◈ Chapter 78. The Dignity of the Chief (2)……
Let’s think about this again.
Was there something in the lines I’d spouted?
“I understand your hardships.”
That was just a polite greeting.
Right, the Magic Tower’s leadership might be involved in this affair.
On top of that, he had no choice but to bear knowledge of such an enormous matter alone.
Every day must have been agony, an endless chain of stress.
There was a reason Marcelo was wasting away.
“I finally feel the weight of being Chief.”
As expected, not just anyone could be Chief.
The line after that had been uttered with the same meaning.
But.
“It has been quite some time since I last went out.”
Marcelo had followed me out.
The mages of the Magic Tower, who absolutely never moved.
And among them, Marcelo, the Chief Mage.
He was accompanying me……!
Was this for real?
This was an issue on a different level from the Lionheart Knights or the Shadow Mercenaries.
Unlike them, the mages of the Magic Tower had been beings who rarely took any action even back when Arcana was still a game.
Even the Emperor of the Empire had been satisfied with maintaining friendly relations with the Magic Tower.‘……
Isn’t this not just the first among players, but the first in history?’My heart swelled at that thought, but only for a moment.
I realized the severity of the situation.‘Right, there must be a reason Marcelo moved.’In other words.[Quest: The Truth of the Magic Tower]
A contradiction exists within the Tower of Mages.
Expose the contradiction.
Set the Magic Tower and the truth right.─Secure Bangrit Tom, who is connected to the Magic Tower’s leadership. (In Progress)
It meant this quest would by no means be easy.
It looked that way at a glance.
After all, the quest objective was to secure Bangrit Tom.
Who was Bangrit Tom?
He was none other than a senior mage of the Magic Tower.
Suppose Bangrit took an uncooperative attitude.‘It would be absolutely impossible for me alone.’Leaving aside talent and knowledge regarding magic.
My level was only 296.
Thanks to that, my absolute amount of magic power was pathetic.[Natural Enemy Relationship]
There was no chance that would activate, either.
I would be crushed by Bangrit through the sheer difference in magic power.
Once I understood my place like that, the past flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.
The sight of me turning Bangrit away at the door while bringing up etiquette……!
Even if the crime of insolence were added, I wouldn’t be able to complain. That was how bad it was.
In that sense, it was fortunate.
Marcelo—there was no support more reliable to me than him.
“There are still audience members remaining.”
When we descended to the lobby, players came into view.
The way they were whispering to each other made it clear they were startled.
Of course they would be.
I had been shocked too.
Though naturally, I hadn’t shown it, just like now.
“Are you all right?”
I, who considered others’ gazes and evaluations to be trivial, didn’t mind.
But Marcelo might be different.
However, it seemed I had worried for nothing.
“I expected this the moment I came down here.”
Of course.
Right now, Marcelo was as good as confronting the Magic Tower’s leadership.
There was no way he would care about the gazes of mere players.‘Well, I’m no different.’I hadn’t known such complicated circumstances were involved.
The Magic Tower’s leadership and Marcelo.
Between the two, I had ended up taking Marcelo’s side.……
Damn it, social life—no, life in the Magic Tower—is hard!
Besides.
Wasn’t this a matter that concerned my pride as the host of the regular conference?
Even if Marcelo hadn’t stepped forward.
This damned pride of mine.
It wouldn’t have been satisfied until Bangrit was dragged up onto the platform no matter what.
While I was thinking that.
Marcelo added.
“Also, I cannot remain indebted to you forever, sir.”
Indebted?
He was indebted to me?
For a moment, I wondered if he’d secretly run up a tab in the Floating Garden without telling me.
But it was free in the first place. For senior mages and above.
Besides, considering how much I was going to take from the Magic Tower in the future…….
Some debt I didn’t even know about didn’t matter.
That way, I could also make use of whatever I needed without worrying about being upright and spotless.
“Pay it no mind.”
“……?”
“There is a proper order to all things.”
That proper order, of course, meant that everything was give-and-take.
In other words, it was a kind of declaration of war that I intended to pull up the pillars of the Magic Tower.
Had he understood the meaning behind my words?
Marcelo flinched and then said.
“……
I will bear it in mind.”
We arrived at the portal.
The idle conversation naturally came to an end.
From now on, securing Bangrit.
I had to think only of that one goal.‘So where the hell did you run off to, Bangrit Tom?’Marcelo provided the answer to that.
In an instant, magic power rippled from Marcelo’s body.……
A manifestation on such a vast scale it sent chills down my spine!
