Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Life's Benefactor
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“To think I'd end up playing coachman in my lifetime...”
Adolf glanced at Jun, who was sitting in the back of the carriage.
Judging by the burns covering his entire body, he wasn't in good shape at all.
“Tch. So, did it succeed or what?”
Adolf anxiously bit at his nails.
A signal confirming success had come through, allowing them to escape the Mage Tower, but the words from that arrogant mage had been brutally simple.
-To Bijo City, as fast as possible.
Beyond that, no matter how much they asked from the side, he offered not a single word in response, lost in meditation inside the carriage.
“This is driving me insane, seriously...”
A week had passed.
On the surface, Blackout carried on with its usual daily rhythm.
Various people headed to fields, dungeons, and checkpoints for all sorts of reasons.
“Lately, something feels...”
“Off, right?”
“Guess I should lay low for a bit.”
But the sharper ones had noticed the unstable atmosphere in Blackout recently.
It all started with the Arovati Merchant Guild.
They'd shut their doors tight, claiming they needed time to consolidate internally.
A merchant guild was a walking pile of money in itself.
For them to close up shop meant they were prepared for massive losses.
Naturally, the other guilds pressed Adolf, the head of Arovati, for answers.
Their interests were intertwined like a spider's web.
Adolf's response was straightforward.
“The eagle has moved!”
The great eagle of Blackout.
Count Mordenaín Albert had made his move.
A storm of blood was brewing.
The guilds that heard it immediately hunkered down.
No one wanted to risk their family's pillar for a few coins.
Next came the Mage Association.
They all rose from their seats and chose to confront the count directly.
“Have those bastards finally lost it, cooped up in their rooms?”
“Even so, that's going too far...”
The reactions from various interest groups to the Mage Association's actions were ice-cold.
And for good reason—the Imperial Family hadn't budged.
How many had screamed their last after badmouthing the imperial authority in Blackout, claiming it was distant?
Still, the mages had their say.
Hadn't they racked up unmatched contributions in unraveling Blackout's secrets, the greatest grudge of the Imperial Family?
In truth, they had the right to raise their voices to the throne.
“We respect the Imperial Family, but this was a rash decision by the count!”
“Yeah! Isn't this too much? What evidence do they have to detain the Volcanic Mage Tower Lord?!”
“Count, release the information so we can ascertain the truth!!”
Of course, the mages weren't fools for shouting like this.
Mages wielded power that could level a city single-handedly.
Thus, they'd long clashed with the Imperial Family in various ways.
They saw this as just another round of power struggles.
-Confirmed Volcanic Mage Tower's involvement in the Zenkhar Mage Tower collapse incident.
Until the count personally distributed a thunderbolt of an official decree.
“Z-Zenkhar Mage Tower?”
“The one where His Imperial Majesty himself bestowed the title of 'King'?”
“Zenkhar's collapse is tied to the Volcanic Mage Tower?”
Anyone with even a passing interest in imperial history instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.
It was the incident that had immediately tarnished the image of the ever-face-conscious Imperial Family.
The full story of the event, said to have pushed the emperor to the heights of fury, was finally unraveling after 15 years.
Who could weather the aftermath?
Naturally, the Volcanic Mage Tower Lord.
The problem was that the tower lord himself had fallen into a mysterious slumber.
-On this matter, I, Mordenaín Albert, declare in the name of the Imperial Family: We will comb through every inch of the Volcanic Mage Tower.
The count's private guards mobilized, and the Volcanic Mage Tower—now lordless—was thrown into utter chaos.
In stark contrast to the noisy outside world rife with events, the week Jun spent was extraordinarily quiet.
Gulp—! Gulp—!
After a full week, Jun finally opened his eyes and chugged high-grade potions like water.
“Hoo...”
Having drained one bottle completely, Jun tossed the empty vial aside carelessly.
The spot where the rolling bottle stopped was surrounded by several identical empties scattered on the floor.
“Now I can breathe easy.”
Since arriving in Bijo City, Jun had devoted the entire week to healing his internal injuries.
It was the result of his desperate struggle to survive.
Of course, the rewards matched.
“Fifth circle, huh...”
Five rings pulsed with presence from his chest.
The peculiar part was their crimson hue.
“What to do about this...”
It was a side effect from merging with Sergei's magical essence.
[Mental World: Active Volcano].
“Fire attribute kneads like dough, but the others won't budge as easily as before.”
During the circle formation, fire mana had infused itself regardless of Jun's will.
Fire attribute boasted top-tier destructive power, but this wasn't the path Jun desired.
“Overcoming this will be a hassle...”
Still, it wasn't a bad outcome.
How long had it been since reaching fourth circle? He'd already shattered the fifth circle wall.
He'd skipped stages that typical mages took years to cross.
Sergei's mana was that profound, granting Jun myriad insights.
And that wasn't all.
“Hm.”
Lowering his hand to his waist, he felt the familiar texture of a leather pouch.
It was the subspace pouch he'd borrowed from Cloi before heading to the Volcanic Mage Tower.
Now, it held the treasures he'd swept from there.
When the gem maintaining the [Mental Barrier] shattered, all the warehouse's security spells deactivated in tandem.
‘If I swallow all this whole...’
He'd robbed a seventh-circle mage's treasure vault.
Selling even half would mean no money worries for a good while.
‘Of course, impossible.’
Any of these hitting the market would draw the Mage Association's pursuit.
But stealing a massive haul of spellbooks was an enormous gain.
‘Fire attribute won't be an issue for a while now.’
That alone warmed his chest.
Enough to protect this one body, at least.
“Urgh...”
He rose from the bed for the first time in ages.
