The moment I sealed Ouroboros away into my subspace, my body reverted to that of an infant.
“Looks like I managed to seal it somehow.”
『It truly was a troublesome opponent. Things are fine for now, but what do you intend to do in the future?』
“Yeah… that’s the problem.”
I shared the same concern as Lindwurm.
As long as I’m alive, I can keep it contained like this. But this new life of mine won’t last forever. After my death in my previous life, many of the taboo-designated artifacts ended up in the hands of those with ill intent.
…Though, for some reason, Maribel had been the one in possession of Ouroboros.
If I want to avoid repeating the same mistake, I’ll have to come up with a solution sooner or later. Living forever through rejuvenation magic… yeah, I’m not that desperate.
“Oh—more importantly, Fana and the others…”
I suddenly remembered Fana and the rest, who had been struck by Ouroboros’s magic. At that time, I didn’t have the luxury to help them so I had no choice but to leave them behind. Well… the way they are now, they’re not so fragile that something like that would kill them.
“…Mm, did we win?”
“That insane dragon… did we actually defeat it?”
“As expected of Master.”
“I truly thought I was going to be killed…”
Good. They are alright.
They were pretty badly injured though, so I handed them some high potions I’d made. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough mana left to use healing magic on them. That said, they shouldn’t have seen me fighting in my adult form—
“Some unknown guy was fighting it right?”
“Huh? I thought it was Reus, but now that you mention it… he was pretty big for a baby.”
“I was flying up in the sky, so I couldn’t see anything…”
—They totally saw me.
“Haha, what are you talking about, Oneechan? There wasn’t anyone like that, right?”
“Mm… guess I imagined it?”
“…Something feels off.”
As we exchanged those words, Maribel began floating toward us. Well—Maribel herself was still unconscious. Her staff, Jilnitra, sent a telepathic message directly into my mind.
『So it really was true. The Great Sage Aristoteleus had been reincarnated. And to think… it was you.』
(Huh? What are you talking about? I’m just an adorable little baby.)
『…There’s no point pretending. Ouroboros itself said as much about you.』
…Yeah, there’s no hiding it anymore.
『Maribel will be quite shocked when she finds out. She’s a huge fan of the Great Sage Aristoteleus, after all.』
Well… that doesn’t make me happy at all.
『You should at least pretend to be pleased, Master.』
(No thanks. I don’t need fans unless they’re busty beauties.)
『Maribel-dono’s estimated bust size is 130 centimeters.』
(Don’t you dare classify that as ‘busty’!!)
By the way, my telepathic exchange with Lindwurm shouldn’t have been audible to Jilnitra—but perhaps it read the irritation on my face.
『If she learns that you’re the reincarnated Aristoteleus, she’ll undoubtedly beg you to take her as your disciple. And even if you refuse, she’ll keep chasing you until you finally say yes.』
(Oh please, nooooooooooo!!)
I pleaded desperately.
(Please! I’m begging you—keep my identity a secret! Ah, but more importantly, you truly are a magnificent staff! Not just your performance, but your draconic essence is exceptional! I’d love to make you my personal staff!)
『Master, that’s a pretty obvious flattery. It’s a disgrace to the name of the Great Sage.』
Jilnitra let out a wry, amused sigh.
『Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. I owe you a great debt, after all—you’re the reason I was able to meet Maribel.』
(Phew. That’s a relief then.)
I let out a quiet breath, the tension finally easing from my chest.
『But if you ever get the chance, come visit Maribel’s laboratory sometime. Well then.』
And with that, Jilnitra carried off the still-unconscious Maribel.
As I watched them go—her magic staff nearly swallowed from view by the soft fullness of her body—I couldn’t help but mutter, “Yeah… I’m absolutely never going there.”
『I thought you’d say that, Master.』
The Seno Grande Kai—crashed by Ouroboros—had taken damage, but thankfully, it wasn’t as severe as I’d feared. Dana, who had been hiding in the shelter room, was safe as well. I got to work on the repairs immediately.
“It’s being restored so quickly…! As expected of Master!”
Watching the process unfold right before her eyes, Dana was practically trembling with admiration. Before long, the Seno Grande Kai was fully repaired and ready to fly once more. Our destination: the Magic City of Enderzen.
★★★
“…Haa, you’ve come again?”
“Eh? Why do you look so annoyed to see me?”
The ruler of the city, Meltera, let out a deep sigh the moment she saw my face.
『Perhaps you should place a hand on your chest and reflect for a moment, Master?』
Lindwurm’s remark made me pause—but nothing came to mind.
“No, I’m here today to report something. About this.”
I pulled Ouroboros out from subspace.
“—! You actually found it!?”
“Yeah. Well, ‘found’ might not be the right word. More like… it attacked us.”
“Attacked you?”
I explained everything that had happened to Meltera.
“I see… I’m impressed you managed to come out of that alive.”
“It was a close call. By the way, do you think this could be stored somewhere in this city?”
“That would be impossible.”
“…Yeah, figures. It’s just—after what happened in my previous life, I figured I should plan ahead for when I die. At the very least, you’ll probably outlive me, Meltera.”
“Even I will not live forever. You may assume that one day, this Magic City will face the same fate as the Tower of the Great Sage. Of course, I doubt it will collapse from within as quickly as the Tower did.”
Yeah… it’s not like I ever had the talent to lead an organization anyway.
“Hm… what to do. In that case, maybe I should just hide it somewhere no one will ever find it. But it’s not just humans—I’d have to make sure monsters can’t discover it either, which means…”
And then, a spark of inspiration struck me.
“That’s it! If it’s in there, no human or monster would ever be able to find it…!”
★★★
The place I arrived at was the deepest reaches of the Endless Wasteland. And waiting there, of course, was the strongest mythical-class monster—Behemoth.
“Wake up.”
“—!? GOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
I hurled a spell at its massive body, and with a thunderous roar, it snapped awake. But in that very instant—when it opened its enormous jaws—I seized the chance and dove straight inside.
“…Ugh, that stinks.”
Pinching my nose against the overwhelming stench, I pushed deeper and deeper into its body.
“This should be far enough.”
Once I passed the stomach area, I came to a stop and fired an attack spell at the inner flesh—just as monstrously tough as its exterior.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
One blast barely made a dent. So I followed up. Again. And again. I did it continuously until I carved into the wall, slowly digging my way through.
“Alright… this should do.”
At last, I placed the ring-shaped staff—Ouroboros—deep within the hollow I had created.
“To think you’d come up with storing it in a place like this…”
“The inside of the strongest creature alive… No one’s getting in here, right? And with its insane regeneration, this hole will be completely healed in a few days. Once that happens, no one will even know where it is.”
That was my solution— to seal Ouroboros within the body of Behemoth itself.
“…I might actually be a genius.”
『…You shouldn’t say it yourself!』
—Hey! Get me out of here! You hear me!? I’ll kill you!!
I thought I could hear Ouroboros desperately screaming something along those lines. But I ignored it and activated my teleportation magic.
And just like that, I escaped from within Behemoth’s body.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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