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chapter 93
The youngest Grand Mage, Lee Ha-eun.
Of course, even as a Grand Mage, Lee Ha-eun was closer to being a half-fledged one.
Her talent was entirely focused on support magic, so for other types of magic outside her specialty, she could only perform at the level of children her own age.
Still, that was more than enough.
Once someone reaches the level of a Grand Mage, they typically decide which type of magic they will specialize in and spend their time honing it.
“Ha-eun never liked hurting others in the first place…”
This wasn’t just about the current Lee Ha-eun.
Even Serenity, the person I knew before the reincarnation, didn’t enjoy harming others.
That was why she rarely used offensive magic.
Thinking about it, the current Lee Ha-eun wasn’t much different from the Serenity I remembered before the reincarnation.
If her magic became slightly more refined and the amount of mana she carried increased, the Serenity I remembered would be fully realized.
“Moreover, her growth rate is much faster than before the reincarnation.”
It wasn’t simply because I had given her early education.
It wasn’t only because she had realized her talent at an early age.
Well, those factors certainly had an influence… but the fundamental reason was…
“Love.”
Fenrir, the familiar contracted through the summoning magic circle via Yeon Mirae—Love.
Ironically, Ha-eun didn’t even know that Love, whom she had contracted, was actually Fenrir… but regardless, thanks to Love, Ha-eun’s growth hadn’t stopped.
“Love sustains its existence through Ha-eun’s aura.”
Since Ha-eun only used magic, she didn’t use her aura.
Therefore, any remaining aura was all invested in Love.
Here’s the interesting part: by consuming and replenishing aura and mana, their maximum limits subtly increase.
And moreover…
“A vengeful talent like Ha-eun naturally balances the amount of energies they possess.”
If the aura increases, the mana naturally increases; if the mana increases, the aura naturally increases.
When Ha-eun summons Love, she uses aura, which raises the maximum aura her body can hold… and naturally, her maximum mana also increases.
And that’s not all.
“When I made Ha-eun contract with Love, I also used the power of story.”
It was when I gave the story of Fenrir to the familiar Love that would be summoned.
[In the center of the magic circle were Runes that represented deceit, trickery, and mischief, and around it, in three directions, were words representing swamps and wolves, the sea and snakes, girls and old men.]
[By placing Ha-eun above the word representing Loki, and the familiar above the word representing Fenrir, the minimum conditions were satisfied.]
It wasn’t just giving the familiar the story of Fenrir; the master—Ha-eun—was given a story too.
The story of Loki, the god of trickery and deceit.
“It doesn’t exactly suit Ha-eun, but…”
Still, it’s the story of a god.
A story of a god connected to Fenrir.
Thus, as Fenrir grows, Yeon Mirae naturally grows as well.
Furthermore, the story of the god of trickery and deceit conveniently hides the fact that Ha-eun possesses aura as well as mana.
Some see Loki as a fire god, but Ha-eun doesn’t use fire magic, so that was irrelevant…
Anyway.
“The reason I’m explaining this is…”
The point I want to make is that Ha-eun’s growth rate has a reason behind it.
But it seemed others didn’t see it that way.
[(We cannot understand the growth rate of this child, Lee Ha-eun.)]
[(She wasn’t even taught by a mage, just an aura user? And yet she became a Grand Mage? Are we supposed to believe that?)]
Especially, mages from all over the world had a fit.
At first, I ignored it.
After all, it was just jealousy from those who couldn’t become Grand Mages themselves.
But…
[(She must have used shortcuts. Like… dark magic or shamanism.)]
Then someone said that, and the situation changed.
Dark magic or shamanism themselves weren’t an issue.
There were few mages or shamans who used them, but they existed.
However, everyone knew that the dark magic or shamanism mentioned in the context of the SNS post wasn’t ordinary—it implied something else.
“Human sacrifices.”
They claimed Ha-eun had grown by offering living humans as sacrifices.
Or at least, that she had used some illicit technique to grow.
That was the accusation.
… If it had stopped there, it wouldn’t have become a big issue.
If necessary, the Iron Blood Guild could have sued for defamation.
The problem was…
“The person who wrote that post wasn’t ordinary.”
A Grand Mage.
Someone capable of activating strategic magic alone that would normally require dozens of mages.
Such a person suspected Ha-eun.
