Sage 10

“Is he someone you know?”

Irkus whispered, holding tightly onto the hem of my robe. Teriz could probably hear us at this distance anyway.

I nodded without much enthusiasm. She was one of the few people who remained in my memory, so I could say I knew her.

“I didn’t know you were keeping the Third Prince with you. I thought you said you’d never get involved in political matters.”

“I said that because you were being annoying.”

“You’re really a bastard.”

“How many times are you going to say that?”

“How the hell did a bastard like you get praised as the Great Sage…?”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Dogs are cute. I listened to Teriz grinding her teeth with one ear and let it out the other.

Teriz had been pestering me to help her with the revolution for almost 30 years, but I never listened. I couldn’t use attack magic on the Kaman royals anyway, and I didn’t think the situation in the kingdom would improve even if Teriz succeeded in her revolution.

Weeds keep growing no matter how much you pull them out. Even if you purify polluted water, it can’t become grade 1 water.

What would change if Teriz Perlburn took power? Prosperity and decline come and go, so even if Teriz governed properly, it was clear that the next generation would immediately ruin it.

“Are you still not giving up on the revolution?”

“…….”

“If you’re going to spend almost 50 years just preparing, just give up.”

“It’s because of you, because you didn’t help…”

“Don’t blame me.”

Teriz slammed her right hand on the table, and the wooden table cracked.

I had slightly forgotten, but Teriz Perlburn was not a mage or a witch, but she was born with incredible strength. Even though she’s aged, her superhuman strength is still there. I’m relieved to see that she’s healthy.

“You’re just scared.”

“Shut up.”

“Why are you blaming me when you’re just scared of failing because you’re afraid of losing what you’ve built up? How cowardly.”

But no matter how strong Teriz was, I had to say what I had to say.

She couldn’t have a revolution because of me? What a load of shifting blame. I clearly said from the beginning that I wouldn’t help. Like the guys from the Magic Tower, humans are too dependent on others.

I’m human too, but still… humans are really quite terrible.

* * *

The Great Sage of the Southern Forest does not die.

It was pure coincidence that Teriz, then 17 years old, met the Great Sage, who was holed up in a forest full of tree spirits who hated humans, constantly researching magic.

At the time, Teriz Perlburn had heard about the Great Sage of the Southern Forest from her maternal grandmother until she was sick of it.

Teriz’s maternal grandmother was one of the many refugees who had almost died in the war but were saved by Yoo-an.

Like most people who were lucky enough to be saved by a lifesaver, Teriz’s maternal grandmother only had good things to say about Yoo-an.

‘That person helped us, but he never asked for anything in return. Those who live eternal lives are very wise. Unlike ordinary humans who live short lives and wither away…’

Young Teriz heard so much praise for Yoo-an from her maternal grandmother that she even developed a certain fantasy about the Great Sage.

The Great Sage who willingly participated in the war without any reward because he didn’t want children to die in the war of aggression. The intention was good, and the title was cool. It was enough to become a hero in children’s imaginations.

‘Even if you can’t live an eternal life like the Great Sage, you must live kindly, Teriz. You must live doing the right thing.’

Teriz Perlburn tried to grow up to be righteous, following her maternal grandmother’s will. She was frustrated countless times, but she didn’t give up easily like others.

Nevertheless, instead of becoming a Great Sage who participates in wars without compensation for the sake of children, Teriz Perlburn became a skilled leader who runs the intelligence guild ‘Night Fellow,’ using those children as informants for a cheap price.

Human lifespan was too short to choose ‘righteousness’ all one’s life. It was easy to get stabbed if you didn’t compromise with reality, and the more you had, the more you knowingly repeated wrong choices.

The radical thoughts of her teenage years to behead all the royals who were diligently exploiting the people were slowly broken as she got older.

In her 20s, Teriz vowed to start a great revolution once she took over the intelligence guild, but she needed more time to gather people who agreed with her opinions.

In her 30s, Teriz had now gathered funds, information, and followers. Nevertheless, Teriz Perlburn did not immediately start a revolution. It was because the royal power had also undergone a generational change at that time. Teriz decided to watch Kaman’s new course of action first.

By this point, even Teriz herself knew that it was just a lame excuse.

After becoming the leader of Night Fellow, Teriz witnessed too many dirty deeds, and she gradually became accustomed to such things.

The older she got, the easier it became to close her eyes to injustice. If you don’t deliberately keep your senses sharp, you lose your humanity even though you’re human. What is humanity in the first place? It was too harsh a world to live sensitively.

By the time she was in her 40s, Teriz had given up on the revolution. It was because she felt that the current king was doing a better job than the previous one.

