Chapter 64: Is This Really a Diplomatic Delegation? (1)
Chapter 64: Is This Really a Diplomatic Delegation? (1)
(64/225)
Paaaat.
Light flooded the laboratory, and Geshtain, who had been standing on the magic circle, vanished.
“Did it… succeed?”
Left alone in the lab, Painfolt wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat down in a chair.
Because of an error in a teleportation spell, Geshtain had ended up coming from the continent where he originally lived to the Doren Mage Tower on the Francia Continent.
To return to his original continent, he worked with the mages of the mage tower to research the spell formula, and he volunteered as the test subject to prove the completed formula.
Painfolt, who had watched the entire process from start to finish, could not hide his anxiety as he kept imagining the possibility of failure.
During the casting, there had been nothing wrong with the flow of mana, and the magic circle—checked repeatedly—also showed no issues.
Even so, his unease did not fade in the slightest.
A magic experiment from eleven years ago, involving his younger brother and twenty mages.
Painfolt had refused to take part, insisting it was impossible, and on the day of the experiment he had left the mage tower entirely.
The result had been an explosion powerful enough to erase the tower, and the deaths of twenty-one mages.
The failure had been so horrific that they could not even recover the bodies, and it had left him with deep trauma.
“No. This is different from back then. It has to have succeeded. It must succeed.”
Painfolt repeated the same words over and over as he waited for Geshtain to return safely, and time continued to pass in his mounting agitation.
According to the original plan, Geshtain was supposed to return the moment success was confirmed.
But after thirty minutes, then more than an hour, no other sign appeared.
By now, it was already past the time Geshtain should have returned.
The tea set on the table—meant to be shared after Geshtain came back—had long since gone cold.
Unable to contain his anxiety, Painfolt’s legs trembled uncontrollably.
Then…
Paaaat.
Once again, brilliant light filled the laboratory, and Geshtain appeared in the center of Painfolt’s vision, one corner of his mouth lifted.
“Hey! Painfolt! It worked!”
“It… worked.”
The moment Painfolt saw Geshtain appear on the magic circle, he collapsed to the floor.
“I’m late, huh? I ran into old friends and ended up talking for a while. It took time to convince them I had to come right back! Anyway, when I talked to them—”
Thud.
Geshtain pitched forward before he could finish.
“A-Are you alright?”
“Ugh… It’s too much… too much…”
Still sprawled on the floor, he lifted a trembling hand.
“I’m short on mana… NuX Bar… NuX Bar, give me a NuX Bar…”
Once the teleportation magic that could travel to and from a new continent was completed, the members of the delegation representing the Doren Kingdom began to be decided one by one.
Duke Layton agreed to serve as the delegation’s representative, and ten knights from the order he brought along would handle the escort duty.
Craid, the lone swordsman, joined as the head of the escort unit, and Painfolt, the headmaster of the Doren Mage Tower who had supported Geshtain in every way, joined as well—along with Julien.
On the side of the Heirem Order, they instructed Fedora, the Doren Kingdom’s only cardinal, to join the delegation the moment she returned from the holy land.
Though not a member of the Doren Kingdom, Jinseo also joined, specially included as the delegation’s cook, recommended by Geshtain and many others.
With a few more people added, the small delegation was finalized.
This was because the current spell formula limited teleportation to around twenty people.
And within that limited number, Hayward, a thief, was included.
What was surprising was that Geshtain had personally named Hayward.
“Man… going along with all these big names, I’m nervous.”
Waiting in front of the mage tower before departure to the other continent, Hayward looked visibly tense.
As if unused to the formal outfit he normally never wore, he kept tugging at the collar around his neck, then letting it go, over and over.
It was some comfort that he would be going with Craid, Julien, and Jinseo, but it was still a burden.
“Hey, Geshtain. I mean, sure, it’s an honor to be part of a delegation, but… are you sure? Won’t people point fingers and say I got in on connections?”
“I’ve got my reasons, so don’t worry.”
Geshtain reached out as if to pat his shoulder, but because of the height difference, he ended up thumping Hayward’s waist instead.
“Besides, you said you’re from a human count’s family, right? Then you’re nobility, aren’t you? You’re qualified.”
“Hey! I told you not to bring that up!”
Hayward raised his voice in panic, then quickly lifted his right thumb to his lips.
“From a count’s family?”
Duke Layton motioned for the knights to step back and approached Hayward.
“You’re Hayward, correct? Is what Geshtain said true?”
“W-Well, the thing is…”
“Explain in detail.”
Duke Layton immediately began interrogating him.
The longer Hayward spoke, the more Duke Layton’s expression shifted in a subtle way.
Hayward recited details you could only know if you were deeply embedded in noble society, leaving no opening to nitpick.
“…And that’s how I was able to get away from that damned family.”
“Is it really true?”
At Duke Layton’s incredulous reaction, Hayward scratched the back of his head and looked away.
“I get it. If some mere thief suddenly says, ‘Actually, I’m from a count’s family,’ the idiot is the one who believes it, right?”
Hayward took out one of the two pendants he wore around his neck, the one hidden under his clothes, and handed it to Layton.
“It’s the family’s emblem, but I don’t know if anyone here will even recognize it.”
“This… surely…”
Layton’s face turned grave as he examined the pendant, then returned to normal.
“You didn’t steal it, did you?”
“Doesn’t that suspicion suit the person I am now better?”
At Hayward’s self-mocking smile, Layton nodded silently and returned the pendant.
“Hayward, really?”
“You were actually from a count’s family?”
“Hard to believe.”
The three who had been watching without being able to join the conversation crowded around him.
They had heard about it briefly when they were in Korea, but they had not expected it to be true rather than a joke.
