Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: Night of the Mages (6)
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Blue Mage Tower Lord Brick could feel the stares pouring down on him. The mages who had cheered wildly at his demonstration of enhanced magical engineering were nowhere to be seen.
A chilling silence.
Suspicious glares.
Gazes that couldn't even be called friendly as a mere courtesy.
His nape prickled—was that really the expression for a moment like this? Brick wiped his brow with that thought.
...This.
Was any of this making sense?
The magical engineering Brick had unveiled at the magical research conference embodied the essence of the Blue Mage Tower. It was worthy of being called his finest work, with performance that was nothing short of revolutionary.
A product built with painstaking care.
A tower that couldn't be toppled easily.
But what had become of it?
It had crumbled. Utterly and miserably.
Brick watched the girl descending from the stage. She was still enigmatic, her thoughts as unreadable as ever.
That girl had toppled his tower.
So effortlessly, as if it were nothing... crushing the tower he had built with his own hands.
It reminded him of the past. In the unfamiliar girl, Brick saw the face of a familiar young man. The voice of the young mage tower lord who had trampled the Blue Mage Tower echoed in his ears.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Prove it with results, don't you think?"
And the girl's voice as well.
"It seems the ones clinging to the past aren't from the Ashen Mage Tower."
Brick ground his teeth with a crunch.
The outcome of the duel was clear to anyone watching, and what this defeat meant was singular.
Once again, Blue had lost to Ashen.
The blows this defeat would bring to the market, the losses he would have to endure afterward... countless thoughts swirled in Brick's mind, but in the end, only one remained.
Humiliation.
The words he had spat out in certainty of victory now returned as arrows piercing him. They wounded his pride. It was utterly humiliating.
This time too.
The second one.
How could someone of your stature as a mage tower lord...
The murmurs of the mages gathered in the plaza echoed in Brick's ears. There were those here who didn't care about spying eyes from the mage towers, and they chattered without even thinking to lower their voices.
Tremble.
Brick's shoulders shook.
But unable to leave his seat just yet, he clenched his teeth and stared at the girl descending from the stage.
"Ah."
Then, suddenly, their eyes met.
She halted her exit amid the audience's cheers and turned her steps toward Brick. As she approached, the murmurs from the crowd grew louder.
...What business does she have?
Brick regarded the girl with feigned composure.
Her face remained expressionless, giving no hint of her intentions. She stopped right in front of him, close enough to touch if he reached out.
Come to mock me?
He had no ground to complain even if she did.
As the loser now, he had to endure whatever the victor said.
"If you have something to say, say it. Mock me if you must..."
"That was well said, Blue Mage Tower Lord."
But what he heard was utterly unexpected.
Brick's eyes narrowed.
...Well said?
"The part about how mages shouldn't be bound by the past and must press forward."
"That part... was good?"
Didn't you just deny it yourself?
You're the one shackled to the past.
As Brick shot her a quizzical look, Lania gave a wry smile in response.
"I added a retort because mentioning the Ashen Mage Tower felt a bit unpleasant, but I had no intention of denying everything you said on stage."
There was no sign of deceit in her words.
"Mages must pursue the new. Don't get bogged down in the past. It's a common saying, but when backed by results, it becomes uncommon."
And you, Blue Mage Tower Lord, proved it.
Lania met Brick's eyes squarely as she spoke.
"In the past, I restored ancient magical engineering techniques to create an enhanced magical device. But you started from bare earth—nothing at all—and produced a magical device."
And yet.
"The results were remarkably similar."
The products from the two mages were alike.
"Regardless of my personal dislike for you, Blue Mage Tower Lord... when looking at the product itself, I think it's impressive."
You twisted things and reacted sharply, but I'll acknowledge what's worth acknowledging. With that sentiment, the girl offered Brick a faint smile.
"It was a fine duel. I learned much."
And then she extended her hand.
As if requesting a handshake.
......
Brick silently regarded Lania's hand.
Pale and slender, still bearing traces of youth.
Then he looked at her face.
It wasn't a fabricated expression.
No intent to mock. Just a pure hand extended from having truly enjoyed the duel.
...Different.
The girl showed an attitude unlike that of the Ashen mage.
Brick imagined what he would have said if the Ashen mage had stood before him.
"All that fancy talk, and it's nothing special."
He would surely have mocked him like that.
But the girl before him was different.
Far from mocking, she was praising him.
......
Because of that, the surroundings fell quiet.
With the victor praising the loser and showing admiration, what could the audience say? The silent crowd exchanged glances before starting to applaud one by one.
Different.
Brick had tried to overlay the image of Ashen mage Raniel onto the girl before him, but though similar, he had to admit she was not the same.
Now, he even felt a twinge of shame.
It was a humiliating defeat, but with the opponent acting so refreshingly... it was hard to even take it as humiliation. Refusing that handshake would only make him look foolish.
After a brief hesitation.
Brick finally spoke.
...I'm glad you felt that way. Thank you.
Brick accepted the girl's handshake.
The applause from the audience swelled louder.
"I apologize for my harsh words earlier. I went too far..."
"You did. Why run your mouth so lightly when you were going to lose anyway?"
It was a moment when a heartwarming scene seemed about to unfold.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
"Praise the loser, Raniel."
