◈ Episode 128. The Teppern Labyrinth (1)
Marcelo stood at the center of the Crystal Hall.
The gazes of countless mages were fixed upon him.
It was hardly his first time in such a place.
And yet, why was it? ‘This feels different.’ Many things had changed since he had fallen into the world of adventurers.
But the greatest turning point had surely been Hoyeol.
Marcelo recalled his first meeting with Hoyeol.
—“I believe there are superfluous steps in your search process. What do you think, Chief Mage Marcelo?”
A faint laugh escaped him—even now, just thinking back on it.
It had been nothing short of a shocking first appearance.
He had never imagined he would one day share the position of chief with him.
However. ‘It would have been impossible if not for you, sir.’ He felt not the slightest regret over having brought him to the Magic Tower.
Had it not been for Hoyeol,
they would never have noticed the deception of Karimjeva and the other demon worshippers,
nor would they have been able to correct the Magic Tower’s original sin.
Of course, even if those grand events had not occurred. ‘I know that you have shared my burden as well.’ Preliminary verifications, regular conferences, even the improvement of relationships among the seniors.
Thanks to him, there were fewer things to worry about in many ways.
It had truly been a long time since Marcelo had found time to rest.
Was there not a saying that character was born from composure?
His temperament had softened compared to before.
The venom seemed to have left his eyes.
The rumors surrounding him were proof of that. ‘Though I do not know what you would think of that, sir.’ Until not long ago,
Marcelo had been unable to guess Hoyeol’s thoughts.
How could you, sir,
as a survivor of Akshan, step forward for the sake of the Magic Tower?
And how could you generously embrace the Goddess Church, which could likewise be called your enemy from the Holy War?
Even if he put himself in Hoyeol’s position, he could not understand it. ‘But I suppose that does not matter.’ Yet his questions did not lead to concern.
Because Marcelo had witnessed it.
The sight of Hoyeol mourning Senios’s death.
—“Elder Mage Senios……”
To think he had found Lord Senios before even Marcelo himself.
It was an action that dispelled all unnecessary doubts.
And so Marcelo had no worries. ‘I can feel at ease.’ He believed that if it was Hoyeol, he would surely be able to rebuild the Magic Tower. Furthermore, he had faith that Hoyeol would be able to successfully complete his research as well.
But if there was one lingering regret……. ‘I do feel some regret that I will not be able to see the Tower Master again.’ Yet Marcelo knew.
He knew that he did not have much time left.
Therefore. ‘To open the path you will walk, sir.’
In what little time remained,
he had to do what he must.
That was the weight of the chief that Marcelo had to shoulder.
Marcelo recalled Hoyeol’s words.
—“I believe hiding things is contrary to pride.”
Yes, just as you said, sir.
In order not to repeat their mistakes.
At last, Marcelo opened his mouth.
“We will begin this round-table conference with the matter of the disposition process concerning the three Elder Mages, including Karimjeva, the great criminals of the Magic Tower. Before that, we will replace the opening with a moment of silence for Elder Mage Senios.”...
Bellier Yusia, Senior Mage of Healing Studies.
She sensed the solemn air lingering around the Magic Tower.
“……
In the end, they found out.”
At the round-table conference, every truth had been revealed.
Bellier had already known all of it in advance.
And yet, simply recalling it again
was enough for the aftershock of the shock she had received to return.
“Everyone.”
In that sense, she could not even imagine the shock the adept and apprentice mages must have received.
But Bellier knew. She knew that none of the mages of the Magic Tower were ordinary.
Apprentice mages.
They might be treated like fledglings within the Magic Tower,
but their abilities were clear enough from the countless evaluations they had heard before entering it.
The pride of a magical family, the reincarnation of an archmage, a gemstone of pure talent…….
And what of the adept mages?
Even compared to the most renowned mages on the Arcana Continent, they possessed skill that fell short in no way.
Depending on their field of study, they had enough ability to destroy a city—or to rebuild one. ‘It feels a little strange to say this myself, but…….’ It would be correct to classify senior mages not as humans, but as superhumans.
Bellier herself was aware of it.
The magic of herself and the other seniors surpassed the imaginations of ordinary people.
The Magic Tower was such a place.
Those with immense potential.
Those who strove to make that potential bloom.
And those who had already brought that potential into full flower gathered there.
“Though they may be confused for now…….”
From apprentice to adept to senior.
Because Bellier had gone through every step,
she could understand how they felt.
Eventually, they would come to feel the same as she did.
Yes, they would think that they could not stand by and watch the demons who had deceived the Magic Tower,
and who had turned the Arcana Continent into a wasteland.
The solemn air that lingered over the Magic Tower at this moment was surely because of that.
And that was why, on the other hand, she could not help but be concerned.
The gathered power of the Magic Tower.
With that tremendous power came an immense responsibility.
If such power of the Magic Tower were to be used incorrectly……
The thought alone was dreadful enough to make Bellier frown.
But she was not greatly worried for the time being. ‘Marcelo, and Chief Mage I Hoyeol.’
Because the Magic Tower currently had two co-chief mages.
Gnaw—
Bellier bit her lip.
“For now……”
Bellier knew.
