Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: A Matter of Time
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87,799,795,254
The Guardian of the Tower painted a large number on its canvas with sea-colored paint that resembled the hue of Loan’s eyes.
The mages watching counted the digits backward, stunned by the sheer scale of the number.
Seeing it with their own eyes made it even more unbelievable. Could that number truly be correct?
Verifying it was now the Guardian’s task.
“Can you confirm it?”
The Tower Master, Ingrid, asked as she looked at the Guardian of the Tower.
Her voice lacked confidence, subtly laced with doubt and anxiety.
That same feeling was reflected in the painting.
Amid the indistinct shapes and complex colors, Loan recalled the phrase ‘cold self-criticism.’
In that moment.
-Ughhh…
A mental voice, almost a sigh, echoed through the tower.
And then.
Beads began to fall from the device, dropping to the floor and collecting in a large container.
With each bead that fell, the number in the painting decreased, counting down.
The speed at which the number decreased gradually accelerated.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the painting.
Time passed with a soft clattering sound, but the massive number hardly seemed to shrink.
The beads, which had been falling individually, now began to look like a flowing stream of water.
The count dropped by over 100 per second, then over 1,000 as more time passed, yet the higher-order digits remained unchanged.
Loan did a quick mental calculation; at this rate, it seemed it would take days to finish.
As expected.
A moment later, the Guardian of the Tower withdrew the mana it was emitting.
The descending number slowly came to a halt. The beads stopped falling.
-Time is needed. At full power, it might be possible by tomorrow morning.
The heavy, almost miserable tone of the mental voice was followed by…
“Ah…”
The mages sighed in dismay.
How on earth did he count a number that couldn't even be verified?
All eyes turned to Loan. The tower remained deathly silent.
Ingrid belatedly turned to look at Loan. Her eyes were so bloodshot they looked as if they might pop out.
“Even so, we cannot give up on the verification.”
“Of course.”
It was the obvious thing to say.
Loan himself would feel uneasy leaving it like this.
“That said, we have no choice but to leave it to the Guardian of the Tower. Your eligibility to proceed to the Tower of Ideation will be determined after the result is confirmed. I hope you understand.”
Loan shifted his gaze slightly without an immediate reply.
The sunlight streaming through the window had softened considerably.
Night would soon fall.
A full day had passed since arriving in Sheville, meeting the Modernist Mages, and passing through two towers.
He hadn't had any real rest during that time.
He needed to eat and sleep.
He felt tired from the intense concentration, and he also wanted to reflect on the sensations he had experienced during the test.
He also wanted to thoroughly examine the rudiments of the third Circle, which he had gained from the Tower Master, by manipulating his mana.
It was as if he’d been granted the respite he needed at just the right moment.
He thought it was for the best, but Ingrid seemed to think otherwise.
It was because Loan hadn't answered right away.
“My apologies. You were only following the rules, but this is due to our circumstances. We will treat you with the utmost hospitality during your stay here. So…”
“I understand. Then please extend the same courtesy to those who came with me.”
Loan waved his hand dismissively at the apologetic Ingrid, making his request with a humble demeanor.
The Tower Master and the other mages of Sensation were deeply moved.
“Such tolerance, quite unlike someone from the Union. Truly befitting a mage.”
The logic seemed backward, but Loan didn't bother to correct them.
Ingrid continued.
“I am very, truly, genuinely curious as to how you counted them, but it would be best to discuss that after we have the results. Let us give the Guardian of the Tower some time and head this way.”
As if not to disturb the process, the mages of Sensation filed out of the hall.
It was perfectly natural for mages to have absolute faith in the one who guarded their tower.
Loan followed Ingrid.
The Guardian of the Tower remained in its place, as it always did.
As Loan glanced back, he saw the number begin to decrease rapidly again.
Loan, too, was a mage.
He had no doubt that the Guardian of the Tower would complete the verification without the slightest bias or error.
* * *
The Tower of Sensation had large living spaces on each floor.
The cabins nestled here and there upon the giant tree served this purpose.
Loan was guided up a spiral staircase built along the inner wall to the second floor.
Inside a large cabin equipped with guest facilities and a grand banquet hall, a feast was being prepared.
After filling his stomach with a roasted pork leg, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, Loan spent some time mingling with the mages of Sensation.
They played games together, such as tasting sausages and guessing the ingredients, or deducing the components of a perfume by its scent.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get to meet the Freaks, who were said to reside on the 15th floor.
They had requested an independent area and had settled there long ago.
“Well then, I’ll be turning in for the night.”
Loan politely declined the ‘tactile sensitivity game via massage’ and retired to the comfortable room provided for him to rest alone.
Outside, the Modernist Mages who had accompanied him were drinking beer and engaged in a heated debate with the mages of Sensation.
Loan listened idly to the coming and going of voices and the clinking of glasses for a moment before taking out his notebook and writing a report on the recent events to send off.
The dispatch was addressed to Commander Adrian and Commander Magda.
[...Thus, it appears we will be able to secure cooperation up to the Tower of Sensation without issue. Tomorrow, after passing through the Tower of Ideation, I plan to ascend the Tower of Embodiment and rendezvous with Commander Magda.]
The dispatch primarily reported that he had secured promises of cooperation from the Masters of the Tower of Phenomena and the Tower of Perception.
And it elicited similar feelings and reactions from both commanders.
First, Commander Adrian.
“Oh, news from the rookie!”
he exclaimed, spreading a handkerchief on a rock before sitting down.
