Opening Skirmish 4

Antenor, a high-ranking mage of the Magic Tower — known to viewers as the 5★ Seeker of Truth.

The old man with the striking pure-white beard was a unique figure in more ways than one. Of course, every mage in the world had their quirks and eccentricities, but this particular geezer took it a step further. One habit alone explained everything: when he wanted to research something, he locked himself away on the top floor of the Tower and refused to come out.

As a person, he had no rough edges whatsoever — yet his near-pathological curiosity and obsession were terrifying to behold. On an ordinary day he looked like nothing more than a kindly grandfather, but the moment something sparked his interest, his eyes would flip and the madman would emerge.

"Rolaaand! Explain what you've discovered, will you!"

Just as the wealthy and powerful guilds of the Free City could raise their voices without bowing to nobles or the Temple, a high-ranking mage of the Magic Tower carried authority rivaling that of the aristocracy. Antenor, however, cared nothing for the dignity of an elder or a high mage.

His shabby clothes made him look like a completely different person from the one who had appeared inside the Adventurer's Guild last time. The stern high-ranking mage was nowhere to be found — instead, a homeless-looking old man who belonged on a park bench came charging straight at me.

"What have you brought this time? New monsters that appeared inside the Tower? Why do these things leave behind bracelets made of mana when they die? Wouldn't it be more reasonable if they left body parts behind, like a horned wolf's fangs? And do orc shamans possess architectural knowledge? Wooden palisades and huts?"

"Ah, for fuck's sake… I'm not going anywhere, so let go of me already."

Han Se-ah edged slowly backward from those wild, rolling eyes. She had already suffered through a carriage ride with mages last time, so of course she was terrified. Even the viewers were making spoiled complaints in chat — a 5★ like that is a bit much…

Even the hyper-immersed viewers who had been spinning recruitment headcanons and running happiness circuits over the dazzling people gathered at the guild table were put off by Antenor. The torrent of words he'd just unleashed while grabbing me by the collar was already enough to make the entire chat turn green.

Han Se-ah had been standing silently behind me, filming the interior of the safe zone. When I glanced over and took in both her and the stream at once, she caught my eye and shook her head vigorously. Gamer Han Se-ah had clearly sensed impending doom.

"Our party's leader and mage is right here, so get the explanation from her. I need to go contact the Adventurer's Guild."

"R-Roland?!"

"Ohh, come to think of it, this must be the promising mage Miss Hanna who discovered the Full Moon Wolf. The new insights you demonstrated regarding magic last time left quite a favorable impression on the other high-ranking mages. There is always a reason when people start talking. How does it feel to have discovered orc warriors and shamans? Are you tempted to enter the Tower and conduct some research of your own?"

Han Se-ah stood there with her mouth hanging open, writhing in betrayal — but there was nothing to be done. Once this old man latched on, he would not let go until his curiosity was satisfied. "Sinking his teeth in and not letting go" was not a metaphor. It was literal.

Last time, he had claimed he had questions for the mercenaries and latched onto Rebecca. When she lost her temper and swung a fist at him, he simply shielded himself and stuck with the mercenary company's commission out of sheer obsession.

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He had hunted the monsters the company was supposed to handle with magic, boosted their travel speed with magic, and resolved every petty chore with the authority of a high-ranking mage — all so that, in the leftover time, they would stay by his side and explain things to him.

Even then, Rebecca had only been freed after throwing one of her subordinates at Antenor as a dedicated explanation-and-chatter specialist.

"…Has Lord Antenor left?"

"He's with our party leader. Hurry up."

As the upper-grade adventurer guiding the party, I used my own painful sacrifice as leverage to hurry the mage along. Whether he had personally experienced a high-ranking mage's obsession while sharing the same safe zone, the crystal-ball operator suddenly became remarkably snappy and efficient.

He sent word to the Adventurer's Guild through the crystal ball, but the guild was hardly a modern military force — there was no such thing as a five-minute combat-ready unit on standby.

While we waited after making contact, the mage who had just watched Han Se-ah get dragged off by Antenor as he burst out of his research lab swallowed hard and grabbed the crystal ball again. Antenor had something like a print addiction, only for explanations.

