Wizard Oran

What kind of existence was a wizard? Perhaps what was known to the public was that they used the invisible power called mana to perform magic.

In truth, that was not wrong either. They could be said to use the mana circle located in their hearts to reverse the flow of the world and go against it, manifesting the power of magic.

However, there was also a part most people in the world did not know: wizards had to develop themselves in various ways. For that, all kinds of materials were needed. And those methods were truly varied.

Suppose there was salt before one’s eyes. There were various ways to use that salt. Salt could be roasted, stir-fried, boiled, or even reduced down. Like those methods, a wizard could be said to grow himself by using various methods.

In fact, during an era when magic was more prosperous than it was now, there had also been methods that used corpses, and those were called black magic. In any case, just as in cases like this, wizards of the modern era always sought rare materials in order to surpass their own limits.

In the past, wizards would have had to roam the continent personally, but in the present era, they could be said to easily secure materials by forming or belonging to a faction. The reason Ian was thinking of this explanation that was not really an explanation was that the wizard before him had taken an extreme method.

‘He was trying to raise his realm by producing magical materials using corpses.’

The children’s heads he had seen just now had also been gathered to be used as materials for such magic. And amid these facts, even more shocking things kept becoming things he could not help but learn.

‘To think this bastard was Wizard Oran.’

That was right. Contrary to his expectations, the wizard before him was Wizard Oran, who had been called the only wizard in the Nubea Kingdom. From that fact, the intelligence bureau’s explanation that he had not shown himself for half a year after the death of his disciple connected together.

‘Even if I had gone to the Magic Tower in the first place, I would not have been able to meet him. The Magic Tower must have had no choice but to hide the fact that Wizard Oran was absent too.’

At the same time, Ian inwardly thought he was a madman. He had sacrificed his own disciple? In order to avoid being exposed as a leash of the secret faction, the bastard had sacrificed that precious disciple of his. At that fact, Ian naturally thought he was ruthless. Looking through his memories, the disciple had been with him for at least twenty years.

‘He really is ruthless. Should I call him the final boss of selfishness?’

Just as he thought that, he sensed a being that was sending a vibration of resistance toward him. It was Wizard Oran himself. He had never experienced this phenomenon even once until now, but that did not make him think of it as a threat. The mental gap between the bastard and himself was literally as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

‘Still, if I had not absorbed the White Crystal, it might have been a little difficult?’

【You bastard-! Get out of the space of my mind at once! What are you doing to me!】

【I don’t want to. I’m going to stay here and not leave.】

【What grudge do you have against me to do this!?】

【A grudge? I have plenty. You came to our Polia Kingdom before, didn’t you?】

【How do you know that?!】

【How else? Because I can look through your memories.】

【T-To think you can commit such an absurd act?! Stop it at once!】

【I said I don’t want to. And no matter what, you were a being I absolutely had to capture.】

That was right. The moment he scanned the bastard’s memories, there had been an incident quite long ago when he had crossed over to the Polia Kingdom. Why had he crossed over? Because the bastard was the very person who had made the magical milk container that could offset the magical lanterns preventing narcotics distribution.

Since the third wizard he had searched so hard for had returned to the country he belonged to, it was only natural that he could not be found.

【…What is your identity? The Polia Kingdom? Who are you there that you speak to me of wrongdoing!】

【Me? The big boss of that country.】

【Big boss? What does that mean?】

【Ah, there was no such word, was there? I mean the king of that country.】

【King? What does that… Huh!? You bastard are King Ian?!】

【That’s right. I am King Ian, the owner and ruler of the Polia Kingdom.】

The moment he said that, Ian’s presence began to grow even larger. Facing this, Wizard Oran realized from the sight of him revealing an absurd presence that the world was currently wrong about King Ian.

This man was not a being who had become king by luckily receiving help from unknown supporters. He himself was the strong one and the backer. The world was being properly deceived. As he inwardly thought that, he realized that the organization he belonged to was currently thinking wrongly as well.