Marcelo did not have much time left.
And she also knew that was why he had nominated Hoyeol,
a person who could replace him,
as chief. ‘……
I can understand that much without you saying it.’
Marcelo, how many years have we known each other?
Hoyeol was the one Marcelo, of all people, had chosen.
At first, she might not have known, but now she had no doubts.
The abilities Chief Mage I Hoyeol had shown were so great that speaking of them would only make her mouth hurt.
And lastly.
“Even the inner self beneath the exterior.”
That stiff head that had never once bowed.
With that head lowered,
Chief Mage I Hoyeol had mourned Senios alone.
Bellier had no choice but to smile bitterly.
“Chief Mage Marcelo. As expected, you have an eye worthy of a chief.”
It was surely the right judgment.
It must have been the best judgment Marcelo could make.
But not for Bellier.
“……
I am merely making the best judgment I can make as well.”
Soon, Bellier wiped the smile from her face.
She picked up a quill pen.
Scratch—
She carefully began writing something down.
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
“Klee, thanks to you, one worry has been lifted.”
When she gripped the quill pen, she recalled the advice of the adept mage, Klee.
—“More than anything, the purpose! The purpose seemed important!”
Application to Leave the Tower.
As Bellier wrote down the purpose of leaving the tower, she spoke quietly.
“Chief Mage I Hoyeol. I do not know how you will regard this. But to me, there is no purpose more important than this.”──────Chief Mage, Marcelo Simuard.
The terminal curse passed down through the Simuard magical family.
Research concerning the dispelling of that curse.──────*Damn it, I feel drained.
In truth, all I did at the round-table conference
was sit still in the Crystal Hall, but still……
The mental shock was enormous.
To think I would hear people talking behind my back so explicitly!
Who could have guessed?
Someone might ask.
In communities, on TV, even in the group chat with my own family,
everyone was making a fuss about something like infinitely deep darkness,
so why was I making such a big deal out of it? ‘That and this are clearly different.’
If I had to compare it……
This felt like my private life had been scattered all over a workplace that had always kept public and private matters well separated.
And that private life was a horrendous dark history I did not even want to recall……!
Yet unlike how painful I felt inside, none of it showed on the outside.
Whirr, whirr—
As I stirred my teaspoon, I spoke all too smoothly.
“The evaluations of others do not matter.”
One sentence would have been enough, but I needlessly added more.
“What matters is only the pride within one’s heart.”
……
You truly have not an ounce of shame.
I respect my past self.
Sincerely.
And yet, thanks to this damned composure,
the current me must be able to survive intact like this.
Look. Even now, as if nothing had happened,
I was brazenly flipping through a book.
“Reading is nourishment for the mind.”
All while spouting plausible words like usual.
Yes, it was profoundly embarrassing, but……
It was not as if this was the first time I had done this.
And it was obvious I would keep doing it in the future. ‘……
Infinitely deep darkness. Let’s try to get used to it.’
Yes, I did not have the luxury to lament my circumstances.
I was already hard-pressed just thinking about the matter right in front of me.
I tilted my teacup and shifted my gaze to the quest.[Top Ten Wonders Quest: Teppern’s Labyrinth]
Teppern, one of the Ten Wonders of the Arcana Continent.
Break through Teppern’s labyrinth.
And reveal the true nature of Teppern to the world.
Wonders discovered so far: 0 / 10─Witness Teppern’s labyrinth. (In Progress)
In the past, I would have been at a loss.
I might have had to sip my tea peacefully until the [Teppern’s Labyrinth] rift appeared in a regular update. But I had experience.[Demon King’s Castle] rift.
The experience of having predicted that regular update.
Thanks to that, I had gained a small measure of certainty. ‘Regular updates are not random.’
That meant there was a pattern.
To put it in Granfell’s language,
“There is a procedure to all things.”
Yes, that meant even regular updates had their own procedure.
Perhaps among the events occurring on the Arcana Continent,
the largest incident had the highest chance of appearing in a regular update.[Demon King’s Castle] rift had been like that.
So I could guess.
“A labyrinth, is it. The day we face it is not far off.”[Teppern Labyrinth].
If it was fast, it would appear in this week’s regular update.
There was more than enough basis for that conjecture.
The crushing defeat of the Demon King.
Thanks to that, the activities of demons on the Arcana Continent had quieted for the time being. The chance of something that could be called a major incident occurring would be low. ‘Thorough preparation is essential.’[Teppern Fence].
I had checked my immediate combat power there. Even surrounded by level 450 Teppern Scarecrows, I had been able to endure.
A class with a screw loose.
For a Demon Hunter, I had become fairly strong in my own way; I could feel that. ‘Well, more than half of that is probably thanks to my stats.’
From class quests to the reportedly precious elixir herb.
For how much I had struggled, I sometimes wondered if the efficiency was not lacking…… But know your place, Hoyeol. My class was, and would always be, Demon Hunter.
“Everything has its pros and cons.”
Let’s not speak as though this were someone else’s story, either.
In the end, I would only be spitting in my own face.
Because it was my story.
Of course, it was not wrong. ‘Demon Hunter.’
