◈ Episode 446. He Will Return When the Time Comes (3)
I look out over the Claudi territory.
According to Marcelo, it is magic that denies the history of magic.
Even with my 『Reversal Magic』, which had been evaluated as something that would overturn the common sense of the Magic Tower and magic itself, there were things I could not reverse. Such were the traces of Claudi engraved upon the territory and the mansion.
Reversal Magic is not omnipotent. It cannot reverse the marks of hands, warmth, and emotions engraved by the passage of time. Even if I tried to imitate them, I do not know what the scenery looked like in the days when Claudi was whole.
The Claudi family.
They possessed the power to sway the continent.
And I cannot even guess what mission brought them to remain here.
Of course, I can’t. ‘Until not that long ago.’ The history of the Claudi family.
Granfell.
I had dismissed it all as nothing more than my own dark history.
But from the moment I acknowledged Granfell, my thoughts changed.
And so, at this moment.
I gazed upon the scenery with utmost solemnity.
Not I, but Granfell spoke.
“I do not know what kind of scenery you would have liked.”
The Claudi territory was unrealistically vast.
In the words of the people of Arcana, it was a legendary place that could not be described in words... Fortunately, in the words of players, there was an easy way to describe it. ‘A hidden piece.’ I searched the vast hidden piece that was the Claudi territory and found a place that seemed even more cut off from the world. Surrounded by trees—if I were to compare it with my poor powers of expression...
A mysterious place where it would not seem strange for the World Tree to stand.
I shifted my gaze and looked at the jewel box containing silver hair.
The story behind it was as I had guessed.
In the past, the Shadow Mercenaries had carried out a commission to assassinate the young lady of Claudi.
As proof, they had cut off the hair of the one who was Granfell’s elder sister.
Kichi had said,
-“The hair was handed over to an auction hosted by Orc Auction. However, it never reached the auction stage. The owner of Orc Auction, Ulrich, purchased the hair...”
Ulrich of Orc Auction.
It was a familiar name.
We had something of a connection, after all.
A highest-level spacetime quest.
I had accepted that request and carried out a mythic quest. In the process, I had entered the past and even cleared up a misunderstanding with Ulrich, who had been terrified after being tormented by the Seven Deadly Sin of Pride. ‘Is this the butterfly effect too?’ Ulrich had bought and preserved Claudi’s hair out of loyalty toward Claudi. Thank you, Ulrich. In my own way, I was glad and wanted to meet him face-to-face at once, but...
The time of the Arcana continent flowed four times faster than reality. ‘I suppose it can’t be helped.’ Since it was something done by the previous generation of the Shadow Mercenaries, Ulrich was not the Ulrich I had known either. Only the name Ulrich had been inherited. The Ulrich I knew seemed to have died long ago.
I sorted out my thoughts. ‘In any case, thank you. Truly, Ulrich.’ His ever-present posture.
An expression so consistent that not a trace of humanity could be glimpsed.
In place of such a Granfell, I expressed my gratitude.
Perhaps.
It was strange for me, who might be the root cause of everything, to say such a thing...
But was this finally one step?
“Even so, I only hope that you are at peace.”
For the first time, it felt as though I had managed to settle even a small part of the cruel history Granfell had suffered. Soon, I set the jewel box down. I covered it with soil.
“......”
At my side stood the members of the Shadow Mercenaries, including Kichi. Though it had not been a commission they themselves had carried out, they seemed to feel responsible as members of the Shadow Mercenaries.
Just how much so?
“Damn it......”
Even Rockid, the swaggering lowest-ranked member, had his head bowed as he swallowed down his emotions.
Of course, as I had said before, I had no intention of holding them responsible for it.
I hadn’t intended to in the first place.
And now that I had received both Granfell’s sister’s hair and Akshan’s relic, it was only natural that even that small lingering attachment had disappeared.
A belated mourning. ‘It wouldn’t have been strange if he were shaken.’ Granfell was as Granfell-like as I knew him to be.
Meaning, he did not spend much time in remembrance.
As if the return of his sister’s hair to the Claudi territory.
