King of the Dungeons (4)
Great Sage Sylvania Robester was a genius who seemed to have drawn a picture.
Born as the daughter of a moderately wealthy translator in Cloeron, the imperial capital, she learned the official language of the empire and learned to read and write in less than a month.
At the age of seven, while other children her age were running around the yard, complaining to their parents, Sylvania read a thick book of grimoires the size of her upper body, and by the time she was baptized at the age of nine, she had already taught herself intermediate element magic.
At this point, her father, Dexton Robester, a renowned translator of grimoires, sensed that his daughter was an unusual person.
After that, several famous tutors were appointed, but most of them quit after only a few months. When asked why, he said it gave him goosebumps.
Sometimes, when you look at Sylvania’s behavior, you often see that she is a young girl of that age. Even though she shows her cute side by crying because she fell and scratched her knee on the street or stamping her foot because she lost her favorite doll… she becomes a completely different person from the moment she picks up the quill for class.
As the eyes absorb the knowledge and gaze at the runes, even the power of hearing flows down, to the point where one wonders if those are the eyes of a fifteen-year-old girl. Like a wild beast trying to devour all knowledge, it looks like it is staring into the instructor’s eyes and trying to gnaw away at his brain.
It was that summer when a monster ecology instructor read through years of research in just a couple of months and presented a new theory of monster race evolution, and it was that winter when a loophole was pointed out in the herbalism instructor’s reagent manufacturing theory.
When he turned 11, he suddenly said he wanted to learn swordsmanship, and three months later, he went out into the mountains with a rapier and caught a roe deer. And a month after that, he researched and imbued the spirit ceremony into his father’s personal bow, and in the same month, he signed a contract with a lieutenant spirit.
As soon as the next year, he became interested in alchemy, and was able to create ‘Blue Radiance Reagent’ and ‘Red Angler Flower Reagent’, which even famous alchemists had difficulty with.
And that summer, he cast the high-ranking wind magic ‘Eye of the Typhoon’… blowing up the entire fountain in Cloeron’s central square.
At the time, the youngest high-ranking magic user recorded in history was Melgis, the 29-year-old leader of the magic knights under the imperial family.
And Sylvania was twelve years old at the time.
Sylvania was touching her fingertips with an embarrassed expression on her face, as if she had had an accident. Dexton, who went out to pick her up at Chloeron’s central square, had a hunch.
The imperial army is protecting her. The corners of her eyes were shaking, as if she had just seen the sight of a girl who couldn’t even think about herself blowing up the square with high-level magic.
Now was the time to reveal Sylvania’s existence to the world.
– ‘When I study the positions of the stars, I can see a strange flow of magic power. I’m not sure what kind of causal relationship there is epidemiologically, but if you stare closely, you can feel some kind of regularity. If you study it well, you might even be able to twist the basic rules and providence that form the basis of the world. ‘The study of the positions of stars and the flow of their magical energy… we can call it star geology!’
At the age of thirteen, Sylvania Robester became the youngest imperial wizard thanks to an imperial decree from King Cloël II. It was a historically unprecedented and unconventional appointment.
But no one could complain. At the age of only 13, she had already anonymously submitted two papers on the theory of sensitization to the Society for Elemental Science and achieved the feat of having them unanimously accepted.
When they found out that the unconventional theories that shook the magical power theory system to its core came from the head of a thirteen-year-old girl, all the scholars at the Torg Magical Society looked dumbfounded.
Among them, a couple of them realized the gap in their talents and left the academy altogether.
Sylvania, who received support from the imperial family, took over the entire large corridor of the Lily Palace and a study room the size of a house. She piled up all kinds of magic ink, blackboards with magic books, chalk, and magic research supplies, and began to test the theories that were only in her head.
Even in the Cloel Imperial Palace, where everything was neatly organized, no one could think of tidying up the laboratory occupied by Sylvania.
The hallways and annexed labs outside the Lily Palace had already become her own world.
Cloel II had an accurate view of people. Girls like Sylvania Robester should not be carelessly judged by the framework of education. Rather, he arranged for Sylvania to meet with as many academics as possible.
It was a time when experts with diverse knowledge, regardless of field, came and went to the Lily Palace’s laboratory.
Several academics also wanted to meet Sylvania, which was said to be a treasure treasured by the Cloel imperial family.
Seoln, the poisonous snake of the Elphelan family. Kelleison Bloomriver, the bastard head of the Bloomriver family, said to be the home of the Elphelan witch. Dalex Elderbane, a famous remote adventurer. Jane Belaxus, who calls herself a researcher who studies the reagent of disaster.
