Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

Chapter 269

tl/editor: raei

status: 5/week mon-fri

illustrations: none

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'it's actually working.'

ian felt strange seeing maronius's surprisingly cooperative soul.

though he knew threats could be effective, he hadn't expected them to work on an archwizard's soul.

'well. an archwizard is just a smart human after all.'

take king sejong who created hangul, for example.

though he was clearly a super-genius who created a new writing system, he wasn't some superhuman monster breathing lightning (that was admiral yi sun-sin, a different monster altogether).

maronius too, though smart, was just human.

'not even the real him.'

the mystery ian was dealing with was just memory fragments left on maronius's possessions.

since necromancers equate human memories with souls.

memory=soul, so though they called it [maronius's soul], it was clearly different from the real person.

this wasn't 100% the real maronius, but rather something that possessed maronius's memories.

but according to necromancers' age-old arguments, something possessing memories was indeed their soul.

(by necromancer logic, if a robot had all my memories, it would be 'me'.)

[what do you want.]

"[nothing in particular.]"

[???]

maronius's soul stared at ian like he was crazy.

like, this crazy bastard.

breaks into my memory world then says he doesn't want anything.

"[i just wanted to observe maronius's life up close.]"

[... you summoned me just for that?!]

"[just? is research a joke?]"

[...]

ian spoke soothingly.

a carrot and stick approach.

"[don't worry, i won't touch liria. as long as you don't try to drive me out, that is.]"

maronius's soul sighed.

[i hope you keep your promise.]

ian tried to rewind and replay the memory from the start.

but before that, a question occurred to him.

"[why did you attack me though?]"

[???]

"[i mean, are you hiding some great secret? or did you have some reason to drive away intruders?]"

maronius's soul answered in disbelief:

[how many humans in this world would like someone peeking into their head?]

ah. ian understood.

it was a security program for protecting privacy!

privacy issues are important.

especially for famous people like maronius.

say they developed technology to look inside the minds of dead historical figures.

honestly, he'd want to look.

but from the perspective of the person getting their mind exposed, it would really suck.

especially if those memories were embarrassing moments or things they wanted to hide.

[do you really need to look at my memories?]

ian thought about it.

who are 'you' to ask? you're just a fragment of maronius's memories, with only partial emotions and thoughts.

but saying that directly would make maronius's soul uncomfortable, so ian decided to answer politely.

"[yes. i'm going to look.]"

[... fine. look all you want then get out.]

seated.

ian wished he had popcorn as he started the memory playback.

maronius's soul helped with the screening(?).

thanks to that, ian could experience the memories without losing his sense of self, like watching a movie.

"demius. is it true? you're leaving elium?"

"yes."

slightly outside the city center.

on a hill overlooking the ancient civilization's world, a young man and woman were talking.

the topic was [breakup].

"...why?"

liria opened her eyes wide as if she couldn't understand.

maronius found her attitude detestable.

because he thought all her actions were just an act to deceive him.

"[wait. an act?]"

[yes! what liria wanted wasn't me!]

"[then?]"

"de-demius. that's not... i mean..."

"whatever i do, it's my business right? huh? do i need your permission for everything!"

"th-that's not what i'm saying!"

maronius's voice rose.

in his agitation, maronius blurted out words he shouldn't have.

no.

words he shouldn't say, but wanted to say even more because of that.

because maronius wanted liria's true feelings.

"you! you go around playing with army officers without saying a word to me!"

"...!"

liria's eyes went wide as she covered her mouth with her hand.

shocked expression. trembling hands. tears slowly welling up...

seeing liria's weakened expression.

maronius felt intense [pleasure].

yes. so you do have some conscience.

how does it feel getting caught cheating on your 'boyfriend'?

but just being surprised wasn't enough.

maronius wanted liria to suffer more.

as intensely as all the pain and wounds he had received combined.

"what... are you talking about?"

"amazing you can still play innocent. really amazing, liria."

maronius said with a crooked sneer.

"i saw everything. you and that officer together in the alley."

tears streamed down liria's face.

she was... crying.

"no. demius. that's not..."

"oh? what's not?"

"that person is... just. just a friend..."

"ah. just a friend?"

maronius found even liria's tears detestable.

why do women start crying as soon as they're at a disadvantage?

as if crying would solve everything?

"drinking late at night, walking hand in hand, just the two of you... such good 'friends'..."

maronius said with a laugh.

"with such good friends, i bet you also kiss and fu-"

slap!

maronius's head turned.

a stinging pain.

liria trembled like she was the one who'd been hit, even though she'd just slapped maronius's cheek.

"b-b-bad... demius. don't say... bad things...!"

but maronius didn't back down.

instead, maronius raised his voice.

"you! you made me say bad things! liria!"

"what are you talking about!"

"you know how hard i work? working late every night to make my brother an officer! but what are you doing?"

"..."

"have you ever helped me with anything? no! nothing! but that's fine. i don't expect anything from you anyway!"

"..."

"then at least! couldn't you not go drinking late with strange men? do you enjoy tormenting me that much? does it make you happy seeing me worried! liria!"

"..."

a deathly silence fell.

both liria and maronius.

it was too heavy a silence for young, inexperienced lovers to bear.

liria cried endlessly, and maronius was sick of everything.

just what was liria thinking?

what thoughts made her meet the officer, what feelings made her talk with maronius?

it was unknowable.

of course it had to be.

even using the same language. even being in the same space.

people can never fully understand other people.

since humans started using language, they often fall into the illusion that they can [communicate] with others.

but perfect communication doesn't exist.

because language is imperfect.

and imperfect language can't fully contain human hearts.

[ending memory playback.]

maronius's memory fragment ended there.

"[teacher. where do i pay for the full version?]"

[... i don't understand your nonsense. if you've seen enough, get out.]

at the polite dismissal, ian returned to the original world.