115 – Man in Golden – 5

Magic was a powerful combat technique, but at the same time, it was also an extremely complex field of study.

Unlike humans who struggled to live for even a hundred years, it was a deep discipline whose end even advanced races that lived for hundreds of years could not see, even if they spent their entire lives exploring it.

The Magic Tower was a research institution where advanced mages who wished to see the end of magic gathered, and at the same time, it was a gathering place of madmen ready to project immense power at any time against those who interfered with their research.

Naturally, the people in the Magic Tower were not just Letans.

In a way, it was a natural progression for mages who had flowed into the Leta continent from countless dimensions to transcend the limits of civilization and race to harmonize… or more precisely, to declare neutrality, claiming they had no time to be swayed by things like civilization wars, and shut themselves up in the sacred research institution.

“So it wasn’t the lord, but the Magic Tower.”

“Ugh—that makes it even more difficult to deal with, though.”

Fatum and Lectus clicked their tongues and uttered those words one after another.

The rest of the party members, who had been unable to properly enjoy their meal because their eyes were fixed on the overwhelming appearance of the two who had taken off their helmets to eat—especially their curved horns—only then understood Viv’s words.

“But what exactly is the Magic Tower?”

At Ji-hye’s question, Fatum and Lectus wore blank expressions.

Instead of them, Viv blinked and asked.

“You’re a skilled mage… and you don’t know the Magic Tower? Then how did you learn magic? It looked like an original spell when I saw it before.”

“I’m self-taught? I also made the magic myself.”

“Pardon?”

“Self-taught… in magic…?”

“Created it herself…?”

Due to the merciless performance of the question mark collector Ji-hye, silence lingered over the place for a moment.

At the end of that awkward silence, Fatum muttered in disbelief.

“A human… self-taught… in magic…?”

As they reacted with astonishment, as if they had witnessed an anteater standing on two legs, Ji-hye felt a bit displeased.

She had a strong sense of pride, so she could not stand the sight of anyone other than herself looking down on her!

“What on earth is the problem? Spellbooks were occasionally given as rewards in the tutorial too.”

“Although spellbooks aren’t common, they can certainly exist, of course. It’s also possible to handle magic by reading them. Since they are acquired as skills.”

“That’s right, that was how it started for me too. But… ah.”

Stopping mid-reply to Viv’s words, Ji-hye realized on her own why they were so astonished.

And for good reason, because without exception, every single one of the heroes who called themselves mages in the tutorial… the Earthlings, except for Ji-hye, had done nothing but use the magic they acquired as skills through spellbooks exactly as it was.

Ji-hye was different from them.

She had not focused solely on the phenomena created by magic; rather, she had strived to understand the process through which magic was shaped and manifested, and the facet of the miracle wrought by mana.

However, for someone who lacked even a basic understanding of mana, let alone magic, this was as difficult as freely controlling wings that had suddenly sprouted on their back.

It was to the extent that even Ji-hye was not yet sure if she fully understood the magic she manipulated.

‘If it weren’t for the spellbook I obtained in the second round, it might have been difficult for me to lay even the minimal foundation to create and develop magic on my own. Creating a mana circuit by myself would have been an impossible dream.’

That she was the only one among the million heroes who wielded magic in the true sense was exactly what that meant.

Magic learned as a skill was fast and simple, but it could never be grown unless one understood and controlled it themselves, and naturally, such people could not play an active role in the tutorial either.

That was why they were surprised that Ji-hye wielded magic.

“Anyway, enough about me. Tell me about the Magic Tower.”

“R-Right.”

Although she could not understand why Ji-hye was squaring her shoulders and acting all proud while saying enough about herself, Viv did her best to ignore it and explained about the Magic Tower.

The Magic Tower had officially declared that it would not get involved in civilization wars, and those who entered the Magic Tower in any way could not be dragged into civilization wars.

Of course, since the Magic Tower was basically located in the Light Faction, it was in a confrontational relationship with the Dark Faction… but unless the Dark Faction attacked the Magic Tower’s territory first, they would rarely take the initiative.

To put it nicely, one could say they claimed neutrality, but it could also be said that they were merely clinging to self-preservation while throwing away all troublesome matters.

“Then what is the problem? The one named Frankenstein Junior is firmly a figure of the Dark Faction. Can’t we just go to them and demand that they hand him over?”

