◈ Episode 97. An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (2)
Float—
Surging mana.
Jang Hyeondo’s body rose into the air like a feather.
“Guh, cough.”
A space where even oxygen had grown thin from the dense concentration of mana.
Jang Hyeondo gasped, but Karimzeba did not so much as twitch.
He merely searched Jang Hyeondo’s body.
‘I can’t sense any mana traces.’
Marcelo’s meticulous handling of affairs.
Leaving not even the slightest mana trace that could serve as a clue was only basic procedure.
Even Karimzeba had no means of tracking mana traces that did not remain.
Crack—
Karimzeba’s brow furrowed mercilessly.
“You dared deceive me, Akampatam.”
Akampatam had fled.
From Karimzeba’s perspective, he could only think so.
Crash!
“You worthless human wretch.”
Jang Hyeondo fell from midair.
“Uuuuugh……”
The unconscious Jang Hyeondo was hurled to the floor.
Judging by the fact that he had dared speak informally to him.
It meant he remembered nothing properly.
“Was this your intention from the beginning?”
Why.
Why had Akampatam suddenly hidden himself?
Karimzeba calmed the rage boiling inside him like lava.
In the end, there was only one thing that came to mind.
‘Is a demon nothing more than a demon after all?’
Demons were beings that deceived all things.
Even if the one before them was their own king.
Even if he were the Demon King, they could not abandon that nature.
He did not want to concern himself with a mere demon of true name.
But Akampatam knew far too much.
‘Was that why he brought up the specifics of the plan?’
As if that were not enough.
When it came to handling affairs.
Akampatam had requested that he keep his hands off.
Karimzeba had merely been waiting.
“To think I trusted a demon. How foolish.”
And only now did he learn.
The fact that Akampatam did not exist within Jang Hyeondo’s body.
“It was a clear blunder.”
Trusting a demon had been my mistake.
Karimzeba admitted it.
However, his self-reproach did not last long.
‘During the time I wasted in vain, I came to realize it clearly.’
That he no longer had any comrades.
Now that Akampatam had disappeared.
There was no way to obtain information on the Magic Tower.
“I find this deeply regrettable.”
The telepathy remained utterly silent.
Thanks to that, he could be certain.
Whether by their own will or by another’s.
The two elder mages.
He could no longer work together with them from now on.
Srrk—
Karimzeba swept a hand down his face once.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
“With this, the chances of success must have fallen greatly.”
To the point that, under ordinary circumstances, he would want to give up.
Flash—
And yet Karimzeba’s eyes still burned vividly.
Like blazing flames.
Yes, that was unmistakably a mage’s gaze.
“But if it had gone smoothly, that would have been strange in its own right.”
It was the gaze of a mage who longed for truth.
“How could beholding the true truth ever be an easy thing?”
The path toward the “true truth.”
Even if his plan had been disrupted.
Even if Akampatam knew the entirety of it.
Even if this action would hasten his own end.
“Good. There could be no more splendid funeral than this.”
Karimzeba, the mage, had no intention of retreating.
For the sake of true truth.
“This paltry flesh can be burned away any number of times.”
Because that was what mages were—a hopeless breed.
And so Karimzeba warned.
“Once a fire has caught, it is not so easily brought under control.”
The Magic Tower?
Demons?
Adventurers?
It did not matter who they were.
The path toward true truth.
All he had to do was burn away everything that stood in his way.
*
Karimzeba, the Fire Dragon.
Befitting that grand epithet, he was an extraordinary mage.
Well, there was no need to flip through magic texts.
I could tell just by looking at the fuss Bensch William, the senior mage of pyromancy, was making.
“If I’m being honest, I would like to be excluded.”
The Crystal Hall.
In the space where Marcelo, I, and all the senior mages had gathered.
Bensch declared it outright.
“Lord Karimzeba. No, that’s not right. He’s now the great traitor of the Magic Tower. Karimzeba, that bastard, wasn’t called the Fire Dragon for nothing! The accomplishments he left behind in pyromancy are truly beyond imagination. His strength is something even I, Bensch William, could never hope to match……!”
I knew that much too.
I had devoured all kinds of magic texts in order to dig many wells.
Naturally, I had also accumulated a certain degree of knowledge regarding pyromancy.
‘The name Karimzeba did appear a lot.’
No exaggeration.
