“I never thought I’d end up being a coachman in my life….”
Adolf looked back at Jun, who was seated at the rear of the carriage.
Seeing the burns covering his entire body, it was clear he was far from fine.
“Tch. So, did you succeed or not?”
Adolf bit his nails anxiously.
There had been a signal indicating success, so they had escaped the Magic Tower, but that arrogant mage’s instructions had been exceedingly simple.
– Get to the Founder City, as quickly as possible.
Aside from that, no matter how many times he asked, the mage didn’t say a word and just sat there meditating in the carriage.
“This is driving me crazy, seriously….”
***
A week passed.
On the surface, Blackout went on with its usual routines.
People continued heading to fields, dungeons, and checkpoints with various purposes in mind.
“Doesn’t it feel…?”
“Unstable, right?”
“Might be wise to lay low for a while.”
Yet, a few perceptive individuals noticed the recent instability in Blackout’s affairs.
The starting point had been the Arobatty Merchant Guild.
They had shut their doors, claiming they were focusing on strengthening their internal operations.
The guild itself was a walking fortune.
For such a business to close its doors meant they were willing to endure tremendous losses.
Naturally, other merchants began asking the head of Arobatty Adolf for an explanation.
After all, they were all intertwined in a web of shared interests.
To them, Adolf offered a single, blunt response.
“The eagle has moved!”
The great eagle of Blackout.
Count Mordenain Albert was on the move.
A storm of blood was coming.
Upon realizing the situation, the merchant guilds immediately recoiled.
After all, they had no intention of risking their family’s stability just to make a quick profit.
The second group to respond was the Mage Association.
As one, they all rose to confront the Count.
“Have those lunatics finally lost it after being holed up in their dens?”
“Even so, this is a bit much…”
The response from various interest groups to the Mage Association’s actions was cold.
And for good reason, considering that the imperial family had already made its move.
It wasn’t uncommon for those who dared to act recklessly in Blackout, those who thought the Imperial power was too far away, to meet a grim fate.
Still, the mages felt they had a point to make.
Didn’t they make significant contributions to uncovering the secrets of Blackout, which was the Imperial Family’s greatest wish?
In reality, they did have the right to speak up to the imperial family.
“While we do respect the empire, this time the Count has acted too hastily!”
“Yes, this is going too far! Just what evidence do they have to imprison the head of the Volkatornic Magic Tower?”
“The Count must disclose any information he has so we can understand the situation!”
Of course, the mages weren’t naive enough to be shouting without reason.
Mages were powerful enough to reduce cities to rubble on their own.
For that reason, they had long had a contentious relationship with the empire in many ways.
They assumed this situation was just another one of those power struggles between the two sides.
That was until the Count personally distributed an official decree, like a bolt from the blue.
– It has been confirmed that the Volkatornic Magic Tower is linked to the collapse of the Zenkhar Magic Tower.
“The… the Zenkhar Magic Tower?”
“Is that the same tower that His Majesty the Emperor himself honored with the title of ‘Imperial Tower’?”
“Are they saying the collapse of the Zenkhar Magic Tower was connected to Volkatornic?”
Anyone with even a passing interest in the empire’s history quickly understood how grave the current situation was.
It was an incident that had instantly tarnished the reputation of the imperial family which cared more about their dignity than anyone else.
The full story of this incident, which was rumored to have driven the Emperor’s fury to its peak, had finally been revealed after fifteen years.
Who would be able to withstand the aftermath?
Naturally, it would fall on the Master of Volkatornic Magic Tower.
The problem was that very Tower Master had inexplicably fallen into a deep sleep.
– Regarding this matter, I, Mordenain Albert, speak on behalf of the imperial family and declare this: we will thoroughly investigate every part of the Volkatornic Magic Tower.
The Count’s private forces were mobilized, and without its master, the Volkatornic Magic Tower found itself in utter turmoil.
***
In stark contrast to the chaos outside, the week Jun had just spent had been remarkably quiet.
Crash—! Crash—!
After a week, Jun finally opened his eyes and started downing high-grade potions as if they were water.
“Phew…”
After drinking down an entire potion, Jun tossed the empty bottle aside without a second thought.
Several more empty potion bottles lay scattered where it rolled to a stop on the ground.
“Finally, I feel like I can breathe again.”
Since arriving in the Founder City, Jun had spent a full week healing his internal injuries.
It had been the price of his struggle to survive.
Of course, it had come with its rewards.
“The fifth circle, huh…”
Five rings radiated their presence from within his chest.
