It was a thankless job that had been thrust upon him.
The old man gazed up at the night sky as he went through his daily magic power training.
Perhaps it was his age, but no matter how much he trained lately, he felt absolutely no growth. At this rate, he would meet his end before ever reaching the true essence of magic.
How frustrating.
How utterly frustrating his own lack of talent was.
"Master, you're still practicing magic power control at this hour?"
"A person's life is short. One must not waste even the time spent sleeping if one hopes to master magic."
He answered without turning around to the disciple who had approached from behind.
"That unwavering passion for magic is truly admirable, Master. Surely there's no mage in the world who surpasses you anymore."
"Hah!"
He snorted at the disciple's words.
"You understand nothing. Someone like me being the best in the world? Don't make me laugh. All I'm doing is compensating for my lack of talent through sheer effort. Just now, in fact, I was bemoaning my own inadequacy."
"Master, if you say you have no talent, then none of us do either."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Everyone prattles on about geniuses, but in the end, we're only human. In this world, there exist beings that even the gods cannot reach. Compared to them, how fragile we mortals are."
He couldn't help but lament.
"Ah. I still remember it vividly — that divine figure. The one who had reached the pinnacle of magic."
What rose in his mind's eye was that being he had once witnessed, the apex of magic.
That near-artistic existence.
Compared to that being, he himself was no different from a roadside pebble.
From the perspective of one who stood equal to the gods, all humans were the same.
Whether a roadside pebble was slightly larger or not, a stone was still just a stone.
"What's wrong?"
As he stood lost in thought, the other disciple quietly walked over.
The two disciples then began murmuring to each other.
"It's that ailment of his again."
"Yeah, he is getting on in years."
"Maybe he's starting to go senile."
"I can hear you, you jesters."
He turned around and gave them a light glare, and the two disciples exaggeratedly shrugged their shoulders.
Honestly, what hopeless disciples he had.
Oh no. That had disrupted his magic power control.
To have his concentration broken by something so trivial — truly, he remained immature no matter how much time passed.
"Master, this might be unnecessary meddling on our part, but please, whatever you do, don't repeat that talk to anyone other than us?"
"I'm well aware of that much."
"That's good to hear. Some of the older folk were directly affected, you know. And even those who weren't lost family members."
"I said I know. Stop worrying unnecessarily."
"Besides, Master, weren't you gravely wounded yourself at the time? I find it puzzling how you could come away with such reflections."
"I was arrogant back then. I was shown in no uncertain terms that there is always someone above you. And at the same time, I was shown just how small I truly am. I am grateful, from the bottom of my heart, that I was able to meet that being."
Even within the Lengzant Empire, which prized martial prowess, he was an unmatched mage.
That had been his reputation at the time, and his standing had continued ever since.
He had been a fool back then.
He had never once doubted that he stood at the pinnacle of the world.
That prideful arrogance of his had been utterly shattered by that incident.
At the same time, he had come to understand that there exist realms which mortals can never hope to reach.
"I regret being born human."
"Master, depending on how one interprets that, it could be seen as a statement sympathetic to the Demon race."
"The Demon race is no different from humans, really. It's pathetic, isn't it? Both the Human race and the Demon race are small vessels, crushing each other. Neither side even understands how insignificant they truly are."
"Master, what if someone overhears you?"
"There's no one here but us. And even if someone did hear, what of it? Do you think this country has the right to judge a visiting general from a foreign land?"
Where he currently resided was the royal palace of the Ana-reit Kingdom.
A country that had been hollowed out from the inside by Prince
The nation still maintained its outward appearance and gave no hint of its true state to the outside world, but in reality it was no different from being under the Lengzant Empire's control.
Prince Hugo's mysterious Skill had driven the country into a state where it could no longer function properly.
The king was dead. The innocent third and fourth princes had been branded as terrorists guilty of treason. The remaining first prince and second princess had already been brainwashed.
The nobility were nearly all puppets.
The fourth prince had apparently escaped, but the third prince was to be executed tomorrow.
Furthermore, the already-brainwashed second princess and Prince Hugo had their engagement publicly announced, effectively making this country Hugo's puppet.
He was insurance — in the unlikely event that the escaped fourth prince returned to attempt a rescue of the third prince.
Well, unless someone was a complete imbecile, there was no way they would come back to what they knew was a trap.
They had probably fled to some country or other by now.
The most likely destination was the Summerl Kingdom, where the first princess had married into the royal family.
In other words, there would be no role for him to play.
"How boring."
"Isn't peace nice, though?"
"Exactly. Dangerous missions like that last battle? No thank you."
That previous battle had been quite large in scale.
The Demon race had launched a simultaneous assault on every fortress along the border between human and demon territory.
At the fortress where he'd been stationed, it had ended with him shooting through the Demon race general's head, but the other fortresses had suffered considerable damage.
Well, none of that was his concern.
The real problem was that despite defeating the Demon race general, his Level hadn't increased.
His Level was 78.
Legend held that if one reached Level 100, one could undergo Evolution from the Human race — or so it was said with great conviction.
But he would probably die of old age before his Level reached 100.
If even defeating a major figure like a Demon race general failed to raise his Level, there was little hope of any significant Level-up from here on out.
"I will say, I was a bit curious about the true Hero, the fourth prince."
The Church had publicly announced that the new Hero was Prince Hugo, but the real Hero was the fourth prince who had fled.
Prince Hugo had been an anomalous being born with extraordinary strength, but apparently the fourth prince in question was the same sort of creature.
If such a person had become the Hero, just how powerful had they become?
He was curious.
Perhaps it even involved surpassing the limits of humanity — something he himself had aimed for and failed to achieve.
"Word has it that this country's fourth prince possessed power roughly equal to Prince Hugo's. Prince Hugo is already beyond human comprehension, so the thought of someone equally incomprehensible coming to attack is rather chilling."
"Hmph. I'll grant that Prince Hugo is beyond comprehension. But that one is no good."
"Master, do you want to be beheaded?"
"What's wrong with calling a bad thing bad? If you lot just keep quiet, it'll be fine."
"Saying that, haven't you considered that we might be being manipulated by the prince's suspicious Skill?"
"You think I, who possess Appraisal, would fail to tell sanity from madness?"
"Ah, right. Though honestly, I can't fathom how you managed to raise Appraisal all the way to Level 10."
"So, what exactly do you think is wrong with the prince, Master?"
"If I started listing, there'd be no end to it. If I had to sum it up — everything."
"He just gave a blanket dismissal to a prince."
"The prince's reign of terror won't last long, either."
"Master, if that happens, the Lengzant Empire's future could be cut off."
"What do I know? I do have some attachment to the country, but pursuing the true essence of magic is far more important. If the nation falls, I suppose I could just retire and live out my days in quiet seclusion. Doesn't sound too bad."
"And what about the rest of us?"
"That's none of my concern, is it? Do as you like."
The disciples let out collective sighs of exasperation.
He gazed into the distant sky, slightly surprised.
It seemed the intruder was quite the imbecile after all.
"Useless disciples — prepare for combat."
"Huh?"
"The fourth prince in question has arrived."
"You're serious?"
"Dead serious. Move, now."
Ignoring the disciples as they scrambled to prepare, he began constructing his spells.
"Well then, Hero — show me what you've got."