My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

Chapter 40

Something feels off.

Ever since she returned home, she's been restless.

It's as if she has something she wants to say but can't bring herself to, hesitating and swallowing her words.

Ignoring it once or twice was fine, but since she keeps acting like this, it's starting to get on my nerves.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Letting out a sigh, I put down my smartphone.

Then, I sat up straight on the sofa and looked at Arina.

"Ah!"

Surprised by Cain's words, Arina flinched in panic, her body trembling.

Then, with an awkward smile, she scratched her cheek and replied.

"Was it that obvious?"

"You're bad at hiding things."

She's naturally terrible at keeping things to herself.

That's why she's also bad at lying.

A personality that would never survive in the Dark District.

"So, what's the matter?"

Did she find something she wants?

Or maybe she feels guilty about something she did to me?

It was rare to see her struggle so much to bring something up, which might have been why.

Rather than feeling annoyed, I was more curious about what she wanted to say.

'The last time she acted like this was when she said she wanted to attend the Academy, right?'

Could it be that something happened at the Academy?

'I don't recall anything significant being noted about that.'

Ever since her identity was revealed, Jealousy had been bombarding me with text messages whenever he had the chance.

For example, messages about what kind of lessons Arina attended today.

Or trivial details like how she spent the entire day wearing the restraint device Master gifted her—which I couldn't care less about.

Knowing Jealousy’s personality, it probably wasn’t voluntary, but rather something Oman made him do.

Most other parents would have been delighted if a professor sent them updates about their kids' life at the Academy, but for me, the constant stream of messages was nothing but a nuisance.

Yet, for some reason, I didn’t block Jealousy’s contact like I usually would.

"Uncle, are you perhaps a Black Mage?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"......."

"......?"

A simple answer to her question, which was uttered with dry saliva.

Watching her, I looked at Arina as if to ask what she really wanted to know, but her dumbfounded expression left me puzzled.

"Was that something you could just say so easily?!"

Covering my ears at her sudden shouting, I braced myself.

A reflex developed from Oman’s habit of starting every conversation by yelling whenever he picked up the phone.

Cain, who had swiftly protected his eardrums, looked at her as if asking what the big deal was and replied.

"I don’t recall ever trying to hide it."

I just didn’t bother mentioning it because no one asked.

If Arina had asked, I would have answered her anytime.

"But you’ve never used Black Magic before, have you?"

"It’s not like I’d summon a corpse at home just to stink up the place for no reason. It would only attract maggots."

Unlike magic, which was seamlessly integrated into daily life through various magic tools, most Black Magic was inherently incompatible with reality.

I wasn’t fighting anyone, so there was no reason to use Black Magic in everyday life.

"Also, if people found out a Black Mage lived here, sometimes the Church would show up and cause trouble."

While society, like with Professor Carlson, was gradually accepting the existence of Black Mages, individually, many still harbored prejudices against them.

Ranging from simple aversion to outright hatred.

That was likely because many Black Mages had ended up becoming criminals.

And a large number of those who harbored such hatred belonged to the Church, with extreme fanatics even viewing Black Mages as public enemies of the continent.

Especially after the "Dark Wave" ten years ago.

Aside from the Great War with Yggdrasil, it was the most significant crime committed by Black Mages in recent history, which shook the continent.

While overshadowed now by the presence and achievements of the Death Kings, at the time, the surprise attack by Black Mages that began in the Reidel Marquisate had plunged countless people into fear and terror.

Superhuman-level Undead roamed the streets, and the curses uttered by Black Mages filled the air, blanketing entire cities in smog.

The unannounced and sudden terror attack claimed the lives of countless people in the Marquisate, and it only ended when the Absolute, the Demon Lord, intervened personally.

That fear spread even to Cain's hometown, Koshik Village, far from the center, leading to many Black Mage-related ghost stories among children at the time.

'Those ghost stories turned out to be true, after all.'

The Ego of a Black Mage encountered in a graveyard.

Looking back now, I could only say it was sheer luck.

To devour the posthumous Ego left behind by a Black Mage who had reached the realm of a Superhuman.

An innate talent for Black Magic, coupled with the awakening and rampage of a supernatural ability.

If not for the coincidence of those two factors, Cain would have died back then, and the Black Mage's Ego would have resurrected as a Lich in that very spot.

Yes, to put it bluntly, that Black Mage was one of the main culprits behind the Dark Wave that had engulfed the Reidel Marquisate in the past.

While Cain inherited the posthumous magic power and knowledge of Black Magic from that Black Mage, the memories had vanished along with the Ego's destruction—something he only learned after taking control of the Dark District.

'To begin with, my memories of that time are a bit hazy.'

Before his talent fully blossomed, what happened then was the typical rampage that newly awakened supernatural power users often experienced.

Except this was the first Absolute-level supernatural rampage since the Ice Queen.

At the time, young Cain, who had just awakened his power, didn’t grasp the scale of the disaster, but he realized one thing:

Ah, if I leave this thing unchecked, it’s going to be a huge problem.

If it goes wrong, even my older sister in the village might get hurt.

Instinctively feeling this, he recklessly wasted and drained his magic power using the knowledge of Black Magic that had flowed into him.

It was a nearly miraculous achievement, accomplished solely through raw, violent talent.

However, being so focused on that, most of what the Black Mage had said didn’t properly register in Cain’s ears.

At most, he caught an unfamiliar name: Immortal King.

'Who knows? Just some nobody I’ve never heard of.'

