◈ Episode 238. This Is Familiar to Me
Crystal Hall.
Hoyeol left Crystal Hall, leaving only the access device behind.
Even so, the lingering shock did not fade easily.
The players were the first to whisper among themselves.
“……
He’s saying he’ll share an incredible opportunity with us, isn’t he?”
“And he hasn’t even tried using it himself first!”
“Damn it, what the hell was I thinking…….”
They realized it once again.
That Hoyeol’s pride was so weighty it could hardly be said to be something one could chase after.
And that, as heavy as it was, it contained just as many meanings.
Some of the players looked around them.
“To think we can return to the Arcana Continent.”
“Mother, Father…….”
“I just want to confirm that they’re safe. That’s all.”
Hoyeol had clearly said so.
-“No one can judge the weight of that purpose.”
That was right.
Who would dare judge how heavy or light those stories were?
Once they had entered the Magic Tower,
even if they could no longer return to their former lives,
to them, the Arcana Continent was their homeland, and in that homeland were their blood relatives.
Bellier, the senior of healing magic, gave a faint smile.
“So you mean to overlook nothing at all.”
Bellier knew.
That Chief Lee Hoyeol did not so much as skim over a single application to leave the tower. Every rejected application always came back with a proper reason and points to amend attached.
And was it only applications to leave the tower?
The same was true of the preliminary reviews for the regular conferences.
Beginning with Klee’s research on 『Methods of Cultivating Elixir Herbs』,
even the research of inexperienced skilled mages.
Was Hoyeol not someone who pondered over them as if they were his own research?
‘And yet, a burden even heavier than that. You intend to shoulder it alone again this time?’
If she could, she wanted to share that burden with him right away, but…….
Bellier did not have the confidence.
Because the responsibility that followed was incomparably heavier than leaving the tower or preliminary reviews.
‘Sir…….’
That was also the reason Marcelo could not easily raise his head.
The elder mage, Yugweed, spoke to Marcelo.
“Isn’t it remarkable, Chief Marcelo? To be honest, if I were Chief Lee, I would have hidden the fact that I’d obtained such a thing for the time being.”
“You are honest, Elder Yugweed.”
“Huhu. After all, it would only be asking for trouble, wouldn’t it?”
But what about Hoyeol?
Not only had he asked for trouble,
he had revealed it plainly to the Magic Tower.
No, to the entire world.
As if he had been waiting for it, he turned the arrows toward himself.
“It is the size of a vessel I cannot fathom.”
“The same goes for me.”
“Meow.”
“……?”
A cat with its fur standing on end.
The Tower Master slipped between the two and babbled.
The Tower Master had finally finished weighing things in his head.
‘In every respect, you are more suited than I to the position of Tower Master.’
It meant he had made a decision that would make the person involved recoil in horror if he ever found out.
“By the way…….”
Marcelo looked toward the exit of Crystal Hall, where Hoyeol had left.
‘He clearly said he had no time to spare.’
Where had Sir been heading in such a hurry?
The fact that he had gone out through that door meant he was still in the Magic Tower.
Marcelo rose from his seat.
‘……
I cannot simply remain here.’
Hoyeol and Marcelo had been pursuing joint research on the Anomaly in order to return to the Arcana Continent.
But if what Hoyeol said was true, then there was no longer any need to continue the research.
‘I do not know whether I have the right to know.’
It was the unavoidable nature of a mage.
Only by speaking with Hoyeol did he feel his hollow emotions would calm down.
With Marcelo at the lead, the mages left Crystal Hall amid murmurs.
Among them, there were two people who remained in their seats until the end.
Bensch and Bangrit.
“As expected, Chief Lee Hoyeol has not abandoned me!”
It was not that leaving the tower was trivial, but if one compared leaving the tower to returning to the Arcana Continent? Naturally, returning to the Arcana Continent was a far more precious opportunity!
“All those rejections until now were arrangements for this very day!”
Bangrit’s eyes swept over the smug Bensch.
‘……
Where on earth does that confidence come from?’
For Bangrit, who had risen from a commoner to a senior in the Magic Tower, reading the room was an everyday affair. Thanks to that, he had immediately understood it. The hidden meaning contained in the words “I will shoulder it.”
‘That process will likely be no different from the review to leave the tower…….’
Senior Bensch.
You can’t even leave the tower.
There’s no way you’ll be able to enter the Arcana Continent……?
