Chapter 489: The Situation of the 2nd Magic Tower
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 489: The Situation of the 2nd Magic Tower
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“Kyaa! He just looked at me! He looked right this way! Hehehe, kyahahaha!”
“…You were being so dignified with that quiet smile just a moment ago, My Lady. Must you cackle like a madwoman every single time?”
“But my Jin just looked back at me!”
“It’s only natural to survey one’s surroundings during an infiltration. He wasn’t looking back at you, My Lady.”
“Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve seen him!”
“It has been less than a month since the one and only time you met Jin Runcandel. I suppose, in a way, that could be considered a long time.”
“Jin must be happy to see me too, right?”
“Strictly speaking, you haven’t ‘met.’ You’re merely spying on him. Jin Runcandel has no idea you’re pressing your flushed face against that crystal ball.”
“He must have missed me so much that he came all this way to find me.”
“My Lady, Jin Runcandel didn’t come here for you. He came to attack our family.”
“Uh-oh, my Jin left Sector 6! Was the crystal ball for the next sector this one? No, that one?! I can’t miss a single second of that handsome face. Hedo, Hedo!”
“The one behind you is for the next sector. And what ‘face’ are you even seeing? All I see is a black mask. Since we can’t hear his voice, it’s difficult to even tell which one is Jin Runcandel.”
“Hehe, I can see everything.”
“Please, get a grip, My Lady…”
Hedo’s gaze fell to Sandra’s right arm.
Or rather, her prosthetic. Just as she had declared, she had not healed the arm Jin had severed, opting instead to wear a prosthetic hand forged from solid gold.
She had even gone so far as to engrave Jin’s face on the inside of the forearm. The walls of Sandra’s room were no better, covered from floor to ceiling with anything and everything related to Jin—advertisement flyers, clipped newsletters, and more.
As the Second Head Butler and Sandra’s personal attendant, how could he not sigh at such a sight?
“Sigh.”
In what felt like a single breath, Hedo chain-smoked ten cigarettes right where he sat.
It had been like this ever since that day. Sandra had pushed all family matters aside, spending every waking moment talking about Jin without a second’s rest.
The extreme stress made him feel as if his hair might fall out.
“My Lady.”
“Shh, be quiet. Jin is moving so fast. I need to concentrate.”
“Lady Sandra.”
“Ugh, what?!”
“You must report this.”
“Report what?”
“You must report to the Patriarch that Jin Runcandel has arrived at the construction site. You are currently on duty, My Lady.”
Sandra’s eyes went wide as she turned to look at Hedo for the first time.
Then, she spoke.
“Hedo, if I do that, my husband will die. Or they’ll break him until he’s not Jin anymore.”
“That would likely be the outcome. Although, given the survival skills the Twelfth Flagbearer has shown so far, one can never be certain.”
“So don’t you ever spout that bullshit again.”
Hedo hadn’t really expected anything when he brought it up. He knew the lady he served would react exactly like this.
He had only said it out of a desperate, straw-grasping hope.
“If you do it again, I’ll rip your mouth open, Hedo. And not in a straight line—I’ll do it in a cross. Don’t ruin this for me. Got it?”
“Yes, yes. As you wish.”
“I can’t just sit here.”
“It would be best if you did. If you aren’t going to report this, then at least stay still. I have no excuses left to give the Patriarch this time.”
“I have to go meet Jin!”
The two of them were in the Tower Master’s office in the 2nd Magic Tower.
When Zipple built the secret shipyard, they had deliberately chosen the Sota Desert for its proximity to the 2nd Magic Tower, which allowed them to monitor the construction site through crystal balls like these. To perfectly oversee everything, including preventing technology leaks, being near a Magic Tower was ideal.
As Jin had suspected, Zipple was now using the shipyard as bait to gauge the strength of external forces, but that hadn’t been its original purpose.
If Kinzelo hadn’t become so prominent, and if there weren’t suspicions about Joshua using a mysterious power, the shipyard would never have been expended in such a way.
While Sandra rummaged through the office wardrobe, Hedo leaned his forehead against his hand and carefully examined the row of crystal balls.
Almost every sector was being attacked simultaneously. Kinzelo’s beastmen and members were running wild, and Joshua’s group was also visible.
Among them, Hedo watched Jin’s party with particular care.
‘…That’s not the route someone would take if they were only searching the sectors we intentionally leaked.’
The path was far too complex.
If their goal was to destroy the shipyard and check only the vital sectors, they should have moved along the shortest possible path the moment Kinzelo began its attack.
‘But Jin Runcandel is moving as if he intends to scout the entire facility. As if he doesn’t know about the bait in Sectors 4, 11, 17, and 19. Could it be that the Second Flagbearer didn’t share the false intel… No, wait.’
Something was strange.
This time, his thoughts were not on Jin, but on Kinzelo.
‘Among those destroying the shipyard, not a single one of Kinzelo’s top leaders is visible.’
Even after checking the crystal balls for every sector, those presumed to be top executives were nowhere to be found. Figures like Verakt or Vishkel were absent; most of the attackers were beastmen at the level of assault captains.
