MTLNOVEL Chapter 621
The autumn sky is high and clear.
The nights of the season, where horses grow fat and farmers celebrate the harvest, were eerily quiet. Perhaps it was because the sound of the puling insects that had echoed all summer had faded away.
Or maybe it was because the place I had come to was so sparsely populated.
An observatory.
It was a building closely related to magic, alchemy, and astrology. For a long time, the movements of the stars had been recognized in connection with divine will.
However, observing celestial bodies properly required certain conditions.
For instance, visibility and light levels. As a swordsman, I didn’t know the details, but I had heard previously that after considering several stringent environmental conditions, the observatory had been built.
As a result, the observatory was located in a very remote place.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense. Where there is civilization, light is bound to be born, and therefore the observatory, which must avoid light as much as possible, could only be driven into the wilderness.
This was the background of why the academy’s observatory was built in such a perplexing location.
In fact, it wasn’t even part of the “academy.” The observatory was located on the mountainside outside the academy, a place where a sage had secluded himself long ago.
If there hadn’t been a magic circle in the past, I would never have had a reason to set foot here in my life.
Who would designate such a distant place as a meeting point?
Of course, it was a not bad choice for a secret conversation. Very few students sought out the observatory, and even if they did, they had to obtain permission in advance.
If one had the power to easily ignore such regulations, they might well choose this place.
In other words, the person who had summoned me today was someone who was at least capable of overlooking the academy’s administrative procedures.
“……Have you arrived.”
A puff of white smoke curled in the air.
Was it because the weather had become quite chilly? The white steam that flowed from the girl’s lips looked almost like a breath. Perhaps it was more pronounced because of the appearance of the woman who was smoking a pipe.
Had she merely just passed her teenage years?
Her small frame and delicate skin made it even more confusing to guess her age. While her aura and mannerisms were unmistakably that of an adult, her appearance still resembled that of a child.
She was now a familiar figure.
And rightly so.
How could a disciple possibly fail to recognize their teacher’s face?
I immediately bowed my head slightly in respect.
“Master.”
“The moon is very bright tonight.”
Was it a compliment or a lament?
The emotions behind the woman’s words, which sounded like a sigh, were deep and profound. In a moment of hesitation about what to do, I cautiously closed the distance between us.
The gaze of the great witch briefly turned towards me before she looked up at the sky. Her tropical sea-like eyes were filled with stars.
“Did I mention this before? That ‘Masters’ are not always free beings.”
“I think I’ve heard something similar from the swordsman before…”
It was a story too old.
Having gone through many events since then, such trivial mentions had been long forgotten. However, I racked my brain to meet my Master’s expectations as much as possible.
Had the swordsman said something similar?
I wasn’t sure. It seemed the great witch wasn’t particularly expecting a response to her question.
So, she must have been exhaling the smoke without any pretense of waiting for an answer.
“Isn’t it amusing? That beings who have transcended humanity are tied down by their past, unable to move.”
“Unable to move?”
“The heavenly deity of the holy kingdom is the city.”
City of Siendel.
I trembled at the long-forgotten name. My body couldn’t forget the fierce battle that had taken place at the Mountain Court that day.
The saint was powerful.
If a monster that could handle life and death at will wasn’t powerful, who could possibly claim to be “strong”? But even the saint, who was so strong, could not act independently.
She adhered to long-standing traditions and laws.
“The Empire’s mad swordsman is the royal family.”
The same went for the swordsman.
Once, he had traveled across the entire continent, writing numerous legends. Even now, wasn’t he displaying an inability to control his impulses?
And yet he returned to the royal family.
“And I am the Great Forest.”
“Isn’t it frustrating?”
It was a sudden question that came to mind.
The saint, the swordsman, the great witch.
They had all lived lives tied to leashes for at least several decades. Despite being so powerful, why?
At that, the great witch chuckled softly.
“What a thought… Of course, it’s frustrating. In fact, the three of us might secretly be desperately hoping to be liberated from this long confinement. But the burdens we carry are simply too heavy to cast away.”
“All three of you?”
“Yes, all three of us… No, now it’s only two.”
The great witch’s playful smile briefly turned towards me.
It was a face I had never seen before. Until now, I had only seen her worn out or serious.
To think she could have such an innocent expression.
Perhaps startled, my heart raced.
“I have now become free… thanks to you.”
“Too kind of you to say.”
“For hundreds of years, I have tortured myself.”
It seemed my humble remarks went unnoticed, as the great witch resumed her story.
“I thought everything was my fault. Deep down, I was hoping there might have been a better choice… even until the very last moment when I killed my foolish sister with my own hands.”
“One cannot always make the right choice, can they?”
“That’s exactly what I mean… But since the guilt never disappeared, I pushed myself into pain every day, even going so far as to make the core of the barrier my own body.”
The expression of the great witch as she recounted old stories, how should I describe it?
It seemed both liberated and empty, yet at the same time, perhaps a little melancholic.
