Chapter 703: Chapter 703

Chapter 703

Was it planted in the past? (1)

When Ghislain last explored the Forest of Beasts, he told Jerome about the ancient grimoire he had once acquired.

Before his regression, he completed his mana refinement technique inspired by that half-tattered grimoire.

Back then, it had truly been a stroke of fortune. Without that grimoire, he probably wouldn’t have grown strong enough to rank among the Seven Strongest on the Continent so quickly.

Thanks to that mana refinement technique, he was able to overcome one crisis after another even after returning, unleashing explosive power whenever danger struck.

In a way, that grimoire was one of the foundations that allowed me to accomplish everything.

However, in this life, he’d already perfected the mana refinement technique. There was no longer any need for him to obtain it so he passed it on to Jerome.

He’d only drawn inspiration from it due to a lack of magical knowledge at the time, but Jerome was an outstanding mage. He might gain far more from it than he ever could.

“Hmm… Is it here?”

The place Jerome arrived at was a small kingdom located quite a distance from the Ritania Kingdom.

Since Ghislain’s collapse, Jerome had kept delaying his plans but he had finally come here to retrieve the grimoire.

The kingdom’s nobles were startled when Jerome showed up accompanied by a few attendants.

“What brings you here so suddenly?”

“Has something happened?”

“We’ve been keeping a close eye on the rift activity.”

By now, Jerome was a figure of some renown. News of his exploits with the United Human Army had spread far and wide.

With one of the continent’s most powerful figures visiting, the nobles of this small kingdom couldn’t help but grow anxious.

“Haha, nothing like that. I’m just here to investigate something.”

Depending on how you interpreted it, the word “investigate” could be quite ominous. The nobles began to grow increasingly nervous.

But Jerome had no interest in those nobles. He immediately headed for the location he was told about.

At first, he had planned to simply hire a few laborers to dig, but the local lord, eager to win his favor, provided a large workforce free of charge.

Not even a few days had passed since the digging began when what appeared to be ruins emerged from the ground. Upon hearing the news, Jerome couldn’t help but look slightly surprised.

“There really… are ruins here?”

As the excavation continued, traces of ancient times gradually surfaced. Though the site wasn’t particularly grand or magnificent, it still provided plenty of insight into how people of the past lived.

What especially drew everyone’s attention were the geometric patterns carved into the walls.

Though much of it had eroded with time, the intricate remnants still vividly conveyed the artisans’ delicate touch from that era.

The laborers participating in the excavation, as well as the nobles who frequently stopped by to curry favor with Jerome, all made quite a fuss about it.

“Of course it’s Lord Jerome! How did you know something like this would be here?”

“Truly incredible. Lord Jerome’s wisdom reaches the heavens!”

In truth, none of them had any real interest in ancient ruins. Only scholars would care about such things.

If anything, they were mildly curious whether treasures might turn up. But rather than getting greedy over uncertain riches, buttering up to Jerome was the far smarter play.

“Ah, well… it’s not really that impressive… I just heard about it from the Grand Duke of Fenris…”

“Uwaaah! As expected of the Grand Duke of Fenris! So, it was a joint discovery between the two of you! How can you both be so amazing!”

“…Please, stop.”

Overwhelmed by the excessive flattery, Jerome looked visibly embarrassed. He knew his own status, of course, but he still wasn’t used to being treated like this.

* * *

In one corner of the ruins stood a small structure that looked like an altar. On top of the intricately stacked stone platform rested a small box.

“Oh… could that be it?”

Jerome approached, his heart pounding with anticipation. It was an iron box, slightly rusted but otherwise intact.

It seemed preservation magic had been cast on it to keep it intact over time.

Click.

Opening the box carefully, he saw two books inside. They looked quite old, but thanks to the preservation magic, they were still perfectly readable.

Jerome picked up the book on top. It had no title. The moment he opened it; his eyes widened in shock.

“This is…”

It was a grimoire but not quite a grimoire.

It wasn’t a book that contained rituals for casting specific spells. Instead, it was packed with theories about the manipulation of mana. Experimental, bold theories.

As he lost himself in the contents, Jerome let out a half-laugh of admiration.

“This is… incredibly dangerous stuff.”

The book described methods for rapidly gathering mana and amplifying it to unleash power several times stronger than usual.

