The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Leaving a Record (4)

“It’s already been ten years…”

Astion paused his writing and set down his pen to take a short break.

It had already been ten years since the war began. After a decade, the United Human Army had finally entered the outer edge of the Demonic Abyss.

Countless sacrifices had been made. Even the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, Duke Stauffen—Lucien’s father—had fallen in battle.

Still, the surviving Allied Forces had become more elite and powerful than ever before.

More Transcendents had been born during the war than those who had died. Soldiers had become capable of defeating ten Riftspawn each on their own.

The knights, needless to say, had reached astonishing new heights. Thanks to the widespread dissemination of Mana Refinement Techniques by the various nations, new mana-wielders were emerging every day.

“And yet, it’s still not enough.”

Astion had already reached the realm of the 9th Circle five years ago. His friends had rapidly grown stronger as well, reaching levels not far behind him.

The United Human Army had become the strongest force in history—so strong that, if they wished, they could even hunt dragons.

And yet, they still couldn’t subdue the Adversary. The Adversary remained an insurmountable wall.

Even so, the reason they were able to gain the upper hand and advance into the Demonic Abyss was because there was someone who could bind the Adversary.

“Julien, Deneb.”

Now, the strongest among the Allied Forces was the Hero, Julien. And the Saintess Deneb stood by his side.

Thanks to those two, the army had gained the upper hand in this war and had finally breached the Demonic Abyss.

If things continued as they were, it felt like victory might finally be possible. Even the Adversary couldn’t hold out forever.

“There’s not much time left. I can’t afford to let my guard down.”

With a resolute expression, Astion steeled his resolve again and again.

The Adversary was terrifyingly powerful—so much so that just a single moment of carelessness could lead to enormous sacrifices.

Astion wasn’t just worried about the potential loss of Julien and Deneb.

He was also concerned about the rest of his comrades, and beyond them, even the members of the Julien Mercenary Corps. He tried his best to minimize any further sacrifices.

To that end, he couldn’t afford to settle for his current level. Whenever he had the time, Astion continued his magical research and never ceased learning.

[I had recently devoted myself to a specific study—namely, the method Ghislain used in a critical moment to explosively increase his mana.]

[When I first fought the Adversary, I tried it myself, following Ghislain’s guidance. But the only reason it worked at the time was because of Deneb’s Divine Power. And even then, it had barely succeeded.]

[Without external aid, attempting to amplify my mana that way would’ve caused my body to explode. Ghislain had once said that even he couldn’t maintain that state for long.]

[I tried to formalize the method so that anyone could learn it. I explored various approaches, such as drawing in new mana, gathering it, and reprocessing it. No matter what, I aimed to enhance its stability but forcing mana to explode and stabilizing it were fundamentally incompatible goals.]

[Ghislain had unleashed it relying solely on his own senses. So of course, there was no theoretical foundation. Still, I was certain that with continued research, I’d eventually find a clue. I created a separate research journal and, whenever I had time, compiled different hypotheses.]

“Master, are you making another new grimoire?”

Astion gave a slight nod at Lucien’s question.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a grimoire but rather a theoretical text on mana control. Regardless, it was something that could greatly inspire other mages.

It was still too unstable and needed much more refinement, though.

Lucien looked impressed as he watched Astion, who never slacked in his research and training, not even for a day.

“Master, I really think you're amazing. I couldn’t do what you’re doing.”

“You can do it too. No, you’ll have to, one day.”

If Astion couldn’t finish the research himself, he planned to leave it in Lucien’s hands.

Lucien was that intelligent and diligent. He also held deep respect for Astion.

Lucien’s eyes sparkled as he responded to Astion’s words.

“Don’t worry! Once the war ends, I’ll stay by your side and help you with your research!”

“No, that won’t be necessary, really...”

Astion had a lot of things he wanted to do once the war ended. Dating, in particular, was at the top of the list.

But having his student constantly clinging to him would make things difficult.

Unaware of Astion’s inner thoughts, Lucien clenched his fist and said,

“That won’t do! This is research being conducted by the continent’s greatest mage! I’ll abandon all distractions and focus solely on it!”

‘Please don’t... Go live your own life...’

Astion made a devastated expression under Lucien’s admiring gaze. He sincerely hoped Lucien wouldn’t follow through.