Sheathing her two greatswords, Sienna turned her head and asked.
“Is it from Loan?”
Her voice was quite cheerful, a stark contrast to the blood splattered on her cheek and her disheveled hair. She was that pleased to hear it.
The two of them had just destroyed an outpost of Maligno, a new Grave, somewhere in northern Varcino.
The narrow mountain path was littered with corpses.
Sienna approached the commander, carefully avoiding the damp ground.
The Commander of the Faith Division and his elites were carrying out the Governor-General’s orders: a special mission to gather intelligence on the command structures of the Six Great Graves.
“Hmm…”
Contrary to the excited expression he’d had when opening the notebook, Adrian’s face progressively soured.
Sienna asked worriedly.
“Is something wrong?”
“Our rookie is great and all, but his problem is he’s too smart. Seems like going to the magic towers got him even more excited. This dispatch is several times longer than usual, and it’s mostly full of stuff I can’t understand.”
“…”
Hearing that he seemed excited, she figured nothing bad had happened.
“So, what was the part you did understand?”
“Um. Let’s see… He says something about a mirror called the ‘Other Side of Phenomena’ and a chalkboard called the ‘Reflection of Perception’ acknowledged him? And now he’s waiting for a painting called the ‘Expression of Sensation’ to make an announcement. What does any of that mean?”
“Aren’t those the titles of the Guardians of the Towers?”
“Huh? How do you know that?”
“Shouldn’t someone in the Faith Division know this?”
“Ah, is that so?”
After a moment of looking blank, Adrian adjusted his glasses and nodded as if his subordinate’s words made sense.
Sienna let out a small sigh before speaking.
“I don’t know what he’s doing, but being acknowledged by the Guardians certainly sounds like a good thing.”
“Ah, he said he secured their cooperation. Looks like Sheville will now directly support the Union when we fight the Graves. For now, it’s just two towers, though.”
He said it casually, but the content of his words was astounding.
Sienna’s voice rose slightly.
“Really? The mages of Sheville agreed to leave their towers?”
“Yep. He said he got their promise. Mages are good about keeping those.”
Sienna stared at Adrian with a bewildered expression before narrowing her eyes.
“Commander, you seem to have known this would happen.”
“Me?”
“You know how incredible this is. To my memory, they haven’t made a move in decades. And Loan, who just became a Runner, managed to do it. You should be gloating, boasting to the other commanders, but you’re being remarkably calm right now.”
“Aah…”
Adrian nodded again, as if she had a point.
Then, belatedly, he put on a very arrogant expression.
“That’s right. I sent him knowing this would happen.”
“What mission did you give him?”
“I just told him to have a safe trip. His dispatch came when I was busy.”
“Then, when you say you sent him knowing…”
“I predicted that while he may be our rookie, the mages would treat him like a distinguished guest.”
Sienna stared at her commander, as if his explanation was insufficient.
Adrian casually crossed his arms and continued.
“Who is Commander Magda? She’s the most eccentric and prideful mage in all of Sheville. And that’s the mage who acknowledged Loan. Every time she looks at him, her eyes are practically dripping with honey.”
“And?”
“The person closest to being a grand mage acknowledged him, so what could the towers do? The mages there would have treated him well on their own.”
“Even so, it’s unlikely they would have voluntarily offered to support the Union. Loan must have requested it. How did you know he would do that?”
“How did I know? Our rookie is incredibly straight-laced. Seeing the state of those mages, what else would Loan request?”
“…”
“That kid is so dedicated when it comes to Graves or demons that he almost seems impatient. You’ve seen him collecting badges on his chest, right? It’s like he’s constantly securing alliances. If he manages to bring Sheville in, it’s like he’ll have the entire continent as his ally. Ah, I guess the House of Grafton is still left.”
Adrian’s expression turned intrigued once more.
“Anyway, both Magda and I believe that Loan is the only one who can move Sheville. Otherwise, that old hag would have no reason to go all the way to the towers to meet her ex-husband.”
Sienna simply nodded in response.
He stated his reasons so bluntly, yet it was hard to recall a time when Adrian had ever trusted someone to this degree.
Meanwhile.
Far away in Sheville, Magda was, just as Adrian and Sienna predicted, placing her absolute trust in Loan.
“How about it? Huh? What do you think?”
Magda relentlessly taunted the Tower Master of Embodiment.
Her bright red lips looked particularly moist.
“…”
In contrast, the Tower Master of Embodiment’s face was ashen.
He was the one who received news of what was happening in the towers below the fastest.
And every piece of news had been absurdly incredible.
The theory Loan had presented in the Tower of Perception had troubled both mages for some time. Neither asked the other if they understood it.
The news from the Tower of Sensation was also astounding.
Unlike Loan, who had grasped the enormous number of beads in mere seconds, the news that the Guardian of the Tower had been stuck verifying it for hours was so astonishing it provoked hollow laughter.
Magda said.
“Honestly, I couldn’t do it. Oh, I won’t bother asking if you can, Tower Master.”
“The verification isn’t finished yet. Who’s to say he didn’t just blurt out a random number, thinking it would be impossible to confirm?”
“I was trying to let you save face, and you go and say something so crass.”
Magda pouted and shook her head.
The Tower Master of Embodiment forced his gaze away and spoke with difficulty.
“In any case, Loan will be spending the day in the Tower of Sensation. Which means you were wrong when you said he’d be here soon.”
Magda scoffed at the worthless remark and leaned back on the sofa.
Before long, moonlight shimmered at the window.
She wished for morning to come quickly.