Water Magician

“I was told that a man had reincarnated first before I reincarnated in this world.”

While Ryo was wondering whether to go to Prince Willy, the man began to speak.

“The one who told me was the one who played the role of an angel, calling himself 『Michael Kamei』.”

“Michael! Was he well?”

“I don’t think an existence like him will fall sick.”

Then the man laughed.

“Of course he’s fine. The man who was reincarnated earlier called him 『Michael Kamei』, so he said he decided to call himself that … but were you the one who named him that?”

“I did call Michael that in my heart, but … Kamei … Kamei for pseudonym And, yes, I guess I was the first to name him.”

Ryo felt a little unconvinced, but he was a little happy that Michael himself liked it.

“I was reincarnated on the western edge of this continent … and took up residence in the Central Nations before I knew it. There was an event that made me realize that I was the reincarnation of Hassan-i Sabbah … and so I created the Order of Assassins.”

“Old Man of the Mountain …”

The man laughed when Ryo said the other name for Hassan Sabbah.

“Yes, that’s right. I could use Earth-Attribute Magic, so I trained it and alchemy because I met a good teacher. Oh, by the way, did you … reincarnate into an elf or something?”

Ryo was surprised by the sudden question and couldn’t understand his meaning.

“No, I should be human …”

“Is that so? You look pretty young for a human. It’s been 75 years since I reincarnated and if you came first … I imagined you to be older.”

“……Ha?”

What was this guy saying?

Ryo should have only been reincarnated for about 20 years … that was probably how much time he spent in the Rondo Forest … yes, ‘probably’ … he didn’t keep track of the number of days, so he didn’t know the exact number of days …

No, even then, it couldn’t have been 75 years … because his appearance wasn’t that old …?

Yeah, well, he did wonder why he had not aged since he reincarnated.

Of course he noticed it.

But, more than 75 years was a little too far-fetched?

“Oh, that’s right. Michael did mention that there was a change in the time axis.”

“……Time axis?”

The man said something he recalled, so Ryo was pulled out from his confused thoughts.

“Someone who comes to that white world later may reincarnate long before us in this world.”

“……What do you mean?”

“I arrived at Michael after you, but I think I was reincarnated into an era before you. That is, a person from the same era as us might be reincarnated in this world hundreds of years ago.”

The first thing that came to Ryo’s mind was the coffee set from 『Cafe de Chocolat』.

Or, the culture of bowing that might have been spread by those who reincarnated in earlier times …

Creating a world where many people bow as if they were in modern Japan.

He could feel the shadow of the reincarnated people!

Was that the flash of inspiration authors of light novels experience?

“Well, a change in the time axis may be the reason why.”

The man said and concluded on his own.

And he continued.

“I was reincarnated when I was at the age of 25 on Earth, so I’m 100 years old in total. As expected, my body doesn’t move like it used to. … I knew that death was approaching and that’s why I needed the blood of Prince Willy there.”

“What does Prince Willy’s blood … have to do with your lifespan?”

Ryo asked the obvious question.

“To be exact, it doesn’t have to be Prince Willy. As long as it’s the blood of a human from the royal family of the Kingdom of Ju. Using the blood of that royal family as one of the materials, I can create a medicine that can make me 『immortal』 using alchemy.”

“Immortality? In other words, you won’t die?”

“That’s right. Moreover, even if I suffer a fatal injury, with rest, I will not die. Isn’t that exceptional performance?”

“Yes, it’s definitely exceptional, but … you’re trying to kill him for that reason?”

“Yeah, for that reason.”

Then the man laughed slightly.

The moment the man laughed, Ryo felt a sense of discomfort.

Not from the man.

The other side of the man … the wall?

Ryo was chanting even before he could clearly perceive it.

“<Water Jet 1024>”

The propulsive force of water spouting from the back of his body, from the tip of his head to his heel.

High-speed maneuvering that he had never succeeded in practice.

As a result, Ryo arrived at Prince Willy in an instant.

The sense of incongruity that Ryo sensed instantly spread throughout the room, and at the same time, arrows, fire spears, stone spears and invisible wind spears were fired from the wall.

Hundreds of attack magic cut through the entire room.

Normally, even if there were hundreds or thousands of attacks, with Ryo and the man’s ability, they wouldn’t lose even a single strand of hair.

However, the first discomfort that Ryo felt was …

(Magic nullification …)

That magic nullification that he experienced for the first time when he faced the Assassin Hawk with one eye and saw for the second time from Behi-chan, the Behemoth he encountered when escorting Abel.

It was that 『uncomfortable feeling』.

And, as expected, Ryo couldn’t use magic.

He cut down all the flying arrows and attack magic with Murasame.

Fortunately, nothing flew from the wall directly in front of the room, the wall behind the table on which Prince Willy was laid.

Even Ryo would not be able to handle such a number of attacks if they came from all directions.

Moreover, it would have been impossible to protect Willy’s body while he was unconscious.

But he could somehow pull through if it was only from three directions.

It was a stroke of luck that Ryo destroyed the ceiling with Abrasive Jet.

The situation would have been hopeless if the attack magic poured down from the ceiling as well.

But even without attacks from the ceiling, it was still a difficult situation.

Even that man would not be able to endure attacks pouring from all sides …

But the man pulled through.

In a situation where magic could not be used, he was able to overcome it with a single sword and defensive movements.

“Amazing …”

A word of admiration unintentionally leaked from Ryo’s mouth.

Could the human body exert such great ability to the extreme?

Ryo was impressed from the bottom of his heart.

However, at the moment when the density of attack magic increased and Ryo concentrated to prevent attacks on himself and Willy, a different, thin, really thin stone spear pierced the man’s chest.

