The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)

“…”

A light smell and a gentle touch enveloped her body.

Min realised that she was lying on a bed.

‘Uhh…’

She couldn’t even groan in pain. It was as if her tongue had become hard like concrete. Her mouth was drier than a desert.

“Wa-, water…”

As soon as she painfully muttered that word, something cool touched her hand. Someone had given her a bottle.

Deciding to momentarily put aside the thoughts of who it might be, Min Ha-rin raised the bottle to her lips and greedily gulped down its contents.

“Cough…”

After drinking the cold water, it felt like her brain had awakened, and her confused mind calmed down. Min Ha-rin slowly tried to sit up on the bed.

“Ugh.”

Although she’d only raised her upper half a little bit, she felt an intense stabbing pain course through her entire body. It was similar to the pain one felt the day after overworking themself during training.

Her torn muscle fibers fiercely insisted that Min Ha-rin continue resting.

As she took a moment to wipe the tears that formed at the corners of her eyes, she heard a gentle voice beside her.

“You can rest for a bit longer.”

“…”

She wasn’t very familiar with it… but it was a voice she’d heard before. When she turned to her right, she saw Arid sitting on a chair beside the bed.

Despite just sitting on a simple chair, he created a beautiful and holy sight. Every time she saw him, Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed.

Leo and Sedi too. She couldn’t help but wonder why so many good-looking people were suddenly appearing around her.

“…this is…”

“A room in the Church of Eternal… no, in the Korea Branch Headquarters.”

“A room… Ah.”

Suddenly, her memories began to replay in her mind like a slideshow. Min Ha-rin raised her head to look at Arid.

“W-, what about Bishop Slei?”

Arid’s eyes darkened a bit when he heard her question.

“…he passed away.”

“Ah.”

It was only then that Min Ha-rin recalled the last of her memories.

A middle-aged man who seemed to control lightning suddenly appeared and tried to kidnap Arid. Slei, who seemed to have recovered his conscience to an extent, tried to stop him.

No, he didn’t even get the chance to try. As soon as Letip made an expression of displeasure, Slei was struck by a bolt of lightning.

The deafening sound struck their eardrums and the blinding flash of light illuminated their surroundings.

When the light finally subsided, there was nothing left of Bishop Slei. Only a deep crater and a pile of ashes to show where he once stood.

At that sight, Arid screamed as if he’d gone mad before fainting.

Then, as he watched Min Ha-rin tremble at everything that happened so suddenly, the man grinned.

‘Don’t worry. I know you are one of Lukas’ cards, so I won’t kill you.’

That was the last thing Min ha-rin remembered.

‘That man knew Master.’

That wasn’t all.

She hated to admit it, but for some reason, he gave her a similar feeling to Lukas.

It felt like he was a being who could calmly look down on everything in the world. Like he had the freedom and dignity that came with being an absolute existence.

“What about the Demons?”

“There’s no need to worry. Everyone has already left. At the very least, there is no longer anything in the area that can threaten us.

“All left…”

Just as Min Ha-rin muttered these words with a confused expression, the door to the room swung open, and someone rudely walked in.

“Would you look at that. You really are awake. I thought you were gonna die.”

It was Sedi’s voice, and she was speaking in the same insufferable tone as always.

As soon as she raised her head to shoot something back, Min Ha-rin forgot what she wanted to say.

“…yo-, your injuries.”

“What about them? I’ll tell you upfront, I don’t want your sympathy.”

Sedi’s entire body was covered in bandages, and she was walking with the help of crutches. Even for Min Ha-rin, who knew nothing about the medical field, Sedi’s right arm and leg, both of which were in casts, looked very serious.

“Miss Sedi! I told you you should stay in bed!”

“So noisy. Who do you think you’re ordering around? Do you want to die?”

Sedi responded in an annoyed voice before turning away from Arid and looking at Min Ha-rin.

“Both of you, follow me. Father wants to see you.”

