◈ Chapter 212. It Was You
If anyone had heard me, they would have asked what nonsense I was spouting.
Of course they would.
To suddenly claim that I was the founder of the Strange.
There was no way to prove it.
But the Archmage should know full well. Why Jesse, who had almost no magical knowledge whatsoever, knew of the Strange, a concept higher than magic.
“……
No way?”
There may be no masters and disciples among mages?
I agree.
But I am not a mage, I am a demon hunter. Which means that Jesse and I had rather in-depth conversations about magic and the Strange as well.
The Archmage let out a hearty chuckle.
“Yes, I certainly do remember that. Damn it all.”
Had he gone back through the memories in Jesse’s head, or perhaps in that pointed hat?
The expression that had been leisurely from start to finish grew somewhat serious.
It seemed he was finally grasping the situation.‘Too late, though.’Granfell lives by pride and dies by pride.
If someone made light of another’s pride before such a Granfell.
They had to pay the price.
And as for that price, there was no need to say it.
Very well, let us see whose pride is more upright and more fanatical.
“But to deny us access to the Strange. Even if you are its founder, do you have the right to do that? I don’t understand what you mean.”
He was right.
The path to the Strange was not an actual road one could walk.
It was not something I could block.
But though I was not a mage, I was the Chief of the Magic Tower.
Thanks to that, I knew very well what mages hated most.
“The limit of magic you all sought.”
So I declared.
“I will be the first to reach the end of the Strange.”
“……!”
In other words, I would snatch away their truth.
That, Archmage.
Would likely be the only way to break your pride.
After a brief silence, a question returned.
“May I take that as a declaration of war against us?”
Silence meant affirmation, so of course.
Ah, excluding the unconscious Jesse, since she was innocent.
I turned my thoughts over.‘What a noisy, unpredictable day to the very end.’They say extremes meet, don’t they?
To end up in a hostile relationship not with one, but with the Archmage“s.”
I wondered whether the effects of my greatly increased luck were truly supposed to be this.
Even so, I did not doubt it.‘I already confirmed the effect of luck properly.’So then……
Should I think about it in reverse?
There had to be a reason why this current situation was treated as luck.
I looked back on the unusually exhausting day.
Then a memory from the Magic Tower came to mind.
More precisely, Marcelo’s words.──────The Tower Master has reacted for the first time.──────At the same time, the Archmage’s voice surfaced.
-“As the Chief of the Magic Tower, you should know better than anyone, shouldn’t you?”
-“That’s right. In the language of the Magic Tower, it’s ‘truth.’”
The Archmage before my eyes knew far too much about the Magic Tower in detail.
Moreover, the fact that he had entered the Social Hall of Time and Space with the stature of a transcendent meant that, as a mage, he had at least formed a “Circle.”
Among the knowledge I possessed, there was only one mage in the Magic Tower who had formed a Circle.
I spoke in a low voice.
“It was you.”
At the same time, the quest window flickered.[Quest: Reconstruction of the Magic Tower]
The true nature of the contradiction that existed in the Tower of Mages.
Now that even the Magic Tower’s purpose of pursuing truth has become impure.
Set the Magic Tower right from its very foundation.─Encounter the Tower Master. (Success)
The moment my conjecture became certainty.
The taste in my mouth could not have been more bitter.
As expected, there was a reason the water downstream had not been clear.‘Because the truth the Tower Master believed in was this sort of thing.’The elders, including Karimzeva.
The senior, skilled, and apprentice mages beneath them as well.
They had no choice but to be trapped inside the fence called truth.
However, at that moment, the flashing quest objective was not the only one.─Find the true truth. (In progress)
Yes, the Magic Tower had cast aside a truth that was only a truth in name.
It had begun to move in search of the true truth.
It had changed.
Tower Master, much had changed while you were floating inside the mana sphere.
At this point, it seemed there was nothing more for us to discuss.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘it was you.’”
I rose from my seat and said,
“You have no talent for acting.”
“……
Acting?”
“I advise you to stop, even now.”
