Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage
Chapter 383: Returning the Favor (4)

With the unexpected plan, Henry calmly thought of the people he needed to meet. After a few minutes, he realized that the list was longer than he had expected and that he would be on the move for quite some time.

He had no intention of disregarding any one of those people. Even though they couldn’t possibly know about what they had done for Henry, he was still grateful to have had them as comrades along his journey.

Henry made up his mind on whom to see first.

‘I think I can meet everyone before the founding ceremony ends, since there’s still around two days left. Let’s see who I should see first…’

Henry decided to meet the Khan first. There wasn’t any particular reason except for the fact that he felt more affection toward the Khan dynasty. Besides, Herarion hadn’t even been born at this point in time.

Henry would meet Khan II, Herarion’s father. He knew he would have a lot more to discuss with Herabola than with the other leaders. Moreover, since Herarion wasn’t yet in the picture, there were many things he wanted to teach Herabola, starting with how to properly discipline children.

Of course, Henry had no intentions of insulting Herabola. No matter how sound his advice would be, he knew that Herabola wouldn’t take it if it made him feel bad.

With that in mind, Henry went around asking for Herabola’s whereabouts. It was still early in the night, but it didn’t take long for Henry to replace the desert emperor.

He found out that Herabola was at the training grounds of the imperial palace. He hadn’t expected to replace Herabola there, especially after the heavy drinking from yesterday.

Henry once again realized the extraordinary discipline of the man who had unified the desert.

As he stepped into the training grounds, Henry saw Herabola in the middle of practice. He observed him from afar for a while, not revealing his presence.

Swoosh, swoosh!

The silence of the night was disturbed by Herabola swinging his wooden sword. Each of his moves was flawless, and Henry realized that he never would’ve realized how impeccable Herabola’s swordsmanship was in his past life, when he used to only care about magic.

However, having become a Sword Master in his second life, Henry could properly appreciate Herabola’s great moves.

‘Tsk, tsk… How did Herarion end up like that when his father is so diligent…’

Henry suddenly remembered Herarion’s dislike of swordsmanship and how he hadn’t swung a sword until becoming an adult. He couldn't help thinking that if Herarion had followed in his father’s footsteps and taken up the sword at a young age, he could’ve avoided the humiliation of Benedict taking over his country.

As Henry was lost in thought, Herabola eventually stopped swinging. He stretched out and took a few deep breaths.

“Herabola.”

“Hmm?”

Herabola glanced at Henry, his expression brightening instantly.

“Hey!”

He pointed at Henry with a big smile on his face, and Henry smiled back and made his way into the training grounds.

“Training right after all that celebration from last night? The King of the Desert sure is something else!”

“Heh, you know it!”

The two had become close after the continental conquest. Because of Herabola’s exceptional skills and harsh desert conditions, Henry and Golden had struggled a lot more with Shahatra than with the other regions.

Despite that, they eventually managed to get Herabola to surrender. However, having recognized his brilliance, they proposed an alliance with him. Herabola also acknowledged his defeat and ultimately accepted the alliance.

That was how Herabola and Henry had become friends.

“Did you not drink yesterday? Took a break or something?”

“A break? Shahatra men don’t shy away from drinks!”

“Then how do you not have a hangover? How’d you pull yourself out to practice?”

“Hehe, you think I’m a weakling like you?”

“Well, you lost to this weakling… Anyway, are you done with your morning training?”

“Pretty much. But what brings you here this early in the morning? I’m sure you’re not here because you need a drinking partner.”

“Of course, I’m done with drinking. Let’s eat. I have something to tell you.”

“Huh? Something to tell me, you say?”

“I’ll get into details at the table.”

Herabola seemed puzzled. It wasn’t just anyone who wanted to speak to him; it was the greatest wizard on the continent, Henry Morris himself. That made him both curious and skeptical.

The two headed to Herabola’s accommodation. As Henry sat down across from Herabola, two aides came to assist the desert emperor. Seeing them, Henry burst into laughter.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Herabola.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Henry laughed because the two men assisting Herabola were none other than High Priest Viram and the traitor, the Benedict Caliph.

“Herabola, can we talk privately?”

“Oh? Sure.”

