Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 106
Seo-jin, who had blocked the unexpected attack, glared sharply at Nam-gung Cheon.
"Who are you? Why did you suddenly attack?"
When Seo-jin pretended not to know and feigned ignorance.
"Uh... huh?"
Nam-gung Cheon, who had confidently launched his attack, was startled and stepped back.
The man's face was completely different from the bastard he had met on the 8th floor.
'What, what's this?'
‘That bastard was annoying, but he wasn't this ugly, was he?’
‘Did I attack the wrong person by mistake?’
Just as Nam-gung Cheon was momentarily falling into confusion.
WHACK-.
"Ow!"
"You idiot, appearance disguise is meaningless now! You know that but still got fooled?"
Nam-gung Rin kicked his shin and glared at him with fierce eyes.
Then Nam-gung Rin smiled as if by magic and greeted Seo-jin with proper etiquette.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nam-gung Rin, the guild leader of Haomun. My older brother has caused you great trouble. I'll apologize on his behalf, Supernova."
Her appearance was impressive, wearing a black cheongsam with open sides for ease of movement, and over it a formal jacket similar to a coat in length.
"......"
'That was a quick change of attitude. Did she learn the Art of Changing Faces or something?'
That aside, since they had come looking for him so openly, it would be difficult to continue feigning ignorance.
Setting that aside, since they had come to find him directly, Seo-jin couldn't keep pretending not to know either.
If it had been just the foolish Nam-gung Cheon, he might have been able to deceive him and escape, but it seemed difficult to deal with his younger sister Nam-gung Rin.
Seo-jin realized that these siblings had come looking for him with a clear purpose and sighed.
"There are too many watching eyes here. Let's move locations."
***
The downtown center of the port city of Ceuta.
Seo-jin's group visited an atmospheric restaurant with a clear view of the sea.
"One each of Paella de Mariscos, Escabeche, Rabo de Toro, and Marimontaña please. Drinks too."
Nam-gung Rin ordered familiarly while looking at the menu. She seemed to have visited restaurants like this often.
Seo-jin and Nam-gung Cheon, who were clueless about food, just sat quietly sipping their sparkling water.
After lightly wetting his throat, Seo-jin asked.
"How did you figure out my identity?"
With the Mask of Ten Thousand Forms, not only his appearance but even his body shape had changed, so it should have been difficult to distinguish.
If he was confident enough to launch an attack without hesitation, he must have had definite certainty.
"How did I know? If I couldn't track down one guy like you, my reputation would..."
THUD-.
When Nam-gung Cheon started bragging, the table shook lightly.
It seemed Nam-gung Rin, unable to watch any longer, had kicked Nam-gung Cheon.
Nam-gung Cheon endured the piercing pain in his shin and said.
"Ugh... I planted Heavenly Fragrance on you before. I tracked that scent."
"Ah."
He had momentarily forgotten due to the guy's bumbling appearance, but Nam-gung Cheon, who possessed the aptitude of a Pathfinder, had considerable knowledge in tracking techniques.
It had already been several months since they met in the 8th floor's maze, yet he tracked his whereabouts using the remaining traces. He had a nose like a dog.
"But why only now?"
Seo-jin tilted his head.
If he was going to chase, he should have chased earlier. If he wasn't going to chase, he shouldn't have come at all.
What was the reason for seeking out Seo-jin only now?
"Hmph, there's no particular intention. I just wanted to get back the Sword's Original that you took..."
THUD-.
"ARGH."
Thinking she couldn't leave the conversation to her older brother any longer, Nam-gung Rin subdued her brother and continued with a forced smile.
"Actually, we've been looking for your whereabouts since before. But I only started personally tracking you after you fought with our master."
"I see."
It seemed the battle with Lee Seo-mun had been the trigger.
"Yes, but after the rumors from the 12th floor, many eyes started following Supernova, and it became difficult to pinpoint your location, so we failed repeatedly until we finally met today."
He roughly understood the situation.
While one's whereabouts could be somewhat predicted due to climbing floors in order, it became difficult to specify locations once the All-Floor Teleportation Stone made inter-floor coordinate movement possible.
Even tracking the traces of Heavenly Fragrance would have its limits.
But this 20th floor was different.
To go to Atlantis, one had to stop by this port of Ceuta, so the range of activity was greatly narrowed.
The siblings seemed to have taken advantage of this moment to find Seo-jin through Heavenly Fragrance.
Nam-gung Rin smiled while looking toward the port.
"And this is also where I stopped my tower climbing."
"Ah."
