Chapter 59
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The City of Stilled Breaths
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“Ah, there you are.”
Just as Jun arrived at the Black Forest Fortress and was heading to see Cloi.
He ran into the soldier standing guard around her room.
“A letter arrived for you, Mage.”
“A letter?”
“Yes.”
“Hm... Thank you.”
After receiving the letter with no sender's name on it, Jun entered Cloi's room.
“Jun!”
Cloi greeted him, looking much healthier than before.
“You doing okay?”
“Of course! It's been a busy time all around. But you... are you alright?”
Rarely, Cloi asked about his condition without even trying to mask her expression.
And for good reason—this plan didn't seem like it would go as smoothly as the last one.
Even Cloi had repeatedly urged him to rethink it while they were making the arrangements.
Infiltrating a Mage Tower led by a 7th-circle mage was that level of insanity, after all.
“Well, I nearly died once, but I gained plenty in return.”
“Haa... Even I was shaking just sitting idle. I have to admit, that steadfast heart of yours is something else.”
As Cloi sighed in relief, Jun shrugged and took a seat.
He tore open the letter the soldier had given him and skimmed its contents.
“What's the letter about?”
“No idea. Just about to check.”
There was no sender listed, but a quick read revealed who it was from.
It was a letter from Eleanor.
“Hope it's nothing serious. Anyway, there's something I need to say.”
“What is it?”
“For the time being... I think we should lay low.”
“Yeah. Makes sense. Things have blown up pretty big.”
The center of this incident was originally Cloi and the Gilenoi Merchant Guild.
The sudden terrorist attack at the Black Forest Fortress. The count whose reputation had been tarnished as a result.
That alone had various figures in Blackout watching their step a little more carefully, but then an even bigger incident erupted.
Suspicions of treason had broken out at the Volkatronic Mage Tower.
The terrorist attack could be dismissed as a personal insult to the count on a broader scale, but the word "treason" changed everything.
The incident ballooned in an instant, drawing the attention of Blackout's heavyweights to the count's movements.
And they all began harboring the same doubt at once.
—Who the hell uncovered Volkatronic's secrets?
All eyes turned there.
It was already widely known that the Volkatronic Mage Tower's warehouse had been raided.
Everyone wondered who the audacious powerhouse was that had breached the tower's formidable magical defenses and slipped inside.
The Gilenoi Merchant Guild was naturally among the suspects.
But for now, they seemed to view it as unlikely.
“If you start gaining more notoriety here, you'll draw some unwanted attention.”
“Can't argue with that.”
The problem was that Cloi hadn't finished cleaning up her own mess yet, either.
The Gilenoi Merchant Guild, which needed to control the information flow, was half-destroyed.
It would take time for reinforcements from the surface to arrive, where communication was so difficult.
‘And they won't just send anyone, either.’
This incident had hit Cloi hard, too.
She hadn't had much of a power base in the guild to begin with, so the deaths of her comrades this time would leave a major stain.
‘But on the flip side...’
This crisis had made it clear to everyone that Cloi had a solid connection to Blackout's power player, the count.
That must have looked like significant progress for the Gilenoi Merchant Guild.
‘Her supporters will grow because of it.’
But so would her enemies within the guild.
Her rising position meant her siblings' influence would shrink.
‘It's going to be a tough fight.’
In that sense, Jun almost felt sorry.
‘Losing those people because of my presence...’
In the end, the issue was that Sergei had noticed Jun's existence.
‘The Magic Society. That was the only time I saw him.’
Exceptional Memory pulled up one of this body's old memories.
Before Jun had entered this body. He'd seen Sergei from afar at the society his master had taken him to.
The man must have remembered that face and realized who he was.
‘And he figured out I'm a Demon God Body probably... right after the Damian Mage Tower collapsed.’
No matter how he thought about it, that was the only time he could have noticed.
His master Damian had only boasted about taking on a talented disciple, not spread word far and wide that he had a Demon God Body.
‘Will stuff like this keep happening?’
His head was a mess.
He felt like he'd inflicted unwanted wounds on Cloi because of himself.
And that more of the same would follow.
‘Is this just ungrateful whining?’
Unyielding Will seemed to whisper that to him.
It was an unavoidable choice to survive.
He knew it in his head, but his heart couldn't accept the truism.
Maybe that's why.
His expression control was slipping as badly as Cloi's.
“...To be honest.”
“...”
“When I accepted those people's deaths, I resented you for a moment.”
“...”
“But in the end, choosing to accept someone like you was my decision.”
“Cloi.”
He didn't want her blaming herself.
But at the same time, the thought that her acceptance would ease his own mind bubbled up.
It was a narrow-minded notion that made him despise himself.
