Chapter 38: History Was Written by Liars

Chapter 38. History Was Written by Liars

My gaze moved between the two professors. "I’ll get straight to the point. You came here to examine me, right?"

Oren exchanged a glance with Cedric before nodding.

"Yes. Princess Nia and Princess Liora requested our assistance." He set his teacup down. "They told us you were cursed during the battle against the Dark Lord. Not corrupted by forbidden magic, as the rumors claim."

I leaned back. So they’d told them the truth.

Well, the part of it they knew.

Cedric folded his hands over his knees. "We’ve wanted to visit you for a long time, Rey." His voice was quieter now. "After you defeated the Dark Lord, rumors began spreading that you’d lost your mind. The academy restricted us from visiting you or conducting any examinations."

My smile faded.

Restricted.

Interesting choice of word.

Apparently, somebody had decided that the greatest magus of his generation was no longer allowed to receive help from his own academy.

How thoughtful.

Cedric sighed. "We managed to slip away by hiding inside the princesses’ carriage. But we’ll need to return as soon as possible after examining you."

I frowned. "Wait. That’s not our carriage."

Liora looked up from her tea. "It’s mine."

"Yours?"

"From the Crystal Vale. It belongs to my tribe."

She gestured toward the window.

"The carriage bears our crest, but its appearance is deliberately modest. We use it when we want to travel without attracting as much attention as our ceremonial crystal carriages."

I nodded slowly. "I see."

A royal carriage designed to look unremarkable.

I made a mental note to ask Liora about its defensive enchantments later.

Preferably after I stopped looking like a man whose primary hobby involved collecting assassination attempts.

I stood. "Well, then. I suppose you’d like to examine me."

Oren immediately reached for his satchel. "Yes."

He withdrew three sheets of thick parchment.

Each carried an intricate magic formation.

My eyes sharpened. I knew those formations.

Not the exact designs.

The method.

Pre-drawn magic formations.

Constructed in advance, stored in a stable medium, and activated later by supplying mana.

A simple concept.

Revolutionary execution.

And the man who’d invented it was standing right in front of me.

Professor Oren.

I stared at the parchment with considerably more enthusiasm than was appropriate for someone about to undergo a potentially fatal medical examination.

Thousands of years later, Evan Veyr had relied on this very technique to survive.

With my fractured mana core, I couldn’t afford to construct complicated formations during combat.

So I’d prepared them beforehand.

Barriers.

Escape arrays.

Defensive traps.

Emergency suppression formations.

All activated with minimal mana.

Without Oren’s invention, I probably would’ve died long before that unfortunate puddle finally finished the job.

What a strange feeling.

Meeting someone whose research had once kept me alive.

"Rey?"

I blinked.

Oren was watching me. "Something wrong?"

"No." I smiled. "Just admiring your work."

He looked genuinely surprised.

Then pleased.

Researchers. Compliment their theories and they’ll forgive almost anything.

Oren arranged the three sheets around me.

One beneath my feet.

Two hovering at chest height.

He pressed his palm against the central formation.

Mana flowed.

The runes lit up.

Three circles unfolded around my body, their pale blue lines rotating in opposite directions.

Mana-channel mapping.

Core resonance measurement.

Corruption identification.

Then Cedric stood.

"Try not to move."

He raised one hand.

Several observation spells appeared around his fingers.

The first swept across my skin.

The second penetrated deeper, following my mana channels.

The third focused directly on my core.

A full mana scan.

I remained still.

No point resisting.

Besides, I was curious what they’d discover.

The formations brightened.

Then flickered.

Oren frowned.

Cedric’s expression tightened.

The second formation began rotating faster.

A warning rune flashed crimson.

Then another.

And another.

Apparently, my internal condition wasn’t particularly photogenic.

The formations dimmed.

Silence.

Oren stared at the parchment.

Cedric stared at me.

Both men had gone pale.

"Rey..." Oren whispered. "How are you still standing?"

Well.

That was encouraging.

He looked up. "How have you not gone completely mad?"

Liora immediately set down her teacup. "What happened?"

Ariel moved closer.

Lily’s smile disappeared.

Seris straightened.

Nia’s ears flattened.

Cedric took a slow breath before explaining.

"Rey’s mana channels are saturated with the Dark Lord’s curse. It has penetrated his body, spread through his entire mana network, and embedded itself in his core. Under normal circumstances, corruption this severe would destroy the host’s sense of identity. He would lose the ability to recognize himself or distinguish allies from enemies, becoming violently unstable and attacking indiscriminately. The fact that Rey can still think clearly is extraordinary. His own magical power appears to have restrained the curse, preventing it from completely overwhelming his mind. But that resistance must have placed an enormous burden on his body."

