Chapter 151

Chapter 151. Did You Burn Incense?

And with that, the heavy mood vanished almost as quickly as it had arrived.

“……It’s in here.”

Pen 1 guided me to the entrance of a specific room, then spun around.

When our gazes locked, there was a sharpness in their eyes that felt like genuine malice—though I told myself it was just a trick of the light. I mean, honestly, we are both mages.

Regardless, I pushed the door open and stepped inside to find Parun seated behind a massive desk.

“Do you not know how to knock?”

“I did.”

“Do you take me for a complete fool?”

Parun glared at me with icy eyes and slammed the files he was holding shut.

Then, he moved to take the seat of honor on the leather sofa.

‘……What a waste.’

I clicked my tongue, disappointed that the best spot had been claimed, and collapsed onto the floor directly across from him with a thud.

“Setting that aside—how many days has it been? You’ve made yourself quite at home.”

I had heard he’d been given an empty office, but he looked so comfortable, as if he had been running the place for years, so I had to mention it.

That was when my eyes drifted to Parun’s forehead.

“Enough with the nonsense—get on with it… What are you staring at?”

“Did you also have a bird’s nest… no, a cap. Well, never mind that. Your head—is it… hmm. Forget it.”

I decided to hold my tongue.

People like to call that restraint, but reckless bravery only leads to trouble.

This was definitely one of those moments.

I ignored Parun’s freezing glare and shifted the topic.

“I had something I wanted to ask.”

“Is this about the Infinite Chain?”

“No, well. That too, but…”

In truth, that was not the primary reason I had sought out Parun.

But how could I explain it?

“Perfect timing. The Infinite Chain is truly captivating.”

Parun looked like he was dying to talk about it.

It reached the point where I wondered if he had always been this chatty, but I knew if I didn’t play along, his disdain for me would only intensify.

So I prompted him.

“What exactly is so captivating about it?”

“Weren’t you curious? It is the only artifact in existence known to have Absolute Tracking. Lortel possessed it, yet she rarely utilized it. Why do you suppose that was?”

“Is it because it’s difficult to operate?”

That was the standard theory regarding why Lortel avoided using the Infinite Chain.

If it were user-friendly, there would be no reason for her to keep it on the shelf.

But was my answer insufficient?

“And?”

Parun pressed further.

I pondered for a moment.

Then I responded.

“Because the method of operation is overly complex?”

It was a reasonably clever observation.

Almost a bit of wit.

However, Parun was the sort of dull individual who failed to grasp such nuances.

“And to think this person is a mage… What was that magic I saw that day… Ugh.”

What, really? What makes being a mage so special? If you forge a core and can cast spells, you are a mage.

‘I mean, look at me—huh? I even surpassed Transcendence, right? I achieved that all on my own!’

So what kind of answer was he hunting for?

Parun offered me the “correct answer” himself.

“Do you honestly believe the only reason was difficulty? Regardless of how prestigious a sword-wielding family they are, are you suggesting that Lortel—of all people—couldn’t master such a valuable artifact simply because it was hard to use?”

“…….”

Now that he framed it like that, he was correct.

‘Yeah… If it’s Lortel, she could have hired the finest mages in the land.’

Even if the Infinite Chain demanded vast resources, she would have found a way to use it if she really wanted to.

Even if the cost involved a gem so rare it was the only one of its kind, making it a single-use tool…

‘With that one chance, she could have hunted down something legendary and claimed it.’

Yet, Lortel didn’t.

Even when she did utilize it, it was only when a secret technique of her family had been stolen, and instances where she gained profit through “Absolute Tracking” were extremely rare.

For instance… exactly.

‘Objects like the Magic Armor Calium—things whose existence was verified, but whose location remained a mystery. She could have easily recovered those.’

But wait.

Once that thought occurred to me, a deeper question emerged.

‘Then what was my role in my previous life?’

Lortel and I—both long since erased. These were memories shared exclusively between the two of us.

In those recollections, I was the one running, and Lortel was the one pursuing.

