Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 063
Chapter Title: To the Magic Tower
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Kyle slowly turned back at those words.
There, a man was struggling to move his eyes to look at him.
Kyle asked,
"How do you know my name..."
But there was no such man anywhere in his memories.
At the very least, he was someone the current Kyle didn't know.
The man arduously opened his mouth.
"Anna... no, Lena... how is she..."
"...!"
Startled by those words, Kyle approached him and asked,
"You know my sister?!"
"What happened to Lena...!!"
The man shouted as if squeezing out his final ounce of strength.
"Tell me, quick!!"
"My sister..."
Kyle felt his words catch in his throat without realizing it.
For a fleeting moment, her blood-soaked red hair in a pool of blood flashed through his mind.
Soon, he continued with a flat expression.
"My sister is dead."
"......"
At that, the man cast his trembling gaze downward.
"I see... so that's how it is."
His cracked lips moved.
"So... that's what happened."
At the same time, he coughed up blood with a gurgle!
Seeing that, Kyle said,
"Hang on just a bit. I'll get someone right..."
"No!"
"?!"
The man, vomiting blood again, grabbed Kyle.
"Wait... cough... wait, Kyle."
The man gasped roughly for breath.
"I don't have much time left anyway...!"
"What do you..."
"Ma... Marshall."
"Marshall?"
Vomiting blood once more, he forced strength into his eyes and continued.
"The Marshall of the council, Reberk of the Magic Tower, Luther of city hall... There's someone else pulling the strings behind everything happening in this city right now."
"What?"
"Dun City... hides an ugly secret even its upper class doesn't know about... cough! Urk, Lena... Lena knew that secret."
"!!"
Kyle approached him and asked,
"What are you saying right now?"
"If Lena is dead... it won't be for any other reason."
At those words, Kyle furrowed his brow.
"But it was definitely the mafia who killed my sister..."
"The mafia?"
The man let out a hollow laugh at that.
"There's no way... no way she died to mere mafia trash."
"...!!"
"The mafia was involved, but what actually carried it out was something else... cough, cough!"
Suddenly short of breath, Kyle spoke again at the sight.
"I get it, okay? We can talk later! Treatment first..."
At that moment, the man reached out and grabbed Kyle.
"Huff, huff... Lena, Lena said..."
His hand trembled violently.
"You're... the living witness to that ugly secret."
"!?"
"Only you... only you know about this city... Kyle...!"
At the same time, an unimaginable amount of blood poured from him compared to before.
Seeing that, the man shouted as if drawing out every last bit of his remaining life force.
"You... your roots aren't in the 8th Special District. You...!"
At that instant, the man's pupils suddenly dilated.
He muttered arduously.
"Go to... the Magic Tower..."
Unable to finish his words, his body went limp.
Kyle instinctively knew.
This man in front of him had just died.
"......"
Kyle's eyes trembled as he witnessed that fleeting end right before him.
'What the hell...'
He pressed his trembling hand to his forehead.
'What is he talking about?'
Kyle couldn't hide his confused expression.
'An ugly secret hidden in this city.'
Did that mean his sister had been silenced because she knew that ugly secret?
'The mafia killing her to cover up the hack was just the surface reason?'
No, more precisely...
He clenched his fist without realizing it.
'Who incited the mafia to do it and even handled the execution themselves?'
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Kyle recalled the moment he found his sister's body back then.
Her corpse submerged in a pool of blood-red liquid.
Even after being brutally murdered, she looked as if she'd been savagely ravaged.
'Yeah, even then, something felt off.'
Thinking back now, it was true.
If it was just silencing her, why ravage the body so cruelly afterward?
Kyle recalled when the mafia had killed him.
Simply two bullets to the head.
That was it.
The mafia left him there like they'd fulfilled their duty and departed.
But Lena Clark was different.
The scene of her murder was gruesome and horrific.
'As if...'
Kyle swallowed dryly.
'Someone held a grudge against her.'
The moment his thoughts reached that point, he felt a chill run down his spine.
"What the hell happened here?!"
At that moment, the support team coming down from above opened the iron door, only to immediately cover their noses.
"Ugh, what smell is..."
"Clark! Are you okay?!"
Kyle barely managed to reply.
"...Yes, I'm fine."
+ All Stats increased
+ Reinforcement Skill Points awarded
Discovered 'Contact's Hideout Basement'
Third unlock condition for hidden mission 'Lena Clark's Truth' fulfilled.
Entered 'Lost Past' route by completing 'Emerging Clue'.
'Lost Past.'
That confirmed it.
The day he first opened his eyes in the 8th Special District wasn't the first time he'd opened them in this world.
'...I just lost my memories.'
Seeing that, Kyle recalled what the man had just said.
'He definitely mentioned my roots.'
He gazed at the man, whose body was growing cold.
'What the hell are my roots?'
What could they be, that his sister called him the living witness to this city's ugly secret...
And was killed because of it.
