I Don’t Want To Be The Protagonist of a Romance Novel – Chapter 89

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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For Sylphia, it was a predestined future.

Of course, changing the fixed future where Lorenzo Tonali had already opened the door to the origin and been killed by an unknown entity beyond the truth wasn’t actually an easy task even for her.

In fact, as she had said, there were too many variables involved in changing a fixed future, and this incident had progressed much faster than in Sylphia’s memory due to the minor butterfly effect of Rudrick starting his research.

However, that was only to the extent that it wasn’t an ‘easy task,’ not that it was impossible.

As Rudrick had said, there was the option of inhibiting Lorenzo’s perception with magic, easily breaking through his mental barrier in that state, and manipulating his memories.

Even if Lorenzo was an excellent mage, one of the few great mages in the entire continent, he couldn’t surpass the limits of humans.

Compared to the magical prowess of a dragon that freely used ancient magic dating back to antiquity, he was like a firefly before the sun.

But for Sylphia, there was no need to go through such troublesome efforts from the beginning.

It was impossible for the perspective of a dragon living close to eternity and the perspective of humans burning through a fleeting moment of less than a hundred years to meet at the same level.

That was the same for Arwen, who had cooperated with this plan.

Going back in time a little, to a few days ago.

At the very time when Rudrick had left the palace with Eileen to enjoy a cozy date.

“Oh my…”

As usual, with Rudrick missing from the group, only Lorenzo and Sylphia were in the laboratory.

Lorenzo, who had started his research late in the afternoon after strolling around the palace here and there under the pretext of a walk, as he always did, muttered constantly.

Originally, mages were a profession that lacked communication skills with others because they were holed up in their rooms and only focused on research.

Sylphia, who knew that fact from experience, didn’t pay much attention, but Lorenzo, who had been diligently writing down formulas, suddenly stood up from his seat.

After pacing around the laboratory for a while, Lorenzo’s gaze turned to Rudrick’s desk.

Feeling curious, Lorenzo approached the desk, picked up a few books, and said,

“It seems Rudrick has been focusing his research on recovery magic lately.”

“That’s right. Almost all the books on that desk will be related to that topic.”

“Does he have a sick family member? It’s an unexpected field. Oh, it’s almost like he emptied out the entire palace library.”

“…I wonder.”

“Hmm… Still, it’s a teacher’s duty to help his disciple’s research if possible. I should read a few books for a moment.”

Sylphia, who couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth about Rudrick’s constitution, trailed off, and Lorenzo, who had been looking through the pile of books stacked like a mountain, clicked his tongue.

Naturally, the number of books in the royal library was excessively vast, so even he, the court mage, hadn’t read them all.

In fact, even these numerous books that Rudrick had brought over whenever they seemed slightly related were just the tip of the iceberg.

Lorenzo’s eyes, which had been looking at the pile of books as if disgusted, suddenly sparkled with light.

Originally, mages were corpses without curiosity.

Anyway, the research on opening the door to the origin had hit a wall and hadn’t progressed much, so when he saw books he hadn’t read before, his interest was naturally piqued.

Lorenzo picked out a few books with titles that caught his interest and took them to his seat, and Sylphia also began to focus on her own research again.

Anyway, when it was her turn, she was a bit pressed for time if she wanted to find a way to fix Rudrick’s constitution based on the hypotheses she had prepared so far.

That situation ended there.

It should have been that way.

“Oho…”

A few more hours passed, and then a few more hours passed.

Lorenzo’s breathing, who had been reading a few books from Rudrick’s desk, began to grow rough.

There was a famous anecdote.

An anecdote that one of the greatest scientists in the world before Rudrick was reincarnated into this world, which should be described as a possession-type reincarnation, discovered the law of gravity by looking at a falling apple.

In reality, there were exaggerated aspects, and it should be expressed as having received inspiration, but regardless of its authenticity, it became one of the most famous anecdotes in the world.

Learning could sometimes develop through such coincidental occasions, and there were cases where studies in seemingly unrelated fields helped with one’s original research.

And coincidentally, this was the case for Lorenzo.

“…Sylphia.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what this old man’s biggest concern was?”

“…Are you referring to the problem?”

“I found a way to miraculously break through the dimensional boundary. However, I was struggling because I couldn’t fix the spatial coordinates to the position I wanted in the unstable realm beyond dimensions.”

Sylphia intuitively realized the ‘subject’ Lorenzo was talking about and momentarily flinched.

“Are you referring to the research you were doing, Mentor?”

“That’s right. It seems sleep is out of the question today.”

Lorenzo, who had been reading a book until just now, held it preciously to his chest, shook his head, and then familiarly rearranged a few books on the bookshelf.

Then a secret passage opened.

As Lorenzo disappeared beyond the passage, Sylphia muttered while looking at his back.

“Could he have already found a way?”

She had an ominous feeling, but Sylphia narrowed her eyes and frowned.

There was quite a difference in timing compared to her memory.

Even at the earliest, it was an event that occurred at least a year from now when Lorenzo succeeded in opening the door to the origin.

It was too fast now.