On quiet, moonlit evenings, we would clash with swords and spells in the remote hills like old acquaintances, and at dawn, we would trade insults—calling each other a cur, a mule, asking about each other’s kin, shouting, “No, you are the hound,” “No, you are the hound,” and so on.

Just how many “friendly stabs” did I endure back then?

I had never consumed so much stale bread in my entire life as I did during those times.

But why was it that I could never fully escape Lortel’s reach?

‘……Absolute Tracking.’

Exactly. It was due to the Infinite Chain.

If my allies hadn’t intervened during my flight, and if Lortel hadn’t pulled back for reasons unknown—

She likely would have chased me to the very edge of the world to claim my head.

At the time, I just thought, “Well, that’s just how it is,” and moved on, but now a new suspicion bloomed.

‘If the issue was more than just being “hard to use”… then how did she manage to use the Infinite Chain against me back then?’

The tracking had been nearly instantaneous, hadn’t it?

Was it just bad luck? No, that didn’t fit. Back then, I hadn’t even consumed a wyvern yet.

As a strange sense of injustice began to simmer within me, Parun’s voice cut through the air.

“There is something Lortel never disclosed to the public.”

“No way…!”

“Does something come to mind? If so, this will be quick—”

“My apologies. I just wanted to try saying that once.”

“…….”

Parun’s contempt for me increased by one. Perhaps more than one.

Previously, his gaze felt like he was looking at garbage, but now, it shifted instantly to the expression one might reserve for rotting kitchen scraps.

Regardless, Parun pressed on, his face twisted as if he had caught a foul odor.

“The Infinite Chain was actually an unusable item.”

“……?”

What is this—are you saying we were swindled?

“No, to be precise… it would be more accurate to say it is an object that is in a state of constant activation.”

“Activation?”

“Indeed. Give me a moment.”

Parun sifted through a mountain of reports—research papers authored by the Magic Studies Hall’s scholars—and pulled one out.

“Here. If you examine this report, take a look—no. Never mind. I shall explain it. Simply enough that even a goblin might comprehend.”

Good plan.

But as I listened intently, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Professor, this lecture would receive a failing grade.’

His explanation was so dense that not only a goblin, but even the academy’s teaching assistants would struggle to follow.

He rambled about the mana currents within the Infinite Chain, and the interactions of ambient mana.

The number of theories he recited to explain one single phenomenon was in the dozens, and he cited the names of three or four different master scholars for every point.

Regardless.

“So, to boil it down….”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“The Infinite Chain—since the moment it was unearthed—has been perpetually tracking ‘a specific target,’ right?”

“Hm. Slightly better than a goblin.”

What does Parun think of his academy students, then? If this is what he considers “goblin level”…

Hah. How pathetic.

But hold on.

“……Then, did we actually get scammed?”

“…….”

What, why are you looking at me like that?

“You said it’s unusable. From everything I’ve heard, it sounds like we clearly got cheated.”

“……Can you not even conceive that there might be another approach?”

“……There is another approach?”

“Your lack of faith in others is truly remarkable.”

“…….”

Is this really my fault?

Think about it. After enduring absolute misery just to acquire it, you are told the item is defective.

And you know for a fact the previous owner had been using it.

So what is the natural conclusion?

‘Did we get played for fools?’

Exactly. Thinking you were conned is the logical response.

But Parun clearly disagreed.

“It is Absolute Tracking. And yet, there is something in this world that cannot be located, even when subjected to such power.”

“And?”

“I have explained this much and you still… Ugh.”

Ah—when he put it that way, I finally caught onto what Parun was driving at.

In short, Parun was speaking about the “target” the Infinite Chain was relentlessly pursuing.

Perhaps he sensed my realization, because only then did Parun offer a cold, satisfied grin.

“It seems you finally understand.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded with confidence.

“If it’s a target that cannot be found even with Absolute Tracking… then it must be no ordinary thing.”

“Precisely. And furthermore….”

“And it must be incredibly expensive, too.”

“…….”

