Poin?t
Poin?t
The era of peace.
It may be called that, but in practical terms, it's never purely peaceful.
The sea has effectively become monster territory.
Shallow waters aside, crossing the open ocean between continents isn't cost-effective with current methods.
The sky is in a similar situation, though the details differ.
There were airborne monsters, and more importantly, those damned mana wave disturbances made it incredibly difficult to keep aircraft aloft for long.
Mana wave disturbances didn't stop there. They even wrecked the communication networks that once bound the world together.
With physical movement and information sharing via networks effectively severed—
That was one of the reasons humanity was so helplessly driven back during the Chaos Period.
During the Chaos Period, that's how it was.
Now, it's different.
The Authority of Space reconnected a world once severed, binding it closer than ever through Gates.
Now people can move across the world without crossing sea and sky.
The Authority of Harmonization tore down the barriers of language and restored a communication network overwhelmingly superior to the one lost in ages past.
Information could be shared without having to lay down bundles of complex cables along the ocean floor.
The World Superhuman Association—a force it is no exaggeration to call the architect and pillar of the current world system.
All thanks to the Authorities of the Association Presidents who founded it.
"It is an honor to meet the hero. I am Maxwell, of the Association President's Direct Enforcement Department."
[The honor is mine.]
[I am Lee Ha-yul.]
"The hero of Sipnaha says so. I hardly know how to respond."
The man who'd introduced himself by name and affiliation—Maxwell—extended his right hand for a handshake.
An appropriate smile, proper posture. Flawless textbook form that gave no opening for criticism.
I'd seen that stance before, back on the false second floor.
'Maxwell.'
I'd guessed as much from that strange situation earlier, but actually hearing that name left me baffled in several ways.
Maxwell is a character you meet quite often in the original story.
"Ah, please, sit comfortably. I've prepared everything in advance."
I clasped his hand and shook it in return. Maxwell smiled brightly and guided me to the table.
Just as he'd said, drinks and light refreshments were already laid out.
We were inside Siyoram, so there was no chance of a threat, but he was still a stranger.
I scanned the drinks and snacks with the Observation Authority. No harmful properties were detected.
After I'd taken a sip of my drink, Maxwell spoke.
"If it wouldn't be an imposition, may I explain what just happened?"
[Yes.]
[Please do.]
"Thank you for your generosity."
Maxwell gave a slight smile, moistened his throat with tea, and then began.
"That phenomenon just now was due to my Unique Ability. It's an illusion-series ability, currently projected to cover the entirety of the second floor."
He raised a finger, and a butterfly alighted atop it.
A breeze blew in. I felt the wind against my skin, and my ears picked up the fluttering of the butterfly's wings.
...My mana detected it as unnatural.
My Observation Authority brought back information that the space above his finger was empty.
Illusion-series.
An ability that deceives the senses and cognition.
An illusion, ultimately, is a fantasy divorced from reality.
Therefore, to trap someone in an illusion, you must deceive the senses that let them perceive reality—and the sharper the target's senses, the less effective it becomes.
And my senses... my hearing and touch are exceptionally keen.
I don't know if it's because my other senses are blocked and those became hyper-developed... but they're at least at the level of a proper technique, even if not quite a Unique Ability.
Yet I'd been caught in that illusion. My senses hadn't seen through it. That genuinely unsettled me.
Of course, I had immediately picked up on the unnatural mana signature, but I hadn't instantly grasped the true nature of things the way I had through the Observation Authority.
[May I ask why?]
"Of course. But the reason isn't anything special. 'Association President's direct command' or 'Enforcement Department'—it sounds grand, but at the root of it, I'm just a civil servant."
Maxwell shook his head, as if the whole thing were absurd.
"At the end of the day, a civil servant just does what the higher-ups tell him."
[What the higher-ups tell you.]
[As I understand it, Mr. Maxwell, you don't have many people above you.]
The Association's departments are numerous, and its chains of command just as tangled.
The Enforcement Department is different.
