Chapter 318
Chapter 318
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: Ashen Mage Tower (1)
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The Holy Grail had shattered.
The broken Holy Grail seeped into Rak and Belnoa, and though Lania didn't fully grasp what that meant, Rak and Belnoa knew.
'They've seen the path.'
The Holy Grail hadn't turned Rak and Belnoa into superhumans. It had simply shown them the way.
The path walked by a hero from the distant past.
And the conclusion they had reached.
The heroes recreated by the Holy Grail had pointed beyond the road they themselves had traveled, declaring that was the path they must follow. Walk your own road, they advised.
'My own path.'
Belnoa and Rak had attained enlightenment.
They had confirmed the direction they must advance. At the end of that path, they had glimpsed the realm they needed to reach. Having sensed it, confirmed it, and seen it, all that remained was to move forward.
When they closed their eyes and gazed at the inner wall,
it was no longer as colossal as before, nor as perfectly insurmountable. A wall they could scale and shatter stood before them. Both intuitively knew the day they would go beyond it was not far off.
"......"
Lania silently shot the two a glance.
Then she recalled the Holy Grail that had been in her hand just moments ago. The Holy Grail transformed into light. It had broken, but it hadn't vanished.
It dwelled within Rak and Belnoa.
She didn't know exactly how it would affect their growth, but it wouldn't be in a negative way. Lania let out a smirk.
'Impressive guys.'
As their master, Lania was pleased with her disciples' progress.
"Good work, both of you."
Lania draped her arms around Belnoa and Rak's necks.
Leaning in slightly with a faint smile, she whispered to them.
"You'll have to work even harder from now on, right?"
Rak and Belnoa shuddered briefly.
Lania laughed aloud in delight, dragging the two out of the forest.
'They've only just reached the entrance of the path...'
Before long, they would stand by her side.
Lania looked forward to the day her disciples, walking a similar path just behind her, would one day stand beside her. She hoped that day would come.
Lania murmured with a smile.
"Hurry up, you two."
I'll be waiting.
A little further ahead of you.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
The Royal Guard, or rather, the Hounds.
This special unit, known as the royal family's hunting dogs, had never had a leader since ancient times. It was only natural. Their master was a member of the royal family, and the skill gap among the Hounds wasn't that wide.
A group without a leader.
A group under no one's control but the royal family's.
The Hounds had upheld this tradition for a long time, but it was broken by the emergence of one man.
"Finally found you."
Guarder.
"Have you sealed off the other entrance?"
"Yes, sir. It's blocked."
"Good. No need to kill them all. Just bring one to clean up the bodies."
The man who had thwarted three calamities in a single year.
A swordsman who had reached superhuman heights at a young age.
Kalt, who had broken Hounds tradition to become their leader, let out a short breath.
"Let's clean this up quick and head home early today."
Exhausted from accumulated overtime, Kalt was.
His bloodshot eyes fixed on the iron door before him. Beyond it, the culprits who had forced him into overtime were surely gathered in droves.
'It was a long, long time.'
Madmen proclaiming the end of the world.
A group formed by black mages who dabbled in demonic power and shamans who broke taboos. They knew all too well how to evade pursuers like him, so Kalt had endured overtime until locating their lair.
'A long era of trials and tribulations.'
The humiliating overtime he had to endure.
Now it was time to return to leaving on time.
Shing.
Kalt paused midway through drawing his sword.
Slicing them with the blade would kill them too cleanly. He needed a few alive for interrogation, and even if not, he had no intention of letting them die easily.
Thud.
Kalt stomped lightly.
The waterway flowing through the underground sewer surged violently. The thick iron door creaked. Amid the echoes, Kalt kicked the door with his foot.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the iron door was ripped off.
It flew far, crushing several shamans preparing for a siege inside before finally stopping.
"H-Huh?!"
The shamans gulped in terror.
Traces of all sorts of experiments everywhere.
Kalt glanced over it all, then casually dusted off his fist with a crunch. His sleep-deprived, bloodshot eyes gleamed demonically in the darkness.
"Found you, you cockroach bastards."
Bang!
Kalt's form shot forward.
About six shamans stood in his path, but less than a second passed before their heads twisted a full turn.
Crack, crunch. Boom!
Their bodies crumpled without proper resistance. Sounds of shattering and crushing echoed for a while, and when silence fell, the shamans lay as bloody pulp rolling on the floor.
The black mages, clattering their teeth together with clicks, had long lost the will to fight. Kalt crushed their fingers to prevent them from drawing circuits, then turned his head back.
"Clean up and let's go."
The Hounds silently swallowed dryly at Kalt's impassive mutter.
Guarder, leader of the Hounds.
No one questioned Kalt taking that role. No one could, after witnessing such a scene.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "You look different from usual?"
Raniel pointed at Kalt as she asked.
She was used to seeing Kalt with sunken, bloodshot eyes, nodding off while dozing. To her, the man sitting before her now felt quite unfamiliar.
