◈ Episode 509. The Shortest Week (1)
Seoul.
Capital of the Republic of Korea and the land of miracles.
And the city where Shining's guild house was located.
"Honestly, I'm surprised."
Shattered windows.
A corridor turned into a wasteland.
Not a trace of Shining's former standing could be seen.
And yet.
"Thank you all for gathering like this."
Camilla looked at the gathered guild members.
It wasn't as many as in the past when it had been classified as a mega guild.
But there were still more people than could be taken in at a glance.
Camilla cracked a joke.
"I guess I must have lived a pretty good life~?"
"Shameless, our Vice Guild Master."
"I can hear everything over there~!"
Likewise, forced laughter could be heard.
Now that even Guild Master Rocks had withdrawn,
Shining's fame was falling without wings.
Camilla didn't hush them.
"They say so on NetTube, and on Today Arcana too. Dmitri's death, Guild Master Rocks's withdrawal. Thanks to successive misfortunes, Shining's power has been cut in half, they say."
Her shoulders shrugged.
"They're fools, aren't they?"…
Honestly, even half of half would be an exaggeration.
Rocks and Dmitri.
Those two had led Shining from the very front lines.
Unlike me, who had stood a few steps back from the enemy lines
and merely fidgeted with a bow.
But. 'Sorry, both of you. But now is the time I need to lie, isn't it?' Camilla swallowed the words that welled up inside.
Not for herself, but for the guild members remaining in Shining.
It was a Seoul tinged with the colors of the Arcana Continental War.
"They must have seen our Shining as succulent prey. Running their mouths as they please, judging us~ Anyway, I can understand why guilds we've never even heard of raid our guild house~"
Hadn't we experienced it firsthand?
Shining had already fought through siege battles countless times.
At this point…….
Should I be honest with only you two, Rocks, Dmitri?
I'm speaking boldly, but honestly, I don't have confidence. 'How long can I endure in this state?' But don't blame me. 'How could I be perfectly fine?' To dismiss it all as merely part of the Class Quest process.
Because I watched you, Rocks, suffering in agony from far too close by.
And because I clearly confirmed it thanks to my vast field of view. 'A camera can deceive, but my eyes can't.' That demonic traces had not completely disappeared from you.
That must have been why, right, Rocks?
That you left Shining too. '……Even for your sake.' Even if I cannot become such a vessel.
I suppose I must lead Shining.
Camilla smiled bitterly inside. 'So don't blame me even if Shining isn't what it used to be.' It's all because of the two of you who left as you pleased.
"Then shall we get to the main point."
Camilla raised her head and looked over the gathered guild members.
That a toothless tiger like Shining still had this much fighting force left.
It was nevertheless a heartening sight. 'You do everything you can, Camilla.' I'm merely taking up the burden that Rocks shouldered.
She caught her breath.
Then, she opened her mouth.
"I'm planning to run for the position of Shining's Guild Master, left vacant by Rocks's withdrawal. As you all know, the Arcana Continental War system is currently applied in Seoul, right?"
She added a word.
"If there are no other applicants, the election process is skipped."
At the same time, her flickering vision.
[Current Guild Master Candidate: Camilla]
[There are no additional candidates.]
[If no additional applicants appear, the election process will be omitted.]
The Shining guild members looked at each other and nodded.
If it was Camilla, they could trust and follow her.
Even if she wasn't as good as Rocks.
Because she had proven her might in the siege battles.
"Then this is the end……."
The imminent time limit.
It was the moment the nominally begun meeting was about to end.
Suddenly, a new message appeared in everyone's vision.
"……?"
[Candidate registration complete.]
Camilla's eyebrows twitched. '……I can't even guess who it is?'
With such ambition, what reason would they have to stay in Shining?
She couldn't think of one.
As she'd said, Shining was merely a large but toothless tiger.
Camilla reasoned logically. 'Could it be, they were instigated by outsiders?'
A ploy to incite internal conflict and seize Shining even more easily? Then she couldn't back down. It was the moment Camilla resolved to settle it by the methods of the Arcana Continental War.
A single name appeared belatedly.