Parun pressed his lips into a thin line once more, like a clam.

The silence did not last long.

“Does it not occur to you that we might discover a method to override ‘Absolute Tracking’? Do you have any concept of what a monumental breakthrough that would be in the history of magic?”

“Why would that thought occur to me?”

“Are you truly a mage?”

“…….”

That was a bit harsh.

Despite all this, I am a mage who has surpassed Transcendence.

Even if I am still a work in progress…

‘And perhaps I have some flaws as well.’

I am a great mage, at the very least in name.

But the look in Parun’s eyes as he scrutinized me was identical to how he viewed a common goblin.

“What on earth am I even bothering to discuss with you.”

Parun shook his head as if he were exhausted, then retrieved a cigarette from his pocket and sparked it.

Did Parun always smoke? I wondered briefly, but come to think of it, among mages, the ones who don’t smoke are the exception.

“I shall explain the operation method. The strictly practical application that holds zero academic merit—that is what you are interested in, correct?”

Parun spoke with barbs hidden in every syllable, and with a face of deep resignation, he explained the usage method he had deciphered thus far.

“According to the paper, based on the Bebseup theory….”

…Omitted below.

My brain rejects such knowledge.

Anyway, if someone like me—only slightly smarter than a goblin—were to summarize his findings, it went something like this.

‘So you simply alter the artifact’s target.’

For instance, like this.

Imagine Person A and Person B.

The current target the Infinite Chain is tracking is ‘Person A.’ But what if we want to track ‘Person B’?

You interrupt the mana flow of the Infinite Chain that is chasing ‘A,’ lightly clear the ‘A’ marker, and then input ‘B.’

Sounds easier than you expected?

‘Simple, my foot.’

Using a basic example, it sounds like changing a single character, but the reality was far more intricate and demanding.

Naturally, I grasped the concept—but Parun had already articulated the technicalities, so there was no reason for me to overthink it, was there?

Regardless, back to the core point.

If the entity we want to locate isn’t ‘Person A’ but ‘Goblin C,’ then what?

Exactly.

‘This is where it becomes insane.’

At least Person A and Person B share the commonality of being of the same species, but a goblin is a completely different lifeform.

That was precisely why Lortel could never effectively utilize the Infinite Chain.

But wait.

A sudden realization struck me, and the corner of my eye began to twitch.

“……Then does that mean we didn’t need to go through all that miserable suffering?”

Why did we endure such hell at Lortel’s estate?

Because of those Deculan bastards attempting to uncover the Thousand Origin Art, or the manuscript of the Thousand Origin Art.

But from what I am hearing now, it was a problem we didn’t even need to concern ourselves with in the first place…

“No. We absolutely had to secure the Infinite Chain.”

“……?”

I tilted my head.

Parun calmly clarified my confusion.

“Based on Lortel’s deductions, what the Infinite Chain is currently pursuing is either a ‘book,’ or ‘something containing printed text.’”

Ah, I see.

I let out a breath of relief, thankful that our struggle hadn’t been entirely in vain.

And I could finally understand why, in my previous life, I had been hunted so relentlessly by Lortel. What I had stolen and fled with back then was the secret art of Lortel’s family.

Well, I still didn’t know how she could activate the tracking so quickly, but… come on, it was their own family secret. Wouldn’t they have a specialized method?

But hold on.

“A book, or something containing printed text?”

“That is correct.”

“When was the Infinite Chain first discovered?”

“I do not know. Even before Lortel acquired it, the Infinite Chain had been wandering the continent.”

“So it has been a very long time. In all those years, did the target of the tracking never change even once?”

“At least, according to Lortel’s research.”

I smell something. I smell something fishy.

“Did you burn incense?”

“……?”

That was a joke.

Anyway, what I meant by “I smell something” was completely serious.

‘An item that cannot be located despite being under the effect of Absolute Tracking. And it’s a book, or something containing printed text….’

This—could it be?

As far as my knowledge went, there was only one such thing.

Yeah. It was a Grimoire.