The Tower Master Vanishes—Ask the Man Himself
Mage Tower, Crystal Hall. All mages of senior rank and above had swiftly assembled. And of course, that included me, the chief mage.
Not only that, but as the first witness, I was standing at the podium in the Crystal Hall. Even in this situation, my neck and back were rigidly straight. Thanks to that posture, I could take in the gathered faces at a glance. Most of them looked utterly dumbfounded.
I could hear Bensy and Banggrit whispering.
“What’s going on here, Senior Banggrit?”
“Haven’t you heard?”
“No, things have been so hectic…”
“And what’s that paper you’re holding?”
“Oh, this? Ahem, it’s nothing.”
What else could it be but the tower exit application I’d rejected? From the looks of things, Bensy seemed to be the only one oblivious to the gravity of the situation. Of course, that didn’t mean everyone else had to be scowling in grim seriousness.
‘Most of them have no real connection to the Tower Master anyway.’
Even senior mages who’d faced the elder mages could be counted on one hand. How many could have actually met the Tower Master, who was even rarer?
Of course, the few who had… were already wearing deeply troubled expressions. Marcelo especially needed no further explanation.
“The Tower Master has gone missing.”
Marcelo spoke from his seat.
“The first to discover the scene was Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol.”
That was absolutely correct. Which was why I was standing so rigidly at the podium. Yugweed caught Marcelo’s eye and picked up where he left off.
“And I was the one who found that chief mage in such a state.”
That was true too. I gave a light nod, and someone piped up.
“Well, that’s a silver lining! Of all people, it had to be Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol who found it first. He must’ve spotted some tiny clue, right?”
…Was that guy mocking me? The bold remark came from Bensy. Was this his revenge for the rejected exit application? His obliviousness was shocking enough that I’d let it slide. Truth be told, what baffled me more was my own stubbornness.
All eyes focused on me—they clearly thought I knew the Tower Master’s whereabouts. And sure, I had a hunch. Clearer than any clue, the quest objective was floating right in front of my eyes.
Thwart the Grand Archmages' Conspiracy
● Confront the Tower Master's body. (Failed)
● Slay the rampaging Tower Master's body. (In Progress)
…Yeah, I figured it couldn’t be that straightforward! He’d clearly separated his body and consciousness. So how had the Tower Master’s body twitched its fingers? I’d been uneasy ever since that question arose.
The sequence of events matched the quest objectives exactly. The Tower Master’s body, floating in the mana sphere, went berserk. It shattered the sphere and fled the Mage Tower, leaving its consciousness behind in the pointed hat. We didn’t know where the body had gone, but one thing was certain.
● Slay the rampaging Tower Master’s body. (In Progress)
It wouldn’t be friendly, that much was sure. Despite such concrete circumstances and a solid alibi, my stubbornness—no, Grandfell’s stubbornness—was the issue.
“No clues remained on the Mage Tower’s top floor.”
Well, that wasn’t wrong. The clues were in my quest window, not up there. But still.
‘There’s that saying about repaying a thousand nyang with words, so why…’
I always invited the rod with my mouth. Why did Grandfell only pick the words that would bite me later?
“Ahh…”
Bensy flinched at my firm declaration. Banggrit spoke up in his place.
“Then do you have any leads on the Tower Master’s whereabouts…?”
My response to that was even more outrageous.
“I shall not answer.”
“……!!!”
In my defense, it wasn’t mere stubbornness. It was pride that compelled me to honor every word I uttered. Yes, I had clearly told the Tower Master that.
—“This matter shall remain confidential for the time being.”
But even if it was confidential, come on.
‘Silence means consent, as they say.’
Couldn’t I have worded it a little more vaguely?! The atmosphere in the Crystal Hall shifted subtly at my brazen declaration. Yugweed spoke up.
“Then may we at least ask why you went to the Mage Tower’s top floor? The chief mage has free access to the top floor, but you’ve never gone there under normal circumstances, have you?”
Why? Obviously for the quest. But it had originated from the Tower Master himself. Depending on what I’d said, I had no choice but to stay silent to her question too.
My response was consistent once more.
“I shall not answer.”
Seriously, this mouth was a terror all its own. I was acting this suspicious, practically advertising my right to silence. Yet the gazes directed at me didn’t turn to suspicion.
‘This reaction is kinda touching.’
Of course, it didn’t mean I was off the hook entirely. Marcelo, who had been hanging his head, lifted his gaze toward me. His eyes, unmistakably hollow, fixed on mine.
“…I believe there must be unavoidable circumstances compelling you to say so. But please, just this once, won’t you consider my feelings?”
I’ll say it again. Mages on the Arcana Continent—and especially those of the Mage Tower—are no saints. You’ve heard the anecdotes proving it, from distant rumors to Jessica’s firsthand accounts.
‘They blew away an entire area just because it was in the way.’
Yet these mages were trying to understand the blatantly suspicious me. I hadn’t wanted to feel it this way, but the change in the Mage Tower was palpable. However.
“Regrettably, Marcelo, Chief Mage.”
“…My lord?”
“Even so, I cannot accede to your request.”
I was refusing to answer, even at the cost of needless suspicion, all for Marcelo’s sake. Yes, I didn’t want him to be disappointed.
‘The Tower Master he’s been desperately waiting for is already dead.’
The moment his body and consciousness separated, the Tower Master was as good as gone. Otherwise, he couldn’t have passed the Grand Archmage class to Jessie. That was why I hadn’t panicked.
‘This must be part of the Tower Master’s plan too.’