But the theory wasn’t complete. It was a mix of abstract concepts and unverified hypotheses. Even the author hadn’t been confident in whether the theory was correct or not.

On top of that, the content was so advanced that even Jerome, an 8th-Circle mage, couldn’t grasp it all at once.

As he read on, completely entranced, Jerome suddenly sighed.

“Ah… seriously… why does it cut off here?”

The grimoire was incomplete. The rest seemed to have vanished somewhere.

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Jerome flipped back to the beginning and resumed reading only to suddenly feel a chill down his spine.

“Wait a second… hang on. This handwriting doesn’t it look like the founder of our Magic Tower?”

He had just discovered a book from the past. Thanks to it, he was now gaining insight into what Ghislain had been working on.

But the handwriting in the book he was looking at now was strikingly identical to the one in that other book.

“Wait… could this really be… a book left behind by the founder of our Magic Tower? But why would he leave it here instead of the tower? And why is the latter half missing?”

He was curious about what had happened, but there was no way to know for now. Maybe the research didn’t pan out, and in a fit of frustration, the founder had torn it up. Or perhaps, to conceal dangerous information, he had deliberately scattered the pages.

Regardless of the reason, even the remaining half was a remarkable piece of theory. Jerome couldn’t wait to bring it back and study it further. The fact that it was incomplete only made him more curious.

“Vanessa’s going to love this.”

When it came to magical research, Vanessa was one of the most talented individuals on the entire continent. Studying it with her would undoubtedly yield immense new insights.

He might even reach a new level of mastery. The grimoire truly contained knowledge of that caliber.

Jerome beamed as he tucked the grimoire away. Then, with a curious look on his face, he picked up the book that had been underneath it.

“Nobody said there would be two grimoires.”

How extraordinary could this second one be? Eagerly checking the cover, his expression quickly turned strange.

[The 9th-Circle Magic Only a 5th-Circle Male Slave Mage Who Defeated Gods and Dragons Can Learn]

“……”

The title alone was beyond blatant. It was obvious who this book had been meant for.

“Ah… is this supposed to be for Alfoi? But how did it end up here…? Did he know I’d come here and leave this behind in the past?”

Ghislain had clearly told him the location of the grimoire before traveling to the past. Which meant the information about the grimoire hadn’t been something he got in the past.

And yet, here was undeniable evidence that Ghislain had left behind a book for the future. The past and future were clearly affecting one another.

“Ugh… my head hurts. I have no idea at what point in time or with what intention he left this here.”

The record of the past had not been updated since then. Jerome was confident it would eventually be, but until new content appeared, there was no way of knowing what had happened in the past.

Jerome opened the so-called “grimoire for Alfoi” and once again found himself stunned.

“Whoa… this one’s amazing too.”

The second grimoire detailed a method for casting spells as if using multi-casting, even without possessing the talent for actual multi-casting.

It was a new conceptual form of magic, but it was explained in such a simple, beginner-friendly way that it felt like even an average fool could learn it.

“Who came up with something this easy? I understood everything after just one read. Could this also have been created by our founder?”

The title was definitely written by Ghislain, but Jerome couldn’t be sure who had written the content. Since Jerome still didn’t know that Ghislain had learned magic, he could only assume that Astion had written it.

Jerome carefully read through the second grimoire. While the magic was certainly easy to learn, it came with rather stringent conditions.

First, the purity of mana had to be quite high. This was necessary to maintain the magic in a uniform state.

Second, one had to be at least a 5th-circle mage. Only with that amount of mana could it be used smoothly.

The third condition was the most important, one needed a high level of mana control. That’s because it required moving mana as swiftly as in multi-casting.

There weren’t many mages who fulfilled all these conditions. And funnily enough, Alfoi met every single one.

“A custom-made spell perfectly tailored for Alfoi, huh? Did Ghislain ask the Ancestor to create it for him?”

Thanks to consuming a Dragon Heart, Alfoi’s mana was pure. And since he’d been dragged to so many construction sites, his mana control had also become exceptional.

He simply didn’t know much about magic because he didn’t study.

Jerome let out a few incredulous chuckles.

“It’s not even a 9th-circle spell, but he slapped ‘9th-circle’ in the title. That’ll make Alfoi want to learn it no matter what.”