Laura, who had not yet lost her innocence even though her race had changed, tilted her head as if asking why they could not carry out such a simple task.

However, in Gi-jun’s eyes, the future developments already seemed clear.

“Frankenstein Junior succeeded in infiltrating the Magic Tower by disguising his identity. From what I hear, the Magic Tower seems to be a place where extremely prideful people gather… if so, they probably won’t want to admit that they made a mistake. There is a high probability that they won’t let us into the Magic Tower, saying they will handle it themselves.”

“That’s correct. How did you know right away, Lord Jun? To think you would immediately see through the inner thoughts of selfish, narrow-minded people, which are the polar opposite of Lord Jun’s noble and self-sacrificing character.”

Setting aside the fact that Viv was praising Gi-jun to high heaven.

The reason Gi-jun was able to deduce the Magic Tower’s response was…

Unconsciously, his gaze brushed past a specific someone among those sitting around the table.

“What is it, Oppa? Did you just look at me?”

As Ji-hye narrowed her eyes and glared at him, the startled Gi-jun armed himself once more with the armor of personality and replied as calmly as possible.

“No? I didn’t look.”

“It really looked like you did, though? You didn’t look because I’m too pretty, did you? If you just say that’s the case, I’ll let it slide this once.”

“Ji-hye, stop bothering Jun with nonsense and just eat your pizza.”

“Did you just call it nonsen—mph—.”

While Ji-hye became quiet while replenishing her immunity with pizza, Gi-jun clutched his throbbing head and turned back to Fatum and Lectus.

For reference, the two had already devoured four slices of pizza each, making them the culprits who had forced Gi-jun to bake a second pan.

“So, what are we going to do? Are we going to request a dialogue with the Magic Tower?”

“This has become troublesome. The Magic Tower doesn’t even listen to the royal family.”

“It is exactly as you guessed. The Magic Tower will rarely expel someone they have once taken in. They won’t want to admit their mistake either. …Is our only option to pressure them by wielding the authority of a Hero?”

Fatum seemed already prepared to face the entire Magic Tower, but in truth, that was highly problematic from Lectus’s perspective.

Because if they suppressed and coerced the Magic Tower on this land, Gratia would have to shoulder all of the aftermath.

Since even the teleport gates installed in each of Gratia’s cities were managed by mages dispatched from the Magic Tower, if a problem arose with the Magic Tower, teleportation would be blocked, throwing the entire country into chaos.

“Ever since the magic engineer ‘Ruin Burst,’ who developed the mana bomb in the past, turned into a black magician, the Magic Tower’s management system for mages became much stricter. If it became known that another black magician had appeared, what do you think would happen? The mages of the Magic Tower would never tolerate such disgrace.”

“What if we propose to quietly handle the guy among ourselves without letting the outside know, and then bury the incident?”

“Would we be able to secretly handle Frankenstein Junior within the Magic Tower itself?”

Just looking at the dryad and tsukumogami sacrificed in his experiments, each had easily ruined a village and a small town, respectively.

Whatever that guy was doing inside the Magic Tower, it would be difficult to quietly deal with only him without being noticed by the outside.

“…”

Meanwhile, the Hero of Light, Fatum, was contemplating a different problem from theirs.

When Gi-jun and Lectus looked at him in silence, silently asking for his opinion as he was lost in thought—he let out a low groan and spoke.

“What if the Magic Tower already knows Frankenstein Junior’s identity?”

“Then… then it becomes very troublesome. Because we would have to declare the Magic Tower a public enemy.”

“Fatum, you think in that direction so quickly. Why are you so sensitive to malice?”

“No, it’s possible.”

To their surprise, Viv affirmed Fatum’s hypothesis.

Wiping the corners of her mouth, which had pizza crumbs on them, with a napkin, she continued with her eyes shining sharply.

“The reason we were able to find out that he was hiding in the Magic Tower was because items carrying his scent were being sold at the Magic Tower shop. However, while other products in the shop had the names of their developers and producers written on them, those items were anonymous. This means that the Magic Tower stepped forward to guarantee that person’s identity and was secretly protecting him.”

“I knew it, those lunatics who lose their minds over any new magic anyway!”

Lectus, who quickly changed his stance, slammed the table in anger.

Fatum stood up from his seat, as if it was rather for the best.