They are the ones who will push aside even the directives of the Association's deliberative body—the "Association Council"—to carry out the Association Presidents' orders above all else.
In other words...
"Yes. As I explained earlier, I belong to the Association President's Direct Enforcement Department. That is, I act on the Association Presidents' instructions."
The Association Presidents. The Enforcement Department that carries out their orders.
Back when I was tearing through the Association Headquarters in the original story, trying to meet the Tower Masters, I'd primarily targeted the Enforcement Department.
My thinking was that by starting with the Enforcement Department and working my way up, I might somehow be able to meet the Tower Masters of Space and Harmonization.
I'd captured members of the Enforcement Department, including Maxwell. I'd interrogated them, killed them. But I'd never gotten to meet the Tower Masters...
'......'
The Tower Master of Space, and the Tower Master of Harmonization...
I forced my expression to smooth over before it could involuntarily stiffen.
[In that case, was that action just now an order from the Association Presidents?]
"Strictly speaking, yes."
Maxwell confirmed it with a cryptic smile.
But it wasn't an unqualified confirmation.
He took another sip of tea.
"When meeting the Special Admission Cadet, first conceal your appearance with an illusion. If discovered, disclose this order without resistance, and carry out the following orders..."
I waited with patience, and after a moment he continued.
"There are several 'following orders,' but the one I wish to convey to you now is a particular one."
And then.
"I received those orders roughly thirteen years ago. Furthermore, those were the last orders ever transmitted to the Enforcement Department."
[Pardon?]
"My reaction was much the same as yours, Hero. To be given orders for the future so abruptly—it was baffling."
The explanation that followed was staggeringly bewildering. At my reaction, Maxwell nodded as if he understood.
I couldn't manage to respond.
'Thirteen years ago?'
The Association Presidents had given Maxwell an order, he said.
Concerning me. When you meet the Special Admission Cadet, conceal yourself. If discovered, explain the situation and carry out the following orders.
The problem was, the day he'd been given those orders was over ten years ago. And since those orders, the Association Presidents had maintained total silence, issuing no further commands.
'Future Foresight?'
Glimpsing the future is an extraordinarily difficult thing, but in this world, it's not impossible.
The methods are absurdly demanding, and even the information is limited, but in theory, it can be done.
'If it's an Authority...'
Above all, they are Tower Masters. The depths of their power are unknown, but Future Foresight didn't seem entirely out of the question.
So, had they known about the current situation since thirteen years ago?
No, more than that.
Do they also know about the towers' invasion yet to come? If so, why are they still silent? Is there a reason they must remain silent?
"May I continue?"
[Please do.]
"Very well. Pardon me a moment."
With my permission, Maxwell reached into his jacket and produced something.
It was a rectangular card the size of a palm, black with gold ornamentation. The ripple of mana wavering over it felt distinctly unusual.
At first touch, it was clearly no ordinary object.
[What is this?]
"A form of credentials."
He held the card out to me.
As I took it, puzzled, he began to explain.
"To put it simply, it serves as both an official ID usable within the Association and as a supreme directive authority."
[Directive authority?]
[What does that mean?]
"Exactly what it sounds like. It is a certificate containing the authority to mobilize the Association's personnel. For reference, the issuers are the Association Presidents themselves."
'?'
My fingers, which had been rubbing over the card, froze. I thought it over for a moment, but the words I'd heard didn't change.
The authority to mobilize Association personnel.
And a 'supreme' authority, directly issued by the Association Presidents.
If that was true, then any directive I issued with this card would take precedence over an order from the Association's Council.
In other words, authority on par with the Association Presidents.
It was an outrageous object.
[Why this?]
I forced the question out, struggling to keep my face from trembling.
"The order from thirteen years ago."
It connected back to his earlier answer.
If the illusion was discovered, explain the circumstances and carry out the following orders.
One of those 'following orders,' he said, was the transfer of this very authority.
'...What is this.'
I hadn't been especially nervous about meeting an Association official.
The purpose of the meeting had been about compensation for the Sipnaha Incident in the first place.
