Chapter 176
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: The True Face of the Magical City.
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"Ahem."
He boiled water and warmed a teacup.
He put a spoonful of tea leaves into the teapot and prepared some snacks to go with the tea, along with a book to read.
It wasn't exactly something an employee of the shop should be doing during business hours, but Rubel didn't care and leisurely prepared his tea time.
It was already nearing noon, with the morning nearly over.
At this hour, no British person—let alone a Londoner—would come looking for a magic hall instead of a restaurant or café.
Clang!
"Eek?!"
Rubel couldn't help but freak out at the sight of the door suddenly flying open.
So startled that he dropped the book he'd taken out and reflexively aimed his staff at the door.
But what came back at him was just a single, lackluster voice.
"Is this how you greet customers in this shop?"
"...Pardon? Y-You're a customer?"
"What else? Do I look like a robber?"
"Ah, n-no. I'm sorry."
Only after hearing that sharp retort did Rubel realize the man was just an ordinary person, and he hurriedly apologized.
Then, belatedly clearing his throat, he greeted him politely.
"Welcome to Orna's Unraveling Magic Hall. What mystery brings you here?"
"Before I answer, I need to confirm something first. This is a real magic hall of the 27 Magical Lineages, right?"
"Pardon?"
"If it's just a sign hung up for show, I'll leave, so let's not waste time."
"Ah... haha. You've must've only seen low-rent magic halls until now."
'A sucker tourist, huh.'
Rubel let out a hearty laugh.
Tourists harboring strange fantasies about the 27 Magical Lineages showing up, and getting fleeced by fake magic halls targeting them—it happened every day in this city.
"But rest assured. Our magic hall is the genuine original, carrying on the true 27 Magical Lineages."
"You sure?"
"Of course. Just look at this mark of the Makers here—you can tell we're a legitimate magic hall."
Different from those unlicensed rip-offs that just scam tourists.
Rubel grinned, proudly showing off the business license and certification emblazoned with the hexagram seal hanging on the front wall of the shop.
Most tourists would gawk in awe at the Makers' seal alone.
"...This place too, huh."
"...?"
"Whatever. I knew it'd be a waste of time, but let's check anyway."
Whether the customer eyed him with even colder suspicion or not.
The black-haired woman in male disguise who had been standing behind him stepped forward and placed a small case from her pocket onto the display shelf.
"Do you know what this is?"
"This is..."
Rubel opened the case.
And upon seeing what was inside, he made a dumbfounded face.
"Isn't it just some busted junk?"
Crushed like it'd been smashed under a rock or something. Half-broken into pieces, mangled beyond recognition as any original shape.
As Rubel stared at it dubiously, the customer furrowed his brow and asked.
"So you don't know what it is?"
"Even if you ask... Ah, is it a broken item? Then you should go to an item repair shop, not a magic hall."
"That's all I needed to know."
"Hey, sir? Sir!"
As if that settled everything.
The black-haired young man with a bluebird perched on one shoulder turned and walked right out of the shop.
Rubel blinked at the sight of him, and the woman silently retrieving the case and following behind, muttering blankly after a long pause.
"...What the hell?"
[Another bust.]
"Who would've thought."
[Well, to be fair, expecting an answer from a magic hall about something like that might be asking too much.]
"Too much my ass. It's way more outrageous that a dump like that dares to hang out a shingle as one of the 27 Magical Lineages."
Rimon scoffed.
He might've looked weird to Rubel.
But to Rimon, Rubel—wearing a robe like some player, flashing the Makers' seal as proof of being an 'original' magic hall—seemed far more bizarre.
No matter that it was one of the top ten guilds, the Makers Guild's history was barely a few decades old.
Getting certification from the 27 Magical Lineages was nonsense from the start.
"Those lunatics in the Makers Guild... They've really remade London to suit their tastes."
[Well, they're one of the top ten guilds, with 90% of all magic-type players. They'd want to reshape their home base however they like.]
"Infinity Guild never pulled crap like this."
[That's because Infinity's on the milder side.]
Yuna Kyung shrugged her wings.
In truth, Infinity was famous among the top ten guilds for being—charitably—diverse, or bluntly—a mixed bag.
Its guild master, Lee Cheongi, possessed an absolute skill that let him acquire any skill, so the entry requirements were relatively lax.
Other top ten guilds, however, were often skewed by their lord's inclinations.
Demiurge Guild full of production jobs, Saint Guild only for holy-type players, Utopia Guild with just summoners and tamers, and so on.