It was a time when Sylvania was accumulating a lot of important connections after a period of being devoted to research alone.
It was a time when I met all kinds of people, gained diverse research perspectives, and my personality became truly cheerful. She felt various impressions and was influenced by various people… but it was Duke, the sword saint of the McLore family, who had the greatest influence.
Duke McLaure.
As a descendant of the first sword master, Luden McLore… a person who brought new vitality to the McLore family, which had been mired in darkness for a long time.
The legend he told about Luden, the first swordsman, had a huge impact on Sylvania. In particular, an anecdote from the time when he was subjugating Seongchangryong Velbrok was engraved in his memory, making him even more interested in swordsmanship.
After that, Sylvania borrowed the imperial sparring hall and began to expand her skills in dagger skills, archery, and spear skills. Of course, there were limitations due to his naturally small physique and lack of muscle mass, but he showed an unrivaled speed of mastery in the technical aspect.
By the time I turned seventeen, I had lost a lot of the childish feeling and had become a person who could properly serve one person… I had already become a person who could use about fifteen of the highest level magic. At least, it was safe to say that among humans, there was no one more knowledgeable about magic than her.
Even scholars with bushy beards who studied magic until the twilight of their lives bowed their heads in front of her brightly smiling face.
From this time on, the modifier ‘Great Sage’ was added to Sylvania.
Nevertheless, Sylvania Robester had no interest in becoming arrogant, pursuing prosperity, or increasing her assets.
She could wear a majestic wizard’s robe and walk around the academy looking proud, but… She ran around the mountain wearing a leather tunic and a shabby greyish-brown cape, holding several reagent bottles.
At the top of the observatory, where the stars can be seen best, I measured the positions of the stars while standing on tiptoes.
As she began researching geology in earnest, all kinds of miscellaneous things began to increase in her lab.
Aspect magic that twists the providence of the world carries many risks even when researched. In particular, the difficult-to-handle aspect magic was often implemented in a way that was different from the user’s intention.
Explosions have increasingly occurred in the laboratory whenever possible. The first couple of times, the royal family understood her name, considering the value of her name, but after several days of repeating it, they changed their stance.
The royal family summoned him from time to time and asked him to be careful about the research, threatening that human casualties could result. Every time, Sylvania scratched the back of her head and apologized hehehe.
Sylvania, who was researching aspect magic, was completely dispirited, but her eyes were shining brighter than ever.
For most magical theories, no matter how difficult or abstruse they were, I was able to find the answer and read them all after thinking about it for a few days.
However, the more we delve into the realm of aspect magic that humanity has not yet explored, the more unknown the area becomes.
For Sylvania, who has lived her entire life in a swamp of knowledge and research, it is like a new continent with many places left to explore.
When he was studying aspect magic, his shining eyes were more noble and deeper than those of any academician. Sylvania thought that it was her destiny to realize the principles of this world that twist the providence of a life born for academics, and that is how Sylvania immersed herself in research again and again.
As it is, he will stay in the laboratory of the Lily Palace and achieve great achievements with his own two hands that no one in the world could have imagined.
All the imperial servants who managed the Lily Palace at the time thought so. To that extent, Sylvania’s actions had the power to influence people.
This girl will be the leader who will achieve tremendous progress that has never been seen before in the world. That’s what I felt confident about.
—Until Lienfell, the crown prince of the Cloel royal family, was caught up in the aftermath of an explosion caused by a failed experiment in Sylvania the following year.
From then on, it was all smooth sailing.
Injuring the crown prince while performing a taboo experiment… It was an incident so serious that it would not be surprising if he was immediately executed.
Nevertheless, the enormous achievements achieved by Sylvania cannot be carelessly ignored. Sylvania is a person of too great value to be put on the gallows.
Therefore, King Cloel II decided to banish her to a secluded region on the outskirts.
It is good to be diligent in research, but this is to teach you not to get too absorbed in it and end up doing nothing wrong.
The intention is to go to a quiet place, forget about research for a while, and breathe some good air to freshen up your head.
Even though my son was injured, it could not have been possible if it were not for the docile character of Cloel II that he ended up being treated so leniently. Sylvania was well aware of that fact, so she left for Aken Island, saying only thank you.
It was Sylvania’s own wish that made Aken Island the place of exile.
[That’s where Sylvania and I met for the first time. ]
It was the voice of Merilda, smiling faintly in the corner of the cabin.
[ He was always smiling brightly, wondering why he was so proud after having an accident and being kicked out of the royal family. At the time, I was bothered by everything, but you don’t know how much I suffered because of him. ]
“What on earth are you doing that’s bothering you?”
