Time spent on Slayer Coast Island was fruitful in many ways.
“Shit, I did it! Hahaha! I actually did it!”
Eleanor, who had gone through a lot, finally succeeded in combining her enchantment magic with holy magic, something she had been practicing for a while.
Clang! Clack-clack!
“Your lower stance is exposed!”
“Ugh!”
Aiden took every spare moment to visit the Heavenly Dragon Knights for sparring.
“His skills are impressive.”
“He’s only been holding a sword for a year, and he moves like that?”
“I didn’t expect him to twist like that at that moment.”
“His movements are like a beast’s. So free and untamed.”
Aiden’s exceptional talent brought fresh insights even to the knights who merely watched him.
“Huff… huff…”
And as Jun had advised, Maya focused on depleting her mana whenever she had time to expand her capacity.
This really works.
The overwhelming fatigue was intense, but compared to a month ago, the increase in her mana was clearly noticeable.
Of course, it wasn’t a dramatic improvement—
– What you’re doing now is kind of like a preparatory stance.
– Preparatory stance? What do you mean by that?
– It means that when you get the chance to obtain things like skill books or elixirs that increase your mana pool, you’ll be able to make the most of them.
– How does that work?
– Want me to explain?
– …No.
She was doing it all for the sake of the future.
Even now, Maya felt a faint joy knowing she was inching closer to her revenge.
But I’m still far from ready. I have to at least reach the same level as Father.
No…she had to become even stronger than that.
Because her father… was ultimately defeated by that bastard.
She had found a clue to inheriting the tribe’s long-lost techniques, which she once thought was a dead end. So it wasn’t impossible after all.
And it was all thanks to joining this mercenary group.
Naturally, Maya glanced toward the room where her leader stayed.
“…I’m grateful, but I can’t help right now. I’m sorry.”
Bowing her head toward his door, Maya thought of Jun, who had seemed unusually busy the past few days.
***
“Ugh…”
Scattered all over the room were countless disorganized documents.
They were materials Charles had gathered over the past several days.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on doing this now…”
There was more to go through than he’d expected.
At first, he had simply planned to identify those who had risen rapidly over the past ten years, then meet them in person to check if any were hosting a corrupted spirit.
But this was Blackout.
Anything could happen here, and it was the kind of place where someone could discover a hidden piece or something equivalent and become incredibly powerful overnight.
Because of that, the data accumulated over the past ten years was far more than Jun had imagined…
“There were a lot of people who shot to fame and then died just as fast, huh.”
It took a long time to cross-check all of them.
“Ugh. If I’d known there’d be this much, I wouldn’t have tried to tackle it all at once.”
The event in question was still years away. Obsessing over it this early might be foolish.
“Haah. This won’t do. I need to clear my head.”
Just as Jun was about to get up from his seat—
Knock knock
“Who is it?”
“It’s Velles.”
“……?”
The mage from the Lannes Magic Tower had come to see him.
Was he here because he still hadn’t accepted the outcome of their duel?
If that’s the case, he’s probably going to be pretty disappointed.
With that thought, Jun opened the door and Velles immediately recoiled in shock.
He was startled by the chaotic state of the room.
“Wh-What is all this?”
“Ah… It’s nothing special.”
“It’s all written in some unrecognizable language…”
Indeed, all of Jun’s documents were written in Korean.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Ah… I apologize if you’re busy. I heard you weren’t feeling well, so I came to check on you.”
“……?”
He once provoked Jun by saying he had no class, and now he was here out of concern?
Is he insane?
The sudden change in behavior was unsettling, even frightening.
His eyes even looked clearer somehow…
…A madman with clear eyes?
As Jun instinctively took a small step back in unease, Velles seemed to take it as an invitation to come in and stepped into the room.
“From the looks of it, it seems your health is fine.”
“Ever since our duel, I’ve had people coming up to me left and right.”
“Ah, I see. My apologies.”
“……”
“Ahem. The truth is, I came here hoping to have a conversation with you.”
“A conversation? About what?”
Even though the Lannes Magic Tower was generally considered an ally in the game’s story, Jun still couldn’t figure out why Velles was suddenly acting this way.
“I… I wanted to discuss magic with you!”
“A discussion?”
“Yes. I’ve always believed that a great mage must maintain their dignity. But after seeing your magic, I realized how arrogant that belief was.”
Why was he suddenly showing up and talking about his personal reflections?
Still, since he wasn’t acting arrogantly like before, Jun’s mercenary instincts didn’t flare up in rejection.
“A mage should uphold their dignity through magic. And your magic was more beautiful than any I’ve seen before….at least, among the spells I could comprehend.”
“So you want to have a debate on magic?”
“I… I know saying this now might not sound sincere, but… I’d like to apologize for the way I spoke to you before.”
What should he do?
After a brief moment of thought, Jun gave a small nod.
I was looking for a way to clear my head anyway.
Besides, Jun was fairly interested in the magic of the Tower.
After all, the Lannes Magic Tower specialized in combat magic.
And the mage standing before him didn’t seem to lack talent, either.
