Frilian: Starting by inheriting the title of the Southern Hero

Chapter 37 Troublesome Magic

The carriage rounded two bends and came to a steady stop in front of an ornate black iron gate.

At the entrance, an elderly man with gray hair stood upright, his left hand behind his back and his right hand gesturing.

Not far behind the old man, Father Clementis and Sister Loretta stood side by side, one with a smile on her face and the other with her eyes slightly closed, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.

Lynn's eyelids drooped, and he thought to himself, "Why does this feel like a trap?"

"You two have arrived."

The driver reminded him.

Lynn glanced at the priest and nun without making a sound, and then jumped off the carriage one after the other with La Offen.

"This way, please."

The old man turned and led the way.

The priest and nun didn't follow, but whispered something to each other, their gazes seemingly lingering on Lynn's back.

Passing through the high-ceilinged hall and ascending the spiral staircase, you soon arrive at the end of the corridor.

The old man pushed open the heavy wooden door.

The room was large, but the only furnishings were a large desk, several high-backed chairs, and a row of bookshelves against the wall.

The curtains were drawn, letting in plenty of light.

Levi stood by the window, his back to the door, and spoke softly:

I'd like to talk to you alone.

"OK."

After Lynn agreed, she looked at Raofen and asked, "Will you be alright by yourself?"

"No problem." Laofen nodded seriously.

"Okay, then you should have a good talk with him."

Lynn turned to leave, but Levi laughed.

"He's quite a humorous fellow."

Levi turned around and glanced at the old butler. "Sir, please take this young lady to rest."

"Yes."

The old butler bowed slightly and gestured "please" to Laoffen, "Please follow me."

After the old butler and Laofen left, Levi pointed to the chair in front of the desk and said, "Sit."

Lynn pulled out a chair and sat down, getting straight to the point: "Speak quickly if you have something to say."

"Judging from the way you looked at me before, you know me."

"It's not surprising that the Governor-General knows you, given your reputation."

"Stop beating around the bush, you've made it pretty clear," Levi said.

"That's it then," Lynn said.

"How much do you know about me? Would you mind telling me?"

"Well, that's..."

Lynn interlaced her fingers and placed them on her knees. "I know the Governor is the kind of person who wants magic to disappear from the world."

Levi's pupils dilated for a moment, then he stared at Lynn for a long time before finally looking away. "Are you omniscient?"

"I don't have that ability."

Lynn shrugged. "I'm just an ordinary soldier who occasionally knows things I shouldn't know."

"Ordinary soldier."

Levi repeated himself, then suddenly laughed, "Ordinary soldiers wouldn't be able to articulate my long-cherished wish in a single sentence."

"...Who exactly are you?"

Does it matter?

Lynn retorted, "You sent people to investigate me, and now you've invited me here—isn't that just to confirm whether I'm an enemy?"

"So, are you or aren't you?"

"As long as you don't block my way, I'm not one."

Lynn met Levi's gaze and said, "People like us all have cards we don't want others to uncover. You know I exist, I know your identity, that's fair."

Levi was silent for a few seconds, then got up and walked back to the window. "Fairness."

He muttered the word as he looked out the window at the view of the capital city.

"Now that you know what I want to do, what do you think magic really is?"

"Tools," Lynn replied quickly.

"tool?"

Levi frowned. "You call something that can easily take the lives of thousands a tool?"

"Swords can also kill."

Lynn patted the hilt of the sword at his waist. "The difference lies in the person using it."

"Killing with swords and blades is completely different from magic."

Levi said, "Magic, sometimes, can unleash fire, lightning, and curses with just a thought. This power is too easy to obtain, and too easy to lose control of."

As he spoke, he walked to the bookshelf by the wall, pulled out a book, and threw it on the table.

The book's pages were turned, revealing a village burned down by magical flames.

"I've seen far too many tragedies, like when Minus used magic to turn three southern countries into a wasteland. That wasn't war; that was one-sided slaughter."

Levi's fingers traced across the pages. "As long as magic exists, this kind of thing will keep happening. Humans are too fragile to handle such divine authority."

"I don't agree with your idea," Lynn said.

To be honest, Lynn had mixed feelings about the character of Levi in ​​the original work.

If this guy is a pure evil, then just chop him up.

Yet, Levi is the hero who vanquished the rebellious witch, and even the old butler Wheeler from earlier was a legendary warrior who protected the empire and was invincible in every battle.

Whether to kill or not is a difficult question, just like the question of whether to destroy or not the Worry-Free Flower. From a third-party perspective, everyone has their own opinion.