She had expected that he would succeed someday since it was something Lorenzo had succeeded in once in the past before the regression.

Although she didn’t know what kind of trigger there was yet, if Lorenzo succeeded in his research like this, various problems would arise.

Sylphia, who jumped up from her seat, hurriedly moved her feet somewhere.

The place she headed to was Rudrick’s room.

Naturally, the owner of the room would be absent at this time, enjoying a date with Eileen in the capital, but it wasn’t Rudrick that Sylphia was looking for.

“What a surprise. Lizard wench, what business do you have to come here in such a hurry? Don’t tell me you came to see me?”

“I told you not to call me a lizard, bat girl.”

“The same goes for you… So, what did you come to see me for? If you’re thinking of picking a fight, go back. I don’t want to do anything that would make Rudrick hate me.”

“You remember, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about if you cut off the context like that.”

Sylphia’s expression was quite serious.

In a different atmosphere from usual, approaching the conversation with genuine seriousness, even Arwen, who had been sprawled out in cat form yawning until just now, returned to her human form and answered with a solemn expression.

At least as far as she knew, Sylphia wasn’t the type to suddenly come like this and talk nonsense.

Sylphia hesitated and opened her mouth.

“During the civil war, the two of us quietly took care of it, didn’t we?”

“…Are you talking about that old man, Rudrick’s mentor?”

“That’s right.”

Sylphia nodded.

Then, as if recalling something she didn’t want to remember, Arwen lightly frowned.

“It was a seed of calamity he brought upon himself. Human greed knows no bounds. Who is there to blame when that shallow curiosity ended his life?”

“Of course, there was no way he could have known. It was an unprecedented event. How could he have known that not only the literal ‘truth’ lurked inside, but also entities from another world waiting for an opportunity?”

“Humans don’t change. Even thousands of years ago, they tried to build a huge tower to reach the heavens and incurred the wrath of God.”

“Anyway, it seems the court mage will open the door much faster than in the past.”

“…So, you came to see me to stop it?”

Arwen also furrowed her brows at the mention that the timing had become much faster than expected.

In the past before the regression, it was in the midst of a fierce civil war.

Therefore, there was a precedent where Sylphia and Arwen, who were miraculously nearby in the chaos, joined forces to stop it.

It was an extremely rare probability that the strongest creature on earth and the monarch of all vampires were in a position to handle the initial response.

Since the two of them took care of it before anyone else could intervene, it was just brushed off as an incident that happened.

Essentially, the severity of the danger was much greater than those who heard about the incident afterward had thought.

“No, I have no intention of stopping it.”

“…You’re crazy. If we don’t close the door quickly at first, the empire will be destroyed within a week at most.”

“Of course, the ‘door’ must be blocked. But is there really a need to stop the court mage?”

“…?”

Arwen tilted her head as if asking what that meant.

Naturally, as long as Lorenzo was the one opening the door, it was certain that the door would open definitively at least once if she didn’t stop her.

However, at Sylphia’s next words, Arwen showed an interested expression.

“Think about it carefully. The court mage, unable to overcome his thirst for knowledge, will eventually open the door and die, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Anyway, I’ll be there the moment the door opens, so it doesn’t matter when it opens. I’ll be in a position to stop it.”

“Then that means… you’re suggesting we think about what happens after the court mage dies?”

“That’s exactly it.”

Sylphia nodded.

If the court mage died, naturally, they would have no choice but to select a new court mage to succeed him.

Of course, it was easier said than done to leave the vacant position unfilled, but in reality, they would agonize for a while to find a new talent suitable for that position.

Even across the entire continent, the number of mages who could be considered in the ranks of great mages was extremely small, and most of them were either the tower master of the Magic Tower or influential figures in specific positions.

No matter how close to unlimited research funds were provided and treatment equivalent to a marquis was given, unless someone was an eccentric like Lorenzo, the position of court mage didn’t offer many merits.

But coincidentally, this time, the current court mage, Lorenzo Tonali, would die in an unfortunate accident while researching, but would leave behind a successor.

Then, naturally, the one most likely to become the next court mage would be the disciple of the previous court mage.

“…You’re thinking of placing Rudrick in the position of court mage.”

“That’s why I’m saying there’s no need to stop it.”

“It would be more beneficial for Rudrick that way.”

Sylphia nodded at Arwen’s murmur, and an agreement was reached in the secret room, and this was the whole story.

It was a way of thinking that was thoroughly focused on the results, not that of ‘humans.’

Misanthropy.

Ironically, even the dragon who had come to love such a human and the True Ancestor who had wandered alone for thousands of years could not fathom the heart of a human.

The contradiction of loving a human but being unable to understand the human heart.

Because they were not human to begin with, and up to this point, Rudrick, who had heard the story, had an expression that he didn’t know where to start.

At some point, his trembling hands were covering his face.

If only they had consulted with him beforehand, if only they had given him a hint.

Then he could have stopped it from the beginning.

An indescribable emotion had been slowly enveloping his body for a while, but now Rudrick could also realize what that emotion was.

It was a feeling of betrayal.

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[well Rudrick finally snapped guess there’s gonna be a fight soon]