Glowing, healthy skin.
Eyes not sunken, but radiant.
"Do I?"
Even his voice brimmed with vitality.
No longer the cracked tone of a zombie who was already dead. As Raniel nodded with a puzzled expression, Kalt sipped his black tea and spoke.
"I finally got a good night's sleep yesterday. Do you know how many hours I slept, Senior? You'd be shocked."
"How many hours?"
"A full six hours."
...Six hours?
"People say you need at least six hours on average for sleep, right? So I filled it right up to six, and man, does my body feel refreshed!"
Six hours.
Not a short sleep, but hardly a long one either.
"Oh... really?"
"Man, it's been ages since I slept this long. I never knew the morning sun could look so beautiful when you open your eyes to it—first time today."
What kind of life have you been living?
Feeling an inexplicable guilt, Raniel subtly pushed the bread she'd bought to eat herself toward Kalt.
"...You eat it."
"Huh? What's this, Senior? Giving me something like this. You usually peel and eat it all yourself without offering any."
"Just eat it. Eat a lot."
"Well, if you're offering..."
Kalt chewed the bread while sipping tea.
His expression looked so at ease that Raniel thought to herself she should give him less work from now on.
"Oh, right, Senior."
"Yeah? What?"
Kalt pulled out a report.
"I found this while taking down an organization. Do you know what it is?"
It was research material discovered in the roach-infested den Kalt had smashed last night.
"Seems like a collaboration between black mages and shamans, but those guys were doomsday cultists? Something about a dark age coming or whatever..."
Ignoring Kalt's mutter, Raniel examined the report he handed over. Skimming through the records, she finally spoke.
"This..."
"Know something about it?"
"It's really nothing much?"
Raniel tapped the report casually.
"You know what black mages do. Sacrificing offerings to boost their mana. Looks like they were just trying that."
"...Is that so?"
"Why? Something bothering you?"
"Well, Senior."
Kalt hesitated before speaking.
"Tracking down their hideout was really tough. Never mind that they seemed to know my abilities— I searched everywhere they might be, and nothing."
But then.
"Once I found the location, it made sense why I couldn't. Never imagined they'd set up there."
"Where was it?"
Kalt answered.
"In the sewers under the Ashen Mage Tower."
3.
Resti, the next Mage Tower Lord.
Having seized power in the Ashen Mage Tower and ousted numerous elders, she was now practically the lord herself. If she were merely wielding power arbitrarily, there would have been backlash, but her authority came backed by solid achievements.
Over the past year, Resti had proven her capabilities.
With the Ashen Mages gone, the tower in steady decline had finally charted an upward curve this year. The Ashen Mage Tower aimed high once more. At the center of this momentum was Resti Eleanoa.
Sometimes boldly cutting away.
Investing in departments everyone expected to fail, yielding unimaginable profits.
Her eyes always pierced to the essence, rendering superficial results meaningless before her. As such feats repeated, the tower's mages inevitably acknowledged Resti's talents.
A talent rivaling the Ashen Mages.
If the Ashen Mage Tower soared again, Resti Eleanoa would surely be at its heart. Amid such evaluations, Resti continued managing the tower.
"......"
Midway through reviewing documents in her office, Resti glanced out the window. From the top floor of the Ashen Mage Tower, the capital's scenery unfolded at a glance.
In this office now fully hers, she suddenly recalled the past. Memories of her first time here. Times spent with the elder who had taken her in.
"Someday, I look forward to the day you rise to this seat, Resti."
Krenbel Eleanoa.
The elder at the heart of the Ashen Mage Tower, holding a position equal to the lord.
"If I can see you sit here proudly with everyone's recognition, what more could I need? That's my dream."
The benefactor who recognized Resti's talents and became her adoptive father. Recalling her mentor, Resti smiled faintly.
"It'd be great if you woke up soon."
Afflicted by a mysterious illness, Krenbel Eleanoa had lain unconscious for years. But even that condition was slowly improving, so he should awaken soon. Resti believed so.
Resti closed her eyes and envisioned the future.
'If he wakes.'
If he rose from his sickbed and saw her now, wouldn't he smile kindly and say,
Well done, Resti.
I'm proud of you.
It would be wonderful if he did.
As Resti smiled to herself, someone burst into the office without knocking. Just as she was about to reprimand the rudeness,
"M-Mage Tower Lord!"
Her secretary shouted upon entering.
"The elder—Elder Krenbel has opened his eyes!"
Resti gulped.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hey, Kalt."
"What is it, Senior? Why's your voice like that? Why are you speaking so softly?"
Kalt recoiled in alarm.
"Whenever you call my name in that voice, something really bad happens to me."
"What nonsense?"
"I desperately hope it's nonsense. Please don't betray my faith..."
"Enough."
Lania slammed the table with a smack.
Smiling brightly, she continued.
"Do me one favor."
Kalt's face fell.
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