Archmage

Archmage

“… What?”

[It means exactly what I said! That female smells aroused.]

Momentarily stunned by that somewhat shocking statement, I closed my mouth and let out a sigh.

It wasn’t entirely wrong after all.

That’s why I was quietly observing this, when Espin shouted in a daze as if throwing a tantrum.

“… Wh-what?”

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Espin this flustered.

I was smiling slightly while looking at Espin’s face, which was bright red and about to burst.

Luna licks her palm and tilts her head.

[Is she in heat?! I thought she was in heat because of the lewd smell!]

At those words, Espin tried to say something but.

Perhaps because the other party was a cat, he just opened and closed his mouth before finally sighing and saying.

“… Hah. What can you say to a cat?”

At first glance, it might seem like he’s running away from the conversation because he can’t win.

But in this situation, no matter what he said, Espin was bound to lose.

It would be right to see it as a somewhat rational decision, I was laughing again at Espin’s words when he quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, let’s stop joking around and get back to the main point. We can do this… more thoroughly later.”

It seems he has no intention of giving up on these antics.

I decided to nod and let it go for now, returning to the conversation.

“So… Deren, what are you planning to do now?”

Not quite understanding the question of what I was going to do, I just stared silently.

Espin subtly covers his chest with his palm and continues speaking to me.

“… It means exactly what it says. As the battle with the Heaven God Cult is nearing its end, we need to decide how to act. For example, using the Archbishop to bring the Heaven God Cult to the negotiating table.”

It seemed like he was asking how I planned to attack the Heaven God Cult.

I briefly explained my approach.

“Annihilation.”

“… What?”

“My goal is to kill them all.”

“……”

At those words, Espin seemed quite taken aback, blinking as he stared at me.

Looking at Espin’s reaction, I explained my reasoning.

“It would take too much effort to return the brainwashed individuals to a normal state, and above all, since they are demons by nature, there’s no real need to keep them alive.”

No matter how much peace is established or friendships are formed.

Demons are fundamentally beings that cannot truly befriend humans.

There’s a high probability that they will eventually break that peace with their own hands and harm humans.

If possible, it would be the right decision to annihilate them all.

“It’ll be quite difficult. Maybe if it was just one or two, but we’re talking about thousands or tens of thousands.”

“Of course, I’m not saying we’ll kill all the ordinary believers. There must be those who didn’t want to join but were forced to due to threats.”

“Then how do you plan to do it?”

“We’ll just have to deal with those who have gained a certain level of recognition from the Heaven God Cult. Usually, those recognized by the Heaven God Cult are likely to have committed unspeakable sins.”

At those words, Espin nodded and looked at me.

Then, he picked up the coat lying on the floor, took out the Magic Book inside, and said.

“Then I’ll look for a way to classify them while also finding the most efficient method to annihilate the others.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Espin nodded at those words and was about to finish getting dressed.

Then, as if he had made up his mind about something, he took a deep breath and said to me.

“… And if you’re sad or having a hard time, you know.”

“…?”

“I’ll, I’ll let you touch my chest. Don’t forget what you said to me earlier.”

Then he quickly left the lab as if running away.

I was standing still, thinking I never imagined Espin would say such a thing.

Luna, who was nearby, returned to my arms and said very proudly.

[I was right, wasn’t I!? He’s in heat, right?]

“……”

This time it was difficult to deny, so I silently nodded my head, indirectly agreeing with Luna’s words.

Luna made a very proud expression and said to me.

[Your mating targets are increasing. I’m so proud!]

I’m not sure what she’s aiming for.

I decided to leave it alone for now since there’s no harm, and let out a sigh.

* * *

The moment Espin left the lab, I decided to start researching the magic I had learned while fighting the Archbishop in earnest.

‘Time distortion and powerful magic.’

Since I hadn’t named the powerful magic yet, I thought I needed to name it while researching and fell into contemplation.

‘In the case of time distortion, to push it to the extreme, it should be possible to cast multiple times.’

It’s quite powerful even when used singularly.

But if I could use time distortion multiple times simultaneously, its power would increase exponentially.

So, if possible, it would be ideal to make it usable multiple times.

‘In addition to this, for powerful magic… it would be better to start by naming it first.’

After naming it, I decided to completely dismantle the temporarily created parts.

I decided to focus on research for a while, determined to greatly increase efficiency and power.

‘This should be quite fun.’

Just as I was about to immerse myself in research, thinking how strangely happy I was doing it.

Luna looked at me and sighed.

[Master, you look like a pervert when you’re just doing research.]

It was oddly upsetting to hear this from Luna of all people.

But if I mentioned anything about it, I’d end up arguing with Luna.

So I blatantly ignored Luna and dove into my research, just as Espin had done.

* * *

About a week later.

Espin rushed into my research lab, shouting something as if he had some important information to ask.

“Deren, do you have a moment?”

I nodded to indicate that it was fine, and Espin quickly approached me and said.

“… The Archmage has sided with the Heaven God Cult.”

At those words, I could only stare at Espin in silence.

I never thought the Archmage would switch sides to the Heaven God Cult.

As I was pondering this for a moment, Espin let out a long sigh and continued.

“In other words, this could mean that the Magic Association and all the forces supporting the Archmage could become enemies of the Lercier Family.”

Could become enemies, huh…

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, thinking that the situation would certainly become tricky if that happened.

No matter how strong the Lercier Family’s power is.

If hostile forces increase too much, the burden will become stronger, and eventually there will come a point where it becomes difficult to handle.

‘I should probably discuss this with the head of the family first.’

Thinking that I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction they would show, I continued speaking.

“So why did the Archmage side with the Heaven God Cult?”

After pondering for a moment at that question, Espin sighed and told me.

“There’s a rumor that the cult captured and threatened the Archmage’s family. Of course, we’ll need to verify the truth of that rumor… but looking at the situation, it seems highly likely.”

“I see.”

The moment I heard those words, I wiggled my fingers and thought about how to handle this.

I don’t know how powerful the Archmage is… but one thing is certain.

They would be more powerful than any enemy I’ve encountered so far.

The moment I realized this fact, I felt a bit of interest along with a competitive spirit.

Since the bishops and archbishops weren’t strong enough to satisfy me, there was a strange sense of disappointment lingering in a corner of my mind.

‘The only proper battle I’ve had was the one on the Rooftop when I first came here.’

So I was hoping for a proper battle this time.

As I was thinking this, Espin quickly continued speaking while looking at me.

“The Magic Association and the Archmage’s forces haven’t made any moves yet. But what worries me is that your sister belongs to the Magic Association.”

By my sister, he must mean Chloe.

The moment I heard this, I felt the need to manage the Lercier Family’s people first before engaging in a full-scale battle, and continued speaking.

“That would certainly be a problem.”

If the people from the Lercier Family were to be put in a dangerous situation, it was unclear what decision the head of the family would make.

If possible, there was a need to prevent such a situation as quickly as possible.

While I was contemplating how to solve this problem, a funny thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Espin, I have a good idea.”

“What is it?”

“Why don’t we just kill the Archmage before such a problem occurs?”

“…‥”

At my words, Espin just blinked blankly and stared at me.