◈ Episode 65. The Magic Tower (2)
A mere level 300.
Normally, far from being an apprentice mage,
my paltry level wouldn’t even have let me set foot near the Magic Tower.
And yet, as if to render that concern meaningless,
I skillfully evaluated the mages’ research results.
In truth, it probably wasn’t that strange.
Not when considering Grandfel’s talent.
There was no need to look far for an example. ‘If I think back to what happened at the regular conference…….’ One had to go through verification before standing at the regular conference.
Conversely, that meant every piece of research presented at the regular conference was high-level research that had passed verification.
And at that very conference, I had calmly followed and manifested the advanced magic presented by Chief Mage Marcelo.
Yes, to someone like me, with that kind of talent.
Research by adept mages?
Unless it was exceptional, it couldn’t possibly look good.
Besides.
“You’re brimming with confidence.”
“……
Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“You intended to present this sort of research at the conference?”
“……
Wha?!”
With this prickly personality,
there was even less chance of speaking indirectly.
Of course, every action had to be accompanied by formality and pride.
If it had merely been below standard, I would have admonished them generously.
However.
“Page one. From page twenty to page thirty. You cleverly changed only the words of passages taken from a book. Do you truly believe this paper contains research of your own, Adept Mage Cyril Yube?”
The problem was that it was all too obvious to my eyes……! ‘Even a dog that spends three years at a village school can recite poetry.’ Sleeping late, waking early, devouring every magic book I could get my hands on.
As if that weren’t enough, hadn’t I been the one scribbling the manifestation process with a quill pen like endless lines of punishment writing, drilling it into myself? ‘You should’ve done better on your own.’ Even I thought this was a bit much.
There was no way Grandfel’s lofty pride could tolerate it.
So it was only natural that no gentle words came out.
“You fail.”
“It would be right to dispose of it.”
“You couldn’t even copy properly.”
However, simply spewing venom and driving them out
was also not the proper attitude for a chief.
Scratch, scratch—
I swept the quill pen across the research paper.
“……?”
“It would be right to correct the errors in the search process first. The method of interference is also needlessly convoluted and inefficient. If it is a mistake, correct it. If it is a habit, abandon that habit.”
“……!”
Of course, I had no idea how helpful that advice, which wasn’t quite advice, would be.
Abandon your habit—easy enough to say.
But accepting it was entirely up to them.
“Th-thank you!”
Yes, that was the research I sent back.
And that mage was already the twentieth one I had dismissed.
Inwardly, I flinched. ‘……
At this rate, am I going to reject all of them?’
Thankfully, however, this time it was proper research.
“Klee Odia.”
“Ah. Yes, yes!”
“You chose a difficult subject.”
Adept Mage of the Healing School, Klee Odia.
I read through the paper she had submitted.──────Healing Studies
- Cultivation Method of Elixir Herbs──────There were twenty schools within the Magic Tower.
And countless branches beneath those schools.
Among them, this was a minor field.
Klee asked back, looking slightly surprised.
“……
Thank you for seeing it that way!”
In Arcana, “elixir herbs” referred to plants that became ingredients for elixirs.
Things like potions that restored vitality or regenerated mana.
Naturally, it seemed far removed from Healing Studies, her major.
After all, Healing Studies could restore a target’s vitality and mana using only the caster’s mana.
However.
“Quite an interesting approach.”
The research was, at all times, about the “cultivation method” of elixir herbs.
In other words, its focus was on “cultivating” elixir herbs.
Perhaps because it was an unfamiliar field,
Klee seemed to have prepared an additional explanation.
But was it because I had said it was interesting?
“D-did you just say it was interesting……?”
She was clearly flustered.
It seemed she had not expected me to understand the research in the slightest.
On that point, I agreed with her. ‘It was a good thing I spoke with him.’ The Shadow Mercenary Corps.
The Seventh Seat, Alkari.
I had spoken with that old man who drank potions like water.
About magic, potions, and even the elixir herbs that became their ingredients.
Just in case there might be somewhere I could use it.
That conversation that had lasted for hours was only a few days ago.
