◈ Chapter 178. Everything Ripens (1)
Looking back, they had truly been days without a moment’s rest.
First, there had been that sickening, infinitely repeating class quest. If I defeated a great evil, a Demon King popped out. If I defeated the Demon King, demon worshippers popped out. If I defeated them… ‘In the end, I even came running all the way to the high-ranking Demon King, Gamigin.’ One could not reveal the bottom of one’s purse before an enemy.
All while filling a bottomless jar with water drawn from a well I had dug myself.
But when it came to one’s realm, it seemed holes were not tolerated.
Clack—
“Tea in the early morning is not bad, either.”
Morning, nine o’clock.
Normally, this would be the time I was in the Mage Tower, in the middle of carrying out my duties as chief. Let’s see, by now, would I have been mercilessly scrawling rejected across Bensch’s application to leave the tower?
Chirp, chirp—
The sound of birds singing.
Yet I was in the office of the Yusra Kingdom, looking out the window as I tilted my teacup. My annual leave—no, my leave-of-absence request had gone through without issue.
Seriously, how long had it been since I’d had a proper rest?
It was only because I didn’t show it.
If I had shown it?
Forget an entire day.
I was confident I could have whined for a whole week.
Because it had really been so hard I thought I might die!
No, toward the end, if not for the [Blessing of the First World Tree],
I might have closed my eyes from overwork.
As if reality weren’t enough.
After obtaining the [Evil Eye’s Telescope],
I had to keep the situation on the Arcana Continent in mind and rack my brain over that, too.
But would this mouth ever allow me to complain?
“I shall return to you all soon.”
Don’t say it like you’re being cool, Granfell.
This is not the time to strike a pose.
Even at this very moment, the ring of the Circle was tightening around my heart.
I recalled Yugwid’s words.
“To think you formed a Circle. It is an achievement great enough to make me feel ashamed of myself, Chief Lee Hoyeol. At this rate, even if this chief does not treat me as an elder, I suppose I have no right to feel disappointed?”
With that affable face, you said something full of lingering resentment, Yugwid.
As expected, mages are terrifying creatures…!
Still, Yugwid had explained the Circle to me with utmost sincerity.
“To put it simply, a Circle is like the reins of a horse. If this chief takes hold of the ring and shakes it roughly, mana will run wild like an enraged horse.”
The magic of a mage who had formed a Circle
overwhelmed the magic of a mage who had not.
If one expressed the power of magic before and after forming a Circle in numbers, there was supposedly a gap of at least several times to ten (一十) times.
“However, as with reins, handling a Circle requires delicate control. As this chief surely knows, the Circle is formed around the heart.”
That was right.
In order to handle a Circle, one needed ability equal to it.
Perhaps it would be faster to feel it with my body than to hear it in words.
I slowly drew up my mana.
Float—
A sphere of mana rose into the air, Light.
It was such a basic spell I had used to death that I lightly omitted the search and interference processes.
I carefully examined the glow of Light…
As expected, there was nothing one could call a change in output.
Clink—
Of course, there was still no feeling of my heart being constricted, either.
[Transcendent: The effect is sealed because the conditions have not been met.]
Judging from that message, the Circle had been formed, but it did not seem to be functioning. In that sense, should I be grateful that the title’s effect had been sealed?
I had not yet developed the ability,
nor even made the vessel.
If I had suddenly grabbed the ring of the Circle and shaken it…
Forget fainting while standing.
I might have stood ramrod straight and crossed the Yellow Springs from a heart attack.
“Above all, this is news that will delight the Tower Master. He has often felt regretful, you see. About the fact that there was no mage in the Mage Tower with whom he could share his magical insight.”
From Yugwid’s words, I was able to realize it.
The Arcana Continent’s strongest armed organization, the Mage Tower.
Even in that mighty Mage Tower, the only mage who had formed a Circle was the Tower Master. That was why it hit me. I really had skipped over an absurd number of intermediate steps…!
So I could understand why I had fallen into qi deviation.