Was merely the beginning.
Click.
I turned and began walking toward the scheduled itinerary.
But...
There was something that had been bothering me since earlier. ‘......So what is it you’re all trying to say?’
Pat pat pat.
The Shadow Mercenaries were following behind me.
At first, I thought they were simply quick-witted.
I assumed they had somehow noticed that I was mourning my sister.
And had silently followed me out. ‘Granfell isn’t the type to complain, after all.’ I did not bother asking the reason.
Which meant that this silent companionship had continued from the moment we left the mansion.
All the way until we returned to the mansion.
The gazes pouring down on me were stinging.
“It’s the Shadow Mercenaries!”
“Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol is there too?”
“......Is something going to happen here too, by any chance?”
There were players in the Claudi territory as well.
The imperial capital, Antonium, had been added to the Magic Tower portal coordinates, but that did not mean the Claudi territory coordinates had disappeared. More than anything, there were players who had stopped by for sightseeing purposes simply because it was my territory. ‘......Now that I mention it.’
That had gotten me pestered by my sisters.
-Hey, Hoyeol, when are you gonna show us that villa??
-Our Hoyeol’s made it big, huh? Already bought your own place and everything.
-I wonder if we’ll be able to go once the Cataclysm ends hahaha.
The scenery of the Claudi territory that players had spread into reality. ‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve included a ban on filming in the rules too.’
NetTube.
And the Claudi territory I saw on TV was so tempting that even I, its lord, found myself drawn in.
Especially the great mansion, which had been filmed in all its grandeur.
It had garnered hundreds of millions of views.
So there were more than a few players who came to the Claudi territory instead of Antonium.
And to those players.
I was once again providing a rare spectacle.
......This will only accelerate the misunderstanding.
My affinity with the Shadow Mercenaries had reached its maximum.
If I were to be happy about it, I was happy.
In any case, it meant that I had exerted quite a large influence on the Shadow Mercenaries, didn’t it? But I couldn’t think of any way to actually make use of that influence and affinity.
The Yusra Kingdom, the Magic Tower, Frost, Antonium... Thanks to countless experiences, I had learned that once influence and affinity reached their maximum in a territory, the [Authority] function could be activated. ‘If it were a territory, maybe.’ But there was no element like an [Authority] system in relationships and affinity built with an organization. Of course, there was something like visible loyalty, but... ‘It didn’t mean much.’
Because when I thought back to whether anyone had ever refused.
When I asked for or ordered something...
I truly could not think of a single person. ‘Besides, they’re such free spirits.’
The greater the trust, the greater the shock.
So I did not expect much of anything from the Shadow Mercenaries.
Were they not the rulers of the underworld, the great criminals of the Arcana continent?
I would be satisfied as long as they simply did not cause trouble.
But then...
“Commander-in-Chief, there is something I must tell you.”
Amid the pouring gazes.
As soon as we returned to the mansion, a request for a private audience.
Wolf, seated across from me, opened his mouth heavily.
“I will hear it.”
What was he trying to say?
Surely he wasn’t asking me.
To lift their wanted status.
So they could move freely within the empire, was he?
In truth, I had more than enough ability to do so. As I said, I had activated the [Authority] function in the empire as well, hadn’t I? Whether petty thieves or great criminals, deleting the price of their crimes would not be difficult.
However.
A principled man with not even a speck of flexibility.
As long as Granfell’s two eyes were wide open and blazing blue. ‘I can’t grant such a request.’
But I had also received something from them.
So it would be rather difficult to coldly refuse them outright.
As I swallowed a groan inwardly.
“After gathering the opinions of all members.”
Thankfully, it was not such a request.
“It has been decided that the Shadow Mercenaries will be disbanded.”
The problem was that it was something I had never imagined at all...!
*
Today Arcana.
The studio was a battlefield.
It could not be helped.
“Producer Hyun. We’ve passed seventy-two hours of broadcast time...!”
A relay broadcast with no end in sight.
That was right.
Ever since the Evil Eyes of the Ten Thrones appeared in reality.
