Now It's Time to Steal Him
“Whoa! Heila. Look at this—hot water comes out too!”
“Please wash up first. I’m fine.”
Heila smiled faintly at Kasla, who was beaming like a child.
“Do you have some worries, sir?”
Unlike the two lost in the luxurious special room’s scenery, Heila asked Adel in her usual guarded tone.
“Nah. Nothing.”
“Is it because of that guy we met earlier? Your eyes looked different when you saw him, Lord Adel.”
“Heh, very different. An idol handpicked by the Ivory Tower’s genius. Adel, you nailed it.”
“……Cut the nonsense and get some sleep.”
Adel pressed his forehead with a sigh, as if nursing a headache.
And he had good reason. The Juwan Regian he remembered was worlds apart from this one.
Who’d have thought the guy was naturally this upbeat? He was always indifferent to others, walls up around himself.
What had changed his personality? Pinpointing the cause wasn’t easy. In his previous life, he hadn’t met Juwan until years later. Guessing what happened in the interim was a crapshoot.
But a genius under the Ivory Tower’s wing wouldn’t shift like that without something major... Meaning it’s probably an internal Magic Society incident.
That blank expression and emotional barricade stemmed from disillusionment with people themselves.
“Hmmm.”
Adel scanned the cabin, letting out a low sigh.
“Where’s that kid headed, I wonder...”
“Isn’t he one of the academy students?”
“No way the Ivory Tower’s genius rides with the plebs. Probably boarded as a chaperone for the students... Different destination.”
“I see.”
“How many students on this train?”
“Judging by the cabins we passed getting here... Around a hundred, give or take.”
“A hundred? Whoa... mages? What’s the deal? Does the academy churn out that many graduates?”
Kasla asked idly while poking around the room.
“A lot...”
A chill ran down his spine—
“No. It can’t.”
In that instant, a memory surfaced.
“They’re not all graduates.”
It might seem trivial—just students—but this was a mass migration of over a hundred mages.
“Gotta check it out. Whatever’s up, the Ivory Tower Master’s got schemes brewing...”
Juwan was likely clueless, at least. To him, his master was an infallible paragon.
The stronger the faith, the uglier the shatter.
Adel was certain Julian Pader was tangled in whatever flipped the kid.
“For now, let’s humor the genius.”
The two stared blankly, not getting it.
Adel quietly pressed a hand to the cabin ceiling. Sparks erupted like hot iron searing flesh, smoke oxidizing in an instant.
“Damn it, we’re toast. If Master finds out, our heads are gone.”
“He specially booked the special room for Juwan’s mana cultivation... And we handed it to desert scum.”
“Why’d you pull that stunt, Donnes?”
“Stunt? You lot egged me on at the station to mess with ’em. Master’s wrath the issue now? See my finger? It’s gone!”
“Not gone. Still attached, ain’t it?”
“Yeah. Juwan’s the one who found it. You owe him an apology.”
Whispers buzzed. Sitting with Juwan—forced to forfeit the special room because of their screw-up—felt like needles in the ass.
“Apologize? If I had his power, I wouldn’t have folded.”
Donnes snorted.
“So you’re really doing it?”
“Damn right. That bastard cut my finger? ...Just watch. He won’t see sunrise.”
He bared his teeth, flashing the bandage-wrapped hand.
“……!!”
That’s when it happened. Juwan—eyes shut, arms crossed—snapped them open.
The students flinched involuntarily.
As expected. My hunch was spot on. Picking up my surveillance spell...
But he ignored their chatter, smirking faintly at the shift in the special room he’d just vacated.
Concealment magic plus a barrier? Takes at least 5-class to detect...
He clenched his fist with conviction.
Ruinxen’s overlord swapped, Cratel’s slaves freed. Continent-shaking events, yet eerily quiet. War kept the Nine Kingdoms’ nobles too busy for slave drama.
The Magic Society, though? They noticed. Mages knew it was Shan’s lair.
Detecting Shan’s death, Ivory Tower’s Julian Pader and Spirit Formation’s Hanna Kran rushed a mage summit.
Verdict: Possible only because liberator Karono was a Walden dragon-slayer bastard.
Sorry, Master, but you blew it this time.
They quietly probed Karono—rivaling the Walden king for recruitment. Dragon-slayer power was that tempting.