Jun had already experienced Velles’s talent firsthand during their duel. On top of that, he was the one representing the Magic Tower in a place important enough to receive visits from not one, but two members of the imperial family.
“Hmm… Well, it can’t hurt to give it a try. Go ahead and take a seat.”
“……! Thank you. Truly, thank you!”
What started as a simple conversation with no real expectations—
Velles turned out to be far more useful than Jun had anticipated.
Not in magic, but in terms of information.
***
They had been deep in conversation about magic, so much so that time had slipped by unnoticed.
“…So the direction of my magic is all about maximizing efficiency. That’s the core idea.”
“Amazing! Honestly, I’ve never even heard of enchantment magic being used this way. A spell not for casting directly, but for linking with other magic like some kind of intricate mechanical device. It must be incredibly difficult to create, let alone prepare something of that caliber in advance.”
“I got the idea from a spell called Memorize.”
“I see. I suddenly feel rather pathetic.”
“…All of a sudden?”
“Well, you dedicate yourself to magic every single day, don’t you? Meanwhile, I’ve been squandering my time at social gatherings, trying to maintain dignity instead of devoting myself solely to the craft…”
Though he said that, Velles spent just as much time studying magic as any other mage.
In fact, he was someone who didn’t spare any effort, driven by both talent and genuine love for magic.
“Social gatherings, huh…”
“That’s right. Just last night, I spent the entire evening talking with Viscount Volletic.”
“Viscount Volletic…?”
“Yes. Apparently, he has a strong interest in water-type magic. He seemed to think my ice spells were similar and asked me quite a few questions about them.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“In any case, thinking back on it now, those conversations weren’t all that meaningful. Fun at the time, I suppose, but not particularly fruitful.”
Hearing that, it was as if a lightbulb flicked on above Jun’s head.
Could I use this guy to extract information related to Viscount Volletic?
As that thought crossed his mind, his mouth began to move on its own.
“I don’t spend all my time studying magic, you know. Just like muscles need rest, the brain needs time to relax too.”
“Hmm… Are you saying I should take things easy?”
“Exactly. It’s good to have hobbies, and there’s nothing wrong with getting absorbed in something else for a while. Meditation would be ideal, of course… But tell me, did you find your conversation with Viscount Volletic yesterday boring?”
“Not at all. To be honest, I’m quite interested in the arts. The portrait of his deceased younger brother that he showed me yesterday was deeply moving in many ways.”
“…A portrait of his deceased brother?”
Volletic had a younger brother?
That was definitely something worth noting.
“Yes. Viscount Volletic’s younger brother was an exceptionally talented individual. At the age of thirteen, he discovered his remarkable abilities and grew rapidly.”
But his life ended before his talent could fully blossom.
He died in an accident during knight training.
“A tragic genius. He was constantly surrounded by scandal until his death.”
“Scandal?”
“It had to do with his bloodline, I believe. Something about having a different father.”
“…That must’ve been quite a blow.”
“Indeed. But if he’d managed to overcome those rumors and lived on, he probably would’ve become a well-known knight by now. Even at a young age, his appearance was quite striking.”
“For you to speak that highly of him… he must’ve been really something.”
“Would you like to see for yourself?”
With that, Velles pulled out a recording device.
“…You captured it with this?”
“That’s right. I secretly recorded it without the Viscount noticing.”
“Why did you go through the trouble of doing that in secret?”
“I didn’t think the Viscount would give me permission. But the idea of only seeing such a beautiful piece of art once in my life….it was unbearable!”
…Is he crazy?
That was the thought running through Jun’s mind when Velles played the recording device.
And the moment Jun saw what was on it…
“……!!”
His eyes widened dramatically.
“This painting…!”
“Haha. You recognize it too? Truly a beautiful piece. I’m incredibly curious about who the artist might be. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s someone from the Emely family…”
Velles suddenly launched into a random theory, but not a single word of it reached Jun’s ears.
He was completely focused on the painting being played in the recording.
There was no need to use his [Excellent Memory]. It was a painting he had seen in the game.
Why… is that decorative item that drops from a boss monster here?
His mind kicked into high gear.
***
Viscount Volletic’s younger brother.
His death occurred roughly ten years ago.
The moment that memory surfaced, Jun began tearing through the scattered documents.
Startled by Jun’s sudden movement, Velles opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw the serious look on Jun’s face, he quietly stepped outside the room.
It seemed he had misunderstood and thought Jun had achieved some sort of magical enlightenment.
Jun, unaware of Velles’s departure, continued rifling through the materials for quite some time.
“Found it.”
Just as Velles had said….exactly ten years ago.
Jun found records related to Viscount Volletic’s younger brother.
“Viscount Volletic… what exactly are you hiding?”
In the game, the boss monsters on Slayer Coast Island were divided into two types.
And when you killed the humanoid-type boss, the item that dropped was the very portrait Velles had shown him.
A humanoid monster… Then there’s a high chance that Volletic’s younger brother, who was said to have died ten years ago, is actually still alive.
So where has he been hiding him all this time?
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