◈ Episode 82. Are They Finally Moving? (1)
Apprentice mage.
Before a mage sets foot in the Magic Tower.
The epithets attached to them are many and varied.
A once-in-a-generation genius.
A magical prodigy.
At the very least, the pride of their family.
It is only natural that they would have some measure of pride in themselves.
But after entering the Magic Tower.
After realizing that the knowledge they had acquired thus far amounted to no more than a single cup of water in the ocean.
They came to regard such epithets as not merely forgettable, but shameful.
They simply became the chicks of the Magic Tower.
“……
Hey. Doesn’t something seem strange?”
What those chicks did was obvious.
They tilted their heads and chirped.
And yet.
“Right? I’m not the only one who felt it, am I?!”
Today, the chirping echoing through the Floating Garden was unusually furtive.
As though afraid someone might overhear.
They lowered their voices as they conversed.
And the topic of that conversation was, of course.
“Isn’t that not something you see every day?”
The senior mages.
A senior mage.
A position one could only reach by possessing pride in the magic one had chosen.
Naturally, all twenty senior mages believed that the magic they had chosen was the best.
Which meant there was no way they could get along well with one another.
“Normally, they wouldn’t even greet each other……”
Moreover, was this not the period of the regular conference?
The time when senior mages were at their most sensitive.
Was precisely during the regular conference, when the honor of their schools was at stake.
So the current scene in the Floating Garden was an exceedingly unfamiliar one to the chicks of the Magic Tower.
“……
Why are they gathered like that?”
“And facing each other, too!”
“Hey, hey, Senior Mage Bangrit Tom is there too.”
That was right.
Bangrit Tom, who had gone missing.
All twenty senior mages, including him, were gathered at a single table.
It was a sight rarely seen even in the Crystal Hall.
And yet this was the Floating Garden, a place for socializing.
As if that were not enough.
“They’re not just talking.”
A meal had been laid out on the table.
The senior mages were having a breakfast banquet.
It was a sight that defied common sense.
The chicks began turning their heads in their own way.
“……
If we sit close by, won’t we be able to hear something?”
“Are you crazy, Richel? Do you have no tact? Can’t you tell from the fact that the skilled mages aren’t even coming near the Floating Garden? This isn’t an ordinary matter!!”
“Of course it isn’t ordinary. Senior Bangrit Tom has returned. But honestly, aren’t you curious? What on earth happened? For them to become close enough to sit face-to-face and eat like that……”
……
No, but.
Could that really be called being close?
The expressions of the senior mages did not look good at all.
“They all look incredibly exhausted.”
“As if they’ve been tormented by someone……”
“Hey, are those people the type to be tormented by anyone?”
Strictly speaking, however, it was not all of them.
Among them, there was one person who looked no different from usual.
Yes, someone unwavering.
Yes, a being capable of tormenting those remarkable senior mages.
One who held a position equal to that of the Chief Mage.
Chief Co-Researcher Hoyeol.
The way he handled his fork and knife was exemplary beyond measure.
From his perfectly straight back to the angles of his arms and neck.
Hoyeol looked as if the word “decorum” had been personified.
“……
Doesn’t it look like he’s the only one eating really well?”
Unlike the senior mages, from whom not even the slightest trace of appetite could be felt.
Hoyeol was calmly having his meal.
At that sight, guesses naturally poured out.
“Maybe they all got scolded? You know, we saw it during the regular conference. There wasn’t a single presentation he let slide, was there? They were all criticized.”
“They’d talk about that in the Floating Garden? While eating?”
“Come on. No matter how strict he is, he wouldn’t go that far.”
“Right. Talking about work during a meal is seriously crossing the line!”
But why were chicks called chicks?
Even when it came to what they knew.
From their eye level, even if they tried to read the room, there was nothing in particular they could see.
So it was only natural that they could not know the reason.
However, this time, that was not a story that applied only to the chicks.
Not only to the apprentice mages.
“……
I really don’t know what to say.”
“I am glad we learned of it now, at least.”
“It was something that had to be set right someday. We can only think of this as the right time.”
Only a few hours ago.
What had happened on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Was an “internal matter” of the Magic Tower known only to the elder mages, the two chiefs.
And the twenty senior mages.
The five elder mages.
Three of them, a majority, had been demon worshippers.
Just when had they fallen to demons……?
Were they truly chewing meat right now?
The senior mages wore expressions as though they were chewing something else entirely.
With their minds in turmoil, how could they even tell whether anything was properly going down their throats?
The reason such people had gathered in the Floating Garden was simple.
“Skipping breakfast is not a good habit.”
It was only because Hoyeol had said so.
In the silence, where not one person could easily open their mouth.
The senior mages looked at Hoyeol.
