Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Magic Tower (3)
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Clunk!
In the end, the marble slab was lifted up.
Just as the old man had said, there really was a hole there big enough for a person to slip through.
“Whew, I really have no idea if this is the right thing to do.”
Sunny stared blankly at the hole.
“I’ve heard that the Magic Tower is full of secrets, but I never imagined there’d be a pit like this here…”
People often call mages a race driven by curiosity.
Those who endlessly research and apply themselves to any phenomenon.
It seemed Sunny couldn’t escape that category either.
“It’s a real promise. Keep the secret. I’m only trusting you because it’s a real gold badge.”
The way she was cooperating immediately.
And not just that?
Her eyes were sparkling at the discovery of this new passage.
“What’s there to keep or not? We’re accomplices now.”
“Ah, still…”
“You’re responsible for all your actions. You’re an adult, right? If you don’t like that, then just leave this place right now and report it to the professor or the Tower Lord.”
Of course.
If she really tried to do that, I’d have no choice but to knock her out for a bit.
“……Hmm.”
Sunny hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Phew, alright. Let’s go in, let’s go!”
There was only one reason I was bringing her along.
This was the Magic Tower.
If something inexplicable like that [Magic Training Ground] from earlier popped up, it’d be a problem.
In other words, she was the function shuttle and guide.
Creak, creak!
Boneo was still in a daze as he headed toward his destination.
He had grabbed the ladder next to the pit and was slowly descending.
“Go in first.”
I sent Sunny down ahead.
I had to restore the marble floor to its original state without a trace.
“Make sure you don’t fall behind and follow closely.”
Rumble, thud!
I gathered my energy and fitted the prepared marble floor back into place.
A musty smell of dirt assaulted my nose.
“Eek. It’s completely dark now?”
A voice mixed with complaints came from below.
The light had been fully blocked off.
I had my memories of playing with the Shadow Shepherd, so it wasn’t hard for me.
But for a regular student mage like her, it must’ve been tough.
“Don’t you have a flash spell or something? You’re fire attribute, right?”
“Ah, wait a sec. Hold on.”
A brief silence followed.
Flash!
Light leaked from her small wand.
Oh ho.
I’d just said it offhand, but she actually had one?
“Yeah.”
She muttered to herself.
In a tone like she was steeling herself.
“I came here prepared to get kicked out of the Tower. No backing out now. I’m definitely uncovering the secret…!”
With movements full of enthusiasm.
She strode down about 50 meters to the bottom.
I matched her pace.
Plop!
When Boneo and I landed on the floor one after another.
“……This is.”
Sunny muttered.
I looked around as well.
“……A maze?”
* * *
The cave was surprisingly long.
And there were lots of forks.
With one or two appearing every 50 meters or so, who knew how many spaces it split into?
In short, it felt like an anthill.
Also, looking up at the ceiling.
There were several pits dug out.
Besides that marble floor from earlier, there seemed to be many entrances to this secret passage.
Like some shortcut known only to those in the know?
Creak!
Even amid all that.
Boneo walked forward without the slightest hesitation.
“What the heck is that skeleton? How does it know the Magic Tower like the back of its hand?”
Sunny asked as she swept her hair back and tied it up.
“It knows where it’s going, right?”
“……Probably?”
“Probably what? Again with the ‘probably’!”
What else could I say?
I didn’t know either.
Where exactly was Boneo trying to go?
It was like he was operating on instinct without any consciousness…
Yeah, homing instinct!
Before full awakening, moving purely on remembered instinct without reason?
Of course, if I ordered him to stop now, he would.
And he’d creak purely in obedience to me again.
“One thing’s for sure.”
I said.
“This guy knows this secret passage better than anyone here. Let’s just follow without questioning. Unless you want to get lost.”
“……Lost?”
Sunny flinched.
Her curious expression quickly turned to one of anxiety.
‘This girl…’
Did she not think about the consequences?
Well.
If she had, she wouldn’t have followed in the first place.
“So, no more chit-chat. Follow me.”
* * *
We walked.
We kept walking.
We walked so much that we even went down some stairs along the way.
The passages varied in size.
Some were spacious enough to walk comfortably.
Others were so narrow you had to crawl to barely get through.
And before long.
“This is… a vent?”
Clunk, clunk!
While crawling.
I spotted square metal grates embedded here and there.
Through the gaps, I could see an enormous space filled with bookshelves.
Packed full of antique-looking books.
“And… it’s the library!”
Sunny whispered as she crawled slowly.
“The library is under the training ground…! We must’ve gone down a level without realizing!”
“…….”
It was a library, but the students down there probably never came across it.
The ceiling was so high.
The students below looked like specks the size of fists.
With bookshelves this massive…
You could die falling from the top while organizing?
“How many books are there, exactly?”
“Surprised? I thought it was insane when I first saw it. Hunters have only been around for 13 years… To have this many, it’d take centuries of publishing.”
“…….”
“But most of those books, we can’t read them.”
“You mean?”
“Yeah, they’re not in Earth languages. They’re full of unrecognizable hieroglyphs.”
“Ah.”
“That’s why most Magic Tower students speculate that maybe the Tower Lord didn’t build this place… It doesn’t make sense, right? How could one person build something this vast?”
