AKM Act 11-4.1
Act 11-4: The Bewitching Sage TL : Cnine ED/PF : R1[1-2], R2[3-4] Part 1 Magic had already existed before the Magician Association was esta
Act 11-4: The Bewitching Sage
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-2], R2[3-4]
Part 1
Magic had already existed before the Magician Association was established, and magician had already existed back then too.
Magician acted individually in each region, taking on apprentices and passing down their magic.
Among them, the great sage Magius and his disciples established the Magician Association. By interacting with magician from various regions and exchanging their magic skills, magic became more refined and sophisticated.
Such magic was divided into several systems, there are three main categories in general.
Those were alchemy, spiritualism, and astrology.
Those systems were not entirely independent; they sometimes complement each other as well.
And the Bewitching Sage, Sabina that Chiyuki met this time was a master in the field of spiritualism.
Chiyuki, Magius, Gadfes, and Sabina, whom met in the restaurant sit at the same table.
The ones who came with Chiyuki sat at the tables around them, watching with keen interest to see what kind of conversation the sages would have.
The tea was brought to Chiyuki and co's table.
The cafeteria also served tea outside of mealtime.
Although it was called tea, it was not the actual green tea. The tea was actually fennel herb tea.
The taste wasn't great, but it had fragrance aroma, and Chiyuki drinks it on regular basis.
The Naran basin, where Saria located was also a place known for herb cultivation.
Magician prefer tea over liquor which had already proven to dulls their mind.
For this reason, herb cultivation was thriving around Saria.
The waitress who brought the tea was not a magician.
In the first place, more than half of the population of Saria was not mages.
The ordinary people, in place of the magician who was busy studying magic, was the ones driving the economy of Saria.
The waitress was slightly nervous as she attends to the four sages, who rarely gather together.
She bows her head and quickly leaves the table.
Chiyuki takes a small sip of the herbal tea and then looked at Sabina who was sitting in front of her.
A strong scent emanates from Sabina's body, making it hard to enjoy the scent of the herbs.
（Is this the scent magic? Or bewitching scent? Not even I might be able to resist if I breathe it in too much.）
Chiyuki uses magic to prevent the scent from reaching her.
At first, Chiyuki thought the scent was coming from the pipe she was smoking, but upon closer inspection, she noticed a small incense burner hanging at Sabina's waist, and it seemed that the scent was emanating from there.
Spiritualism was a type of magic specialized in affecting intangible things, such as the mind, soul, and the undead.
In addition, when the user using this kind of magic, it was complimented with scent magic.
Scent magic included those that induce sleep, enhance desires, summon spirits, or even keep the undead at bay.
Spiritualism also included necromancy, it was an open secret that some practitioner of spiritualism did dabble in necromancy.
Tarabos most likely began his study in necromancy in the middle of studying spiritualism.
「Long time no see, Black haired sage, Chiyuki-dono.」
「Long time no see you too, Sabina-dono.」
Chiyuki replied to Sabina's greeting.
They did met before, albeit Chiyuki couldn't really tell what the woman before her was truly thinking about.
Tarabos was supposed to be her disciple, but it seems she had nothing to do with what he did.
Though Sabina was a spiritualist, Chiyuki had never heard of the rumor about her using necromancy.
However, that rumor had to be taken with grain of salt.
Some scent magic could masked miasma, and Chiyuki guessed that Sabina might use the strong scent to mask her miasma.
Moreover, she get this feeling that she was somehow hostile toward Chiyuki.
At first, Chiyuki thought that it was about Tarabos, but that didn’t seem to be the case either.
That was why Chiyuki had some doubt in her mind.
「Long time no see too, Gadfes-dono.」
「Ahahaha, it's been a while, Sabina. You're as bewitching as ever.」
「Hehehehe, is that so? If it's you, Master, I’d be happy to entertain you anytime.」
「Well, I appreciate the offer. But I don't want to be resented by your young disciple. I’ll pass for now. Try to invite someone younger instead.」
Sabina and Gadfes exchange a light banter as a form of greeting.
Apparently it was treated as some form of joke between them.
Sabina's appearance was that of a beautiful woman in her early twenties, and she had a large chest.
She modified her mage's robe partially opened in the front, exposing her cleavage.
There was a rumour saying that she sometimes shares her bed with some of the many young male magicians who follow her.
「Same as ever, Gadfes. I’ve told you many times, don’t go choosing your successor in that manner.」
Magius rebuking Gadfes.
「Are those the words from the President and Vice-President, Magius-dono?」
「That's right, Chiyuki-dono. It's about time we made a decision. President Pendos said he wants to step down at the end of this term. It seems he's really tired mentally and physically thanks to the mess that Tarabos left behind. I thought Tarabos is a rare talent, but to think he'd pull something like that... Thanks to him we're getting a harsh scolding from the surrounding countries. Finding the right person is proving difficult.」
Magius replied while heaving a deep sigh.
Perhaps because they prefer to devote their time to their own research, most magicians were reluctant to take on work for the Association, and even fewer were willing to become executives.
In that context, Tarabos, who was proactive in taking on work for the Association, was a valuable talent.
Naturally, that was also to cover up his own misconduct.
Although the Association did have non-magician staff handling tasks like accounting, it was an organization for magician, so key positions couldn't be entrusted to them.
That said, they couldn’tl appoint someone unscrupulous as an executive either.
Tarabos had also used his position as vice-president to secretly expand the number of followers of the death god Zarxis among citizens of neighboring countries.
It was thanks to Chiyuki and the others' efforts that this came to light, and President Pendos had a hard time trying to explain the situation to the countries around Saria.
Thanks to that, it was only antural that he would want to step down as the president.
「Tarabos, huh? If only he had handled things more cleverly, he's such a fool.」
Even Sabina heaved a sigh in lament.
It sounded as if those words were telling the late Tarabos to hide it better.
The casual conversation continued on, as there was still time until the council of sages meeting.
◆
Mitsuami was observing the man called Kuroki.
With Kyouka hugged the said man's arm.
Kyouka hugged Kuroki as soon as she saw the latter at the entrance of the library.
Mitsuami reconsider about Kuroki's identity.
This man was recognized by Magius and was granted permission to enter the forbidden library.
And he was the acquaintance of the little sister of that Hero of Light.
He was definitely not an ordinary person.
However, upon seeing him getting flustered when Kyouka hug his arm, she felt that he didn't seems to be a special person either.
Unlike Chiyuki and Kyoka, he didn't have a strong presence. If he quietly sits in the corner, he probably wouldn't catch anyone's attention.
In short, he didn't seems like someone important.
For that reason, she didn't particularly feel the desire to associate with him.
「Uhm, Mitsuami-san. Who is this extremely beautiful girl that come with you?」
Chijirege's eyes blinked repeatedly as he stared at Kyouka.
「She's Kyouka-sama. The little sister of that Hero of Light, Reiji-sama. She come along with the Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki-sama to this Saria.」
「Ah! Is it for the Council of Sage!? No wonder Chiyuki-sama is coming too...」
Chijirege exclaimed with understanding look on his face.
He was getting into a trouble in the past.
And it seems he was still regretting that blunder even now.