On top of that, the man had told him.
To go to the Magic Tower.
'The Magic Tower.'
Why the Magic Tower of all places...
At that moment, Kyle thought of Reberk.
'...Is the answer there?'
He had no way of knowing.
The one who could answer that question was already dead.
'But if that's the only clue I have left.'
Kyle's eyes narrowed as he stared at the man.
*
At the same time.
Reberk mansion, located in Sapientia Magic Tower.
"Father! What do you mean by that?!"
Otto Reberk shouted at him in disbelief.
"You're going to borrow the power of the Necromancer Princess using the mana you've built up your entire life as collateral?!"
The Necromancer Princess was surely the title for the king of the dead ruling the lower levels of District 28.
Otto Reberk's face turned pale.
"Even if you do that, if you fail to kill the Butcher by any chance... you'll never be able to use magic again for the rest of your life!"
That was essentially death as a mage.
For the mages of the Magic Tower, it was more terrifying than actual death—it meant the loss of their very reason for existence.
"So what?!"
Walter Reberk shouted back.
"If that guarantees we kill the Butcher for certain, then that's fine!"
"B-But wouldn't it be better to mobilize our family's mages instead?! Even the Butcher could somehow..."
"Don't talk nonsense!"
He waved his hand impatiently.
"If we move any more family members, the Sage and the other magic houses will catch on. No! The Sage is already suspicious of something, I'm sure!"
"What do you..."
"He suddenly wanted to see me soon. Isn't that strange?"
Walter wiped his mouth.
"A man who hasn't once asked to meet first in the past 10 years, and now suddenly wants to see my face?"
"...!!"
"I could gloss over Anton, but ha, with Franz suddenly gone too, it's no wonder...!"
On top of that, a dragon had been summoned at the same time.
It would be arrogant to think the Sage, watching the 8th Special District, wouldn't notice.
Especially since the Sage knew Franz Reberk was born with dragon affinity.
Walter ground his teeth with bloodshot eyes.
"Things have gone too wrong. All because of that one damn Butcher!"
"B-But even so, Father, going this far..."
"Oh? Then let's do as you say and mobilize the family members."
Walter's gaze on his son turned icy.
"But if we fail then, what will you do?"
To them, unaware of the [Dragon Slayer] trait, the Butcher was already an outlier who had slain a dragon alone.
He continued.
"Sending just a few won't be enough to kill the guy who hunted a dragon."
Walter judged they'd need to commit most of the family's core forces to have a chance.
"But if we still fail after that, what then?"
"Th-That's..."
So far, the Reberk prestige could cover it, but openly mobilizing the family mages was another story.
"If we fail even then, the Reberk name ends there."
With core forces wiped out by the Butcher and no cards left, such movements would inevitably trigger a full Magic Tower investigation.
"All our deeds so far would be laid bare."
There would be no path left for Reberk then.
"This is the best way. There's no other!"
'If we can achieve the Reberk ambition...!'
He was willing to sacrifice even his own magic.
Because Reberk was everything to him.
Otto Reberk arduously opened his mouth.
"Father, maybe we should just stop here..."
"Don't even mention quitting."
"......"
Walter spoke with a face tinged with madness.
"This is already a fight where either the Butcher or I dies."
Otto covered his face with both hands and said in a mournful voice,
"Grandfather Girion, Anton, our Franz... they're all dead."
His voice came out like a sob.
"...Is this truly the path to the Reberk ambition?"
"Don't you get it yet?"
Walter's hand trembled unwittingly.
"Lately, I've been having nightmares every night."
The Butcher grandly entering the Magic Tower, the mages of this tower, enchanted by that enemy's talent, praising him.
"Nightmares of that tear-apart bastard being hailed as the next Magic Tower Lord in place of our fallen Reberk!"
He shouted with a flushed face.
"Every day since Franz died! Every day!"
Bang! He slammed the table violently and panted.
"Every day!!"
Otto swallowed at that mad sight.
"Father...!"
"As long as the Butcher lives, our ambition has no chance! So shut up with that weak talk and just do as I say! Got it?!"
Walter, calming briefly, patted his son's shoulder.
"Don't worry too much from the start. No matter how strong the Butcher is, it's the Necromancer Princess's power. How could he resist?"
The Butcher, possessed by the death spirit, would end his own life unknowingly.
Grinning darkly, he rose.
"In the end, the victor in this fight will be the great Reberk."
"......"
Otto merely bit his lip.
"Oh, and."
Walter, donning his robe, continued.
"It seems it's time to bring out that poison, so prepare it in advance."
"...Pardon?"
Otto's eyes widened as if he'd misheard.
"That poison..."
"As I said earlier, the Sage's suspicions aren't normal. Just in case, we might need to advance the grand plan."
"Y-You mean."
"Yes."
Walter turned to his son.
"The day I meet the Sage soon."
He curled his lips.
"It seems it's time to let my old friend rest."
"...!!"