“You do know you’ve been saying nothing but riddles for a while now, don’t you? I’ve never met a man this difficult. Besides, I already stopped acting earlier, didn’t I? Thanks to you, Chief, taking even a harmless little prank so seriously.”
No.
The acting I told him to stop.
Was not imitating Jesse.
“Jesse Heinness, the adventurer. Was the reason you granted her the qualifications of an apprentice mage so you could observe the vessel of an Archmage up close?”
“……!”
“However, one question comes to mind.”
At my words, the Archmage’s expression began to stiffen.
“Unlike the previous Archmages, is your body not floating within the mana sphere? If what you said is true, then that action clearly violates the procedure of one-man transmission.”
“……
Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“As I said, you have no talent for acting, Tower Master.”
“!”
What I was telling him to stop was that damned self-directed play.
I did not know what scheme he had that made him go so far as to violate the Archmage’s procedure.
Separating body and consciousness.
Doing something so perilous.
“This matter will be treated as confidential for the time being.”
It was not because I was worried about you, Tower Master.
“I do not wish to disappoint Chief Marcelo.”
Until the very moment he had been dying from the curse that gave him only a short time to live.
Marcelo had worried about you, Tower Master, and I pitied him for it.
So do not misunderstand.
The moment I brought up Marcelo’s name.
There was no longer any trace of composure on the Tower Master’s face.
Scrape!
The sound of a chair being dragged irritably.
Then a sharpened voice followed.
“Wait, are you sure you can leave just like this? If it were me, I would be worried. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that I’m controlling this child’s body?”
A threat?
It seemed he still had not grasped the situation properly.
I could return those exact same lines to him.
I shot back coldly.
“Tower Master, bear in mind that your body is also in my hands. And I will advise you once again. No matter how I look at it, you have no talent for acting.”
Besides, I had a vague sense.
That the fact the Tower Master had taken over Jesse’s body.
Was influenced by my greatly increased luck.[Remaining Time: 3 minutes 21 seconds]
And on top of that, he himself had said.
That thanks to heavenly fortune, he had been able to see the world for the first time in a long while.
It made me think anew that my occupational disease had come in handy.‘Maybe it’s because I’ve only dealt with vicious demons for so long.’When it came to distinguishing malice.
I was uncannily good at it.
So I did not know what reason he had for doing such a thing.
But I sensed no malice from the Tower Master as he threatened me with Jesse as a hostage.‘Besides, there is more certain proof than anything.’He was the Tower Master whom Marcelo of all people had respected. If I denied Marcelo’s eye for people, then I would also be denying myself, who had obtained the Chief’s position thanks to Marcelo.
So the acting I had been telling him to quit since earlier.
Was that ill-fitting bad-guy act, Tower Master.
Gnaw—
The Tower Master bit his lower lip with Jesse’s face.
Then he looked at me and said,
“……
You have no manners, Chief.”
What?
No manners?
Me, who lived and died by formalities?
“Must you expose your superior’s shame like that?”……
Ah, if he brought rank into it, I had nothing to say.
While I stood there silently, unable to come up with a response.
The Tower Master’s complexion changed once more.
The way his face shifted so rapidly depending on the situation.
Was frightening because it truly felt like watching a department head.‘As expected, experience can’t be ignored.’Just as I was inwardly clicking my tongue.
“Chief. Since you’ve seen through everything, there’s no helping it. No matter how much I think about it, you’ll have to become my accomplice.”……
But, what was that? Accomplice?!
As if I were insane enough to get in the same boat as a superior who reeked of something rotten.
In office life, the best policy is not to cling to a rotten lifeline.
However, at that moment, my vision flickered.[Quest: Reconstruction of the Magic Tower]
The true nature of the contradiction that existed in the Tower of Mages.
Now that even the Magic Tower’s purpose of pursuing truth has become impure.
Set the Magic Tower right from its very foundation.─Encounter the Tower Master. (Success)─Thwart the Archmages’ conspiracy. (In progress)
Only then did I realize.‘……
Wait, you were acting from that point on?’It seemed I would have to take back what I said about him being bad at acting.*
A dragon had glided down!
That breaking news spread across the entire world.
The shockwaves were tremendous.
