[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 50: Variable (4)
"......."
Kaya Lockwood montarily thought she was dreaming.
What filled her vision was a fist, but beyond it, she could catch a glimpse of a massive wave.
‘A ntal image...?’
It didn’t make sense.
A re Level 3 mage not only grasping the nature of mana but also embedding their ntal image into magic was unbelievable.
‘If I get hit by sothing like that without any protection spell...’
No matter how skilled she was, she wouldn’t escape unscathed.
Her expression hardened as if ti itself had stopped, like a spell had been cast.
“Damn it!”
Oscar bit his lip.
His magic power had run low, causing his『Isolation Garden』spell to dissipate.
They were so close.
If it had lasted just one more second, or even half a second longer, she would have been caught off guard...
Regaining control of her body, Kaya quickly used 『Acceleration』 and leapt backward.
"Ugh!"
Oscar's fist only struck her afterimage, his finishing blow missing its mark.
The proof lay in the sudden 10-ter gap that had ford between them.
"......"
Oscar examined the distance between them.
Kaya was also observing sothing similar.
More precisely, she was looking at the footprints on the snow-covered ground in front of her.
Those footprints were proof that she had retreated from her opponent.
Her heart was still pounding violently.
She couldn’t tell anymore.
‘Am I still excited...?! Or is it the sense of danger I felt in that mont?’
She slowly raised her head, staring at the genius—or rather, the monster—in front of her.
"What the hell are you?"
It didn’t make sense that a re Level 3 mage possessed such combat intuition and situational awareness.
Moreover, that final attack, which mimicked the sound of crashing waves, was a type of magic she had never encountered before.
‘To have created such magic at his age and level... It's not just talent.’
She genuinely felt the danger.
Her clenched fist tightened, then relaxed repeatedly.
Her instincts scread that she needed to eliminate this threat now, yet her curiosity as a mage wondered what kind of fruit this budding talent might eventually bear.
"......"
Oscar received her complex gaze directly but showed no reaction.
For two reasons:
First, he didn’t have the strength left to respond.
And second...
‘Ah, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have pushed so hard.’
Because there was no longer any need for him to react.
Thud!
A pitch-black sword plunged into the ground between the two of them.
"...The Black Sword?"
Kaya squinted as she recognized the weapon.
As she lifted her head, the sky above Baran City was filled with colorful fireworks, and a man descended like a teor.
Boom!
The man, dressed in a deep navy uniform, landed in front of Oscar and the unconscious Killian as if to shield them.
His short, jet-black hair matched his gaunt, indifferent face well.
"I am Superintendent Walker of the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs."
After identifying himself per the guidelines of the Ministry, he pulled the black sword out of the ground with a sharp sound.
"Kaya Lockwood. I am here to arrest you for murder, arson, and 17 other charges."
* * *
The previously relaxed atmosphere of the forest tightened like a pulled string.
An explosive standoff where death on either side wouldn’t be surprising.
After staring at her opponent for a mont, Kaya was the first to speak.
"........The Emperor's Black Sword."
Hearing her voice filled with suppressed discomfort, Oscar was convinced.
This ti, the imperial family had indeed sent proper reinforcents.
‘A Level 7 Knight. He is no less skilled than Kaya Lockwood herself.’
And that wasn't all.
He could sense other mana signatures gradually converging from a distance.
They seed to be powerful figures, estimated to be at Level 5.
"Even the elite of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"
Kaya, sensing the sa thing, furrowed her brow.
Dealing with just the Black Sword would be tough enough, but facing his elite squad as well would be a significant challenge.
"Tch."
After running through so calculations in her head, she clicked her tongue and withdrew her mana.
Since the imperial family had already caught on to the Violet Brigade's involvent in the Baran City election, it wasn’t worth continuing this fight.
In short, there was no profit in dragging this out any further.
The sharp tension dissipated like smoke, replaced by a harmless smile on her lips.
"Alright, I’ll call it quits. I’ll just head back quietly."
"I'm afraid I can’t let you leave so easily."
"A wise person knows when to retreat gracefully, don't you agree?"
"...You’re not listening to ."
Ignoring Walker’s words, Kaya lifted one foot.
Simultaneously, the tension that had been present before was nothing compared to what ca next.
The air of the forest began to vibrate intensely.
Her red eyes swept over both Walker and Oscar.
"I won’t forget the debt from tonight. Especially you."
Her gaze, filled with indecision, lingered as if debating whether to kill or spare them.
"I’ll make sure to see you again, kid."
With seven tattoos activated, Kaya executed a swift advance.
Boom!
A shockwave swept through the area, forcing Walker to erect a shield to protect the two behind him quickly.
"........"
As the dust settled, there was no trace of Kaya in the crater left behind.
