Chapter 95. Archmage of the Coalition Forces (2)
The Four Heroes who followed the Hero Ian.
The Four Heroes were the greatest fighting force of the Coalition Forces, and among them, Iliana was the woman known as the “Archmage”.
In truth, I had not been particularly close to the heroes of the Coalition Forces in my previous life.
Their positions were too high for me to maintain close relationships with them.
More importantly, we operated in different areas.
The Special Task Force to which I belonged operated under the Coalition Operations Command.
In other words, it was a unit directly under Ian’s command.
We acted and moved exclusively under Ian’s orders, carrying out so-called unrecorded missions that could never be revealed to the public.
As a result, the Special Task Force was a Special Forces Unit that operated separately even from the rest of the Coalition Forces.
Unless our missions happened to overlap, I rarely had an opportunity even to speak with the heroes of the Coalition Forces.
That was why, far from being close to Isolde, I had actually been on poor terms with her.
However, I had spoken with the Archmage quite often. More precisely, I had asked the Archmage many questions.
Questions about my Predation [S+] ability. Curiosity and knowledge concerning my Evolution Ability.
In that sense, all the knowledge of Evolutionary Biology that I currently possessed—
I had learned and studied all of it under the Archmage during my time in the Coalition Forces.
The Archmage had never found me bothersome.
She had set aside time to teach me and even independently researched matters I had not asked about before passing that knowledge on to me.
She had been the hero of the Coalition Forces with whom I was closest. She was also the hero who had helped me the most.
That very Iliana was now sitting demurely in one corner of the restaurant.
Perhaps she sensed my gaze.
Iliana raised her head.
When our eyes met—
“Ah....!”
She flinched and hurriedly turned her gaze away.
She fidgeted restlessly as if sitting on a bed of thorns, unable to keep still for even a moment.
As expected—
She was far too different from the woman I remembered from my previous life.
The Iliana from my previous life.
The Iliana I remembered.
She had always carried darkness hidden within her heart.
Her expression had nearly always remained blank, as though she lacked emotions.
Her current uncertain gestures, her faintly flushed face, the way she lowered her head to avoid meeting my eyes—
I had never seen any of those things in my previous life.
Even though I had returned to the past, her personality was far too different.
‘Could I have mistaken her for someone else?’
When I activated Predatory Instinct [S], information appeared neatly before my eyes.
==< Character Information >==
Name: Iliana Segretus
Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Human
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Traits: Insight [L], Peak Human Intelligence [A+]
Fortunately, I had not mistaken her for someone else.
Both her name and age perfectly matched the Iliana I knew. More importantly, she possessed those distinctive abilities.
When I activated Predatory Instinct [S] once again, information concerning Iliana’s ability appeared before my eyes.
◆Insight [L] : The user can intuitively comprehend all phenomena. This applies to every kind of information, knowledge, wisdom, and experience. The user can instinctively understand the complex origins of the world and the flow of its underlying energy sources, allowing them to comprehend their workings perfectly.
The [L] represented the Legendary Rank.
It was one rank below Isolde’s Omni Vessel [M].
However, that did not mean the [L] Rank was low. It was the same rank as Wrath of the Frenzied Dragon [L].
More importantly, Insight [L] was not the only ability that mattered.
◆Peak Human Intelligence [A+] : Upon acquiring this skill, the number of neurons and the density of neural networks among the user’s brain cells increase explosively. This allows the user to reach the highest level of intelligence permitted by biological limitations.
The user’s intelligence quotients for literacy, memory, and reasoning increase by [+5,850%].
The user receives [+2,330%] additional damage from aging and attacks directly connected to brain damage. The probability of developing a mental illness increases by [+18,325%].
<This is a Passive Skill that remains permanently active once acquired.>
Humans possessed two particularly exceptional capabilities: intelligence and physical ability.
Iliana was a type of “mutant” who had evolved one of them—intelligence—to the extreme.
Its rank was an astonishing [A+].
It was one rank higher than Isolde’s Perfect Muscle Control [A].
In other words, Iliana’s intelligence was comparable to, or perhaps even exceeded, a Dragon’s Genetic Factor.
Insight [L] and Peak Human Intelligence [A+]. These two abilities were creating a “synergy effect”.
