◈ Chapter 165. You Left Something Precious Behind (1)
The eve of the storm.
The Holy War that would begin in earnest with the Demon King Contest as its starting point.
Even so, time flowed on as it always had.
Yusra, Frost, Muon, the Magic Tower, and finally, the rifts.
The players spurred their growth from their respective positions.
“Ugh, I’m seriously dying here!”
It was a daily life they had never experienced before.
To think there wasn’t even time to rest after clearing a rift.
A free schedule, leaving work on time, a life with evenings.
These days, the biggest reasons they had chosen to be players had disappeared.
“What the hell is that damned pride supposed to be?”
How could it make people this exhausted?
But they had no choice but to endure.
They had to grit their teeth and hold on through sheer spite and guts.
“Quit whining. I don’t want to get kicked out because I got lumped in with you.”
“What are you talking about? Who’s getting kicked out? I’m holding on till the end.”
“Sure, just try keeping your mouth shut.”
Because this was not an opportunity that came often.
The strongest knight order in the Empire, acknowledged by all—Lion Heart.
Back when Arcana had been nothing more than a game.
With ordinary fame, players could not even hold a conversation with the Knights of the Lionheart. No, they couldn’t even have any point of contact with them. But now, in this special situation before the Holy War.
Was conversation or contact even the issue?
They were receiving training under the guidance of the Knights of the Lionheart, no less.
“Basic stamina is the foundation of everything. Now, run!”
Harkon’s hearty voice rang through Frost’s training grounds.
“Idle chatter during training is forbidden.”
Yessica’s stern voice echoed across Yusra’s training grounds.
Muon’s circumstances were not much different.
“……
How many hours has it been since we started these prayers of repentance?”
“Damn it, I think I’m getting cramps.”
“I lost all sensation in my lower body ages ago.”
Groans slipped from the mouths of the priests kneeling in prayer.
“Why did I ever choose to become something like a paladin?!”
“At least barbarians can take off their shirts.”
“I seriously resent this plate armor…….”
The paladins poured sweat.
The situation at the Magic Tower was not all that different either.
The Magic Tower’s library.
The players first marveled at the sheer volume of magical tomes.
Then they were horrified by the level of those books.
There were this many books related to high-level magic.
“……
But what the hell does this even mean?”
“Exploration, interference, manifestation……?”
“I understand this about as little as I understand pride.”
It was only natural. 『Magic』 and [Skills]
were completely different concepts.
But even the Chief Mage, Marcelo, had yet to understand that fact perfectly. There was no way players who had only just become apprentice mages could understand it.
“I feel like I’m studying for the college entrance exam all over again.”
“……
Did you ever study for that?”
“If I had, would I have become a ranker in Arcana?”
“What the hell.”
The contents were so pedantic that nonsense came out on its own.
If it had been the Magic Tower of the past.
No one would have cared about the anguish of mere apprentice mages. The Magic Tower of the past had been a place where each person advanced with their eyes fixed only on the unreachable truth.
In other words, they did not look after those who fell behind.
However.
“What? An irregular conference is being held in the Crystal Hall?!”
The Magic Tower had changed.
It no longer chased after hollow truths.
It no longer looked down on those around it while pursuing hollow truths.
The vast Crystal Hall.
The Chief, Marcelo, stood at the center of the Crystal Hall.
Perhaps thanks to the players, the hall looked fuller than usual. ‘I pride myself on thinking more than anyone else.’ The founder of theoretical magic.
In order to organize all magic into theory.
Marcelo had always viewed everything from various perspectives.
It was only natural that various thoughts followed in that process.
But even among his countless imaginings.
A conference held before adventurers.
There had never been a sight like this. ‘Of course, nor had there been a version of myself like this.’ His body was still gaunt, but it no longer creaked.
Blood no longer surged back up his throat, nor did he feel pain.
Above all, his mind was clear.
Had his head always been this sharp?
Sharp enough for him to realize it anew.
At that point, he could not help but think of it again. ‘……Has the curse of my limited lifespan truly disappeared?’ Because among the millions of demons Sir Hoyeol had slain, there had been one related to curses? It was an absurd coincidence. That was why he had not even considered it seriously.
He had not held onto futile hope. ‘Am I truly allowed to seize such fortune?’ The curse of House Simuard.
The faces of those who had gone before him flashed through his mind.
“…….”
