Chapter 21: The Guardian of Humanity (12)
Jircniv silently read through the report.
It detailed how the newly promoted adamantite-class adventurer Arche had slain a Life Demon. Though it credited her former party, Foresight, for their cooperation, the finishing blow had apparently been hers.
A Life Demon—normally strong enough to devastate entire nations—was no small matter. Perhaps it had been a weaker specimen… but the corpse was said to be nearly full-grown, already shed of its human shell. And the wound: a perfectly clean hole through the abdomen. Jircniv had no idea what kind of spell could do such a thing.
"Could even the old man manage that…?"
"Old man" meant Fluder Paradyne. Fluder had stated that Arche hadn't yet reached the Fourth Tier. And if Fluder said so, it must be true. That would make her a mere Third-Tier caster. Even with magical items, how could one leave such a neat hole through a monster of that class? Jircniv wanted to ask—but there were two reasons he couldn't.
First, combat technique was survival itself. To demand another's secret method was like asking for a nation's classified intelligence. Besides, she was adamantite now; to turn such a person into an enemy would be a disaster. Best to leave the mystery alone.
Second, Arche wasn't even in the Empire. Supposedly, she'd left on a long journey of "training." Her younger sisters had been entrusted to Foresight, while she traveled with a small, frail-looking boy. Lover? Friend? Perhaps a teacher, Jircniv guessed—one giving her special instruction in magic. A joint pilgrimage of training and discipline, most likely. Since she'd promised to return, Jircniv decided not to dwell on it further.
....
"Old man, didn't I tell you to let it go?"
"But, Your Majesty, no magic of the Third Tier could do this."
"She might've used a magical item—or one that hides her true tier. Digging too deeply could offend an adamantite adventurer. We can't afford that. Talent must be coaxed, not cornered."
Adventurers might not serve in wars, but they were specialists in fighting monsters. Offending them could mean losing them to another nation—and that he could not prevent.
Arche, in particular, was a prodigy: a young girl who'd reached adamantite as a magic caster, alone. With such talent, Jircniv could overlook his curiosity about the demon's death.
"I should've talked with her more," he muttered, sighing softly.
He respected Fluder deeply, even loved him like a father—but the man's single-minded obsession with magic sometimes seemed pitiable. Without that obsession, he wouldn't be the archmage he was, but to Jircniv—who didn't live and die by magic—it was still hard to grasp.
"Truly unfortunate. To have discovered such talent this late…"
"Indeed. Speaking of which, what became of Your Majesty's offer to recruit her into your direct service?"
"Naturally, she refused. I knew she would."
He'd seen it the moment she looked at him—those eyes that said 'You're wasting my time.' Honor and position meant nothing to her. Perhaps money might have tempted her once, when she had debts—but she'd already repaid them by the time she reached adamantite. If only he'd recognized her earlier, when she'd first become an adventurer…
What's done is done. Better to focus on the future.
Jircniv pushed regret aside and turned to the next matter.
....
"The Roble Holy Kingdom?"
"Yes. Roble."
The Roble Holy Kingdom.
Not quite as zealous as the Slane Theocracy, but still founded on faith—specifically, the Four Great Gods rather than the Six. Because of that, arcane casters like Arche were rare, while divine casters like Roberdyck were abundant.
Its temples didn't just preach—they fought. Wars with demi-humans were common, and though less extreme than the Theocracy, the Holy Kingdom wasn't known for kindness toward non-humans.
Having grown up in an Empire that used elves as slaves, Arche merely thought, Prejudice exists everywhere.
The kingdom was split between north and south, divided by a great inlet of the sea—distinct enough to be called the Northern and Southern Holy Kingdoms. Political conflict between them could turn bloody, she'd once thought as a noble's daughter.
"There are many demi-humans around there," Kaiser explained. "A good place to gain real experience."
Training, in other words. Arche might be adamantite, but she was still weak—at least compared to Kaiser. If Arche were a hundred times stronger, he still wouldn't flinch. A scarecrow cannot defeat a dragon; paper cannot withstand a typhoon. That was the difference between them.
And this journey was meant to narrow that gap, even slightly.
"Also," Kaiser said at last, taking something from his hand, "take this ring."
Kaiser pulled a ring from thin air and tossed it lightly toward Arche.
It was nothing like the blue-gemmed Rosario of the Sage she usually wore — this one gleamed with a subdued, dignified radiance that screamed masterwork.
She hesitated for a moment, but slipped it onto her finger. The moment it touched her skin, Kaiser spoke:
"That one removes fatigue. For two or three days, you won't need to sleep at all."
Arche blinked, examining the ring.
