Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: No Time for a Mana Barrier
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There was no time to deploy a mana barrier.
If Agnes had drawn her sword instead of using a hand chop, Kell's head would have hit the floor.
“Pleased to meet you. I'm Agnes Schubert.”
Agnes said as she stepped back.
“Haa, haa, haa…”
Only then did the tension drain from Kell, and he rubbed his neck while catching his breath.
He'd heard the name before.
The woman whose father was murdered by a bastard son, and who was betrothed to that bastard by her power-hungry uncle.
Even so, she was a knight with a promising future. She was famous enough to be known even in the Magic Tower.
“How…”
But he couldn't understand how she'd pinpointed his real body in an instant.
She had no knowledge of magic, so it must have been pure instinct. But did that even make sense probabilistically?
It was an ability closer to that of a beast than a human.
“Such barbarism…”
Lena spat, rolling her eyes. A knight had barged into a dispute between mages.
“Yes, unlike you esteemed mages here, I'm an ignorant woman who only knows the sword.”
Agnes replied softly, her hand brushing the hilt of her blade—as if she could draw it at any moment.
“As such, this is the only way I know how to respond to insults. Sir Damian is my fiancé. Insulting him is the same as insulting me.”
“Enough nonsense. This is the Magic Tower. Your actions as a guest have clearly crossed the line. We will formally… Ah. No need for that, I suppose.”
The gazes of the crowd that had gathered amid the commotion turned upward.
A man in uniform stood in the sky above the Magic Tower.
The mages didn't react much, but Agnes and the other external guests flinched reflexively.
It was because of the man's sky-blue hair.
“What's all the noise?”
The worst criminal in the Empire. The bloodline of a traitor whose name had been erased.
That cursed hair color couldn't be hidden by any magic.
But this was the Magic Tower. Skill mattered more than status here.
Moreover, the uniform he wore was no ordinary one.
It was the attire of the Guardians, who enforced the Tower's discipline.
They were trained to suppress other mages in emergencies, specialized in anti-mage combat more than any organization in the Empire.
“Guardian Dennis. Arrest this one. He threatened a mage with aura.”
“No. That's not what happened.”
Dennis landed between Lena and Agnes. Damian strode forward toward him.
“I didn't use aura. So you could say there was no intent to fight.”
“What nonsense… Everyone here saw it.”
Max chimed in on behalf of Kell, who still hadn't recovered. The onlookers nodded in agreement.
Agnes's movements just now were hard to attribute to pure physical strength. She must have enhanced her body with mana.
Yet Damian's expression was confident. Agnes responded with a gentle smile.
“I understand you're defending your fiancée, but you need to make sense… Hup!”
No more explanation was needed. Damian stepped toward Max and swung his hand upward from below.
“It is possible. No one just does it.”
Max's hair floated up once before falling back down.
He didn't collapse like Kell, but a bead of cold sweat trickled along his jawline.
The same power Agnes had shown. But Damian couldn't use aura.
Sure, he was well-built and strong, but the movement he'd just displayed was beyond normal limits.
“With my clone gone, proving my skills will have to wait. I don't know when that tradition started, though.”
As he spoke, he lightly gripped Max's shoulder. A soft motion showing no sign of attack.
“Gaaah!!”
Max screamed in response, hunching over as if something unforgivable had been done to him, and slumped beside Kell.
“What? What?”
“Why's he like that? Was that magic too?”
This time, all the onlookers looked puzzled. It had been such a soft motion, with no sign of attack.
“Useless…”
Lena's expression was the most telling.
It mixed irritation at Max's embarrassing display with envy that Damian's hand had touched him.
‘He doesn't have the skill to realize what happened.’
Damian had used black magic—Absorption—the instant his hand made contact.
The sensation of mana being drained was indescribably bizarre. That's what made Max collapse.
“Everyone, stop! Stay still.”
With a sharp command, blue light flickered in Dennis's eyes.
He scanned the surroundings briefly, and even his ever-calm face showed surprise.
“…It's true. No signs of aura use afterward. On both of you. So I'll let it slide.”
Dennis stated plainly what he'd observed and dispersed the crowd.
“This is outrageous!”
But the trio couldn't accept the result.
“A mage of the Tower was threatened. As a Guardian, shouldn't you do something?”
“Exactly. At the very least, that woman needs to be expelled from the Tower, guest of Ezekiel or not.”
“Kell. Max. Lena.”
Dennis's gaze fixed on them steadily. The trio, mid-rant, froze.
“There've been a lot of rumors about you three lately. But the Magic Tower values mages' freedom above all. That's why I'm leaving it alone for now.”
Dennis didn't infuse his voice with mana.
Yet the air around them seemed to freeze. It was the peculiar aura only he possessed.
“The regular evaluations are coming up soon. Are you prepared? I wonder if you have time to waste out here.”
At the veiled threat, the three averted their eyes. They eventually gave Dennis a curt bow and brushed past Damian and Agnes.
“This…”
As she passed, Lena slipped a note into Damian's hand. A quick glance showed it was her address.
‘Crazy bitch.’
Damian immediately incinerated it with Hellfire.
“Pleased to meet you. I'm Guardian Dennis. Welcome to the Magic Tower.”
Dennis bowed lightly. As head of the Tower's enforcers, he showed minimal courtesy to a member of the imperial family.
“But didn't Sir Ezekiel give you any prior warning?”
“He only told me to behave. I'd say this isn't bad.”
“What magic did you use at the end?”
Absorption had been used very briefly. It would be hard for most to detect. The title of Guardian was well-earned.
“I'd prefer not to meet you again over something complicated. Sir Ezekiel can be difficult.”
Just as the incident seemed resolved, Dennis asked about the southern events.
“Rumor has it you got involved with my kin… Sympathy?”