“Even if it’s true, it’s meaningless now. The family’s completely ruined. And it’s not like we parted on good terms.”
Hayward rubbed the scratched, faded gemstone set in the middle of the pendant with his thumb.
Meanwhile, Painfolt was greeting a priest he had never met before, instead of the granddaughter he was originally supposed to see.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from the cardinal. In her place, I will be joining this delegation. My name is Leira.”
“And that girl?”
“She was supposed to come to the cathedral a few days ago, but her schedule was delayed, so I’m joining as her proxy. I’m naturally lacking compared to her, but I ask for your guidance.”
“…I see.”
Painfolt let out a short sigh of disappointment.
He had thought this journey would give them a chance to resolve their conflict, but now he would have to wait for another time.
“Headmaster, preparations are complete.”
His disciples stepped away from the completed magic circle and made room for him.
Centered on the food truck, a massive magic circle had been drawn, with small mana cores placed at the cardinal directions—east, west, south, and north.
“Then let’s get going.”
“Alright.”
Painfolt and Geshtain chanted an incantation aloud while forming hand seals at the same time, attempting two spells simultaneously.
Painfolt’s disciples could not hide their admiration as they watched the two men at such a high level.
Something big is happening, and I don’t really get it. Well, magic itself is already a big deal to me… but more importantly, the dwarves’ continent—what kind of place is it?
Jinseo’s heart pounded as his imagination ran wild.
The Francia Continent itself was mysterious simply by existing as another world, but the people living there were the same humans as Jinseo.
But on this new continent, the race waiting for him was not human—it was dwarves—so his anticipation naturally rose even higher.
Of course, he had a rough image of what a land of dwarves might be like, but that was only from movies and games. There was no way reality would match exactly.
“Alright, here we go!”
Paaaat.
A blazing light erupted from the magic circle and swallowed the delegation.
As the pure white that had covered their vision slowly faded, the scenery of a new city gradually replaced the Doren Mage Tower.
“So this is… the dwarves’ country.”
Standing on the new continent, Painfolt looked around with eyes brimming with emotion.
At seventy-one, the days he had left were inevitably far fewer than the days he had already lived.
The fact that, at the end of his life, he had met dwarves and traveled to their continent made him feel as if he had become young again.
It was almost like returning to boyhood—when everything he learned with his eyes and ears had been new and wondrous, and when he had first encountered magic.
No dramatic effect, huh.
In contrast, Jinseo felt a bit deflated.
The large-scale teleportation magic ended far more plainly than he had expected.
There was no cinematic sensation of being sucked into darkness and then spat back out.
Instead, as expected, messages began streaming across his Status Window.
{-Congratulations! You have achieved an accomplishment.-
-Accomplishment: Moving to a continent inhabited by other races together with the Mobile Cooking Facility.
As a reward for this accomplishment, you have obtained 30,000 mana, 30,000 mileage, and 30,000 experience.-
-Due to the additional accomplishment, the Mobile Cooking Facility’s maximum mana capacity increases.-
-You have discovered a teleport point.-}
Huh?
The accomplishment message was one thing, but a teleport point existing here was not something he had expected.
So from next time on, I can travel back and forth using the food truck’s teleport function.
Everything else, however, matched what he had imagined.
In fact, what he saw right now was almost too familiar.
A city built underground rather than on the surface.
A place unable to receive the benefit of sunlight pouring down from the sky, yet brightly lit by torches installed throughout the streets.
The ringing of blacksmiths’ hammers from every direction.
And when he looked up, the ceiling of the city was rough and uneven like the inside of a cave.
“Is this… AXion—”
Jinseo’s mind automatically recalled a scene from an MMORPG he had played like a madman for several months before enlisting.
The name of a city from a game every Korean gamer had probably played nearly slipped out, but he clamped his mouth shut before finishing.
“Huh? Who are they? I’ve never seen them before.”
A dwarf who had been hammering away in a nearby forge set his hammer down and slowly approached the delegation.
“Geshtain, who’d you bring with you?”
“Humans. Didn’t you hear I was bringing the human side’s delegation today?”
“What? Humans! Is that for real?”
A dwarf about Geshtain’s height looked up at the delegation with eyes full of disbelief.
Then he noticed the most obvious difference and realized these truly were a different race by dwarf standards.
“They’re humans! Humans really exist!”
“Their faces are practically half as wide as mine! Are they even eating properly?”
“They’re huge, just like in the storybooks!”
The workers in the forge abandoned their tasks and rushed out, and even citizens and guards passing by in the street crowded in.
Naturally, all of them were short like Geshtain.
The delegation stood there, overwhelmed, unable to do anything but stare as countless eyes looked up at them.
“Look at that human man! He’s way bigger than the other humans!”
“And look at that sword on his back! Whoever made it, that’s the work of a skilled craftsman!”
“He’s so big I thought he was a monster!”
The one drawing particular attention was Craid, who was quite tall even by human standards.
“I didn’t expect there to be this many dwarves.”
When the silent Craid stepped forward and spoke, the dwarves flinched and backed away.
“Huh? He talks! He can speak our language?”
“With the help of magic.”
Craid answered, rubbing the pendant around his neck.
Geshtain had referenced the magic pendant Painfolt’s younger brother had created and produced pendants with the same function, distributing them to the delegation.
However, because he had to make more than twenty in a short time, the function had been reduced to translate only two languages: human and dwarf.
“Hey! Come here! What a strange wagon!”
Meanwhile, blacksmiths swarmed the food truck standing behind the delegation.
“The wheel material is unusual! So humans really do have strange technology we don’t know!”
“Where do you buy this? How much does it cost?”
“I want to research it—can I take it apart?”
As the barrage of questions continued without end, Jinseo’s head started to go numb.