"I see… that means we can reach the Roble Holy Kingdom faster. But… couldn't we just use a teleportation spell?"
"That ring's for your training," Kaiser replied simply.
"Training…? I'm not sure I understand."
Kaiser gave a quiet chuckle.
"Right. I should probably start from there."
He realized, again, that he wasn't the best teacher. Even with his first disciple long ago, it had been the same — he never really understood how to explain why things worked. He wasn't arrogant about it, but Kaiser knew he was a genius. His talent had surpassed everyone: Arche, Gazef, even Fluder.
That made explaining to others hard. He just did things. "Why can't you?" had been his unintentional mantra more than once.
Clearing his throat, he continued.
"Listen, Arche. To become stronger, you have to hit your limits. Push yourself until you're on the edge of death if you must. Whether it's from wounds, exhaustion, or something else, what matters is that moment — when you're at your absolute limit. That's when growth explodes."
"Explodes…?"
"Yes. When a person's about to die, their body breaks its own shackles. The muscles unlock their limiter — they refuse to die. Repeat that often enough, and that released state becomes your new normal. That's how you erase the idea of a 'limit.'"
"I see… I think I understand now."
Kaiser gave a weary smile.
"Honestly, I might not be the best master for you. I'm no magic caster. I can't really teach you magic."
"B-but, Kaiser-sama, you can use magic, can't you?"
"I can. But it's imitation — not comprehension. I copy what I see. I don't truly understand it."
Arche tilted her head, puzzled, and Kaiser elaborated.
"The first spell I ever used was Lightning — a Third-Tier spell."
"Wait, during a battle? The first time you cast magic at all!?"
"No. I mean it literally — the first spell I ever cast in my life was Lightning. I didn't even know any First-Tier magic. I just saw a comrade use it in combat… and copied him."
"You skipped tiers? Without any training!? Th-that's… are you saying you have a Talent for it?"
"I do have a Talent, but not that kind," Kaiser answered.
He had never studied magic.
Every spell he knew came from experience — from seeing it, enduring it, and then reproducing it.
He still remembered the first time he'd cast magic: the look of disbelief on his companion's face. "Is this guy mocking me?" that face had said.
Kaiser had once even countered an Eight Greed King with their own technique — simply reflecting their spell back after watching it once. He understood magical theory only vaguely, enough to imitate, not enough to teach. In terms of scholarly knowledge, Fluder far outclassed him.
He could use spells up to the Tenth Tier, but there were gaps — he didn't know any Ninth-Tier spells, nor many of the First or Second. He had never bothered to learn them. As for the legendary Super-Tier magic, Kaiser couldn't use it; perhaps there was a wall he simply couldn't cross.
"Once again, Kaiser-sama, I'm reminded how incredible you are…"
"Don't despair, Arche. You'll grow stronger too. Still… when it comes to strengthening magic casters, I'm not the best source. You'd be better off asking that perverted archmage back in the Empire— Fluder Paradyne."
Arche's expression twitched.
Did he just call him a pervert…?
Arche wondered for a moment — did Kaiser actually know Fluder?
If he did, she suspected Fluder's interest wouldn't last long. To someone like the Grand Arcanist, who hungered for the depths of magic itself, Kaiser would simply be a glimpse into a truth he could never reach — a fragment of the abyss.
Fluder might marvel once or twice, perhaps even worship for a heartbeat, but he would lose interest quickly when he realized that gap could never be bridged. Or perhaps Kaiser only knew of Fluder, not the other way around.
....
"Still," Kaiser said quietly, "I do know how to make a human stronger. Follow me, and I can promise you power no ordinary human could ever bear. But overwhelming power isn't necessarily a blessing.
Once you climb that high, your strength stops being different—it becomes wrong. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
Arche nodded slowly.
"You suffered because of that wrong power, didn't you? Then someone else with the same kind of strength should exist — someone who can stand beside you. I may still be weak… but I want to grow strong enough to call myself your disciple without shame."
Kaiser sighed, half in exasperation, half in affection.
"Really now… why do you always say things that cute?
You're making me remember my own youth."
"Was your youth anything like you are now, Kaiser-sama?"
"In appearance, yes — almost exactly."
He looked at her, and memories rose like ghosts.
Back then, he hadn't felt bound by duty or obsession — he had simply chased the summit, the unknown, the thrill of adventure. He'd had comrades then — good ones. There had been laughter, taverns full of noise and arguments, even tears after failed quests… but in the end, they had always laughed together.
Arche's curiosity deepened.
"I've heard stories from that time, Kaiser-sama.
Your comrades were all said to be incredible, weren't they?"
