The Grace Magic Tower. The tower to which Raphael belongs and one made up of holy mages.
And now, it’s said that someone from Black Dawn is connected to the Grace Magic Tower.
No wonder Raphael had been so busy lately.
That talk about the Grace Tower being in crisis must’ve stemmed from this.
The world was already in turmoil over Black Dawn and the Great Sinner.
If we get entangled in this, there’s no telling what kind of guilt-by-association consequences might follow.
“Haru, don’t worry. The reason Master and Lady Raphael didn’t tell us must be because they believe they can handle it.”
Just like Aransel said, Raphael hadn’t told me about this.
There’s no benefit in stirring up fear unnecessarily.
She probably thought it was something she could casually mention only after it was taken care of.
But the fact that even the imperial family has begun investigating…. this wasn’t just some minor incident.
The Gladeon Empire was the largest nation in the world.
By Earth standards, it’d be like the U.S. personally stepping in to investigate.
“Damn it, who the hell is it?”
I may not be officially affiliated, but Raphael was the daughter of the master of the Grace Tower.
Any trouble at the Grace Tower meant she would end up shouldering the consequences too.
Whoever’s responsible. Whoever it was…. I hope they’re found and dealt with swiftly.
“Other than that, there was just more talk about the Cosmic Zak Incident.”
Since Aransel was directly involved, she ended up getting more questions thrown at her than I did.
“I think it’s time for us to bow out of the Star Cluster Society.”
I was already out with an injury, and Aransel used helping me as an excuse to leave.
Sohan will surely find his own way out with that girl he was interested in.
“Let’s head back early and finally eat something. We barely got to touch the food.”
“You need to wash up first, Haru.”
No wonder I felt so hungry. Turns out I smell like food.
Raphael went out of her way to prepare this outfit for me, and now it’s filthy. I should get it washed soon.
“Alright, then—”
Just as we were turning to leave—
Rustle—
The hallway lights suddenly went out.
Not just where we were. All the lights in the distance went out too.
For a second, I thought it was a power outage.
However, what was used here wasn’t electricity, but magic lamps.
In other words, the fact that the magic lamps went out meant someone had deliberately interfered with them using magic.
“Haru.”
Aransel suddenly grabbed me and lowered her stance.
Across the hallway beyond the window, someone could be seen slowly walking.
It was a figure draped in a long black robe.
There was an eerie, chilling aura about them.
Instinctively, a sense of danger rang out like an alarm for survival.
Aransel narrowed her eyes and focused intently on the figure.
“Who goes there!”
The guards who had spotted the person hurried to intervene.
But the moment the figure seemed to notice the guards, the window turned pitch black.
In an instant, the opposite side of the window became completely obscured.
Crash!
At the same time, the sound of something shattering echoed loudly.
The direction it came from was the Star Cluster Society’s banquet hall.
It was loud.
The ceiling there had been made of glass to reveal the sky, and it sounded like that had shattered.
While we were momentarily distracted by the noise, the blackened window returned to normal.
But the dark figure was no longer there.
Instead, something entirely different had splattered across the window.
It was blood and flesh.
And it wasn’t hard to guess whose blood and flesh it was.
It belonged to the guards who had tried to block that person earlier.
This was a place where the disciples of many famous figures had gathered.
Naturally, the guards chosen to protect it would have been skilled as well.
Yet those very guards had been slaughtered in an instant.
It became immediately clear just how powerful the intruder was.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the collar of Aransel’s robe.
She had already been about to dash toward the hall.
She was the kind of person who had risked herself to save others even against Cosmic Zak.
There was no way she would just sit back now.
“Wait, Aransel. Assessing the situation comes first.”
That’s why I had to be the brakes.
Aransel’s gaze landed on me.
She let out a short breath, and her sharp look softened.
“You’re right. I’ve already learned that charging in blindly doesn’t end well.”
She was referring to the time we went into the forest where Cosmic Zack had been.
Aransel had learned a lot from that experience.
“First of all, even though the lights are out, it’s unnaturally dark outside the window.”
The first step in assessing a situation is to survey the surroundings.
I approached the window and tried to pull it open.
But the window didn’t budge.
The latch wasn’t locked.
“Haru, step aside.”
Aransel drew a sword from her waist.
She wielded a unique kind of sword—
One that could be miniaturized at any time.
She had received it from So-woon, who insisted that a swordsman should always carry their weapon close.
