Chapter 74 – It Is Merely a Groundless Fear (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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─The Weight of the Chief (Repeat) ▲

●Proceed with the verification at the Topaz Hall. (Success)

●Successfully proceed with the regular academic conference. (Ongoing)…….

An event of the Mage Tower.

The regular academic conference will start soon.

I don’t know how it is for other Players but.

To me, the regular academic conference must be a profoundly important event.

“Has it already been that much time.”

Why, let’s recall the last regular academic conference.

Even back in those days when I didn’t know anything, I was someone who acquired useful magic including Marcelo’s advanced magic, [『Phenomenon』], just by participating in the academic conference.

Such a regular academic conference of the Mage Tower is indeed.

An event that can improve my magical level.

It was a large-scale event……!

“New knowledge is a law that always stimulates interest.”

Right, this time around at least I relate to this bluff.

Because above all, I gained a concrete justification for clearing rifts.

It means I have to jump into rifts more actively.

Moreover, into rifts boasting considerable recommended levels.

‘If I lack levels, I must fill it up from elsewhere.’

So I have no choice but to anticipate it.

‘In that sense, it’s good news, you see.’

Of course, unlike the first regular academic conference, my situation has changed.

As stated in the quest as well.

As Marcelo’s co-researcher.

Because I came to shoulder the weight of the Chief.

“I must show a posture befitting that.”

It is Sir Granfel who is used to weight and position.

Thanks to that, as soon as the grueling physical training ended.

I went straight to the desk without a proper rest.

I reached out to the magic books neatly stacked on the desk.

Right, these heavy magic books are indeed.

The weight I must shoulder.

“It means a broader understanding is needed.”

Research presented at the regular academic conference.

All magic are high-level yet new things that have gone through verification.

Since I have a weight I shouldered, unlike in the past, I wouldn’t be able to just watch anything roughly.

Put simply, the lofty pride has no intention of treating the presenters’ efforts lightly.

Slide

……In the end, it’s me who dies doing this again this time too.

For some reason, I can’t remember going to my studio apartment lately.

The Mage Tower’s laboratory.

“

Frost.

“

The Yusra Kingdom’s office.

“

The Mage Tower’s laboratory again…….

It’s not just a feeling, I was really only coming and going between those three places.

If it’s going to be like this, it would be better to just move completely.

Swallowing my sigh for a moment.

“Stray thoughts end here.”

Flip, flip

I opened a magic book.

I concentrated to a frightening degree, making my grumbling pointless.

The book I was looking through to the point needing concentration was none other than a book regarding ‘Elixir Herbs’.

The pre-verification that took place at the Topaz Hall.

The few researches I passed.

Because one of them was precisely research on the cultivation method of elixir herbs.

“It is novel.”

Since they said it’s an unfamiliar field even in the Mage Tower.

It’s natural that it’s unfamiliar to me too.

However, who is Granfel?

Because he wasn’t a great figure who would set a topic that is unfamiliar even to himself at a regular academic conference.

In effect, I was taking responsibility for passing that research.

Ultimately, I am buying trouble and shouldering the weight.

‘Why are there so many related things.’

Healing, pharmacology, manufacturing…….

What in the world is there so much to memorize again.

If it weren’t for Granfel’s talent, I would have quit a long time ago. Seriously.

However, everything depends on one’s mindset.

‘If you can’t avoid it.’

Right, let’s enjoy it.

Let’s dream of a happy future.

The cultivation method of elixir herbs.

That research will become expensive elixirs and potions in the future.

Let’s just count our chickens before they hatch.

Of course, unlike my head which had just now resigned, my physical body was already enjoying it.

“It is anticipated.”

Slide

It’s natural that only the sound of flipping pages is heard in the laboratory.

*

Beep

Flipping through the channels.

-Along with the Gaon Guild, Player Lee Ho-yeol’s value can be said to be hard to even dare measure…….

Beep

-Arguments for and against the message that popped up in the Quernberg Mechanical Tower Rift are unceasing. The one holding the clue to that solution is as expected Player Lee Ho-yeol…….

Beep

-The skill moving a mechanical device freely shown here. They asked around all sorts of Players and classes but. They couldn’t find a Player with such a skill…….

What’s going on, no matter how much she flips the channels, talk about Lee Ho-yeol is in full swing.

“Sigh.”

Mrs. Choi Kang-hee let out a sigh as if the floor would sink.

It was to the point she couldn’t even put forth an excuse.

“My, whenever you turn on the TV, his face comes up.”

To be honest, it felt like she saw her son’s face more often than the face of the husband she lives with. Whether they’re talking about him or not.

Snip

The husband, Lee Jun-wook, was intently cutting out something.

“Honey, are you cutting the newspaper again?”

“Eh? It’s nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing. Just as soon as our son Lee Ho-yeol’s name appears in the newspaper, you bring out the scissors.”

“Hehe. I said it’s not.”