The cruel truth rose all the way to the tip of his tongue.
But Bangrit gave an awkward laugh.
“Eumhaha. Wait for me, little brother. Your big brother is coming.”……
Yes, even if I don’t say it, you’ll realize it soon enough.
So for the time being, please enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.
Senior Bensch.
*
The Round Table Conference ended.
After leaving Crystal Hall, the place I headed for was Garnet Hall.
There was only one reason to stop by Garnet Hall.
‘I have to go, to the Arcana Continent.’
So I have to borrow them, magic tools.
Because otherwise, I might hear another scolding from Granfell.
I stealthily glanced at my level.
[Level: 680]
For being blindsided by Raymon Sean, it was a fairly decent reward. After entering the 600-level range, it hadn’t exactly been easy to raise my level anywhere.
Flutter—
Now, with only 20 levels remaining until I could properly wear the jacket that fluttered every time I walked.
That alone was one of the major reasons I had to raise my level.
‘The higher my level, the more it helps broaden my range of choices.’
Memories of when I had visited Garnet Hall as a parachute appointee came vividly to mind.
Back then, I had been barely around level 100 at most.
Because of that, the Magic Tower’s magic tools, which had felt like pie in the sky,
could now be chosen freely.
“Ah, Chief Lee Hoyeol……?”
The skilled mage guarding Garnet Hall flinched.
He must have been wondering what business I had in Garnet Hall
after suddenly convening the Round Table Conference.
I spoke as if it were nothing.
“The Round Table Conference has ended.”
“Ah, I see! Then, what brings you to Garnet Hall……?”
“I would like to borrow magic tools under the authority of the chief.”
“Ah, so that is it! Is there a particular magic tool you are looking for?”
In truth, as a rule, mages of the Magic Tower did not rely on magic tools.
Why? Because that was the nature of mages born with the talent to enter the Magic Tower.
Whether research, truth, or anything else, they were beings who constantly pursued it and sought to improve themselves.
That was why magic tools that simply amplified manifestation power were not used unless there was a “special purpose.”
In other words.
“I need magic tools related to manifestation power.”
“……!”
It was only natural that my words surprised him.
Because it was the same as saying I had a special purpose.
Of course, there was no way the skilled mage would ask me what my purpose was.
“T-then, this way…….”
I entered Garnet Hall under his guidance.
‘Oho.’
Several magic tools I had seen back in my parachute days entered my sight.
I must have felt so wronged by my low level
that I still remembered their names clearly.
That necklace-like magic tool, [Frozen Knowledge], right?
[Frozen Knowledge]
[Grade: Unique]
[Requirement: Lv.550]
[Effect: When using ice magic, recover 50 percent of the mana consumed.]
[Description: A relic of a great ice mage. The magical knowledge he achieved in life has been frozen within the necklace and preserved exactly as it was.]
Even seeing it again, it was a magic tool with an effect any ice mage would covet.
Recovering 50 percent of the mana consumed.
To put it bluntly, imagine if an effect like this were attached to a magic tool related to pure mana.
‘It would be Epic grade, wouldn’t it?’
Back then, when my insight was narrow, I hadn’t known, but now I understood.
The reason an item with this kind of effect was only Unique grade and had a level requirement that wasn’t all that high.
It was because ice magic was one of the non-mainstream schools of magic.
‘Honestly, it doesn’t really have any particular strengths.’
Its destructive power in special situations was outstanding, but its greatest weakness was that its flaws were clear. Above all, the problem was its fatal compatibility with fire magic, one of the mainstream schools of magic.
‘To think he rose to the position of elder mage with that kind of ice magic.’
Even thinking about it again, he had been an impressive man, Senios.
And I was someone who had been acknowledged by that very Senios, wasn’t I?
I was no longer the me from my parachute days, when only my appearance looked passable.
The Lee Hoyeol who had looked around to his heart’s content and ended up borrowing only a single [Hexagram Brooch]
no longer existed.
Filled with confidence, I grasped [Frozen Knowledge]
in my hand.
“!”
……
Was it because I picked it up so confidently?
The skilled mage’s pupils trembled.
But it was too early to be surprised.
I shamelessly said,
“I will choose the next magic tool to borrow.”
Not only did I have to enter the Arcana Continent,
I had to face the dying Elder Dragon, Yunaxus.
In other words, I might even have to face the enemy that had driven the unrivaled Elder Dragon to death. In that situation, could I really finish all preparations with just a single magic tool?