There were still many people who were dissatisfied with the royal family, but Teriz thought the current king was not bad. It was also because he had lowered the fees that the intelligence guild had to pay to the state.

As time went on, Teriz became richer. As she had more, she naturally became afraid of losing what she had.

Teriz now had a family, and at some point, she had a grandson whom she loved more than anything. If a revolution fails, it becomes a rebellion. All the families of rebels cannot avoid execution. Teriz gradually began to rationalize like this.

If the Great Sage she had met by chance in her youth had helped her because he couldn’t resist her persistent pleas… If he had, she would have surely turned the palace upside down.

Because the Great Sage did not help, she is living in reality instead of realizing the greater good. It is the fault of the royals and the Great Sage that the Kingdom of Kaman is rotting.

Since Teriz had devoted her youth to trying to change the world, she was entitled to a moral exemption from the exploitation of the poor.

But the Great Sage?

Even though he has lived for so long… the Great Sage, who refuses to interfere in the affairs of the world anymore and is holed up in the Southern Forest, cannot be given an exemption. Noblesse oblige applies not only to nobles but also to those who are overwhelmingly strong and have lived for a long time.

Despite his great magical abilities, the Great Sage did not help any country as before.

For the sole reason that it was annoying, he ignored any war that broke out. He neglected unfortunate children, and whether a country was ruined or not, he stayed holed up in the forest and didn’t come out. As if he were not a human, but a god.

Teriz knew that Yoo-an had no obligation to help people. The Great Sage was not affiliated with anywhere, and he did not age or die like ordinary people. It was even questionable whether the Great Sage could be called ‘human.’

But Teriz always needed someone to blame. Criticizing yourself only lasts for a day or two. To escape the pangs of conscience that piled up in her heart as time went on, Teriz turned that arrow to the Great Sage.

The Great Sage Yoo-an whom Teriz met was not as righteous or warm-hearted as her maternal grandmother had said.

He was not a hero who always made the right choices. He did not make wise responses for someone who had lived for a long time. Rather, Yoo-an was cynical, and in some ways, he felt too worn out and lacking.

The hero in her imagination was horribly distorted in Teriz’s mind.

Why are you so inhumane? Even though you were also just a nobody human at first… The resentment gradually took on a new form.

Teriz did not forget the cold hand that firmly pushed her away when she said she would not get involved in political issues.

The hollow black eyes that made people shudder, the black hair without a trace of the passage of time. He always looks the same, with a tired expression, looking down on her as if he were beyond the realm of humans.

“If you weren’t immortal, I would have strangled you right here.”

“Being strangled isn’t bad, either. Though it would only hurt your hands.”

At the voice that suppressed her anger and spat out, Irkus, who was sitting next to Yoo-an, flinched.

Only then did Teriz notice the escaped prince of the Robain Empire.

For some reason, Irkus, who had not changed his hair or eye color and had been walking around the downtown area, instantly caught the attention of all the Night Fellow informants on the street.

With his shining blond hair and eyes that looked like they were embedded with jewels, he was a pretty boy who looked like he had just stepped out of a famous painting.

Teriz looked at Irkus, whom Yoo-an was keeping by his side, unlike when he had pushed her away, with a strange expression. What was the reason? Because he was a prince of the Empire? Or because he was pretty?

“Take the child and get out of Kaman quickly.”

Yoo-an got up from his seat without even responding to Teriz’s harsh words. He didn’t forget the trivial act of casting a preservation spell on the basket of groceries he had picked up.

Instead of Yoo-an, who was making people angry just by looking at him, Teriz turned her gaze to Irkus, who was constantly looking around.

To Teriz, who was not a mage, he was just an ordinary child, except for being pretty. He seemed to have a good physique and be smart for his age, but he didn’t seem to be worth Yoo-an taking him around, who had ignored even the pleas of prominent mages from the Magic Tower and those in power to meet him just once.

“I’m going to report the information about the prince to the Empire.”

“…….”

“Be grateful that I’m not reporting you right now.”

It must be just another whim.

Teriz remembered Yoo-an, who had advised her that when it was time to behead a ruler, she should use information rather than force, because he couldn’t resist her persistent persuasion.

After pushing Teriz away the whole time, Yoo-an, unable to overcome her persistence after that, provided her with funds and solutions to problems. Sometimes he even showed kindness without any reward, purely on a whim.

Helping a prince who was pushed out of the imperial struggle and escaped must be in the same vein.

As she continued her thoughts, Teriz didn’t immediately notice Yoo-an’s gaze, who had been preparing the magic formula for space movement, suddenly falling on her.

“That would be a bit troublesome.”

Once again, lightning struck.