The Magician's City (12): The Absent Holy Grail
As I stepped out of the tower, the first person I saw was Adelian. He was sitting comfortably on a long bench, so I asked the question that had been bothering me most.
“What were you thinking, putting the Empire’s Greatest Sword in there?”
“Was it too much?”
“No matter how I look at it, that was nowhere near training.”
Honestly, even if ordinary mages linked their spells together, I doubted they could have killed a twenty-year-old Valion. Of course, I had killed him alone, but that was only possible because I possessed unique magic. To take down Valion, you needed at least that much power, and any mage capable of it wouldn’t need the tower’s curriculum. In the end, this had been a failure to adjust the difficulty at the final stage.
“I thought a young Empire’s Greatest Sword would be manageable.”
“It wasn’t. That man was a monster.”
“Well, isn’t growth achieved through trial and error?”
Adelian brushed it off lightly and snapped his fingers. Right after, people began pouring out of the tower. When I saw Leon, Jerry, Noa, and Ferant, I tilted my head.
“What about the others?”
“Only five of you entered the tower, including yourself.”
“But I met Lady Sepia at the top of the tower. Ah, is she somewhere else right now?”
“She is here, but she exists twenty-seven hours from now.”
What was that supposed to mean? Suspecting the answer, I asked.
“A different time axis?”
“Something like that.”
“Exactly what kind of magic did you use?”
“Curious?”
“Yes.”
“Then I won’t tell you.”
What a petty man. Adelian smiled and continued.
“Still, I gained plenty of useful data thanks to it. As expected, you never truly know until you run the test yourself.”
“I suppose so.”
“First of all, the facilities seem excessively high-spec. I thought creating a perfect training environment would excite everyone, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.”
“Honestly, the rewards were lacking.”
“I planned to make up for that by granting a wish once someone reached the top floor, but it seems that still wasn’t enough.”
It looked like not every person who entered the tower had been thrilled about conquering it. Judging from Adelian’s reaction, more than half had probably been indifferent.
“So I’m considering improvements. Rather than twisting the time axis, what if we normalize it and use the spare capacity to scatter visible rewards throughout? Wouldn’t that make people happier?”
“I think that would be better.”
Everyone experiences the frustration of feeling like there isn’t enough time to train. That was why Adelian had apparently built a system where days inside the tower amounted to less than a second outside. But people always preferred immediate gold coins over such abstract benefits. The design had been slightly off. Visible rewards dropping after clearing each floor would have been far more motivating than intangible values.
“I’m also thinking of adding restrictions to tower use.”
“You’re going to make death permanent?”
“Not quite, but at minimum, dying once should lock someone out for a year.”
“Why?”
Adelian stared at me. I stared right back. What was this about? When I blinked with pure, innocent eyes, he muttered quietly.
“Kelton, you really have suffered, haven’t you?”
“Stop dodging and tell me clearly. Why?”
“Shall I list every single thing you’ve done by taking advantage of the fact that you can retry immediately after dying? Really?”
Adelian’s gaze shifted behind me. He was threatening me, asking if I really wanted him to say such things in front of the others. Since I didn’t understand the problem, I opened my mouth.
“Using elements on the bo—”
“See? Everyone has grown remarkably. Especially the apprentice of my apprentice’s apprentice—his rank has risen. True Lightning. That’s fine magic.”
“…Thank you.”
“Noa’s rank went up?”
I whipped my head toward Noa, eyes wide. He scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.
“I reached second rank.”
“Second rank.”
“I also created a new spell. Well, it’s ultimately an enhancement of the Judgment Bundle, but it’s still new magic. I used the name you gave me last time, Master. It seemed to fit perfectly, so I kept it.”
“So you discovered the principle of overcoming to raise your rank, then created a spell where the lightning grows stronger in proportion to the time you weaken?”
“You caught on quickly.”
“I named it True Lightning because I suspected you’d do something like that eventually.”
True Lightning. I pictured the spell in my mind, then walked over to Noa.
“Master?”
“Lady Noa. I can’t hold back any longer.”
I licked my lips. At that exact moment, Chris screamed.
“Lord Adelian! Lady Ruina is trying to devour her disciple!”
“You gold-crazed succubus. The apprentice of my apprentice isn’t trying to devour the apprentice of my apprentice’s apprentice. She’s trying to devour his magic.”
“Lady Ruina is about to rip open the belly of the magic vault!”
I ignored Chris’s commotion and spoke to Noa.
“Lady Noa.”
“Yes?”
“Shall we share magic?”
Whenever I meet mercenaries, I always ask the same questions. Do you possess any magic? Would you transfer any magic? Would you share any magic?
In this case, finding the owner could be skipped. That question was really about whether they qualified to negotiate. The important parts were transfer and sharing.
Transfer was exactly what it sounded like—receiving the magic outright. Any magic obtained this way could never be used by the original owner again. It became entirely mine. Water Rope, Rock Spear, Refinement, Alchemy, Silent Shadow, and Growth all fell into this category.