Since their reputation was greater than Ha-eun’s, many mages followed their claim, and as a result, Ha-eun’s name began to be known internationally with negative connotations.
“… Those who boast that they became mages because they’re smart…”
“Hmm?”
“Ah, Ha-eun, I’m not talking about you.”
Among mage supremacists, many claimed that they awakened mana because they were smarter than other Awakened.
It wasn’t entirely baseless; mages often think fast because they need to calculate magic circles.
Still, many of them loudly declared their opinion as truth.
And since it wasn’t just an ordinary mage but a Grand Mage making such claims, many mages started posting defamatory messages about Ha-eun.
There were also posts defending Ha-eun, but the ones copying and spreading the slander created a mess.
“Fortunately, Ha-eun’s parents knew and made sure she didn’t see those posts.”
But judging from the news on TV now, it wouldn’t end as just simple online slander.
[This time, the Grand Mage of the UK, Katie Hunt, is scheduled to visit Korea.]
[(She wants to meet the young Grand Mage in Korea. There’s talk in the UK about her excellent support magic skills. Oh, and she’s also an aura master.)]
A news clip showed a familiar-looking British woman in her late twenties to early thirties speaking to reporters.
“Wow! Geon-woo! Isn’t this lady someone famous from movies? She’s coming to meet us!”
“Yeah… it seems so…”
Ha-eun, knowing nothing of the situation, seemed excited to meet a celebrity.
The problem was, this woman was the same Grand Mage who had spread the slander abroad—the one talking about dark magic and shamanism.
… Yet she brazenly gave an interview saying she wanted to meet them.
The news station probably knew this but couldn’t freely disparage a Grand Mage, so they wouldn’t mention it.
“… At least no one is doubting me, only Ha-eun.”
Ah, that makes sense.
Yeon Mirae had proven her teaching ability in a live special lecture.
Some even became aura masters after her lecture, so people likely attributed Ha-eun’s abilities purely to Yeon Mirae’s education.
… The same applied to Ha-eun herself.
The difference was that Ha-eun was a mage, but her teacher, Yeon Mirae, was an aura user, which left some doubt.
Either way, Katie Hunt’s visit wasn’t good news.
It didn’t seem like she intended to meet them with good intentions.
Buzz…
As I pondered this, my phone vibrated.
Yeon Mirae was calling.
“Hello?”
[Did you just see the news?]
Yeon Mirae asked with a serious tone.
“Yes, I did.”
[I’ve done a quick investigation on Katie Hunt.]
During that short time, Yeon Mirae had looked into the Grand Mage in question.
[Katie Hunt, age 55. Her appearance, looking in her late twenties to early thirties, is maintained through magic.]
“……”
Not anti-aging magic, but transformation magic.
Makes sense; if she was already a certain age when she became a Grand Mage, anti-aging magic would be meaningless.
Maintaining a transformation magic would be no problem for a Grand Mage with her mana reserves.
[She became a Grand Mage about five years ago and has since focused on acting rather than dungeon or magic training. She insisted on playing lead roles in movies.]
… That must have been a disaster for filmmakers.
Who could refuse a Grand Mage wanting to star in a movie?
[She’s notorious in the entertainment world. There’s no exact data on her abilities, but considering she hasn’t trained or entered dungeons since becoming a Grand Mage, she’s likely among the weakest Grand Mages.]
Thinking back, I don’t recall hearing the name Katie Hunt before… Well, I may have, but I don’t remember much.
Her face seemed familiar, probably from her movies, but her name didn’t stick.
“… Why would she target Ha-eun?”
I quietly asked, so Ha-eun, who was beside me watching the news at home, wouldn’t hear.
Yeon Mirae gave a clear answer.
[She probably thinks she can beat Ha-eun herself.]
“… Because Ha-eun is still young?”
[Yes. She knows she’s weaker than other Grand Mages, but she might want to defeat an even weaker Grand Mage for a sense of superiority.]
… I couldn’t be sure without knowing Katie Hunt’s personality, but that was certainly possible.
“Haah…”
Realizing this, I let out a deep sigh.
“What a bothersome Grand Mage.”
A woman in her fifties trying to bother a teenage student…
But I wasn’t worried about Ha-eun.
If Katie Hunt truly was among the weakest Grand Mages…
“She’s no match for Ha-eun.”