……
Was he truly unaffected?
Hoyeol was an adventurer.
Strictly speaking, he had been an outsider until recently.
But the prestige of the Magic Tower was well known even among adventurers.
That such a Magic Tower had been toyed with by demon worshippers.
He could easily have been shocked, just as they were.
And yet Hoyeol was calmly cutting his meat.
As if that were not enough, there was even the attitude he had shown on the top floor of the Magic Tower.
When he had confronted the elder mages.
What kind of beings were the elder mages?
They were the demigods (半神) who could shake heaven and earth (天地) with magic.
If one was a fellow mage, merely facing them meant being crushed beneath the mana they emitted.
In other words, one could not help but be overwhelmed.
But Hoyeol was different from them.
Not only was he not overwhelmed.
He had even spoken to the elder mages instead.
‘He definitely called them foolish worshippers…….’
And with words bristling with thorns, at that.
Because they had witnessed that fact firsthand.
It was only natural that their assessment of Hoyeol would change even more dramatically.
Yes, if Hoyeol had not been there.
They might not have recovered Bangrit Tom, and even if they had sensed something suspicious, they might not have been able to make a decision. The thought of that worst-case outcome was horrifying.
Had that happened, the Magic Tower would still be dancing in the palm of the demon worshippers’ deception.
That was right.
Whether he knew it himself or not.
Everyone in the Magic Tower owed Hoyeol a great debt.
That was why they could not refuse Hoyeol’s invitation to eat.
In the span of a single day.
Hoyeol had rendered tremendous service within the Magic Tower.
And yet Hoyeol’s attitude had not changed.
He seemed astonishingly the same as usual.
So much so that trying to read his mood was meaningless.
Yes, the same as usual.
Utterly sensitive to etiquette and formality.
That Hoyeol looked at the table and said.
“At times, there are things more important than appetite.”
“……!!!”
What was more important than appetite?
There were twenty people gathered here.
It was only natural that each of them would have a different answer.
‘Oh no. Did I violate table manners?’
‘I’m holding the fork and knife the wrong way around……!’
‘……
Could it be because I’m the only one who ordered a different menu?!’
But their actions were all the same.
Only after Hoyeol’s words fell.
Did their forks and knives begin to move in earnest.
At last, a proper meal began.
*
Yes, even if you have no appetite, you have to eat.
Starting today, my schedule is going to get busy.
People move on the strength of their stomach, after all.
Of course, even then, the busiest person will be me.
What can I do?
This was my lot in life.
My lot, where there was never a quiet day.
The top floor of the Magic Tower.
To get straight to the point, no battle broke out there.
The elder mages.
No, I suppose it would be more accurate to call them demon worshippers now.
Because they lowered their tails.
I suppose even scum like them knew their lives were precious.
It was then that I realized.
If you seek death, you live; if you seek life, you die……!
It was a development made possible precisely because I had resolved myself for an all-out battle.
As a result, the quest was completed.
[Quest: The Truth of the Magic Tower]
A contradiction exists within the Tower of Mages.
Uncover the contradiction.
And set the Magic Tower and truth right.
─Secure the Chief Mage, Bangrit Tom, who is entangled with the Magic Tower’s leadership. (Success)
─Identify the demon worshippers among the elder mages. (Success)
[You have fulfilled the conditions.]
[Your relationship with the Magic Tower has greatly increased.]
[Your influence within the Magic Tower has greatly increased.]
A quest that had appeared as though telling me not to succeed.
I had succeeded in it magnificently……!
The reward for that was fairly substantial.
My relationship with the Magic Tower and my influence had both greatly increased.
Even now, wasn’t I taking more from the Magic Tower than I was giving?
Precious magic books, of course.
Magic tools approved for loan, items taken outside.
And even the free breakfast I had just eaten.
‘I don’t know how much is left until I reach the maximum, but.’
There was one thing I could be sure of.
The reward of increased relationship and influence with the Magic Tower seemed far better than most rewards. Of course, the quest was not over yet.
In keeping with the scale of the Magic Tower.
The quest, too, was a chain quest.
And as expected, it was by no means an easy chain quest.
[Quest: Rebuilding the Magic Tower]
The true nature of the contradiction that existed in the Tower of Mages.
Now that even the Magic Tower’s purpose of pursuing truth has been corrupted.
Set the Magic Tower right from its very foundation.
─Encounter the Tower Master. (In Progress)
─Dispose of the demon worshipper who fled. (In Progress)
─Find the true truth. (In Progress)
As expected of the Magic Tower.
It was clearly telling me to work as much as I had received.
Right from the start, quest objectives were pouring out. Pouring out.
Above all, not a single one of the objectives looked easy.
First, even the Tower Master.
From what I had glimpsed on the top floor.
