Cheongtapju smiled as if he had expected that, and I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.
"As Rankart said, you are still superior to him. That remark was well deserved."
"Was it the same in the military nation?"
"It was far less there. I was young then, and the military nation didn't make allowances for my circumstances. Compared to that, this place where you, Cheongtapju, make allowances is much more comfortable."
Since I've been found out, there's nothing I can do. Cheongtapju must have spoken with certainty.
"I'm truly grateful to Avant-garde senior. I'm trying my best to treat him well."
"I'm not saying this to scold you. Thanks to you, Avant-garde's realm has risen further, so it's a mutual benefit. And because you've been poking around everywhere, active exchanges are happening even in the Crystal Tower. I'm proud to have you as a disciple."
Was bringing it up just to satisfy intellectual vanity? Instead of being wary or reproaching me, Cheongtapju looks at me as if I'm praiseworthy. That's fortunate. Some people would take offense at this sort of thing.
'Talent in handling people is rare, so I was late to notice. Rankart's hint was useful, but even without it, I would have definitely caught on. He is indeed outstanding. Heh heh. He's someone worth getting to know.'
And that's probably because Cheongtapju is an exceptionally outstanding and arrogant mage.
It wasn't anything as grand as a secret, nor was it directed against Cheongtapju. But the fact remains that I was seen through. In a way, it's my loss.
Pretending to ease the tension, I sipped my tea lightly and asked.
"Are you perhaps disappointed?"
"About what?"
"Because I'm taking advantage of Avant-garde senior's goodwill."
"Oh my. Are you perhaps seeing me as such a naive person?"
"Though you, Cheongtapju, with your cold reason, might not be like that, I must admit I'm a bit worried."
"It seems you've been through many chaotic situations. It's fine. You are clearly an outstanding talent, and your existence is positive for the tower. So what if you toy with the heart of a cute female mage? As long as both are fine with it, that's that."
Thankfully, Cheongtapju has a cool and open-minded personality. It seems he'll cheer me on rather than get in the way.
"But that's only possible if I manage to climb the Gate of Ascent."
"Even if you fail to resolve the mana issue and fall from the Gate of Ascent, with your abilities, you'll be able to enter any tower in the lower realm."
"The Crystal Tower would be best. I'll definitely find a way."
"I'll look forward to it."
The business is done. I gulped down the remaining tea and rose from my seat.
Dual magic circles, bloodstone high-crystal. Even with both these tricks, it's still far from enough. I need to come up with another method.
But can I really find a method that even the master of the mage tower couldn't? I am the human king. I'm just relatively skilled at handling domains pioneered by humans, not someone who forges through untrodden paths.
As I said farewell and stepped toward the door, Cheongtapju added, as if in afterthought.
"Ah. Disciple. I almost forgot to mention, there's one more piece of good news."
"You forgot, Cheongtapju? That's not like you."
"Right. Actually, it's not such good news that you'd be happy. It's news that Rankart has returned after completing his investigation. He should be at the Intelligence Bureau by now."
"...Haah. That is indeed ambiguous news."
It's not bad, exactly. But I don't feel like being happy about it either. Still, I should go see him.
The Floating City is a city where everyone walks on the shell using gravity magic. There is no horizon visible from the lower realm. Instead, the opposite side of the city arches overhead. There's no need to climb to a high place to secure a view. If you want to see farther, you just need to lift your head higher.
Unlike the sun, which pretends to be stern but neglects the higher latitudes, the light emanating from the Floating City's artificial sun shines upon the ground more fairly than anything else. Its gaze, which casts not a single shadow, has no blind spots. For it is always noon in the Floating City, where the artificial sun is overhead.
After examining the Floating City intently, I found the Intelligence Bureau. It was easy to pinpoint its location. All the important facilities in the Floating City had high ceilings. Counting the buildings close to the artificial sun one by one, it didn't take long.
Unable to use gravity magic, I trudged on foot and arrived at the Intelligence Bureau. I hadn't had any business there until now, but if I showed the badge Cheongtapju gave me, I'd probably be able to get inside.
"Hyui."