My mana, even judged generously, was probably only about the same as that of a skilled mage.
And I had gone and fastened a ring called a Circle around that mana.
Far from becoming reins I could grasp and shake, it could only become heavy shackles.
Clink—
“It runs wild without rest.”
But would this damned pride ever easily admit its own inadequacy?
Pat—
Soon, the sphere of mana scattered into the air.
I calmly spoke.
“It has been a long time since I last handled such a rough wild horse.”
……
That statement means the Circle is the wild horse, right?
Now you’re even making use of metaphors, Granfell.
There’s a limit to shamelessness, seriously!
Even as I was appalled, a part of me was relieved.
If I had been wholly Lee Hoyeol,
wouldn’t I be acting pitiful by now, saying I’d come down with an incurable disease? But thanks to our prideful Lord Granfell, I had been preparing early.
“I shall personally subdue that wild nature.”
Clink—
Qi deviation.
The power of a transcendent dwelling in my heart.
My struggle to make the Circle mine!
*
Scratch, scratch.
Marcelo’s office.
Countless books and letters were piled on the desk.
Marcelo realized something anew.
To think he had failed to notice because of his weakened body.
A small laugh escaped him.
“I had been relying on him far more than I knew.”
What sort of creatures were mages?
They were those who, as if thirsting for truth, wanted to investigate anything new they saw. Naturally, there were many things they were curious about, not only regarding the rifts, but also the world of adventurers.
Even the applications to leave the tower were considerable in quantity.
“As Sir said, everything must proceed according to procedure…”
The purpose for leaving the tower had to be examined strictly.
As he approved the applications one by one, time flew by.
Marcelo tilted his head.
At this rate…
“…Truly, each and every day must have been insufficient for him.”
He, who stayed in the Mage Tower and managed only the Mage Tower, was different from Hoyeol.
The Yusra Kingdom, Frost, and even this world of adventurers.
The weight of the burden Hoyeol had shouldered was difficult even to imagine.
“You made the right decision at an important time.”
Now that he had formed a Circle,
Sir would also need time to adapt to that Circle.
In that sense, there was no more suitable moment than now.
The Demon King struggle had returned to nothingness.
On top of that, now that the high-ranking Demon King Gamigin had fallen to hell,
the demons’ activity on the Arcana Continent had quieted.
It was not a misconception like during the Demon King’s Castle rift.
Unlike back then, he could confirm the state of the Arcana Continent through the [Evil Eye’s Telescope]. In other words, he had witnessed the demons’ morale broken as thoroughly as it could be.
“I will do my utmost to fill Sir’s absence.”
Muttering so, Marcelo’s quill pen scratched across the page.
“Senior Mage Bensch William will have to put in a little more effort.”
[Rejected].
*
The world was at peace.
After all, there were heroes who had cleared twelve rifts without even a single casualty. It was no wonder heroic tales were heard from every rift.
[The Lionheart Knights defeat a named monster!]
[On senior mages, and the strength of the Mage Tower.]
[The strongest shields, the paladins of the Goddess Church.]
[The final kings among small elite forces, the Shadow Mercenaries’ great performance.]
Those receiving the greatest attention were, of course, the Arcanians who had performed splendidly. After all, they had proven their overwhelming military might in front of countless players and camera lenses.
“Kahahaha!”
The Golden Calf Tavern.
A laugh no one had missed in the slightest rang out.
Rockid had tapped his second keg of alcohol in broad daylight.
“Final king… I don’t know exactly what that means, but if it’s a king, it must be good, right? This damned world is finally recognizing the true worth of Lord Rockid!”
The defeat he had suffered at Elsidore’s hands still stung, but…
Well, our employer said he would take care of that.
There was no need to worry about it.
More than that, he wanted to enjoy this moment.
“Now then, let’s see what they’re yapping about.”
Rockid pressed the remote with a rough finger.
Beep—
The picture immediately began moving.
“Now, it must be time for this body’s axe, the one that slaughtered demons, to appear.”
