

This formidable energy was constantly energising Frey's body. It seemed that he would never need to replenish his food, water, or sleep unless he exhausted his mental power to the limit.

Frey shook his head.

He might have transcended humanity, but he was still human.

This was something that could never be forgotten or blurred. It was a crucial problem, and it was very important for Frey's identity.

Therefore, he didn't think about it too deeply. Instead, he thought about the plan at hand.

Currently, they had clues to two Apostles.

Shadow King Jenta and the high rank Demon, Kaltud.

Sheryl was in charge of tracking the latter. If she had any clues, she would contact him personally.

As for Jenta?

The Lucid Swords were responsible for tracking him, including the Circle Master, Jekid Deosis.

He'd said that Jenta was from a small island country called 'Hitume Ikar'. He'd also said that there was a branch of the Lucid Swords located in Hitume Ikar, which allowed them to track his whereabouts.

'I hope it works out.'

He decided to meet Jekid first.

Shuk.

Frey moved to the Jun family residence, the place where the last Circle meeting had been held.

Because it was dawn, the mansion appeared quite dim. But Frey didn't seem to notice this as he headed to Shepard's room on the third floor of the mansion.

Light was leaking through the gap below the door.

Click.

Frey opened the door without knocking. (TL: Frey really has a problem…)

Duke Shepard was sitting at his desk, moving his pen along a document.

Realising that his door was open, he paused. Then he looked up, spotting Frey.

“Rounder Frey.”

Frey was relieved to see that Shepard was still acting like a member of the circle.

The Kastkau Empire's Imperial family had already submitted to Lord. It was possible that they were currently busy dealing with the internal remnants of the circle.

Shepard's case should have been particularly confusing. After all, he was a duke who had devoted himself to the Imperial family, but he was also an executive who agreed with the will of the Circle.

Nevertheless, Shepard remained polite to Frey.

Frey couldn't be sure what he was up to, but it at least proved that he hadn't chosen to obey the Imperial family at that moment.

“What is it?”

It was a very polite way of speaking.

Frey felt strange for a moment as he recalled his first encounter with Shepard, but he eventually brushed it off and said.

“I would like to meet Jekid.”

“Master Jekid? Hmm.”

He seemed lost in thought.

After a while, Shepard put down his pen and got up, heading out of the room. Soon after, he returned with scrolls in his hands.

“Master Jekid recently entered Hitume Ikar. I haven't been able to contact him since.”

“Haven't been able to contact him?”

“The Lucid Swords also has a 7 star Wizard. A man named Millio. At first, he was regularly communicating with him.”

He was quite calm despite losing contact.

As if he realised Frey's thought, Shepard continued.

“This situation was expected. Hitume Ikar is a very isolated country. Otherwise, Jekid would not have needed to use shortcuts in order to go there.”

“Have the Demigods reached that country?”

“No. Hmm… Strange as it may be, the island country is peaceful. It's like the Demigods haven't touched it at all. There are few such cases across the continent.”

This was truly a strange occurrence.

Did it have something to do with Jenta?

“But why do you want to meet Master Jekid all of a sudden?”

It seemed that this was a question he'd wanted to ask from the start.

Frey described what had happened in Silkid, and after he heard the stories, Shepard could barely keep his mouth closed.

“, Agni… is dead. Haha. If that is true… then it's an incredible achievement.”

Shepard spoke with an exhilarated voice. On the other hand, Frey looked bitter.

Rather than focus on the amount of sacrifices that had been made, he only paid attention to the fact Agni had been slain.

Of course, it wasn't that he'd done something wrong.

Any member of the Circle would have reacted the same way.

“That means we can now afford to support Master Jekid.”

Technically, that wasn't true.

But Frey felt that it would have taken too long for him to explain the situation in the Demon World.

Therefore, he simply changed the subject without accepting or denying Shepard's statement.

“Do you have any idea why we haven't gotten any word from them?”

“It's possible that it's black magic.” (TL: Do you guys prefer black magic or sorcery?)

“…black magic.”

Frey muttered in a soft voice.

Black Magic.

This was a power used primarily by countries on the eastern side of the continent, and although it was different from magic in nature, the concept was the same…

That was all Frey knew about it.

And it was just a piece of knowledge that anyone could obtain by opening a book in a library. He didn't know more than that.

This was because black magic didn't exist 4,000 years ago.

This wasn't surprising.

The races on the eastern side of the continent had developed their own unique and individual culture since the past. And thousands of years had passed since then.

So it was only natural that they would have developed their own techniques and technologies that matched their preferences.

'How uncomfortable.'

This was how it felt when one encountered the unknown.

“There are a few ways to enter Hitume Ikar listed in those scrolls.”

“As long as I have the coordinates, I can use Warp.”

“Rounder Frey is certainly strong enough to do so. However, please don't. If you were spotted by someone, things would only get more troublesome.”

Frey accepted Shepard's quiet warning.

He certainly had the confidence to get in without being spotted. However, the real problem followed.

Frey wasn't moving alone. In addition to Jekid, he planned to take Ivan, Snow, or Nix, who were now all working hard to train themselves.

If such a large group of outsiders was to appear in such a closed off place, there would certainly be traces.

'If it's found that we entered illegally later…'

As Shepard said, things would become more troublesome.

Of course, there was also the extreme method.

This meant entering Hitume Ikar and threatening the country's senior officials to extract all the information about Jenta. Even if they didn't want to answer, he could directly look into their minds for what he wanted.

It was an extreme but also incredibly efficient method.

Nevertheless, there was only one reason why Frey didn't make such a choice.

'Then I'd be no different from the Demigods.'

It was unethical and barbaric.

He would become the same as Lord, who infiltrated the palace of the Imperial family and forcibly obtained their obedience.

They weren't the enemy.

This made it even worse to force them to surrender and submit.

Rather, what he needed was their cooperation.

'…however.'

There were a few things that bothered him.

Hitume Ikar was a strange place where the Demigods' evil influence had not managed to reach even now. The only way such a thing would be possible was if they struck a deal with the Demigods.

If this wasn't by intimidation or forced surrender. If the country's leaders turned out to be corrupt and rotten.

Then, Frey's obligation to treat them like humans would disappear.

Chapter end