It was news enough to make even the players hunting monsters in the Zero Mountains without fear come to a halt.
“……
That thing, it’s not flying toward us, is it?”
“Come on, what kind of boss mob comes all the way to the entrance to greet you?”
“Right? I’m just worrying over nothing, right?”
In truth, until they received information from the AAU.
The players in the Zero Mountains had sensed nothing at all.
The Zero Mountains were simply that high.
Unless it was an enormous noise like the roar that rang out when Hoyeol and the Sword Saint, Shegwin, clashed, it was only natural that they would not hear it.
The southwestern region of the Zero Mountains.
The base camp of the Great Alliance.
Analyst Nam Cheolmin recited the incoming information.
“A phenomenon similar to when the rift of the ruptured dimensional crack appeared at the summit of the Zero Mountains has been detected……. That’s all the information that’s come in so far. Nothing’s happened on your side either, right?”
-Yeah. Nothing except the rabbits being insanely tough.
“That’s a relief. Since the dragon hasn’t been spotted anywhere after gliding down from the summit……. It seems most likely that it headed to the Arcana Continent through the generated rift after all.”
-Really? The expert next to me said the exact same thing as you, hyung.
“……
Expert?”
At Nam Taemin’s words, Nam Cheolmin tilted his head.
As if there were such a thing as a dragon expert in this world…….
No, wait, could he be with Hoyeol?
-Not Hoyeol. I’m talking about the Dragon Knight, Skal.
“I thought so…… wait, S-Skal?! Why is Skal next to you?”
-Ah, he joined our side a little while ago.
“Wh-what?!”
Nam Cheolmin’s eyes widened.
Who was Skal?
Mystery itself.
A player who belonged to no guild, yet had never once come down from first place in Arcana’s official rankings. On top of that, his potential was evaluated as top-tier even among hidden classes: the Dragon Knight!
That Skal had joined the Great Alliance?
In an instant, an abacus began clacking inside his head.‘If things go well, Shining and even Cheonhatongil…….’Our Great Alliance might be able to overtake them?
Of course, Nam Cheolmin’s flights of fancy did not last long.
Because Nam Taemin, having finished his struggle against the rabbits, added,
“Yeah, it was pride.”
Twitch—
At those words, Leoni, who was beside him, shot him a glare.‘No, do you really think that explains anything?’From Hoyeol and the dragon to the class quest.
Skal’s joining the Great Alliance was tied up in a long-winded and complicated chain of events. It was a story that would take more than a full explanation of the circumstances to properly convey.
But he thought people would understand if he summed it all up with the single word pride?!
“As expected, I knew you’d understand, hyung.”
“?!”……
And yet, there was someone who did.
Leoni’s mind went faint once again.
Could it be that I’m the abnormal one……?
Damn it, her head throbbed.
“Seriously, everyone’s insane…….”
However, Leoni’s headache did not last long.
“U-uwaaaagh!!”
Skal had been brushing the tail of his beloved horse, Alexander.
And then he screamed in horror.
Neigh!
Thud!
Startled by that, Alexander kicked up a fuss and lashed out with his hind legs.
But Skal, who had actually been hit, seemed used to it and showed no sign of pain.
Rather, Hisagi and Shreig were worried for him.
“Are you all right, Mr. Skal?”
“That sounded terrifying.”
“……
Somehow, that Skal isn’t the image I had of him. Unnie?”
Murmurs rose from all around.
But Skal had no attention to spare for them.
Because more than being kicked in the groin by a horse’s hoof.
Terrifying letters had appeared before his eyes.
“……
N-no.”
When he heard the news that a dragon had glided down, he had thought it couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be, it wasn’t, he thought, desperately averting his eyes.
But now that a new quest window was glittering before him.
He could no longer deny it.[Class Quest: Convocation of All Dragons]
Tears welled in Skal’s eyes.
“……
Great Family? Return to the Arcana Continent? All dragons assemble?! What in the world does this mean?! It hasn’t even been that long since the dragon moved, so where and what have you done this time to cause a quest like this……!!”
It was the moment the aftermath of heavenly fortune began.