The unusual part was that the rings seemed to be tinged in a vivid red.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
The distilled essence of Sergey’s magic.
[Mental Barrier: Active Volcano].
It was a side effect that had developed as his own power merged with Sergey’s magical power.
“Fire magic moves as easily as kneading dough, but the other elements aren’t as responsive as they used to be.”
During the process of passing through the circle, fire magic had infused itself into Jun’s being entirely out of his will.
Although fire was considered one of the most destructive elements, it wasn’t the path Jun had intended to follow.
“It’s going to be a bit of a hassle to overcome this…”
Still, the results weren’t bad at all.
It hadn’t been that long since he’d reached the fourth circle, yet he had already broken through to the fifth.
He had skipped a step that ordinary mages would take years to achieve.
That was how profound Sergey’s magic was. It gave Jun several insights along the way.
And was that all?
“Hmm.”
When he lowered his hand to his waist, he felt the familiar texture of a leather pouch.
It was the space pouch he borrowed from Chloe before leaving for the Volcatornic Magic Tower.
Now, it held the various treasures he had collected from the tower.
When the gemstone forming the [Mental Barrier] shattered, all the magic protecting the tower’s storage had been lifted as well.
If I could swallow all this treasure whole…
He had looted the treasure vault of a tower managed by a seventh-circle mage.
Selling even just this much would let him live without money troubles for a while.
Not that it’s actually possible.
If any of these items made it to the market, he would naturally be hunted by the Mage Association.
But still, the massive haul of spellbooks he had taken was a substantial gain.
At least I won’t have any issues with fire magic in the near future.
The thought alone brought him a warm sense of satisfaction.
If nothing else, it was a substantial enough gain to keep himself safe.
“Ugh…”
After a long time, he pushed himself up from the bed.
By now, things outside must be growing quite chaotic.
Even Count Mordenain, who had acquired Shylock’s [Dimensional Warehouse], had never shown his face to Jun.
Matters of compensation or the treasures they had acquired could be discussed with Chloe later.
Just as Jun was about to rise to see the faces of his two comrades, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the door.
“……”
The footsteps came to a halt right in front of the door.
Jun intended to wait patiently until his visitor knocked.
“This brat still has no manners! When an elder arrives, you should open the door right away!”
“…Shylock?”
“Eh? Who said we were friends? What’s with calling me so familiarly?”
When he opened the door, standing there was the long-absent Master of the Zenkhar Magic Tower, Shylock.
Wearing his usual grumpy expression, Shylock looked around before stepping inside.
“Ugh! This place reeks of bachelor living.”
It was true that he hadn’t bathed in a while, but surely he didn’t smell worse than someone from the slums.
“Elder, what brings you here? Or rather, why did you…?”
“I went to read the flow of the stars.”
“Aren’t the stars just visible at night?”
“You think all skies are the same?”
A sky was a sky. What difference could there be? The moon viewed from Korea or from America was still the same moon, after all.
“If you’re ignorant, at least keep your mouth shut.”
“…Yes.”
“At least you don’t talk to me in that rude tone anymore.”
“I owe you a great deal.”
In truth, if it hadn’t been for Shylock’s presence, Jun wouldn’t have had any justification to persuade the count.
He didn’t want to speak carelessly to a “master craftsman” who helped him.
Though his personality was certainly… difficult.
“Again, again! I see disrespect written all over your face!”
“Well then, what brings you here?”
“What brings me? I’m here to collect my item, of course.”
“Ah…”
At that, Jun glanced at the ring on his hand.
The intricately crafted ring was an item Shylock had lent him.
Its concealment capabilities were impressive, and Jun had been quite tempted to keep it, but even so, he took the ring off and handed it back to Shylock without hesitation.
“Thank you. I used it well.”
“Of course you did. Who do you think made it?”
So fussy, so fussy…
“Well, at least you did a good job this time. Thanks to you, I was able to put some old ties to rest.”
“…Is that so?”
“Still, I’m not giving this back!”
“……”
He hadn’t planned to ask for it, but the way Shylock said it made him want to keep it all the more.
So that’s what they mean when they say the heart is like a reed, swayed by every breeze.
“Instead, here, take this.”
“What’s this?”
“Seeing that shabby leather pouch you carry around bothers me to no end, so I prepared this.”
“..…!”
What Shylock handed him was a leather bracelet that looked ordinary.
However, Jun could feel the faint pulse of magical power coming from within.
Jun’s eyes widened as he saw the leather bracelet that was already starting to harmonize with his magical power.
“What exactly is this?”