"They were. Each was a master of their craft.
Especially the mage — the most gifted I've ever seen."
Kaiser had assembled that party himself, but when he looked back, he marveled that he'd somehow gathered such legends. He often joked later that perhaps recruitment was his greatest talent.
"Then why…" Arche hesitated, "why is there no record of them anywhere? With that level of achievement, surely their names should've lived on. And the items you've shown me before… you said you made them with your companions, didn't you?"
"Because," Kaiser said softly, eyes dimming, "they became people who no longer exist."
"...What?"
He fell silent, lost in the haze of memory.
Was it a dark night, or a sky heavy with clouds? He couldn't remember.
He only remembered that thing—the enemy they faced. And his own voice, raw and breaking as he shouted into the void. Despair, fury, grief — all mixed together in that scream.
Why? We followed you. Why did it have to end like this?
The creature had laughed. It had mocked their struggle, their journey, their dreams.
That was when Kaiser became the Guardian of Humanity.
He'd already borne the name "Kaiser," but that was the moment he embodied it in truth.
It had been both a blessing from his comrades and a curse, as Evil Eye once told him — and perhaps she had been right.
....
Kaiser stopped walking.
"Barrier."
"Eh?"
With a whisper, shimmering light formed a vast dome around them — an Absolute Boundary Field.
It wasn't immense by his standards, only about five meters high and a kilometer and a half across. To him, it was fragile enough that a Fifth-Tier spell could break it, but to Arche it felt monumental. If Kaiser continued feeding mana into it, even the Rosario of the Sage wouldn't help her break through.
"Forest."
At once, trees sprouted from the earth, surrounding them in a dense, living maze.
Arche stared in disbelief, gripping her staff out of pure instinct — the instinct of someone who had survived countless battles. When danger came, you took up your weapon; that habit was burned into her bones. Kaiser had it too.
"If you want me to finish the story," Kaiser said, smiling faintly,
"then complete your training first."
"Training? That's rather sudden. It sounds like you're just changing the subject… But fine. I'll play the part of the considerate disciple—for now."
"Ouch. That hurt." Kaiser chuckled.
Kaiser let out a soft, awkward laugh. Then, with a small gesture of his hand—
"Shadow."
Arche's shadow quivered. A moment later, something emerged from it—her exact copy, made of darkness, standing silently before her. Before she could react, Kaiser made another motion, and the duplicate vanished into thin air. Teleportation? she wondered. Kaiser only smiled faintly.
"That shadow has your same abilities," he explained, "the same magic, the same magic items. In short—it's another you. As you grow stronger, that shadow will grow stronger as well. Whatever you can do, it can do too."
Normally, the spell required the caster and the target to be similar in level. But the gap between Kaiser and Arche was so overwhelming that he could manifest it effortlessly.
"Oh, and by the way," he added casually, "that ring I gave you is called the Ring of Growth. It removes fatigue and accelerates your development. But…"
"B-but…?"
"It also suppresses your abilities a little. The shadow doesn't have that handicap—so, in practice, it's stronger than you right now."
Arche blinked, tightening her grip on her staff.
"Then how am I supposed to defeat it?"
Kaiser smiled.
"You've lived as an adventurer. You didn't always fight weaker enemies, did you? When you fought the Life Demon—did you plan to lose?"
That single question silenced her.
"Oh, and one more thing," Kaiser added with a grin. "Every thirty minutes, another shadow will appear. Try to keep up."
"W-wait—what!? You're not just doing this to torment me, are you!?"
"..."
"That pause was way too long!"
"Haha, I'm kidding. Really. I trained the same way once."
In truth, Kaiser hadn't planned to be this strict. He'd meant to guide Arche more gently. But with Nazarick on his mind, time wasn't a luxury. Arche had to grow faster—fast enough, at least, to stall a Floor Guardian if it came to that, or at the very least, one of their subordinates. Lesson One—the Shadow Trial—had to be completed within a day, though three days was the real limit.
He'd already summoned his guardian beast, the Last Guardian, to watch over Arche's sisters back in the Empire. Even alone, that being was strong enough to overturn the entire nation if needed.
"Alright then," Kaiser said at last, raising a hand. "I'll start the timer."
"If I do this… I'll become stronger, right?"
"You have my word."
Arche closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, fingers brushing against the cool gem of her Rosario. When she opened them again, the childlike blue of her eyes had deepened—dark and calm like the abyss. She stood poised, ready for battle, no trace of fear in her expression.
Kaiser smiled, stepping back.
"Then let's begin."
By the time they reached the Holy Kingdom, he thought, she'll already stand at the threshold of the hero's realm.
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