But Juwan alone tied the liberation to Ruinxen.
Desert folk wield divine power.
And now? Magic confirmed—shattered his detection spell.
Locked in. Unprecedented: 5-class+ magic andGod's Blessing.
Juwan’s face lit with curiosity.
How many my age hit this level?
Genius spots genius, sure—but Juwan sensed more than talent.
Maybe... the one I’ve dreamed of.
His dream? Find a true king to make his dream real.
Why he boarded this train.
He’d eyed candidates before. None stuck.
He drew a sealed parchment from his robes.
Master recommended Azal’s Prince Karon Azal, wrote an intro...
Irony: That chance encounter kept pulling his gaze.
Ugh, curiosity’s killing me.
Students gawked as the perpetually bored slacker hummed a tune.
“Wanna know more about him...”
Rash moves risked backlash. That finger chop? Real as hell.
But even that struck Juwan as cool—the king from his fantasies.
“Assemble the vassals. Time they learned touching nobles has consequences.”
“Hmmm...”
That’s when Donnes caught his eye.
Five... no, six.
Presence-concealment skills? Laughably sloppy. No Silence spell, no stealth steps. Just tiptoeing—anyone here would clock it.
Not mages. Escorts for those brats, probably.
Tons of noble spawn among trainees, chasing Ivory Tower favor. Bringing one or two guards? Standard.
But they were no match for anyone here. Adel included.
“Adel.”
Kasla whispered his name. Eyes closed, he slowly opened them and nodded.
No need for him to stir.
She silently drew her dagger.
Click.
Door cracked—she yanked the handle.
“Gah?!”
The guy pulling from outside tumbled right in.
“Who’re you trash?”
Kasla loomed over the sprawled man.
Stab!
No waiting for answers—dagger plunged into his armor’s gap.
“Argh... Mmph! Mmph!!”
No full scream. Harun was already there, clamping his mouth.
“Warnings over. Anyone rushes now gets their throat slit. Don’t wanna die for discarded heirs, right?”
“……”
Silence beyond the door, but trembling vibes leaked through. Families sent expendable kids for Ivory Tower perks—no heirs among ’em.
Their quiet? Answer enough.
“Sent by the fingerless moron? Or the hotshot Ivory Tower genius?”
Adel twisted the blade in the man’s shoulder.
“Ummph!! Mmph!!!!”
Body quaking—first time feeling this hurt.
“Y’know, Gal Black Crow daggers are poisoned.”
“……!!!”
Eyes bulged; struggles intensified.
“If you’re brain-dead enough to charge the White Ghost’s son—despite that idiot looking the part...”
Adel glanced up.
“Feels off. Like it’s the genius’s brainchild.”
Shimmer.
Concealment spell shattered.
“N-not me!!”
Juwan—cowering behind robes—flailed in panic, yelling denial.
“Bullshit. ‘Sorry’ my ass, then backstab? Thought hot water softened me? Want me to slice that scrawny wrist and dunk it?”
Crack!
Kasla materialized behind, wrenching his arm.
“Gaaaaah!!!”
First agony of his life. Juwan stomped, fighting tears.
“S-sorr... y...”
Cheek squished, words slurred out.
The future archmage who’d rock the world? Still a wide-eyed fledgling.
Eh, this side’s kinda fun too...
“What do you want?”
“J-just... wanted to see you fight, Lord Adel.”
“Me fighting? Why?”
“Thought you might be the one I’ve been waiting for.”
Juwan barely freed his cheek, craning his head to shout.
“Divine power and mana—equivalent exchange! Gain one, lose the other. Academic canon!! So I shunned gods for perfect mana.”
True to form, past-life Juwan contracted zero deities.
“But... you just blew my mind. How could I not be curious?!”
Voice quivering.
“Erasing the line between sword and sorcery. That’s my utopia. My dream!!”
Then it clicked for Adel.
“……I see.”
Divine and mana wielder? Wasn’t me.
Explained why he’d obeyed Karon Azal’s order to kill him back then.
Karon Azal: High god contractor, uniquely wielding mana via guardian dragon Qunzel.
Now I get why he mesmerized you. And...
“By any chance... you headed to the Azal Kingdom?”
Adel cracked a wry smile.
“How’d you know?”
Now it was time to steal him.