At this, Herabola nodded toward the door. Then, Viram and Benedict bowed and left the room. As soon as they closed the door, Herabola immediately looked at Henry.

“Hey, what’s going on? What’s with the serious mood this morning? It better be something good.”

Although Herabola’s tone was light, almost as if he was making a joke, he was serious about this. Henry was being unusually serious, which inadvertently caused Herabola to be a bit nervous.

“Well, I can go on and on with what I have to say. The problem is whether you’ll believe me or not.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Herabola, I’m about to tell you my biggest secret. Not even Golden knows about this.”

“What?”

Henry was about to tell Herabola, a close friend who had come to celebrate the founding of the nation and also the emperor’s closest confidant, something that even the emperor himself didn’t know about.

Herabola finally realized how serious the situation was.

“Is this something really serious?”

“In a way.”

“To the extent that it might damage our relationship?”

“That’ll depend on how you interpret things. Before I tell you the secret, I want to make it clear that I’d never say anything to hurt you.”

“I know, but…”

“Then listen to what I’m about to say and then make up your mind. You’ll have the time to make a decision.”

“...Alright.”

Herabola finally seemed to loosen up, thanks to Henry’s comforting words.

“Herabola, I finally reached the 8th Circle not long ago.”

“The-8th Circle?!”

“Yeah, but no one in the empire knows this yet. Not even Golden.”

“Golden doesn’t know? Why?”

“Because I didn’t think it was time to let others know yet. Well, here’s the important part. After reaching the 8th Circle, I finally learned Future Sight, one of the spells I’ve always dreamt about.”

“Future Sight!” Herabola exclaimed with wide eyes.

Henry ignored his lively reaction and continued explaining.

“Yes, but it’s not complete yet. I can’t see everything that’ll happen in the future. I only get specific visions.”

“Oh, I see. Then what kind of future did you see?”

“I saw Shahatra’s fall.”

“...What?”

The fall of Shahatra—Herabola’s jaw dropped to the floor, and the atmosphere instantly turned somber. No matter how close of a friend Henry was, hearing something like this as the ruler of Shahatra was bound to sting.

Herabola stayed silent for a few good minutes. It took him a while to pick up the conversation again.

“...Why?”

“There are several causes, but the biggest one is Janus.”

At that, Herabola’s eyes widened again. The current Shahatra Dynasty hadn’t revealed anything about Janus to outsiders. Of course, the people of Shahatra knew about Janus, but Herabola didn’t think that Henry had asked any of his people about that god. It wouldn’t make sense for him to ask about something he didn’t even know existed.

This convinced Herabola that Henry could actually see into the future.

“You might not believe me, but I did see Shahatra’s future, and as a close friend who cares for you, I wanted to tell you this. Of course, you can do whatever you want with my advice.”

At this, Herabola looked Henry straight in the eyes, and he could tell that he was being honest with him. However, as he pondered on his advice, Herabola secretly used La’s Eye to read Henry’s mind.

This divine ability worked better on those weaker than the caster, and Herabola was having trouble because Henry was much stronger than him.

Even though Henry had forfeited his divinity in order to go back in time, that didn’t mean his power as an 8th-Circle Archmage had vanished. By awakening the 8th Circle, Henry had already transcended human limits.

Thus, Herabola could merely use La’s Eye to tell whether Henry was lying or not. And indeed, Henry was telling the truth.

“…I understand.” Herabola’s eyes showed that he was convinced.

At this, Henry smiled at him.

‘Seems like I passed the La’s Eye.’

Herabola wasn’t aware that Future Sight was something that Henry had made up. Henry had come up with this lie because he thought he wouldn’t be able to convince Herabola otherwise. He was also aware of the La’s Eye, so he had also done this as a way of testing Herabola. He had planned to put more effort into gaining Herabola’s trust if the divine ability revealed his lie.

However, to his surprise, Henry made it through La’s Eye. He figured that his lie had worked because Herabola had focused on whether the information itself was genuine, not on whether Future Sight was a real thing.

Now that he had gotten past La’s eye, things would be a lot easier for Henry. From this point onward, he could tell Herabola everything he wanted and claim that he had seen it with Future Sight.

