Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 169 - EP.40 – 기사들의 봄(3)
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.40 – Knights' Spring (3)
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Street kid's words, how trust them?
If someone asks that, Lee Han would reply thus.
That kid's guts and boldness are proof.
...Well.
'Heartbeat steady too.'
His lie detection likely accounts for eighty percent of the trust.
And,
"Ah, th-the reason I know this is I heard it from a drunk merchant long ago. He traded with the Magic Tower once."
In case of doubt, he even explained the source. His eyes were clear. Though his legs trembled in fear, he seemed unwilling to miss a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Lee Han asked the boy, Patrick.
"Young friend, but really okay no money, just this condition?"
"Yes! Just take me to the south. That's all!"
"...Doesn't seem like a great choice."
The boy Patrick wanted to flee the Empire—no, the central continent.
He demanded that as payment for the information.
Patrick nodded vigorously.
"The center's like a volcano ready to blow anytime. Cities ruled by feudal lords and kings feud, and the imperial family lacks both justification and power to stop them. One gunshot, and civil war erupts. A kid like me gets conscripted. Better head south."
"...You figured that out alone?"
"Roll your brain a bit, it adds up, right?"
"......What was I doing at that age."
Lee Han let out a hollow laugh.
Amazing kid.
Guts and boldness impressive, but his mind sharper than average.
If the Empire weren't such a mess, he'd make a name as a prodigy.
As he showed that admiration,
"But why us? You really sure we'll get you safely to the south?"
"......"
Lark's sudden remark.
Sounded threatening at first, but Lee Han knew better.
This guy...
'Testing him?'
Like appraising a raw gem.
Patrick...
"...Dealt with lots of merchants, so I know: business needs boldness sometimes. Not blindly—you need conviction it'll work. In that sense, knights seem worth the bold bet."
"What makes you say that?"
"Force is force, but treating a mere kid like me as equal... and..."
"......"
"Coming to punish spellcasters builds trust."
"Spellcasters?"
"...Yes. I really, really hate mages... spellcasters."
"......"
The two knights fell silent.
He tried hiding it, but resentment and hatred seeped through.
Clever or not, a kid's still a kid. Patrick couldn't conceal his feelings fully.
"......"
Yet the knights asked no more, simply following the boy in silence.
Seeing his anger, they even looked somewhat convinced.
Thus.
"We're here."
"That the one?"
"Yes. Only entrance to the Magic Tower."
City center.
The massive facility upholding the colony's barrier, where spellcasters managing it standby constantly.
But the grudge-bearing kid revealed it served other secret purposes too.
The Magic Tower transfer device, alias,
"Merchants call it [Portal]."
"Hmm."
"Knight?"
Patrick blinked at his subtle reaction.
Some problem?
Lee Han shook his head lightly at the question.
Not a problem per se—
"That looks less like a portal, more like..."
...a [capsule ejection device], he couldn't quite say, merely scratching his cheek.
Enemies in the Magic Tower?
-Tons!
The boy declared.
So many you'd trip over them.
Not just these two knights—plenty scheme against the Tower.
Well, top organizations having no enemies would be odder.
In that vein, the Magic Tower endured countless assaults.
Yet none succeeded.
Why?
-Magic force field protects it. Incredibly sturdy, they say.
Magic force field.
Basic mage telekinesis, but the Tower's version dwarfs others in quality and scale.
-Once siege weapons bombarded for over a month straight. Didn't budge.
Imagine Tower mages calmly sipping tea, chatting "Nice weather today" amid the barrage?
That sturdy.
Utterly impenetrable.
In that sense,
"No matter how strong you knights, breaching the Tower won't be easy. History shows even elite knights and armies failed. So only way in is that portal."
Just as Patrick's explanation wrapped, a round object rocketed skyward from the odd building's ejection port.
It soared smoothly, swiftly toward the Magic Tower.
Passing right over their colony, they witnessed the whole scene—the capsule slipping neatly into the Tower.
"Saw it? Hijack one, you can infiltrate somehow. -Not easy, of course."
Whew...
Patrick finished every explanation he could.
But fatigue crashed in immediately, his head cooling rationally.
'Did I mess up...?'
Coldly assessing, the Tower was truly impregnable.
Even these strong knights might fail...
'Portal too. Hijacking the building doesn't mean you can use it. Without a spellcaster, maybe impossible.'
