The True Identity of the Crest

We arrived at the Medici Merchant Guild the following day.

Ordinarily the journey would have taken a full week, but we made it in four. Aiham and Grandpa Lu had taken turns driving the carriage without rest.

With a sharp creak the carriage rolled to a stop, and we climbed down.

Word of our arrival sent Simon rushing out at once. But only a single carriage had come. The moment he saw that, Simon shouted at Grandpa Lu.

"Butler Lu! What is the meaning of this?! Where is Aera?!"

Then Aera stepped down from the carriage.

"Father!"

"Aera!! You're safe!"

Simon ran forward and pulled her into his arms. Only then did he look over the rest of us—and Grandpa Lu—and speak again.

"Something must have happened."

"Yes, Guildmaster. I'll explain everything inside."

And so we laid out the whole situation for Simon. He clenched his fist, slammed it down on the desk, and snarled,

"That piece of garbage—doing something like that for money…"

His face flushed dark red, the fist in his lap trembling. Aera took that fist in both hands, and the shaking stilled. Simon drew a long breath.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I understand for now. I'll lodge a formal protest with the Empire through a Count I know personally. And Ki-seok—thank you. Truly."

He knew a Count of the Empire well enough to go through him directly. As expected of the master of a great merchant guild.

"Not at all. I only did what an escort is supposed to do."

"And you two as well… thank you so much."

Simon offered his gratitude to Aiham and Grandpa Lu in turn. Then his expression hardened again.

"The rest of the escorts all ran, you said? I'll be having words with the Adventurers' Guild about them."

Men who abandoned a commission halfway through just to save their own skins. Of course they had families of their own; it wasn't entirely beyond understanding. But they would know full well that they had betrayed their client. Deserting a charge mid-escort was clear grounds for disciplinary action. From now on, commissions of that sort would be hard for them to land.

Simon turned back to me.

"Ki-seok, rest here for the time being and focus on recovering. You're not leaving until you're fully healed!"

"Haha. I appreciate the consideration, Guildmaster. Then I'll impose on your hospitality for a little while."

And so I devoted the next several days at the Medici household entirely to recovery.

A week later, my body had fully recovered.

"Alright."

I put my armor back on. After days of nothing but eating well, sleeping, and healing, the fit felt a little snug.

"A few days of running should sort that out."

I went to see Simon. At the very least I owed him a proper goodbye.

Knock, knock.

"It's Ki-seok. May I come in?"

"Come in, Ki-seok."

I entered Simon's office to find Grandpa Lu, Aera, Aiham—and one other woman I didn't recognize.

"What brings you, Ki-seok?"

"Well… I'm well enough now that I intend to return to my usual life. Thank you for looking after me."

"Nonsense. You were injured carrying out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our commission; of course we would. Still, I'm glad to hear you're better."

As he spoke, Simon clapped his hands as if something had just occurred to him. He pulled a brown pouch from a drawer, came over, and held it out.

"Your commission fee. I added a little extra out of gratitude."

"It was only an escort job, and you're giving me more on top of that… I'll accept it gratefully."

Then Aiham's voice cut in.

"Ki-seok, you leaving?"

"Yeah. Time to go. Right—I still owe you."

I opened the pouch. Twenty gold coins sat inside.

"Hah—this much…"

I glanced back at Simon. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was beaming. I took out a single gold coin and passed it to Aiham.

"That's with interest included, got it?!"

"You didn't have to go that far… Thanks, Ki-seok."

"By the way—who is the lady here…?"

Indeed, there was a woman I had never seen before. She wore a blue hat of the sort witches favored, a red brooch, and a blue dress.

Simon answered first.

"She is to be Aera's magic tutor."

"A magic tutor?!"

A faint sadness touched Simon's face as he continued.

"The truth is, Aera has wanted to challenge the Tower for a long time."

That Aera had dreamed of becoming an adventurer was news to me.

"But I never wanted her to enter the Tower. I refused to support it, and I opposed it outright."

I understood his opposition well enough. What parent would be glad to see their child walk into a place that dangerous?

"This recent incident, though, forced me to reflect—and to understand something."

Simon stroked Aera's silver hair as he spoke.

"If all you do is hold children back from growing, even more dangerous things can happen. So I've decided to stop standing in her way. That's why I brought her a teacher."

"I see."

The woman in the blue hat stepped forward slowly, gathering her dress as she spoke.

"I am a mage of the Magnos Kingdom. My name is Isilia."

The Magnos Kingdom was famous as a nation advanced in magic—a kingdom in name only, with influence that rivaled an empire's.

"A pleasure. I'm Kim Ki-seok, an adventurer."

I offered a light greeting in return. At a glance Isilia looked extremely sharp, and she carried herself with the kind of character that suited a teacher perfectly.

I looked at Aera.

"You've got a good teacher. Lucky you, Aera."

She smiled brightly.

"Yeah!"

The first time I'd ever heard her use casual speech with me. She must have been in an excellent mood.

Aiham's master was Grandpa Lu. Aera's would be Isilia, a mage of Magnos. Both of them had found fine teachers—and before long they would be climbing the Tower themselves.

"Guildmaster, then I'll take my leave."

Simon smiled and inclined his head. I turned to the two of them.

"Both of you—next time we meet, let's be stronger."

"Yeah! Ki-seok!"

"Ki-seok, wait for me. I'll catch up soon!"

With those final farewells I left the guild, and walked at an easy pace toward the Adventurers' Guild.

In the days since that incident, my body had undergone a great many changes.

I first realized it on the second night after our arrival at the guild.

A night after a day spent lying around with nothing to do. I stared up at the moon and thought,

When am I going to get these bandages off?

I wanted to get outside, run, move my body.

"Haa…"

I sighed and let the events of that day replay in my mind. But after the red window had appeared, nothing. Blank.

The red… window? Right. What about my level?

Before I'd lost consciousness I had killed a great many soldiers. Had anything changed?

Status.

The screen that appeared made me start.

The first thing I saw was—

That level that had refused to budge had jumped by three at once.

I had carved through easy monsters by the dozen just to make money, and even then I'd been lucky to gain a single level. One escort mission, and I was Level 17 in a single stroke…

Let's see… Magic Power is at 4 right now. What if I dump everything into it?

I poured every remaining point into Magic Power.

A system notification appeared at once.

What? Not a passive—an actual skill?!

I scrambled to open the skill window. There it was, newly acquired:

My first ranged magic skill. And no chanting required?!

Not needing to chant was an enormous advantage. It was only a low-grade basic skill, but still…

"Even so, it'd be perfect for keeping enemies at bay."

Aside from the steep MP cost, that is…

While I was turning that over, I noticed one more anomaly in the skill window.

An icon I had never seen before. There had always been one skill locked behind a padlock—but this was different. A skill sealed behind a red lock. And beneath that icon sat a single button:

The sight of it sent a faint chill down my spine. Why? It was only a skill. And yet that color put me on edge the same way the tenth-floor boss chamber had.

I carefully brought a finger to the screen.

Click it? Or not?

I hesitated for a moment—then thought, Ah, to hell with it, and pressed.

With a heavy clack, the lock began to dissolve. A fierce light flared as the holographic icon transformed. I shut my eyes against the glare.

Only when the light flooding the system window finally ebbed could I open them again. Slowly, my eyelids lifted—and at last I saw what the skill truly was.