Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11
‘I know.’
[There’s something out there. Keep quiet and still—don’t make a sound.]
As if that were even possible.
And as if to compound matters, the pursuers—now distinctly closer than before—drawled something that set her teeth on edge.
“Something feels off. Hey, there was a big rock over there, remember? Go back and search around it.”
“Got it!”
Liriope’s face hardened.
When she glanced sideways, she spotted a red-haired boy gnawing at his lip with visible anxiety—as if he’d caught the same words she had.
His throat bobbed slightly as he swallowed hard, though no saliva would come.
In that moment, the footsteps that had been approaching suddenly veered away, their sound receding as if their owner had broken into a run.
This won’t do.
‘I’d rather create a distraction.’
[What? Wait—]
Without hesitation, Liriope seized a writhing snake beside her and hurled it at the red-haired boy.
“Ahhh! What—what is that?! Where did it come from?!”
The boy reacted on pure instinct to the sudden assault.
Catching sight of the snake that had fallen across his shoulders, he yelped and thrashed, leaping away from the log.
“Here! Found one! They’re escaping! Argh! Damn it, a snake!”
The snake, flung so abruptly, hissed and thrashed wildly; alarmed by the commotion, it struck at the pursuers who came rushing over.
“Is that a viper? Stomp it! Hurry!”
“Did you find something?”
“Get that thing!”
The other boy in the pursuit group—the one who’d been heading toward the rock—turned back and charged into the chaos.
“Hey, red-hair! You alone? Where are the others? Don’t you have any?”
“Let go of me!”
“Agh! This bastard bit me?!”
“I said let go, you wretches!”
As expected, the red-haired boy thrashed like a madman.
The pursuers struggled considerably to pin him down.
“Damn it! I’m going to tie him up, so hold him properly!”
Then the thrashing red-haired boy drove his knee squarely into one of the pursuers’ groin.
“Gahhhhh!”
Even to Liriope’s ears, the scream was pitiful.
The pursuer crumpled to the ground, writhing and sobbing.
His companion gasped in shock, his mouth falling open; the red-haired boy himself froze for a moment, looking genuinely startled—as though he hadn’t meant to do it.
“You, you little bastard, you’re dead! Even if I killed you it wouldn’t fill a single Mana Level notch—a damn fly’s worth of life, and you dare—”
The boy, doubled over and clutching his crotch, streamed tears down his flushed face and ground his teeth.
In that flood of unfiltered rage, the red-haired boy’s eyes flickered with recognition at words he seemed to understand.
“I’ll cut that thing off and stuff it down your throat!”
“Wait, wait! Zed said to bring them back alive if we could!”
But the boy nursing his injury couldn’t act on his fury just yet. Instead, he fixed the red-haired boy with a murderous glare and spat out curse after curse.
“Mark my words, you little shit. I’ll make you wish you were dead—you’ll be on your knees begging for mercy in front of me!”
But none of that would come to pass.
Crack-thud!
Because in the very next instant, a creature white and house-sized burst through the ground and swallowed them whole.
It scattered a whirlwind of dust in all directions, its smooth, pearlescent body curling into a ring before plunging back underground.
“Ah—ahhhh! D-Duke!”
Only one boy from the pursuit group had escaped the creature’s jaws; he stood alone in the settling dust.
Mad with terror, he bolted.
As he thrashed in panic, a white shadow slid across the ground in pursuit.
Liriope moved quietly across the soil—which seemed to pale and wither beneath her feet—following them both.
“Run! Everyone run! It’s a monster!”
As she’d expected, the boy was running toward his companions.
“What? A monster? What are you talking about?!”
“I don’t know! Something pure white coming up from the ground—”
Crack-boom!
The earth heaved again.
“Ahhh!”
“What—what is it?! Mom—!”
The massive creature burst through the soil, its maw gaping wide, and engulfed the clustered prey in a single bite. Then, just as before, it vanished back underground.
