Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Tower Lord's Guidance
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<116>
“Such an incident in Enricasil this time. Chairman Kalrag must be greatly troubled. …You’re still the chairman, correct?”
“Yes. We held the exam again. I must be the only one in Enricasil’s history to serve as chairman three times.”
Ilya—or rather, Elgana in his guise—wore a peculiar expression as he conversed with Kalrag.
Kalrag had always been a tricky man to deal with. In truth, he hadn’t wanted him as chairman.
He had planned to install someone easier to manipulate and work from the shadows, but it had been smoothed over by the intervention of Lucas, who was crown prince at the time.
However, it was time to wrap up operations concerning Enricasil. That was why he had deployed the fake Leonard to gauge Kalrag’s response.
“What happened to the perpetrator?”
“We tried to interrogate him internally, but he took his own life. Sir Leonard also submitted leave to the Imperial Knights, and there’s been no word since.”
He had heard that the Imperial Special Forces had begun investigating Leonard.
Even so, it wouldn’t lead anywhere. After all, he was no longer of this world.
“Won’t you return to Enricasil as well, Sir Ilya? Many miss you.”
“Tsk tsk. An old man relegated to the back room would only dampen the mood there.”
“Please don’t say that. With new members joining, don’t you need to get acquainted?”
“You mean Damian Renekht.”
“Yes. He’s the former chairman now. Quite an intriguing fellow.”
“I’ll meet him if the opportunity arises.”
With those words, Kalrag left Ilya’s mansion.
Had he sensed something and come? His purpose for visiting still wasn’t clear.
“Damian. Renekht.”
The man responsible for disrupting Elgana’s plans—the emperor’s illegitimate son.
He had already confronted him once as Dallas’s butler. From their first meeting, he had received a strange impression.
He had definitely concealed his mana thoroughly, yet it felt as if Damian could see right through him.
His skills were far from ordinary as well. Separate from his past actions, his performance in Enricasil had exceeded Elgana’s expectations.
‘Ezekiel’s disciple….’
His background nagged at him too.
“How are the preparations coming along?”
Step. Footsteps echoed from the shadows at Elgana’s words.
A man with sky-blue hair. The mark proving he was a descendant of traitors.
“The Tower Lord Ariella’s sudden visit to the capital is unexpected, but it won’t have any significant impact.”
“Any anomalies from Damian Renekht’s side?”
“Why suddenly ask about the emperor’s illegitimate son?”
“Answer the question. I didn’t permit you to ask questions.”
“My apologies, Lord Elgana. Beyond personal training in the detached palace or strolling the capital with acquaintances, there’s nothing unusual.”
“Assign someone specifically to him as well.”
“…If I may ask, may I inquire as to the reason?”
Elgana furrowed his brow at the man’s question. But the man kept his head bowed, unyielding.
He was loyal to Elgana’s orders for now, but the man had his own agenda.
“There’s a high chance he could become a variable. Ariella might have come to the capital because of her connection to him.”
“Understood. I’ll handle Damian Renekht personally.”
The man vanished back into the shadows. An irritating fellow, but undeniably useful.
“Huuu.”
Elgana swept his face. In that moment, Ilya’s features faded, replaced by Elgana’s true appearance.
The reflection in the mirror looked young enough to pass for Damian’s peer.
It was a side effect of training, just like with Ariella or Ezekiel.
“All for the greater good.”
Elgana clasped his hands in prayer. That much, at least, had never changed from past to present.
* * *
“Huuu….”
Saliba sighed as he gazed at the sky from the detached palace garden. Before him lay a multitude of half-destroyed training dummies.
Damian had offered the use of his underground training hall, but Saliba had refused.
‘Can’t just keep receiving.’
Damian had a clear goal.
He hadn’t shared it with Saliba yet, but giving him this chance was for that purpose.
Saliba had dreams too. He wanted to shed the stigma of being a traitor’s descendant and prove himself.
There were precedents, after all.
Dennis, the guardian of the Magic Tower. He was of the same bloodline as Saliba but had proven himself through his skills.
There might still be whispers behind his back, but no one dared mention his origins to his face.
That was the position of the Magic Tower’s guardian.
‘Feels like I’m just going in circles.’
After meeting Damian, he had read various magic books and trained on his own. But the results weren’t what he wanted.
Damian, who had seemed godlike at their first meeting, had grown beyond comparison since then.
‘But what did Brother Damian see in me?’
In Byzantium, Damian had clearly known of him and approached deliberately.
He was somewhat known in the back alleys, but not enough to catch the eye of the emperor’s illegitimate son.
He had only used a few spells picked up here and there. And imperfectly at that.
‘And then….’
Damian’s attitude back then still puzzled him upon reflection.
They were strangers, yet Damian had shown him considerable familiarity.
‘Well, not something to dwell on now.’
Not only had he been given a chance, but he also owed Damian his life. He had to repay it somehow.
“Hmm? What’re you pondering so deeply, little one?”
“U, uwah!”
Suddenly, a presence appeared behind him.
Saliba, who had pitched forward, looked up to see a woman with a gentle face gazing down at him.
‘S-strong!’
Her age seemed around that of Damian’s maid, Anna. But the subtle pressure she exuded was incomparable.
Honestly, she seemed stronger than Damian.
“Oh ho. I thought I’d hidden it well, but you sensed it. Not bad senses.”
The beautiful woman’s eyes sparkled as she asked. She had apparently been concealing her power to some degree.
But Saliba had felt her strength with his very skin.