I probably couldn’t even begin to imagine the feelings she had.
The reflections after untangling a bad relationship that had lasted for hundreds of years.
The great witch hesitated for a while, unable to find her words. She didn’t seem to know how to define her own emotions.
However, in the end, she managed to squeeze out a single phrase.
“……Thank you.”
It was a word saturated with deep emotion.
The great witch turned slightly red and averted her gaze from me. It felt like I was seeing her rare expression more often today.
A blushing great witch.
Who could have imagined it?
“I… I was actually waiting earnestly for someone to save me. For this day to come… It’s just that I couldn’t do it alone.”
I fell silent for a while.
Then, I inadvertently took a step forward. The distance between the woman and me decreased instantly to less than half.
When my knees silently bent and her pale green eyes filled my sight.
At that moment, my lips curled into a smile. I heard the great witch’s breath catch in her throat.
My reflection mirrored in her wide-open eyes, even the moonlight filtering down like a curtain.
“……It is an honor.”
That was all I wanted to say.
The great witch seemed to mumble something without drawing breath for a while before suddenly turning her head sharply away. Her softly flushed cheeks glowed with an alluring light.
“I’m glad I could save you after hundreds of years.”
“Hmph, if someone were to see, they might think I’m a princess from a fairy tale.”
“Why not? I think it was said that you were the daughter of a noble family back in the day… Ouch!”
Eventually, unable to suppress her embarrassment, the great witch kicked my knee.
Even as a mage, a master is still a master.
Her physical abilities were likely anything but ordinary. At least, a veteran warrior would have let out a scream in that instant.
As I cried out and stood, the great witch began fanning herself, pouting.
“An immature brat like you acting up… I must have made a poor choice in my disciple, tsk tsk. Teasing your master, indeed.”
“Was it obvious?”
And then again, laughter erupted.
It was the result of the great witch’s small foot striking my knee once more.
“Yeah, you brat! It’s me!”
Seemingly hurt by my joke, the great witch continued to sulk for a while. Only then did I feel relieved and let out a genuine laugh.
Yes, this is how it should be.
It felt as if the face I had seen in the memories of a man from the future had returned. The expression of someone who had shaken off shadows and laughed and cried without worries.
Taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind.
“By the way, Master.”
“What is it?”
The woman with the pipe puffed out her lips, and the tone in which she spoke was a touch petulant.
Was she still upset?
Though I thought so, I kept my questions going.
“Why do you still look like that?”
At that, the great witch paused, her body stiffening slightly.
Once more, her eyes turned subtly sideways. Faced with this undeniably suspicious behavior, I had no choice but to tilt my head further.
“After all, vampires are dead, aren’t they? There shouldn’t be any reason to maintain the physique of your childhood…”
“First of all.”
Her voice suddenly turned serious.
I had no choice but to close my mouth in surprise. The gaze of the great witch as she looked at me appeared particularly serious.
“Do you love the second one?”
“Uh, well… of course. Would I get engaged to someone I don’t love?”
Especially when I already have a wife.
Of course, I didn’t make the mistake of voicing that thought. No matter how you looked at it, it was a morally reproachable matter.
In response, the great witch cleared her throat and adjusted her voice.
“There are quite a few… adult women around you.”
“……?”
What was she talking about?
I didn’t grasp her intention at first, but upon further reflection, the great witch’s comment was indeed correct.
The lady saint, as well as Seniors Ria and Delphine, were all quite voluptuous. The same could be said for Emma and Ceria.
Looking back, even a physique like Senior Elsi’s felt rather rare.
Still, I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer, so I stroked my chin and asked back.
“So what?”
“It’s just… it is what it is.”
“What does that have to do with your physique…”
“Just recognize it as such when your master says so!”
At her words, spoken with a bright red face, I immediately felt a chill down my spine.
It was indeed a terrifying technique.
‘Where do you get off retorting to your master?!’
The moment I thought to argue back, it turned into “retorting” again, making it impossible to counter with any argument.
Eventually, I could only fall back into silence and cautiously observe the great witch’s expression. Only then did she seem to regain her composure, clearing her throat again and calming her heart.
After what felt like a while.
The great witch sighed deeply and shook her head.
“No, that’s not it… In fact, I had another reason for calling you today.”
“There’s more to the subject?”
“Yes.”
The great witch spoke to me, whose face showed confusion, with a slightly bittersweet tone.
“It’s about your junior…”
Ceria must leave me.
As soon as I heard those words, I started running like a madman.
To the room where my junior was staying. Hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be too late.
But when I reached Ceria’s room, even breaking down the door with a bang.
All that remained was a single letter.
“To Senior Ian.”
With trembling hands, I picked up the letter.
On the white paper, beautiful handwriting was inscribed in black ink. Surely, it had been written with a heavy heart.
And so the first line read.
[I am truly sorry for the love I’ve given you all this time.]
I had to read the letter as if I was being punished.