The outside world must be in an uproar by now.
Even Count Mordenaín, who'd acquired Shylock's [Dimensional Warehouse], hadn't shown his face.
Rewards and loot could be discussed with Cloi later.
As he prepared to finally see his two comrades' faces...
Footsteps approached from outside the door.
“...”
They stopped right in front of it.
Jun waited calmly for a knock.
“That damn brat's still as rude as ever! When an elder arrives, you swing that door open quick!”
“...Shylock?”
“Huh? Who's your pal? Don't get all chummy like that!”
Opening the door revealed Shylock, the Zenkhar Mage Tower Lord who'd vanished.
He scanned the room with his usual grumpy expression before stepping inside.
“Tch! This place reeks of bachelorhood.”
It had been a while since he'd washed. But would it stink worse than someone living in a sewer?
“Elder. What brings you here? Or rather, why didn't you come sooner...”
“Went to read the stars' flow.”
“Stars are visible at night, aren't they?”
“You think all skies are the same?”
Skies were skies—what difference?
The moon in Korea or America was the same moon.
“Close your mouth if you're ignorant.”
“...Yes.”
“At least you're not bantering back like before.”
“I've owed you much.”
Without Shylock, Jun would've had no leverage to persuade the count.
Having received help, and as one who'd reached a certain realm, he didn't want to speak carelessly to a master craftsman.
No matter how rotten the personality.
“There it is again! Disrespect all over your face!”
“So, what brings you here?”
“What else? To retrieve my item.”
“Ah...”
Jun glanced at the ring on his finger.
The intricate clockwork ring was what Shylock had lent him.
Its stealth was top-notch, tempting him greatly, but Jun removed it without hesitation and handed it over.
“Thank you. Used it well.”
“Of course. Who made it?”
Grumpy, so grumpy...
“Well, you did good this time. Helped me settle some old ties.”
“...Is that so?”
“But I'm not giving this back!”
“...”
He hadn't planned to ask, but now he oddly wanted it.
The human heart bends like a reed.
“In exchange, take this, you rascal.”
“What's this?”
“Saw that leather pouch of yours and it irked me, so I prepared something.”
“...!”
Shylock handed over a plain-looking leather bracelet.
But the mana emanating from it was extraordinary.
As it began harmonizing with his own mana, Jun's eyes widened.
“What is it?”
“A storage far superior to that pouch— a hundred times over.”
Subspace pouch.
How much he'd suffered lugging a backpack around.
Memories flashed of stitching it mid-battle, and Cloi treating her pouch like a sacred relic.
“Picked it up by chance long ago. Modified it myself, so it should serve well enough.”
Jun focused his mind on the artifact, as Shylock had taught before.
A vast space unfolded within.
“It's called [Dimensional Bracelet].”
“Fancy name, like [Dimensional Warehouse].”
It sounded lame, but who cared.
An subspace pouch hard to find before layer 3—or 5 at latest. Performance-wise, even layer 7 rarities paled.
Acquiring it now was a huge win.
‘And it only responds to my mana.’
Probably Shylock's masterpiece.
Jun felt he could tolerate the old man's grumpiness now.
“Elder, why read the stars' flow?”
“Nothing much. Came back from seeing my life's end.”
“Pardon?”
“Why so shocked? I was supposed to die right around now. Wouldn't be odd anytime.”
“...”
Unbelievable.
As pity creased his face...
“So I thought of a way to run. Luckily, there was one.”
“...Pardon?”
“What, think I should just die at my age?!”
“No... You made it sound like death was imminent.”
“That's why I wandered—to avoid it!”
“Escape death that easily?”
“Think it was?”
“...”
Come to think of it.
Noticing the oddity late due to the sudden visit, Jun examined Shylock's face closely.
The vitality once brimming in his eyes had noticeably faded.
What happened?
“I can no longer read the stars' flow.”
“...”
“And from now on, I'll live like the dead. That's the price for choosing life over death.”
Shylock looked somewhat bitter saying it.
To live as if dead.
Meaning he'd lost the path to reclaim past glory.
Now Jun understood why he'd reclaimed the stealth ring.
“No other way?”
“No. But it's fine. My disciple will carry on. It'll be tough at first, but someday he'll see a wider world than this old man.”
Disciple...
Jun recalled the disciple Shylock mentioned.
A famous NPC even in his 'Lee Jung-jun' days.
“Per the last star reading, you'll meet my disciple soon. Take care of him.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Anywhere. Until he returns, I'll roam freely. Long-overdue freedom.”
“...”
With that, he turned casually and left.
Then.
Shylock paused and slowly turned back.
“Our fates are intertwined in many ways.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your star appeared, and I could read the flow.”
“...?”
“Stumbled into a dungeon once. A hidden one. Can't go now. I grabbed some sorcery tomes in a limited time there.”
“...”
“Books vanished after I read them. But the knowledge stayed in my head. That encounter let me survive.”
Why say this now?
Jun oddly recalled his past life's memories.
“...By chance, did that dungeon look like some mage's study?”
“Not quite a study. More like an old man's dwelling. With a skeleton in brown sackcloth. He's my life's benefactor, in a way. His knowledge let me live.”
“...”
Not certain yet, but Jun could declare it.
The hidden dungeon Shylock entered, and the skeleton inside...
‘My past life.’
Why his dwelling became a dungeon, no clue.
Fate? Or inevitability, as Shylock said?
Suddenly, his past life's cry echoed.
-This cursed fate binds me. But world, know this.
-I am a mage. I pursue truth, twist it, manifest in reality.
-Though I fail to escape, my descendants will!
One thing clear: so far, the fate he wished continued.