To say it’s not, his mouth was hanging from his ears.

Scrapping newspaper articles.

As Mrs. Choi Kang-hee said, it was Lee Jun-wook’s newly formed hobby.

Someone might ask out of curiosity.

The youngest son of a family rich in daughters.

What is so strange about cutting out and keeping a newspaper where their son appeared.

Of course, Mrs. Choi Kang-hee also had a lot to say.

“Honey, do you know that the articles you collected like that are more than a box? No, what box. No matter where you look in this damn house, newspaper clippings pop out……!”

“Ahem. Woman. All of that will become memories later on…….”

“In a world where you even see news on this cell phone too. Didn’t Ye-rim teach us how to screenshot newspapers last time? You just have to cut out paper newspapers and collect them. You don’t even organize them properly, you’re just so stubborn.”

It was true.

One day, two days.

It wasn’t at the level of one or two lines of a newspaper!

Lee Ho-yeol.

Articles where their son’s name appeared?

If you buy a daily newspaper, adding a little exaggeration, you would see Ho-yeol’s name in every other article.

Politics, economy, and even in entertainment and sports newspapers.

It was to the extent of being practically plastered with Ho-yeol’s articles.

“Yaaawn. What is it. Are you two fighting again?”

“Who says we’re fighting. On this nice day.”

“That, look at that, he just never lets go of those scissors.”

Number 3, a familiar sight to Lee Ye-rim.

Her younger brother’s face on the TV seen as soon as she opened her room door also felt incomparably familiar. By the way, look at this? Lee Ye-rim licked her lips.

“Mom, your birthday is the day after tomorrow, didn’t you hear from Ho-yeol?”

“He’s busy. Where would he have the mind to contact me.”

“No, no matter how busy he is, what kind of son forgets his mom’s birthday?”

No matter how successful he is.

A younger brother is a younger brother.

A son is a son.

Lee Ye-rim let out fake coughs ‘ahem’.

“As his sky-high older sister, I should say a word to him.”

Of course, that was an excuse.

Lee Ye-rim’s inner thoughts were pitch black.

Because it was just full of the desire to tease her younger brother.

“I’m telling you, I noticed it since the time at his studio apartment?”

Why, from the chicken breast to the salad ingredients.

The older sisters might have been fooled by Lee Ho-yeol, but I wasn’t.

Right, Lee Ye-rim hadn’t given up since then.

What caught such Lee Ye-rim’s gaze was none other than an article about Ho-yeol she encountered in an entertainment newspaper.

Lee Ye-rim dug between the menopausal couple who were in a cold war.

“Mom! Mom, what do you think of a foreign daughter-in-law?”

The foreign daughter-in-law here was Jesica Highness.

Because the incident where Jesica left behind even her own guild and joined Ho-yeol drew a huge topic in many ways. Of course, as seen, it also drew Lee Ye-rim’s intuition.

“This girl. You’re going to say useless things again, aren’t you?”

“……Eesh. No fun. Then, Dad!”

“Eh?”

“Dad, what do you think of a chaebol family daughter-in-law?”

The chaebol family daughter-in-law here is the Myth Guild Master, Baek I-seol.

That Baek I-seol who was turned away at the door by Ho-yeol several times.

It has died down now, but it was a shock back then.

Baek I-seol, who implicitly drew popularity among women as a femme fatale.

To think she suffered such humiliation from her younger brother, Ho-yeol.

‘The older sisters made a huge fuss too. Back then.’

Saying perhaps Ho-yeol has some devilish charm that even we don’t know about.

However, such delusions of Lee Ye-rim didn’t last long.

Thump!

“Ouch! Mom, why are you hitting my head for?!”

“This girl is always trying to tease Ho-yeol whenever something happens.”

“I’m not teasing, I’m telling you there’s definitely something! Does Mom even know that complex and subtle relationship between men and women?! Who knows if they’re in a fling or something!”

Snip

Lee Jun-wook, who was quietly cutting the newspaper, said in a low voice.

“Because I know. Because I’m a total expert that I gave birth to you guys.”

And that too, having four siblings one after another year by year…….

Of course, he couldn’t finish those words.

Because in the end, Mrs. Choi Kang-hee exploded.

“Everyone quiet!!”

The two of them lit a fire in her already anxious heart.

Even if her son’s face is shown on TV every day.

A mother’s heart couldn’t help it.

Moreover, Ho-yeol was a Player.

Until now, to the extent that the one worrying looked strange.

Ho-yeol was doing well without anything that could be called a crisis but…….

The saying that parents’ worries for their children are endless didn’t come out for nothing.

“……I wonder if he’s eating his meals properly.”

If he dropped by occasionally, she would feed him at least a proper meal.

Since she knew Ho-yeol was so busy.

Her mouth didn’t open easily.

Lee Ye-rim, who noticed that feeling, spoke.

“This is why there’s no point in raising a son…….”