I still didn’t know the full scheme, but according to the quest objective, it was a plan that required the Tower Master’s own body to perish. So no one else, but especially not Marcelo, could know.
Even if.
“…I understand your will, my lord.”
It meant disappointing me.
…
Bellie glanced at Matis Din Karl, the senior black mage. He simply sat with his eyes closed. It had been mere procedure, not an interrogation. Yet he couldn’t bear to watch Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol on the podium answering questions, even as the first witness.
Truth be told, Bellie felt much the same.
‘…No, everyone here must feel the same.’
Juniors and apprentices might not know, but every senior mage and above gathered here was aware. They knew the burdens Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol—the adventurer—had shouldered for the Mage Tower.
The Mage Tower’s sins. When elder mages like Karimjeva were exposed as demon worshippers, Lee Hoyeol had drawn all the world’s scrutiny and arrows onto himself.
And that wasn’t all. To keep the reeling Mage Tower from total collapse. To advance toward new truths. He had ushered in the winds of change.
‘That’s why they all have those expressions.’
Because it was that Lee Hoyeol. Everyone here trusted him. Even as he offered no answers about the Tower Master’s disappearance. They believed he had unavoidable reasons.
“No objections to the questioning.”
“No remaining questions on my end.”
“I think it’s time to wrap up, don’t you?”
Pure mana senior Banggrit Tom. Earth magic senior Maya Dayan. Enchantment senior Kiko Armin. Spirit magic senior Payan Lot…
“I agree.”
Finally, even she and Senior Matis. Rank didn’t matter. Even Elder Yugweed nodded at the seniors’ declarations.
The only one in the Crystal Hall who hadn’t voiced an opinion was Marcelo.
‘Marcelo…’
Bellie knew well what the Tower Master meant to him. She knew too well—sometimes it even made her a little jealous of Marcelo.
‘I know there’s no helping it.’
Bellie thought from Marcelo’s perspective. After the Tower Master showed his first reaction. Less than a day later, he vanished. The first to discover the scene—thankfully, Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol. Marcelo must have felt relieved above all. He’d have thought the chief would surely uncover something from whatever traces the Tower Master left.
But the chief himself had stayed silent. Not “I don’t know,” but a declaration: “I shall not answer.”
‘His heart must be in turmoil.’
Marcelo’s personality—he’d never dare resent the chief, instead blaming himself. But Bellie could guess. Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol’s feelings weren’t so different from Marcelo’s. She was the only one who knew.
‘Chief Mage…’
The real reason he’d entered the Arcana Continent alone. How he’d lifted the Simonard family’s death curse amid millions of swarming demons before returning. She was the only one who’d witnessed him return to the Mage Tower drenched in blood.
‘If that truth came out, Marcelo would…’
He’d surely understand the chief’s heart. But it might plunge Marcelo into even deeper self-recrimination. Besides, hadn’t the chief said it himself?
—“Intense emotional shifts are bad for him.”
Because of that plea, Bellie had never breathed a word of that day’s truth to anyone. But unspoken didn’t make it undone. So Bellie had no doubt.
‘He’ll surely set everything right.’
Bellie watched Hoyeol. His retreating back as he left the Crystal Hall. Suddenly, his words echoed in her mind. Yes, the chief had said it just like that.
—“Living one’s life is swimming through solitude.”
“…Are you shouldering it alone again?”
Bellie murmured softly.
“…How do you bear that weight?”
…
Damn this black history of mine, confusing everyone! Why not just come clean that it’s all the Tower Master’s plan, that he smashed the mana sphere with his own power and walked out of the Mage Tower? Would the sky fall if I did?
‘Sorry.’
Especially to Marcelo—I had no face to show him. After all he’d done for me! Even if it was for his sake, to think we’d end up with secrets between us.
‘No, why did you have to say unnecessary things…!’
My self-reproach meant nothing to this brazen mouth.
“How willful of you, Tower Master.”
Who’s one to talk, Grandfell?
‘I tried not to say even that…’
I thought I’d die of shame back in the Crystal Hall? Sure, gear is life for players. And the Dawn Set wasn’t much different from my usual suit anyway. Even if I tripped.
Flutter—
But draping this jacket over my shoulders in everyday life? Isn’t that a bit much? The stares felt like they were because of my outfit, giving me a persecution complex.
“I shall hold you formally accountable for this arbitrary action.”
I want to hold you accountable for the embarrassment, Grandfell. But.
That wasn’t the priority now. From here on, like Sword Saint Shegwin. Like the transcendents. I had to slay the former Grand Archmage—the Tower Master.
To be precise, not the Tower Master, but his “body.” In such a grave situation, I calmly intoned—rubbing salt in the Crystal Hall’s wounds, no less.
“Answering Marcelo’s question falls to you, Tower Master. Not I.”
Please. I sincerely hoped those words would hold true this time too. With that wish, I set off.
…
“The worst enemy is coming to you. New boss monster, Tower Master, added. Appearance zone: ‘Earth-wide’.”
That day, humanity realized. What a transcendent of the Arcana Continent truly was.
Hundreds of meteors raining from the sky.
“Mommy!”
“Look, shooting stars are falling everywhere from the sky!”
“Hic… hic… Oh God, please…!!”
In despair, they witnessed it.
“Regrettably.”
As if rewinding a tape.
“I believe neither in gods nor superstitions.”
The swarm of meteors ascending back into the night sky, into space.
“Yet if you were wishing upon them even so.”
A being of wonder that surpassed even such transcendents.
“I shall make it reality in your stead.”
Flutter!