[Current Guild Master Candidates: Camilla, Jesse Hainness]
"……Jesse? J-Jesse?! Is it really you?!"
The opponent was far too unexpected.*
"Did you see your face, Jesse? Everyone was freaking out!"
Jesse had taken off her pointed hat and placed it on her lap
as she faced Camilla.
If only for this moment.
She didn't want to hear her master's nagging.
She didn't want to hide her expression anymore either.
Click.
Jesse set down her teacup and let out a groan.
"……Honestly, I thought I'd die of embarrassment."
"What, you even know how to say you're embarrassed?"
"I have that much dignity too, Camilla."
Literally, she was doing as she pleased.
Having withdrawn from Shining and returned, Jesse was now declaring she would rise to the position of Guild Master. She could imagine that the gazes of the guild members couldn't be kind.
Jesse looked at Camilla.
"Are you okay with that?"
"Me? With what?"
"That I registered as a candidate."
"Ah, that? I'm going to withdraw from the candidacy?"
"……What?"
Camilla grinned playfully and sat down in the seat next to Jesse.
Swish.
She crossed her arms and spoke even more playfully.
"Our little girl has grown up so much that she's offering to carry my load instead~ How could I refuse? Of course, I'll have to put on an appropriate act, though."
"……You're scary, Camilla."
"Really?"
Camilla looked at Jesse's exhausted-looking face and said,
"I'm more scared of your change, Jesse."
"……."
"Can you tell me the reason, just me?"
To Camilla's question, Jesse answered.
"I probably can't become your equal, but."
"Equal……?"
"Because I wanted to understand your feelings even a little."
Jesse continued.
"That's why I wanted to shoulder the burden called responsibility."
The corners of Camilla's lips, who had been listening quietly, rose.
"Really, you've grown up so much?"
"I've always been grown up, Camilla."
"Our Jesse has truly become an adult."
Camilla was able to shake off even a small worry through the conversation just now.
If Jesse has this mindset, no matter what happens.
She will restore Shining's standing to what it was.
Because unlike me, Jesse has the ability to do so. 'Isn't that right, Dmitri? And Rocks?'
However, Jesse's declaration wasn't over yet.
"And I have one more goal."
"More than the Shining Guild Master position? What is it? You're greedy~"
"I'm planning to work hard at the Magic Tower too."
"At the Magic Tower……?"
Jesse had received the Magic Tower's favor ever since the days when Arcana was merely a game. What could Jesse possibly have to work hard on at such a Magic Tower? While Camilla was thinking.
Jesse spoke seriously.
"Because as a Skilled Mage, there are things I can never understand for the rest of my life."
"……Jesse, don't tell me?"
Indeed, the unbelievable had happened.
"I'm going to become a Senior Mage of the Magic Tower."
Only after being recognized as a Skilled Mage did the Magic Tower become clearer.
How the Magic Tower operated, what secrets it held.
To what extent the truth of the Magic Tower permitted to Skilled Mages was.
Therefore, Jesse was determined.
To claim the position of Senior Mage, of which there were only twenty in the Magic Tower.
Only then could she understand Chief Hoyeol
even a little more.
Of course.
"The reason?"
"……."
Even though it was Camilla.
She couldn't reveal all her inner thoughts so honestly to that extent.
Jesse hurriedly added a concrete reason.
Even counting on her fingers.
"There are many benefits to becoming a Senior Mage. You get your own office, and you can use the Halls available to Skilled Mages of the same school……. Ah, and you can freely access secret locations too."
"Secret locations? The Magic Tower had those?"
"Yeah."
Jesse uttered words that would make 'someone' flinch.
"For example, the Amethyst Hall."
"Isn't Amethyst a gemstone?"
"Yeah, it's the first place you look at when you become a Senior Mage."
Not long ago.
Jesse had run into Matisse, Senior of Black Magic, at the Magic Tower.
At that time, Jesse had flinched without realizing it.
An expression she couldn't normally see.
On Matisse's lips.
It was because a faint smile was hanging there.
So she had mustered her courage and asked.
If something good had happened.
To which Matisse had answered.
-"There was light, Miss Jesse. In the Amethyst Hall."*
……
What the hell, my ears are suddenly extremely itchy.