Silence followed.

Ariel’s hand found mine. Her fingers were cold.

I squeezed them gently.

Oren looked at me again. "Rey... what happened to you?"

I sat down.

The others remained standing for a moment before slowly returning to their seats.

I considered how much to tell them.

Then decided on the simplest version.

"The Dark Lord’s core was regenerating during our final battle. I constructed a twelve-layer formation to contain it and warned the others not to destroy it before stabilization was complete. Darius ignored me and pierced the core. The resulting explosion released the curse directly into the formations. Everyone else escaped, but I was connected to all twelve layers and couldn’t withdraw without allowing the core to regenerate. I absorbed the backlash. My comrades survived, the Dark Lord died, and I was left with this." I let out a bitter smile. "Afterward, instead of helping me, they allowed the world to believe I’d become corrupted."

Nobody spoke.

Cedric’s expression hardened.

Oren slowly lowered his gaze.

Then Cedric laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

It was the kind of laugh people made when something finally became so absurd that anger couldn’t find a proper shape.

"And they’re the ones who’ve been telling us you became obsessed with forbidden magic because you wanted to become the next Dark Lord."

I shrugged. "I studied forbidden magic because I was searching for a cure."

Ariel’s fingers tightened around mine.

I glanced at her.

Then smiled.

"But I don’t think I’ll need to keep searching anymore."

Oren’s head snapped up. "Rey, you can’t give up! You can’t simply accept this and let it kill you!"

"I didn’t say I was giving up."

"Then what—"

"I already know how to handle it."

Cedric studied me.

Oren looked unconvinced.

Understandable.

If somebody had shown me those scan results in my previous life and then casually announced that everything was fine, I’d have demanded to inspect their research notes.

Possibly their head.

"Don’t worry," I continued. "It won’t kill me. And it won’t turn me mad."

I didn’t tell them that the curse they’d just examined was now something I could turn into power.

Because the more they knew, the more dangerous their position would become.

They’d already risked disciplinary action just by coming here.

I wasn’t about to reward their kindness by making them targets for the Light Temple, the other heroes, or whichever collection of ambitious idiots had decided Rey Valen needed to disappear.

Cedric rubbed his forehead. "We’ve never encountered a case like yours."

Oren looked at his diagnostic formations. "We don’t even know where to begin."

"Actually," I said, "there is something you can do for me."

Both looked up.

"The rumors."

Cedric frowned. "The rumors about you?"

I nodded. "Don’t let them spread unchecked through the academy. Especially among the younger magi." I leaned forward. "Students shouldn’t be taught that researching unfamiliar magic automatically makes someone evil. And they certainly shouldn’t be taught that the Dark Lord’s curse was something I deliberately inflicted on myself."

Oren nodded slowly.

I continued. "And the history of the final battle."

My voice cooled.

"Write down what actually happened. In your journals. In the academy’s records. In whatever books you can."

Ariel watched me quietly.

"I won’t let my former comrades take all the credit for defeating the Dark Lord while smearing my name to hide what happened to me."

That was the part that mattered.

Evidence.

Records.

Something that would survive even if the people involved didn’t.

I knew how easily history could be rewritten.

I’d read the rewritten version myself.

And frankly?

It was a terrible biography.

Oren straightened. "We understand."

Cedric nodded. "We’ll document what you’ve told us. We’ll also preserve the examination results."

"Good." I paused. "One more thing. Don’t mention this meeting to anyone."

Oren blinked. "Why?"

"Because some people might not appreciate you helping me."

The room grew quiet.

Cedric glanced at the academy sigil on his coat.

Then at Oren.

He understood.

Perhaps not the entire situation.

But enough.

"We’ll be discreet," he said.

Oren nodded. "Agreed."

I smiled.

Excellent.

Two professors.

Two witnesses.

And, hopefully, two people who would remain alive long enough to correct at least a few pages of history.

I stood. "Well, since that’s settled..."

Everyone looked at me.

"How about lunch before you head back?"

Oren blinked.

Cedric stared.

Lily’s eyes immediately brightened.

Our fairy princess had heard the word ’lunch’.

And judging by the way she was already rising from her seat, Arcane Academy’s finest researchers were about to experience something far more pleasant than the examination they’d just conducted.

Lily’s cooking.

Which, frankly, was reason enough to visit this mansion.

I smiled at the professors. "Please. Consider it my thanks."

Cedric hesitated before nodding. "We’d be delighted."

Wonderful.

I glanced toward Lily.

She was already halfway to the door, practically radiating excitement at the prospect of preparing a proper meal for our guests.

And I had a feeling those two professors might discover that leaving this mansion on an empty stomach was simply not an option.