The Hiding Wise Man Can Not Hide

I talked to Mariam with telepathy.

‘If this is the eggshell that Master was referring to, then it must be curved, not perfectly flat.’

‘A shell that encloses the entire universe? Even if it were curved, it would be less than a grain of an atom. There's no way to measure it.’

Yes, so it's a hypothesis.

‘Eventually, if we can summon a floating disk larger than a planet…say, or a galaxy, we might be able to measure it.’

‘While measuring from one end to the other, both the instrument and the observer will reach the end of their lifespan…’

This sense of tremendousness was really comfortable.

‘I guess you and the Zephyr are the only ones I can have this conversation with now.

‘...Yes.’

The master who gave us all kinds of knowledge is no longer with us.

When he first came to this world, he opened the gate to cross over to the other world and returned to his original world.

Just by existing, our master disturbs the magic equilibrium and forms a powerful magic field. That's why he has to move to the other world from time to time to clear the accumulated magic power.

He is so powerful that he said that he even reigned as a demon king in his former world.

Of course it's probably a joke. I don't feel that master has such high spirits or ambitions. He was a serious educator who loved learning and teaching to the fullest.

If I were to meet him again, it would probably be in a few hundred years. I hope I'm still alive.

‘Speaking of which, Zephyr also always...wanted to see master again…’

Suddenly, I felt a strange presence. To be more precise, it was the high-pitched sound of wind. It was at the edge of my hearing range, a range that only my rejuvenated ears could hear.

At the same time, Kaja announced,

"Master, there are four objects approaching at high speed from overhead! Oh, this will be a direct hit!”

It's not time to analyze the identity of that thing. I'm going to use the Shield art. When I deployed the force field created by magic power, like an umbrella, something hit me without delay.

After hitting the umbrella-shaped force field, something slipped straight through my surroundings and soared into the sky again. You could only see it for a moment, but it was a creature like a worm with dragonfly wings.

“Kaja, report the results of your analysis!”

"Ah, yes! There's an approximate 96.4% chance that it's a 'Flying Leech.’

It sounds familiar, but I can't remember. I immediately looked it up in the Archive.

‘The flying leech.’

‘It is a blood-sucking annelid with high flying ability. It uses gravity to swoop down from above and suck the blood of birds by piercing them with its sharp needle. Inhabits subtropical areas such as the Chasbente region. It is a carrier of serious infectious diseases.’

“It's not a creature of this high latitude.”

“I don't know anything about that. Ah, here it comes again.”

“Ugh, how annoying.”

I used the Shield art to block it again. I held it at as sharp an angle as possible, so that it would pass downward. But this was tough.

It's hard to avoid attacks from above when you're on a floating saucer. There are no escape routes or obstacles.

And it was too fast to stop with magic.

But Kaja seems to be calm.

"Master, can't you get to the other side safely if you bounce it off with your shield? There's a roof if you go to the castle gate.”

"There's a chance the other floating saucers might get hit, and there might be collateral damage if we take it to the other side."

For the same reason, I couldn't use fancy destructive magic either. In the immediate vicinity is a floating disk with other students on it.

The shield art cannot damage the flying leech, no matter how many times I block it. This is because this technique only uses a repulsive force like a magnet to change the trajectory of the attack.

"If I confuse the perception of the flying leech... No, there will still be collateral damage.”

Normally, I would have quickly used the Flight art to escape, but it's not something that an apprentice magician would use. My true identity would be exposed.

Of course, I can't put up a big fight here. If possible, I didn't want them to even know that I was fighting.

"Master, it’s coming back. I've detected a dive.”

“It's persistent.”

I guess I have no choice but to defeat it. It was just a leech. If you hit it with a stone, it will die.

The problem is that there are no stones here…

Ah, I see.

In the next instant, I'm jumping off of the floating disk. There were four scraping noises, almost immediately after.

Then, hanging over the edge of the floating disk, I asked Kaja, ‘Did it work?’

Kaja's answer was simple.

“Yes. The enemy forces have been annihilated.”

“Good.”

I climbed up on the floating disk before the power of my ‘Great Strength’ wore off. This is the only one of the pre-chanted techniques that I could use in a hurry.

“That's the ‘Shell of the World’ all right.”

On the floating disk, there are four creepy creatures jumping around. The shiny black things were bent and the transparent wings, reminiscent of dragonflies, were torn apart.

And the floating saucer had not a scratch on it.

I had dodged the flying leech's charge just in time and intentionally had them crashed into the floating disk. The flying leeches would have skewered a bird, but they had gone against the wrong opponent this time.

I suddenly became curious and stared at the sharp proboscis of the flying leech.

"This proboscis..."

“Yes?”

“I thought it was made of carbon or calcium, but it's got iron in it.”

“What's wrong with that?”

“The iron from the bloodsucking must have been used to form a proboscis, which was used as a weight to stabilize its posture during the dive. It can also crush the bones of birds. Very interesting."

"More importantly, master, Lady Mariam is trying to contact you.”

I could hear Mariam's worried voice.

'Chevaldin? Weren't you just fighting something?’

‘I've just had four flying leeches relentlessly attacking me. It's all over now. I guess they were no match for the Shell of the World.’

‘The shell of the world?’

While explaining the situation, I kicked the still-moving flying leech off of the floating disk.

‘The flying leech is not a creature that would normally attack humans. Human bones are much tougher than those of birds, so it is too risky to pierce them deeply with a proboscis. Besides, it moved as if it was being controlled by something.’

‘Does that mean that those ‘something leeches’ were being used by someone else...?’

‘I think so. It seems that someone who isn't the Zephyr thinks ill of me. It's an assassin.’

‘I'm sure Zephyr wouldn't use such an uncertain and roundabout method. I'm sure he's capable of summoning a swarm of flying dragons.’

Then Kaja said.

"So, you are aware that an unidentified adversary has discovered your identity, correct?"

“Ah… I'm not sure what to make of that. I think it's better to think that it is the case.”

At the very least, they don’t think that I’m  just a new student.

Feeling depressed that my true identity had been exposed even before I had infiltrated the place, I was carried away by the floating disk.

After arriving at the other side of the cliffs, I was warned by the sorcerers who controlled the floating saucer not to play with it by hanging from it.

‘I'm the victim here. It’s not very fair.’

‘You really never change.’

For some reason, Mariam started to giggle.