No matter what books he read, he couldn’t find any name resembling it.

So Cain could only guess that this Immortal King was a self-proclaimed title used by some Black Mage.

Or maybe he’d simply misheard it due to his unstable mind.

In any case, after the Dark Wave, a surge of people afraid of Black Magic flocked to the Church, leading to further hostility between the Church and Black Mages.

That’s why Cain never went out of his way to mention to others that he was a Black Mage.

"Oh, so that’s all it was?"

Hearing Cain’s words, Arina visibly sighed in relief.

Her reaction only deepened the curiosity in Cain’s gaze.

A feeling of, What on earth is with that reaction?

Under that gaze, Arina, as if embarrassed by her own misunderstanding, avoided Cain’s eyes and replied.

"Well, you really hate going outside, so I wondered if you’d committed some crime and were living in hiding."

While not all Black Mages were bad, it was an undeniable fact that many were criminals.

Arina had based her suspicions on Cain’s usual behavior, wondering if he was a criminal.

'Her intuition is sharper than I thought.'

At Arina’s misunderstanding, Cain just smirked to himself.

In a way, she wasn’t wrong.

A king of criminals who had conquered the Dark District.

Currently, the most infamous villain on the continent was none other than Death King Heukcheon.

In that sense, Arina’s guess was spot on.

"As long as that’s not the case, it’s fine. I was worried for no reason."

"Why? Would you have reported me if I were a criminal?"

"No. I’d immediately leave the capital, Academy and all, and flee to another country. Do you know how high the crime arrest rate is in this country?"

"......."

"If I had to go somewhere, Yggdrasil would be better, right? Spirit Magic has more similarities with magic than martial arts do."

"Yeah, at least you wouldn’t abandon me because I’m your uncle."

Even if I were a criminal, her willingness to run away with me simply because I was her uncle was oddly touching.

But in that case, there would be no point in him settling in the Elemental Kingdom.

And the place she wants to go is Yggdrasil?

From his perspective—having made an enemy of the Empress—Yggdrasil was the most troublesome place on the continent.

'I definitely can’t let it slip that I’m the Death King.'

Cain originally had no intention of hiding anything from Arina.

For the first time, he now had a secret he absolutely had to keep from her.

Well, her words were probably half-joking, said in a moment of eased tension.

"By the way, how did you find out I’m a Black Mage?"

"Oh, well, there’s a Professor Carlson at the Academy who specializes in Black Magic. He showed us the Reverse World."

This was information included in the report sent by Jealousy.

I see. So that’s how it happened.

"So today, after experiencing the Reverse World at the Academy and feeling Negative Dimensional Magic Power for the first time, you thought it felt familiar. Then, you remembered what I used at the Grant Department Store?"

"......How did you know?"

"It’s obvious."

Though Cain usually found using his brain bothersome, his insight in certain areas was sharp enough to surpass arrogance.

Predicting something like this was a simple matter for him.

'That low-level Black Mage couldn’t even properly handle Negative Dimensional Magic Power.'

The guy who couldn’t even use his own magic properly and only managed to take control of the whole department store after drawing power from multiple artifacts.

It wasn’t even a particularly advanced form of Black Magic; just a slightly enhanced zombie.

It was perhaps natural that she didn’t associate the sense of déjà vu from the Reverse World created by someone like Carlson with that Black Mage.

At most, he was at a 3-star level—a realm far too immature to handle wasted Minus Magic Power properly.

"You remembered well. I thought you’d have fainted right away."

"Ah, that’s..."

"It’s that princess again, isn’t it?"

"......."

Before Arina could answer, Cain provided the correct response himself.

One of the basic rules of parenting:

Ask as many questions as possible to encourage the child to actively talk about their experiences and thoughts.

Yet Cain’s conversational style seemed to utterly disregard such principles, leaving Arina gradually at a loss for words and sinking into silence.

It was a parenting method that seemed to practically demonstrate how to make a child timid.

"Well, good job, kid."

But perhaps he did remember the advice he’d read online about ‘raising a child with praise.’

Cain gave a faint laugh as he lightly tapped Arina on the crown of her head.

"I didn’t erase your memories like with others, but you must’ve fainted immediately, so there probably wasn’t much you could recall anyway."

"......."

"It means you’re good at distinguishing the characteristics of magic power. Don’t forget that sense. Right now, Mana Manipulation might seem impressive, but in the long run, Magic Detection Ability is also one of the essential skills."

Though this mainly applied to those primarily responsible for combat.

After all, no one could predict when or where something might happen, so it was crucial to develop a broad range of abilities.

Those with overly specialized skills would inevitably hit a wall unless they addressed their weaknesses.

"......."

With that light praise, Cain flopped back onto the sofa and began looking at his smartphone again.

Watching him, Arina clasped the crown of her head with both hands and allowed a faint smile to form on her lips.

"To celebrate, how about dining out today? Let me know if there’s something you want to eat. I’ll order using an app."

"You’re just going to order delivery for something you want to eat, aren’t you, Uncle? Stop using me as an excuse and come to the table. By now, the cooking should be done anyway."

"Tch."

Even in this groggy situation, she had already finished preparing the meal?

How high are this kid’s housewife skills for her age?

By ability standards, she was at least at an expert level.

Ignoring the clicking sound of Cain’s tongue behind her, Arina turned her back to him.

Yet, the smile on her lips didn’t fade; instead, it grew more radiant as time went on.