◈ Episode 214. Ask the Party in Question
The Tower Master had vanished.
Every mage in the Magic Tower of senior rank or above swiftly assembled in the Crystal Hall.
Of course, that included me, the chief. As if that weren’t enough, I stood on the Crystal Hall’s dais as the first witness.
Even in a situation like this, my neck and back are excessively straight.
Thanks to my upright posture, I can see the faces of everyone gathered at a glance.
Most of them look utterly dumbfounded.
I hear Vensh and Bangrit whispering.
“What on earth is going on, Senior Bangrit?”
“You haven’t heard the news?”
“No, well, I’ve been so out of it……”
“What is that paper you’re holding?”
“Ah, this? Ahem, it’s nothing.”
What else would it be? It’s the tower-exit application I failed.
Judging by the general atmosphere, it seems Vensh is the only one who doesn’t grasp the severity of the situation. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone should be crumpling their faces with grave expressions. ‘Most of them probably had no connection to the Tower Master.’ Even among the senior mages, only a handful had ever met the elder mages face-to-face. How many of them could have possibly met the Tower Master, who was even harder to see?
Of course, those few……
Already looked troubled enough.
Among them, there was no need to say anything more about Marcelo.
“The Tower Master has gone missing.”
Marcelo spoke while seated.
“The first to discover the scene was Chief Lee Hoyeol.”
That was absolutely correct.
That was why I was standing so stiffly on the dais.
Soon, Yugweed glanced at Marcelo and picked up where he left off.
“And I was the one who discovered Chief Lee in that state.”
That was also correct.
When I nodded lightly, someone said,
“Then that’s a blessing amid misfortune! To think the first witness is none other than Chief Lee Hoyeol. Surely he must have found even the smallest clue!”……
Is he trying to roast me?
The one who uttered that suspicious-sounding remark was Vensh.
I wondered if this was his revenge for the tower-exit application.
But Vensh’s lack of tact was shocking enough that I decided to be generous and understand.
In truth, what was harder to understand than Vensh was my own damn stubbornness.
The gazes focused on me—surely they thought I knew the Tower Master’s whereabouts.
Of course, I had an idea.
A quest objective far clearer than any clue was floating before my eyes.
—Thwart the grand mages’ conspiracy. (In Progress)
●Face the Tower Master’s body. (Failed)
●Eliminate the rampaging Tower Master’s body. (In Progress)
……
Right, I knew things couldn’t go this smoothly!
His body and consciousness had definitely been separated.
So how had the Tower Master’s body twitched its fingers?
I’d been uneasy ever since that question occurred to me.
The sequence of events was exactly as shown in the quest objectives.
The Tower Master’s body, which had been floating inside the mana sphere, went berserk.
It shattered the sphere and ran away from the Magic Tower, leaving its consciousness behind in the cone hat. I couldn’t know where the Tower Master’s body had gone, but one thing was certain.
●Eliminate the rampaging Tower Master’s body. (In Progress)
It definitely wasn’t going to act friendly.
Even though I had such specific circumstances and a clear alibi.
As I said, my stubbornness.
No, Grandfel’s damn stubbornness was the problem.
“There were no clues left on the top floor of the Magic Tower.”
Right, well, that wasn’t wrong.
The clues were in my quest window.
They weren’t on the top floor.
But still. ‘There’s even a saying that words can repay a thousand nyang of debt, so why.’ Why do you always invite a beating with your mouth?
Why do you only choose to say words that become seeds, Grandfel?
“Ah……”
At my declaration, firm to the point of being cold, Vensh looked visibly flustered.
Bangrit, sitting beside him, opened his mouth in his stead.
“Then, regarding the Tower Master’s whereabouts, do you have any idea……?”
My answer to that was even more spectacular.
“I will not answer.”
“……!!!”
In my defense, this wasn’t simple pettiness.
It was because of pride that forced me to keep any words I had spoken.
That’s right, because I had clearly said this to the Tower Master.
—“I will keep this matter confidential for the time being.”
But no matter how confidential it was. ‘There’s a reason people say silence is affirmation.’ Couldn’t you at least say it in a slightly roundabout way?!
At my brazen declaration, the atmosphere in the Crystal Hall shifted subtly.
Yugweed spoke.