I'd earned fairly notable achievements. I was expecting to receive an artifact or two from the Association's vault and to make a few requests...
And then, out of nowhere, I'd been handed the authority to issue orders to the entire Association...
.
.
.
Somehow, a while later, I managed to collect myself.
I put a few more questions to Maxwell, but no satisfying answers came.
Maxwell, too, had no idea why the Association Presidents remained silent.
[In that case, may I make a few requests?]
"Of course."
[Please create a few sets of identification for me.]
In the end, I practically fled the café. Before I left, though, I handled two requests: the schedule for receiving my reward at the Association Headquarters, and the identification for myself and Seo-yul.
Whatever else, I'd accomplished the purpose of the meeting. Though I'd come away with so much that my head felt ready to burst...
It was early evening. Not yet truly dark, just the time when the world is dyed in the orange hues of sunset.
I dragged my feet as I trudged back to the dormitory.
[Cadet Lee Ha-yul, authentication confirmed.]
The front door slid open at the touch of my hologram projector.
Just before I could kick my shoes off messily and step inside,
I thoroughly applied Purification Magic to my body, then stepped through.
"Did you get home alright?"
From the living room sofa, Ellia rose and hurried over with quick little steps.
In her arms, Seo-yul was sound asleep, cradled against her.
"You're later than you said you'd b...e."
Trotting up to me, Ellia stopped short.
Her yellow eyes blinked, then she reached out with a worried look and stroked my cheek.
"Ha-yul, your color is terrible. Are you hurting somewhere?"
[No.]
[I'm just a little light-headed.]
I was a bit mentally exhausted. There'd been too much to think about.
Some things had come to light, but the questions had multiplied too, leaving me with complicated feelings.
"You'd do best to get to sleep early tonight."
At that, Ellia declared I should go to bed early and herded me toward the bathroom.
After I'd somehow gotten washed up and come back out, I was prodded right back toward the bed.
[Wait a moment...]
"What 'wait a moment.' You've been up for days taking care of Seo-yul, haven't you? That's why you're this tired."
[I need to look after Seo-yul...]
So far, she'd been as undemanding as an angel, but there was no telling what sort of sudden crisis might occur while I slept...
"While Ha-yul is asleep, I'll stay by her side and look after her. So please, don't worry and just sleep."
In one stroke, Ellia dismissed my worries and gave me a push onto the bed.
At the same time, she changed Seo-yul into her pajamas and laid her down in the cradle she'd brought into the room.
And then Ellia herself—wasn't she lying down beside me?
The bed itself was a high-grade, enormous thing, so there was plenty of space.
"There, all settled. I'll take care of her while you're asleep, so you can relax and get some rest."
I just blinked dazedly at Ellia's words.
I felt some incongruity in what she said, but my head was too foggy for my thoughts to work properly.
A large blanket settled over me. The interior warmed with the heat of a person's body. The cozy warmth seeped into me, dulling my thoughts further still.
'So sleepy...'
As my body grew warm, the sleepiness washed over me. It wasn't uncomfortable. I had the instinctive sense that this time, I wouldn't have nightmares.
'...It'll be fine...'
Seo-yul was right beside me, and if anything happened, the Observation Authority, which runs twenty-four hours a day, would jolt me awake.
And Ellia was beside me too... so it would be fine.
I let go of the thread of consciousness I'd been stubbornly clinging to.
My awareness slowly dimmed.
The sensation of a hand pat-patting my body quickened the process.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul→Ellia Srade
●●●●●●●○○○(76▷77/100)
｢Fondness｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Chick｣ ｢Guilt｣
...
[Player Correction System: Pioneering Progress]
[Quest ｢Transfer of Authority｣ completed]
...
[Points are being accumulated]
...
[Using Points]
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.
.
- Ding? Ding? Ding?
[The Tower Master of Harmonization is... ... ...?]
. . .
. .
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[What?]
[&? Why are you look#ng at &Taechang?]
[Wh#te *time $tower & w#ll?#]
[Th#s &... r#d]
...