In the early days of the war, Lucien had only taken on support duties in the rear. He had been too young and inexperienced.

But now, having grown considerably, he had become a core force in the mercenary corps alongside Astion.

Suddenly, Lucien’s eyes took on a nostalgic look as he recalled the past.

“At first, I resented you a little for not teaching me magic and only training me in weapon skills.”

“…I see.”

“But now, I understand your deeper intent. This is the unique training method of our magic tower.”

“…Right.”

Lucien had truly become a combat weapon. Even without using magic, he could easily kill hundreds of Riftspawn in close combat.

When it came to magic, Lucien, worthy of being Astion’s disciple, had already reached the 6th Circle. He was truly a rising star of the Empire.

Lucien wiped under his nose and grinned.

“It’s truly an honor to be the only successor of such a great magic tower. Since my older brother has already inherited the family, I really plan to dedicate my entire life to the magic tower.”

‘That’s exactly what I don’t want you to do...’

“I’ll also put my utmost effort into choosing the next successor. After all, we’re a ‘One-Man Transmission’ magic tower.”

‘We’re not going to be a One-Man Transmission tower...’

Astion wanted to shout “No!” right then and there. This all started just because Ghislain didn’t want to take on a disciple and came up with an excuse.

But Astion wanted to take in many disciples. If he was going to do it, he wanted to build the largest and most powerful magic tower on the continent.

It was only natural. Anyone would feel the same. But he couldn’t deny it in front of his disciple, who spoke with such pride.

“Ha, haha… Y-yeah. Let’s talk more about that later.”

The “One-Man Transmission” magic tower was already well known. Because of that, no other mage had even tried to become his disciple.

It was frustrating, but Astion still had a plan.

‘I’ve given basic instruction in magic to a few people here and there… Once the war ends, I’ll quietly gather them and say we’ve revised the policy.’

During the war, everyone had been freely sharing their knowledge and secrets. Astion had also shared much with the mages of the Allied Forces.

Though it wasn’t formal apprenticeship but more of an exchange of knowledge, what mattered was that he had already created exceptions.

[...Lucien truly intended to bury his bones in the magic tower. And he held immense pride in being its only successor. It was no wonder—his master had reached the 9th Circle, become the continent’s greatest mage, and was now one of the Hero’s companions.]

[Still, I wanted to build a grand magic tower. I had no intention of spending the rest of my life quietly researching in a small tower with just one disciple. But I was a bit troubled thinking about how I’d comfort my disciple when he inevitably got disappointed. I want to date, too—this is such a headache.]

Astion sighed several times while recording all this.

Just thinking about the magic tower and Lucien weighed heavily on his chest.

He was so sincere about this record that he didn’t leave out even these private thoughts. After all, it was something Ghislain had repeatedly asked of him, and he didn’t intend to slack off.

Beyond matters regarding the Hero, the Saintess, and the Julien Mercenary Corps, he recorded many other things.

[There were talks that Ereneth would be appointed as Great Chieftain after the war. Ereneth’s skills had now surpassed Lady Ilaniel’s. Torvalt had also become a Transcendent, but he still hadn’t reached Lord Grondal’s level. Because of that, Lord Grondal believed he had lost to the elves and had been in a rather foul mood lately.]

[Duke Tiosid, who had succeeded Duke Stauffen, stepped down, and Marquis Nodehill rose to the position of Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. Ever passionate, Marquis Nodehill had accumulated an astonishing number of military achievements, so everyone accepted it as only natural. Rio and Marquis Valesant had also been of great help in the war. The three, who had been strong supporters of the Julien Mercenary Corps, had now emerged as key nobles of the Allied Forces.]

[In particular, Rio's ability to provide military supplies was second to none. It had truly been a brilliant decision by Ghislain to appoint Rio as a lord. Was that also thanks to his knowledge of the future? Ghislain never said so directly, but it was certainly suspicious.]

[...Osval had reached the level of a Transcendent. He had always been one to slack off, but after going through countless battles, it seemed he had finally broken through the wall. Osval told me that ‘revolution’ was his world. Of course, we still didn’t really understand what Osval’s revolution was all about.]

[I had been imitating Ghislain for a long time. The dull-minded mercenaries didn’t notice I had changed at all. But a few people could sense that something was different about me.]