[ Whenever I had time, I came to ask to join in the research. There is no proper magic source or research facility on Aken Island, but I was trying to research magic somehow. Anyway, it’s a poisonous tumor. ]
Merilda’s reminiscences, which were simply a story of Sylvania’s life, now begin to change in detail.
Well, the story before that was probably something that was only told to me by Sylvania herself… and from here on, it’s a story that Merilda witnessed herself.
[Whenever he gets the chance, he presents long-winded visions and pushes people to join him, but he actually achieves quite a few things… He was a guy with great drive. ]
“Do you present a vision?”
[He had a dream. ]
Merilda lifted the back of her hair back and held it in a ponytail and spoke with a cheerful tone, as if imitating Sylvania.
[Complete future prediction. Confirmed causal change! ]
“…what?”
[ Riding the flow of time and peeking into the future is completely God’s domain! But I believe in human potential! I am not interested in living a life of accepting fate on a given timeline, leaning on the power of the evil god Mebulani, Telos, the god! ]
Was this the tone of Sylvania when she was alive?
He speaks in a clearly loud voice as if telling people to focus on him.
[Seeing the future… No, I’m not satisfied with just that. ]
Ridiculous words spoken with a smile.
[I’m going to the future. ]
At those words, my expression froze.
At that point, just how far was Great Sage Sylvania looking?
[Should I give in to the fate given to me? No matter how miserable the fate is, I have no intention of submitting to such a future. ]
“…”
[ I will survive, Merylda. […]
The girl who smiled cheerfully and stretched out her chest to show off no matter what trials or what fate might throw at her… She
clearly knew ‘something’ when she came to Aken Island. Was it due to the power of Aspect magic?
“What did that mean…”
[I don’t know. He’s bluffing, it’s not just a day or two. Right now, I couldn’t afford to hang out with him every day because of his nonsense. Well, it may have been his words of determination that he would not break his heart even while being exiled to Aken Island. ]
“After hearing that, I think I know roughly what kind of person he was.”
[What is certain is that not all good things happened in his life. Even if you threw him naked in a corner of the desert, he would have smiled brightly, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know sadness. ]
“That’s right. In the end, even if you’re a great sage, you’re still the same person.”
[ huh. Even after coming to Aken Island, my way of thinking changed quickly. Well, I met a lot of different people and was influenced by them… But I guess it was that person’s influence that made me decide to create a proper school. ]
“That person…? Who?”
Eventually, the name that came out of Merilda’s mouth was familiar.
[ Glokt Elderbane. ]
He was the most famous archmage among Sylvania’s students and the teacher of Lucy Meiril, the most famous genius of the current generation.
[ First of all, the imperial family exiled Sylvania to Aken Island, but they did not want to leave her completely outside their jurisdiction. So, first of all, I gave them some work to do. He wanted Sylvania to take care of the children of influential figures who had fallen behind in the lawless area of Cohelton and the imperial family. ]
“The person who was called the Great Sage ended up watching Anna?”
[ Well, that’s right. I didn’t seem upset… Anyway, the three children entrusted to me at that time were the first three students to enter Sylvania Academy. Well, there was no proper building at that time, so it was more like an academy than a school. ]
Merilda recited the name clearly as if she still remembered it.
[ Teslin McLore Glokt Elderbane Filona Bloomriver. ]
The three disciples first brought in by Great Sage Sylvania. They are the first students to benefit from this Sylvania Academy.
[I don’t know if you will believe me when I tell you this, but… Among them, Glokt Elderbane was such an incredible dullard that I wondered if this was really okay. I was a child who should never have become a wizard, as it took several months to learn even a basic elemental spell. ]
“I heard… Glokt Elderbane was an archmage who was blessed by the stars since childhood.”
[That’s just a rumor spread by the Elderbane family to gain power. ]
“…You kept your mouth shut despite knowing such bombshell facts.”
[I’m basically not interested in the rise and fall of human families. ]
Merilda quietly closed her eyes and smiled as if she was reminiscing about that time.
The girl was smiling cheerfully with her arms crossed between an improvised teaching table and a blackboard.
A rare genius who will never be reborn in history.
And a young boy sitting at a table so shabby it was embarrassing to call it a desk, looking up at the blackboard with anxious eyes.
A cursed Dunjae born with such hopeless talent that I can’t figure out why he dreams of becoming a wizard.
It was easy to imagine the two of them making eye contact, so I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
[Why do you think Sylvania built this school? ]
“…”
[ He never understood Dunjae’s life for the rest of his life. So, while teaching a person named Glockt, I realized more than anyone else that there were far more people in the world who were not born with outstanding abilities. Well, it’s a problem that can be solved if you just realize it and move on… I told you so. He said that he had one driving force that was greater than anyone else’s. He has a kind heart on such a subject. And yet, he acts incredibly strong. Ugh. ]
Merilda jumped down from the pile of books. I trudged along and opened the cabin window.