“We have news that the Evil Eye that appeared over the southern sea of Jeju Island has been shot down. However, at the same time, a rift whose collapse had been foretold collapsed, and another Evil Eye...”
Urgent incidents and accidents had not ceased in reality.
Hyun Yongseok felt as though he were watching déjà vu.
Back when he had only recently earned the title of producer.
“You remember, right? The atmosphere back then was exactly like this.”
“I’m sorry, but that was before I joined the company...”
“Ah, really? Has that much time already passed?”
The early days of the Cataclysm.
Collapsing rifts.
It felt as though he were watching humanity being helplessly beaten down all over again.
But the situation back then and the present were clearly different.
“And yet even after all that time, we haven’t changed.”
Hyun Yongseok bit down on his lip.
“......Even though we know, we still can’t stop it.”
Back in the early days.
What saved humanity from chaos were the awakened players of Arcana Continent Biography. But against the current threat, even those players were struggling.
Of course, there was still a hero now.
Lee Hoyeol.
Simply by appearing, he had saved the world from despair time and time again. But it was only “him.” Given how immense Lee Hoyeol’s presence was, it was only natural that his absence would be just as significant.
His lip was bitten before he knew it. ‘I know it isn’t your fault.’
He had no intention of blaming the other players.
No, how could he dare?
He was the executive producer of Today Arcana. ‘I am not a player, but.’
What kind of wealth and honor players enjoyed.
What kind of glamorous lives they lived—lives a salaryman like himself could not even dream of.
Hyun Yongseok had watched them from up close.
However, Hyun Yongseok had never once truly envied them.
Even if one could easily be dazzled by the glamorous lives of players.
The prompt that appeared.
-During the raid on a collapsed rift, an executive of the Myth Guild has died.
Whenever an incident like this broke out, he was made to realize.
That every reward they had seized had been obtained at the risk of their lives.
Hyun Yongseok prayed for the deceased and thought. ‘That our peace existed because of their sacrifice.’
That was right.
Even for the sake of honoring their souls, Hyun Yongseok could not rest.
But Arcana was not so easy.
A newly updated prompt.
-Please check the official Arcana website.
“......?”
Was it an emergency update?
If so, they had to report its contents quickly.
Hyun Yongseok hurriedly accessed the Arcana website, then flinched.
“At a time like this, of all times?”
A Duel of Space-Time!
It was the content that Lee Hoyeol and the Sword Saint had shown. Under normal circumstances, he would have immediately arranged an emergency broadcast. After all, nothing guaranteed ratings like a thrilling duel.
But the situation was what it was.
“Jesse Heinness...?”
And the participant was who she was.
Jesse was absolutely not the type to step forward.
If she had stepped forward, there had to be a reason worthy of it.
Just as when she had brought down the Evil Eye that appeared over New York.
That was why all the more attention could not help but focus on where the duel would lead.
What Jesse faced was a bizarre life-form that was neither human nor plant.
Ursus.
“What are you scheming, exactly?”
He did not know for certain.
But if that thing were to win...
Reality would be plunged into even greater chaos.
At the same time, dependence on Lee Hoyeol would inevitably grow even greater.
If that happened, then naturally. ‘The burden you carry too, Lee Hoyeol.’
Would become even heavier.
Hyun Yongseok sometimes thought about it.
A world line in which Lee Hoyeol experienced defeat or failure for the first time.
If he were to speak of the ending to that imagination...
It was always sincerely horrifying.
“We would have been destroyed long ago.”
So he could not dare imagine the burden he was carrying.
That was why he could only hope.
That humanity and the Arcana continent.
Would no longer have to rely so heavily on him.
It was then.
“......?”
The prompt updated once more.
However, Hyun Yongseok could not react easily.
Yes, it was something he had never even slightly expected.
“!!!”
Corroded by malice.
This damned reality.
The appearance of other heroes who would reverse it.
-News delivered by players on the Arcana continent.
-New world message updated.
-The Natural Enemy of Evil has returned to the Arcana continent.
Hyun Yongseok shouted.
“The Natural Enemy of Evil...? C-Could it be Akshan!!”