So while she usually wore it at her waist, on days like today, she had it hidden in her clothes.
Aransel swung her sword with a clean, graceful arc.
Clang!
But the sword bounced right off the window.
Not a single scratch was left on the glass.
“…It feels like the outside and inside are in separate spaces.”
With just one motion, Aransel sensed the situation and frowned.
The interior and exterior spaces were disconnected.
In other words, the scenery seen through the window was separate from reality.
The only visible exterior was the rest of the same building.
From inside, and likewise from the outside, the window must’ve shown an entirely different view than what was actually there.
“They must be trying to keep this internal incident from being known to the outside, while also trapping everyone inside. Aransel, if you keep trying, do you think you can cut through it?”
“…It would be difficult.”
Aransel swallowed hard.
If she said it would be difficult, then the same likely applied to the exit.
In other words, the escape routes were blocked.
“But if it’s Sohan, he might be able to do it.”
Aransel offered an alternative.
“Then finding Sohan is our top priority. I hope he’s safe.”
“It’s Sohan. He’ll be fine.”
Aransel didn’t exactly like Sohan.
But when it came to his talent, she held him in higher regard than anyone else.
Even as a Transporter, he was someone who had immediately caught So-woon’s eye.
There was no way he’d go down easily.
I didn’t know much about Sohan’s skill.
But if Aransel believed in him this much, then he had to be a true powerhouse.
Next, we needed to figure out what the intruders were targeting.
The answer was already obvious.
The Star Cluster Society’s disciples.
Capturing the disciples of famous figures meant they could demand a lot in return.
Sure enough, noise erupted from the direction of the banquet hall.
It was clear the disciples were clashing with them.
We had identified the situation and the target.
Now the only thing left was to find out who was behind all this.
“Black Dawn.”
Surprisingly, we were able to come to that answer quickly.
Aransel’s face hardened.
A terrorist group of Transporters—
Black Dawn.
“There was an entrance to the third floor, wasn’t there?”
The first floor held the large main gate leading to the banquet hall.
If we entered a place like that carelessly, we might get spotted and who knew what could happen to us.
Just then, the enemy had conveniently turned off all the nearby lights.
Thanks to that, we could move stealthily.
“Aransel, from now on, you go find Sohan.”
“Wait, find Sohan? Then what about you, Haru?”
“I’ll head to the banquet hall.”
Even if something went wrong, I wouldn’t die.
So there was no problem with me going to the hall.
However, if I were to come face-to-face with the enemy, the chances of escaping unscathed would be slim.
If I went looking for Sohan and something happened, we wouldn’t be able to find him or carry out the escape plan.
Aransel, on the other hand, would be able to keep moving to find Sohan even if she encountered Black Dawn.
That’s why she was the right person for the job.
“But still…”
“Aransel, neither you nor I would be much help even if we went to the banquet hall.”
That was an undeniable truth.
I was just an apprentice holy mage.
Aransel was skilled in her own way, but even so, I couldn’t guarantee how far she could go against Black Dawn.
As I saw it, this attack wasn’t an impulsive act of terror.
It was a planned one.
That meant the enemy likely had most of our information.
Black Dawn had no doubt sent in forces with the power to guarantee victory.
From the start, the disciples’ chances of winning had been extremely low.
We weren’t monarchs, nor were we famous heroes.
For people like us, turning a terrorist situation around dramatically was simply impossible.
“Sohan is our escape route. I know you want to save everyone, but the best move right now is to inform the outside and bring in someone powerful.”
If Sohan had the ability to escape, then this was the best decision.
When we boarded the airship, we didn’t have any means of communication, so we couldn’t ask for help.
However, the Star Cluster Society’s building was located in the center of the city.
If we could just get outside, there would be plenty of ways to make contact.
“Lady Liliran is at the mansion. If we can just get in touch with her, she’ll come to us instantly with teleportation.”
The Sword Lord, the daughter of the Master of the Grace Magic Tower,
And on top of that, a master of spatial magic.
If they joined forces, they’d have no trouble crushing Black Dawn.
“More than anything, the terrorists have no reason to kill the disciples.”
To the terrorists, the disciples of famous figures held endless value.
Terrorists lived in the present.
What they feared were not the young disciples themselves, but the masters standing behind them.
That’s why they would never recklessly kill such valuable hostages.