“First of all, you’ll soon have a son.”

“Son? Will he perhaps be my only son?”

“Yes, but your son will hate swordsmanship training so much that even as an adult, he won’t be able to swing a sword properly.”

“What?” Herabola asked in disbelief. He was the ruler of Shahatra, the god of the desert, but his son wouldn’t master swordsmanship? He found it insulting. However, he couldn’t get angry because he knew that Henry was being truthful.

Herabola was lost for words. He looked utterly perplexed, but he tried to mask his reaction.

Seeing his face, Henry almost burst into laughter, but he tried his best to maintain his composure and speak in a serious tone.

“I’m not joking. And because of that, your son won’t be able to properly protect the throne he inherits. Your favorite subordinate will take it away from him.”

“So a rebellion?! What lunatic would dare rebel against my son?”

“Benedict. He’ll be the one to cause a rebellion.”

“What?”

Henry tried to explain Shahatra’s future based on what he had experienced. Of course, since Arthus was now dead, there was a chance that Benedict wouldn’t rebel, but given what Henry had just told him, Herabola would inevitably change his attitude toward Benedict.

However, Henry didn’t want Benedict to be hated for something he hadn’t done and might never do. Thus, he tried to clear up the misunderstanding.

“But it’s not just Benedict’s fault. He was simply tempted by a member of the imperial family to rebel. I took care of that person a while ago.”

“You mean you killed someone?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Herabola burst into laughter as he saw Henry answering without the slightest hint of remorse or shame. He had no clue if he was supposed to be shocked, sad, or happy that Henry had done such a thing.

Henry could tell how Herabola felt about this, but he also knew that killing Arthus had been the right thing. Even though he was gone, Henry was still furious when he recalled the hardships and the pain he had gone through because of him.

“So there’s no need to be confused,” Henry continued in a more serious tone. “I started preparing for the future a long time ago, and the guy I killed was just part of that preparation.”

“Preparing for the future, huh…”

That resonated well with Herabola. Besides thinking it was a cool saying, he also considered it a righteous and noble thing to say.

“So as a result, Benefit and his rebellion will somehow be prevented. The real problem is Janus.”

“… Keep talking,” said Herabola with a much more serious face.

He knew that one could always take preemptive measures when it came to humans. However, Janus was a god, one of the only two gods in Shahatra. And so, he was naturally puzzled to hear from Henry that Janus was a serious problem.

“Then what should we do about Janus?”

“What do you mean? We need to bury him deep underground.”

“What?”

“I’m sure you know how dangerous Janus is. I mean, that’s why you’ve built an underground temple that only the royal family knows about.”

“How did you replace out about that…?”

“I told you I can see into the future.”

Herabola was surprised once again as he listened to Henry casually talking about the royal family’s secrets. But this wasn’t the important thing to Henry.

“Listen carefully, Herabola. Humans cannot kill gods, but they can push them into obscurity and ensure that nobody worships them. Thus, you have to seal off Janus’ underground temple. Otherwise, a terrible disaster will befall Shahatra.”

And with that, Henry told Herabola everything he wanted to say. Herabola nodded, acknowledging that Henry's method of dealing with a god sounded effective.

Of course, it was only natural that Henry knew how to deal with gods, given that he himself had been one.

Herabola made a complicated face once again. Even though Henry was a close friend of his, he was reluctant to have an outsider make decisions on internal affairs, especially on those concerning one of Shahatra’s gods.

Seeing Herabola contemplate, Henry was somewhat frustrated. He decided to add the cherry on top.

“Herabola, you have to trust me. This is the only way to honor your father, who’s resting in the Khan’s Eye.”

“Y-you even know about the Khan’s Eye…!”

“Found out about it from a vision.”

The Khan’s Eye, the tomb holding the souls of the rulers of the Shahatra Dynasty, was as closely guarded a secret, just like Janus’ existence. And yet, Henry had mentioned it as casually as possible, leaving Herabola utterly shocked.

With this, Herabola felt that he had to completely trust Henry, as he seemed to know everything about Shahatra…

“...I understand. I’ll follow your advice.”

“Thank you, Herbola.”

With this, the history of the desert would follow a different path.