Sharing was simpler. It was literally sharing the magic.
I explained it to Noa.
“If we share a spell, only one person can use it at a time. While one is using it, the other cannot.”
“So we take turns using it like an object?”
“Similar.”
Once shared, the magic becomes joint property. That meant if one person was casting it, the other was locked out. The solution was straightforward.
“If you share it with me, I’ll only use True Lightning in front of you, Lady Noa, and only when I’m certain you won’t be using it.”
“Hmm.”
“Sharing won’t cause any problems with your magic. You can modify it freely. The reverse, however, isn’t possible. I cannot alter your magic.”
Noa thought for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“That’s fine with me.”
“As expected of you, Lady Noa.”
“But what about the price? Doesn’t your magic require an equal exchange, Master?”
“About that…”
Creak. Something settled into my hand. It appeared without warning, as if someone had simply cut and pasted it from another world.
Left Pan: Bundle of Lightning — True Lightning
Right Pan: Heart of Gratitude
The scales find perfect balance.
Ding—!
Holding Balance, I spoke softly.
“It’s for you to decide, Lady Noa. What do you desire?”
“I’m curious… is it possible to share your magic, Master?”
“That probably won’t work.”
“I see.”
“Transferring my magic is also impossible. That’s the nature of this spell.”
Unfortunately, Balance had many restrictions. The biggest one was that I could not use magic itself as a price.
Adelian sounded intrigued.
“You can’t transfer or share your own magic?”
“Correct.”
“With Balance? How interesting. Or perhaps it isn’t. Yes, that makes sense.”
“What are you convincing yourself of all alone?”
“Shall I explain?”
“Please do.”
“You already know the reason. Must I still say it?”
“You’re quick to catch on.”
I turned my gaze away from Adelian and looked at Noa once more.
“Please name your desired price.”
“I…”
“Yes?”
“Want to become stronger. Make me strong.”
“That is something any master should do naturally. Is there anything else?”
“…Then, since I’m also your disciple, I’ll simply share it.”
Something rose onto the scales. On the left pan, a round bundle of crackling lightning settled with a sharp pazik. On the right pan, something transparent appeared. It was a heart of gratitude.
The scales balanced. They had judged the price equal.
So this was what equal value looked like. It was good for me.
Ding—!
A clear bell rang, audible only to Noa and me. The Balance transformed into white flames and flew toward us, embedding itself.
Pazik.
I summoned the bundle of lightning—True Lightning—into my hand, then scattered it with a smile.
“The deal is complete.”
Trading magic in exchange for gratitude, though… Hmm.
I glanced at Adelian. He let out a sigh.
“Did you perhaps plan to mass-produce disciples by copying what I did?”
“It seems you can even read minds.”
“What an absurd child.”
“Lord Adelian.”
“Go on.”
“Please give me one spell.”
“That won’t work, apprentice of my apprentice. No matter how special your Balance is, there are limits to what it can handle.”
“Not even a moderate one?”
“I don’t raise moderate magic.”
What a shame. I clicked my tongue and scanned the group. Then I turned to Leon.
“By the way, Sir Leon, you’re not even a mage. What did you do inside the tower?”
“I endlessly subjugated priests of the evil god. It was quite pleasant.”
“So there was a paladin curriculum as well.”
This man, Adelian, was surprisingly thorough.
Anyway. Only one important matter remained.
“Lord Adelian.”
“Speak.”
“Where is the Holy Grail?”
“The Holy Grail, you say.”
The reason I had come to Adelian. The reason I had helped him. When I asked for the location of that very reason, Adelian closed his eyes and whispered.
“Could you wait a moment?”
The instant he finished speaking, the tower vanished. I narrowed my eyes. Adelian’s body had split into hundreds—no, thousands—of overlapping images.
After a brief time, he returned to a single form.
Found it! My heart swelled with anticipation as I waited for his next words.
Adelian wore a smile as he placed a pipe between his lips. Was he in a good mood? Feeling pleased myself, I put my own pipe in my mouth.
Now, quickly tell me the location of the Holy Grail!
“Apprentice of my apprentice.”
“Yes?”
“Listen without misunderstanding.”
“I never misunderstand.”
“There is no Holy Grail in this world. What should we do about that?”
…….
……???
“It’s gone?”
“Indeed.”
“Truly?”
“I searched just now. It wasn’t there.”
Adelian had not been in a good mood. He had been flustered. So when he was flustered, he smoked. Noted.
I scratched my forehead. What now? Was the Holy Grail quest ending here?
“But apprentice of my apprentice. Even if it isn’t the actual Holy Grail, something similar would be acceptable, wouldn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone has reenacted the Holy Grail and left it behind. How about that?”
“Tell me its location immediately.”
It seemed the Holy Grail quest would continue after all. What a relief. What a relief indeed.