Chapter 311

'The shadow force marble is a damaged recording device, and to fix it, I have to... meet my teacher?'

Jin gasped at the sudden mention of his teacher.

"Arya Aulhart, isn't that the name of the mage you mentioned last time, the one who was after the Annihilating Dark Heaven Flame Orb, the final form of the demon empress?"

"Correct, Jin. You remember well."

"Is she somehow related to the recording device left by Solderet?" Jin asked while acting as if he did not know anything about this.

Misha met eyes with Jin.

"There may not be a direct connection. Solderet's arrangements for you were all prepared over a thousand years ago. It's unlikely that a child of just seventeen worked on the recording device with Solderet."

"Then why does that name come up?"

Murakan asked, irritated. He felt somewhat frustrated at yet another name he didn't know, after Picon and Olmango.

Misha casually ignored Murakan and locked eyes with Jin once again.

"About 400 years ago, there was a clan called Hister."

Hister.

The original surname of Arya Aulhart, and the clan of Valeria Hister. Misha was one of the very few who had experienced the magic of "Histers" firsthand.

"They were an exceptionally skilled mage clan. Despite their small numbers, they posed a significant threat to the Zipfels. There was something transcendent about every member of the Hister clan. They possessed a mysterious power beyond measure."

Listening to Misha's explanation, Murakan recalled where he had heard the name "Hister" before.

"But their greatest value lay not in their combat abilities, but in the culture they had built with magic."

"What is that?"

"Records. The Histers possessed a unique record-keeping magic that no one else could replicate. A magic that could create a flawless record, which was impossible to manipulate in any way."

"Record that is impossible to manipulate? Is that even possible? Leaving aside whether that's possible or not, isn't history influenced by someone's opinions, interpretations, and intentions?"

"I can't know what the Histers' intentions were in their view of history. However, what caught my attention was the fact that Zipfel couldn't manipulate the history written with their record magic."

Murakan's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"Hmm, this record magic... you're not someone who would make baseless claims, so I believe you. I get it. The Hister clan was probably destroyed because of this record magic. So, you are saying that Arya Aulhart is the descendent of Hister clan."

"Correct. That surprised me. I thought your head was just for decoration. Little brother, please continue to think like that in the future as well."

Jin spoke just as Murakan was about to retort angrily.

"So, what you're saying, Ms. Misha, is that I need to meet Arya Aulhart, the descendant of the Hister clan, because of this record magic."

Misha nodded.

"I can't fix the recording device, so it's a good idea to show it to that child. I'm not entirely sure, but I think she can offer some help. That child is in the process of restoring Hister's record magic. However, you lack a solid reason to seek her help."

"Misha, I don't know how much you trust this person, but in the end, they're an outsider. This recording device is Solderet's legacy. Is it okay for the kid to show this to her? Besides, even if she has partially restored the record magic, meddling with a device created by Solderet is a different matter. This marble is made of shadow force, remember?"

"I told you earlier that there is something transcendent about Histers, you idiot. I have personally experienced the record magic used by the mages of the Hister clan in the past. If it's related to records, they can handle anything. Even if it's made of mana, shadow force, or something else."

Misha looked confident.

By now, even Murakan was curious about Hister.

His sister had a foul temperament and being more devilish than a demon, but Murakan had to admit that her sister's judgments were always right.

"Hmm... What are you going to do, kid? Are you going to meet her?"

"Yes, that's the plan. Ms. Misha can't fix the record device, so there's no point thinking about it."

"We can only hope that this human like Arya Aulhart can repair the record device. If she can't do it, we might have to explore other options. However, Misha..."

"What?"

"How did you find out that Arya Aulhart is the descendent of Hister or Haster clan? Given that Zipfel exterminated them, it couldn't have been easy to find."

"I had made a promise with the ancestors of Arya because I owned them."

"To protect the surviving descendants?"

This was a story Jin hadn't heard before. As far as he remembered, she had never relied on or trusted any human or faction after the "Gray Owl Mercenary Corps," who raised her, was wiped out by Zipfel's mages. She might have exploited people, but she didn't rely on them.

Until she first extended her hand to Jin, who was then a beggar, she had always been alone.

Jin was the only person Valeria trusted and opened up after the Gray Owl was annihilated.

Although Jin at that time was not strong enough to properly help Valeria.

Just before Jin was killed in the Kingdom of Akin in his past life, she left the house they lived in together without leaving a word to Jin.

Whether she decided to live alone or she went on a brief journey for research, as she occasionally did, was a mystery. 