Thorns laced Dennis's words.
He probably hadn't had an easy path to becoming a Guardian either.
So it was natural he'd be sensitive about his family's issues.
“Don't associate with those sorts. It'll only bring you trouble.”
With that, Dennis turned fully away. Soon his figure faded into blur.
“Why is he angry at you, Sir Damian? If you helped his family, shouldn't he be grateful?”
“The descendants of traitors don't get along.”
If anything, they were on bad terms. Weaklings banded together only to prey on other weaklings.
‘His personality hasn't changed.’
Guardian Dennis.
During the civil war, he'd sided with the orthodox faction and was exiled from the Tower for it.
Damian had clashed with him multiple times while operating as a guerrilla. Dennis had always targeted Sariba specifically. He didn't know why.
‘That incident hasn't happened yet, so there's room to maneuver.’
The massive incident that would shake the Tower a few years later.
In its aftermath, the internal dynamics would shift dramatically, and Dennis would side with the orthodox faction then.
If he could twist that incident somehow, he could weaken the orthodox faction.
As a mage combat specialist, Dennis was one of the few in that faction who could challenge Rubia.
‘No need to pull him to my side, though.’
As long as he remained a Tower Guardian, he'd never be Damian's enemy.
“Did I overstep? It feels like things escalated because of me…”
Agnes asked, twirling her hair.
“No. If anything, I'm grateful.”
“G-Good.”
Dealing with those three was easy, but Agnes had helped regardless.
Moreover, this incident indirectly showed how much she'd grown.
He had no exact memory, but she was incomparable to the Agnes from this time in his previous life.
Damian's presence—and the experiences tied to him—had been great fertilizer for her.
With her innate aura and Sword Dance layered on that foundation, she'd reach even greater heights.
“Then let's head back in. Uh…”
Suddenly, Agnes's steps halted. Her gaze followed the cage carrying the chimera.
Her true purpose in coming to the Magic Tower. To find the mage who turned her half-brother—the traitor Alex—into a chimera.
She wanted to charge after it right then, but couldn't open her mouth. She hadn't told Damian yet.
“You can't enter where we're heading next as a guest. How about we split up here and meet at the mansion later?”
“If Sir Damian says so, then I'll follow.”
Agnes masked her brightening expression as she spoke.
It would be odd to look happy while parting ways.
‘No major issues should arise.’
As Ezekiel's guest, even the life magic researchers would respond diligently.
Those three were the weird ones; Tower mages were generally courteous to outsiders.
Magic research was a money pit, and Tower funding alone couldn't cover it.
“Then see you later.”
Agnes headed after the chimera. Damian turned toward his destination.
There was much to do in the Magic Tower.
Damian moved to handle two tasks at once.
The Great Library.
Where magic books from across the Empire and papers published by the Tower were gathered.
The only things absent would be the secret tomes of great magical houses.
‘The Tower emphasizes sharing.’
For magic to advance, it shouldn't be monopolized by individuals or families—it must be open to all.
Thus, Tower-affiliated mages were obligated to periodically compile and publish their research.
“Damian Renekht. Entry permitted.”
The golem guard at the main entrance verified his identity and opened the door.
Inside, the fragrance wafting from countless books tickled his nose.
Temperature and humidity were perfectly maintained for the books, making it cooler than outside.
“…He's here.”
“It's really him.”
“Wow… First time seeing his face and being shocked.”
As he entered, mages' gazes turned his way. But they soon returned to their work.
Separate from Damian's fame, their own research held greater value.
[Welcome to the Great Library, Damian Renekht. I am the artificial personality managing this place. Feel free to call me the Librarian.]
The voice came not to his ears, but directly into his mind. As part of the Magic Tower, the Great Library was one massive magic artifact.
[I will now explain how to use the facilities.]
As the Librarian explained, a small crystal orb floated over. A magic tool for searching the Library's materials.
Bzzz. Touching it brought up a translucent keyboard. Damian entered one name.
Rubia de Clarent.
The woman he loathed. But her magical achievements were real. He'd use them for his own power.
‘Quite a lot.’
Dozens of papers appeared via the orb.
Rubia had entered the Tower three years ago. She'd produced in that short time what normal mages wrote in ten years.
Two were what he needed.
[Michelle's Thoughts on Subspace Pouches]
[Current State of Alchemy and Reflections on New Material Research]
They wouldn't have the answers at Damian's desired level, but they'd serve as groundwork.
Damian was a black mage. He couldn't use this research normally. So he needed another approach.
The printing area for papers was on the second floor. Damian skimmed one while leaning on the stair railing.
‘More complex than expected.’
He might need to ask Ezekiel for help.
Even if only nominally master and disciple, he'd hardly refuse a request.
‘Could ask Rubia directly, but…’
She'd probably abandon her current research and cling to him.
She'd kept sending letters even while he was at the Tower.
But that wasn't worth considering.
Being in the Tower meant some entanglement with her was inevitable, but no reason for him to approach first.
‘Using Xenon? Or acquire another spirit specialized in that area…’
As he organized his thoughts and headed back to the first floor.
“Ugh, aaagh!!”
He bumped into a man. Skinny as he was, the man tumbled backward.
“S-Sorry!”
Unsure if he recognized Damian, the man bowed repeatedly.
Hunched over, staring at the floor as he walked—like a frightened animal.
“Wait. Stop.”
“Y-Yes!? Me?”
A flash of memory hit Damian. He hadn't seen the face clearly, so it didn't come immediately.
But the emblem on the robe—he remembered it perfectly.
‘A tree with roots toward the sky.’
One of the top priorities for Damian in the Magic Tower.
“Dillon. Dillon Falko, right?”
“Y-You know me?”
Of course he did.
The next Tower Lord candidate.