“There seem to be neither leaps in logic nor errors in your process, so what you need now are results.”
Thanks to that, I was able to speak quite plausibly.
I moved the quill pen.
“I will be watching at the regular conference.”
Yes, this was interesting research even to me. ‘My lowly level.’ And the lowly mana that came with it.
What could supplement my meager mana was equipment or the power of potions.
However, finding equipment that satisfied Grandfel’s aesthetic eye while also possessing outstanding effects was no easy task.
No matter how much money I had, there simply wasn’t enough supply of such items. ‘But if elixir herbs used to make elixirs can be cultivated.’ That meant precious potions could be mass-produced.
It was a possibility I couldn’t help but be tempted by.
So I added one more word to Klee.
“Have confidence and devote yourself to your research.”
“……!!”
Klee’s eyes widened, then returned to normal.
“I’ll do my best!”
Good. The first pass.
After that, the parade of failures continued again.
“Regrettably, I feel as though my eyes are rotting.”
In the end, the research I passed through the verification process amounted to only one paper……! I wondered if I had failed too many. I also thought perhaps it might become a problem.
But as I said,
hadn’t I already resolved?
If I was going to become a madman,
then I would become one so mad that no one could touch me.
So I thought shamelessly. ‘It’s the fault of the person who gave me the job.’ If they didn’t like how I handled things, then they shouldn’t make me do it again…….
*
Topaz Hall.
“……
What?”
The senior mages, who had returned to their respective laboratories after the verification, were in shock.
They had certainly been confident their research would pass.
Yet it had failed.
What on earth was going on?
“Did you make a mistake?”
“……
No. I couldn’t say a single word.”
“What? You couldn’t answer a question?”
“No. I wasn’t even asked a question.”
“……
Eh?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
When they asked for the whole story in disbelief, the name that emerged was,
of course, Lee Hoyeol.
The name of that chief co-researcher.
“How dare a rolling stone like him?”
When they had first heard that name,
it had felt as if their blood were flowing backward.
An adventurer, possessing equal qualifications to the Chief Mage?
Regardless of Hoyeol’s qualifications, the senior mages’ pride had been wounded.
But this incident crossed the line of what they could endure.
“It was research I reviewed, of all people……!”
The honor of each school was at stake in the regular conference.
Therefore, before undergoing verification in Topaz Hall,
it was only natural for each school to hold an internal meeting.
Wasn’t that against the rules?
Several senior mages merely snorted.
Everyone did it, so why pretend otherwise?
That was precisely why they couldn’t understand.
“We’ll have to formally raise the issue with the upper level.”
Amid that ominous atmosphere,
“Hmm…….”
Bellier, the senior mage of the Healing School, stood slightly apart.
Because Klee’s research had passed as if to show them all.
And by the judgment of Hoyeol, who was currently at the center of the uproar.
Klee had come to find her with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Lady Bellier……!!”
At first, Bellier had assumed the result must not have been good.
Klee’s research was certainly in an unfamiliar field.
It would not have been strange if the examiner had failed to recognize its true value.
So her first thought had been to comfort her. ‘You can use failure as nourishment and aim for the next conference.’ But then.
“I passed!”
Klee’s research had passed.
“And by him, no, by Chief Co-Researcher Lee Hoyeol……!!”
By the chief co-researcher, Lee Hoyeol, at that.
Bellier listened carefully to Klee’s story.
Klee was not the kind of child to speak nonsense.
Even so, Bellier had no choice but to doubt her ears once again.
Because according to Klee’s words, ‘……
That means he has knowledge of healing studies, pharmacology, and manufacturing.’ And at a considerable level, no less.
That was why Bellier could not simply rejoice.
“I cast a vote in favor because I wanted to watch him slowly.”
To think he would reveal his presence like this already.
Bellier let out a faint laugh.
“But it won’t be easy, you know?”
Bellier knew the hidden nature of the senior mages well.
A distorted obsession with magic.
The place where that was most clearly revealed was the regular conference.
Hoyeol had thoroughly provoked them.
There was no way the other senior mages would sit still.
“The Magic Tower will be noisy starting tomorrow.”