“It’s a storage box a hundred times better than that leather pouch.”
The space pouch.
How much trouble did Jun go through carrying a normal bag all this time?
Moments flashed through his mind like a slideshow of all the battles where his bag had torn and he’d been busy stitching it back together.
Among them was the image of Chloe treating her space pouch like a sacred treasure.
“It’s an item I happened to pick up by chance in the past. I’ve made some modifications to it, so it should be reasonably useful.”
Jun focused his mind on the artifact, just like Shylock showed him before.
He sensed an immense space inside.
“I call it the [Dimensional Bracelet].”
“Quite a sophisticated name, like the [Dimensional Warehouse].”
Of course, it was a bit shabby, but what did that matter?
Getting his hands on a space pouch like this was undoubtedly a great gain; it was something that was usually only found at the third level, or the fifth level at the latest… or even as high as the seventh level if you judged by its capabilities alone.
And it only responds to my own magical power.
This had to be one of Shylock’s masterpieces.
Right now, he felt he could accept that fussy old man’s personality with ease.
“By the way, Elder, what made you go out to read the flow of the stars?”
“It was nothing special. I went to see the end of my life.”
“Huh?”
“What’s got you so startled? I’m someone who was meant to die around this time. It wouldn’t be strange for me to pass on at any moment.”
“……”
This couldn’t be.
Just as his expression began to involuntarily tighten with sympathy—
“So I came up with a way to escape. Fortunately, there’s a solution.”
“…Huh?”
“Why! Just because I’ve gotten old, does that mean I’m supposed to die?!”
“Well… didn’t you say something that sounded like you were about to die?”
“Isn’t that exactly why I went out looking for a way to avoid it?!”
“Is it really that easy to find a way to escape death?”
“Does it sound easy to you?”
“……”
Now that he thought about it.
Realizing a certain strangeness in their sudden encounter, Jun took a closer look at Shylock’s face.
Like he had noticed before, the overwhelming energy that used to emanate from Shylock’s gaze had weakened considerably.
What could have happened?
“I can no longer read the flow of the stars.”
“……”
“And from now on, I’ll have to live as if I were already dead. That’s the price for choosing life over death.”
As Shylock spoke, he looked somewhat bitter.
Living as though he were dead.
In other words, he had lost any way to reclaim his former glory.
Jun thought he understood now why Shylock had taken back the ring with the concealment ability.
“Is there no other way?”
“No, but that’s all right. My disciple will carry on in my stead. It may be difficult now, but one day he’ll restore the old glory and see a world far broader than an old man like me ever could.”
A disciple…
Jun recalled the disciple Shylock mentioned.
That NPC had been famous in various ways, even back when Jun was “Lee Jeong-Jun”.
“And according to the last reading of the stars, I’ll be meeting that disciple soon. I’ll leave him in your hands.”
“Where are you planning to go?”
“Anywhere. I should take a little more time to observe the world until my disciple returns. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any freedom, after all.”
“……”
With that, he quietly turned and walked away.
Then—
Shylock suddenly stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head back.
“You and I are bound by fate in many ways.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means that I began reading the flow of the stars because of the star that is you.”
“……?”
“There was a dungeon I stumbled upon by chance. A hidden dungeon. It’s a place that can no longer be accessed. I was only able to gather a few spellbooks there within a very limited time.”
“……”
“The moment I read the books, they all vanished. But the knowledge remained in my mind. Because of that fateful encounter, I was able to survive.”
Why was he suddenly bringing this up?
For some reason, Jun recalled the memories of his past life.
“…By any chance, did that dungeon look like a mage’s laboratory?”
“There wasn’t much you could call a laboratory. It felt more like an old man’s dwelling. Of course, there was also a skeleton dressed in a shabby brown rag. In a way, he’s my savior. Thanks to the knowledge he left behind, I was able to survive.”
“……”
Jun wasn’t entirely certain yet, but even so, he could say with confidence.
The hidden dungeon Shylock had entered and the skeleton lying dead within it was, without a doubt…
My past self.
But why had the place where he’d once lived turned into a dungeon?
He had no way of knowing the reason behind it.
Was it fate, or perhaps the inevitability Shylock spoke of?
Suddenly, his past self’s voice echoed in his memory.
– This damned fate will never let me go in my lifetime. But heed this, world.
– I am a mage. I will pursue the truths of this world and push beyond to twist them into reality.
– Even if I may not escape, my afterlife shall escape!
The only thing certain was that, at least for now, the fate he had wished for seemed to be continuing.
Leave a Reply