The Black Tower Fugitive
Lim Dojun nodded.
“A wanted criminal? He belonged to the Black Magic Tower?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
For a brief moment, Delcrein wondered if his disciple might be suffering from some strange compulsion to lie.
No matter how extraordinary one’s talent, there were things one could do and things one simply could not!
But then…
‘…He really is a black mage?’
Lim Dojun had brought back Eggnok with crude ice manacles clamped around his hands and feet. Although the man had suffered a fatal wound, Dojun had frozen the injured area entirely rather than letting him bleed out and die.
Even so, Delcrein could clearly sense the unique aura of a black mage radiating from Eggnok. Moreover, because the man had committed so many heinous acts, the darkness clinging to him was not pure and clean but filthy and viscous. It was so vile that even without a bounty on his head, one would have suspected he was a wanted criminal.
When Delcrein glanced subtly at Keon, the elder was wiping spilled tea from his chin yet still managed to nod in confirmation.
There was no doubt. This was indeed a black mage.
“How did this happen?”
“Well, you see…”
Since he could not tell the full truth, Lim Dojun offered a suitably edited version of events. He had gone for a walk to clear his head, stumbled upon an old abandoned house, and happened to encounter Eggnok who had been hiding there. He then explained how he had subdued the man after being attacked.
Of course, he naturally omitted any mention of digging up the ground or obtaining treasure.
“You caught him? You did? Without a single scratch?”
At that point, Keon could no longer stay silent and cut in.
When Lim Dojun looked at him as if asking who he was, Delcrein quickly explained.
“Greet him properly. He is my master.”
“…! It is an honor to meet you, Grandmaster.”
Lim Dojun bowed his head with perfect politeness. It was the proper etiquette one should show to their master’s master. In truth, he was not familiar with the customs of this world, so he had simply followed his own judgment. That respectful attitude greatly pleased the normally strict Keon.
‘That Delcrein fellow. At least he took in someone with decent character.’
Mages were a breed that easily grew arrogant the moment someone praised them as geniuses. Teaching humility to such people was one of the Discipline Elder’s duties, yet it seemed there would be no need to do so with this particular grand-disciple.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“That is correct, Grandmaster.”
Keon flicked his finger, and Eggnok’s body floated gently into the air. Using silent telekinesis, he drew the man closer and examined his face carefully.
“…Eggnok Divarton. The one who fled the Black Magic Tower after being caught conducting forbidden human experiments on twenty civilians. I heard the side effects of those experiments left him aged and weakened, but…”
Even so, this was not someone a novice mage should have been able to capture. In fact, it would have been extremely difficult. Creatures like this were cunning and troublesome.
“…I see. Step outside for a moment. We have things to discuss.”
Keon sent Lim Dojun out of the room. Once only he and Delcrein remained, the branch leader began to giggle uncontrollably.
“Puhuhuhu.”
“As the branch leader, you should not laugh in such an undignified manner.”
“How could I not—pfft—laugh! My disciple has far exceeded all expectations!”
Eventually the corners of Delcrein’s twitching mouth rose into a full, beaming smile.
“Uahahaha! Don’t you think Juni might actually be a genius?”
“Just in case, you should be careful about saying such things in front of your disciple.”
“Of course.”
Delcrein understood his master’s concern. There were far too many cases of mages who had been ruined by excessive praise of their genius. That was precisely why Keon had quickly sent Lim Dojun away. What they were about to discuss was not something the young man needed to hear.
“What do you think, Master?”
“What must be acknowledged should be acknowledged. He is indeed a genius.”
The boy had not only learned magic the moment he entered the tower but had already brought back a wanted criminal in record time. What Keon had expected was for him to grow quickly and take on missions in about a year. He had never intended for Dojun to do so immediately.
“Then shall we consider the mission a success?”
“…Yes.”
Technically, a proper mission had not even been assigned yet, so it felt strange to call it a success. Still, a Discipline Elder could not go back on his word.
Lim Dojun felt somewhat dazed.
He had learned the Barkmong Mana Control Method in advance as payment for completing a mission assigned by the Magic Tower headquarters and passing their test. Yet somehow, he had already succeeded in a mission out of nowhere.
‘Can things really work out like this?’
His original plan had been to secure the treasures left behind by the Earth returnee and then begin intensive training. Since he had no idea what kind of mission he would receive, he had prepared multiple contingency plans. Now, it seemed all of that was unnecessary.
-Merit points commensurate with the value will be awarded, along with the bounty. I will handle it for you.
That was what Keon had said. Afterward, the two elders excused themselves, saying they needed to move on to the aftermath procedures.
Since Lim Dojun had completed the mission, reports would have to be sent all the way up to the Tower Master and the elders. Soon, news that would shake the entire Blue Magic Tower was bound to spread.
In any case, it was a good thing.
‘Ah. Come to think of it, I forgot to ask about the ingredients.’
While walking down the corridor toward the training room, Lim Dojun suddenly realized his mistake. He had been so busy showing them Eggnok and explaining the mission that he had forgotten to ask about the materials left behind by the returnee. He should have inquired which ones were useful.
Unfortunately, both elders had seemed busy, so he couldn’t very well have detained them.
“Jun…?”
“Oh. Senior.”
At that moment, he ran into Jo Difel, who was trudging down the corridor from the opposite direction. Lim Dojun greeted him first.
“Thank you for the spirit medicine you gave me last time. I ate it well.”
Thanks to the Grade 4 spirit medicine potion Jo Difel had provided, his increased mana capacity had allowed him to subdue Eggnok with relative ease.
“Have you been well, Senior?”
“Ah… haha. Just so-so.”