"To think she’d resort to using hostages,"
Walker clicked his tongue lightly, his black sword losing its color and reverting to a normal appearance.
As he sheathed his sword, he asked Oscar,
"What were you thinking, challenging that woman? You could have lost your life."
"........."
Bang! Pop-pop!
The only response was the loud sound of fireworks.
Glancing back, he noticed that both Killian and Oscar had already passed out.
Watching them for a mont, Walker quietly muttered to himself.
"......But they held out well."
Tonight, the heroes who saved this city were the young mages of the White Tower.
* * *
'Ah.'
As always, whenever he dread, the atmosphere felt hazy, as if a faint filter was applied.
Unnecessarily so.
‘The place seems to be near the outdoor training grounds.’
He rembered feeling full on this day.
Judging by the position of the sun overhead, it must have been shortly after lunch.
He was walking towards the forest area of the White Tower grounds.
"You startled ."
"He sotis just sits quietly up there in the trees like that."
"He's so brave and reliable on the battlefield, but sohow, he's intimidating to approach in everyday life."
The mages exiting the forest whispered amongst themselves and hurriedly bowed towards him.
He gave a slight nod in acknowledgnt and continued inside, his gaze naturally lifting towards a massive tree.
"What are you doing up there?"
A man wearing a white lion’s head was sitting on a thick branch.
From his appearance alone, no one would think he was a mage, given his muscular build.
The impression was even stronger with his upper body bare and a robe draped over his shoulders like a cloak.
"I'm looking at a photo."
"What photo?"
He lightly pushed off the ground and landed beside him.
The predator's eyes slowly turned towards him.
Shifting his gaze to the photo the man held, he replied,
"I'm looking at a family photo."
"Don’t you ever get tired of looking at it?"
"No, surprisingly not."
The family in the photo he glimpsed seed very happy.
An elegant wife clung to Radan's arm, and a little girl, barely three years old, was crying because she was scared of her dad’s lion mask.
"Couldn't you have taken off that mask just for the photo? Kaya wouldn't cry if you did."
"......No, I can't."
Radan shook his head firmly.
"I'm the chief of the forest warriors and a representative mage of the White Tower. I need to maintain my dignity."
"In other words, you look too kind-hearted without the mask, so you don’t appear intimidating?"
"I wish I had a rugged, handso face like Maxim."
"......That guy does have a manly look."
Oscar nodded, comparing him to freshly dug new potatoes from a clean countryside.
Then he glanced at Radan's wife and asked,
"You're having another child, right?"
"So I heard."
"That’s amazing. I’d be too scared to have kids, worried they’d turn out just like ."
"If they take after you, they’ll probably be very disobedient."
Radan chuckled, his shoulders shaking as he continued,
"But I think it will be fine. You’ll be a good father."
"What makes you think that?"
"I can tell from how you treat your comrades, subordinates, and students. You’ll be an even bigger doting parent than I am."
"......Shut up."
Oscar scoffed, then asked,
"It's going to be a boy this ti, right?"
"According to the tribe’s fortune-teller, yes."
"Later, Kaya can walk hand in hand with him and enter the White Tower together."
"I don’t intend to force my children to beco mages if they don't want to."
[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
"......But their dad is one of the White Tower's representative mages?"
"A dream is sothing you create on your own, not sothing your parents impose on you."
Radan looked at the photo once more.
"Besides, if they are my children, they’ll know what honor and justice are. They’ll do well no matter what they choose."
“......Still, you should send them to the White Tower. I’ll teach them well, I promise."
"I'll consider it. I can trust you, after all."
A deep chuckle echoed from inside the lion's head.
* * * *
The rustling sound made him open his eyes.
'Phew, that was close.'
He almost ended up fighting that brute.
Looking up at the ceiling, he figured it was a bedroom in the Hoover mansion.
Turning to the side, he saw Killian sitting in a chair, carefully peeling an apple.
He neatly placed the slices on a plate and then began eating them himself.
"............Isn’t it normal to peel fruit and give it to the patient?"
"Oh, you’re awake?"
Killian, munching on the apple, replied.
"The priest said you should only have light soup for now. So, I’m eating this on your behalf."
"If you’re going to eat it, why peel it and place it beside ?"
"It tastes better this way; it feels more like a proper visit to a sick person."
"......."
He had forgotten.
A forest warrior is soone you should understand with your heart, not your head.
"Enjoy."
"Thanks. This apple is delicious."
Groaning, he tried to sit up, grimacing as he did so.
Killian spoke up,
"Jake called a high-ranking priest. He recognized you and asked what kind of person you were."
"......Oh, it must be the man Marin called before."
It made sense for him to react like that.
Just a few days after fixing him up, here he was as a severe patient again.
"They said the treatnt was mostly finished and that there shouldn't be any major issues."
"How long was I out?"
"Three days."
