The Great Sage

When Serge was voluntarily confining himself due to the commotion he'd caused—in truth, he was meeting with a certain individual during that time.

Who was this individual? The greatest mage on the continent, the man called the Great Sage—Azelford.

Serge had been invited to a garden at the summit of the Sacred Mountain Cyrus, which was said to reach an elevation of ten thousand meters.

By the way, as for how he got there—

"That's… a huge bird…"

In a field on the outskirts, a massive brown bird with a wingspan of what must have been a hundred meters had landed. Its head resembled a pteranodon's.

"I am one of the three servants who serve Azelford-sama, the Wondrous Bird Laplace."

The one who answered was a black-haired butler who had come together with Laplace.

Even so… Laplace…

That has nothing to do with Laplace's demon, right?

"Incidentally, I am also one of those servants. My name is Radam."

Nn?

"Umm, is the last one named Poseidon by any chance?"

"Yes, they are names based on a legend from a Hero-sama's world."

So it's BaXXl the Second…

And so they arrived at the summit of Cyrus, but what awaited there was a place covered in flowers and grasses that you'd never expect at the top of a high mountain, and there was even an outdoor stage built there.

"The master awaits over there."

Following those directions, they headed toward the stage seating.

By this point, Serge already had a terribly bad feeling about this.

And it came true.

Cha～ chara cha cha～ cha cha～ cha cha～ cha～ cha～

A beautiful youth with brown skin appeared together with music.

The youth began singing enthusiastically.

"Hidden～ by～ the snowy～ storm～"

The lyrics were different, but the melody was definitely that song.

"Living in～ the magic tower～ super-powered sage～ Azel～ford～"

He knew it. He knew this song.

He'd watched it on AniXXx or something, so he knew.

He could tell from the melody.

"To protect the continent's peace, he commands his three servants!"

"YAH!"

At this point he'd given up.

"Wondrous Bird Laplace～, soar through the～ skies～ Posei～don swims～ through the seas～ Radam～, transform～, can't go～ back～"

That's the part you changed!?

After singing through to the second verse properly, Azelford greeted him with a wonderful smile.

"I am Azelford. Feel free to call me Azel."

Maybe there's no Azel the First?

Shaking hands with an awkward smile, Serge decided to forget what just happened.

"Using spacetime magic—that's quite interesting. You're a reincarnator, aren't you?"

As expected of someone called the Great Sage, he could figure that out.

"Even among fellow reincarnators, you're different from Labyrinth. That one chose genesis magic and had quite a hard time with it."

Ah, I see. Since they lived in the same era, it's natural that he'd know about Labyrinth.

Right, they're from the same era.

"I heard you conquered the labyrinth, but how was she? Doing well?"

He guided Serge from the stage toward the tower. That appeared to be his residence.

"She was energetic, but… how should I put it, it felt like she was putting on a brave front."

"She's always been like that. Even so, it's amazing that her spirit hasn't worn down…"

The inside of the tower was filled with various experimental instruments and books.

What particularly caught Serge's attention was the mountain of books—they were piled up in heaps without any proper organization.

For Serge, who had kept his books neatly arranged in his previous life, it was a sight that was hard to endure.

"Sorry about this. It's quite difficult to organize, and even if I tried to get someone else to help, the kind of people who can come here are all bad at organizing."

The reason Serge had been able to visit a person called the Great Sage was because Azel himself had extended an invitation.

The destruction of a crystal ball—the first since the Dragonslayer—had made that much of an impact.

"Please take any open seat. Radam, bring some tea and appropriate sweets."

Saying that, he plopped himself down on a sofa. At that moment, another pile of books collapsed.

"Normally I'd have things a bit more organized, but I've been busy with preparations for The Millennium lately."

There it was again—The Millennium.

This man was the nominal head of the magic academy. What did he think about The Millennium?

Serge had been feeling that everyone lacked sufficient awareness of the crisis regarding The Millennium, so he voiced that opinion frankly.

"You're right. We've been far too lacking in that awareness. The human side will probably be completely defeated in the next Millennium."

Serge froze at such pessimistic frankness.

"Ah, it won't be that much of a problem. This is just between us, but actually, I recently fought against the Demon King."

Eh?

Isn't that top secret information?

I'm just a mere student, you know.