It stirred emotions he had forgotten.
Soon, Marcelo shrugged. ‘No, now is not the time to be lost in sentiment.’ Yes, the road ahead was too long and arduous to indulge in sentiment.
Moreover, the fortune Sir Hoyeol had brought back from the Arcana Continent.
He did not want to waste even a single moment of it in vain.
Marcelo opened his mouth.
“Theoretical magic was established to aid in the understanding of abstract magical structures. What exploration is, what interference is, how magic can be manifested from mana…….”
...
Yusra Kingdom, the Golden Calf Tavern.
Now that Rockid was being treated for his injuries.
An unexpected peace had come to the tavern.
Krr—liquor washing away their fatigue.
The moment the alcohol went down their throats.
The players began exaggerating their hardships as if competing with one another.
“I’m not kidding, you guys just don’t know Commander Harkon’s personality, okay? He’s not called a lion for nothing. He glares at you with those piercing eyes……!”
“Running would be better, honestly.”
“What are you talking about?”
Thump, thump, thump.
A priest roughly pounded his own thighs.
But there was not so much as a twitch on his face, to a worrying degree.
“From dawn until just now. I was kneeling and praying the whole time. Look at this, I can’t feel my lower body. No, before that, my blood wasn’t circulating, so my head was spinning!”
I’m pitiful.
No, I’m more pitiful.
Amid the back-and-forth whining, a sound rang out.
Bang!
For starters, it was not Rockid.
“……
Why are you slamming your head into the table now?”
“Did something happen at the Magic Tower?”
“It did. I realized I’m a blockhead. Look at this. I hit my head this hard, and I’m still fine, aren’t I? I’m seriously feeling pathetic. Exploration, my ass. I should start by exploring what’s inside my own head…….”
Just what hardships had he suffered at the Magic Tower?
His condition looked extremely serious.
Yes, what in the world was easy?
They barely had enough time to comfort one another.
“Forget it. Have a drink.”
Clink—the three players finished tilting their glasses.
One of the men among them suddenly broached a topic.
“But about Lee Hoyeol.”
“Hiss! What do you mean, Lee Hoyeol? That’s our Commander-in-Chief of the Holy War you’re talking about.”
“It’s just us here, come on. Anyway, about Lord Hoyeol.”
That damned matter of titles made it hard to say even one word.
The man smacked his lips awkwardly, then continued.
“How is he still alive?”
Hoyeol had always been dignified.
There had been neither hesitation nor secrecy in his actions.
Hoyeol’s daily routine, moving between the Yusra Kingdom, Frost, and the Magic Tower, was widely known. That was why they couldn’t understand it. Harkon had clearly said it before.
“Even Sir Hoyeol himself, unparalleled under the heavens, never skips physical training for even a single day…….”
It was not only Harkon.
“……
Wait, you guys haven’t heard the news yet, have you? The rumors about Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol spreading through the Magic Tower. I seriously checked several times because I couldn’t believe it even after hearing it.”
Hoyeol’s heroic tales were famous in the Magic Tower and Muon as well.
After talking it through, they understood it even less.
“Physical training isn’t enough, so after returning to the Magic Tower, he stays glued to his office handling his duties as Chief? And when a rift forms, he appears before anyone else? He’s been repeating that kind of life the whole time?!”
Was that truly even human?...
I, Lee Hoyeol, declare.
My statement that I did not need the [Blessing of the First World Tree]
is hereby retracted in full.
This is no way for a person to live……! ‘If I hadn’t had the World Tree’s blessing.’ I really would have died from overwork and crossed the river to the afterlife.
First of all, the biggest problem was the drastically increased amount of physical training.
Thanks to the blessing buff, fatigue did not accumulate in my body, but when the quantity increased, the time invested inevitably increased as well.
Just look at me now.
I’d already been doing push-ups for dozens of minutes.
I stared at the message that appeared. ─Train your weakened body. (Repeat) ▲ ●40 km run (Success) ●3,500 push-ups (Success) ●2,000 pull-ups (Success) ●1,200 burpees (Success)
Finally, success.
I endured again today. I could breathe a sigh of relief.
But what came out of my mouth was different from what I truly felt.
“Without pain, there can be nothing at all. To call such a thing a blessing.” ……Seriously, that damned stubbornness!
Fine, in a way, I did agree.