As Seo-jin remembered, Nam-gung Rin had stopped climbing the tower because she had to hastily take over Haomun that her older brother had abandoned.
So that place was this 20th floor.
While they were chatting, the food arrived.
Marimontaña with chicken legs and shrimp, Rabo de Toro that looked like braised ribs, seafood paella with a fried rice-like appearance, and Escabeche that looked like sweet and sour fish.
Despite the unfamiliar names, the familiar appearances looked quite appetizing.
"I'll enjoy this meal."
Nam-gung Cheon briefly put his hands together and then greedily reached out.
Nam-gung Rin smacked away Nam-gung Cheon's hand and picked up a small plate.
She first handed Seo-jin a small plate filled with food.
"Please eat first."
Seo-jin looked at the plate placed in front of him somewhat awkwardly and picked up a fork.
"I'll gratefully eat."
"You too, brother."
"I can just eat normally, why the trouble of serving..."
"Shut up. Just eat."
The meal began under Nam-gung Rin's control.
While Seo-jin had no particular expertise in fine dining, these were dishes that intuitively seemed delicious.
The seafood had rich flavors, and the meat had good taste too.
After the meal was roughly finished, Nam-gung Rin wiped her mouth with a napkin and spoke.
"Although my older brother mentioned the Sword's Original earlier, I have no intention of demanding it back. In the first place, it was stolen goods that the Black Snake Gang acquired through illegal loan sharking, so whoever found it owns it."
"That's welcome news."
"Besides, I know that Supernova's cherished disciple currently has it."
While she wasn't particularly cherished and wasn't really his disciple, it was true that Se-yeon had it.
"Right, that left my hands long ago. Besides, it's now bound to her, so it would be useless to try to take it."
According to what he heard from Se-yeon, Talis had completely bound it to her using her blood.
Even if Nam-gung Cheon took it, he wouldn't be able to forge it freely unless Se-yeon wanted it.
"Yes, knowing that, I won't ask for it back. Instead, I have a proposal."
"What is it?"
Nam-gung Rin's eyes lit up.
"Please cooperate in finding another Sword's Original. I'm not asking you to hand it over to us unconditionally or to search together. I'd just like you to share information."
"That's not difficult."
Seo-jin knew where to find the originals through his knowledge of the future.
Moreover, since she wasn't demanding it unconditionally but just asking for information sharing, it was a profitable deal.
Also, if he felt like it, it wouldn't be bad to help find one, not just share information.
It would be much better to give it to the Nam-gung siblings than to let it fall into the hands of Ju Won-jae or Robert from the strategy team.
"And?"
That couldn't be the only proposal.
Nam-gung Rin nodded and presented the next condition.
"Please help with my tower climbing. Just this 20th floor."
"You want to act together on the 20th floor?"
"That's right."
Hyeon-wol, who heard Nam-gung Rin's proposal, whispered in his ear.
[It won't be bad. Acting together will strengthen your forces and give you companions to talk with. Her nature doesn't seem bad either.]
'Right.'
While he didn't know Nam-gung Rin's abilities, Nam-gung Cheon would definitely be a help to their forces.
"Good, there's nothing bad about traveling together. Did you two come alone, or are there others following?"
"No, just the two of us came."
Finding Supernova wasn't simply to ask for help with 20th floor climbing.
She intended to use this opportunity to establish a relationship and maintain long-term exchanges with him.
For that, she needed to make the best impression possible. Her master had said so too.
Therefore, she excluded unnecessary personnel that might cause wariness and only the Nam-gung siblings pursued Supernova.
"At least you show sincerity."
"It's basic social skills. I have no other intentions."
Seo-jin nodded slightly and asked Nam-gung Rin.
Acting together for this floor wouldn't be a problem.
But what about after that?
If climbing was just a way to establish a connection, he might be a little disappointed.
Seo-jin's question was extremely simple, but from Nam-gung Rin's perspective, it was a difficult problem to answer easily.
"Do you plan to continue climbing the tower in the future?"
***
The darkening night.
After parting with Supernova following dinner, the Nam-gung siblings stayed at a nearby luxury inn.
"Coming in."
BURST-.
Nam-gung Cheon entered his sister's room without permission and paced around like a dog that needed to go to the bathroom.
Like Supernova, he too was curious about his sister's thoughts on tower climbing.
He had always hoped that his sister would abandon the guild leader position and travel together with him.
But since tower climbing wasn't always easy, he was also worried on one hand.
Life of freedom outside the cage came with appropriate dangers.
After pondering for a while, he looked at Nam-gung Rin and asked seriously.
"Do you really plan to climb the tower?"