And yet…
No matter how long he waited, and even after he emptied several kegs of alcohol, Rockid’s figure did not appear. They merely chattered all day long about the same person.
His employer, Lee Hoyeol!
“Ahem.”
When he thought of the help he had received during the matter with Elsidore…
The tiny bit of conscience he had left pricked him too much to resent Hoyeol.
But that did not mean he could simply let it pass without feeling wronged.
In the end, Rockid only downed innocent alcohol one cup after another.
Bang!
“What the hell, how much do they have to say that they’re talking all day?!”
Rockid might not have understood, but the players holding their breath in the tavern could.
From the very moment he had revealed his existence, Hoyeol had not hidden his actions.
“At its worst, paparazzi even followed him around, didn’t they?”
You know, plaparazzi.
Those notorious among players had once stuck to Hoyeol, trying to dig up information.
“There is no such thing as a perfect person. That has to be an act. They said they’d definitely uncover the truth. That if they exposed it, they’d be sitting on a pile of money. Everyone was practically drooling.”
Of course, before long, every last one of them
gave up and disappeared with their tongues out.
It was literally a hamster wheel.
The Mage Tower, rifts, the Mage Tower, the Yusra Kingdom…
Far from any deviation,
Hoyeol repeated such a regular routine that one began to doubt whether he was even a human being with desires. The final nail in the coffin had been when Baek Iseol, the guild master of Myth, approached Hoyeol.
“How many times was it in a row? Ten consecutive rejections? Anyway, after seeing her turned away at the door like that, the plaparazzi didn’t even think about pointing their cameras at Lee Hoyeol anymore.”
Even while repeating such a routine,
Lee Hoyeol had cleared countless rifts.
And now that Hoyeol was putting down his burden and taking a period of rest,
it was only natural that the world’s attention would focus on that first vacation.
“The player communities are already going crazy with theories! Some people are even guessing that he received some incredible quest…!!”
…
With free time on my hands, what increased was the time I spent surfing the internet.
Wasn’t that something contrary to my pride?
There was no way it was.
“No matter how urgent the situation, I cannot neglect the strange and wondrous.”
At this point, wasn’t it rationalization that transcended pride?
The thought occurred to me, but this was not a pride I could resist by pointing it out.
More importantly.
‘Why is everyone so interested in my vacation?’
I had announced the news regarding my leave of absence at the round table meeting through Marcelo.
I had expected it to become known to the world through the players.
So I had braced myself in my own way, but beyond my expectations,
this attention was considerably burdensome.
- fr isn’t this a World Quest? A high-ranking Demon King was involved, right?
- honestly would it stop at a World Quest? I’m betting Main
- what’s a Main Quest, you damn weeb
- does a main quest even exist in the first place?
- actually I don’t know either, sry lol
- the bait is real bait, this aggro is insane;;
What the hell, what misunderstanding is everyone having?
I had accomplished something greater than successfully clearing a World Quest, but so what?
I couldn’t even properly digest the reward!
It wasn’t anything grand, just something like closed-door training.
“What poor imagination.”
……
What’s poor is your conscience, Granfell.
Please, let’s stop saying things that might come true.
Especially right now, because it makes me even more embarrassed.
With that desperate wish, I shifted my gaze.
The reason I said I was embarrassed was right before my eyes.
The first day after I submitted my leave of absence.
I was not at the site of a World Quest or a Main Quest.
I was in the Yusra Kingdom.
To be precise, I was standing ramrod straight in the vegetable patch of the annex in the Yusra Kingdom.
An unshaken posture.
The exact angle of my arms.
With a manner overflowing with formality, I sprinkled water from a watering can over the garden.
I spouted plausibly.
“There are many methods when it comes to taming.”
That was right.
Struggling, too, was best done by someone who had experience struggling.
How many wells had I dug until now?
If only because it would be a waste, shouldn’t I try everything I could?
[Method of Cultivating Elixir Herbs].
Qi deviation.
If I could not overcome it with an Elixir Herb,
then what about a spiritual elixir grown from an Elixir Herb?