Jo Difel gave an awkward smile. He couldn’t even bring himself to say he had been well out of mere politeness. He had stayed up all night researching in order to apologize to Lim Dojun and had produced results, but the aftermath had been brutal. His fatigue still had not fully faded. To make matters worse, he had immediately taken on another mission to gather materials for his next research.
Having given away the spirit medicine to Dojun, his finances were in ruins, and he had needed to earn merit points. He had only just returned from completing one such mission, and his entire body felt like it was about to collapse.
“Where are you headed, Junior?”
“I was on my way to the training room. Ah, would you mind taking a look at these? They might be materials used in alchemy as well.”
Lim Dojun opened his bag as if it were perfect timing. Jo Difel was a trustworthy senior who had helped him several times, and as an alchemy major, he was bound to be knowledgeable about ingredients.
“…Whoa!”
Jo Difel let out a gasp of admiration as he peered into the bag. It was filled with a wide variety of spirit medicines and alchemical materials. No matter how exhausted he was, as a specialist his eyes couldn’t help but sparkle.
“The branch leader’s disciple even carries around ingredients like these! This is incredible!”
“Could you check their condition for me? I don’t know much about them, but they don’t seem quite normal.”
“You’re right. Many are spoiled, and even the decent ones seem to have lost some of their potency. Clearly poor storage.”
“Can they still be used?”
“Generally, no. These materials have already gone bad.”
“I see.”
Inside, Lim Dojun cursed the Earth returnee who had written the gallery post.
‘If you’re going to bury stuff, at least store it properly. Digging a random hole like an idiot…’
The man clearly had no sense. Since swallowing the gold coins the man had left behind was already in the past, Lim Dojun felt free to curse him as much as he wanted.
At that moment, Jo Difel, who had been carefully watching his expression, spoke up.
“Junior. This might be shameless of me, but could I ask you for one favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“Would you sell these materials to me? I don’t have any money right now… but could I work under you instead? You can treat me like a slave. I’ll serve you as devotedly as I serve my own master.”
Jo Difel poured out his desperate plea. The research topic he had chosen for his next project was whether it was possible to salvage spoiled materials to create spirit medicines. Valuable ingredients were limited, and it was such a waste to discard materials ruined by poor storage. Recycling them to the greatest extent possible was certainly an important subject in alchemy… though that was not the real reason he had chosen it.
In truth, Jo Difel had few options. With no money and no merit points, the materials he could obtain were extremely restricted. To gather decent, unspoiled ingredients, he would have to undertake who-knows-how-many difficult missions. That was why he had picked a relatively feasible research topic, and by sheer coincidence, Lim Dojun had shown him exactly the materials he needed.
To Jo Difel’s eyes, Dojun’s bag looked as if it were overflowing with gold coins.
And his words also greatly tempted Lim Dojun.
“You’re saying you can produce results with these?”
“I can’t guarantee it unconditionally. This is my first time attempting this kind of research…”
“I see. In that case, if you do manage to produce results, would you be willing to share some of the final product with me?”
Lim Dojun asked cautiously. After all, these were materials that would have been thrown away anyway. Demanding the results in exchange for them felt rather shameless.
Yet the one who was more surprised by the suggestion was Jo Difel.
“O-of course!”
For an alchemy-specialized mage, what mattered most was continuous experimentation and production with plenty of materials in order to grow. While selling the results would bring in money, for a mage still in the midst of rapid growth, increasing one’s own skill was far more important than material wealth.
“I’ll give you all the results! If you really do that, you’ll give me all these materials?”
Although the quality was slightly reduced, they were still valuable ingredients. He couldn’t even begin to guess how many merit points would be required to obtain this much, yet Dojun was simply handing them over? On top of that, since research could fail, the material loss rate would be high!
“Yes. I trust you, Senior, so I’ll give them to you.”
“…!! Really… thank you so much! Hic… Having you as my junior is probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my life!”
With tears welling in his eyes, Jo Difel grabbed Lim Dojun’s hands. If anyone asked who the kindest and greatest person in the Blue Magic Tower was, he could confidently answer “Jun” without hesitation.
One day, a man had suddenly been dropped into another world only to return to Earth—a so-called “returnee.”
Returning to Earth should have been a happy thing, yet quite a few returnees missed the other world for various reasons. Because they returned the instant they died, their farewells had been abrupt, and they couldn’t stop thinking about the lovers, friends, and comrades they had left behind.
“I wonder if our Jeomi is doing well…”
Even Lee Sehan, who had returned several years ago, still suffered from homesickness. He had achieved much in the other world and accumulated considerable wealth, but that wasn’t what mattered most.
The cat named Jeomi that he had raised from the difficult early days of his time in that world. He had died without even being able to say goodbye and returned to Earth. Even now, whenever he closed his eyes, he kept thinking about her. He was so desperate to know how she was doing that he felt he would do anything to find out.
‘If only I could go back…’
How wonderful it would be if he could return just once and hold Jeomi again. At the very least, he wanted to know whether she was living well. The poor thing had suddenly lost her caretaker. He was going crazy worrying whether she was even eating properly.
A new comment has been posted on your post.
It was a notification that a comment had been left on a community post he had written as a joke some time ago.
‘Probably another idiot calling me out for copying X-Piece again.’
It was something he had written on a day when his homesickness had been particularly bad, as a way to vent. He had claimed that he had buried the treasures he left behind in his house yard. And it was actually true. Not all of them, but a significant portion of his wealth had been buried in the yard.
‘Of course, compared to Jeomi, those material things weren’t even worth mentioning.’
She was a treasure beyond comparison.
And in the comment notification he opened…