Chapter 150
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Victimer Archmage Duke
Viktimer Archmage Duke
It's a common villain tactic!
Whoa, what's this from Lulu-chan?
Bet she's just spouting nonsense again lol
MagicGirlLulu-chan's comment.
She usually posts nothing but silly nonsense under that high-nick, but today she actually dropped some reasoning.
This time I really figured it out!
Magical girls often got their bases raided while they were out solving cases.
That's why there's always an on-duty magical girl now.
Create chaos and raid the base?
It was childish reasoning based on her own standards, but somehow it caught my eye.
"But the culprit's supposed to be Hera and her gang, and Hera's nowhere to be seen."
That's when Elrim scratched her head with a dumb look on her face.
Combining Lulu-chan's comment with Elrim's words sparked a sudden possibility.
"...No way?"
"What's wrong, Ian?"
"Hold on. I'm heading back to the maze."
"Pardon?"
"Ian?"
"What're you doing, loser!"
I teleported back to the maze floor without giving the three a chance to respond.
The chief researchers were still hard at work on the rescue operation.
True to their title, they'd already mapped out most of that massive maze in such a short time.
I grabbed one of the chief researchers at random.
"Excuse me. Who's on the chief researchers' floor right now?"
"Pardon? Visitor safety comes first, so everyone's down here solving the maze..."
"No, that won't do!"
"Y-Yes?"
No way it was really this cheap trick?
The goal wasn't attacking the cadets—it was drawing the chief researchers' attention.
"But we locked the chief research labs tight before leaving. No cadet could open those locks."
"Oh, really?"
Lulu-chan's reasoning was unreliable after all.
I gave an awkward bow and headed back to the first floor.
A nagging doubt lingered.
Just in case, I checked the floor with the chief research labs, but as the researcher said, they were securely locked.
But then where the hell was Hera really?
Doesn't seem like they targeted any specific spot secretly; checked the empty chief research labs too, nothing there.
Hawawa!
But drawing attention and striking from behind is a classic villain move!
The chief researchers stepping away doesn't mean you'd raid there.
With so many researchers in the tower, they can't target just any floor easily.
If cadets really did this, they couldn't do much against tower researchers.
Unless they know some hidden floor no one else does.
Honestly can't figure why cadets would pull this off.
Just bully games? lol
"Hmm..."
88thFloorPenthouse was spot on.
The tower wasn't that sloppy just because a few chief researchers stepped out.
There were plenty of other tower staff besides them.
No one would try to fool the tower with such a crude plan.
...Unless they knew about some actual hidden something.
"Hidden floor?"
Another flash of insight hit me.
I didn't think it possible, but...
Just to be sure, I decided to check.
"Hup...!"
I twisted my body right there, performing the Twist Grand Prostration.
Space flipped, transporting me to that desert-like floor from yesterday.
"Y-You...?"
And there she was—Hera, for real.
Looking utterly terrified, Hera was wandering alone in the vast 70th-floor desert.
"Hera, what are you doing here? If you wandered in by mistake, just head back to the first floor."
"M-Mind your own business! Get lost!"
As I approached, Hera spat curses and began computing a spell.
I calmly computed a defensive spell in response.
Her skills were predictable.
In one clash, I subdued her.
"L-Let me go!"
"Tell me what you were doing here, and I will."
"Th-That's... Ugh, bleh—"
[Aquaculture Pen]
Trapped target in enclosed water farm; attempts to destroy blocked.
Trapped in the [Aquaculture Pen], Hera flailed desperately, swimming around.
She tried using magic to break the enclosure, but I blocked it each time with another spell.
"Go back to the first floor. You'll get caught here in no time anyway."
"F-Fine! I get it! Damn it... There was supposed to be a pillar or something..."
I didn't know how to force someone else to the first floor.
They had to execute the floor-transfer rule themselves.
Under my threats, Hera reluctantly chanted her name three times.
I followed suit, chanting mine three times, and we returned to the first floor.
"Loser!"
"Ian? Hera too? What happened?"
Back on the first floor, the three gaped at me and Hera.
"We need to call the Tower Master first... Milio, could you go get him?"
No other researchers knew about the 70th floor.
From the circumstances, Hera had clearly targeted it.
Best to inform the Tower Master directly, so I asked the three for the favor.
"No need for that."
A familiar curt voice came from behind.
It was the Tower Master.
He'd apparently wrapped up the maze floor situation and come down, bringing the chief researchers and captured culprits with him to the first floor.
"Is this one the ringleader?"
"Kyaa, kyak!"
The Tower Master grabbed Hera's face roughly, without a hint of mercy.
Hera let out a shrill scream at his rough grip.
But he ignored it, squeezing her face tighter.
Then he began emanating mana.
Seemed like he was checking if she'd been hit with forbidden magic or was hiding something.
Moments later, he roughly released her.
"...Just an ordinary cadet."
"Y-Yes, Tower Master. We confirmed all visitors were normal cadets before entry. No signs of concealing identities either..."
Milio answered from behind, sweating bullets.
As he said, Hera's gang were the punks I knew.
Ordinary cadets.
"Tower Master. I have something to say..."
"...?"
I seized the moment to approach him.
To report that Hera had been on the 70th floor.
He met my eyes, then cast a spell.
Our private space separated from the outside.
"They can't hear from outside. Speak."
"Not sure why, but she was on the 70th floor. Looked like she was searching for a pillar."
"...What? How did you find it?"
"Her friends were in the maze, but Hera was the only one missing. Figured she stirred trouble to search elsewhere, so I checked just in case..."
"No way those bastards..."
He cut off there and dispelled the spell.
Then, with a furious expression, he told Milio:
"Take all researchers and visitors and withdraw."