Before I could find him, Rankart came to me first. Oh. That saves me the trouble of searching.
"You're here? It took quite a while..."
"You. Are you the human king?"
Huh? You figured it out too? Ah, you said you collected information from the Tree of Origin, right?
Good grief. Now there are fewer people who don't know. I admitted it readily.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
What do you mean why? Because I'm the human king.
But it seems that wasn't what Rankart wanted to ask. He grabbed his forehead and shook his head as if disappointed.
"It's absurd. That you're the human king."
"Why? What's wrong with being the human king?"
Among the one-of-a-kind beast kings, the one representing humans, the dominant species on land. It sounds impressive just hearing it. Isn't it a status that could partially dispel your inferiority complex? What's the problem?
"You... you, who I was defeated by, are such a trite right-hander. It can't be."
"What?"
"Nothing more than a beast king. You're just an entity of an already-established concept. The most worthless right-hander among right-handers..."
"Why are you suddenly pitching a fit? You want to fight?"
I said it as a joke, but Rankart acted on my words. He waved his hand roughly. It was a motion that didn't seem to carry a speck of force, but I was instantly swept up in a massive vortex and sent tumbling about ten meters.
"Huh."
That fellow Rankart has been in bad shape lately. Why is he suddenly like this? As if his whole world had been denied.
Because I'm the human king? Good grief. If I were truly the human king, I wouldn't feel wronged. There's an existence called 'Nuna' that's a straight upgrade, and I've lost all my power...
...Have I lost it? It was originally 'Nuna's' to begin with, so technically I'm just borrowing it.
"Rankart. How much did you investigate? Who else knows that fact besides you?"
"Damn it. To think I've been competing with an entity of concept all this time..."
"Did you meet 'Nuna'?"
"Hyui, I have no business with you."
So you did meet her. Did you even converse? Let's see, the memories.
Rankart and the other Intelligence Bureau mages investigated the area around the Tree of Origin. The means are countless. They're all mages, and Rankart is a High Mage. Magically analyze the Tree of Origin, reproduce the phenomena that occurred there, and hear testimonies from the people who lived there.
Countless people fell to the ground when the Tree of Origin shook violently. After that, a massive blaze burned the Tree. The mortally wounded Tree fell silent and stopped moving.
The people living in the shade of the World Tree were thrown into chaos and terror. Hundreds fell, their home was burned, and their future became uncertain. The Shade of the World Tree, once a relatively fertile and blessed village among the nations, had to groan in pain and scatter its rage...
But such a thing did not happen.
Though they suffered great sacrifice and harbored deep resentment, they were filled with new hope.
The human king.
Beautiful, kind, resolute, and powerful.
A true human king born in the myriad nations would lead them.
Having grasped the situation to some extent, the mages approached the survivors to hear their testimonies— and—
"Do you know my brother? May I have a word with you?"
'Nuna' paid a visit to Rankart.
It wasn't a long conversation, but Nuna must have gathered much information. And Rankart, too, knew the moment he saw the person before him that she was the human king.
And he realized. That his opponent was akin to a phenomenon. That competing in victory or defeat was meaningless.
That's somewhat true. I thought it was a fair game, but it wasn't. But. Did I deceive you?
"You're showing off. When you only realized because someone told you."
"What?"
"Whether you arbitrarily expect things and get disappointed is none of my business. That's your freedom. But what's with the attitude of coming back with the answer sheet and sulking that I didn't tell you first?"
I also look at answer sheets, but I don't come crying to you like this. If I misread, I just grumble inwardly and let it go.
"You tested me enough. If you still couldn't figure it out, that was your limit. And now you've even lost the chance to find the answer on your own."
"Hyui…! You deceiver!"
And Rankart's domain gradually expanded. The vortex devoured the Floating City.
The World of the Right-Hander. A unique High Magic that erases all leftward rotation within a specific space. The unique High Magic doesn't discriminate the type or strength of the force. In mere seconds, all movement aligns to the right. The air currents, mana, and even the rotation of the Floating City.