Through them, Iliana could approach the laws that constituted this world and the truths known only to gods.
She became the first person in the continent’s history to receive the title [Mage of Truth].
After checking Iliana’s information, I lit the grill.
Sizzle—!
The Prime Rank Rex meat produced a delightful sound as it cooked.
A spectacular display of flames captivated the eye, while a rich and savory aroma spread through the restaurant.
“Huh?”
Iliana’s wary expression immediately changed.
She sniffed like a puppy, and her fingertips, which had been tense until then, trembled slightly.
Her blue eyes remained fixed upon the grill. They began glittering with anticipation.
“Uuuuh....!”
As if embracing her small excitement, she gently bit her lip.
Perhaps she could not contain that excitement after all. A line of drool slipped from the corner of Iliana’s mouth.
As expected—
The Rex steak had been grilled to appetizing perfection. The focus briefly vanished from Iliana’s blue eyes before returning.
“Is this....monster meat?”
“That’s correct.”
Nothing worked better than delicious food when it came to lowering someone’s guard.
Iliana did not immediately touch the steak.
Gulp.
However, the sound of her swallowing was impressively loud.
“There is nothing to worry about, so please try it.”
Even then, Iliana did not readily reach for it. However, perhaps she ultimately could not overcome a mage’s curiosity.
“Th-Then....”
Iliana carefully picked up her fork and knife. Her blue eyes filled briefly with excitement.
She delicately moved the fork and knife in her hands and cut off a piece of steak.
Juices dripped from the perfectly cooked steak. Drool likewise dripped from the corner of Iliana’s mouth as she stared at it.
Iliana’s small lips slowly parted.
The moment she placed the steak in her mouth, her eyes gently closed.
It was as though she were using every one of her senses to savor the steak’s flavor.
A quiet moan escaped her slender throat.
“Mmmmmm!!!”
Iliana’s small shoulders trembled with delight.
Her gently closed eyes immediately opened so widely that they appeared ready to split.
Before the steak in her mouth had even passed down her throat, Iliana stabbed the remaining steak with her fork.
She had discarded the knife long ago.
She shoved the uncut steak into her mouth and chewed it like someone who had gone hungry for days.
“Mmmmmm!!!”
Her body trembled as she expressed the flavor in her own distinctive way. Her reaction was similar to Seraphia’s, yet subtly different.
Before I knew it, the Rex steak had vanished in the blink of an eye.
“H-How is this possible....?!”
Iliana’s expression contained equal measures of ecstasy and shock.
“Have I truly not gone insane?!”
Her reaction was not solely because of the flavor the Rex meat provided.
As always, Iliana’s intellectual curiosity was unmatched. In that respect, she had not changed at all from her previous-life self.
“This was one of the conundrums proposed by Arcanis....!”
The First Mage, Arcanis Rilsein.
Thousands of years ago—
He was the Great Sage who devised a method of converting Mana into Mana Force, a usable form of energy.
Arcanis used Mana Force to reproduce the phenomenon known as magic for the first time.
In other words, Arcanis was not only the First Mage but also the founder of the academic discipline known as Arcane Studies.
Afterward, Arcanis contemplated the future development of magic.
He selected several crucial problems that the magical world would need to solve.
“Have you heard of the Twenty-Three Conundrums of Arcanis?”
Those problems were what people today called the “Twenty-Three Conundrums of Arcanis”.
These conundrums supposedly possessed tremendous magical significance merely by raising the questions themselves.
Even the creation of the Homunculus had originated from one of the Twenty-Three Conundrums of Arcanis.
—Are life and the soul identical, or are they separate entities?
In attempting to solve this conundrum, mages ultimately dragged the creation of life—once considered the domain of the gods—into the realm of human reason.
The results were the Golem and the Homunculus.
There were numerous other conundrums as well.
I did not know them in detail, though.
“I know a little about them.”
I possessed a vague understanding thanks to what Iliana had taught me in my previous life.
As for those I could recall immediately....
“Regarding the permanence of magic: Is magic permanent, or does it disappear with the passage of time? If magical effects can be made permanent, what conditions are required?”
There was that conundrum.