However, before she could even get hit on the back.

Tap tap

“……What is this sound?”

A sound of something tapping the window was heard.

Lee Jun-wook, who headed towards the window where the sound came from, was startled.

“Ugh! Wh-What is that?”

Something digging in through the open window.

It was a wad of paper with wings.

To be precise, it was a letter manifested with 『Magic』.

Flap flap

The flying letter accurately dropped into Mrs. Choi Kang-hee’s arms.

A letter swinging alive.

If it were until a while ago.

They might have wondered what kind of movie-like situation this is, but.

Now they could make a rough guess.

“……O-Our Ho-yeol must have sent this, right?”

It was.

Actually, they could tell just by looking at its exterior.

Rolled up broadly.

Because elegance flowed out from the letter sealed with candle wax.

Lee Ye-rim asked subtly.

“He could’ve just used Talk. Why does he do it to this extent? Right, Mom?”

“Exactly. He must be in the middle of being busy…….”

“Ugh. Saying things you don’t even mean in your heart!”

Good job, my younger brother.

No matter how busy you are, you have to remember Mom’s birthday.

At Mrs. Choi Kang-hee’s brightened face, Lee Ye-rim’s mood also improved along with her.

By the way…….

“Mom, this guy must be really crazy!”

What came in when they tore off the candle wax.

Just how many characters is this in the world?

A long letter that seemed like it took a few hours just to write.

“……Did you know Ho-yeol could say things like this?”

And lines of text where formality oozed from every single word.

Of course, it wasn’t just the letter.

Mrs. Choi Kang-hee found something inside the rolled-up letter.

There was no need to look closely.

Because its exterior was incomparably familiar.

Lee Ye-rim flinched.

“Isn’t that a tea bag? Green tea? What does it say, that thing?”

A densely packed letter.

Mrs. Choi Kang-hee, who finally found the postscript regarding it, spoke.

“……Elixir herbs? He says it’s tea made from elixir herbs? Ho-yeol did?”

*

To send the letter, I didn’t even need an owl like in the movies.

What was needed was just a little bit of mana.

A letter that started flying as soon as I opened the window.

I’m saying no matter how busy I am.

I cannot ignore formality.

“I have no face as I cannot attend.”

Mom, Mrs. Choi Kang-hee’s birthday was the day after tomorrow.

If it weren’t for the regular academic conference, I would have attended that family event.

In that sense, I couldn’t help but be grateful to the regular academic conference.

Why, just what I wrote was hundreds of lines.

Imagine conveying that verbally.

‘Even conveying that in front of my older sisters?’

……Just imagining it is terrifying. Truly.

Anyway, I didn’t forget to enclose the tea made from elixir herbs either.

Because both of them were at an age where they needed to take care of their health.

In that sense, the tea made from elixir herbs would be helpful.

Aren’t they elixir herbs that become ingredients for potions and elixirs?

Brewed tea naturally had a similar effect to that.

‘Looking into the books was rewarding.’

Naturally, that was possible because I had knowledge regarding elixir herbs.

Because thanks to looking through all sorts of magic books ahead of the regular academic conference, I just roughly grasped a feel about the utilization methods of elixir herbs.

“However, there is still a long way to go.”

Of course, it means I grasped a feel.

It doesn’t mean I realized it.

Above all, knowledge regarding elixir herbs wasn’t something I could realize just by looking at it like magic. In short, it was a memorization subject, something I had to memorize.

Moreover, elixir herbs were plants growing on the Arcana continent.

The vast Arcana continent.

They said just the elixir herbs growing were hundreds, tens of millions of kinds.

Building up knowledge about such elixir herbs…….

Is that even a possible thing.

Doubt entered first though.

As I said, everything depends on one’s mindset.

‘Because it also means its possibilities are infinite.’

Slide

So a person who feels a lack,

I, who feels a lack of levels, have no choice but to dig a well.

Looking into the books related to elixir herbs again.

However, my reading didn’t last long.

──────

Elixir herbs are a classification of plants growing on the Arcana continent…….

──────

“……!”

Suddenly, I recalled from that passage.

The Demon King, Decarabia.

Information regarding it.

Right, Decarabia uses birds as familiars and.

Possessed knowledge about all minerals and ‘plants’.

All plants.

If that’s the case, it means knowledge regarding elixir herbs is also included.

Right, I have the loot left behind by such Decarabia.

[Five-Pointed Star of Impure Knowledge]

[Grade : Epic]

[Restriction : None]

[Effect : Sealed]

[Description : A demon’s curse dwells within, sealing its effect. Must be purified to know its proper effect.]

And even the loot whose name and grade are unusual from the start……!

‘……Wait, this impure knowledge, don’t tell me?’

However, that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

I know it.

Moreover, even Granfel’s personality that is not easily swayed by joy or sorrow.

So.

I just spit it out nonchalantly.

“All hypotheses are bound to require verification.”