“You were practicing this spell just now, right?”
As the woman opened her palm, five mana bullets formed.
‘Whoa.’
It was on another level from what Saliba had done. The spell’s core was maintaining five bullets in organic linkage, amplifying each other’s power.
Saliba hadn’t managed the linkage properly. As a result, their direction and power deviated from his intent.
Whoosh! Pow pow pow! The five bullets she fired slammed into the ruined dummies.
It wasn’t just the targets vanishing. The ground where they stood cratered deeply.
That power had been considerably restrained too. That was key. Her spell delivered exactly the firepower he desired.
“Now, try again.”
“Huh?”
“You watched closely. Seeing that much should be enough. Believe in yourself.”
The woman had somehow drawn close behind him and overlapped her hand with his, extending it forward. Her skin was soft, and a pleasant fragrance wafted.
‘Calm down, calm down.’
Even during lessons in the detached palace, Saliba had suffered plenty from contact with female servants like Anna.
As a vigorous young boy, women’s touch set his body on edge.
“Go slowly. If there’s a problem, I’ll adjust it for you.”
“Y-yes.”
“Hehe. Personally, I prefer this method over just demonstrating. Though everyone takes to it differently, you seem like you’ll manage.”
Rumble. Saliba condensed mana, forming five bullets once more.
Perhaps because he had seen her spell, the stability was incomparable to before.
‘Just a bit more….’
Naturally, ambition stirred. He wanted to master this spell. To prove it before Damian.
“Uwaa! Wait, wait, wait!”
The linkage grew unstable again. Saliba had forgotten the basics.
Whether magic or aura, the most crucial aspect of mana operation was concentration. No stray thoughts allowed.
“It’s fine. Focus again.”
At that moment, the woman’s mana interfered with Saliba’s spell, restoring the bullets’ form.
‘Whoa, whoa!’
Saliba could feel the entire process. Thanks to her consideration.
“Now, do it yourself.”
The woman returned the stabilized spell to its original state.
But it didn’t run wild midway. Saliba had replicated exactly what she had done.
“Now, the finale.”
Whoosh! Pow pow pow pow! Saliba’s spell shook the ground. Birds in the mountains took flight with frantic flaps at the impact.
“S-success!”
“Well done. Definitely a rough gem worth polishing. Reminds me of old times. Nice.”
“Huh?”
Her words didn’t register for a moment. No, Saliba didn’t even know her name yet.
‘She’s in the detached palace, so a guest of Brother Damian?’
Just then, footsteps approached Saliba and the woman. It was Damian.
“Master. Why are you out here instead of waiting in the drawing room?”
“It’s been ages since I visited the detached palace. Nostalgic, you know.”
As Saliba predicted, she was Damian’s acquaintance.
‘But Master?’
That meant she was a mage of the same caliber as Damian’s teacher.
Who was Damian’s teacher? The famous eccentric Ezekiel. So this woman was…
“No way….”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Saliba. Damian says you’re a talent he’s noticed, so I was curious how exceptional you’d be. Beyond my expectations.”
The woman—no, Tower Lord Ariella—extended her hand to Saliba.
“From today, I’ll be your magic teacher. Secretly, of course.”
Ariella placed a finger to her lips and winked.
“Whaaa.”
Saliba’s legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.
‘…Well, it’s still heading in the direction I wanted.’
Damian could only stick out his tongue at Ariella’s abrupt action.
The moniker of eccentric suited her quite well too.
* * *
Back in the detached palace drawing room. Only Damian and Ariella were inside.
Saliba, tension released, had fallen into a deep sleep as if fainted.
It wasn’t just shock from meeting Ariella. Her teaching method was rather intense.
“Definite talent. Surprised me too. To wield magic like that without proper instruction.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Master.”
“But his mana capacity is richer than expected? Did you do something?”
Thanks to eating the innards of that giant glass snail.
-Ugh. Ugh. H-how long do I have to eat this?
-Sa-li-ba? You’re not planning to leave my lovingly prepared dish unfinished, right?
He had suffered throughout the meal, but the effect was certain.
“Another blue-haired kid, huh… Seems fate keeps linking us.”
Ariella had accepted the request more readily than Damian anticipated. She would stay in the detached palace for a while to teach Saliba.
The issues at the Magic Tower had mostly been resolved, and she had left the rest to Ezekiel.
“A vacation after 20 years, and thanks to you, it’ll be fulfilling.”
However, Damian had one concern. The matter of Elgana.
“Master, do you have plans to visit anywhere besides the palace?”
“No particular plans. If they want to see me, they can come running on their own two feet.”
Even imperial royalty couldn’t command her at will. That was the status of the Tower Lord and Archmage.
‘Better not to get involved in Elgana’s affairs.’
If Ariella clashed with Elgana right now, her victory was assured.
But relying on her aid would hinder turning Elgana into an undead familiar.
Moreover, he needed some distance from Ariella and Ezekiel.
It was unlikely, but like Rubia in his previous life, they might uncover Damian’s secret.
The Ishtar behind the false priest was an issue too, so caution was needed.
They were favorable now, but their attitude toward Damian could change once they knew the truth. He couldn’t guarantee otherwise.
Furthermore.
‘Dependence isn’t good.’
Having powerhouses like Ariella or Ezekiel involved would inevitably lead to leaning on them.
That wasn’t the vengeance Damian sought. If he wanted dependent revenge, he would have accepted Ishtar’s offer long ago.
It was his goal, so he had to be at the center.
Another line Damian had drawn.