Because I had never forgotten to know my place,
I had long since been digging my own escape route, my own well.[Teppern Labyrinth].
As I said, the chance of [Natural Enemy Relationship]
activating would be low. Not just in words—I truly needed to be fully prepared.
In that sense, there was one item that made me feel reassured just by looking at it.[Vampire Count’s Orb][Grade: Unique][Restriction: Lv. 400][Effect: When attacking, additional damage is applied at a high probability.][Description: An orb filled with vampire blood. Whenever it comes into contact with mana, that blood bursts out and damages the target.]
A trophy I had obtained from Ascura.
A whopping level 400.
I remembered being horrified when I saw that level restriction in the past.
I had wondered whether I could even survive until the day I could use something like this……
And at last, that day had come. ‘The additional damage is not large.’
But everything depends on how it is used.
If that effect applies at a high probability with every attack,
then it is a simple matter of increasing the number of attacks. ‘Because even small amounts of damage are different once they accumulate.’
Such [Skills]
might not be common.
But I had 『Magic』.
In a word, I was confident I could multiply the item’s performance several times over with tricks. In truth, if I could use the Demon King’s trophies, the epic-grade demon items, that would be reassuring too…….[Baton of the Horn Stained by Evil][Map of Oblivion Drawn in Blood][Eye Burning with Malice]
But with no demons around, there was nothing I could do. ‘Still, it is a relief that I am not alone.’
Above all, there was the Explorers’ Alliance, bound to me by strictly calculated interests.[Labyrinth]
when it comes to that, there are no experts quite like them, so that puts me at ease.
With that in mind, I took up my quill.
“Opportunities do not come easily.”
Sss— I scrawled with the quill and shamelessly continued.
“See to it that you, too, prepare thoroughly, so that you do not let the opportunity you have seized slip away.”*Fabian Delon, Head of the Explorers’ League.
“Ooh!”
A reply had come back once more.
Was it because he had not only stated his purpose clearly, but had also refrained from being greedy? The letter contained Hoyeol’s signature, agreeing to a joint exploration of the Tepfern Labyrinth.
Yes, up to that point, all was well……
Fabian, reading the rest, murmured.
“……
Thorough preparation?”
Not just preparation, but thorough preparation.
What on earth did he mean?
For an instant, bewilderment spread across Fabian’s face.
“!”
The first quality required of an explorer: perceptiveness.
Fabian tried to read between the lines.
He gently closed his eyes.
First, he put himself in the other party’s shoes.
“I am an endlessly deep darkness……”
An adventurer who had achieved astonishing feats……
From the perspective of such a Hoyeol, what exactly would thorough preparation mean?
Fabian nodded as if he had made up his mind.
“If he has gone so far as to say this, then there’s no helping it.”
He had no choice but to bring out the League’s treasures.
The numerous magic tools kept in storage by the League.
Boasting about magic tools in front of Hoyeol, the chief mage of the Magic Tower?
It would be no better than trying to teach a pupa how to wrinkle.
But the Explorers’ League’s magic tools were special. ‘When it came to exploration, they had exceptionally outstanding effects.’ As precious as their abilities were.
That was why they had been preserved as treasures and passed down through the generations. Even so, Fabian made his decision.
Because the message Hoyeol had left was anything but ordinary. ──────See to it that you, too, prepare thoroughly, so that you do not let the opportunity you have seized slip away.────── Fabian opened his mouth cautiously.
“I suppose I should take it as consideration that is not quite consideration.”
It must mean that, since he had given them an opportunity, they were to repay it accordingly.
For the first time in a while, he felt tension.
Fabian shrugged.
“I can’t disappoint him. I’ll have to bring my condition up as much as possible.”
Then, at the very end, a postscript caught his eye. ──────P.S. Time is like tea enjoyed in the afternoon.────── ……
What?
Could it be a riddle?
Fabian narrowed his eyes and tried to fathom its meaning.
“……
Is he perhaps speaking of the importance of time?”
That seemed to be what it meant.
Fabian was half in doubt.
After all, if he had emphasized the importance of time in a postscript,
it meant they did not have much time.
“How would he know when that Tepfern Labyrinth will appear……?”
The question occurred to him, but Fabian shook his head.
Doubts would not be included in thorough preparation.
Soon, Fabian began rummaging through the League’s treasures.
Then he flinched.
“……
Surely he didn’t even know about the existence of the treasures?”
No, surely not, no matter what.
The existence of the treasures was top-secret information known only to the head of the Explorers’ League and a few League executives. No matter how remarkable Hoyeol was, there was no way he could know that much.
But Fabian’s thought did not last even a few days.
Thursday.
The Kingdom of Yusra.
The Golden Calf Tavern.
A moving picture decorating the wall.
News of the regular update was delivered through the TV.
“League Head Fabian. They say the Tepfern Labyrinth rift has appeared!”
“?!”
After Hoyeol had emphasized the importance of time,
the Tepfern Labyrinth had appeared only a few days later.
Could it be that he had anticipated all these developments?
“How on earth?”
Was it because he was endlessly deep?
Truly, there was no guessing the limits of his abilities.
Cold sweat once again ran down Fabian’s forehead.