Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Architect's Guild Incident
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North of Giam Island.
Today, torrential rain poured down instead of sunlight.
A two-meter-tall tombstone stood against the fierce downpour.
Drenched by the pouring rain, Wang-sik looked at the tombstone.
—In memory of my friends.
Below the simple inscription were over two hundred names. Names that Wang-sik had carved himself.
"I'll be back."
He said his farewells, knowing they couldn't hear him.
It was a vow to remain unshaken.
Since a gate had already been completed in Azelan, he was able to reach the vicinity of Magit with two simple transfers.
After passing through the castle gates without difficulty and arriving at the Mirje Trading Company, Oh Min-jae explained the plan he had organized.
"Welcome, Villain."
Aisi, who was beside them, greeted him and then excused herself.
"Did you find anything out?"
"It's true the knowledge was released. But there's a rather unusual story behind it."
While Wang-sik was moving his friends' remains, Oh Min-jae had returned to the trading company three days earlier.
He had been looking into the dungeon gates during that time and had surprisingly managed to gather information quite easily.
"It happened because the Architect's Guild rebelled against the Magic Tower."
"What?"
"When the Magic Tower tried to use its power to monopolize the new technology, the Architect's Alliance just released the knowledge to the public. It turned into a power struggle."
"And we ended up in a crisis because of the fallout? That feels rotten."
Oh Min-jae continued, his expression bitter.
"The Architect's Alliance had been working like a subcontractor for the Magic Tower for a while. Other gate organizations were strongly opposed to it, and the whole thing blew up with this new technology dispute."
"So the Magic Tower's greed brought this upon themselves."
"That's part of it, but the other gate organizations have also grown stronger. Gate investors were very dissatisfied with the Magic Tower's methods, so the support they've been giving to other groups for a long time is finally paying off. The standards of the other organizations have risen considerably."
The Magic Tower still hadn't disclosed its gate technology.
Naturally, for the distribution of results, they had no choice but to trust the Magic Tower's announcements.
The gate industry already operated at a significant loss, and investors frequently lost money without even being able to protest.
This was also why the Black Magician's Alliance was able to create an S-rank gate using the new technology, and this lack of transparency was why investors had turned their attention to other organizations.
"So the Magic Tower wasn't the one behind this incident."
"Right. And now, the golden age of architects has begun. They're profiting immensely from dungeon-type gates."
"So they see this as their chance to break free from the Magic Tower..."
"Exactly. Not just them, but the gate construction organizations are also waging a war-like recruitment battle to hire them."
It was unpleasant that Earth had suffered because of them, but the internal situation in Azelan presented an opportunity.
"Good. The target is clear now."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I'll eliminate the architects."
Oh Min-jae fell into thought for a moment after hearing Wang-sik's plan.
"Are you going to frame the Magic Tower for it?"
"Of course. It'll paint quite a nice picture."
"True. Even if we fail to incite internal conflict, eliminating the architects will make Earth that much safer."
The core of the current situation was the architects.
"I'll have to do this without the Thieves' Guild's help."
"I'll find out as much as I can."
"No need to be too aggressive. The first step will be easy."
Wang-sik immediately began his preparations.
The Architect's Guild was going through the busiest period in its history.
Though, to be fair, that history was only seven years long.
In any case, never in its seven-year history had it received so much attention.
The two receptionists were on the verge of screaming from the constant flood of clients.
For them, who were used to occasionally serving tea to visitors, this hectic daily routine was not easy to adapt to.
"Are you saying I have to wait two months?"
"I'm afraid so. All the architects affiliated with the guild are fully booked."
"But didn't you say there were seventy architects?"
"That's correct. And all of their schedules are full."
A merchant from the east, who had rushed here with high hopes of opening a gate, had no choice but to deliberate.
He had originally planned to open a regular gate. It was his last resort as his trading company was facing difficulties. But he had hurried here after hearing that dungeon-type gates were generating huge profits, only to find himself in this situation.
"Please make a decision quickly. There are many people waiting."
Twenty people were lined up behind him.
"Then at least put me on the waiting list."
"Is it for a magic-grade?"
"Yes."
"Then please write down your address here, and we will contact you shortly. We can coordinate the details then."
"So I just have to wait two months, right?"
"I can't give you a definite answer. Gate construction doesn't always proceed exactly on schedule. We will contact you first. Next!"
The receptionist called the next person as if their business was concluded.
Even as the tiresome registration process continued, the line of people grew longer.
But then, a figure appeared, ignoring the line and approaching the desk.
The person, who had alighted from a lavish carriage, walked past the line, yet no one dared to complain.
Count Remit.
The lord of the city of Loren, where the Architect's Guild was located, had arrived.
Even the receptionist, who had been acting unfriendly with a tired expression, shot up from her seat when Count Remit appeared.
"My lord, you've arrived?"
"I'm here to see the Guild Leader."
He was in his late fifties with a dignified air, but his past actions revealed he was by no means a benevolent man.
The man who had reduced the mid-sized eastern city of Loren to a small town.
That man, known as the worst lord in Loren's history, was Count Remit. He was someone who should have been driven out long ago, but he was barely holding on because of his family's deep-rooted history.