No—definitely impossible without one.
Tower folk aren't fools.
Hated as they were, he had to respect them.
To counter an enemy, know them.
...Problem is, the deeper you dig, the less answers...
'Dad, Mom...'
Grit!
Still, Patrick's grudge burned—for parents slain unjustly.
Post-colony creation, the Tower amplified its already mighty imperial status.
Arrogant beyond nobles, lavish beyond merchants, haughty beyond royals.
Knowing blizzards unstoppable without them, they reveled unchecked.
Eventually, spellcasters' abuses overflowed, targeting non-nobles—the lowly masses.
And Patrick never forgot.
His poor but warm home shattered...
Mage spread plague "for experiment," razing the village...
Even as villagers and parents died...
-"Hmm, so this pathogen that lethal to normals? Tricky. Antidote pointless."
Eyes viewing humans as less than.
Patrick couldn't forget.
Mage departed; Patrick awaited death. Luckily, village's sole potion saved him.
...Parents secretly fed it to him—their only one.
Sole survivor since, grudge unyielding.
Some claim spellcasters a necessary evil.
Evil, yet helpful...
'Bullshit!'
No such thing. Just willful ignorance.
How many atrocities ignored!
Thus, he hated the world, trusted only money.
God exists?
'God's just a bystander.'
God never intervenes. Merely observes.
Useless, untrustworthy.
Money never lies, never betrays.
That's why trust it.
Patrick aimed to amass wealth as merchant.
-Become merchant, earn fortunes... topple Empire—no, Magic Tower itself.
His life's goal, arguably.
Near impossible, he knew.
Yet,
-Someday...!
Must achieve.
But now...
"......"
Tower loomed vast, invincible.
No hope of felling—
Patrick bowed his head.
His dream felt so childish.
"Kn-Knights, anyway..."
Hiding turmoil and frustration, he forced words.
Two men crumbling an impregnable fortress? Absurd.
Rationally, their charge pure suicide.
Good knights—humanely, stop them from dying.
Value life, please...
But.
"See anything?"
"Stay put. Disrupt my focus, you responsible?"
"...I'll stay still."
"Hmm, so that's the structure..."
They were already prepping the assault.
"...Knights?"
Patrick blinked, calling out.
Wondering what they did.
To that,
Pat.
"Good job bringing us, young friend. Thanks—got the rough assault plan now."
"...Huh?"
"Boils down to no brute force."
"??"
"Wait quietly, young friend. Show you soon."
"......?"
Patrick couldn't fathom them.
Still...
'Unlike looks, gentle touch?'
The rough pat warmed unexpectedly; his anxiety ebbed away.
Lee Han's words to the kid weren't empty.
Genuine gratitude—truly helpful.
'Impregnable fortress, yeah. Power radiating around ain't normal.'
Hundreds of spellcasters channeling telekinesis—sturdiness intuitive.
Barehanded breach? Aura Users only.
But Lee Han didn't quit.
Sturdy? So what?
Easy days ever exist?
Yet the kid's portal lesson—capsule ferrying folk up—revealed it.
Ah, gaps even there.
'Obvious. No defense perfect.'
Nothing flawless.
All have seams; exploit for breaches—that's assault craft.
In that vein...
"-Got it."
Lucky break.
Galahad's guide had exceptional eyes.
Tricolor gaze locked on skyborne Tower; thief-mind memorized capsule-passage flows.
Sole knight in Galahad annals to embody seven mysteries as technique.
Lark de Duran pinpointed the Tower's millennium-secret gap no other uncovered.
But spotting != piercing.
Piercing demands sky-piercing destructive weapon matching capsule's speed and path.
And right on cue.
"Scoundrel, any technique of yours that surges skyward like that capsule while packing wall-shattering power?"
"...Who asks people that normally?"
"You're no person, so I ask."
"......"
"So, got one or not."
"Sigh, not exactly none..."
"......"
"No...! Why glare after asking?"
"...Beast."
"!!?!"
Perfect 'weapon' at hand.
Kwaaaaaaaaang-!!
[Imperial Year 1,024.] [The Magic Tower—no, the tower housing 'magic beasts' in human form—split in half and plummeted from the sky, but fortunately, no 'casualties' occurred.]
—Excerpt from the diary of the Golden Merchant Patrick—
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