If anything, they’d exploit them even more cruelly.
If they had intended to kill everyone from the start, it would’ve been easier to just blow up the entire building.
“I only became a disciple recently. If I wander around and get mistaken for a staff member or a guard, I’ll be killed on the spot.”
But in the banquet hall, I could be seen as someone’s disciple, which would reduce the risk of being killed.
“I’ll do my best to assess the situation in the hall. If possible, I’ll try to change the course of things. So please, take care of Sohan.”
At my persuasion, Aransel opened her mouth slightly, then let out a deep sigh.
Soon after, she reached into her coat and pulled out a small dagger.
“One weapon should be fine, right?”
I accepted the dagger gratefully.
Now I had at least one tool for self-defense.
“…Haru, I’ll make contact and come back right away. So…”
Aransel grabbed my arm tightly.
“Don’t push yourself. You only have one life.”
That was a statement farthest from the truth for me.
Aransel didn’t know that I couldn’t die.
Even now, the reason I was acting this way was because Aransel could move faster on her own.
She and I had different physical abilities altogether.
If I stayed close to her, I’d only slow her down, so I had done my best to convince her.
But judging by the look in her eyes, she had misunderstood again.
I felt bad for lying, but I still nodded to her.
Leaving behind Aransel’s worried gaze, I went in the opposite direction.
As I carefully made my way toward the third floor, I let out a silent sigh.
Seriously, why was life just one string of misfortunes after another?
I survived a deadly encounter with a great criminal, and now it was Black Dawn?
Why couldn’t I ever be happy?
What made it worse was that this situation had been somewhat predictable.
A gathering of disciples of well-known figures—
For Black Dawn, who had recently become more active, it was a perfect feast.
And yet, I had walked straight into the Star Cluster Society without a second thought.
I wanted to go back and beat up my past, foolish self.
But because of that, even more questions arose.
The same went for the masters. They were no different from me.
Why had they sent their disciples to the Star Cluster Society without taking this into account?
Of course, peace had lasted for the past sixty years since the war.
People softened by peace were bound to fall into the naive belief that no one would dare try such a thing.
Take the Korean War, for instance. It happened only seventy-five years ago.
And yet, South Korea, which now stands behind a ceasefire line, constantly underestimates the possibility of war with North Korea.
Even though North Korea has repeatedly launched terrorist attacks against the South.
The same logic probably applied to this other world as well.
Complacency and carelessness led to major disasters.
This Star Cluster Society gathering was the result of that.
But complacency and carelessness alone couldn’t explain everything.
Even among those dulled by peace, there were always those paranoid skeptics who questioned everything.
So why had even those skeptics sent their disciples here with peace of mind?
That doubt led to a single conclusion.
One of the masters must have deliberately orchestrated this situation.
The possibility that someone had joined hands with Black Dawn.
That possibility only made things more tangled in my head.
On top of that, the disciples who were Transporters hadn’t shown up to this Star Cluster Society meeting.
Why hadn’t the Transporter disciples arrived at the exact time Black Dawn launched its attack?
It felt too suspicious to dismiss as a mere coincidence.
This terrorist attack at the Star Cluster Society was not a spontaneous act.
It was clearly a large plan, closer to inevitability.
And unfortunately, I had gotten caught up in that inevitability.
Booom!
A loud explosion rang out from beyond the door.
Before I knew it, I had reached the third floor.
Fortunately, I hadn’t run into anyone on the way here.
Even as I stood in front of the door, my mind was racing.
A plan always has a planner behind it.
And so, the most suspicious person came to mind.
Someone the other masters could trust. And who had the means to prepare such a plan.
The organizers of the Star Cluster Society.
An event of this scale had to have someone behind it.
And the ones who organized it were the most likely to have joined hands with Black Dawn.
I recalled the invitation I had seen on the way here.
Who was listed as the organizer of the Star Cluster Society on that invitation?
The Scarlet Flame Lord.
A person the masters trusted enough to entrust their disciples to.
Why someone of that stature would ally with Black Dawn was beyond me.
Still, that might be the key to neutralizing this worst-case scenario.
If there was an organizer, there had to be a disciple from that organizer present at the Star Cluster Society.
And I had met that disciple just a few minutes ago.
Babienne Asteria.
She was the disciple of the Scarlet Flame Lord.
My eyes quietly lit up.
A hidden trump card had come to mind.
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