‘Touching this man is ultimately an act that will keep shaving away the organization’s strength. The more they keep touching him, the more they will lose.’

He thought he had to convey this fact, but the problem was that his own presence was growing fainter and fainter. This man was currently devouring the being known as himself. He could feel a movement trying to subordinate his soul.

‘I see. I understand why the Polia Kingdom’s royal castle became an inviolable area. Everyone had fallen into this man’s hands. That is why it could not be infiltrated.’

Of course, he did not know that not everyone had. That was not what mattered right now. Having lived for a long time as a wizard, he could not accept the disappearance of his own sense of being himself. Even now, his mental strength was being continuously consumed.

Was this what it felt like to be gnawed away? The more he felt the parts he was gradually losing, the more he could not help but feel despair. He was mobilizing every possible method. He tried using magic to defend his mind through will, and he also tried manifesting magic that made the other party lose consciousness.

‘Nothing can succeed. It feels like throwing a lump of water into a great sea.’

That made him even more afraid. What on earth was this man’s purpose? What did he want from him, and what was he planning to do? Amid all kinds of fear and questions, he decided to trust his last lifeline. There was a geas engraved on his soul when he entered their organization.

‘It is the geas the organization put the most effort into engraving. This, at least, can never be undone.’

In reality, the engraved geas was a being that had grown together with him as he grew, to the point that he wondered if it was perhaps the geas that had existed the longest. Now, he was thinking that perhaps it was the strongest geas.

‘Try breaking through it!’

【Hm? There is a new type of geas?】

【You will not be able to break through this!】

【Was that what you were relying on?】

【You could call it my last bastion! If you cannot break through this, you will not be able to subordinate me!】

【Hah, a wizard who does not want to be subordinated, yet is subordinated to an organization. You are truly two-faced.】

【Shut up! It is not something a bastard who knows nothing has the right to say! No matter how great a being you are, you will never be able to undo this!】

【Really? Then shall I give it a try?】

In an instant, Ian’s power stretched toward the geas. His enormous presence began to touch the geas. Amid that course of action, a tremendous collision occurred. If it had been the real world, perhaps it would have looked like a nuclear bomb striking the land directly. A tremendous shockwave spread out within the unseen space of the mind.

Kwaooooooo—!!!

‘Mm, it is resisting quite strongly.’

If Ian said it was fairly impressive, that meant an equally tremendous level of geas had been placed on it. Truly, he thought that if he had not been able to absorb the White Crystal, he would have felt a massive wall. He wondered if perhaps he might have felt despair for the first time.

In any case, he could feel this being called the geas slowly but surely disappearing, as if being worn away.

‘At this rate, if things go well, I might be able to reach the core of those bastards?’

With only the information possessed by the wizard named Oran, he would be able to reach the secret organization’s central axis, and if he could ultimately strike their head, there was a chance he could collapse their organization. Thinking so, he began to mobilize even more mental strength and press forward.

【Become wholly mine, Wizard Oran!】

【N-No? This makes no sense! How can the geas?!】

Feeling the presence of the geas gradually breaking, Wizard Oran denied it again and again. But reality was that the geas was breaking. In the first place, from the moment cracks had begun to form, it had already become a foregone conclusion that the geas would be undone. Before long, along with the presence of the collapsing geas, his soul began to be completely subordinated in an instant.

【No! This cannot be! To think I am disappearing! To think I will become a being that is not me! Please do not do this!】

【A bastard who sacrificed even his disciple is struggling to live. I shall make good use of you as a new being.】

【W-Wait! I will tell you everything! What their organization is! What their objective is!】

【I can know that even if it is not from you. I will ask instead. Then farewell.】

With those words, shatter!!! The geas completely broke apart, and the existing being called Oran disappeared completely. And a wholly new being began to take its place. Of course, the magical knowledge the wizard Oran had built and learned over his entire life also began to be filled in quickly.

“It is done now.”

