Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Judgment (1)
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Finally, the day of the exchange conference presentation had arrived.
The Imperial Magic Tower group had left the outskirts of the Black Tower's territory and completed all their preparations. Now, they were simply streaking toward the spire at the center.
Swaaaaaaaa—!
The journey was terrifyingly fast. They merely had to entrust themselves to the path carved by Zekiel's ice.
Meanwhile, Anes gazed at Zekiel.
"…."
She was just looking at him, yet visions of his past self kept overlapping in her mind.
Was it because the terror she had witnessed felt so vividly real?
"Um, Inspector."
"What."
"Aren't there five imperial princesses in total?"
Zekiel shot back.
"Why do you ask that out of the blue?"
His response wasn't an answer but a question of why she was asking. It meant he had some inkling of something.
"Just curious."
"There are five."
In the past Anes had seen, all five princesses had been saved, but in the end, one had been taken by the Demon King. In other words, there were actually six princesses in total.
"…."
Anes continued to stare at Zekiel.
The current Zekiel was undoubtedly himself, yet he somehow felt like someone else too. The difference from his passionate past self was simply too vast.
"Um, Inspector."
"What."
"Did you... have dreams in the past?"
"…."
Zekiel glanced at Anes.
"What's this? Asking about something outside the mission."
Anes needed a good excuse.
For her, it was quite the challenge. She had never really engaged in small talk before.
"...Isn't the journey rather boring?"
That was the best excuse she could come up with.
"Didn't know you were the type to feel bored."
Zekiel's gaze returned forward.
"Dreams, huh... There were a few times I desperately wanted them."
Anes quietly observed his profile.
"But I lacked the ability to turn those dreams into reality."
What Anes saw were Zekiel's blue eyes.
Blue eyes far more clouded and faded than in the past. Now she understood. It wasn't alcohol or the passage of time—it was regret.
"So... you have no dreams now?"
"Not many."
Zekiel answered flatly.
"Just... wanting to live a bit longer, maybe."
It would sound like an utterly ordinary wish coming from anyone else.
Anes recalled the scene she had witnessed.
—You seem to have an even shorter lifespan now, so we'll likely never cross paths again.
...Now she understood.
How desperately that wish burned for him.
How desperately.
And how urgently.
Anes furrowed her brow without realizing it.
"Have you ever wanted to quit being an inspector?"
"Who knows."
Zekiel remained impassive.
"Quite a few times, actually. It's a hassle."
He now held a sunweed stalk in his mouth instead of a lollipop. With all data collection complete, he no longer needed to hide his identity.
"Still, there are things I can only get by doing this job. That's why I stick with it."
Whoosh—a long exhale of smoke.
Anes now found even that sunweed concerning.
She had wondered about the story behind someone chewing whole stalks of sunweed, which was only used in minute medicinal amounts. But she never imagined it was because of a terminal condition.
Just how poor was his health?
No—how much longer could he hold on?
"Even this pathetic secretary is one of those things."
Zekiel wore a faint smile.
"I told you to signal me the moment things got urgent, but you held out until you were on the verge of death, just leaking nosebleeds. When else am I going to find a secretary this pathetic?"
His gaze finally turned to Anes.
"Right?"
...This was bad.
Anes realized she could no longer view Zekiel with her previous demeanor, no matter what. It was because she now knew what he had endured in the past.
Of course, she didn't know everything, but even this glimpse was overwhelming.
No—perhaps it was fortunate she only knew a part. She lacked the confidence to face it all.
Anes had lived every moment by the manual.
Anything not in the manual was unknown. She had no idea what emotions to feel in this situation, how to act, or what to say.
Should she forget it?
If she could, she would have. But it was impossible now.
Then, should she pity him?
No—did she even have the right?
No one could understand Zekiel's heart. It was a deep emotion, crushed like ash within him, comprehensible only to the one who bore it.
...Still.
Anes made her decision.
"Inspector."
She wanted to help Zekiel.
Not because of the manual, but from deep within her heart.
"Will you stay in the inspector role until you obtain everything you can only get from this job?"
"Who knows."
Zekiel murmured.
To Anes, his answer strangely sounded like he couldn't guarantee a single thing in his own life.
"Well, probably."
"In that case... ."
Anes seized on his words.
"If I faithfully perform my role as your secretary, will it help you obtain those things?"
"You're acting awfully out of character today."
He chomped on the sunweed as he faced her.
And the smile he casually flashed.
"Saying something praiseworthy."
It made Anes waver slightly.
"…."
She unwittingly turned her head away.
Facing Zekiel's smile was too hard.
How much courage must a person, scarred so deeply, need just to smile once? At least, she couldn't comprehend it.
"Anes, just do whatever you want."
On the way to the Black Tower.
Various pieces clicked together in Anes's mind.
Suddenly, she recalled his tremendous display of skill at the Magic Tower.
Anes, who believed most people could be manualized, yet this man refused to fit into any category. The ever-unpredictable magician.
His talent was too immense to call it mere coincidence, and his abilities and capabilities handled near-impossible feats with ease.
Now that she knew his past, it all made sense.
Suddenly, she remembered their first encounter.
His drunken, wastrel-like appearance, not yet fully sober.
When everything had crumbled and no hope remained. Alcohol must have been the only companion worth having. Surviving at all was a miracle.
Even that demeanor now made sense.
"What I want... ."
Anes murmured the words again.
A man who had never touched what he truly desired was advising her to do whatever she wanted. Could there be a more painful irony?
"Oh! I see the spire!"
Teder shouted, pointing with his index finger.
Only then did Anes lift her head.
The spire was visible.
The heart of the Black Tower had finally revealed itself.
"What I want."
Now, she thought she knew.
A decent job, a decent life. Anes had thought mere normalcy would be satisfying. She had never aspired to anything grandiose.
Yes, so she had no grand goals either.
But now.
For the first time, she felt she had one.
Anes chose her words with utmost care.
"Let's just smash the Black Tower to pieces."
Assisting so this mission succeeded.
For now, that was what Anes desired.
"What, you can say something that rough too?"
Fortunately, Zekiel laughed.
Ten minutes before the presentation began.
Hedera began preparing to observe the conference.
She was participating solely as an observer. The exchange conference was a world for magicians only—a tradition even a princess couldn't easily break.
Hedera had no intention of breaking it either. Though she held the title of Magic Tower Lord, it was true she had only provided financial support to the tower.
"Please sit here."
The usher guided Hedera to a VIP reserved seat. From this dizzying height, she could overlook the conference hall below.
"Good work. You may go."
Hedera quietly dismissed her attendant.
Below was the circular conference hall.
More akin to an arena than a meeting room, with thick spectator seating surrounding the central area where key figures would deliberate.
The seats were packed tight. Not even standing room left.
"…."
But the layout didn't matter.
Nor did the number of spectators.
What caught Hedera's attention was.
'...Only the Imperial Magic Tower is missing.'
All the executives from the other towers had filled their seats in the conference room, yet the Imperial Tower's spot remained empty.
—Presentation begins in 5 minutes.
—Representatives from each Magic Tower, please gather at the center.
Hedera took a quiet deep breath.
Believing Zekiel would surely pull it off.
...And to hear his answer after the exchange conference ended.