In that moment, Hedo saw the entire situation with perfect clarity.
‘Kinzelo didn’t come just to destroy the shipyard. They’re using the attack as a diversion while their real powerhouses target something else. The place where the real information is kept.’
Right here—the Tower of White Night.
Unless they were insane, they wouldn’t dare target Drakka.
Once he was certain of Kinzelo’s intentions, Jin’s route also made sense.
‘Jin Runcandel is targeting this place, too. And he’s timing his entry into the 2nd Magic Tower to make the most of Kinzelo’s attack!’
Having grasped the intruders’ goals and numbers, it was time to respond.
“Hedo, how are this shirt and coat? I specially ordered them from the Golden Top Merchant Group. The managers there said my darling’s taste is exactly like this. They even went on and on about how close they are to him. I was so jealous I almost killed them.”
“My Lady, how many reinforcements did you send out earlier?”
“I asked you how the clothes look!”
“You look beautiful. Now please, tell me how many mages from the tower you sent to the shipyard.”
“I sent them all.”
“…I must have misheard. Could you repeat that?”
“I thought it would interfere with my husband-watching if the tower mages kept coming up here to make a fuss, so I just told them all to get lost.”
“Even the emergency standby personnel?”
“Yep!”
“Then the Spacetime Device…”
“That bastard broke that back in the Gaifa Archipelago.”
“Ah, right.”
“Stupid!”
With a series of sharp snaps, the buttons on Hedo’s shirt went flying as his muscles bulged. It was a habit of his—his body swelling with muscle whenever he felt extreme stress or anger.
However, he wasn’t this angry because of Sandra’s cheerful answer. The first reason was the broken Spacetime Device, and the second was the behavior of the Wraith Squad.
‘It doesn’t matter if it was the Lady’s order. For the Wraith Squad to… is their judgment really that poor?’
That couldn’t be it.
The Wraith Squad looked down on Sandra. Since her orders would have sounded irrational and bizarre to anyone, they should have at least come to him to confirm.
‘It must be because Octavia Zipple treats her with such contempt that even the underlings see the Lady as a pushover.’
Riiip!
His shirt tore apart completely, revealing a monstrous physique. They were muscles no one could ever forget once they’d seen them—a physique that had surpassed its limits time and time again, arguably the strongest on earth, possessing a simultaneous and indescribable strength and beauty.
‘I suppose I’ll have to give them a warning.’
Hedo ground his teeth, while Sandra hummed a tune.
“Anyway, the clothes are beautiful, right? I think this is the first time you’ve complimented me like that since I was five. Then I’m picking this! Kyahat, what if Jin just falls for me on the spot?! I’m coming, Jin! Just wait a litt—urk!”
Hedo grabbed the back of Sandra’s neck as she tried to dash out.
“What, you want to die?!”
“…My Lady. You chose the clothes well, but they are far too wrinkled. And your hair is a mess.”
“Oh, really?”
“One must always maintain formal attire, especially when meeting someone you adore. Take a bath. In the meantime, I will iron the clothes. I shall also set out matching accessories.”
Hedo brushed the dust off Sandra’s shoulder with extreme care.
“But what if I miss my husband?! My Jin will have to run away soon. Reinforcements will be swarming from Drakka like cockroaches.”
“Do not worry, My Lady. Jin Runcandel will come here.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Should my assumption prove wrong, I will personally capture him and bring him to you.”
Since Hedo had never once disappointed her, Sandra nodded immediately.
“Fine! It was a good thing I sent all the underlings away. A second reunion in an empty tower… it’s so romantic. When Jin arrives, you leave too, Hedo. Got it? I want to spend some time alone with him.”
To avoid lying—since Kinzelo and Joshua would also be coming—Hedo simply smiled and changed the subject.
“And My Lady, please give me the key before you go to bathe.”
Hedo was referring to the key to the vault that held the 2nd Magic Tower’s most important items, including the ship blueprints.
In this situation, he felt it would be much safer for him to carry it.
“Here.”
Sandra handed over the key she had been wearing around her neck.
Then, as she was about to turn away, she seemed to remember something and spoke to Hedo.
“By the way, Hedo. Before you tell me to be formal, you should fix your own clothes. What is that? They’re all torn, and you’ve barely got a few scraps of fabric clinging to your body. Your glasses are crooked, too.”
Sandra hopped up and straightened Hedo’s glasses. They were still crooked since she had just poked at them, but Hedo let out a small chuckle.
“I never imagined I would serve someone as shameless and mad as you, My Lady.”
“That’s just how it goes. Just like I never knew I’d fall in love with Jin.”
The two left the room together. Sandra went to the bath, and Hedo went to the vault.
‘In any case, Runcandel and Kinzelo certainly have some mettle. I thought they would only care about the shipyard, but to even be thinking about this place…’
Hedo, who was about to insert the key into the vault, paused and tilted his head.
The sensation of the key turning felt… off. There was a sense of discrepancy, as if someone else had already opened the vault today. The key slid into place far too smoothly.
Click.
He threw the vault door open.
The interior was empty.
Hedo could only press a hand to his forehead once more.