"...Yes, Tower Master."
Milio led the rest to another floor.
He left me on the first floor.
"Speak. Who sent you?"
Rumble...
With the first floor empty, the Tower Master unleashed his mana.
As if venting his rage, he crushed the entire space with the realm of a 9th-circle mage.
"I-I-I-I-I-I d-don't..."
Hera trembled violently before him.
She looked ready to faint any second.
But he showed no mercy, pressing her harder.
Under the 9th-circle mage's pressure and the terror it brought, Hera had already wet herself.
No mere 1st-year cadet at the early 4th circle could withstand that fear.
She was on the verge of losing her mind to the overwhelming dread.
Pitiful as Hera seemed, I just watched.
She was the one who'd dared cause chaos in the tower.
And I was curious what her goal was on the 70th floor.
How did she even know about the 70th floor—known only to the Tower Master—and the pillar with the floor-transfer code?
"Not talking, eh? Then..."
The Tower Master growled in fury.
He began computing some spell.
Whatever it was, it felt terrifying.
But then, a massive vibration shook the first floor.
Boom—a explosion roared.
To be precise, it wasn't inside the first floor.
Something had exploded outside the tower.
Bang—bang—bang—
Something pounded on the tower's door.
The tower door was said to be fortified with strict magical barriers against outsiders.
Few in this world could breach it to make that noise.
"...Tch. So it was you after all."
The Tower Master roughly released Hera.
She collapsed unconscious on the floor.
Then he told me:
"Go up to another floor."
"Why? Who's out there?"
"Someone you mustn't meet. Go. Take that girl too."
"I can't do that. I helped out, so at least tell me what's going on."
"...I'll tell you after sending this scum away. Go now."
I was dying to know who was outside, but the mood left no room for stubbornness.
He'd explain later.
I slapped Hera's cheeks to wake her and headed to the second floor where the others had gone.
After Ian carried Hera up to the second floor.
Tower Master Mitsuya Raskalet neatly regulated his mana.
The being waiting outside the tower's main gate right now.
It was one of the people Mitsuya hated most.
Once his closest comrade.
Now, a horrific enemy he wanted to erase from the world.
Rumble...
The massive tower door groaned open slowly amid great vibrations.
Behind it stood one of the world's greatest mages.
"Mitsuya. Isn't opening the door for an old friend taking too long?"
"So it was you, Victor."
Victor Victimer.
Head of the Victimer Archmage Duke Family, one of the eight archmage duke houses.
He rarely showed himself in public, yet here he stood alone before the tower.
Victor gave Mitsuya a brief smile.
Then, enormous mana stirred before him.
"[Timid Whisper of the End]"
⟨ 9th Circle Magic ⟩
Nine constructs. 9th-circle magic.
A tiny whisper from a colossal entity shot toward Mitsuya's right ear.
But Mitsuya had already finished computing, as if anticipating it.
"Don't use Master's magic with that filthy mana, Victor."
"[A Single Apple Tree Planted by the Creator]"
⟨ 9th Circle Magic ⟩
Crack— a thick apple tree sprouted behind Mitsuya.
It grew to fill the first floor, casting vast shadows and a cool grassy scent over the chamber.
The whisper of the end screamed and dispersed, blocked by the Creator's apple tree.
"Heh. Why so formal between us, Mitsuya? Still as sharp as ever."
"Still pulling dirty tricks. Toying with those blood clots."
"No idea what you mean? I just came personally to fetch my collateral family's kid who caused a ruckus here. Heard she dragged friends into it too—I'll take responsibility for them all."
"Not even hiding it."
Hera was from the Victimer collateral family.
And Victor had stormed the tower the moment she was caught—to retrieve her.
An archmage duke coming personally for one collateral kid.
Right after the incident, as if he'd been watching.
"Disgusting bastards..."
Mitsuya ground his teeth at the still-smiling Victor.
Just looking at that face made him want to vomit.
Horrifying that seven more like him existed.
"Hand over the kids, and I'll withdraw quietly. No intent to cause chaos in Master's tower."
"Thick-skinned as ever. Daring to utter Master's name with that mouth."
"Because it's Master."
"The kids will be expelled from the academy."
"Oh dear. They must face punishment for their wrongs."
"Kids dreaming of becoming mages. Now you'll crush them too?"
"No clue what you mean, Mitsuya. Mages, young or not, must own their actions, right?"
"You saying that is rich."
Victor smiled again.
Mitsuya glared at the repulsive face, then pulled a crystal orb from his robes.
"Milio. Bring the troublemaking visitors."
"Oh. Surprisingly compliant."
Victor seemed genuinely surprised by Mitsuya's ready compliance.
He'd even prepared for a clash to take Hera and the kids.
"You won't reach the tower's pinnacle with such filthy deeds."
"Thanks for the concern, Mitsuya."
"Loathsome scum..."
Moments later, Milio brought the ringleader cadets down to the first floor.
Hera's gang, heads bowed like criminals, paled at the sight of Victor.
"Tower Master. You sure about this?"
"Doesn't matter. Hand them over. Inform the academy separately."
"...Understood."
As ordered, Milio handed Hera's gang to Victor.
They hesitated but ultimately left the tower.
"I'll discipline the kids properly, Mitsuya."
"Never show your face here again."
"See you later."
The tower door closed, and Victor and Hera's gang vanished.
Once fully shut, Mitsuya clicked his tongue.
"Finish the tour as scheduled. And send that kid to me."
"The visitor Ian Isaac?"
"...That name? Yeah. Him."
"Understood."
Milio headed upstairs per the order.
Left alone in the vast chamber, Mitsuya let out a long, pained sigh.