They cherry-picked members by skills.
Makers, taking only magic-types, was the same.
And when like-minded people gathered, their surroundings naturally reshaped to match. Especially when backed by the era's overlords, the top ten guilds.
"What were the Blue Dragon Clan doing while their homeland turned into this mess?"
"The Blue Dragon Clan has a pact with the Makers."
"A pact? You don't mean they not only let this happen but actively helped out?"
"I don't know the details. Just that they've done some joint ventures since the pact."
"The 'great' Blue Dragon Clan let this slide for a bit of cash?"
"Given the nature of the business, it's probably not about money."
"What kind of business?"
Rimon looked skeptical.
Even if the Seven Dragon Society had corporatized, it was odd for the Blue Dragon Clan to accept a deal even the Gold Dragon Clan wouldn't touch.
But Wailing's following explanation blew away his doubts completely.
"Charity work."
"...Oh, that."
It hit him in an instant.
Rimon's face, full of suspicion moments ago, was now filled with a convinced 'Yeah, that tracks.'
Followed swiftly by a sneer.
'Same as ever, those damn bastards.'
Understanding the gist only made Rimon more irritated.
Noticing his mood, Yuna Kyung shrugged her wings and said.
[Don't let it get to you, Team Leader. It might be different from the old days, but isn't this kinda magical-city-esque in its own way?]
"...Magical-city-esque is good?"
Rimon gave her a strange look.
A mix of absurdity, pity, inexplicable mockery, and cynicism as he suddenly asked.
"Na-kyung. Doesn't the street seem a lot emptier?"
[Now that you mention it, yeah. Lunchtime rush?]
"No. It's because it's time for the magical city to get magical."
[Huh?]
Yuna Kyung tilted her head.
The streets did look less crowded, but she couldn't see how that made it more 'magical-city-like.'
Instead of Rimon, a sound from the distance answered her question.
Dong—
A bizarre bell toll echoing across all of London, like a thousand pickaxes striking iron.
Right after it spread through the air.
The streets suddenly bustled.
The already sparse pedestrians hurried their steps, street vendors hastily packed up, shops shut one by one and drew curtains.
And as Yuna Kyung watched in bewilderment.
No one was left around them.
Dong—
"Hmm, this height should just barely let us see it."
As Yuna Kyung panicked at the suddenly empty street.
Rimon headed to a nearby clock tower.
After having Wailing pay the entry fee, he took the elevator inside up to the observation deck at the top and said.
"Watch closely. It'll happen any second now."
[Any second? What's gonna—...?]
Dong—
Yuna Kyung couldn't finish her question.
Because she saw it.
The moment the thirteenth toll faded into silence.
London's skyline, cloudy but fully visible before, was engulfed in fog in the blink of an eye.
Shhhhhhh.
It wasn't just a weather shift or thicker fog.
If anything, like a sinking ship.
The massive city of London was being wholly swallowed by the fog, like a vessel with a hole in the hull sucking into the depths.
And when it all ended.
No city dotted with flashy magic lights remained outside the deck.
Just the faint outlines of a few spires floating dimly over a sea of impenetrable fog, like wreckage from a shipwreck.
[...W-What the hell is this?]
"What else? The true face of the magical city you've been dying to see."
Yuna Kyung stood frozen, beak agape like a kid seeing a person in a costume for the first time.
Rimon smirked like a mischievous adult shattering her illusions.
And inhaling the curse-like aroma of magic faintly wafting from the fog, he continued softly.
"It's also why London alone survived unscathed while other European cities burned to ash in the Demon God War."
Back when the Demon God descended.
Paris, the descent point, was the most thoroughly destroyed, but nowhere else was safe.
The Demon God craved more blood and sacrifices, targeting prosperous European cities first.
When it finally reached London after razing them one by one, its citizens despaired.
But that despair didn't last.
For in that moment, as the Demon God moved to burn London, certain people stepped forward.
The 27 witches who had inherited magic from the Silver Age to the modern day.
Usually hidden in history's shadows, they emerged to stop the Demon God, pooling their power and wisdom to revive an ancient spell.
That was the London Great Barrier.
One of history's mightiest magics, even legendary in the Silver Age.
Thanks to that barrier, London held out until Rimon returned and slew the Demon God.
That was why the British Empire conquered Europe.
Other nations, losing capitals and major cities, had no choice but economic and political subjugation.
In that sense, the London Great Barrier was a blessing upon the Empire.
...If it had vanished without side effects after the Demon God's defeat.