“Then may I at least ask why you visited the top floor of the Magic Tower? The chief of the Magic Tower does have the authority to freely enter the top floor. But Chief Lee, you don’t usually go there, do you?”
Why else? Obviously because of the quest.
However, it was a quest that had originated from the Tower Master in the first place.
According to the words I had spoken.
I had no choice but to remain silent even in response to Yugweed’s question.
This time, too, the words I uttered were consistent.
“I will not answer.”
Truly, there is no mouth more terrifying.
I was such a suspicious person.
I was exercising my right to remain silent as if advertising it.
Even so, the gazes directed at me did not turn suspicious. ‘This reaction is a little moving.’
Of course, not being suspected didn’t mean this was over.
Marcelo, who had been lowering his head.
His gaze, hollow no matter how one looked at it, turned toward me.
“……
I believe there must be unavoidable circumstances behind your words, my lord. However, my lord, just this once, would you please take my feelings into consideration?”
I’ll say it again.
Mages on the Arcana Continent.
And among them, the mages of the Magic Tower, are absolutely not saints.
Had I not heard of anecdotes proving this about the Magic Tower, from rumors far away and from Yesica close at hand? ‘They blew away an entire area simply because it got in their way.’
Those mages were trying to understand me, who looked suspicious to anyone.
I hadn’t wanted to experience it in this way, but.
It certainly made me feel that the Magic Tower had changed.
However.
“Regrettably, Chief Marcelo.”
“……
My lord?”
“Even so, I cannot comply with your request.”
The reason I refused to answer even at the cost of inviting needless suspicion was entirely because of Marcelo. Yes, I didn’t want Marcelo to be disappointed. ‘The Tower Master he has been anxiously waiting for is already dead.’
From the moment his body and consciousness were separated, the Tower Master was as good as dead. Otherwise, he would not have been able to pass the grand mage class on to Jesse.
That was precisely why I wasn’t flustered. ‘This, too, must be part of the Tower Master’s plan.’
I still didn’t know what he was scheming.
But as the quest objective stated.
It was a plan that could only be achieved if the Tower Master’s own body died.
That was why, even if I could tell others.
I absolutely could not tell Marcelo alone.
Even if.
“……
I understand your will, my lord.”
He ended up disappointed in me....
Belliere looked at Matis, senior in Black Magic Studies.
Matis merely had his eyes closed in silence.
It was only procedure, not an interrogation.
Even so, merely because Chief Lee Hoyeol was the first witness, he probably hated seeing him stand on the dais answering questions. In truth, Belliere’s feelings weren’t much different. ‘……No, everyone must feel the same.’
The skilled and apprentice mages might not know.
But every mage of senior rank or higher gathered here knew.
They knew the burdens Chief Lee Hoyeol, once an adventurer, had borne for the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower’s sins.
The moment the elder mages, including Karimjeva, were revealed to be devil worshipers, Chief Lee Hoyeol had turned all the world’s attention and arrows onto himself.
That was not all.
So that the staggering Magic Tower would not collapse completely.
So that it could move forward toward a new truth.
The one who led the winds of change had also been Chief Lee Hoyeol. ‘Everyone knows, which is why they’re wearing those expressions.’
Because he was such a Chief Lee Hoyeol.
Everyone here trusted him.
Even if he was giving no answer regarding the Tower Master’s disappearance.
They believed the chief must have unavoidable circumstances.
“I have no objection to the questions and answers.”
“I also have no remaining questions.”
“I believe it would be best to bring this to a close soon.”
Pure Mana Studies, Bangrit Tom.
Earth Magic Studies, Maia Dayan.
Enchantment Studies, Kiko Armin.
Spirit Magic Studies, Feiyan Lot……
“I agree.”
And lastly, herself and Senior Mage Matis.
It had nothing to do with rank.
Even the elder, Yugweed, was nodding at the seniors’ declarations.
The only one in the Crystal Hall who had not expressed an opinion was Marcelo. ‘Marcelo…….’
Belliere knew very well what kind of existence the Tower Master was to Marcelo.
She knew all too well.
So well that sometimes she even felt hurt by Marcelo because of it. ‘I know it can’t be helped.’
Belliere thought from Marcelo’s perspective.
After the Tower Master showed a reaction for the first time.
Less than a day later.
The Tower Master disappeared.
The one who first discovered the scene.