A tremendous amount of magic power spread out in an instant.
It wasn’t even magic meant to attack someone.
And yet it was enough to give me goosebumps.
In that sense, I realized it once again.
Thank goodness. Marcelo is on my side.
At least I’m fairly blessed when it comes to people.
That realization came anew, but only for a moment.
Marcelo withdrew his magic power.
“Bangrit does not exist in this world.”
The moment I witnessed it.
Grandfell’s talent, which allowed him to grasp the structure of magic.
Thanks to that, I understood what kind of magic he had just used.
Yes, in that brief instant.
Marcelo had tracked Bangrit’s location in this world—on Earth.
To be precise, he had searched for Bangrit’s magic power.
Interfered with a vast area known as the entire world.
And manifested tracking magic.……
It truly exceeded imagination.
I knew he was a monster, but to think it was to this extent.
Interfering with the entire world?
Just how much magic power does he have?
Of course, I answered without showing any surprise.
“Then the answer is clear.”
The fact that he did not exist in reality.
“……
The answer is clear? What are you talking about now?”
“I think we wasted our time. It’s not like that’s some kind of code!”
“If he isn’t in this world, then where is he?”
Unlike the players, I understood its meaning very well.
Bangrit was in neither this world nor the Arcana Continent.[『the Bizarre』]
He was within the space of it.
Inside a rift.*A voice echoed in Marcelo’s mind.
-“Pay it no mind. There is a proper order to all things.”
It was Hoyeol’s voice.
No matter how many times he turned it over in his mind, Marcelo could not understand.‘How could I possibly pay it no mind?’The Magic Tower owed a debt it could never repay to the demon hunters, to Akshan.
Yet Hoyeol, far from telling him to repay that debt, had called it the proper order of things.‘……
I dare not fathom it.’Just how far ahead was Hoyeol looking?
How could he regard even such a past as part of the proper order?
Marcelo could only feel pure admiration.
At the same time, desire arose within him.‘I, too, wish to witness that future.’Whether that would be possible, he did not know…….
That was precisely why he had to hurry.
That was the reason Marcelo had accompanied Hoyeol.‘This move was clearly a blunder.’That murmur was directed at the elder mages.
He did not know their purpose.
But the elder mages had pushed Bangrit Tom out of the Magic Tower.
It could not have been Bangrit’s will.
A mage of the Magic Tower could not leave the tower without the approval of the leadership.‘The Bangrit I know is not such a man.’Yes, that was his certainty regarding a colleague.
A man whose self-esteem was exceedingly low compared to his ability had broken the rules of the Magic Tower?
It was unimaginable.
That was why he could assert it.‘This blunder will instead tighten around your necks.’To make that happen, securing Bangrit’s person came first.
Above all, they needed testimony from Bangrit, the party directly involved.
However, Marcelo knew the elder mages well.‘They will never leave him alive.’Marcelo did not delay.
He manifested tracking magic.
He specified Bangrit’s location.
However, just as expected.‘It was planned.’In Seoul—no, in Earth, the world of adventurers.
Bangrit’s magic power could not be sensed.
Furthermore, he was a senior mage of pure magicology.
Wasn’t Bangrit famous for handling magic power delicately?
He had not left behind even a trace of magic power that could serve as a clue.
Then there was only one answer.
Bangrit was inside a rift.
“Then the answer is clear.”
As expected, Hoyeol needed no explanation.
But separate from that.‘If he is inside a rift, then delay will be inevitable.’A rift.
It was a space of [『the Bizarre』] where even Marcelo had only now taken his first step.
Finding Bangrit within such a rift?
Even with magic, that was impossible…….
“So that is where you were. Bangrit Tom.”……
Was it not?
Could it be that Sir Hoyeol had found his location!
As stated, even Hoyeol should not be able to detect Bangrit within a rift through magic.
Then how on earth had he discovered Bangrit’s location?
Marcelo was astonished.
To that Marcelo, Hoyeol’s calm voice came.
“The bizarre must be met with the bizarre.”...
We entered the portal just like that.
The scenery changed.
I swallowed a sigh.……
He really does talk well. And with such overflowing bluff, too.‘All I did was receive a text message.’The reason I was able to find Bangrit’s location?
It was simple.
Nam Taemin had passed it on to me.
To be exact, it was AAU’s information that had been relayed to me through Nam Taemin. Attached to that message were the details of the new update and the location of the rift.‘If nothing else, they’re quick about that one thing.’Since the Cataclysm.
Humanity had been tormented by rifts.