Creak creak. Rankart's world and the current world collide, and their surfaces are worn down, ground away. The right as defined by Rankart, and all 'left' outside of it, clash with right and annihilate.
"What is it? What's happening."
"Defensive magic isn't working!"
"A spatial anomaly? Who could do this!"
They tried to deal with the anomaly using magic, but repeatedly failed within the world of the right-hander. Because the magic circles and mana they handled were also within the influence of the right-hander's world, their mana flow was disrupted.
"It can only be Rankart!"
"Investigator Rankart! Stop! Please!"
As if this wasn't the first or second time, mages burst out of the Intelligence Bureau calling Rankart's name. But their steps gradually shifted toward Rankart's rightward direction.
"Investigator Rankart! Withdraw your power!"
"A high mage of the world-type must not unleash power in the Floating City!"
Of course, Rankart didn't listen. He merely extended his hand toward me as he unfurled his power. It was a small movement, but Rankart was the center of the World of the Right-Hander. His gesture was amplified through the raging vortex and pressed down on me with immense pressure.
"The reason I respected you was because you were a left-hander. An existence that defies laws. One who shows a different perspective. One who finds methods."
"Is that so? Seems I didn't meet expectations?"
"If you are also an entity of concept subordinate to laws, then to me, even you are nothing more than an object to be interpreted."
Rankart's power only grew stronger. Caught up in his expanding unique High Magic, I shuffled my body hesitantly.
Unique High Magic is divided into types. Like Maximilien's Cogwheel, unique High Magic focused on laws related to specific objects is object-type. Its scope is narrow, but within that domain, it wields the most dominant authority.
The unique High Magic of the Black Tower Master and the Green Tower Master is similar but slightly different. Their unique High Magic is concept-type. Manifesting a single concept like One-Way or Vanishing Point as unique High Magic. The concept itself is powerful, but areas outside it still follow the world's rules.
In contrast, Cheongtapju's Determinism and Rankart's World of the Right-Hander are world-type, targeting entire spaces. They impose the rules they have established upon the unique High Magic's domain—an extremely powerful and wide-ranging unique High Magic.
Among them, concept-type unique High Magic is considered the most useful. Because it isn't bound by location or object, is tremendously powerful, and is easy to apply.
But if you ask which is the strongest.
Most would, with displeased faces, pick world-type unique High Magic.
Though I'm of the opposite opinion.
"Interpret? You couldn't."
Within the World of the Right-Hander, I took a step with difficulty.
All things in the world rotate, drawing a rightward vortex. It's an extremely difficult task to cut straight toward the center amid the raging vortex. Because the force rotating to the right itself becomes a wall blocking me.
But I have the power to erase that wall.
"You're still half in doubt. Still trying to test me. Disappointment and all that. Isn't it just an excuse?"
Unique High Magic. World of the Right-Hander.
Much smaller and weaker than Rankart's, but a similar flow arose centered on me. I read Rankart's realization and unfold it.
Within the raging vortex, there are two cores. Rankart's massive flow, and a small flow centered on me. Both are the same unique High Magic, and there is clearly a difference in strength.
However, what is a rightward rotation to me...
Could be a leftward rotation to Rankart.
"I'll give you plenty of hints. Try interpreting it."
Between Rankart and me, a rotation that is leftward to Rankart and rightward to me—those two cancel each other out. The wall of vortices mutually annihilates and scatters as pure force.
In contrast, outside of Rankart and me, the rotation that is rightward to both of us—those two reinforce each other. A flow more intense than what should normally exist pushes against my back.
The magnitude of force doesn't matter. According to Rankart's rules, if I maintain a rightward rotation centered on myself... I can approach Rankart.
Because that's the rule of the World of the Right-Hander.
"Y-you...!"
Spin spin spin spin.
Meanwhile, caught between the two axes of rotation, I spun round and round like a bearing. But it's fine. As long as there's an observer, I don't feel dizzy.
And when the rotation reached its peak—
Diamond 1. Transforming a single card folded between two fingers into a skewer, I lightly pricked Rankart. As if playing a prank.
Because that's the rule of the World of the Right-Hander.