"Even though I was completely prepared for a sure victory, the result was a draw. Practically speaking, I lost. To beat him, we'd have to drag Kuo out of the Great Forest, mobilize your queen and the Dragonslayer… and even then it might not be enough."

Wouldn't that effectively mean humanity's extinction?

"The moment Clarice disappeared, our defeat in this Millennium was practically decided."

Serge nearly dropped the cup he was holding at Azel's words, spoken so casually.

"Isn't that… really bad?"

"Bad things are bad, but… it's just that the structure of human society will change. That Demon King never intended to drive humanity to extinction in the first place."

H-huh?

The Millennium was supposed to be a major invasion of human territory by the demon race, wasn't it?

"Ah, you haven't heard?"

Azel moistened his lips with the tea he was holding and spoke simply.

"The previous two Millenniums were caused by overpopulation flooding out from the demon race. But this Millennium is different."

He stared at Serge with a sharp gaze.

"His goal is human-demon coexistence. In other words, he's invading so that humans and demons can get along."

What a surprise.

Looking at ogres, beastkin, and other demi-humans, it wasn't difficult for them to coexist with humans.

Even though the southern part of the continent was mostly human territory, the Demon King was apparently aiming for complete multi-racial integration.

Ah, I see—Serge understood.

If he was a hero from Earth, and specifically from Japan, it made sense that he might try to do that as the Demon King.

The fact that he'd destroyed Cordova, and that Asuka and the others had sided with him for that purpose—it all made sense.

And that was an answer that seemed desirable to Serge himself as well.

"Um, isn't that… not a bad thing? Assuming they could really live together peacefully, of course."

"It's a good thing. If you're only looking at The Millennium. But if that happens…"

Just as he was about to say something, Azel cut himself off.

"You're a noble of Ogress, but do you think the queen could ally with the demon race?"

"It would be fine… probably. There's a bit of personal grudge, but she's the kind of person who became the Queen of Ogre, after all."

"Is that so? That's troubling… What's this personal grudge about?"

He didn't know? Come to think of it, that made sense.

"You know how our Joou-sama and Carla-san are all lovey-dovey, right…?"

"Ah, that. Even though both of them are mainly female-bodied, they went and got married, so I don't really get it."

I see, so even the Great Sage-sama knew about such things.

"Well, one of the Demon King's close aides nearly killed Carla-san, and that made Joou-san snap and slice them to pieces."

Just hearing that alone, one would think the two sides would inevitably split.

But if you knew how much help Ria had received from the demon race in defeating Cordova, it wouldn't be strange if killing the actual culprit served as a settlement.

Besides, from what he heard afterward, at least they hadn't intended to kill her.

Still, looking at it objectively, allying with the demon race seemed like quite a gamble.

"So the ones who would properly fight against the demon race would be Lemdria and Casalia, huh… That's troubling."

"Um, Azel-sama, why would it be a problem if humans and demons don't fight?"

This was the fundamental issue.

Couldn't they coexist with the demon race, just as the former hero had aimed for?

"That's… no good. If we do that… it will only lead to bad results."

He was being evasive. There must be something Serge shouldn't know yet. It seemed like he was being secretive, but was there some reason?

Even without a reason, there were things too heavy that one wouldn't want to know anyway.

"Well, there's still a little time. For now, let me try to win over you, a close aide to the queen."

It sounded like a joke, but his eyes were completely serious.

"I'll give you the right to enter this tower. The third floor and above are dangerous, so don't go there. The experimental equipment is dangerous too."

A single floor was wider than an entire library, and he could freely enter.

For a mage, these were truly covetable conditions.

"To get here, either call for Laplace, or once you can use teleportation, use the teleportation magic circle in the back. Any questions?"

"Um, why are you doing so much for me?"

"To strengthen our forces. Even if the Demon King successfully overcomes The Millennium… well, anyway, I want as many powerful warriors and mages as possible."

He was being evasive again.

"Radam basically knows where everything is, so you can ask him."

Oh well. Becoming stronger was indeed Serge's goal.

No matter how the process went, that was his one objective.

And thus, Serge was blessed with the opportunity to receive the most advanced magical education on the continent.

… The problem was that his teacher would occasionally get really into singing anime songs.

Fortunately, Azel wasn't tone-deaf.