Chapter 151. Did You Burn Incense?
And so, the solemn atmosphere lasted only for a moment.
“…Here it is.”
Penholder No.1 guided me to a room and then turned back. There seemed to be a murderous glint in his eyes as he glanced at me, but that was probably just my imagination. No way, among fellow mages, after all.
Anyway, when I opened the door and entered, I saw Parun sitting behind a large desk.
“Do you not know what knocking is?”
“I did.”
“Do you take me for some fool?”
Parun glared at me with a cold gaze and closed the papers he’d been holding.
Then he took the head seat on the sofa meant for guests.
‘…What a waste.’
Clicking my tongue in regret over losing the best seat, I plopped down on the floor across from him.
“Anyway, it’s only been a few days, and you’ve already gotten comfortable?”
I had heard that he’d been given an empty office, but the way he sat there felt like it was his own domain.
That’s when my gaze happened to land on Parun’s forehead.
“Stop spouting nonsense and get to the point… What are you staring at like that?”
“By any chance, are you also nesting… no, a lid. Hmm, that’s not it either. Your head—perhaps… hmm. Never mind.”
I chose silence.
They say silence is courage, but the wrong kind of courage only brings disaster.
This was exactly that kind of moment.
I turned my eyes away from Parun’s icy stare and changed the subject.
“I was curious about something.”
“Is it about the Infinite Chain?”
“Well, that too, I suppose.”
Actually, the reason I came to see Parun wasn’t because of the Infinite Chain.
But then, how should I put it?
“Good timing. The Infinite Chain is truly fascinating.”
His lips twitched, eager to talk.
Parun having this kind of expression was rare, rare enough that if I didn’t ask, I could almost feel my “disdain level” rising by one.
So I asked, “What’s fascinating about it?”
“Weren’t you curious? The only known artifact said to possess absolute tracking. Lorutel had it in their hands and yet never made full use of it. Why do you think that was?”
“Because its usage is complicated?”
That was the general theory about why Lorutel never used the Infinite Chain.
If the artifact were easy to use, there’d be no reason for Lorutel to leave it untouched. But apparently, my answer wasn’t good enough.
“And?”
He pressed again.
I thought for a bit.
Then answered.
“Because it has a complicatedly complicated method of use?”
It was a witty answer, I thought.
A decent bit of wordplay, even. But Parun was the kind of humorless man who didn’t appreciate wordplay.
“To think this thing calls itself a mage. The magic you used that day… sigh.”
What? Why? What’s a mage supposed to be, anyway? You make a circle, cast a spell and —boom.
‘I even broke through transcendence, okay? Me, huh? Did everything!’
Still, what kind of answer was he looking for, exactly?
The answer was given soon enough.
“Do you truly believe it was only because it was difficult to use? Lorutel, a house of swordmasters, yes, but do you think even they would let such a precious artifact go to waste just because it was ‘too complicated’?”
“…”
Now that he said it, he had a point.
‘True. Someone like Lorutel could easily find competent mages if needed.’
If using the Infinite Chain required rare materials, they’d have procured them at all costs. Even if those materials were one-of-a-kind gems that allowed only a single use…
‘They would’ve used that one chance to track down something extraordinary.’
Yet Lorutel hadn’t done that. Even when they did use it, it was only when one of the family’s secret arts went missing, and the cases where “absolute tracking” led to additional gains were extremely rare.
So, for example… yeah.
‘Like the Magic Armor Kalium, something whose existence is known, but whose whereabouts are unclear. They could’ve found things like that.’
But wait, that thought brought up a question.
‘Then what was I, in my past life?’
Both Lorutel and I, erased from history. Our shared memories.
In those memories, I ran, and Lorutel chased.
Under the moonlight, we exchanged swords and spells in the quiet hills, and at dawn, we’d banter—“You’re the dog,” “No, you’re the cow,” exchange greetings, even inquire after each other’s parents.
How many “friendship stabs” had I received back then?
I’d never been stabbed that much in my life. But back then, why couldn’t I shake Lorutel’s pursuit?
‘…Absolute tracking.’
Right, because of the Infinite Chain.
If my comrades hadn’t rescued me midway, and if Lorutel hadn’t suddenly withdrawn for some unknown reason… They probably would’ve chased me to the edge of the continent and cut my head off.
At the time, I’d just shrugged it off, but now, thinking back…
‘If it was more than just “complicated,” then how was it used back then?’
The tracking was almost instantaneous, wasn’t it? Was I just unlucky? No, that wasn’t it. That was before the wyvern incident, after all.
Just as that unfair thought began to bubble up, Parun’s voice rang in my ear.
“There was something Lorutel never revealed publicly.”
“Don’t tell me…!”
“Do you have a guess? That would make things faster…”
“Sorry. I just wanted to say that once.”
“…”
Parun’s disdain toward me rose by one point. Or maybe not just one.
Before, his eyes had looked at me like I was trash; now, they looked at me like I was food waste. Either way, Parun frowned as if smelling something foul and continued.
“The Infinite Chain was an artifact that couldn’t be used.”
“…?”
What’s that supposed to mean? Is he telling me I got scammed?
“No, to be precise… it’s an artifact that’s always active.”
“Always active?”