Thanks to that, when it came to locating rifts?
It was only natural that humanity was faster than magic in that one regard.
Why, these days they say satellites can even photograph people’s faces. Finding a rift wasn’t that difficult.‘In short, it’s the power of science.’The bizarre must be met with the bizarre…….
So, depending on how you looked at it, it wasn’t exactly wrong, was it?
Of course, perhaps because I had said the same thing with so much force.
“Another manifestation, different from the one you mentioned last time……!”
Marcelo reacted intensely.
“It is truly remarkable. As expected, I was a frog in a well.”
By “last time,” he must mean when we had tea.
With just a flick of a finger.
The necessary item would arrive in front of the Magic Tower.
I had preached the greatness of rocket delivery.
All I had done was run a different app.
But to Marcelo, it seemed to look like a new manifestation.
I said shamelessly.
“If you have any questions, ask me at any time.”
It was a relief no one was listening to this.
Even if I explained it, all I could teach him was how to use a smartphone.
And yet I was making such a grand show of it. Seriously.
Of course, now was not the time to chat amicably.
Our field of view changed.
Soon, the rift revealed itself.
Marcelo spoke in a low voice.
“So that is the space of the Bizarre, a rift.”
Yes, Bangrit was inside that rift.
The reason I could be certain was simple.
The new update details.
And the moment we approached the rift.
The message that appeared.
Any player would have been able to guess it.*Except for Hoyeol.
The only player who realized the severity of the situation was Jesse Heinness.
The quest was not what mattered.
The Magic Tower’s senior mage, Bangrit Tom.
If, by any chance, he began to run wild……!
“No one will be able to handle him.”
She could not allow the players to provoke Bangrit.
Jesse intended to relay the situation through Shining.
However, there was no need for that.
“A new update? What is this, it isn’t Thursday today, is it?”
Because unexpected update details appeared.
Perhaps because it was not a scheduled new update.
The details were concise and clear.
“……
This is insane. What is this?!”──────A new rift, “Cracked Dimensional Gap,” will be added.
Recommended Level: Lv.900──────“……
The recommended level is 900?”
“Isn’t that an error? Like a typo?”
“Y-yeah! They might have flipped the 9 and 6 by mistake!”
The players, who had yet to understand the severity of the situation, thought so.
But for those who knew about the incident that had occurred in the Magic Tower, the update details were impossible to ignore.
“Wait, don’t tell me what I’m imagining has become reality?”
“A senior mage of the Magic Tower. That monster is inside that rift?”
“Then it actually makes sense that the recommended level is 900……?”Level 900.
A truly overwhelming number.
It was enough to make even players who had vowed to risk their lives for the quest give up.
No, it wasn’t just the players.
It was also too much for the guilds to bear such a tremendous risk.
Then naturally, one thought had no choice but to follow.
“……
Then what are we supposed to do about that rift?”
And further, if a rift like that collapsed.
What would happen?
It was then that the news arrived.
“Mr. Hoyeol?”
Lee Hoyeol.
News that he had appeared together with the Magic Tower’s Chief Mage.
Marcelo.
Nam Taemin could intuit it.
That Hoyeol intended to enter that rift.
So he sent a text.
“I don’t know if I’ll be any help there, though.”
He would cooperate immediately.
Nam Taemin clenched his fist.
Wasn’t his life precious to him?
If not for Hoyeol, he would have died in Frost, or lived on in a state worse than death. No, going back even further, if Hoyeol had not saved his older brother…….
He would not have been able to live in his right mind.
“Still, I’ll do what I can.”
The moment Nam Taemin, looking grave, rose from his seat.
Bzzzz—A vibration rang out.
“?!”……
A reply arrived that somehow reminded him of the old days.
This is troubling.
Though it had exactly two more characters than the reply he had received back then.
The meaning it contained was not very different from that time.
-It is an internal matter.
“……
An internal matter?”
Question marks floated over Nam Taemin’s face....
This was a matter internal to the Magic Tower.
In a way, it was a household fight.
Of course, the more support one had, the better.
But at least in the current situation, that saying did not apply.
So what if the recommended level was 900?
A senior mage of the Magic Tower was inside that rift?
And what of it?
Beside me was the Chief Mage, Marcelo.
Yes, this was confidence overflowing with basis.
In elegant terms, it was called borrowing the tiger’s authority.[Cracked Dimensional Gap][Recommended Level: Lv.900][Rift Collapse Progress: 4.8%]
I adjusted my clothes and spoke.
In an utterly shameless voice.
“Let us end this swiftly.”