The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years - Season 1 Ch. 166

Ivan looked at the item in front of him.

“Hmm…”

It was one of Kasajin’s legacy items, the Giant’s Belt. This belt could be said to be his reason for coming to Silkid, before everything started.

‘It’s really a miracle that no one found this in 4,000 years.’

He’d heard from his teacher that it was somewhere in the Amakan Desert, but he never thought he’d actually be able to find it.

Disregarding the miraculous coincidence, Ivan wasn’t entirely sure that this was really Kasajin’s belt.

This was because the belt had no distinguishing features.

Of course, he’d heard of the appearance of the three items from Nora, and the appeareance of the belt was truly consistent with the one that Ivan had found, but he’d thought that there would be some kind of reaction when he finally found it.

But nothing had happened at all.

This just seemed to be an old belt. No more, no less.

He’d even worn it around his waist to test it but nothing happened even then.

‘How annoying. There’s no one who knows about magic items nearby.’

Ivan couldn’t help but lament the fact that he was surrounded by nothing but muscle brained warriors.

Of course, if the belt was truly over 4,000 years old, then it was certainly amazing that it was able to retain its original shape.

But that was it.

In truth, Ivan had been expecting to find some clues about the secret or even killer moves of the Martial King’s Fist.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Frey said I had to collect all three items?’

He wasn’t quite sure how Frey knew that. After all, it didn’t seem like even his teacher knew this information.

Just as Ivan began to ponder this conundrum, someone entered his tent.

It was Guaras, the Orc Warrior who had become Ivan’s right hand.

“You have guests.”

“Huh. It’s been a long time. Is it the creatures or the traitors?”

Recently, the cities that had submitted to the Demigods began to send raid teams after Ivan, so he couldn’t help but ask in an unpleasant voice when he heard what Guarus said,

Guarus shook his head.

“No. This time they’re real guests. It would even be okay to consider them as reinforcements.”

“That’s good.”

Despite his blunt tone, Ivan was being honest.

Thanks to Guarus, they had been able to find the traitors who were hiding among their ranks. He wasn’t sure if they were completely ousted, but at least the creatures hadn’t shown up since then.

Of course, they had also suffered some losses.

The forces he had now were only about half of what he’d had at the start.

“They’re from Rnei. The Guardian Warrior and forty five other Warriors are willing to join us.”

“That much? I hope they’re all good.”

Guarus smiled confidently.

“The Warriors of Rnei are well known throughout the desert for being honorable and strong. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Then that’s good.”

“Sarman would like to meet you. What should I do?”

“I’d like to meet him too. Tell them to come in.”

Guaras nodded, and after a while, he returned with Sarman.

He wasn’t alone.

There were four other people.

Even Ivan, who was not that interested in women couldn’t help but notice the two beautiful women beside him. One with green hair, and the other with black hair.

‘…black hair?’

While Ivan’s expression became a bit strange, Sarman approached him.

“Nice to meet you, Great Warrior Ivan. I’m Sarman, Rnei’s Guardian Warrior.”

“Mm. I’m Ivan.”

“Your courage and pride in facing the Demigods has swept through the desert like a sandstorm. I would like to thank you on behalf of all the Warriors in Silkid, and also I’d also like to thank you personally.”

Did he grease his mouth first?

Since he’d only heard the harsh words of the Warriors since he’d arrived, he was not accustomed to getting such a compliment.

Ivan nodded and looked at the people beside Sarman.

“Urha.”

This guy was a bit better. Ivan couldn’t help but smile to himself as he had this thought.

He couldn’t believe he’d grown to like blunt speech.

Urha was looking at Guarus with a bit of disbelief.

“…I never expected you to join this force, Guarus.”

“Is it surprising?”

“I always thought you were the type of man who would never bow your head to another person.”

Guarus chuckled.

“Ivan is a man who is good enough to have me bow my head and follow him. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Since it’s coming from you, I’ll look forward to it.”

“That’s enough gold plating. Who are the women beside you?”

Everyone was a bit surprised as Ivan spoke in his blunt tone once again.

“These people…”

Sarman started introducing them, but Ivan’s eyes fell to the black-haired woman wearing a mask once again.

She looked familiar. In fact, he didn’t think he could forget this mask wearing woman.

“I’m sure you are…”

“Do you know each other?”

“No. But I think we’ve met before…”

“This Queen’s appearance certainly is a bit common. In any case, my name is Snow. I look forward to working with you.” (TL: I must point out that the way Snow addresses herself is also the woman some women in martial arts would. So no one would find it too strange for her to do so, even if they didn’t know her true identity)

Snow.

Snow was also the name of the Elven Queen.

He’d met the queen before when he was moving in the Great Forest together with Frey.

‘Is she reluctant to reveal her true identity?’

Snow had winked at him through her mask.

Ivan clicked his tongue.

Snow’s ethereal beauty had a profound effect on the mind of whoever saw her face directly. He knew that this was not intentional, but Ivan couldn’t help but feel dirty because of it.

Perhaps all martial artists who reached a certain level would feel uncomfortable when they saw her instead of admiration.

“Do you know her?”

“…no.”

He shook his head when Sarman asked again.

If he was to reveal that she was in fact the Elven Queen, it would certainly create nothing but trouble.

Still, when the gazes filled with suspicion didn’t disappear, Ivan quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, who’s that guy that’s covered in the robe? You don’t need to be polite, but covering your face here is a bit dirty.”

“…”

Ivan couldn’t help but click his tongue when he didn’t receive a response.

Perhaps it was because of the unpleasantness that he’d just felt because of Snow, but the next words that came out of his mouth were not nice.