“Regarding magic’s subordination: To what extent can magic influence reality? Can magic transcend natural laws, or is it subordinate to them?”
There was also that one.
“Regarding magical ethics: Can magic be divided into good and evil? When devising powerful magical formulas and spells, what ethical standards must the creator consider?”
They were roughly that sort of headache-inducing conundrum.
Four of them had been solved. Seven had been partially solved. Twelve remained unsolved.
One of the four solved conundrums was—
“There is also the conundrum you just mentioned: ‘Can the madness imprinted into monsters at the genetic level be removed?’”
As I had said, that conundrum had been classified as “solved”.
It was impossible.
The madness imprinted into monsters at the genetic level could not be removed. That conclusion had been reached, and the conundrum was considered solved.
However, that supposedly resolved conclusion had now been overturned.
From a mage’s perspective—and particularly from Iliana’s—it was the very embodiment of shock, astonishment, and fear.
“A-Are you perhaps a mage?!”
Sure enough, Iliana cried out in astonishment.
Her widened eyes contained even greater shock than when she had eaten the Rex steak.
“I am not a mage.”
“Then are you an Arcane Scholar?!”
An Arcane Scholar was someone who studied Arcane Studies.
A mage was a practitioner. An Arcane Scholar was a researcher. That was approximately the difference between them.
“No. I’m not an Arcane Scholar either. I merely possess a superficial knowledge of magic.”
It was knowledge I had learned from Iliana in my previous life.
Even then, it had consisted almost entirely of headache-inducing subjects, so I understood only the surface-level concepts.
It would have been embarrassing to call myself an Arcane Scholar.
However, Iliana apparently did not see it that way.
“I-If it would not be impolite, may I ask you a few questions?!”
Iliana’s blue eyes stared at me.
They sparkled like those of a puppy about to be taken for a walk.
A few questions, my ass.
Rather than answering a few “questions”, I ended up spending several “hours” with her.
Seriously—
My head felt as though it were going to explode. When I looked through the window, dawn was gradually breaking.
We had stayed awake through the entire night. Yet Iliana did not seem even slightly tired.
“To think it could be approached from that perspective....!!”
She still wore the same bright, sparkling expression of an innocent puppy.
Until now, I had somehow managed to answer her questions.
Honestly, however, even I no longer understood what I was saying. I was merely repeating the things Iliana had taught me in my previous life.
In that sense, none of the things I had said so far came from my own research.
They were all pieces of knowledge that Iliana had researched and uncovered in my previous life.
I had merely offered her fragments of that knowledge in a roundabout manner.
More precisely, it was only the magical knowledge I had been “forced” to learn to study Evolutionary Biology under Iliana.
In short—
Iliana, you were the one who discovered all of this.
“You’re truly a genius!!”
Did she even realize she was praising herself?
Regardless, I had reached my limit.
No matter how much more I wrung out my brain, nothing else would emerge.
Simply put, I had revealed everything I knew.
“Then what do you think about the impossibility of faster-than-light travel?!”
I had no thoughts about it. I did not even want to think about it.
“Why are ancient runic scripts more efficient for incantations?!”
I did not know.
Ask a Dragon instead of me.
“Why did creatures capable of using Mana Force evolve to respond to it?! What biological changes occurred as they adapted to Mana Force?”
Sorry, but I could not manipulate Mana Force at all.
“Darkness and light cancel each other out, but couldn’t they be used simultaneously to create neutral magic?!”
That was probably possible. After all, Iliana, you were doing exactly that to me right now.
Chaos.
Because of you, my mind had become a cauldron of chaos.
“Are there any physical differences between naturally occurring lightning and lightning generated with Mana Force? If there are, could there be a way to detect those differences?”
My head felt as though it would explode with a bang at any moment.
“Undead possess no life energy, so how are they able to move? Could there be another kind of energy that we do not know about?!”
However, Iliana’s intellectual curiosity knew no end.
At this point—
Isolde had been far better.
Although Isolde had immediately tried to kill me, I had been able to persuade her through a simple fight and end the matter.
Now, however, my mind was being abused, and the endless barrage of questions was driving me insane.
In other words—
“And another thing....!!”
“......”
....Grinding Affinity with this girl was far too difficult.
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