"The victor is a victor without needing to say a word. If the victor steps forward to mock the loser, it might feel good in the moment, but it cheapens the value of the victory."
"Mocking is third-rate."
"Silence is second-rate."
"Those who offer praise are first-rate."
"By praising the loser, you elevate them—and in doing so, the victory you claim gains even greater worth."
Those were my master's words to me not long ago.
Honestly, I'd forgotten and acted on impulse right up until the duel ended... but seeing the Blue Mage Tower Lord endure subtle mockery from the audience brought my master's advice to mind.
So I gave it a try.
I hadn't lied, exactly.
Setting aside the old-fogey personality of the Blue Mage Tower Lord himself, the product really was impressive.
Did it work...?
I glanced at the Blue Mage Tower Lord.
He was seated a little distance away, but unlike right after his defeat, he no longer shot sharp reactions my way.
And the reactions around us.
The subtle insults whispered toward the Blue Mage Tower Lord had died down. In their place, talk about me had increased.
At such a young age already.
Full of promise.
Not just knowledge of magical studies, but of magical engineering too... truly astonishing.
As expected of the Trias family. The successor to the great Ashen Mage.
The corner of my mouth twitched.
...Don't pretend not to listen while slyly perking up your ears—why not just listen openly? Lania.
"W-When did I?"
"Hide that trembling lip corner first."
I quickly covered my mouth.
My master sighed and set down his teacup.
"So, why is he here?"
"Why? To congratulate your disciple, obviously."
The White Mage Tower Lord answered my master's question.
From earlier, she had plopped down right next to me, beaming with a relaxed smile.
"It was so satisfying. I always wanted to throw a jab at that old coot, and you did it for me..."
The White Mage Tower Lord was still spouting her misunderstanding-filled, subjective interpretation.
It's not like I didn't try correcting her.
But pointing it out only earned a lukewarm gaze as if she understood everything perfectly... so I'd half-given up.
"Yeah. I don't really get it either."
"If even you don't know, who does...?"
"Yeah...?"
Under my master's dubious gaze, I fired back with my own dubious look... then swept my eyes over the plaza. It was still teeming with mages.
The magical research conference had ended.
Yet the mages remained in the grand plaza, unwilling to leave. Because one mage had yet to take the stage.
Flicker.
And finally, the time had come.
The magic stone lamps illuminating the plaza began flickering unstably. Those above the stage flickered even more violently.
The mana density in the air was rising.
Uncontained mana weighed down the atmosphere. Amid the heavy air, the sound of footsteps echoed softly.
Thud.
In the enveloping silence, a single mage ascended the stage. Bluish hair and golden eyes. In one hand, a staff of ancient wood.
The Ancient Dragon Mage, Yormun van Draconic.
"Greetings, mages who lead this era."
He opened his mouth from the stage.
"I found the results you showed at the magical research conference quite intriguing. Even though my visit hastened the schedule somewhat... there were many impressive works."
The mage revered as the god of mages, the Ancient Dragon Mage.
Every word he uttered was treated like a pronouncement of the ages; the mages watched with shining eyes, hanging on his every syllable.
"This magical research conference too..."
Was satisfactory.
Seeing the clever ideas from the mages of this era was always a pleasure.
"And."
After a while of customary remarks as always, the Ancient Dragon Mage swallowed briefly.
Thus creating an artificial hush.
In the silence, he slowly turned his gaze.
The eyes of those in the plaza followed his. The trail of gazes stretching from one end of the plaza to the other finally settled on...
"Lania van Trias."
Me.
"The star of this magical research conference, the young mage who achieved astonishing results over the past year."
He looked at me as he spoke.
"You delved deeply into the transactions between stars and mages, yielding significant results. You viewed the stars with a perspective unlike that of countless other mages."
The Ancient Dragon's golden eyes.
A platinum ring etched into the vertically slit pupil.
"For this, I bestow upon you the title of Sage."
Even the mages who had maintained silence until now couldn't hold back; the plaza stirred. It was warranted. That was the weight of the title "Sage."
Proof of recognition from the Ancient Dragon Mage.
A mage endorsed by the god of mages.
The meaning it carried was far from light. Not just mere honor... but a title that allowed one to seize accompanying power if desired.
"You're the first to receive the Sage title at such a young age. The first to receive it alongside a priestess too. Quite remarkable in many ways."
The Ancient Dragon Mage clapped with a smile. The applause spread contagiously, and when it subsided, he spoke again.
"Moreover."
My eyes met his in midair.
My blue eyes reflected in his golden ones.
"I feel you need a slightly more special name. For one walking a path of sorcery unlike any other Sage or mage in history, a name befitting that uniqueness is essential."
I narrowed my eyes.
Another epithet the Ancient Dragon Mage had once mentioned to me. I felt an inexplicable unease about the one about to be bestowed now.
"Most mages live under the stars. They are bound to them. Unable to be free of them. But you are different."
The Ancient Dragon whispered.
"You don't worship the stars. You don't trust them. You don't even regard them favorably. Thus, you have drawn closer to the truth."
Disbeliever.
"A child who does not walk under the stars."
The Ancient Dragon looked at me.
"You possess the qualifications of a Guide."
It was the gaze of one beholding kin.
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