It was only possible because he had always secured his own interests, even as the city fell to ruin.
"I will guide you."
The receptionist put all her work aside and led the count to the Guild Leader.
The Guild Leader greeted the count's visit with a superficial smile and a bow. However, he did not appear servile like others.
His slightly bowed back was stiff, and when he raised his head again, his smile had been replaced by a blank expression.
"Still busy, I see. To summon me here."
"As you can see, we're so inundated with work it could be called an emergency."
Gail, the Guild Leader of the Architect's Guild.
He was one of the most renowned architects in the empire. It was because of him that the scattered architects had been able to gather into a guild, but the position of Guild Leader had ironically become a restraint on his actions.
This was because the Architect's Guild itself had been under a great deal of pressure.
"But you seem to have some free time, don't you? Enough to be holding down the fort here."
"I just arrived after assisting Count Dimeto until yesterday."
At the mention of Count Dimeto, Remit's expression hardened.
Count Dimeto had been called Remit's rival until recently, but he was now a man who enjoyed the emperor's favor. Moreover, rumors were circulating that he would soon be promoted to marquis.
"Do you intend to mock me in my own land?"
"This is His Majesty the Emperor's land. It is not your personal property, my lord."
The Guild Leader did not hide his long-held grievances.
Due to the exploitative taxes demanded of them, the Architect's Guild had tried to relocate several times.
However, because Remit was a figure with deep ties to the Magic Tower, they had been unable to escape the pressure.
In fact, just before they were about to execute their plan, a high-ranking mage from the Magic Tower had visited and thwarted it.
'This slave-like existence is finally over.'
This recent incident had changed the Architect's Guild.
More than five cities were now offering to host the Architect's Guild.
They were in a position where they had nothing to lose.
"Please, have a seat. I've been working too much lately, so I'm quite tired."
While the lord was still standing, the Guild Leader sat down first.
"How dare you..."
Remit trembled with rage.
At that same moment.
The atmosphere had become unsettled by the lord's appearance, and the line had grown even longer.
As the small interior filled with people, the line extended outside.
Just then, a bird flew over the heads of the people waiting outside with bored expressions.
*Screeeech!*
A giant bird whose cry echoed through the sky.
It was a Hadis.
It was a creature with a docile nature that people could tame and ride.
It wasn't a common sight, but not an unusual one either.
If a person hadn't jumped from it, everyone would have thought it was just passing by.
"Huh?"
"Th-that's!"
People who saw someone falling gaped and pointed their fingers.
But the falling person suddenly flipped over, positioning himself upside down, and aimed a black shield toward the ground.
*Vwooom!*
An earth-colored aura spread out from the shield, forming a wide barrier that expanded its range.
Then, he plummeted toward the building below like a bomb.
*CRASH!*
It all happened in an instant.
The old wooden building collapsed as if it were a lie.
A tremendous roar and a cloud of dust engulfed the surroundings, and only as the dust began to settle did groans become audible.
The only survivors were the people who had been lining up outside the building.
Not even a groan could be heard from inside.
The scene, crushed by the shield's aura, was utter pandemonium.
Amidst the debris of the building, completely flattened corpses had turned into pools of blood.
In the midst of that hell, a man rose to his feet.
A man wearing a jester-shaped mask with a distinct sneer.
As the survivors watched him and swallowed nervously, the Hadis in the sky descended to the ground.
Before climbing onto the Hadis, the man lifted someone up from among the rows of corpses.
He pulled a book from the limp body's grasp and immediately mounted the Hadis's back.
As the man flew away on the Hadis as if his business was done, the survivors belatedly registered the situation. But no one could pursue the Hadis that had ascended into the sky.
The Architect's Guild Bombing Incident.
That's what people called it.
It was an incident where not only the head of the Architect's Guild, which had been at the height of its popularity, but also the lord of a city had died simultaneously.
The death toll was 45.
Everyone inside the guild building was annihilated.
With even the lord dead, imperial knights were immediately dispatched to investigate the incident.
Just as the small eastern city of Loren was gaining attention for this incident, the Vice Guild Leader, having heard the news, stopped what he was doing and was passing through a transfer gate.
Fortunately, the gate built when Loren was more prosperous was still maintained, so he was able to arrive without difficulty.
As he and three guild members who followed him headed toward the guild on the outskirts of the city, they failed to notice an approaching man while passing through a narrow market.
*Thud.*
It was a loud noise for a mere shoulder bump. But from that impact, the Vice Guild Leader never moved again.
His neck had been completely broken, twisted at a grotesque angle.
By the time those nearby realized what had happened, the man who had bumped the Vice Guild Leader's shoulder was already moving away.
"What in the world..."
"Find him! He couldn't have gotten far!"
a guild member who had come to his senses shouted.
The market erupted in commotion, and the guild members quickly pursued the man, but there was no trace of him left.
"Damn it!"
As the guild member gritted his teeth at the edge of the market, someone appeared before him.
"Uh..."
It was a person wearing a grotesque jester mask.
Before he could even react, something pierced through his body. Then, the research journal he had been cherishing like a treasure in his coat was taken.
In his fading consciousness, all he could do was watch the man walk away.