“I’m curious as to how amazing the face that you’re hiding is. Hey, you brat. Pull back your hood. Let’s see what you look like. You didn’t bring your daughter to go to war with us , did you?”

“Of course he didn’t. Why don’t you think before you talk?”

“…huh?”

The moment he heard the voice, Ivan felt the goosebumps that he was familiar with, but could never get used to.

He never wanted to experience them again.

Fear, terror.

Ivan’s survival instincts began to blare loudly in his head. But it was too late.

After pulling back the hood, Nora’s face was revealed.

“…Ma-, Master-”

“First, shut your mouth. There’s a lot that we have to discuss.”

Nora cracked her knuckles.

Her tiny, fragile-looking body exuded an incredibly monstrous pressure.

Snow and Beniang were shocked to see Nora, who usually spoke in a laid back tone to everyone, suddenly speak in such a violent manner. But the words she spoke next with a smile was even more shocking.

“But before that, I’m going to hit you, you son of a bitch.”

* * *

Frey slowly opened his eyes.

Then he was shocked when he found that he was resting on a soft, comfortable bed instead of the rough desert sand.

“…where…”

He quietly raked his eyes across the room.

There was only a small amount of furniture in the room, including the old, shabby bed on which he lay, and he could hear the sound of bustling about coming from the floor beneath him.

He could also smell the scent of cheap beer.

Perhaps he was in an inn.

No one else was in the room with him, but he was certain that he wasn’t imprisoned there, because he couldn’t feel the presence of mana or divine power anywhere around him.

‘Nothing was done to my body.’

Ah. His mask was gone.

Frey realised this as he touched his face. But there was no need to panic.

This was because the missing mask was sitting neatly on the table beside the bed.

“…”

There were many thoughts flowing through his head at the moment, but he wouldn’t be able to solve anything by laying there.

Frey got up from the bed and headed downstairs.

‘So it is an inn.’

As he approached the counter while looking left and right at his surroundings, the innkeeper nodded at him.

“Mm. You’re up.”

After a moment of silence, Frey asked.

“Where is this?”

“This is an inn named Desert Scorpion.”

“No. I meant the city.”

The innkeeper made a strange expression but answered anyway.

“Naturally it’s in Al-Tarha.”

Al-Tarha.

This was the city Frey had stayed in before his fight with Milled.

‘So I’m back here?’

After he fought Milled, he’d lost consciousness. Then he unconsciously returned to Al-Tarha, got a room at an inn, took off his mask, and laid on the bed.

The probability of such a thing actually happening was almost 0.

Frey shook his head as the innkeeper spoke up once again.

“Ah. Your companion has been away for a while.”

“Companion?”

“That’s right. I’m not sure where they went, though, because they left without saying anything. Ah, but you don’t need to worry. They already paid your bill. I think I can give you at least a meal since I was paid enough for it. Would you like to have it?”

“…please.”

As he said this, Frey said down at the counter.

Of course, Frey knew he didn’t have any companions.

‘Was it a traveler who met me by chance?’

That was the only plausible reasoning that he could come up with. Of course, it was still very surprising that there was such a good person in this lawless zone.

This was because there were many things on Frey’s body that appeared to be quite expensive.

Anyone with eyes would be able to see the Great Sage’s Staff bracelet on his wrist, the ring he got from Schweiser and the Subspace bag that hung from his waist.

‘If they took these…’

It would have been easy for him to find them, but things would have become a lot more troublesome.

Making a fuss would have been an inevitability, and for Frey, who wanted to move in secret, it would be the exact type of situation that he wanted to avoid.

He was lucky.

While thinking this, the innkeeper brought his meal.

Frey had asked for vegetable soup, wheat bread and sausages.

“What did my companion look like?”

“…that’s a strange question.”

When the innkeeper let out a laugh, Frey briefly explained the situation.

“I was exhausted in the desert and collapsed. I believe they found me and brought me here.”

“Hmm. Is that so? It’s really rare to see someone like that in Al-Tarha these days.”

He smiled bitterly for a moment while remembering the current situation before continuing.

“It was a man. Young, with black hair. He didn’t seem to be a Warrior.”

“How are you so sure?”

“He obviously wasn’t built like one. I’m not bragging but I’ve owned this inn for 20 years already. I trust my eyes.”

When you met three people in Silkid, two of them would definitely be Warriors. In addition, those who dared to wander the desert alone were usually warriors.

“What about other features?”

“Hmm… his outfit was a bit strange. It was too light to be walking around the desert in. He had no robe or turban to block the sun, and the clothes he was wearing were very thin. If he went out into the desert like that, his meat would be well done within an hour. It was pretty weird.”

The more he listened, the more mysterious it all appeared.

Looking at Frey, the innkeeper seemed to recall something as he said.

“And he was very handsome.”

“…huh?”

“It’s just that. He was incredibly handsome. That guy was probably the most good looking person I’ve seen in the past ten years.”

“…”

When Frey put on a complicated expression, the innkeeper grinned slightly and turned around, going back to his work.

In any case, since he helped him, Frey felt the need to say thank you.

‘I’ll wait first.’

It would be great if they could meet face to face, but Frey couldn’t afford to waste too much time here.

Therefore, he decided to gather all the information he could from the surroundings first.

As he thought this, Frey looked down at his bread.

But before that, he had to fill his stomach. After being unconscious for a day, he was quite hungry.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel rather strange.

Frey couldn’t help but look at his left arm that was currently holding the bread.

This left arm which had only been given basic first aid and hemostasis, was now fully healed.