Knowing Alfoi’s personality well, it was clear Ghislain had done this on purpose.

That way, Alfoi would think it was a 9th-circle spell and start studying.

“Honestly, he acts like he’s not, but he’s surprisingly considerate of the people around him.”

Ghislain must have anticipated that Jerome would come to retrieve the grimoire and placed it there deliberately.

Maybe he had also prepared other gifts like this for other people.

“I should hurry back and tell everyone else. I bet Vanessa will be the happiest about this.”

Jerome took the two grimoires and headed back. There were still things he was curious about, but in time, he would come to know the answers.

Before heading to Fenris, he made his way to the eastern region of Ritania.

That’s where Alfoi was.

“Hey, hey, hey! Aren’t you going to get back to researching? Hurry up already!”

Alfoi, who had been ‘demoted’ (?) to the Eastern Rift Research Institute, was once again patrolling the place wearing his orange armband, nagging the mages.

He didn’t actually do much here. He hated studying, so he was no help with the research, and lately, he barely participated in construction work either.

All he did was wear his armband, poke his nose into everything, and offer completely unhelpful advice.

If he had any particular talent, it was tracking down runaway mages with astonishing accuracy.

“Ugh, why did that guy have to come here…”

“I heard the Chief Overseer of Fenris sent him over.”

“Because of him, the class system has completely collapsed.”

The mages at the Eastern Research Institute were full of complaints but kept them to themselves. Alfoi may have been a slave, but he was such a blockhead that talking to him was utterly pointless.

It might’ve been bearable if he were alone, but worse yet, there were other mages with blue armbands who followed him. They were slave mages who had been with him since the time of the Crimson Flame Tower.

There was nothing to gain by picking a fight with them, so the mages endured. Even the actual person in charge of the Eastern Research Institute chose to turn a blind eye to Alfoi and his companions.

With the influx of many mages, the Kingdom of Ritania had begun a large-scale mage training initiative.

The mages of the Eastern Research Institute also took on apprentices. Naturally, those apprentices didn’t overlook Alfoi’s behavior.

“Master, who’s that person with the orange armband?”

A young apprentice asked his master. It was understandable to be curious when someone with no official title and a slave at that strutted around like a thug.

The master, hearing the question, wore a troubled expression. Explaining who Alfoi was proved to be extremely difficult.

After much deliberation, the master finally came up with the most appropriate answer he could.

“Hmm… he’s an unpaid slave who believes he’s a god.”

“…What does that even mean? He may be a mage, but… can a slave really behave like that?”

“Umm… just pretend you don’t know. That’s your best bet.”

Though many ignored Alfoi, it was difficult to treat him carelessly either.

The retainers of Fenris, who essentially held power in Ritania, quietly looked after Alfoi.

Belinda sent him luxurious robes and gear every season, and Vanessa, who occasionally visited to check on the research, treated Alfoi with polite respect.

There were also rumors that many other prominent figures in the kingdom had a quiet friendship with Alfoi. He himself had once been quite well-known. Though now, all that remained was his infamy.

Thus, the mages had no choice but to stay silent.

“Just pretend you don’t know… For heaven’s sake, act like you don’t know… There’s no good reason to get involved with someone like that.”

That was all the mages could say. They prayed their naive apprentices wouldn’t get entangled with Alfoi.

However, the younger mages who didn’t know much about Alfoi didn’t take their master’s advice seriously.

They couldn’t stand how a mere slave acted so arrogantly. They were waiting for the right moment to put Alfoi in his place.

Unaware of any of this, Alfoi returned from the construction site after a day filled with nagging.

“Ahem, ahem. Ah, working hard again today really wore me out.”

Behind him, mages wearing blue armbands strutted proudly in his wake.

On the way back to the dormitory, a piece of paper suddenly fluttered down in front of Alfoi.

“What the heck is this?”

Without a thought, Alfoi snatched up the paper. His eyes widened as he read the contents.

[Treasure Map]

The fact that it blatantly said “Treasure Map” on it, and that the drawing was absurdly crude, were both clear red flags.

The intent to deceive whoever picked it up was obvious, but Alfoi failed to realize it at all and immediately tucked the map into his chest.

He had a good feeling about it.