Along with Ian’s voice slipping out aloud, what he saw in his field of vision was Holy Knight Hans standing still and Wizard Oran, wearing a black robe, positioned opposite him. Had he been staring blankly at that sight? Before long, Oran flinched and began to move.

After briefly raising both arms and moving them this way and that, he immediately turned his gaze toward Ian, then raised the hood he was wearing back. An old man with a kindly impression, unlike his nature, appeared in his view. Ian looked at him as if he already knew this, and at that, Oran knelt on one knee and spoke.

“Wizard Oran greets my master.”

Ian gave him the name Oran as it once was. More than that, this time, Ian found it truly fascinating. To think he had subordinated none other than a wizard. A being with an entirely different usefulness from anything he had possessed until now had become his. On top of that, even his manner of speech was quite natural.

‘Perhaps it is because he is a wizard. More importantly, the usefulness of a wizard who listens only to my words is truly limitless.’

He had become able to do many things without having to separately ask the wizards belonging to the kingdom for necessary work. For instance, he would likely be able to use him valuably in work that required magical components. Feeling satisfaction at that fact, Ian soon thought that because Oran occupied an enormous portion of his mental strength, he would not have much leeway for a while.

‘The more outstanding the being I subordinate is, the less Mental Manipulation I can use.’

He was feeling a lack he had never felt even once in his life. That was how much of him Wizard Oran occupied. In any case, with this, he had obtained a proper clue to pursue those bastards’ organization.

“Wizard Oran, where do their organization’s major facilities exist? Where is the closest one from here?”

“My master, I am sorry, but a portion of my memories has been lost.”

“Your memories were lost?”

“Yes, the moment I was born, certain memories naturally disappeared.”

“Could it be that the geas did not simply disappear?”

“Perhaps some kind of magical formula, one that even my previous existence did not know about, had been engraved there.”

At those words, Ian felt troubled. He had thought he could finally aim for the bastards’ leadership, but now that he could not, he naturally felt the strength drain out of him. The reading he had done of Wizard Oran’s memories earlier had merely been at the level of scanning, so there was not that much he remembered. At that moment, Wizard Oran told him several facts.

“However, information about their organization’s major facilities does exist.”

“You remember the major facilities?”

“There are mass-production facilities for biological weapons, important weapons production facilities, and even educational facilities where they raise and teach talented individuals.”

Those words literally meant that, aside from the center, he remembered almost everything significant. This meant he could inflict tremendous damage on their organization. It might be something that could cause them a massive temporal setback. They would likely be unable to move properly for a while.

‘This is absolutely impossible for me alone.’

Only by receiving help from the intelligence bureau would it be possible to strike them simultaneously. Otherwise, the bastards could quickly notice, abandon the facilities, and hide deep away. From that fact, he thought that a revenge play carried out by himself alone was impossible.

‘Still, it will eliminate many parts of them. It should be enough revenge.’

He thought they should be made to thoroughly suffer for touching his daughter. Just as he was thinking that, Wizard Oran told him one more fact.

“And, my master, I know that you met Sara.”

“Sara?”

“The girl you encountered at this orphanage earlier.”

He said that because he had become connected to him upon being subordinated and could know what he had seen. More importantly, how did he know about the girl named Sara? Was it because she had been in the orphanage, so he had come to know her then? More than that, it felt strange that he remembered a mere single girl like that.

“How do you know that girl?”

“She was a girl my previous existence had singled out.”

“Singled out? Were you perhaps planning to use her as experimental material?”

“No. She possessed innate talent for mana.”

“Talent for mana? So she had talent as a wizard?”

“Yes. After learning that fact, he had even planned to take her as his disciple no matter what. Of course, it became impossible due to timing.”

If this was true, it was surprising. Talent as a wizard, something that could be called extremely rare even when looking at the entire planet’s population. It was an existence so rare that it was difficult to find at all. Having learned this fact, Ian thought he absolutely could not leave her alone.

‘I have to find her.’

She was a girl with talent he had to find no matter what, even if he had to search the entire city. Before long, she had transformed from a pitiful girl into an existence whose future value had risen greatly.