Full Moon Wolf 1
After spending some time in Charlotte's laboratory, I stepped outside to find the grounds of the Magic Tower in an uproar. The mages' hunger for knowledge about the Full Moon Wolf must have been enormous — no fewer than ten carriages stood waiting at the gates. Looks like they planned to camp out on the tenth floor until they caught the thing.
Then again, the plains of the tenth floor were warm and free of any of those nightmarish venomous insects. Monster appearances aside, the scenery rivaled a high-end camping ground you'd pay good money to visit.
Normally each floor of the Tower had designated safe zones free of monsters, but they clearly intended to roam outside those zones to track the Full Moon Wolf. The supply routes and paths would differ from the usual ones, but it was only the tenth floor — no big deal.
As I was looking over the carriages, Hanna approached with Grace and Irene in tow. Irene, curious about an operation larger than she'd imagined, asked a question.
"Wow, is all of this going into the Tower?"
"Most of it is probably equipment the mages requested. Those fellows will keep researching even inside the Tower."
These were mages entering the Tower just for a firsthand look at a unique specimen that had appeared for the first time. With that kind of zeal, there was no chance they'd pause their research on the Tower itself while hunting for the Full Moon Wolf. I'd have bet my armor that half those carriages were loaded with experimental magic tools.
As if to prove my guess wasn't baseless, a swarm of scruffy mage assistants came pouring out of the Magic Tower. Apprentice mages — "assistant" written, "slave" read — opened crates and checked the packing material around flasks, reagents, and all manner of things that had nothing to do with adventuring.
"You're right. Mages really are something else…"
From Irene's perspective as someone of the Temple, that near-mad thirst for knowledge among the mages must have looked admirable. After all, volunteering to research firsthand inside a space called blasphemous and unknown probably looked no different from a priest setting out on a pilgrimage of hardship.
People began gathering around the carriages one by one. Most of them were adventurers with gear that didn't belong on the tenth floor — hired help, like Charlotte's party. Charlotte herself joined them looking polished and put-together; her maid must have prepared magic tools for her in advance.
She gave me a soft, smiling glance, and I nodded back. Then an old man with an impressive white beard stepped forward.
"If everyone is ready, we depart. I trust I need not explain what this expedition is for — you all know."
It was the wealthy mage who'd visited the inn last time. Wealth wasn't all he had — he casually ordered the coachmen to get the carriages moving. The parties must have coordinated with the mages beforehand, because every group took their places under the mages' direction.
Hanna led us to the right side of the first carriage — what you could call the head of the expedition.
Of course, since this was a procession heading into the Tower, it probably didn't mean much…
"Oh! Miss Hanna! Would you care to join us in the carriage for a moment?"
"Come on in!"
What on earth was going on?
The lead carriage wasn't a cargo wagon but a luxurious one built to carry several passengers. I'd wondered why — until I saw the faces inside. White beards were standard issue, and every face was a map of deep wrinkles.
These were old men who'd struggle to walk from the Magic Tower to the Tower entrance, let alone climb to the tenth floor — and the carriage was packed with them. And every one of those wealthy, high-status-looking mages was beaming and calling out to Hanna like she was their granddaughter.
…Seriously, what had happened?
"That conversation we had last time kept this old man up all night."
"Don't be so shy — hop in for a bit. Ah, if you're worried about your party members, I could arrange another carriage…"
"No! I— I'll just be a moment!"
Hanna, equally flustered by the mages' enthusiastic welcome, blinked her large eyes — then scrambled aboard the moment they offered to buy another carriage.
"Miss Hanna seems quite close with the mages of the Magic Tower."
"Uh, I don't think that's it…"
Grace responded to Irene's quiet murmur. What on earth had they talked about at the inn to get this kind of reaction? Was it just the gift of gab that came with being a top-tier streamer? I emptied my head of such thoughts and kept walking.
A procession packed with people in robes and pointed hats that screamed I am a mage! Citizens' curious gazes gathered — what was all this about in the middle of the day?
Of course, mage eccentricities weren't anything new, so once people confirmed it was just a bunch of unremarkable cargo wagons, they went about their business. Compared to the time the mages had set bipedal golem dolls rampaging through the streets in the name of "improvement," cargo wagons were ordinary to the point of boredom.
We walked and walked, and finally arrived at the plains of the tenth floor.
