Reincarnated as The SSS-Rank Villain Magus: My Arcana Evolution System

Chapter 38. History Was Written by Liars

My gaze moved between the two professors. ”I’ll get straight to the point. You came here to examine me, right?”

Oren exchanged a glance with Cedric before nodding.

”Yes. Princess Nia and Princess Liora requested our assistance.” He set his teacup down. ”They told us you were cursed during the battle against the Dark Lord. Not corrupted by forbidden magic, as the rumors claim.”

I leaned back. So they’d told them the truth.

Well, the part of it they knew.

Cedric folded his hands over his knees. ”We’ve wanted to visit you for a long time, Rey.” His voice was quieter now. ”After you defeated the Dark Lord, rumors began spreading that you’d lost your mind. The academy restricted us from visiting you or conducting any examinations.”

My smile faded.

Restricted.

Interesting choice of word.

Apparently, somebody had decided that the greatest magus of his generation was no longer allowed to receive help from his own academy.

How thoughtful.

Cedric sighed. ”We managed to slip away by hiding inside the princesses’ carriage. But we’ll need to return as soon as possible after examining you.”

I frowned. ”Wait. That’s not our carriage.”

Liora looked up from her tea. ”It’s mine.”

”Yours?”

”From the Crystal Vale. It belongs to my tribe.”

She gestured toward the window.

”The carriage bears our crest, but its appearance is deliberately modest. We use it when we want to travel without attracting as much attention as our ceremonial crystal carriages.”

I nodded slowly. ”I see.”

A royal carriage designed to look unremarkable.

I made a mental note to ask Liora about its defensive enchantments later.

Preferably after I stopped looking like a man whose primary hobby involved collecting assassination attempts.

I stood. ”Well, then. I suppose you’d like to examine me.”

Oren immediately reached for his satchel. ”Yes.”

He withdrew three sheets of thick parchment.

Each carried an intricate magic formation.

My eyes sharpened. I knew those formations.

Not the exact designs.

The method.

Pre-drawn magic formations.

Constructed in advance, stored in a stable medium, and activated later by supplying mana.

A simple concept.

Revolutionary execution.

And the man who’d invented it was standing right in front of me.

Professor Oren.

I stared at the parchment with considerably more enthusiasm than was appropriate for someone about to undergo a potentially fatal medical examination.

Thousands of years later, Evan Veyr had relied on this very technique to survive.

With my fractured mana core, I couldn’t afford to construct complicated formations during combat.

So I’d prepared them beforehand.

Barriers.

Escape arrays.

Defensive traps.

Emergency suppression formations.

All activated with minimal mana.

Without Oren’s invention, I probably would’ve died long before that unfortunate puddle finally finished the job.

What a strange feeling.

Meeting someone whose research had once kept me alive.

”Rey?”

I blinked.

Oren was watching me. ”Something wrong?”

”No.” I smiled. ”Just admiring your work.”

He looked genuinely surprised.

Then pleased.

Researchers. Compliment their theories and they’ll forgive almost anything.

Oren arranged the three sheets around me.

One beneath my feet.

Two hovering at chest height.

He pressed his palm against the central formation.

Mana flowed.

The runes lit up.

Three circles unfolded around my body, their pale blue lines rotating in opposite directions.

Mana-channel mapping.

Core resonance measurement.

Corruption identification.

Then Cedric stood.

”Try not to move.”

He raised one hand.

Several observation spells appeared around his fingers.

The first swept across my skin.

The second penetrated deeper, following my mana channels.

The third focused directly on my core.

A full mana scan.

I remained still.

No point resisting.

Besides, I was curious what they’d discover.

The formations brightened.

Then flickered.

Oren frowned.

Cedric’s expression tightened.

The second formation began rotating faster.

A warning rune flashed crimson.

Then another.

And another.

Apparently, my internal condition wasn’t particularly photogenic.

The formations dimmed.

Silence.

Oren stared at the parchment.

Cedric stared at me.

Both men had gone pale.

”Rey...” Oren whispered. ”How are you still standing?”

Well.

That was encouraging.

He looked up. ”How have you not gone completely mad?”

Liora immediately set down her teacup. ”What happened?”

Ariel moved closer.

Lily’s smile disappeared.

Seris straightened.

Nia’s ears flattened.

Cedric took a slow breath before explaining.