Welcoming the Guest (3)
“...This is really it? It ends here?”
Seong Ju-ah looked over the materials I'd brought her and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“What, is something wrong with them?”
“No... it's just that they're too *normal*.”
What I'd shown her was the schedule for Diana's visit — a detailed breakdown of exactly what we planned to do and how. I figured the Hunter Bureau ought to at least have a rough idea of what was coming, hence showing it to Seong Ju-ah first.
“Honestly, I half expected you to blow something up.”
“And why would you think that?”
“Well...”
Seong Ju-ah chewed on her lip, then cast a furtive glance around the room. Only once she confirmed we were alone did she relax slightly and lower her voice.
“You know exactly what Diana is capable of.”
I'd figured she would know, of all people.
“You're talking about the Magic Tower's monopoly on magic tools, right?”
“...Yes. Honestly, unless you're a hunter — a mage-type hunter, at that — it's not the kind of thing most people follow. Or care about.”
The UK Magic Tower's stranglehold on magic tools. The culprit behind turning already hard-to-get equipment into outright rarities. And then, like a comet streaking into that situation, Horizon had appeared. From Diana's perspective, there was no way she could just ignore it.
“Honestly, I doubt this visit is... particularly friendly.”
Never mind the pretty words about being “partners” or finding us “interesting.” The reality was simple:
'We've all been carving up our shares nicely until now — who is this upstart, barging in and getting cocky?'
We had thrown down the gauntlet, front and center, against the Magic Tower that had ruled the magical industry for decades. And Diana had accepted that challenge.
“That's why, when you said *you'd* be the one welcoming Diana, I fully expected you to openly provoke her.”
“I may be many things, but I'm not crazy enough for that.”
I knew perfectly well what intentions she carried. But knowing that didn't mean I could treat her poorly or pick a fight outright.
'Diana is a World Ranker.'
By any measure, she was a high-ranking dignitary to be treated as an honored guest. Mishandling someone like that wouldn't just damage Cheonseong — it could drag the entire nation's reputation into the gutter.
'...Not that I don't have private motives of my own.'
After all, she'd need to be in top condition for the “measurements” to come out accurate, wouldn't she?
“There's no need to make this bigger than it has to be. The Tower's strong-arm tactics are egregious, sure, but the direction the Tower itself pursues isn't wrong.”
If the rot went all the way down to the roots — if it were a den of the Advent Cult — then public opinion be damned, I'd have rammed straight through it. But the institution called the 'Magic Tower' was still quite useful. Above all, its name as the 'First Guild' served as a kind of rallying point for humanity.
“I intend to find a path toward coexistence, as much as possible.”
Not that they wouldn't have to answer for everything they'd done until now.
But as long as they don't collapse entirely, it's coexistence, right?
“Tae-hyun, sir...!”
Seong Ju-ah's eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
“Hehehe. If you can wrap this up without any major disasters, I'll finally have time to use that gift you gave me.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Seong Ju-ah needed rest. Awakened or not, her rank was low, and without training her stats, she was hardly tougher than a hardened ordinary person.
“So — have you decided who's coming with you?”
“......”
“Going alone isn't a bad option, but the suite is absurdly oversized, so having one companion would look better. Tons of spare rooms, too. Just grab any friend and—”
“Tae-hyun, sir.”
Seong Ju-ah swallowed dryly, then spoke with her eyes wide and her voice tight.
“After this is all over... are you free?”
“...Sorry, what?”
“GRRAAAAH!”
Whoosh!
Moss sliced across the sky at full power.
Thanks to the protective barrier Ji Yeon-ha had cast, the odds of collateral damage elsewhere were exactly zero. Which was the only reason something this insane was possible in the middle of a city.
“Wh-Wh-What on earth IS this?!”
Perched on Moss's back, Diana gaped in open shock.
“A summon?! But there's never been a dragon-type summon in recorded history... And this speed...!”
“How is it? Does the ride suit your tastes?”
“You — Hunter Lee Tae-hyun! Were you a mage-type hunter this whole time?! How did you tame a dragon-type summon?! No — how are you commanding a summon of such an unprecedented form in the first place?!”
“I couldn't say. I don't think that's the important thing right now, though.”
Moss at full throttle reached the destination in a single burst.
Cheonseong Resort, in Gyeonggi Province. Aside from its distance from the capital, it rivaled the Goryeo Hotel with hyper-luxurious amenities at every turn — and naturally, it came equipped with training grounds and dueling arenas for hunters as well.
“I've rented the entire resort for today, so let's start by easing your fatigue.”
“This is no time for that?! First, about this summon and your true identity—”
“There's a hot spring here, you know.”
At the mention of a hot spring, Diana's eyes wavered, just slightly. Her face was worn thin with exhaustion at a glance. There's no pleasure quite like sinking into warm bathwater when you're this drained.
“A... a hot spring...”
“We'll have plenty of time to talk. Go rest first.”
Diana deliberated for a moment, then nodded.
“F-Fine... I'll do that. Since you've gone to such trouble to prepare...”
“Haha, of course.”
“Um, then I'll just be...”
Ji Yeon-ha attempted a smooth, casual escape. I caught her frail shoulder and didn't let go.
“Eeeek! L-Let go of me...!”
“Leaving so soon would hurt my feelings. You're a guest today too, Yeon-ha — I insist you relax and enjoy yourself.”
“I d-don't need to!”
“We have a distinguished guest arriving. Surely someone should be showing her around?”
“*You* can do it!”
“I can't exactly enter the women's bath.”
Ji Yeon-ha glared at me, face flushed with indignation.
“Lady Diana would be terribly lonely on her own too, wouldn't you say?”