Bellier stroked her green hair.……
One way or another.
To think he had recognized Klee’s true value.
Bellier smiled.
“Still, don’t feel too disappointed. At the very least, I have no intention of joining them. Not this time, and not in the future either.”...
However, contrary to Bellier’s expectations, the Magic Tower remained quiet.
The reason was simple.
“……
What, plagiarism?”
“I have no excuse…….”
“Are you certain? He noticed it for certain?”
What mattered was not that plagiarism had been committed.
It was whether Hoyeol had accurately noticed it.
What mattered was the result, not the process.
And yet the answer that came back was truly shocking.
“I-it was impossible to deny it! Which book, which page, which side, even which paragraph! Chief Co-Researcher Lee Hoyeol had memorized the entire book!”
W-was such a thing possible?
Where in the world was there such a monster?
Wasn’t that even worse than Marcelo?
“Could you have been mistaken about something?”
“Absolutely not. Those eyes were truly……!”
“No, think again. Perhaps it was a leading question or…….”
“I told you, didn’t I! He didn’t say a single word. This was all something I brought upon myself. If you keep acting like this, then senior mage track or whatever, I’ll just quit everything and……!”
“Now, now. Calm down first.”
The senior mages who had been preparing to raise the issue could only feel their minds go blank.
After hearing the story…….
They calculated that even if they raised the issue, they would not be able to save face.
“……
Let us pretend this never happened.”
And so they had no choice but to tuck their tails between their legs.
Thus, in Topaz Hall,
the parade of failures continued.
After Hoyeol’s appearance,
a new current was blowing through the Magic Tower.
“Uuuuuhuhuh.”……
Along with a storm of tears.
*
As expected, my thoughts had been correct.
I would become a madman no one could touch!
Perhaps because I had faithfully carried out that resolution,
I was able to finish my duties as chief without any major problems.
I checked the quest window.[Quest: Marcelo’s Research]
The Magic Tower’s Chief Mage, Marcelo.
In order to reach magic advanced by one dimension,
he wishes to work together with you.─Accept Marcelo’s proposal. (Success)─Prove your ability. (Success)─The Weight of the Chief (Repeat)▲●Proceed with verification in Topaz Hall. (Success)…….……
The problem was that this was a repeat quest.
Well, this level of effort
was nothing compared to the benefits I had gained from the Magic Tower so far.
Besides, I was strict about give-and-take.
If I ended up putting in more effort than what I received?
I simply had to receive an equivalent price from the Magic Tower again.
With the authority of a chief, how much was there to squeeze out of—
No, how much was there that I could legally enjoy in the Magic Tower?
To start with, borrowing magic tools.
And even the item appraisal service other players had to pay jaw-dropping amounts to use. ‘It is a right I should naturally enjoy as chief.’ For the sake of that,
I could shout “failure” as many times as needed.
My resolve lasted only a moment.
I pulled the teacup toward me with telekinesis.
Clack—
Tilting that teacup, I opened my mouth.
“Flowing time cannot be stopped even with magic.”
Stripping away the bluster and saying it plainly,
it simply meant it was already Thursday.
In other words, the new update details had appeared.
“……
Mm.”
Float—
A formality completed by acquiring telekinesis.
Now, I no longer had to lower my head to look at my smartphone.
Nor did I have to put down my teacup.
Telekinesis was this convenient.
Putting aside those useless thoughts, I opened my mouth.
“There is nothing worthy of note.”
First, it was not a large-scale update like the Yusra Kingdom or Frost.
It was merely news that a new rift had been updated.
Of course, the appropriate level for that rift did seem rather high. ‘It’s over level 400 now. Just like that.’ Of course, it had nothing to do with me.
They weren’t demon-type monsters.
They didn’t offend my pride.
And I was no longer in a position where I was pressed for living expenses like before.
Of course, that thought did not last long.
In an instant, the quest window flickered.
At the same time, knock, knock—the sound of knocking rang out.……
Of course.
I should know better than to expect anything from my fate.
Abandoning my lingering attachment, I answered.
“Would you care for a cup of tea? Marcelo, Chief Mage.”