“Guha”

That created a gap in the man’s defenses and an invisible Wind-Attribute attack magic pierced the man.

And when the high-density attack was over, it became quiet like it was all a lie.

“<Ice Wall 10-layer Package> <Ice Wall 10-layer Package>”

After confirming that the magic could be used once more, Ryo surrounded Prince Willy with an ice wall and encompassed the entire room too.

That way, he could ensure safety for the time being.

Then, he rushed to the man.

“Hey, hang in there.”

Penetrating the heart was a thin stone spear.

When Ryo ran up and called out, the stone spear disappeared, and blood spilled out from where it disappeared.

Ryo placed his hand on the man’s chest and formed an ice film to seal the hole in his heart.

Similarly, he surrounded the injured blood vessels on his right flank with ice films, where the Wind Magic pierced him.

However, those were not healing magic.

They only sealed the holes and coated the torn blood vessels.

Even Ryo understood that the wound at his heart was fatal.

“That was careless of me … I’ve turned into a senile old fool, to be killed by my subordinate.”

“I stopped the bleeding, but probably …”

“Yeah, I understand my body. It’s definitely a fatal wound. This wound can’t be healed with potions.”

The man clearly stated that which Ryo had difficulty saying.

“That’s fine. I’ve killed countless people so far, so this retribution … is probably nowhere enough … but … my subordinate stole control of the trap I had set up and I die to that trap … how pitiful.”

The man ridiculed himself.

“Trap?”

“Yeah. It’s a trap that I set up to destroy the enemies in this hall in one fell swoop. It’s a trap from more than 20 years ago … but I did proper maintenance so it activated brilliantly.”

The man chuckled.

“But only the stone spear stuck in your chest looked different from the others …?”

“Oh, that’s Natalia’s magic. She was probably used by 『Black』.”

His tone of mockery seemed to Ryo to be directed at himself, not to Natalia.

“Oh, then, I have one request for you.”

The man looked at Ryo directly and said.

“Would you continue my alchemy?”

“Continue?”

Ryo tilted his head.

“Yeah, but we can’t do things like inheriting skills like in anime and comics on Earth. I’d like to entrust you with the alchemy materials I’ve compiled, the techniques I’ve developed, that sort of thing.”

“Why me?”

“That’s a given. Didn’t you comment that the attack with magic circles was cool? I want someone who shares my ideals to take over, that’s all.”

“That was … alchemy?”

“Yeah. So you can use it too … Of course, it’s not easy to learn. Even though it was developed in blood, the art itself has no sin.”

Perhaps it was painful as the man had to regulate his breathing several times.

He was fatally injured after all. It was natural that he was in pain.

“By the way, how good is your alchemy skill?”

(I can do that cool magic battle style!?)

(It’s an assassin’s alchemy technique, but he’s right, the art is not a sin.)

Ryo, who interpreted it conveniently, was quite excited in his heart.

“Oh … I can now make advanced potions and magic potions …”

“What, only advanced potions!? So you’re a beginner … you have a long way to go.”

“Ehh … is that so?”

He was delighted to have the chance to perform cool magic battles, but if he was told that it was still impossible, he would still be depressed.

He should be an above-average alchemist in town …

But he was apparently a beginner in the man’s eyes.

“Well, it can’t be helped. I wonder how far will you reach while you’re alive … Then, how long did you take to work on alchemy before succeeding in making an advanced potion?”

“Oh … about half a year?”

Ryo answered while remembering.

“Half a year! So you’re really a beginner? But if you can create advanced potions in half a year, your talent should be good. If you train seriously, you should be capable of it.”

After saying that, the man tried to get up.

“No, it’s impossible to move with that wound.”

Ryo hurriedly supported the man.

“I’m going to die anyway. I have to hand over the materials to you. Lend me your shoulder until the wall behind the table where the prince is lying.”

Then, supported by Ryo, the man walked to the other side of the table where Prince Willy was laid down, the only wall where no trap came out.

And when he chanted something in front of the wall, a 2 meters square hole opened in the wall.

After descending about 20 steps from there, they arrived at a room that looked like a study and a library.

The man sat on a chair in front of the desk and took out three black notebooks from the drawer.

“Notebooks?”

“Now, these two books are the basics. And this gilded edge book is, so to speak, the secret technique.”

The two basic books were as thick as university notebooks on Earth, but the gilded edge notebook, which he called the secret technique, was about three times as thick.

“But … with your abilities, you won’t be able to understand these two basic books yet … Do your best without rushing.”

In response to his words, Ryo opened the first page of the basic book.

It was almost incomprehensible to him.

It was as if a pure liberal arts person was challenging the Millennium Prize Contest in Mathematics … There was a ton of content even though it would take some time to even understand what was written.

“Look, put it in the bag there. His Majesty once gave me that bag …”

The man’s complexion was completely pale.

In addition, his eyes weren’t open …

“That time, His Majesty praised me ‘Hassan, you did well’ …”

The man laughed a little.

His consciousness may have begun to become cloudy.

He thought he was Hassan Sabbah.

He may have hated the dynasty itself to the extent of piercing its coat of arms with a sword, but … maybe he admired Alp Arslan who Hassan served.

However, after a while, his expression distorted, and bitter words leaked from his mouth.

“But only him … I can’t forgive him. I won’t die until I kill him!”

The man quivered in anger and opened his eyes, as if he was looking somewhere else.

“I can’t die yet … until I kill him … not yet …”

Ryo knew that the man’s death was just around the corner.

Ryo approached the man and whispered in his ear.

“Hassan, did you properly assassinate Nizam al-Mulk?”

Those words struck the man like a lightning strike.

And the man’s facial expression became calmer than before.

“That’s right … the assassination was successful …”

The man’s voice stopped there … with a satisfied expression, he passed away.