“Then it is decided. Had the Magic Tower not known, that would be one thing, but if they protected him while knowing something was suspicious, this is a grave act of betrayal. Even if we coerce them by wielding the authority of a Hero, there won’t be any repercussions.”

“Will it really be alright? They will do whatever it takes to avoid having a weakness exposed. If they hold Lord Fatum back while destroying the evidence and letting him escape, we will be the ones put in checkmate.”

“It is a two-pronged operation. One of us will infiltrate the Magic Tower in advance to monitor him, and once I enter the Magic Tower, they will block him from escaping. If you can just buy me a little time, I will find and execute him immediately.”

“A two-pronged operation?”

Certainly, doing that would make capturing Frankenstein Junior more certain.

Of course, the Magic Tower might suffer heavy damage in the process of the operation—but frankly, at the point when they had been hiding him despite knowing his identity, they were also guilty of complicity, so they would have to endure that much.

But who on earth was here who could naturally infiltrate the Magic Tower!

“Mmh?”

Ji-hye, whose cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel’s as she stuffed her mouth with pizza, shrugged her shoulders as she felt everyone’s gaze lock onto her.

“*Munch munch*… You want me to infiltrate? Into the Magic Tower where that crazy monster is hiding?”

“I guarantee that if they see your talent, not only will the Magic Tower gladly accept you, but they will also give you special treatment.”

“That’s sufficient. However, even if you enter the Magic Tower, whether you can find him is—”

While Lectus was worrying about that, Viv grabbed Nabinya, who was lying on Gi-jun’s lap and purring.

“Nya, again?! I want to rest now, nya!”

“You might as well finish the job and rest with a good feeling.”

“Hmm, if it’s a Cait Sith, we can trust her. But her safety when actually entering combat with him…”

“Do not worry about that. I will prepare separate means of self-defense for her.”

Answering Fatum’s reasonable concern slyly, Gi-jun secretly called his contracted spirit, who looked ready to take a bath in the sweet pumpkin soup bowl.

‘Lucy.’

—I knew this would happen. Alright, it won’t take as long as last time, right?

‘Should I get you some brown sugar?’

—Get me some.

Lucy let out a deep sigh and joined the infiltration team.

Fatum, who did not know that Gi-jun was a spirit summoner, could not tell what kind of exchange had occurred here, but Ji-hye, who knew Lucy’s abilities, could not bring herself to refuse out of fear of danger and had no choice but to nod.

“Ha, I’m really not the type to risk my life for this kind of thing… I will go to the Magic Tower for now, but if you are even a little late, know that I will seriously use all of my spiritual power to curse you, Oppa.”

“You don’t even have spiritual power. Besides, even if it succeeds, the curse will probably bounce right back to you.”

“Seriously, you’re so annoying.”

It was the moment the infiltration team consisting of Ji-hye, Nabinya, and Lucy was formed.

“So we are pushing through in the end. Then I will look for the lord this time. Since I will need to surround the Magic Tower with troops in time for the operation.”

Lectus departed.

As the party came to an end, Gi-jun also stood up from his seat.

He had intended to hand over the pistol obtained from the Vampire Hunter’s ruins to Gin and have a light sparring session, but before he could, Fatum stopped him.

“Do you have any intention of going to the Empire with me once this is over?”

It seemed he had passed the final Hero exam.

* * *

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): The Magic Tower, that is. It’s a place I’d rather not get involved with if I can help it.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Babbling about pursuing some truth, they always grab you and pester you with questions whenever they see a skill or authority with a structure they don’t know.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Those pests aren’t even of much help in the civilization wars.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Why do I take the side of the Light Faction? That’s because I’m on your side, of course.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Ah, you’re blushing? You’re blushing right now, aren’t you? Right?]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Anyway, your judgment is highly likely to be correct. They don’t care about the Light Faction or the Dark Faction, after all.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): They are just cowards and losers who threw away the responsibilities they were supposed to bear. Never let them look down on you, and if you ever have to deal with them, crush them without hesitation.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): The mage in your party is infiltrating the Magic Tower? Ah, that girl from before.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): Huh? A Rare-grade mana circuit that all close-combat classes can commonly learn? And she is even free to learn other mana circuits later? She is going to the Magic Tower with that as research material?]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Waiting Room): …Can’t you just tell them you’ll give them that and ask them to hand over that black magician bastard?]