A blessing amid misfortune, was Chief Lee Hoyeol.
Marcelo must have been more relieved than anyone.
Because he must have thought that if it was Chief Lee Hoyeol, he would surely have detected something from the traces left by the Tower Master. Yet Chief Lee was keeping silent.
He had not said he didn’t know, but declared that he would not answer. ‘I know your heart must be complicated.’
Marcelo, with your personality.
You must be blaming yourself.
Even as you think you must not dare resent Chief Lee.
However, Belliere could guess.
That Chief Lee Hoyeol’s feelings were likely not so different from Marcelo’s.
Because Belliere was the only one. ‘Chief Lee…….’
The only one who knew the true reason Hoyeol had entered the Arcana Continent alone.
The only one who realized that even while millions of demons swarmed him, he had lifted the Simuard family’s terminal curse and returned.
And the only one who had even witnessed the sight of him returning to the Magic Tower covered in blood because of it. ‘If that truth were spoken, Marcelo would…….’
He would surely be able to understand Chief Lee’s feelings.
But because of that, Marcelo might fall into even deeper self-reproach.
Besides, had Chief Lee not said it?
—“Intense emotional changes are not good for him.”
Because of that request, Belliere had not revealed the truth of that day to anyone until now.
But just because it was not known did not mean it had never happened. Thus, Belliere believed without a doubt. ‘I believe you will surely set everything right.’
Belliere looked at Hoyeol.
At his back as he left the Crystal Hall.
Suddenly, she recalled the words Hoyeol had once left behind.
Chief Lee had surely said this.
—“To live is, by nature, to swim through solitude.”
“……
Are you going to bear it alone this time, too?”
Belliere murmured softly.
“……
How can you endure that weight?”...
At any rate, this damn dark history is confusing all sorts of people!
Why can’t you just say it plainly—that everything is the Tower Master’s plan, that the Tower Master broke the mana sphere with his own two feet and left the Magic Tower? Would it really hurt you to spill it, seriously. ‘I’m sorry.’
Especially to Marcelo, I have no face to show.
How much have I received from Marcelo until now!
Even if it’s for Marcelo’s sake.
To think there would come a matter between us that had to be kept hush-hush. ‘No, I mean, why did you have to say something so unnecessary……!’
Regardless of my self-reproach, my mouth shamelessly spoke.
“How arbitrary of you, Tower Master.”
Who exactly is one to talk, Grandfel? ‘I wasn’t going to go this far, but…….’
I was so embarrassed in the Crystal Hall I thought I would die, you know?
Right, equipment is like life itself to a player. On top of that, the Dawn set wasn’t all that different from the suit I usually wore. Let’s say I can overlook that.
Flutter—
But isn’t it too much to keep this damn jacket draped over my shoulders even in everyday life? It makes me feel like the stares at me are because of my outfit for no reason, and I end up developing a persecution complex.
“I will formally hold you accountable for your willful conduct.”
I, too, would like to formally hold you accountable for my sense of shame, Grandfel.
However.
That was not what mattered now.
From this moment on, I.
Just like the Sword Saint, Shegwin.
Had to eliminate a transcendent, and at the same time, the former grand mage—the Tower Master.
To be precise, not the Tower Master, but the “Tower Master’s body.”
In such a grave situation.
I calmly recited.
Adding the lingering resentment from the Crystal Hall.
“The one who must answer Marcelo’s question is you, Tower Master. Not me.”
Please.
May I be able to make those words come true this time as well.
I desperately hoped so as I moved my feet....
【Arcana Continent Chronicles Official Website】
※Emergency Update Notice
『The worst enemy is coming to your side.
A new boss monster, the Tower Master, will be added.
Appearance area: “All of Earth.”』
That day, humanity realized.
What kind of existence a transcendent of the Arcana Continent was.
Hundreds of meteors falling from the sky.
“Mom!”
“Look, there are so many shooting stars falling from the sky!”
“Sniff, O God. Please……!!”
They witnessed it amid despair.
“Unfortunately.”
As if someone had pressed the rewind button.
“I believe in neither gods nor superstitions.”
A swarm of meteors climbing back into the night sky, into space.
“Even so, if you were making a wish.”
An uncanny existence that surpassed even such a transcendent.
“I will make it come true in your stead.”
Flutter!