For years now, Ilaniel had been saying the same thing to Astion.

“It’s truly strange. Are you telling me a person can change this much?”

“...Are we really talking about this again?”

“That battle—the one on the day the Pope revealed his true identity—what effect did it have on you?”

“...It didn’t affect me at all.”

“No, no. That man must have wounded your soul deeply. Otherwise, there’s no way someone’s aura could change so drastically.”

Ilaniel couldn’t hide the worried expression on her face.

It was understandable. Astion had become a key force in the Allied Forces. If something had gone wrong because of the Adversary’s schemes, it would be disastrous.

Unable to tell the truth, Astion wore a frustrated expression.

“...You’ve been saying the same thing for ten years. At this point, can’t we just assume I’m fine?”

“My heart still isn’t at ease. Would you let me use the spirits to peer deep into your consciousness? If something is truly wrong, it may help.”

“...No, it’s fine. It’s just that, as I’ve grown older and gone through the years, I’ve simply changed.”

“Bringing up age and the passage of time in front of me feels a little off, you know.”

“...”

If Ilaniel had only worried and left it at that, Grondal was a bit different.

“Ha, so your realm has improved, but why do you seem weaker than before?”

“...”

“Your fighting spirit isn’t what it used to be. You’re still young, but you don’t brawl like before. You just fling magic around all the time.”

“...”

“Tsk, back in the day, just seeing your face made my blood boil, made me want to fight. But now… how should I put it... yeah, you’re just a mage now. A gloomy mage. The kind of mage you don’t want to deal with.”

“...Please stop.”

Grondal would sometimes deliberately pick a fight with Astion. It was because he wanted to draw out the old Astion and have one more good brawl.

But Astion was not like Ghislain. He had no interest in proving who was stronger.

After a few years of this, even Grondal gave up on trying to fight him.

Andrew and Rio also felt that Astion had changed a bit. But they simply chalked it up to a natural change brought on by the passage of time.

In truth, Astion didn’t care how others saw him. It wasn’t like they had any way to uncover the truth anyway.

Except for one person.

‘The Dragon Lord is definitely suspicious.’

Arterion hadn’t said anything to Astion. But that, in itself, made Astion even more uneasy.

There was no way Arterion wouldn’t have noticed the change. They had spent three years together in the Land of Extreme Cold—how could he not know?

And yet, to show such complete disinterest meant he had something else in mind.

‘...Is he planning to do something to me once the war ends?’

There was a very high chance he’d be captured and used for experiments. Arterion was that cruel of a dragon.

[...It seemed I would have to be careful once the war ended. The occasional chilling gleam in Arterion’s eyes made me deeply uneasy. No matter how I looked at it, he had definitely noticed the change in me and was plotting something.]

[Aside from that, there was nothing particularly special going on. We continued our advance toward the heart of the Demonic Abyss, and the closer we got to the center, the fiercer the Salvation Church’s resistance became.]

[However, the darkness of the Demonic Abyss meant nothing before Deneb’s Divine Power. Though she couldn’t erase all of it at once, there was no difficulty in securing zones we could fight in.]

[As always, Julien took on the Adversary. The Apostles were handled by me, my comrades, and other High Priests were handled by the Transcendents of the United Human Army. The few remaining lesser deities from the Foreign Realm were still being dealt with by the dragons.]

[Before we knew it, Julien had grown strong enough that he could go toe-to-toe with the Adversary without being pushed back. Of course, that was only possible because Deneb’s Divine Power suppressed the Adversary’s darkness but even so, that was enough for us to seize the momentum in the war.]

[No matter how fiercely the Salvation Church resisted, they couldn’t stop us. As long as the Adversary was bound by Julien and Deneb, it was impossible for the remaining Apostles and High Priests to hold off all of the Allied Transcendents alone.]

[The Adversary had tried to block our path several times, but each time he failed and was forced to retreat. Riding that momentum, we pushed forward without stopping—straight to the heart of the Demonic Abyss.]

[Now, the Adversary had nowhere left to run. If he retreated again, he knew we would immediately seal the Demonic Abyss. And so, when we finally reached the center of the abyss, the Adversary appeared, leading all the remaining priests for the final battle.]

[...At last, the final moment that would bring this war to an end had arrived.]

[O Goddess, please take our hands... help us change our fate.]

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