He did not seem to be in a normal state.
And what about the objective to dispose of the demon worshipper who had fled?
This was telling me to track down an elder mage and settle things.
And as the finishing touch, even the Magic Tower’s ultimate goal: the pursuit of truth.
Looking at those objectives……
It truly made me feel as though I had become a member of the Magic Tower.
Was it because my relationship and influence had greatly increased.
That I ended up receiving a quest like this too?
Well, in any case. As could be seen from those grand objectives.
It was not a quest I could clear immediately.
To begin with, the name of the quest itself was [Rebuilding the Magic Tower].
It was a matter of setting right the Magic Tower, which no one knew when or where had been designed incorrectly. Naturally, it would not be easy. But everything begins with a single step.
Click—
So I took that step.
Toward the underground of the Magic Tower.
*
There is an underground space in the Magic Tower.
The role of that underground space is merely to support the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower has many spaces that defy common sense.
Its very structure could not be explained scientifically.
From the outside, the Magic Tower did not look particularly tall or vast.
And yet within it, there existed countless floors, and on each of those floors, vast spaces.
It was a Magic Tower built with magic.
And to support such a tower of magic, a solid foundation was naturally required.
A foundation that could remain unshaken and maintain constancy (恒常) at all times, against any magical mana and against the endless passage of time.
Yes, the underground of the Magic Tower was a space ruled by that constancy.
Its exact name was Avici (無間).
As befitting its name, it was a space like hell itself.
There were those who had fallen into that Avici Hell.
The demon worshippers who, until only a day ago, had been called elder mages.
They were the most heinous criminals in the history of the Magic Tower.
‘What a damned place.’
Elder mages who had reached the “realm” of magic.
However, even their mana was useless in Avici.
The same was true of the mental fortitude they had prided themselves on.
‘How much time has passed? A week? A month?’
Every sense, including their sense of time, had long since broken.
Yet they did not give up.
Yes, because Avici would not be burdensome only to them.
“Marcelo. Since when did you notice?”
Because they knew that fact, they desperately spoke to him.
If they could coax Marcelo, that fledgling.
If only they could escape from these iron bars.
He might be able to escape from this damned Mugan. ‘If only I can get out…….’ He would repay this humiliation twofold—no, many times over.
Deceiving someone with words?
There was nothing easier.
Even the Magic Tower had been fooled by their tongues.
Besides, those people had a reason they had no choice but to speak with them. ‘They’ll have to find out where that one is.’ Finding the one who had escaped and condemning him.
That had to be the Magic Tower’s top priority at the moment.
And so, he held on to hope. ‘……
As long as I keep my wits about me, I’ll live.’ Of course, that hope did not last long.
“You have come?”
Marcelo, who had been maintaining his silence, spoke.
The greeting was directed at Lee Hoyeol.
An adventurer, and the co-researcher Marcelo had chosen.
The moment he faced him, he felt a sense of wrongness. ‘……
What is this?’ There was not the slightest hint of bewilderment from him.
This was Mugan.
A place where those who first set foot inside found it difficult just to keep their sanity.
A space of constancy, where time itself seemed to have stopped.
So how could he remain so perfectly fine? ‘……
I have to deceive that man to escape this place?’ Was such a thing truly possible?
Was it an illusion caused by his broken senses?
Or was this really reality? ‘Impossible……!’ He felt cold sweat trickle down his spine. *
Mugan.
A space of constancy.
The moment I heard Marcelo’s explanation about it, I thought.
『The first thing Grandfell learned as the next head of the family was not to be swayed by every trivial joy and sorrow.
The seat of head of the Claudi family was one that allowed not the slightest agitation.』
This was like a fish finally finding water.
That expectation proved exactly right.
Because I found Mugan more comfortable than anything.
It was not a misconception.
Even Marcelo looked visibly exhausted.
Of course, there was no need to mention the demon worshippers. ‘Their initial momentum is nowhere to be seen.’
In any case.
They did not seem to know what expressions they were making.
At a rough glance, their condition was…….
─Dispose of the demon worshipper who fled. (In Progress)
This might end sooner than expected.
Not only could I find out the whereabouts of the demon worshipper who had fled, I might be able to obtain even more information. Information about demons, of course. ‘In any case, they once held the position of elder mages.’
Would they not also know high-level information about the Arcana Continent?
Of course, there was no need to hurry.
This space of Mugan was on my side.
In other words, it was my home ground.
So I spoke as I always did.
There was no need to threaten them.
An unwavering attitude was, in itself, constancy.
“Let us begin the interrogation.”
I had spoken politely in that sense.……
So why did their faces look even more miserable?
I could not know the reason.
Not being swayed by private emotions such as sympathy.
That, too, was constancy.