When the tremors finally ceased and the ground lay still, a heavy silence fell like darkness.
Liriope waited until the worst of the dust had settled before moving forward.
[What in the world was that maggot-like thing?]
‘You don’t know what an Uum is?’
[An Uum?]
Though she held cloth over her nose and mouth, the dust seemed impervious to such measures.
Eyes stinging, Liriope squinted as she approached the spot where the massive creature had appeared and vanished.
‘A creature that lives primarily on the outskirts of the Contaminated Holy Ground. You’ve never encountered one?’
The Uum entered a breeding season lasting a month once it reached adulthood, then repeated a cycle of roughly three years dormancy.
‘From what those children said, they must never have encountered an Uum because they’ve only known the dormant season.’
Liriope herself couldn’t decide whether meeting a breeding-season Uum was fortunate or disastrous.
Now that she thought about it, there were no deep-rooted plants in this vicinity, and even what little had managed to grow was parched and withered.
Likely, the ground beneath was riddled with tunnels carved by migrating Uums—a warren of passages branching in every direction.
That explained how such a massive creature could move silently enough to snatch up prey without warning.
‘I’ve never come this way before, so I didn’t know this was Uum territory. I wonder if my sister ever encountered one?’
It was possible.
As mentioned before, in the days before the Time Reversal, Liriope had been unconscious for several days, suffering from the aftereffects of the Sacred Ceremony.
She had no idea what had happened to Caliona in the interim—Caliona had never explained in detail.
And now, asking her again was impossible. Liriope would simply have to remain forever curious.
‘Still, it’s strange that you don’t know of them. Even a three-year-old child would’ve heard the name.’
[The Black Forest where I slumbered held no such vermin.]
Something in that voice sounded wounded—almost petulant.
[And in the days when I stood alongside my former contractors, no such base-born creature existed in this world.]
Here was a being versed in magic so profound it could work the miracle of Time Reversal itself—and yet it revealed ignorance in such trivial matters.
The discrepancy felt jarring, unsettling.
What, then, was this entity’s true nature?
The closest parallel she could draw was a demon—something that fed upon human desperation and desire.
Of course, when Liriope had suggested as much, it had raged at her.
Still, it was clear this was no god omniscient in all things. If it were, there would be no need to demand a Contract from Liriope.
There was no selfless act in this world; this entity surely wanted something from her in return.
But truthfully, until now there had been no time to dwell on such questions.
Ever since hearing that mysterious voice in the Black Forest, everything had spiraled forward at breakneck speed, utterly beyond Liriope’s control.
There was much she had yet to discover, much to ponder—but she couldn’t afford to squander time on idle philosophizing.
[But why did you come back here? What if that creature appears again?]
‘It won’t show itself unless there’s real commotion.’
Liriope approached the depression the creature had left and began gathering the belongings the pursuers had abandoned.
Among them were items belonging to the other children who had performed the Sacred Ceremony with her and fallen into this place.
Had they been present, she’d have felt guilty claiming their possessions. But now they were merely lost goods, unclaimed and forgotten.
These would have fallen into the pursuers’ hands had the creature not emerged—so her conscience remained clear.
‘Time to go back.’
As she made her way toward the Rock, Liriope picked up a dropped ration and pocketed it as well.
[Wait. What? Why are you taking that dead snake?]
‘It’s precious food. Of course I’m taking it.’
[Good heavens! Are you serious?]
There was no shame in it, so Liriope simply ignored the startled cry echoing in her mind.
In this harsh, resource-scarce environment, even a single blade of grass or insect was valuable.
Moving silently, she ran as quickly as she dared toward her destination.
Shifting aside the heavy stone, Liriope peered into the small opening—and there was Caliona, sleeping peacefully, just as before.
It was only when Liriope’s eyes had taken in the sight of her sister that her shoulders relaxed and she could finally breathe easy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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