“Hmm... well, if it's her, that's acceptable. A Tower Master — she could be called my junior, after all.”
“L-Lady Diana...!”
Ji Yeon-ha's eyes grew misty. The expression of a fresh hire dragged along on a weekend hiking trip by a genuinely awkward boss.
'Sorry, but I need you to buy me more time.'
The “installation” wasn't finished yet. Until it was, I had no choice but to trust Ji Yeon-ha to keep Diana talking and stall.
“Then I'm counting on you.”
And so Diana and Ji Yeon-ha were led inside by a resort attendant. I watched until the two of them had vanished completely from view.
Once they were finally out of sight—
“Time to wrap things up.”
Loosening up my body, I stepped into the massive dueling arena. A colosseum-like circular space, its ceiling sealed beneath a dome of a mana barrier.
“Wiz. Measure this facility's structural durability.”
On it! Measuring this facility's durability now!
......Complete!
This facility's durability rating is High-Grade.
Unless it's struck repeatedly with overwhelming force, it won't break easily.
“Hm. That's not quite enough.”
Shall I look for weak points to reinforce?
“Please do.”
This facility's durability has been upgraded to... Highest Grade!
Behold: an impregnable fortress!
⁽⁽◝( ˙ ꒳ ˙ )◜⁾⁾
“Mm... that should be enough.”
Truthfully, even this left me a little uneasy. But there was no way to make it sturdier than this.
That was precisely why I'd chosen Cheonseong Resort — a location with no one else around, just in case.
'Let's do this.'
With a faint smile, I reinforced the facility exactly as Wiz had suggested.
Harder. Stronger.
Praying that whatever impact came, it could hold out — at minimum, three times.
“Haaaah~ this is the stuff...”
The moment Diana slipped into the hot spring, she melted.
Just the right heat, just the right warmth. A sensation that was hard to come by in Britain.
“Ahhh...”
It felt as though months of accumulated fatigue were evaporating in an instant. If it were up to her, she'd have transplanted this entire hot spring straight into the Magic Tower.
“I'm jealous of this. Being able to soak in a hot spring whenever you like.”
“Oh, no, I...”
Ji Yeon-ha, who had entered the spring a beat behind her, knelt politely with her knees pressed together.
'Why am I even in here?!'
Bathing alongside *that* Diana, of all people. Even though the water wasn't especially hot, her head spun as if she might faint.
“Hmmm...”
Diana eyed Ji Yeon-ha sidelong and spoke up.
“Hey. Were you always built like that?”
“Ah... um...?”
“It's a little different from what I remember...”
In Diana's memory, the person called Ji Yeon-ha had been considerably smaller and frailer in every way.
—So you're Korea's new Tower Master?
—Y-Yes, ma'am...! I-I'm J-Ji Ji Yeon-ha!
Half her face buried behind enormous glasses, her hair an untamed disaster. But now? The unmistakable picture of a high-class lady.
“What's your secret, I wonder...”
“There's no secret! You're far more beautiful, Lady Diana!”
“Whatever. I didn't call you over to make idle small talk.”
Diana crossed her legs and tilted her head slightly.
“You. What exactly is your relationship with Hunter Lee Tae-hyun?”
“Th-That's...”
“You don't strike me as merely Tower Master and company CEO.”
At first, Diana had naturally assumed Lee Tae-hyun ranked below Ji Yeon-ha.
That was how exalted the position of Tower Master was. Even if it wasn't the head tower, a Magic Tower remained the gathering place of a nation's finest mages. It went without saying that its master was not to be underestimated.
'But watching the two of them earlier... my guess seems to have been wrong.'
Ji Yeon-ha and Lee Tae-hyun had seemed close.
No hierarchy or seniority between them at all.
“Are you lovers, perhaps?”
“...WHAT?! N-No, absolutely not!”
“No need to hide it. I'm hardly so straitlaced that I'd police grown adults over a little romance.”
“We're really not! Director Lee Tae-hyun is just...”
Ji Yeon-ha slid lower into the water, submerging her upper body in the spring.
“...A comrade I can trust.”
He kept plenty of secrets — and that was exactly why she leaned on him all the more. No matter how hopelessly tangled the impasse, if it was Lee Tae-hyun, she believed he'd overcome it somehow.
Just like when he'd defeated Deus Ex Machina.
“Hmm... I see?”
Clicking her tongue softly in disappointment, Diana shook her head.
“A shame. If you'd been lovers, I could have used you as leverage.”
“Sorry? What do you mean—”
“Ha. Don't tell me you've come all this way and still don't know?”
A serpent-like smile curled across her lips.
“Hunter Lee Tae-hyun's 'Horizon' — and by extension, his magic tool *crafting* technology. You know perfectly well what that means for our Tower, don't you?”
“That's...”
“Which is why I'm going to take it.”
“WHAT?!”
Ji Yeon-ha flinched hard.
“*Take* it...? There's no way that could ever...”
“'Take' is a rather extreme word, isn't it?”
Diana's silver hair brushed the water's surface, sending out tiny ripples.
“If better arrangements can be made, I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to considering them.”
All magic belonged to the Tower.
And that applied to magic tools — and the craft of making them — without exception.
“Cheonseong's Horizon... wouldn't the name 'the Magic Tower's Horizon' be far more beautiful?”
That was precisely why Diana had come to Korea in person.
If it came to it, she was prepared to resort to somewhat “rougher methods” to claim it.
'I'm grateful for the hot spring, but.'
Drawing a hard line between public duty and personal pleasure — wasn't that just a mage's particular brand of mischief?
“Heh heh.”
Diana ran her tongue slowly across her scarlet lips.