Nam-gung Rin, who was sprawled on the bed, looked up at the ceiling and answered.
"I don't know. But just in case, I've found a successor."
Even if she wasn't there, there wouldn't be major problems with Haomun's operations.
Such practical matters weren't the problem.
Rather, the problem lay in the duties she had to fulfill as guild leader.
Nam-gung Cheon nodded at her words about finding a successor.
"You thought well. How long are you going to just handle the organization's cleanup work? Since you entered the tower, you should live like a climber."
"......"
Live like a climber.
Those were the right words. Painful but right words.
She wanted to beat up her brother who had immediately abandoned the guild leader position and ran away, but decided to let it slide once.
"Sigh."
Nam-gung Rin covered her eyes with her arm and let out a deep sigh.
She couldn't decide what to do.
She had the desire to immediately throw away the bothersome guild leader position and climb the tower.
But asking Supernova to help break through the 20th floor together was a choice made for Haomun's benefit.
It was part of securing freedom of activity from the government and obtaining the rights deserved as a climber.
But if she abandoned Haomun and followed him up the tower, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
When Nam-gung Rin expressed these thoughts, Nam-gung Cheon snorted.
"What does that matter? Just do what you want, follow your heart."
"...Follow my heart?"
Were those words that should come from the mouth of someone who had selfishly run away?
Nam-gung Rin glared at him with murderous eyes, but Nam-gung Cheon didn't cower and said what he had to say.
"No, I have to say this. Isn't life only lived once? I don't want you to live as the organization's consumable. And you know too, don't you? That Haomun stopped being a beautiful place worth your blood and sweat to protect long ago."
"......"
Those words were also right.
Only Nam-gung Rin got worked up talking about autonomy and such. Most of the guild members weren't interested in such things.
They were only blinded by profit, thinking about how to make more money and expand their power.
She was tired of mediating their power struggles now.
But what sin did the innocent common people belonging to the guild have?
If she irresponsibly ran away, what would happen to those left behind?
Most guild members were low-level workers living paycheck to paycheck.
Nam-gung Rin, after worrying, pulled the blanket over herself and turned her back.
"I don't know. I'm going to sleep, so get out."
"......"
Nam-gung Cheon looked at his sister pitifully and went outside.
"Oh, turn off the light when you leave."
His sister's words reached his back.
CLICK-.
Nam-gung Cheon, who came back in, turned off the light, turned it back on, then quickly went outside.
"Hey, you!"
The shouting from beyond the door sounded pleasant.
***
The next morning before dawn. The dim day when the sun hadn't yet risen.
"You changed clothes well."
Seo-jin smiled as if satisfied with the Nam-gung siblings' attire.
Nam-gung Cheon, who always wore fluttering robes, and Nam-gung Rin, who wore pretty cheongsams, had both changed into comfortable robes.
Since they were traveling with Seo-jin, they couldn't help but be conscious of others' gazes.
Shadowless Flying Hero Nam-gung Cheon and Haomun's guild leader Nam-gung Rin.
An unidentified man traveling with those two on the 20th floor?
With scouts from various countries scattered throughout the 20th floor following news that Supernova had passed the 19th floor, that would be too conspicuous.
Also, from the Nam-gung siblings' perspective, having succeeded in contacting Seo-jin first using Heavenly Fragrance, there was no reason to do anything that would catch other scouts' attention.
After finishing preparations, Seo-jin's group headed toward the port under cover of darkness.
CLICK-.
Nam-gung Cheon unlocked the padlock with flashy hand movements, and the group easily boarded the cargo hold of a submarine they had scouted earlier.
After confirming safety was secured, Seo-jin demanded an explanation from Nam-gung Cheon.
"Now explain. You've experienced the 20th floor before, so you can explain why we're doing this."
Nam-gung Cheon opened his mouth as if it was nothing special.
"Well, there's nothing special about the 20th floor. The underwater city that seems to be modeled after Atlantis is this floor's stage. After climbers dealt with the Kraken that lived near the coast in the past, sea routes between the surface and underwater became active again."
Nam-gung Cheon, who had been explaining casually, suddenly frowned.
Then, unlike before, he continued with a worried tone.
"But recently, exchanges have become sparse. The sea people of Atlantis started acting hostile."
"Why?"
At Nam-gung Rin's question, Nam-gung Cheon shrugged.
"I don't know the reason. We only exchange goods occasionally, and lately they haven't been letting foreigners in."
"So that's why we're sneaking in like this?"
Nam-gung Rin asked reproachfully while crouched among the cargo in the cabin.
"Ugh......"
That's right. We were currently in the middle of illegal immigration.