“Every choice comes with a price, right? And you did your absolute best.”
The collapse of the Volkatronic Mage Tower was now just a matter of time.
The biggest problem, Tower Master Sergei, had been neutralized with a fatal injury during his soul transfer.
Once the count wrapped up the investigation, Sergei would likely dissolve into elemental mist while comatose.
For a man who'd reached the 7th circle and become tower master, it was an absurdly pathetic end.
That meant the revenge for those lost in the incident had been thoroughly served.
“If we back off out of fear now, that would insult their deaths in its own way. So let's keep going together. Partners.”
“...Thanks.”
* * *
“Anyway! We got sidetracked. Back to the main point.”
“Too many eyes on us now?”
“Exactly. Drawing attention in this situation isn't good for a lot of reasons.”
Even for Cloi, restoring things after this mess would take far more than a few months.
“I need time until I can protect you properly.”
“So the main point is to stay hidden until then.”
Cloi let out a light sigh and nodded.
They'd had a similar conversation once before.
It reminded him of when they'd realized the Arovati Merchant Guild was collaborating with the Volkatronic Mage Tower.
“From here on, your opinion matters most. I'll go along with whatever you decide.”
Should they hole up under the count's protection until things calmed down?
Or continue taking jobs like proper mercenaries?
Cloi seemed to prefer the former if possible.
“Timing works out perfectly, in a way.”
Jun held up the letter as he spoke.
“Got a request from a place out of the spotlight.”
“...A request?”
Cloi took the letter Jun handed her, read it, and immediately frowned.
“What? You're going there?”
“Is there any place with fewer people?”
“Even so!”
“Don't worry. I'll come back alive, just like last time.”
Their next destination was set.
The city of the undead, the 3rd-layer field known as "Jeokseong."
* * *
Another month passed.
Grrraaah—
It had been a meaningful time for all three of them in various ways.
Grrk, kuruk—!
After breaking into the 5th circle, Jun had spent the period solidifying his foundations.
Kyahaak, kyaak!
Maya had grown more adept at controlling her killing intent.
She'd realized during her decisive battle with the bandage girl—Illora—that her own bloodlust could be a fatal weakness.
Kkihehehe—!
And Aiden had finally grasped a clue to aura, the ultimate technique of warriors.
Up until now, Aiden's vague image of aura had been something that simply made a sturdy blade even tougher and more resilient.
Kkuuuuraaah—!
But after the battle with Illora shattered that notion, he'd spent the past month redefining it and gained substantial insight.
Aiden could sense it instinctively.
His current power was on the verge of touching aura.
If he just got a chance to apply that insight in real combat, the day he grasped the aura he'd longed for would come.
That's why, for the past few days, Aiden had been dying to grip his sword.
Until they arrived here, at the undead city, Jeokseong.
“...?!”
Aiden swung his sword wildly at the approaching undead.
There was no enlightenment there whatsoever.
If not for the swordsmanship ingrained in his body, it would have looked like some third-rate thug's flailing—no trace of composure anywhere in the fight.
And watching him, Jun.
Smack—!
Slapped his forehead.
“Come to think of it, that guy's never properly fought undead before.”
For someone who still hesitated to kill living people, the city of the restless dead was too steep a hurdle.
* * *
Thinking about it, this wasn't Aiden's first encounter with undead.
There had been Plant Undead in the Black Forest, after all.
But Plant Undead were quite a ways from true undead.
They were covered head to toe in dark moss and moved sluggishly even for undead.
In contrast, Jeokseong—one of the 3rd-layer fields—lived up to its infamous reputation as an undead haven.
“Aiden... you okay?”
“Huff, huff...! I, I have no excuses...!”
It wasn't terror so much as a visceral revulsion.
‘Obviously. Corpses that should stay dead are walking around openly.’
Even ordinary people would freeze at the sight of a moving corpse.
Fight or flight.
One or the other was the proper response, but the brain needed time to process the grotesque scene.
Maya seemed used to this sort of thing, showing no difference from her usual self—
Ehehehehehik—?!
A ghost that appeared just then got hit by Jun's Fireball and vanished without a trace.
Then, a presence stirred behind him.
“...”
“...”
Maya stood there, her face as emotionless as ever, but somehow more deliberately blank than usual.
“What're you doing?”
“...”
“What is it?”
“Leader.”
“Yeah. Speak.”
“Powerful enchant. A very, very powerful enchant, please.”
Her voice was more serious than ever, but the tremor in it was crystal clear.
“Hearing you use a fancy word like ‘enchant’ almost brings tears to my eyes...”
But you...
‘You're Jo Kyung tribe... the clan that gets advice from ancestral spirits...’
How was a girl haunted by ghosts cowering from a mere ghost...?