“…”

“Ah, and I’ll tell you in advance. You should prepare your minds while on the way.”

Sedi yawned slightly before continuing.

“The things you’re about to hear are hard for mortals to handle.”

* * *

“Ah…! M-, my younger siblings!”

Min Ha-rin suddenly screamed as she finally thought about her two younger siblings.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest.

She was so foolish…! No matter how confused or injured she was, how could she forget about her two siblings who were more important to her than her own life?

She was disappointed and angry at herself.

She hurriedly turned to look at Arid.

“Hey! B-, by chance, have you seen my younger siblings? Uh, they kinda look like me. As for their ages…”

“Min Ha-min and Min Ha-yun, right?”

“Ah. Yeah.”

Arid smiled gently.

“Both of them are fine. They were a bit hurt, but they’ve already received treatment and their lives are not in danger. They are just resting now.”

Those words relieved Min Ha-rin so much that she almost collapsed on the bed again.

“Th-, thank you. Thank you so much.”

“It was nothing.”

Arid scratched his cheek slightly, his face red.

Sedi, who was being treated to this sight, couldn’t stop her cheek from twitching. Rolling her eyes, she spat out.

“I’ll be outside. Hurry up and get dressed.”

Then, she left the room without looking back.

Arid watched as she disappeared behind the door before opening his mouth.

“Has Miss Sedi always been like that?”

“I haven’t known her for that long, but her personality has always been… unique.”

A more vulgar expression had tickled the tip of her tongue, but what she said in the end was much milder. It was incredibly hard to say vulgar things in front of such an innocent expression.

Arid smiled with a naive expression that seemed to say ‘it certainly is unique’. Then, he turned to look at her again.

“Are you feeling tired, or sore?”

“A bit. How long has it been since I passed out?”

“About two days.”

“…two days.”

It was a time that couldn’t be called too long or too short.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, the image of Neil Prand, the President of the Hunter Association, appeared in her mind.

Min Ha-rin didn’t have any feeling of reverence or awe towards him, but she had a strange sense of responsibility after the conversation she had with Joanna before they left.

Arid smiled slightly as he saw her expression.

“Are you worried about the Association President?”

“Yeah. How did you…”

“I heard about it from Mr. Lukas.”

Lukas.

That was her Master’s real name. He knew his real name instead of the pseudonym ‘Frey’…

It seemed that many things had happened while Min Ha-rin was unconscious.

“Then the Association President…”

“Is no longer at risk of dying. He is an incredibly tough man, so he should be out of his bed within the week.”

“I see.”

In other words, their initial goal for coming to the Korea Branch had been achieved.

Then what did Lukas want to talk to them about?

‘…prepare our minds.’

The tone that Sedi had said those words in made her feel a bit anxious, but she decided to put it aside for now and get out of bed.

Arid also stood to his feet.

“I will wait outside as well.”

“Ah. Yeah.”

Min Ha-rin, who was now alone in the room, washed her face and undressed before changing into a new set of clothes and leaving the room.

Surprisingly, she found Sedi waiting outside the room with a calm expression.

From the impression she had of Sedi’s personality, Min Ha-rin thought she would have been banging on the door as if she was going to break it and screaming for her to hurry.

‘This brat seems to be a bit upset.’

This was pure intuition.

As she looked at Sedi’s face, it felt like she was looking at her younger siblings trying their best to not pout. Of course, she didn’t say this out loud.

If she did, then this ferocious little girl might try to kill her.

“You took so long.”

“Sorry.”

“Whatever, just don’t fall behind.”

After saying that, Sedi limped forward. It was clear that her injuries had yet to heal.

Nevertheless, it was a bit strange. She was clearly limping, but she was moving so quickly it was as if invisible wings were attached to her feet. Her black hair, which was as dark as ink, fluttered in the wind.

On the other hand, Min Ha-rin, whose legs were both fine, was struggling to keep up with her. Only after adjusting her pace slightly, to something closer to a jog than a brisk walk, was she able to catch up.