For having been unconscious for so long, he surprisingly felt in good shape.
He’d had a dream, but nothing was distorted or unpleasant.
It had ended neatly.
Above all, this high priest did a fine job with the healing.
Aside from so mild muscle pain, there wasn’t much to worry about.
"How’s your condition?"
"A warrior of the forest recovers quickly. I was declared fully healed in two days."
"Must be nice to be so sturdy. What’s the situation?"
"The Ministry of Security’s elite squad apprehended the surviving rcenaries and raided the Sweet family. Mark Sweet has been arrested, and his secretary, terrified, confessed to all their wrongdoings."
Glad things worked out well.
Now there was no risk of Baran City falling into the hands of a drug cartel.
"......."
Oscar looked at Killian thoughtfully.
He didn’t seem affected by fighting against his own family.
…Or was he just pretending not to be?
Hard to say which it was.
One thing was clear, though: in Oscar's eyes, Killian just looked like a machine that consud apples.
"Oscar, sir! You’re awake!"
At that mont, Jake entered the room with a broad smile.
He looked over and asked,
"Are you really okay to be up already? You’re not pushing yourself too hard, are you?"
He’d heard this sa thing from Marin.
Maybe this fragile-looking body of his tends to invite concern from others.
"I’m fine, thanks to the high priest you called."
"Of course. I never would’ve imagined that Mark Sweet would actually be arrested."
"I told you, didn’t I? He would pay for his cris."
After exchanging smiles, Jake spoke with determination.
"I always dread of becoming a great politician, following in my father’s footsteps, but I’ve changed my mind."
Oscar, noticing the bright gleam in Jake’s eyes, rubbed his nose with a bit of embarrassnt.
Though it was slightly embarrassing, he was used to hearing such things.
"Thank you for the complint. If you work hard, one day, you’ll surely beco as great a mage as I am."
"…What? Oh, well, that would be nice, but I want to beco a civil servant and join the Ministry of Security. I want to punish wrongdoers and help even one more citizen who has been wronged."
"........"
Next to him, Killian chuckled, munching on an apple.
"A good dream. I’m sure you’ll make a fine civil servant, Jake."
"Thank you. Oh, and here’s the paynt I promised earlier."
Inside the envelope Jake handed over was a check for one million bels.
Killian’s share was 250,000.
"I’ve received the full commission."
"I’d love to give you more, but there’s a lot my family needs to deal with as well."
"It’s alright. This is more than enough."
All he needed, anyway, was the 400,000 bells for the Blood Tower.
Jake gave another deep bow of gratitude.
"If you ever visit Baran City again, please reach out."
"I’ll make sure of it."
"Yes, you must! Next ti, I’ll treat you to the best food in this city."
After laughing cheerfully, Jake led his attendants out of the room.
Then Chief Walker entered the room.
"Quite the price on your heads."
"…Pardon?"
Looking back and forth between my and Killian's heads, he added,
"A bounty of 300,000 bels was placed on you two. A woman nad Ara Sweet put it there. Do you know her?"
"We’ve crossed paths."
"That woman will end up in prison, too. She’s killed countless people she didn’t like. Living freely outside might have been a harsher punishnt."
True enough, perhaps.
The Sweet family, which was her pride, had crumbled, and many held grudges against her.
"And that was a good call."
"What was?"
"The royal communication crystal. Jake Hoover told you were the one who used it."
"…Ah, well, about that…"
Needless to say, the code for the royal communication crystal was top secret.
If they asked how he knew, what would he even say?
As he began to sweat, Walker brushed it off.
"How is the Tower Master?"
"…Pardon?"
"Well, you were in a rush, so you probably didn’t have ti to exchange greetings."
Ah, so he thinks he asked Sasha to contact the palace.
Oscar didn’t bother to correct the misunderstanding.
"It’s about ti I left."
"Already?"
"Not ‘already’—I’m only now leaving. Coming here set back on my work."
The Ministry of Security must be quite busy.
That must an there’s no shortage of people to apprehend.
"That must be tough."
"I’m just doing my job. Rest up."
As Walker was about to leave the room, he suddenly stopped, looked back, and asked,
"Are all mages of the White Tower like you two?"
"…"
Killian glanced at , seemingly leaving the answer to Oscar.
After a brief pause, Oscar asked,
"What do you an by ‘like us’?"
"Are they all…"
Walker trailed off, shook his head, and said,
"No, never mind. Rest up."
After a curt farewell, Walker left the room and walked down the corridor, pausing to glance back once more.
All the mages he’d known so far had been mostly selfish, focused only on their own interests.
But these two from the White Tower were different.
‘If the mages of the White Tower in previous generations were like these two…!
Maybe now I understand, at least a little, why the elders cherish the White Tower so much and why they still hold it dear to their hearts.'
[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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