“Very rational thinking, like an Oxford student.”
“Hehe, right?”
Creak, creak!
We kept crawling.
It seemed like there was still quite a way to the destination.
I asked again.
“Then what are those students standing in the library for?”
“Oh, them?”
“Yeah.”
“Either they’re looking at real skillbooks, or they’re the ones desperately trying to translate those characters.”
Sunny scratched her cheek.
“If someone could translate all those characters… That’d be the ultimate serendipity, right?”
Exactly.
You’d absorb the vast knowledge in this library.
For reference.
「Skillbooks」 are essential items for mages, obtained from dungeon rewards or serendipity.
Cheat-level items that teach you a skill the moment you read them.
Of course, only once per book.
Once used, the ‘unique effect’ that allows learning the skill vanishes.
Only the book itself remains.
That’s why unused S-rank 「Skillbooks」 sold for sky-high prices.
Of course.
「Skillbooks」 can only be learned by those with magic-related unique abilities.
So a necromancer like me couldn’t learn them even if I got one.
Then why read the used skillbooks?
Because they contain basic usage and applications of the skill inside.
The ones the students were reading were probably the depleted skillbooks.
“Eek!”
Not long after, Sunny cried out.
“My back hurts…! How long do we have to crawl? Ugh, did I come for nothing?”
She jerked her head up irritably.
Creak!
Boneo was still crawling ahead.
Her lower body trembled, probably from lack of exercise.
At that moment.
Halt!
“Huh?”
Boneo stopped crawling.
Then.
Thud, thud!
This time, he struck the metal grate in the vent with his staff.
Trying to go into the library?
“Step aside for a sec.”
“Yes, sir!”
After shoving Sunny to the corner, I went to Boneo’s side.
Whoosh!
I transformed my Godslayer-grade weapon into a dagger.
Then boldly stabbed down and sliced.
Slash, slash!
As expected of its high rank, the vent frame was cut like butter.
Sunny gasped in shock.
“Y-You can’t just vandalize Magic Tower property like that…!”
“We’re in deep shit either way if we get caught, right?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
“Here.”
Ignoring her, I looked at Boneo.
“Go wherever you want.”
I’d handle the aftermath.
Clunk!
After removing the grate, I descended into the hole first.
Fortunately, the vent opened onto the top of a bookshelf.
Creak!
Boneo came down.
“Hyup!”
Sunny followed.
Boneo took the lead again.
Surprisingly, he freely traversed the tops of the bookshelves, heading deeper into the library.
Rustling quietly into the dark, empty areas.
How long did we go like that?
On top of one bookshelf, Boneo stopped, grabbed the edge, and dropped down to the shelf below.
Even though the drop below looked like a nearly 100-meter cliff, he moved with ease.
“Uwaaaah, why there?”
Sunny stomped her feet.
“I have a fear of heights!”
“Hmm, it’s a question of whether curiosity or your life comes first. I’ll respect your choice.”
Smirking, I followed Boneo down.
One shelf below.
Unlike the others, this compartment was unusually tall.
Just enough to bend at the waist?
And.
“Huh?”
I could clearly see it.
A black door visible between books stacked horizontally…
“Wow.”
Thump…!
My heart raced.
Was this the feeling of discovering a ‘serendipity’ or hidden ‘reward’ while dungeon crawling?
“What! What is it! Tell me!”
Sunny got excited at my reaction.
“There’s a door here?”
“A door?!”
In the end, curiosity won out.
“Hnnngh!”
Holding her breath long, she awkwardly descended to the lower shelf.
Truly the curiosity of a mage.
And.
Clunk!
The place we followed Boneo into was a narrow secret room.
* * *
The room was simple.
A small bookshelf in the corner.
Filled with worn-looking books.
Also.
In the center, a desk and a chair.
On top, tattered parchment, dried-up ink, and a quill.
“……What is this?”
“Who knows.”
What could it be?
I was curious too.
Creak!
Boneo, having arrived, sat in the opposite corner from the small bookshelf and went still.
He’d moved on instinct, and with the goal achieved, returned to his original state.
“Hmm.”
I picked up one book from the shelf and flipped through it casually.
As expected, full of unintelligible characters.
“What’s with this skeleton…? How did it know about this space…? And why is there only junk like this in a place like this?”
Sunny rummaged through the room eagerly.
“Honestly, a secret room in the Magic Tower should have at least one serendipity item, right? Ugh, what a letdown.”
“Yeah.”
I kept searching for something.
I even asked Boneo.
Creak?
The returned Boneo just tilted his head with a joint creak.
“Phew.”
Hey, buddy.
Finding this place is one thing.
Tell me what it means.
“Huh?”
It was then.
Sunny, flipping through parchment on the desk, gasped.
“L-Look at this!”
Pointing to text on the parchment.
“Th-There’s English written here!”
“……English?”
When I approached and looked.
Text that naturally translated as I read.
[Magical World.]
[Traces of the 4th Magic Tower Lord, ‘Eloise.’]
[Management Target No. 1.]
[Caution: Room of the Legendary and Worst Tower Lord in History.]
“……This is.”
Eloise?
The worst Tower Lord in history?
“……What is this?”
Sunny’s dazed voice carried a note of doubt.