As a high-ranking mage he possessed the humility to carefully listen even to the words of some ignorant country bumpkin — but the fatal flaw was that he truly intended to listen to every single one of those explanations. Get caught by him here, and this mage would have to verbally unpack everything from the side dishes he ate for breakfast this morning to his habits when handling a crystal ball.

"Yeah, it's me, Elise. Something annoying's come up."

The crystal ball flashed, and instead of the communications officer's voice, Elise's came through. She must have heard the news already and claimed the seat next to the guild's crystal-ball operator. Just as I was about to continue, the hut door opened and Kayden slipped quietly inside.

Without making a single sound — as if she had become an assassin — she shut the door and wedged herself into a corner. Seeing this, the crystal-ball mage moved slowly but carefully and set a wooden latch firmly across the door.

"New monsters have started appearing on the twentieth floor. Orc shamans and orc warriors. The problem is that these orcs have begun building wooden palisades in the forest and patrolling the area around them."

"At least double a goblin pack. There were nearly several dozen of them gathered."

At the mention of dozens appearing at once, the mage beside Elise jumped in shock and cut into the conversation. Adventurer parties were fundamentally composed of four to five people. That was the most efficient headcount for dealing with a single mid-sized monster like a helmet stag or orc hunter, or a pack of small monsters like goblins and kobolds that numbered ten at most.

Fewer than four and you were at a disadvantage in a chaotic melee; more than five and you had surplus hands for taking down a single mid-sized target, and the profits got split thinner.

So what did it mean for small-party adventurers to stumble upon an orc settlement packed with dozens of mid-sized monsters? The moment you ran into them by accident, the roles of hunter and prey flipped in an instant.

Leaving the silent crystal ball behind as they presumably went to report the situation, I looked at Kayden.

"…Where are the others?"

"Lord Antenor invited them to his research lab for a cup of tea, so they went along."

"And you? Why not?"

"…I already had more than enough tea when I was with the mercenary company last time."

So Kayden had also been at Rebecca's side and run into Antenor inside the Tower before? I gave a small nod of understanding, then discreetly pulled up Han Se-ah's stream. Apparently deciding she could not die alone, she had not sent the camera my way.

Inside Antenor's research lab — a place that looked like something out of a fairy tale — three beauties sat side by side at a table.

A large wooden table, steaming teacups, walls packed with books and documents and experimental magical tools, and a kindly smiling white-bearded old mage. Through the camera, the broadcast looked warm and gentle.

"So, you've already encountered orc hunters, I see. Could you sense the difference in mana between the hunters, the warriors, and the shamans? I hear the shamans command the warriors — have you ever seen a hunter following orders? Roland smashed the palisade, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say… Hmm, you didn't witness them constructing it? Whether they fashioned simple building tools, raised it with rope, or simply brute-forced it with their bodies. Ah, don't worry. Even without seeing it, you've already been of great help."

Of course, the moment the audio kicked in, that warm atmosphere ignited into language that scraped against the eardrums. Kind-hearted Irene answered the old man's questions as gently as she could, but Han Se-ah and Grace's expressions were visibly freezing solid.

Even through that violent torrent of words, the camera ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stubbornly kept alternating between the three beauties and the old man. Naturally, since it swung toward whoever was speaking, roughly eighty percent of the screen was occupied by the elderly mage's face.

Chat and donations battered Han Se-ah like an angry tide, but the stubborn woman gritted her teeth and kept filming Antenor. I was starting to feel a little sorry for her — time to go rescue our party leader.

I rose from my seat and headed for the door, and the mage looked at me the way a cow looks at the slaughterhouse. I lifted the latch, stepped outside the hut, and spoke to him.

"The research lab — where is it?"

"You're actually going there?"

Oh, come on. What was he, a village NPC giving out the location of the Demon King's castle?

…Of course, I had no intention of going in myself. I just needed to throw this mage in as a substitute and change the topic of conversation. I could point out his subtle laziness — reading a book instead of standing by at the crystal ball — and make a sacrifice of him.

For a talkative old man, the best conversation topics were always "kids these days" and "back in my day," weren't they?

Still oblivious to the future about to befall him, the mage told me where the research lab was.