His name popped up at least once every paragraph.
Perhaps he was frustrated too, because Bensch thumped his chest as he spoke.
Thump, thump.
“Of course, it would be unthinkable for only me to be excluded. But I brought this up here because I hoped you would take the nature of fire magic into consideration.”
The nature of fire magic.
As expected, reading was my strength.
I knew that without needing to hear it.
‘It’s magic with a clear hierarchy.’
Flames are swallowed by greater flames.
Fire magic was the same.
Shall we assume Karimzeba’s fire magic and Bensch’s fire magic collided?
‘No doubt it would become an even greater flame and come crashing down on our side.’
A combined magic spell from an elder mage and a senior mage.
Just imagining it was enough to make my mouth go dry.
In that sense, Bensch’s words were perfectly reasonable.
“I had already taken that into consideration for your assignment.”
Scratch, scratch—
Marcelo was busily moving his quill.
As the word assignment suggested, he seemed to be pondering how to group the senior mages.
Even if they were the greatest mages in each field.
Every field inevitably had strengths and weaknesses.
‘If I think of it like a player.’
Before entering a rift.
It was similar to forming a party according to class.
Of course, the assignment was not that important.
After all, the Magic Tower’s objective was to stop Karimzeba, the great traitor, not to conquer a rift.
‘The moment Karimzeba’s location is confirmed.’
All the senior mages would gather there.
The distance between rifts?
Magic on the level of portals.
For senior mages who spent mana like water, that could hardly be a concern.
‘Of course, with my meager mana, it would be a bit burdensome……’
In any case, let’s compensate as much as possible with elixir herbs.
Just as I was making that resolution, Marcelo continued.
“As expected, the only one who can respond to that risk factor is Senior Matisse Dean Karl.”
The senior mage of the black magic school, Matisse Dean Karl.
In the past, Matisse had been a mage who competed with Marcelo for the position of chief.
As if respecting Marcelo’s decision, Matisse nodded.
“……
Pardon? Senior Matisse will be with me?”
Of course, Bensch looked visibly burdened.
“No, actually, it’s not that serious, you see? I don’t think it’s to the point where we need to trouble Chief Matisse……. Besides, wouldn’t Chief Matisse also feel somewhat burdened because of me?”
Matisse’s influence among the senior mages was considerable.
‘Remember, even during the ability verification quest.’
The moment Matisse cast his vote in favor, the rest of the senior mages had followed him and voted in favor too.
Bensch must have felt uncomfortable acting alone with such a Matisse.
Of course, there was no way I could stand by and watch that sight.
‘Uncomfortaaable?!’
How carefree your life is, Bensch William.
This was an important mission on which the pride of the Magic Tower, the punishment of a great traitor, was at stake.
Petty emotions like discomfort could not be prioritized.
I immediately opened my mouth.
I looked at Matisse.
“Is this decision burdensome to you, Matisse?”
“No.”
“So he says, Senior Bensch William.”
I thought about it seriously.
……
What would it feel like to deal with a superior like me?
One thing was certain.
‘He’d be an even more exhausting type than our department head.’
Unlike the department head, whom flattery could at least work on.
Flattery did not work on me, and neither did even bribes.
There was no need to further explain Bensch’s reaction.
“You didn’t have to ask him like that……!!”
I will accept the assignment……
With those fading words, Bensch closed his mouth.
Of course, I could also see senior mages wearing expressions no less unusual than Bensch’s.
It was probably because of how I addressed Matisse. It was an understandable misunderstanding.
‘That remarkable Matisse Dean Karl.’
I was naturally calling him by his name.
Of course, there were complicated circumstances behind that as well.
“You truly are impossible to grasp.”
Someone muttered.
Yes, I’m sure they were dying to know those circumstances.
But they would not dare ask me.
Nor would they dare ask Matisse.
‘I have no intention of telling them either.’
Because to explain the whole story, I would have to go all the way back to my first meeting with Matisse.
Naturally, that would also lead to mentioning my aptitude for black magic.
The source of black magic.
My past, which became the root of suitable mana.
My dark history was something I could not speak of even if it killed me.
Sssrk—
Even amid the small commotion.
Marcelo did not stop his pen.
As a result, it seemed the assignments were complete.
“I intend to watch the situation inside the rifts and move to wherever support is needed. Therefore……. All that remains now is Chief Lee Hoyeol’s decision.”