The spire of Sylvania Academy rising in the distance can be seen from this northern forest.
[At some point, it became the most prestigious academy in the empire, filled with all kinds of geniuses and blossoming with talent… but that’s not the foundation of this school. ]
“Then as expected…”
[ That’s right. This school was originally built for the poor. ]
Merilda looked up at the tall spire and spoke as if reminiscing about the distant past.
[It was like that at first. ]
He trailed off as if it was a meaningless story… and then he turned around and leaned against the window frame.
*Yenica Palover’s sabotage was indeed quite effective.
The festival scene at Sylvania Academy is certainly grand to an outsider who knows nothing about it. Wherever you go, you will be dazzled just by looking at the youthful days where cheerful students come and go.
Jenica’s parents, Orte and Seil, were also fascinated by the sight and followed Jenica’s lead, going on all kinds of sightseeing trips.
I wanted to hang out at the street stalls with Ed Rosstaylor at this long-awaited festival, but that wasn’t important for now. The most important thing is to help parents enjoy the festival and return home without any worries. Of course, in the process, there was a secondary goal of preventing him from meeting Ed Rosstaylor.
…Actually, it wasn’t secondary, it was the main point.
Anyway, Ort and Sayla were led by Yenica and had a really fun time watching all kinds of magic presentations, magic equipment demonstration concerts, and theater concerts that they had never seen before.
After returning to the accommodation and taking a nap, the next day I went to see the bachelor’s office where Jenika spends her daily routine, saw magic demonstrations by famous wizards, and even attended a prayer meeting presided over by a saint… These two days were truly special experiences that I could not have in my entire life. I did it in droves.
“Yenika…! Thanks to you, we are really doing well! We really… have a good daughter…!”
“Ehehe… Why so much…”
Yenica, who was scratching her head as if embarrassed, spoke while looking at the line of imperial carriages crossing the Maxes Bridge.
“But… when are you planning to go back…?”
“Oh oh…! Is that really the royal carriage of Cloel… This is my first time seeing it in real life…!”
“That’s right, honey! His Majesty the Emperor and the Princess are riding in there… Can’t we see Princess Selaha in person?!”
“Is it possible for country bumpkins like us to experience such an incredibly honorable event…?”
“Honey, straighten your back! We are Baron’s elders!”
“That’s right… This Orte Palover… It’s a shame that all that remains in this man’s life is the memory of living with his back bent…!”
“That’s right! I also settled in Pulan after seeing your courage!”
“That’s right! I forgot about it! I was a man who made it my life’s work to live proudly with my chest out as a man! I was living my life cleaning up cow dung and fixing fences… The inner flame that I had forgotten was blooming… This is it. “It’s thanks to you that we were able to come to the big water… It’s thanks to you, Yenika…!”
“Uh huh… Ugh…”
After the procession of the imperial carriage, it was now the integrated sparring session for the third graders.
“I have to see it! I heard that Master Ed will appear, so I can’t go without seeing it!”
Yenika covered her head and fell into deep worry. There will be a huge crowd of people watching anyway, so it’s not a big deal to mix in and enjoy the sights.
Still… I can’t wait to ask. I know it’s not very polite to say this, but I just want to ask you when you’re going to return to your hometown…!
Perhaps aware of their daughter’s impatience, Orte Palover and Sayla Palover had no intention of hiding their country bumpkins. I was entering the audience section of the sparring hall while looking at the information sheet with a bread stick sold at a street vendor stuffed in my mouth as a snack.
As Jenica followed her parents in, she wiped her face several times. I was busy wiping away the cold sweat.
Dyke, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the dark waiting room, slowly raised his head.
It was the same spot a few days ago when Wade was trembling in front of Lucy. This time… I am the one sitting there.
The iron bars visible beyond the long hallway leading to the sparring hall.
And at the end of the wide sparring hall, you can see a small waiting room on the other side. Dyke smiled brightly as the sight of a blond noble boy sitting vaguely caught his eye.
The audience seats are full. There are even seats for Princess Selaha and Emperor Cloel at the head table. It looks like he hasn’t entered yet.
I am not afraid of defeat. What you are afraid of is your own weakness.
I have no regrets about the life I lived while repeating that.
With that thought in mind, King Dyke Elphelan stands up.
If you are born a man, there are times when you have to move on even when you sense defeat. Dyke knew that better than anyone else.