“Yes. Wait a moment.”
Parun dug through a mountain of papers, research theses written by the Academy’s penholders, and pulled out one.
“Here, if you look at this thesis, you’ll see… actually, never mind. I’ll just explain it so simply even a goblin could understand.”
Good idea.
But as I listened, I couldn’t help thinking…
‘Professor, this lecture gets a big fat zero.’
Even goblins wouldn’t understand this. Hell, even academy assistants wouldn’t. Something about magical flow, mana resonance, theoretical reactions, dozens of theories, and he namedroped half a dozen magicians.
Anyway…
“So, to summarize…”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“The Infinite Chain has been continuously ‘tracking something’ ever since it was first discovered, right?”
“Hmm, a bit smarter than a goblin, I see.”
Then what did he think of academy students, if goblins were his baseline?
Pitiful. Truly pitiful.
But wait…
“…Then we got scammed, didn’t we?”
“…”
What, why.
“You just said it can’t be used. Sounds like a scam to me.”
“…Do you not think there might be another way?”
“…Is there?”
“Your distrust of humanity is truly astonishing.”
“…”
How am I the problem here?
Think about it, after all the effort, hardship, and misery, what we got was a defective item. And this, even though we know the previous owner actually used it.
What would any normal person think?
‘We got played, didn’t we?’
Yeah, “we got scammed” is the reasonable conclusion. But apparently, Parun thought otherwise.
“It’s absolute tracking. Yet even under absolute tracking, there exists something it cannot find.”
“And?”
“Even after all this, you still don’t see it… sigh.”
Ah. Now I could tell what Parun was getting at.
He was talking about the target that the Infinite Chain was pursuing.
Sensing that I’d caught on, Parun smiled, cold and satisfied.
“So, you finally understand.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded proudly.
“If something can’t be found even under absolute tracking… it must be no ordinary object, right?”
“Indeed. And also…”
“It must be really expensive.”
“…”
Parun shut his mouth tight again.
The silence didn’t last long.
“To think you wouldn’t realize the magnitude of discovering a way to circumvent ‘absolute tracking.’ Do you have any idea how monumental that would be in the history of magic?”
“Why should I think that?”
“Are you sure you’re a mage?”
“…”
That was a bit harsh.
I’ll have you know, I’m a mage who broke through transcendence.
Though only halfway…
‘And with a few flaws, maybe.’
Still, a great mage by title.
Yet the look in Parun’s eyes was no different from how he’d look at a goblin.
* * *
“What am I even doing talking to you?”
Parun shook his head in defeat and pulled a cigarette from his pocket.
Did Parun even smoke before? I wasn’t sure, but then again, it was rare to find a mage who didn’t smoke.
“I’ll tell you how to use it. No academic value, but I’m sure practical use is all you care about.”
His words dripped with venom as he reluctantly explained the known usage.
“According to the thesis, it’s derived from the Bevsup theory…”
…Omitted below.
My brain refused the knowledge.
Anyway, after some time, I managed to summarize what I’d understood, being slightly smarter than a goblin and all.
‘So basically, it’s about twisting the artifact’s target a bit, huh.’
For example, say we have Person A and Person B.
The Infinite Chain is currently tracking Person A. But if we want it to track Person B instead?
We interfere with the chain’s spell, erase “A,” and substitute “B.”
Sounds simple, right?
‘Simple, my ass.’
It sounds like changing a single letter, but in reality, it’s far more complex and delicate. Of course, I understood everything, but since Parun already explained it, no need to think too deeply.
Anyway, back to the main point.
If the thing we wanted to find wasn’t “Person A,” but rather “Goblin C”?
Well then.
‘That’s when everything goes to hell.’
At least Person A and Person B share the same species, but Goblin C? Entirely different lifeform. That’s why Lorutel couldn’t actively use the Infinite Chain.
But hold on…
A sudden thought made my eyelid twitch.
“…So you’re telling me all that suffering we went through was pointless?”
Why did we struggle so much at Lorutel?
Because of Dekulan’s bunch, who were after the Heavenly Origin Art, or the thesis about it. But now, hearing this, turns out we didn’t even have to worry about that at all…
“No. We still absolutely had to obtain the Infinite Chain.”
“…?”
I tilted my head.
Parun calmly cleared up my doubt.
“According to Lorutel’s findings, the Infinite Chain has been tracking a ‘book’, or something that contains written text.”
Ah, I see.
I sighed in relief, realizing all our hardship hadn’t been in vain.
And it also explained why Lorutel had hunted me down in my past life. I’d run off with one of their secret texts. How they managed to activate it instantly back then, I didn’t know, but hey, it was their own artifact. They probably had their ways.
But wait.
“A book, or something containing text?”
“That’s right.”
“When was the Infinite Chain first discovered?”
“No idea. It was wandering the continent even before Lorutel acquired it.”
“So it’s ancient, but the target hasn’t changed all this time?”
“At least, not according to Lorutel’s research.”
It stinks. There’s a smell.
“Did you burn incense or something?”
“…?”
Just a joke.
Anyway, the smell part was serious.
‘An item under absolute tracking, yet never found. And it’s something like a book or text…’
Could it be?
There was only one thing I knew of that fit that description.
Yes, a grimoire.
