A looming threat

Normally, angels didn't meddle with each other's worlds. After receiving a world, they took care of it until the end of times. One of the oldest angels Savine knew, Elder Evitanius, he held a thousand worlds under his supervision.

Every two days in heaven, he would visit one of them and make sure everything was ok. He spent a year or two there and would come back. After that, he would go to another world.

By the time he came back to the same world twice, two thousand years would've passed in that world. Long enough for the people to forget about him. Evitanius mentioned that he'd expect the people of the worlds he visited multiple times to remember him, but such occurrences were rare.

But regardless, Savine wouldn't be that surprised if an angel came here in the ancient times. Though, she couldn't recognize the name, Khalul.

There were thousands of angels, sure, but Savine was definitely familiar with a number of them. She had also read their names once before and was confident in being able to recognize them.

But Khalul rang no bells whatsoever.

They could've been using an alias, but as far as Savine knew, no one among the angels liked to stay with the names of the person they've inhabited. They always chose to change their names sooner, rather than later. A different name every world was simply too taxing on one's perception of their identity.

She tilted her head at the mystery of Khalul and hoped to find a book regarding him later on. He definitely didn't sound like a simple person.

'Actually…'

"Mister, do you know more about Khalul?"

The Sovereign did not move his eyes away from the book he was reading. It was another book on governance.

"The Forefather of magic?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… Aside from what was on that book, I don't really know much. It was said that he was a nigh invincible mage, capable of using all sorts of magic without issues. A master of all, if you will. There's also rumors of him having infinite mana, with how he faces two entire armies by himself and walked out without a ragged breath."

"Do you believe them?"

"Not really... If you think about it logically, Khalul shouldn't have been a strong mage. After all, he was the first one to discover it. If you compare us to him, it's like comparing an adult to a newborn. How can he even be 10% of what the rumors make him out to be. Just because he created something, doesn't mean he was proficient at it."

"But he did teach his disciples 5 different types of magic."

The Sovereign sighed. He also seemed baffled by it all.

"Yes. And the battles he was in are definitely real. There's even a deformed land that's said to be a product of Khalul's spells. So there are very convincing arguments that he really was such a great mage. Well, I've long stopped caring about such things," he shrugged. "It's best that way and I'm also busy."

"I see."

"But don't let the fact that I gave up stop you. If you want to get to the bottom of things, why not? I'd feel bad if I was the reason you stopped striving for your dreams."

Savine nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Sure."

The rest of the day turned out to be unproductive. Savine read through a few of the old books she collected, but none had anything interesting to say about the history of their times. They were all focused on their respective topics.

After reading through three of them, Savine decided it was a fruitless endeavor and decided to stop for the day. She silently put the books where they were and gathered her belongings.

"Thank you for accompanying me, sir, I'll take my leave now."

"Alright."

Savine bowed once more and headed towards the door.

"Did you find the thing you were looking for?" the Sovereign asked.

"A bit."

"What were you searching for?"

"Some concrete details regarding the world's history," Savine said. "Similar to sir, the few stories I heard about it sounded very illogical to me, hence, I wanted to know if there was a book or something that had proper answers. The book on the development of magic reinforces the illogical rumors, but I still don't feel satisfied. Who knows if the author of this book is trustworthy?"

"Will you keep searching for a different answer until you stumble upon one?"

"At the very least, I'll check five books."

The Sovereign chuckled. "I suppose, that's fair. Though, why not ask a historian? I'd guess they've already read through the five books you plan to read."

Savine frowned. 'Wait, why didn't I think of that?'

"Does sir know a historian?"

"My old teacher. He's a well-read man. Though he doesn't focus on history explicitly, I'm sure he's better than all the historians you meet in the scholar's district." he said, chuckling. "A bit talkative, though. Just make sure he's talking about what you're interested in, or else you'll have to suffer through his lectures for who knows how long."

"I'd love to meet sir's old teacher."

"…"

The Sovereign's expression shifted a bit.

"I'll ask for him, but don't expect him to come. He's a free spirit. Who knows where he goes."

"How can I bother you with this?" Savine asked. "I'll go search for him myself."

"It's alright. He might not be at home anyway, it's unironically faster to send a message."

Savine wondered why the Sovereign didn't want Savine to search for his teacher so much.

'Is he worried I'll find out who he really is?'

Savine frowned. Even if she knew, what would that change? She couldn't really get it, so she pushed on.

"If it's going to take so long, then I really wouldn't want to bother you. I'll be headed back towards my duchy tomorrow anyway. I'll give sir's teacher a visit and if he's not at his house, then that's that."

"…"

"Though, will he see me? Sir's teacher must be a distinguished man." Savine said. "I may presumptuous but can sir provide me a letter of introduction?"

Surprisingly, the Sovereign wrote a small letter of introduction and sealed it with an exquisite wax stamp.

"His house is two streets east of the palace. You can't mistake it. Sticks out like a sore thumb with its giant chimney and nauseating odors. I wouldn't be surprised if the neighboring houses move away from there just to get away from the smell of it all."

Savine's eyebrows raised up.

"Is he a scientist?"

"Though the other countries call our mages scientists, we're all fakes and hacks in front of my teacher."

"I see. I'm excited to meet sir's teacher."

'Maybe I can get a few Vasas from there. I'm sure if he really is what the Sovereign claims him to be, not just a few Vasas, he wouldn't mind selling his soul for me if need be.'

Feeling happy, Savine nodded to the Sovereign once more and headed towards the door once more.

"Wait."