"Th-that was… surprisingly easy?"
"Tower monsters have the same instincts as monsters outside."
It was similar to the stories Charlotte used to tell the kids at the Temple. Beast-type monsters still retained basic hunger and hunting instincts. Put another way: when a hundred people were swarming around, no lone fox was going to bravely charge in.
Grace muttered with a deflated air — she'd clearly held some romantic notions about what an "expedition" meant. Irene beside her gave a small nod, apparently thinking the same thing.
Looking strangely disappointed, the two of them were joined by a thoroughly drained, ragged-looking Hanna climbing down from the carriage. Curious about what had happened, I checked the chat window and the boards for a moment — and it seemed modern knowledge had piqued the mages' curiosity.
"What did you talk about in the carriage?"
"Just… stuff about using magic…"
More precisely, it seemed to be because of viewer missions. Pulling an iron plate from her inventory to use as a shield must have left an impression, because the chat had asked about every possible application of magic.
Could high-tier water magic be fused with lightning magic the way she'd sparked a water spell? Did wind and fire magic create a damage synergy when cast together? Did something called double casting exist for these combinations? Or what if you used a magic tool with your hands while chanting with your mouth?
The high-ranking mages of the Magic Tower were people that viewers — still Novice Adventurers — would never dare meet. Thanks to paid chance-time donations of tens of thousands of won apiece, Hanna had ended up asking the mages dozens of questions about magical applications.
And the sight of Hanna transformed into the living embodiment of curiosity and thirst for knowledge — all for mission money — had struck a deep chord with the old men of the Magic Tower—
"This is all your fault. Well, okay, the donations were sweet, but… at this rate I'm starting to wonder if I'm climbing the Adventurers' Tower or the Magic Tower."
And that was the result.
Among old men curious enough to climb the Tower themselves, a young woman peppering them with questions about magic and tossing out all kinds of unusual ideas — of course they'd find her adorable.
"You look terribly tired. Are you all right? Shall I cast a healing holy spell for you…?"
"Uh, um, would you mind?"
Irene was so worried about how thoroughly drained Hanna looked from the carriage that she offered a heal. Anyone watching might have thought Hanna had hauled the cargo wagon herself instead of a horse.
White light flowed from Irene's pure white fingertips, wrapping around Hanna like a soft lamp. Whether from the effect of holy power or not, Hanna closed her eyes and luxuriated in the spell as if receiving a massage. While we spent time like this, the hired adventurers began pitching tents, using the cargo wagons as a fence.
"They're just setting up a base right away?"
"The mages just need to be inside the Tower, so I guess so."
"Right. They said research time is too precious, so they're camping here and sending the adventurers out to search."
Hanna explained what she'd overheard in the carriage. As if to confirm her words, several mages approached the tented adventurers and handed something over. Not an adventurer's badge, not a Tower-climbing lantern — a fist-sized crystal orb.
Hanna pulled an identical object from her inventory. Inside the transparent glass sphere, a silver hair from the Full Moon Wolf floated and drifted, moving like the needle of a compass.
"They put a byproduct of the Full Moon Wolf into a mana-detection reagent. The explanation of what kind of reagent was too complicated for me to follow… but we just need to search the plains with this."
"Everyone's scattering in every direction?"
"It seems to react to Horned Wolves — the Full Moon Wolf's subordinates. A weak reaction means a Horned Wolf, a strong one means… well, the Full Moon Wolf. That's why everyone's splitting up. They don't know the exact direction."
Despite saying that, Hanna confidently pointed in one particular direction. Grace naturally took the crystal orb from her and headed that way. Never mind the quest-item crystal — the quest window itself seemed to be marking a destination on the map.
Well, having a boss mob spawn randomly across this vast plain would be a real headache.
Adventurers scattering in every direction, mages hauling reagents of all kinds into the tents. This felt less like an expedition camp and more like a research base full of scientists.
"So we just go the way the hair points?"
"Yeah, and that only tracks the Full Moon Wolf's traces, so…"
"We'll have to watch for ambushing Horned Wolves separately. There's one in the brush up ahead."
I stepped past Grace as she naturally fell back, and crushed the skull of the Horned Wolf that leaped out. I'd heard the Magic Tower was buying all Horned Wolf byproducts from this expedition in bulk — so we'd actually make some real money for gear.