That question would never be resolved because Jin of his past life had met his end before he could ever find out. Those events remained a part of Jin's memories alone.

"It wasn't to protect them, but it was the opposite."

Misha answered Murakan's question with a bitter smile.

"What I promised the Histers was to watch over the descendants who survived the evil reach of Zipfel. I was to eliminate them if any of them couldn't withstand the hardships and tried to hand over Hister's magic to Zipfel."

"It's a cruel request," Jin's voice had an oddly chilly tone.

It was because he was angry at Valeria's ancestors for making such a request to Misha.

"It's cruel indeed. However, until now, no Hister survivors have tried to side themselves with Zipfel. They don't have a clan to lead them, they can't even use the Hister name, and they are subjected to Zipfel's oppression. Nevertheless, they all have been living with a sense of duty to restore the record magic."

"It's fascinating. How can one have such a sense of loyalty even when the clan has vanished?"

"There must be a record magic that is passed down only to the survivors. It seems the mission and memory of Hister mages have been kept alive that way and passed down to generations."

Misha had some vague ideas about the "succession temple" of the Hister.

Jin nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, he recalled his reserve flagbearer days when he pretended to become Kidard's disciple.

-I am 16, and as you may know, I have 7-star mana. I heard that only pureblood Histers with the complete mana-body can obtain this kind of mana.

-You said you grew up under the mercenary leader. How'd you know about the complete mana-body? That is a term that's been lost in history.

-I found out about it in the succession temple. When I entered, all kinds of archival magic activated and told me everything. Then, they told me that I was compatible with the mana, so I inherited it. I can't prove that part, though.

The Hister's succession temple.

As Misha had explained, all surviving Histers could acquire records, magic spells, and mana left by Hister in the succession temple.

"Arya Aulhart is now the last surviving Hister. Just like the other Histers, that child is not giving in to Zipfel's oppression and pursuit. She's as resilient as you are."

"Oh, oh!"

Murakan suddenly shook his head as if he abruptly remembered something.

"Hey! Misha, it just hit me. Ahh, that's refreshing. I know that Hister name was so familiar for some reason."

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"I don't know if it's authentic, but we have a Hister mage's magic tome."

"What did you say?"

"When the kid first became the reserve flagbearer, he had once wiped out the underworld of the Akin Kingdom. At that time, he purchased Schugiel Hister's magic tome at an underground auction house for two hundred gold coins."

Misha looked at Jin and Murakan alternately with a surprised look.

-This is the twenty-fifth item. It's a magic tome left by a mage named 'Schugiel Hister.' Let the bidding begin!

-Two hundred.

-Two hundred. Do we have any other bids?

-Why is that? Kid, is your intuition at work again?

-Just for no reason. You never know who might find it strange if I buy only one. I do have a good feeling about it.

At that time, Jin had purchased Schugiel Hister's magic tome at the ridiculously low price of two hundred gold coins in the Tessing underground auction. He considered it a much larger gain than Multa's rune or Chenmi's magic tome.

The magic tome was unquestionably genuine because only Jin and his teacher knew the cryptic language.

Jin had been thinking about this fact since earlier but chose not to mention it. He hoped for a more natural opportunity to explain to Misha.

Murakan even wrote down the cryptic codes of Schugiel Hister's magic tome using a pen and paper.

"I looked at Schugiel's magic tome while deciphering Chenmi's magic book, and I still vividly remember how annoying the code was."

Misha carefully inspected the code and spoke.

"It's clear. You have drawn it somewhat clumsily, but I've seen Schugiel use this code while he was alive. It is very similar. This is insane... Schugiel's magic tome was circulating in such a filthy underground auction house?"

"Huh? Misha, have you actually met Schugiel Hister? I thought the code was too bizarre, so I assumed the tome was a fake."

"Schugiel Hister is the one who personally asked me to monitor his descendants. It is unbelievable that you get it in just two hundred gold coins. Where is that magic tome?"

"It's stored in Tikan. I had almost forgotten about it, given that it's been a few years now."

"Great, I was wondering how you would approach that prickly girl. You've obtained a genuine magic tome. It seems that you and Arya were fated to meet, after all."

"Could this also be part of Solderet's arrangement?"

"It's not entirely impossible, Murakan."

Although Jin didn't think it was certain, he didn't see the need to add more to that statement.

"Jin."

"Yes."

"Meet that kid and offer a deal using Schugiel's magic tome. Tell her to restore the recording device."

Jin's heart was beating fast.

Jin took a deep breath and locked eyes with Misha.

"Do you know the whereabouts of the mage named Arya Aulhart?"