"This is no time to be swayed by personal feelings."
I know, I know too?!
Grandfell's rebuke.
Riding that wind, ignoring the itch.
I desperately focus my mind on the mineral placed on the desk.
What am I doing, staring at a mineral out of nowhere?
What else would it be, I'm researching a new miracle……!
Exactly one week later in real-world time.
I was someone who had to enter Hell through the Sangsahwa.
You ask if it isn't too hasty?
Arthur.
It was the preparation period obtained by barely suppressing Grandfell's temper, which had been intent on marching into Hell even with just one week.
Moreover.
-'Shouldn't this expedition, with the Commander-in-Chief accompanying us, explore Hell? Therefore, we must be fully prepared. I must live up to the name of Lorenzk, the romantic explorer. Hwahaha.'……
Using someone else's circumstances rather than my own, Lee Hoyeol. 'I can't just let this week flow by idly.'
I too must prepare thoroughly.
Of course, I had to stop by the Garnet Hall to rent a decisive battle magic artifact that could be used in Hell, and there were items I had to pick up from the Claudi domain.
But more than anything. 'In the end, I just need to do well, Hoyeol. I alone.'
It was my growth.
In order to grow even a little.
I was thrashing about.
Having surpassed level 1,000, rather than running through ordinary rifts, researching ways to apply my existing means through miracles was far more efficient.
So I placed the mineral on the desk.
Obsidian.
It was obsidian with the property of devouring magic.
'Obsidian is truly the natural enemy of mages.'
However, if even a natural enemy relationship can be overcome through miracles? Depending on the case, I might become able to manifest a perfect miracle with no such thing as weaknesses.
Of course, seeing as the obsidian isn't moving at all……. 'Somehow, this staring contest doesn't seem like it'll end easily.'
Nevertheless, Grandfell's talent was brilliant as expected.
It didn't take long for the obsidian to stir, even if only slightly.
……
Shake, shake.
Just.
……
Sparkle.
There was merely an intruder that made me let go of the thread I'd barely grasped.
If I were to speak of Grandfell's zeal for study.
Two mouths wouldn't be enough.
'And here I am losing sleep over what.'
Since the parachute days at the Magic Tower, this body had been so devoted to reading that it seemed it would peruse every magic tome in the Magic Tower. Naturally, no kind words could come out.
"I invested time more precious than gold."
It's not an exaggeration.
Even the Grandfell of the world skipped afternoon teatime.
Such was the progress of the miracle he was engrossed in……!
Because I couldn't dare guess what the after-effects would be.
I too couldn't help but watch the system message that grated on my nerves more closely than usual.
[A vast aura flickers from beyond the dimension.]
An ordinary player probably would have wondered what on earth that was.
But I could sense it instinctively.
Because it was, in a way, the same situation.
So this is 'that,' huh?
What Paimon had said.
The presence of the Ten Thrones that cannot be hidden. '……If it's this kind of thing, I might need an avatar body.'
If I think about it from the opposite perspective……. Just as I witnessed this message at this moment. It meant that the upper demon kings might know where I am and what I'm doing.
So who is it?
The one moving while flaunting such a presence.
The one who disturbed my concentration.
Soon, the message appeared and I opened my mouth.
So they can't leave me alone even for a mere week?
[The Demon King of the Ninth Throne, the Honorable Paimon.]
[An honorable king of the demon realm has received a guest.]
[A man with silver hair as brilliant as yours.]
"Paimon."
The 'you' in the message must be me.
Thanks to that, it wasn't hard to guess who the man with brilliant silver hair like mine was.
The symbol of Claudi, brilliant silver hair. 'Because there's only one Claudi besides Grandfell.'
A cold voice flowed from between my lips.
"Pride."*
The Western Demon Realm.
Pride did not flinch in the slightest even in Paimon's domain.
Because he knew better than anyone what the other wanted.
That was right.
"Our goals are the same, Honorable Paimon."
Pride muttered.
In that voice.
Not a single lie could be found.
True intent was felt.
"The annihilation of a single ray of light.
One that grips and shakes my pitiful younger brother, Grandfell."