‘……
I’m going to be ridiculously decked out.’
In truth, even now,
with a necklace, a brooch, and a fluttering jacket, my outfit was excessively flashy.
Still, if there was a silver lining, it was that there would be no one to watch on the Arcana Continent. So let’s endure the embarrassingly flashy outfit for just a little while, Hoyeol.
“Not bad.”
“I will borrow this.”
“This one as well.”
For a while, only my voice echoed through Garnet Hall…….
...
The actual person in charge of Garnet Hall was the senior of enchantment magic, Kiko Armin.
Everything that happened in Garnet Hall was reported to her.
What happened today was no exception.
“……
What did you say, Laran?”
Laran, the skilled mage guarding Garnet Hall.
She carefully repeated herself.
As clearly as possible.
“Chief Lee Hoyeol borrowed a total of twelve magic tools……?”
Twelve items.
It was certainly a large number, but that was not what surprised her.
Above all, a chief mage had the authority to borrow magic tools freely.
The problem was the types of magic tools he had borrowed.
Kiko clutched at her hair as she examined the parchment.
“Frozen Knowledge, Seahorse’s Heart, Dice of Destiny……?!”
All twelve magic tools.
They were “decisive battle” magic tools that amplified manifestation power.
Kiko continued reading the next line.
Only then did she realize
why Laran had been wearing such a troubled expression.
“……
Senior Mage Kiko!”
“It is not good to make hasty assumptions, Laran.”
“That is true, but……!”
Unlike other magic tools, decisive battle magic tools had to have their rental period specified. Because no one knew what result might be brought about the moment a mage of the Magic Tower handled a decisive battle magic tool indefinitely.
Even Hoyeol was no exception to the rules of the Magic Tower.
Laran continued in a tearful voice.
“The rental period that Chief Lee Hoyeol wrote……!!”
Even if she did not say it, Kiko was looking at it.
Kiko focused her eyes again and looked at the parchment.
There, written calmly in Hoyeol’s handwriting, were the words.
──────
Rental period: Until the moment of death.
──────
...……
No, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
But did you really have to write it so bluntly?
Couldn’t you have just kindly written,
“Until I return from the Arcana Continent”?
Until the moment of death!
The reason I had scrawled that in the rental period was simple.
Because I had the title effect, [Last Adventurer].
Above all, I checked that reassuring effect once again.
[Last Adventurer: You do not die on the Arcana Continent. Upon death, you immediately return to reality and cannot access the Arcana Continent for a certain period of time.
- Cooldown: 24 hours]
In a word, it was a Granfell-style expression.
On the Arcana Continent, which was like hell,
until the moment of death,
it was a vow never to lower my head or bend my will.
Of course, the skilled mage who had checked it had been unable to hide her shock.
She must have thought of me as a shameless bastard
trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of the Magic Tower’s magic tools until I died……!
‘I’d rather actually be getting cursed at for being greedy.’
Because of my integrity,
I wasn’t even able to be properly greedy. And yet I ended up being treated as a shameless bastard who borrowed a whopping twelve Magic Tower magic tools until I died.
‘I couldn’t feel more wronged. Seriously.’
……
But to clear up the misunderstanding,
there was far too much I would have to explain.
As expected, the only thing that could soothe this wronged heart of mine was teatime.
“Mmm.”
So do not show your displeasure just because it is not green tea, Granfell.
As they say, what tastes bitter is good for the body.
Above all, what I needed right now
was not the caffeine in green tea, but elixir herb doping.
[For 6 hours, life-force regeneration slightly increases.]
[For 1 hour, mana regeneration slightly increases.]
[For 12 hours, stamina regeneration slightly increases.]
…….
……
Was it because Elsidore, an elf, had cultivated them?
Or if not that, was it because they were organic elixir herbs?
Their effects were not bad.
‘Effects like slight increases pile up and pile up to make a big difference.’
Then, shall I slowly prepare to cross over?
Clack—
I set down the teacup and rose from my seat.
What had I felt when I opened the Anomaly portal leading to Arcana?
That I needed a space capable of withstanding the enormous magical energy generated during manifestation. The space suited to that purpose was the top floor of the Magic Tower.
I opened the door wide to head to the top floor……
You startled me!
What are you all doing in front of my office door?
And what’s with those serious expressions?
……
Wait, then did you hear me complaining about the green tea too?!