After all, there were times when my arms and legs had to tremble for it to feel like I had trained properly. But when I thought of the next item on the schedule, this was nothing more than a spoiled complaint.
Rustle—I sat at my desk in a straight posture without a moment’s rest.
What I turned through were books. There were more than one or two holes—wells—I had dug for myself.
The fields of books I had to read each day were truly too numerous to count. ‘With my own head, I probably wouldn’t have understood them even if I clung to them for a lifetime.’ However, I had Grandfell’s brain.
I neatly engraved into my mind an amount of book knowledge that would have made me recoil just by looking at it.
Of course, didn’t they say there was no end to learning? I couldn’t see the end of it at all, though.
On top of that, there were my duties as Chief.
Still, thankfully, Marcelo had completely recovered, so my workload had decreased.
Moreover, Marcelo was working hard to help the players who had entered the Magic Tower adapt. ‘If I had been the one who had to deal with the players…….’ There was nothing more dreadful than that.
It was obvious I would have poured out harsher venom than I had on the apprentice and adept mages of the Magic Tower. Wouldn’t breaking news have popped up online about Lee Hoyeol’s verbal abuse and controversy over his character?
“The gazes and judgments of others are meaningless.”
Of course, the person in question would naturally say that.
But that was not the end of it. [Quest: The Unending Holy War].
I was no different from the commander-in-chief of the Holy War.
Yusra, Frost, Muon, the Magic Tower. And on top of that, the players had joined as well. The commander-in-chief of a Holy War involving all of them. Truly, it was a title so burdensome it could drive one mad. ‘Do I even have the seniority to take on such a heavy responsibility?’ There was no need to even go as far as the Magic Tower.
Even Harkon alone was level 600.
His experience in battle and war was also incomparable to mine.
However, I would not make excuses.
At least now, with the major event known as the [Demon King Contest]
ahead of us, there wasn’t even time for that.
“Numbers are merely numbers.”
Yes, shamelessly.
It meant I would bear the weight I had taken on.
If it was something like that, I did have confidence.
After all, there was Grandfell’s setting of never breaking. 『To underestimation, he responded with proof. Overestimation, he inevitably turned into reality.』 Of course, thanks to that, the one being worked to death was me.
Once I finished reading, I had to head straight to the Yusra Kingdom and prepare for the Holy War. I wasn’t grateful for the World Tree’s blessing for no reason.
“However, maintaining one’s practical sense is also important.”
And whenever I had time, I had to enter rifts to properly keep up my Sword Aura emission, magic manifestation, and even collect experience through hunting—little grains of dust piling into a great mountain.
Really, there was no time to rest.
It had gotten to the point that my mouth went dry from longing for green tea.
To the point I looked forward to teatime.
Thud—I closed the book and checked the information on the currently generated rifts.
Let’s see, the rift with the highest recommended level right now was……. ……
But what is this?
What is this article? [Vivid Report: Rumors Circulating in the Magic Tower……. Lee Hoyeol, Slays Millions of Demons in Just Two Hours?]
It wasn’t wrong.
But it was clearly misleading no matter who looked at it!
Even now, I was struggling desperately to reach the level of all the overestimation pouring down on me.
Instead of the bubble bursting, it was growing even larger.
However.
“For words without feet, they are slow.”
Who was there to resent?
Everything had been brought about by my own loose tongue.
In the end, all I could do was struggle diligently.
I adjusted my clothes.
A neat and upright appearance.
If only to avoid sinking under the weight I carried....
I had resolved not to stagger.
And yet, as if to mock that resolve.
After entering the rift, I was tense without showing it.
Hiel bowed her head to me.
“These are the remains of the heart of the Quirnberg Machine Tower that you mentioned.”
With her head still lowered, she added.
“The extent of the damage was severe, and the dwarves tried to restore its condition even slightly, but there were no results. I, Hiel, have no excuse for failing to properly carry out Lord Hoyeol’s request.”
You’re being far too courteous, Hiel.
If someone saw this, they’d think I was enforcing discipline as strictly as the World Tree.
I spoke in a generous voice.
“There is no need to lower your head.”
“……?”
“This is enough.”
The heart of the Quirnberg Machine Tower, shattered horrifically.
Even if the dwarves, its very creators, said it was in a state they could not repair, there was no problem.
Because from the past until now.
I had a trick I had favored and used often.
『Reversal Magic』.