I'm Going to Expose Your Little Boy-Hooking Ways

Department of Lore.

"You said you wanted to summon a Heroic Spirit?"

Brishisan felt a headache coming on as he looked at Li Mo, who was speaking animatedly before him.

Wasn't the Throne of Heroes that Li Mo had mentioned earlier supposed to be the final resting place of heroes who had left their mark on history? Why would this kid even have such an idea?

Yet Li Mo failed to notice Brishisan's confusion at all. Still immersed in his own thoughts, he spoke as he pondered, "The prerequisite for mages to use magecraft is the mystery that remains unknown in the eyes of ordinary people. Isn't that what you said, Teacher?

"And mystery only began to gradually fade after Grandmaster Solomon passed away.

"But Grandmaster Solomon is on the Throne of Heroes. If we summoned him, wouldn't life become much easier for us mages?"

If Solomon were truly summoned now, then the Seventy-Two Demon Pillars parasitizing his remains and preparing to incinerate human history would become mere little brothers who could be dealt with easily, wouldn't they?

And he would gain another backer behind him—a backer beyond measure!

What Clock Tower Dean? What Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Apostles? Could any of them be stronger than Solomon, who qualified for a Grand Spirit Foundation?

However, Brishisan did not quite agree with Li Mo's idea. Taking a cup of coffee from Intres, he shook his head and parted his lips. "Your idea is probably not wrong, but reality is not that simple.

"Why does mystery keep fading away? Because the public gradually comes to understand the essence of the magecraft in our hands.

"If conditions permit, the things we can accomplish with magecraft can now be accomplished by them as well."

Setting down his coffee, Brishisan gently rubbed his forehead and continued, "Although the Clock Tower did not know of the Throne of Heroes before, the Spirit Evocation Department has always had a Summoning Department. Do you think we never had such thoughts?

"We did!

"But later, the Clock Tower—or rather, all mages—gave up on that idea without prior agreement.

"Why?

"Because no matter how much we conceal things, humanity's desire to explore knowledge will never cease, and they will continue to learn the essence of magecraft.

"And we cannot stop that, because it is the inevitable path of human development!

"The only exception is magic!"

Li Mo was still too young, and his ideas were naïve enough.

Why was magic called magic?

Because in the eyes of mages, it was something whose essence could absolutely never be uncovered by ordinary people!

Brishisan let out a long sigh. But when he saw Li Mo's face filled with curiosity, completely engrossed in his words, his heart softened. His tone eased slightly as he asked, "Do you know why we call ourselves mages rather than magicians?"

Li Mo shook his head, indicating that he did not.

Brishisan explained, "Because the magecraft we use is something whose essence may be uncovered by ordinary people. Only things that can absolutely never be understood are called magic.

"That is why we call those who have mastered magic Magi!"

Li Mo froze, then blurted out instinctively, "What about those who have obtained Grand qualifications?"

Grand ranks did not exist only among Heroic Spirits. The Mage Association had granted such qualifications to people in the real world as well.

For example, a certain woman who had pursued puppetry to its utmost extreme and could live forever as long as she had spare puppets?

Of course, she definitely could not compare to a Heroic Spirit.

Brishisan did not know whether to laugh or cry. The topic had suddenly changed again.

His disciple's erratic train of thought was truly something else!

After gesturing for Intres to refill his coffee, Brishisan said irritably, "The Mage Association has indeed granted certain people Grand qualifications, but that does not mean the essence of the path in which they were granted that qualification can never be understood by ordinary people.

"Of course, being granted that qualification certainly means they are still very far from having their path understood by ordinary people."

Li Mo scratched his head. Fine, everything you say is right. I don't understand it anyway...

"Then why is summoning Grandmaster Solomon unrelated to mystery? If I'm not mistaken, our Department of Lore has one of his Holy Relics, right?"

The topic returned to its original path, but Brishisan suddenly did not want to keep arguing with Li Mo anymore.

He felt that if they kept going, he might end up getting confused himself...

Brishisan's eyes widened as he raised his voice. "Mystery has already weakened. Even if Grandmaster were summoned, what he used would still be magecraft, not magic. Understand?

"If there was anything that could truly be called magic, it would be what Grandmaster was granted by God back then, not the magecraft knowledge he learned later!

"But could an ordinary person like you use the things bestowed by God? Huh?"

Even if you were a genius with 108 Magic Circuits, could you use things that only gods could use?

Brishisan had put it bluntly, and Li Mo was not stupid himself. He quickly understood.

Put simply, magecraft of the Age of Gods and modern magecraft were not even part of the same system. Their essences were different.

Why was it called magecraft of the Age of Gods?

Because it was the magecraft of gods—magecraft that only gods connected to the Root could use!

Connected to the Root, when they cast magecraft, the entire world cooperated with them. They never had to worry about insufficient mana or interference from outside factors.

And how many people in the modern world could connect to it?

None! Not a single one!

Although Jeweled Sword Zelretch had reached the Root, even he couldn't establish a connection to it, could he?

With the two Counter Forces standing in the way, no one could act with impunity toward the Root!

The gods of the Age of Gods could connect to the Root because they were species created by the planet's Counter Force—the "will of Gaia." And back then, humanity was still scarce; there wasn't even a shadow of Alaya yet.

The Root that modern Magi desperately sought was merely a place those gods had once been able to reach at their fingertips.

And the Age of Gods only began to decline after Solomon. Solomon himself could actually be counted among the Magi of the Age of Gods.

Having realized this, Li Mo couldn't help feeling somewhat gloomy.

His "Grand Patron Plan" had been declared a failure before it had even begun...

Seeing Li Mo hanging his head in dejection, Brishisan only found it rather amusing. He chuckled. "You haven't even learned to walk, and you're already thinking about flying?

"Even if you build a solid foundation, you probably won't finish learning the magecraft of my Department of Lore in two or three years.

"If you really yearn for the Age of Gods that much, the Clock Tower has a project to restore Rune Magecraft. I can recommend you to take part when the time comes."

Hm? Rune Magecraft?

Li Mo's eyes lit up as a bold idea quietly sprang into his mind.

If Solomon couldn't be summoned, couldn't he summon his master instead?

Why would he need to slowly restore Rune Magecraft then?

After all, as the ageless, immortal queen of the Land of Shadows, she possessed skills that stepped into the divine realm, as well as ancient Rune Magecraft!

In the FGO timeline, even when human history had been incinerated, his master had continued to exist, retaining true immortality!

Li Mo gave a sly grin, his eyes gleaming mischievously as he looked at Brishisan. "Teacher, do you have a phone on you?"

Brishisan's smile froze. Why had this suddenly turned to phones again?

Though he had no idea what Li Mo meant, Brishisan still took an old-fashioned phone from his pocket and handed it to him. "Why do you suddenly need a phone?"

But Li Mo was already too impatient. He snatched the brick-like old phone from Brishisan's hand and stammered, "If there's a problem, ask Merlin!"

Several thick veins suddenly popped up on Brishisan's forehead. Merlin again?

Last time, he had shouted a few times. This time, was he going to make a phone call?

Had his disciple gone mad?

But Li Mo had no time to mind Brishisan. Holding the phone, he shook his arm and waved it hard several times. "Merlin, get out here right now!"

"Come out already!"

"If you don't come out, I'll tell everyone about how you use your online alt, Magical Merih, to flirt with young boys!"

About using an online alt to flirt with young boys...

Flirt with young boys...

Brishisan froze.

But before he could react, he became even more stunned.

Because...

Ding. The phone Li Mo was still waving received a text message.

Sender: Magical Merih.

How sharp do you think a Lord's eyes are?!