"Whether you or others agree or not, I have to do this. I want to restore the world to the way it should be."

Levi closed the book. "My great undertaking is to make humans and demons equally lose their magic."

"I lived in a place without magic."

Lynn recalled his life on Earth, saying, "I can tell you with certainty that even without magic, as long as there is demand, something far more terrifying than murderous magic will be created."

"...Also, I know you're planning to assassinate Celia, but I think you'll fail."

"feel?"

Levi pondered the two words, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes. "So, you can't be sure if I'll really fail."

"Indeed."

Lynn nodded, thinking to himself that he really didn't know because the comic author had stopped updating.

"In that case, it's even more necessary for me to accomplish this great task!"

Levi straightened his tie. "Kid, if one day you find that magic only brings pain, I think you'll join me."

"That day will never come."

Lynn shook his head. "Also, I don't know how you could think that killing Seria would erase the existence of magic, but I just want to say that you are too arrogant. In this city where everyone is used to magic, your great deeds will only bring chaos and trouble."

"opinionated?"

Despite being repeatedly judged, Levi remained unperturbed and instead smiled, "Perhaps."

"...But in this world, who doesn't need a bit of self-righteous courage to accomplish anything? If you hesitate and look back, you probably won't even be able to draw your sword."

Lynn was already tired of complaining. After all, that was exactly how Levi was in the original story. Although his background was tragic and he deserved sympathy, his reason for wanting to assassinate Celia was just inexplicable and incomprehensible.

"Speaking of which,"

Levi leaned forward, exuding a sense of oppression. "Since you judge my great achievements so highly, have you never done anything against the will of others yourself?"

"Yes, and just recently."

Lynn put his hands behind his back and readily admitted, "In Elsia Village, I destroyed a magical plant called the Worry-Free Flower."

"...That thing can make people forget their pain. The villagers were tormented by painful memories, so they went to beg that flower to eat away their memories, but I shattered it completely."

"Do you think you did something wrong?" Levi asked.

"I can't really explain it, but I don't really want to deal with that thing."

Lynn fiddled with his fingers. "But my gut feeling told me that thing was a potential threat, so I chopped it off anyway."

This intuition did not originate from my own heart, but rather from a vague warning given by my future vision.

Although active use can only predict for fifteen seconds, passive long-term predictions will always be presented in an intuitive way.

I feel that doing this is the right thing to do, but I can't be sure.

"See, this is your arrogance."

Levi concluded, "You deprived them of the right to escape, forcing them to confront a bloody reality."

"I guess so," Lynn shrugged.

"By the way, have you ever seen a mature Ashoka flower?"

My companion mentioned it, but I've never seen it.

"Generally speaking, Ashoka flowers don't survive past their juvenile stage, so it's rare to see an adult Ashoka flower. However, I was fortunate enough to see one once."

Levi's voice was calm and even. "The Asylum Flower devours memories in its infancy, not for survival, but as a gentle means of raising its followers. By absorbing the followers' meager life force to accumulate nutrients, it will eat meat once it reaches adulthood."

"...It eats humans, livestock, and even passing monsters. There was once a village that was destroyed by a mature Ashoka flower."

"So, my overconfidence might have saved them?" Lynn couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Doesn't that sound ironic?

Levi said, "People only see the immediate gains and losses, and don't know that the end of magic is destruction, just like those villagers didn't know that the end of the Ashoka flower is death."

"Stop."

Lynn thought to himself that he sounded like a pyramid scheme leader, and then said:

"After talking for so long, you should be sure whether I'm an enemy or not."

"Maybe we're the same kind of people," Levi chuckled.

"You're talking nonsense."

Lynn mimicked the Tiger King, saying, "If there's nothing urgent, I'll be going."

He had barely finished speaking when a man's voice suddenly came from outside the door:

"Please wait a moment."

"Come in, Clementis."

Levi called out, and the door was immediately pushed open.

Father Clementis and Sister Lorelei entered one after the other.

Clematis, with a gentle smile on his face, gave Levi a slight bow.

"Finished talking?"

Clematis looked at Lynn.

"We just finished talking and are about to leave."

Lynn answered.

"That's perfect, there's something I'd like to confirm with this gentleman."

Clementis laughed.

"I'm busy, I don't have time to keep arguing with you."

Lynn refused.

The longer you spend with these shadow warriors, the more trouble you'll get into.

"Don't rush to refuse, this concerns you."

Clematis took a step forward, closer to Lynn. "When you got off the carriage just now, Lorelei saw traces of magic on you, and it looked like a troublesome spell."