The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)
chapter-304

Cairo was speechless.

Somehow, a conversation had been established between the Grand Master of the Circle, who could be said to have the greatest influence on the continent, and this crippled man, who had seemingly rolled out from somewhere.

Of course, this was only possible because of Ivan’s personality.

Ivan was the type of person who hated rigid manners and pretentiousness, so it could be said that this man suited his personality perfectly. They treated each other as equals regardless of strength, origin or authority.

In other words, Ivan had approved of this man.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re aware of your position.”

Nevertheless, Cairo felt that this man was going too far. He really wanted to say something, but he knew he couldn’t open his mouth because of the warning Ivan had given just before.

“My position?”

“It seems to me that you are the leader of this group. This is a situation where everyone is relying on you. It can be said that you are the centre of this group.”

“Ha.”

A sneer stretched across Ivan’s lips.

“They should rely on themselves. I never wanted to do something like this in the first place.”

“…”

That was true. He hadn’t wanted it from the start.

‘In the end, he was just doing me a favor.’

When he’d heard his selfish request to become the leader of the Circle, Ivan had reluctantly agreed.

…Lukas still wasn’t completely sure about what Ivan had experienced during those 10 years.

He didn’t know how much he’d changed or what his thoughts were.

Nevertheless, there were still a few things that he knew.

He knew that Ivan had suffered greatly under the burden of being the Grand Master. And that he thought he wasn’t suitable for the position.

He knew that look on his face.

Since it was the same look Lukas had in the past.

He hadn’t thought very deeply about this at that time. No, he’d thought about it, but he’d simply ignored it. He deluded himself into believing that even if he died, there would be others that could take his place.

And he’d wrapped that delusion into a nice package called trust.

But he finally realised. It had never been about trust. He’d simply been trying to shirk his own responsibilities.

4,000 years ago.

When Lukas disappeared, the heroes who had been fighting against the Demigods with him died or disappeared one after the other.

Therefore, the role of the centre was much more important than most could understand.

…Maybe Ivan was the Lukas of this era. That was the thought Lukas had at that moment.

He thought that Ivan could lead people in a different way than he did, perhaps even better than he did.

‘Nevertheless.’

The Circle was currently divided. The conflict and strife hadn’t disappeared at all.

Even though the Demigods had disappeared, peace was still a distant thought.

That thought caused his heart to fluctuate once again, but it quickly calmed down.

Lukas felt that he needed to know a bit more about the Circle’s situation before he could make any conclusions.

“…You.”

Ivan’s gaze locked onto Lukas.

“Have we met before?”

“…”

“Hoh.”

Unlike Lukas, who was stunned into silence for a moment, Snow let out a soft chuckle as she crossed her legs on the chair.

“This guy said he lost his memories. I’d brought him here because he seemed to be related to the Circle somehow, but he’s exceeded my expectations.”

She didn’t stop after saying that.

“I’d intended to ask after we’d finished our discussion, but I might as well do it now. Everyone here can be considered to be pretty knowledgeable about the Circle. His name is Lukas. Do any of you know him?”

A small buzz rippled through the room.

Those there.

Ivan, Cairo Wilsemann, Sheryl Roland, and Iris Phisfounder were all people who knew Lukas’ true identity.

Especially Iris…

But at that moment, their voices began to ring out.

“…Lukas?”

“That’s a pretty common name. It’s especially common here in the empire.”

“His disposition is fairly impressive. At the very least, I don’t think I would easily forget him even if I only met him once.”

Those words made Lukas forget how to speak for a moment.

Ivan, Cairo, and Sheryl had all responded one after the other.

It seemed that none of them knew a Lukas.

“…”

Lukas was suddenly filled with unease. In an instant, his body was covered in goosebumps.

His current appearance was obviously different from his appearance in the past. So he could understand why it might be difficult to equate the current ‘Lukas’ to the ‘Lukas’ of the past.

Nevertheless, he found their reactions quite strange.

Was the weight of the name ‘Lukas’ so light?

Lukas finally turned his gaze to the only person in the room who had yet to speak.

Iris.

This woman with eye-catching purple hair had her head lowered as she seemed to be pondering something.

“…”

“…”

Their gazes met for a moment.

Iris slowly opened her mouth.

And Lukas continued to look into her eyes as she spoke.

“…I too.”

A terribly indifferent gaze met his own.

“Am hearing it for the first time.”

* * *

There was a library in Westroad Academy.

As it had been built in a prestigious educational institution, it was much larger and had a more extensive collection of books than the libraries in most major cities. But because of the average level of the cadets, there were very few books that had in depth content.

Nevertheless, it couldn’t be denied that the number of books in this place was enormous.

Tap, tap, tap.

In a dark, quiet hallway.

Only the footsteps of a person could be heard.

‘This should be a vacation period.’

That would explain why there were no cadets there.

Snow glanced out of a window.

The sky was gloomy, as if it would rain at any moment.

The rain was nice. It could be said that there was no elf who didn’t enjoy the sound of raindrops falling on grass leaves. Snow, an Ice Elf, was no exception.

Nevertheless, Snow couldn’t help but show a hint of worry on her face.

‘I hope there won’t be any thunder.’

For elves, who had enhanced hearing, the sound of thunder was particularly harsh.

While thinking about such inconsequential things, she finally arrived at her destination.

Click-

With a soft sound, she opened the door and entered the library.

The hundreds of bookshelves seemed to create a heavy atmosphere.

0

There was no one else in the library. Thanks to that, she was able to easily find the person she had been looking for.

In any case, with his rare white hair, it wouldn’t have been that hard anyway. Snow hardly knew anyone who had a similar hair colour.

Perhaps it was this strange feeling of unfamiliar familiarity that caused her to be so interested in him.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“…”

She didn’t receive an answer.

Lukas was practically buried in a pile of books.

Two days.

That’s how long he had been in this place. As soon as the discussion ended, he headed straight for the library. She hadn’t heard any reports of him leaving, so this man should have been here the entire time.

Snow looked at him for a moment before walking past him.

The library was also a pretty good place to take a break, with soft couches and magazines that had nothing to do with learning. She could even have whatever drinks she pleased.

Ssss…

She boiled two cups of black tea in her hands. While she couldn’t say that it tasted amazing, at the very least, it wouldn’t taste bad.

Clink-

Then she placed one of them in front of Lukas.

It was only at that moment that Lukas finally stopped reading the book. To be precise, he simply lifted his eyes from the pages of the book and looked at Snow.

“Even if you don’t want to eat, you should stay hydrated.”

“…”

“Drink up. If you want to keep reading.”

Lukas finally put the book down.

Then he took a small sip of tea, savouring the taste for a moment before swallowing it.

Snow stared at him for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“…those two.”

At that moment, she thought back to the meeting two days ago.

“Are the ones who currently stand at the very top of the Circle. Therefore-”

“The chances of me having met them is very low?”

Lukas’ voice cracked slightly. This showed that it had been quite a while since he’d last spoken.

“Hmm.”

Instead of responding, Snow let out a small sigh.

It was in her nature to simply blurt out whatever she was thinking. So for her to not directly affirm Lukas’ words could already be considered a great consideration on her part, but Lukas couldn’t realise that fact.

Tak.

He put the teacup down. It was half empty.

“Do you remember everything now?”

If Snow hadn’t been mistaken, then Lukas had been surprised when Ivan and Iris didn’t recognise him.

Lukas didn’t answer directly and instead looked up at her again.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“Say it.”

“…the name Lukas Trowman. Have you ever heard it before?”