Naturally.
Amid the gazes turning toward me.
I thought honestly.
‘……
If I had my way, that is.’
I wanted to tour every single rift.
I had a burning desire to pick up every last crumb the senior mages might drop.
But there was no room for that. We had no way of knowing what demon might be lurking in which rift, or where Karimzeba might be.
And so I declared as I had decided.
“I will accompany Senios.”
Silence fell over everyone—
At my words, as if ice water had been poured over them.
“……?”
The Crystal Hall sank into silence.
In the midst of it, someone finally managed to speak.
“……
If you say Senios? Surely?”
Yes, that “surely” was probably correct.
The Senios I mentioned was Senios, an elder mage of the Magic Tower.
Marcelo, who had likewise been rendered speechless, came to his senses and asked.
“Sir, by Lord Senios, do you perhaps mean……?”
“That is correct. The elder mage, Senios.”
“By accompany, do you mean that Lord Senios will also leave the tower? In other words, he will head to a rift?”
The upper leadership of the Magic Tower.
Having had relatively frequent exchanges with the elder mages.
Marcelo seemed to find it difficult to understand that decision.
I had thought the same.
If you could step forward like this.
Couldn’t you have done it properly in advance?
—“You may not know this, but mages are a selfish and arrogant breed. That is an inborn nature that does not change even with age, nor even upon reaching such heights.”
But Senios’s reaction had been unexpected.
He simply admitted, refreshingly, that it was because he was a hopeless case.
There had been more detailed circumstances behind it as well.
‘But speaking of someone else’s personal history in such a public setting.’
Would go against formality.
So I had no choice but to state only the facts.
All I could do was continue speaking calmly.
“Senios also requested my permission to leave the tower. The purpose of that departure is to punish the great traitor, Karimzeba, with his own hands. I did not consider Senios’s rank, but judged his purpose, and granted him permission to leave the tower.”
At my words, a commotion swept through the Crystal Hall.
“Lord Senios received permission from Chief Lee Hoyeol?”
“Chief Lee Hoyeol does hold full authority over departures from the tower, but…….”
“Even if rank is not taken into account. This is…….”
To think they would value procedure to this extent.
Everyone must be shocked.
Of course, even I myself felt that I had no excuse if I were fired.
I wanted to click my tongue at my own insolence.
So this degree of murmuring among the senior mages.
I could understand with generosity.
“It is surprising, but good news.”
As expected, Marcelo seemed to have finished judging the situation quickly.
Then he continued speaking to me.
“However, if it had not been you, sir, it would have been impossible.”
I don’t think that’s true.
‘That man Senios isn’t how he looks.’
But regardless of what I thought.
Marcelo seemed to sincerely believe that.
No matter how I looked at it, Marcelo was clearly overestimating me.
But I would not bother denying it.
『Humility was not an emotion that existed within Granfell. To underestimation, he offered proof. Overestimation, he would inevitably turn into reality.』
I, too.
Was a human made this way.
Of course, that alone could not serve as an explanation.
Just as the shock was slowly beginning to fade.
Someone raised a fundamental question.
“Yes. It is procedure, so I can understand that. But Chief Lee Hoyeol, didn’t you clearly refer to the elder mage, Lord Senios, as……. just Senios?”
My pride could not acknowledge Senios.
In order to explain those complicated circumstances.
Just like with Matisse.
I would have no choice but to go back into the past.
In the end, this time too, I could only drag in an innocent fact.
I rose from my seat.
And brazenly spoke.
“In a departure from the tower that I supervise, rank is not considered.”
I realized it once again.
If I was going to go mad anyway.
It was better to go properly mad.
So that no one could touch me.
“If you have any complaints, raise an objection according to procedure.”
Click—
...
A new post had gone up on the official Arcana website.
—Wednesday.
Today was not Thursday.
Which meant it was an emergency update, not the scheduled new update.
What those words meant.
I knew better than anyone.
So there was no hesitation.
The angle of the brooch I aligned.
The outfit I straightened.
Even the teacup I set down calmly.
With a quill, I scrawled across the parchment.
──────As of this moment, we will begin the punishment of the great traitor, Karimzeba.──────
Elder, Senios. Chief, Marcelo. All senior mages.──────
Assemble.──────